Not Making Gains

Im 40 years old and Ive been lifting seriousely for like almost 2 years now. Im 5’8" and weigh 160 pounds. Ive gotten stronger -I can bench 275 which I guess is ok but I want to get stronger and im not. I try to eat a gram of protein for every pound of weight. I take creatine and glutamine and Im almost done my first bottle of Alpha Male.

I work out like 4 days a week. I usually start of heavy and go lighter as I get more fatigued. I work out like 45 minutes a session. So what should I do. Should I work out longer or more often? is there some other supplement I should be taking? I know I should be eating alot but then I just get fat- well any help would be greatly appreciated -thanks

[quote]pa902 wrote:
Im 40 years old and Ive been lifting seriousely for like almost 2 years now. Im 5’8" and weigh 160 pounds. Ive gotten stronger -I can bench 275 which I guess is ok but I want to get stronger and im not. I try to eat a gram of protein for every pound of weight. I take creatine and glutamine and Im almost done my first bottle of Alpha Male.

I work out like 4 days a week. I usually start of heavy and go lighter as I get more fatigued. I work out like 45 minutes a session. So what should I do. Should I work out longer or more often? is there some other supplement I should be taking? I know I should be eating alot but then I just get fat- well any help would be greatly appreciated -thanks[/quote]

eat more and rest more…

older guys like you and I need more recovery time…try lifting three days a week for a while to see if that helps…

although you can get stronger at the same bodyweight, staying the same bodyweight you can only get stronger for a limited period of time…then you’re going to need to add muscle…

start uping the calories now…if you see yourself putting on fat too quickly reduce your caloric intake slightly …it’s really not that complex.

stop drinking alcohol…alcohol will fuck up your natural testosterone level…

you’re taking the best legal supplements now but you should add a good omega 3 and vitamin supp to your diet…

and there’s also the HRT route if you’re so inclined…

good luck to you!

im still a teen but maybe if you start light and then go heavy it might help

You work out “like” 4 days a week? You “try” to get a gram of protein/lb a day.

It seems that you should get your nutrition in order (yes I know its hard). As well as picking a program here and stick to it.

Good luck

If your goal is to get stronger, back off on the reps.

Hi, I’ve recently started using Anthony Ellis’s program “Gaining Mass.” I’ve been on the program for two weeks now. I weigh, 132 pounds now (I started at 128) and I eat a 2400 calorie per day diet consisting of 195 grams of protein; 269 grams of carbs; and 83 grams of fat. I work out 3 times per week targeting every major muscle group.
Basically, I’ve done everything the book tells me to do. Once and a while I miss a meal or two but I don’t think that should be a big concern; however, so far, I’ve only gained 4 pounds and according to Anthony Ellis, I should be able to gain 40+ by the end of the 12 week program. At this rate, it looks like I’ll only be gaining 24 by the end. I’ve calculated my daily intake to be roughly 1.6 pounds of food (not counting the water and protein shakes). I seem to gain around 3 or 4 pounds by the end of the day only to lose most of it by the time I wake up the next morning. My question is: what is going on? My bowl movements only remove about a fifth of a pound so by my calculations I should be continuously gaining. Where is all this weight going? Am I breathing it out? If anyone can tell me what I’m doing wrong or what else I should be doing, I would greatly appreciate it.

                                                                        Thanks,
                                                                        John

[quote]onesmalldude wrote:
Hi, I’ve recently started using Anthony Ellis’s program “Gaining Mass.” I’ve been on the program for two weeks now. I weigh, 132 pounds now (I started at 128) and I eat a 2400 calorie per day diet consisting of 195 grams of protein; 269 grams of carbs; and 83 grams of fat. I work out 3 times per week targeting every major muscle group.
Basically, I’ve done everything the book tells me to do. Once and a while I miss a meal or two but I don’t think that should be a big concern; however, so far, I’ve only gained 4 pounds and according to Anthony Ellis, I should be able to gain 40+ by the end of the 12 week program. At this rate, it looks like I’ll only be gaining 24 by the end. I’ve calculated my daily intake to be roughly 1.6 pounds of food (not counting the water and protein shakes). I seem to gain around 3 or 4 pounds by the end of the day only to lose most of it by the time I wake up the next morning. My question is: what is going on? My bowl movements only remove about a fifth of a pound so by my calculations I should be continuously gaining. Where is all this weight going? Am I breathing it out? If anyone can tell me what I’m doing wrong or what else I should be doing, I would greatly appreciate it.

                                                                        Thanks,
                                                                        John[/quote]

132lbs might not be a lot but neither is 2400cals a day… . to get 40lbs in 12weeks youd need to gain roughly 3.5lbs a week which would mean youd need to eat over 1500cals a day beyond your *maintainence cals to get that weight gain. …

*remember eating lots will also probably put your maintainence levels up as your body seaks to use and expel all the excesses your putting into your body. …

[quote]pa902 wrote:
Im 40 years old and Ive been lifting seriousely for like almost 2 years now. Im 5’8" and weigh 160 pounds. Ive gotten stronger -I can bench 275 which I guess is ok but I want to get stronger and im not. I try to eat a gram of protein for every pound of weight. I take creatine and glutamine and Im almost done my first bottle of Alpha Male.

I work out like 4 days a week. I usually start of heavy and go lighter as I get more fatigued. I work out like 45 minutes a session. So what should I do. Should I work out longer or more often? is there some other supplement I should be taking? I know I should be eating alot but then I just get fat- well any help would be greatly appreciated -thanks[/quote]

When I hit these plateaus, I work out less, less often. I will first take a week off. I go to 2x per week of full body workouts. Raise the weight to 80% of 1RM, do 8-12 reps x 2 sets stopping one rep shy of failure on the first set and going to failure on the second. Concentric lift should be as fast as possible without unloading and 3-4 seconds down. Maintain perfect form throughout. 60 seconds between sets; 1-2 minutes between exercises.

Each workout will progress in reps or weight or both. Again, only 2x per week using 6-8 exercises, focusing on major muscle groups using 4-6 compound exercises and two isolation, usually biceps curls and triceps ext. Total rest on the off days. Do it for 3-4 weeks, take a week off and go back to what you were doing.

[quote]onesmalldude wrote:
Hi, I’ve recently started using Anthony Ellis’s program “Gaining Mass.” I’ve been on the program for two weeks now. I weigh, 132 pounds now (I started at 128) and I eat a 2400 calorie per day diet consisting of 195 grams of protein; 269 grams of carbs; and 83 grams of fat. I work out 3 times per week targeting every major muscle group.
Basically, I’ve done everything the book tells me to do. Once and a while I miss a meal or two but I don’t think that should be a big concern; however, so far, I’ve only gained 4 pounds and according to Anthony Ellis, I should be able to gain 40+ by the end of the 12 week program. At this rate, it looks like I’ll only be gaining 24 by the end. I’ve calculated my daily intake to be roughly 1.6 pounds of food (not counting the water and protein shakes). I seem to gain around 3 or 4 pounds by the end of the day only to lose most of it by the time I wake up the next morning. My question is: what is going on? My bowl movements only remove about a fifth of a pound so by my calculations I should be continuously gaining. Where is all this weight going? Am I breathing it out? If anyone can tell me what I’m doing wrong or what else I should be doing, I would greatly appreciate it.

                                                                        Thanks,
                                                                        John[/quote]

2,400cals is not a lot of food. You also can’t predict how much muscle you can gain in a set period of time. Your body doesn’t work that way. That may sell books but it isn’t reality.

getting stronger, aye?

read Pavel’s book - “Power to the People”

if you need help finding it—PM me.