Hi,
I’m a newb “bodybuilder”. I’m 5’7" @ 145 and ~14% bodyfat (Per my Tanita scale… that thing changes it’s mind more than my girlfriend…) I started getting serious about this about a month ago. So far I’ve gained about 15 pounds and am up from 12.5% bodyfat.
I’m lost… This post is a request for advice and information as to what I’m doing correctly and what I need to change. I haven’t gained any weight in 2 weeks – and actually lost about 2 pounds. Also, I haven’t seen any improvement in my strength. The first month I probably doubled in strength in all my exercises. For example, Went from barely being able to curl 25 to being able to do 75 with ease. But now I’m stuck!
I apologize for the length as I’m going to outline my entire regimen and my current maxes.
Diet:
I take a serving of CytoGainer in the morning with lots of water, and possibly some food if I have time.
10ish Snack – Banana and orange and a scoop of GNC whey protein w/ 5 grams of Creatine, 500mg Vitamin C, 400iu Vitamin E and 2g CLA.
12 Lunch – Possibly some ramen + whey, tuna sandwhich, or baked potato and whey etc. Something easy. More vitamin C and E and CLA.
2ish Snack again. Same as above.
5ish – Half a serving of CytoGainer, then I head to the Gym.
6:30ish – Full serving of CytoGainer as soon as I get back. Try to eat some solid high-fiber foods to keep my bowels moving. ( Most like Black beans w/ Brown rice and Feta. )
Gym Routine –
30 minutes of High intensity cardio.
30 Minutes of weight lifting, Upper body, lower body depending on the day.
For weights I am using the various Nautilus machines around as I do not have a partner to spot me. Please excuse any terminology difficulties
I typically do 3 sets of 8 of the following with progression up to these values at plate increments, typically 15 or 10 lbs depending on exercise.
–Upper
75 lbs Bicep Curls
70 lbs Overhead Tricep Extension
100 lbs Shoulder – Seated Lateral Raise
100 lbs Pec Deck Flyes
90 lbs Ab Crunches
–Lower
400 lbs Standing Calf Raise
385 lbs Horizontal Leg Press.
250 lbs Hip Adduction
200 lbs Hip Abduction
After reading and attempting to understand some of the articles around here I believe part of the problem is that none of these are “complex” exercises and my secondary muscles are not strong enough for me to do any more weight at this point. I’m not sure how to fix this without losing ability on these exercises.
Another weird thing is I read a lot about “one rep max” but It seems I can either do around 8-10 of an exercise or I can’t do it at all. What’s with that?
Thanks for your time!