Not Seeing Improvement

Hi… I’ve been working out for 1 month now. yet, i only see very little improvement. or it seems, none at all. this is what i did. i did 2 and a half hours in the gym everyday, 6 times a week. here’s my program.

(all in 12 x 4, or if i still can, 15 x 4)

Workout A: monday, wednesday, and friday
Workout B: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

here’s my workout A, consisting of chest, back and tris exercises.

Chest
bench press
inclined bench press
declined bench press
dumbell flyes
incline dumbell press
dumbell pullover
butterfly

Back
wide grip lat pulldown
wide grip pulldown behind neck
underhand cable pulldowns
Seated Cable Rows

Triceps
Triceps Pushdown
Overhead Barbell Triceps Extension
Seated Triceps Press
Lying Triceps Press
Standing Overhead Barbell Triceps Extension
Tricep Dumbbell Kickback

here’s my workout B (shoulders w/ traps and biceps:

shoulders
Military Press
behind the neck military press
seated dumbell press
barbell shrug
upright row
side lateral raise
Front Dumbbell Raise
Dumbbell Shoulder Press

biceps
barbell curl
dumbell curl
preacher curl
concentration curls

and abs everyday… as you can see, i didn’t workout my legs! that’s one of my mistake! with those exercises, as if nothing happened to me…

i’m planning to change my program now… with this

(12 x 5)

Monday - Chest
Pushups
Machine Bench Press
Machine Incline Bench Press
Butterfly

Tuesday - Back
Pullups
Seated Rows
Lat Pulldowns
T-Bar Rows

Wednesday - Shoulders
Arnold Dumbbell Press
Lateral Raises
Front Raises

Thursday - Biceps/Triceps
Barbell Curls
Cable Curls
Hammer Curls
Triceps Pushdowns

Friday - Cardio
Treadmill 45 Minutes

Leg Workout

Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Squats
Seated/Standing Calf Raises

I’ve read an article saying that this program is similar with brad pitt’s program. I just don’t know how credible the source is. and, i see no abs exercise in this program. which program do you think is better?

here’s my routine. right after eating my breakfast, i take protein shake, then go to the gym. after gym, i drink protein shake again…

please help me… let me know what is right. I’ve been reading several articles now. but it seems that it’s not helping me that much. it brings me confusion. thanks in advance mates.

way too much shit. your body probably hates you for putting it through it.

and goals goals and goals. if you want brad pitts body just run 3 miles a day, do 300 crunches and smoke cigarettes.

Agreed.

You’re trying way too much, way too soon. Remember, less is usually more, especially while just starting to train. Just focus on getting yourself familiar with basic, compound movements. Try about three to four exercises per muscle group right now and really focus on getting optimum quality out of every rep and every set.

After what you’ve been doing, doing so little might seem like slacking, but if you do it right, you’ll feel it much more the next day. Just stick with it.

thank you for your advice… so will the latter program work well? I just started with the chest this day. Should I go on with the back tomorrow? Is it also an effective way working out one muscle once a week?

I’m WAY too much of a newbie to be offering advice, but your routine looks almost as bad as mine did before I started really digesting the advice offered here…

For several months, I’d been describing (first in the “Supplements” forum and then here) the routine I’d created for myself and that I’ve been massaging for the last two years… The guys here were nice enough to let me know that my routine (which I thought was excellent!) was completely and totally wrong. So, after a lot of mental resistance on my part, I finally decided to “give in” about a week ago… Tired of being frustrated with little or no results (just like you’re reporting)!

Here’s the program most seem to agree is right for me (and probably any beginner who’s currently doing it wrong):

Also: forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224

Remember, I just started the Rippetoe program a week ago, so it’s not my place to recommend anything to anybody, but I have to say, as one newbie (who didn’t know he was a newbie until he came here) to another: I’ve had more fun in the gym in the last week than in the last two years and can’t wait to see how things go this week!

P.S. I see that you’re at least doing squats… Never even tried those before last week, so you have one up on me! LOL

OP, you should post this in the beginners section only after you do some more reading. One month is not much time. Also, no one knows what your goals are. Are you overweight and just want to lose fat. Are you skinny and just want to gain muscle? You are trying to do to much for a beginner.

I am surprised no one has accused you of being a troll.
That generally happens when Brad Pitt’s name is mentioned. If you are for real, pick a basic program and follow it for several months. Eat right for your goal. You have to track your progress and figure out how to maximize it. It really is that simple but it takes alot of hard work.

Well, this is the beginner’s forum, so troll talk isn’t really that widespread. If he’d posted this in Bodybuilding, yeah he’d get flamed to oblivion…or did this thread get moved here by a mod?

Anyway, you are doing too much work too often. And 1 month is not enough time.

Click the links the poster above provided for Rippetoe’s Starting Strength Beginner’s program and follow that. Substitute bent over rows for hang cleans. Add isolation stuff at the END of the sessions if you want, but the whole goal of the program is NOT to do a ton of isolation stuff.

Check back in several months. Time is the only thing that will let you see results.

lol… I’m not a troll. I’ve been reading several threads about that rippetoe program. I just can’t understand how it will get your body into shape. I’m 5’7", or 5’8" i think, 135 lbs., and 20 yrs of age. I don’t care much about my weight, as long as I have evident muscles with good shape. As to the weights that I use, I can now carry 60 lbs for bench press., 40 for military, and 30 for the barbell curl (just for you to have an idea of the strength.

@speakman, I’ve never done squats. lol. I posted 2 programs in my first post. the first one is the crap program that i did for one month. the second one is the program that i want to start working out.

Here’s what I want to know about rippetoe. (i’ve been reading for some time now, but I haven’t found the answers)

  1. is it going to put my shoulders, traps, chest, back, tris, abs, and bis into a good shape? It seems to me that the rippetoe is basically focused on the lower body. (I appreciate if you’d correct me)

  2. rippetoe, consists of 6 exercises, is that all? is the rippetoe the workout program itself? or just a warmup?

sorry for those questions. I become more confused as i read tons of articles and threads. that’s why i started my own thread.

thank you. again, I’m not a troll… lol

Any program you pick you’re not going to see dramatic results in just one month. If that’s what’s bothering you then you’ll be changing your program every month. However, all that volume and spending 2 and half hours in the gym seems excessive…and you should change it.

What’s your diet like? I didn’t make progress in terms of being able to lift more until I started to eat more.

[quote]Digity wrote:
Any program you pick you’re not going to see dramatic results in just one month. If that’s what’s bothering you then you’ll be changing your program every month. However, all that volume and spending 2 and half hours in the gym seems excessive…and you should change it.

What’s your diet like? I didn’t make progress in terms of being able to lift more until I started to eat more.
[/quote]

I don’t know much about my calorie intake. I eat 3-4 meals a day, with 2-3 cups of rice in every meal. I also take 2 servings of whey protein. 1 serving has 20g of protein in it. I also eat 2 eggs everyday, meat and vegetables, whatever my mom serves.

this is my routine.

breakfast, then whey protein, then workout. then whey protein again, then lunch. I also eat one meal at 3pm. then dinner. sometimes, i eat snacks in between meals.

when I started yesterday, I spent only 45 minutes in the gym, doing chest workout only. I am following this program that I posted:

Monday - Chest
Pushups
Machine Bench Press
Machine Incline Bench Press
Butterfly

Tuesday - Back
Pullups
Seated Rows
Lat Pulldowns
T-Bar Rows

Wednesday - Shoulders
Arnold Dumbbell Press
Lateral Raises
Front Raises

Thursday - Biceps/Triceps
Barbell Curls
Cable Curls
Hammer Curls
Triceps Pushdowns

Friday - Cardio
Treadmill 45 Minutes

Leg Workout

Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Squats
Seated/Standing Calf Raises

Please correct me before most of my time is completely wasted. As to the rippetoe’s I still have to research and ask more information about it.

let’s take a look at starting strength:

Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Standing military press
3x5 Power cleans (bent over row)

militaries and bench collectively hit the chest, tricep, and shoulders

squats: quad dominant leg
Deads: hip/glute/hammy/low back lift
cleans: same as deadlift but with more back work especially traps
rows: back and bicep

You’re effectively hitting your whole body using this routine. any questions?

when I ran the routine I did more then 5 reps on deadlift though. Anyone else do the same?

[quote]beibitoi wrote:
Digity wrote:
Any program you pick you’re not going to see dramatic results in just one month. If that’s what’s bothering you then you’ll be changing your program every month. However, all that volume and spending 2 and half hours in the gym seems excessive…and you should change it.

What’s your diet like? I didn’t make progress in terms of being able to lift more until I started to eat more.

I don’t know much about my calorie intake. I eat 3-4 meals a day, with 2-3 cups of rice in every meal. I also take 2 servings of whey protein. 1 serving has 20g of protein in it. I also eat 2 eggs everyday, meat and vegetables, whatever my mom serves.

this is my routine.

breakfast, then whey protein, then workout. then whey protein again, then lunch. I also eat one meal at 3pm. then dinner. sometimes, i eat snacks in between meals.

when I started yesterday, I spent only 45 minutes in the gym, doing chest workout only. I am following this program that I posted:

Monday - Chest
Pushups
Machine Bench Press
Machine Incline Bench Press
Butterfly

Tuesday - Back
Pullups
Seated Rows
Lat Pulldowns
T-Bar Rows

Wednesday - Shoulders
Arnold Dumbbell Press
Lateral Raises
Front Raises

Thursday - Biceps/Triceps
Barbell Curls
Cable Curls
Hammer Curls
Triceps Pushdowns

Friday - Cardio
Treadmill 45 Minutes

Leg Workout

Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Squats
Seated/Standing Calf Raises

Please correct me before most of my time is completely wasted. As to the rippetoe’s I still have to research and ask more information about it.

[/quote]

To be perfectly honestly, I’m with the others who have suggested to follow Rippetoe’s program. A beginner such as yourself is going to grow/progress fastest on a full body program based around the basic muscle building exercises (squats, deads/rows, bench, military press, bb curls, and dips).

Here are a couple reasons why a full body program are better for a beginner such as yourself than a body part split (like the one you’re following).

  1. Higher frequency. You will be training each body part 3 times per week with the full body program, yet only once on the body part split. The more you can train a muscle and recover the faster your progress will be. As a beginner you can recover faster, due to your lack of ability to truly tax your body to it’s limits.

  2. More practice of the lifts. You need to understand that lifting weights has a noticeable skill component. The more you practice a skill (while once again not overtaxing your nervous system) the faster you’ll get better at that skill. Another reason why you most likely haven’t seen any noticeable gains is that most of the strength gains during the first 4-8 weeks of training are due to neurological improvements (meaning that you simply get better at the movements).

The faster you can make these neurological improvements, the sooner you will actually start sufficiently stressing your muscles to grow.

  1. Less chance of over taxing your body. A lot of beginners make the mistake of trying to copy the programs that they see advanced lifters doing. So, then wind up doing way, way too much volume and simply digging themselves into a hole. You have to understand that the advanced lifters that you see doing those body part split routines have built up their work capacities for years to be able to handle that amount of volume and intensity.

By doing a full body program, you in essence aren’t wasting energy on any “fluff” exercises and instead are focusing on building a strong foundation.

Drop your body part split routine and start doing Rippetoe. Don’t worry, you can always go back to your current routine later. But you’ll progress much faster if you take my (and other posters’) advice about this.

Finally, start paying more attention to your diet. You don’t have to turn it into quantum physics, but try to eat every 2-3 hours (ideally somewhere between 6-8 meals a day) and try to get protein at every meal.

oh… got it. so, does that mean, after doing 3x5 squats, 3x5 bench press, and 1x5 deadlift, it’s all finished for workout A? can I add an exercise for my abs? I’ll go to the gym 1 hour from now… what weights should i carry? should i start with the lighter one? or with the heaviest that I can use? as to the sets and reps, can I add more? or stick with the 3x5, 3x5, and 1x5? (sorry, I think I can find the answers in some threads, but I don’t have time to research now, as i have to go to the gym 1 hour from now… I still have to prepare) thanks again.

[quote]beibitoi wrote:
lol… I’m not a troll. I’ve been reading several threads about that rippetoe program. I just can’t understand how it will get your body into shape. I’m 5’7", or 5’8" i think, 135 lbs., and 20 yrs of age. I don’t care much about my weight, as long as I have evident muscles with good shape. As to the weights that I use, I can now carry 60 lbs for bench press., 40 for military, and 30 for the barbell curl (just for you to have an idea of the strength.

@speakman, I’ve never done squats. lol. I posted 2 programs in my first post. the first one is the crap program that i did for one month. the second one is the program that i want to start working out.

Here’s what I want to know about rippetoe. (i’ve been reading for some time now, but I haven’t found the answers)

  1. is it going to put my shoulders, traps, chest, back, tris, abs, and bis into a good shape? It seems to me that the rippetoe is basically focused on the lower body. (I appreciate if you’d correct me)

  2. rippetoe, consists of 6 exercises, is that all? is the rippetoe the workout program itself? or just a warmup?

sorry for those questions. I become more confused as i read tons of articles and threads. that’s why i started my own thread.

thank you. again, I’m not a troll… lol[/quote]

I think you are a troll, If rippetoe is easy you are training like a pussy. Put some weight on the bar, and bring your balls to the gym dude. Deadlifts, squats, rowing and pressing is all you really need.

[quote]beibitoi wrote:
oh… got it. so, does that mean, after doing 3x5 squats, 3x5 bench press, and 1x5 deadlift, it’s all finished for workout A? can I add an exercise for my abs? I’ll go to the gym 1 hour from now… what weights should i carry? should i start with the lighter one? or with the heaviest that I can use? as to the sets and reps, can I add more? or stick with the 3x5, 3x5, and 1x5? (sorry, I think I can find the answers in some threads, but I don’t have time to research now, as i have to go to the gym 1 hour from now… I still have to prepare) thanks again.[/quote]

yes, that’s all finished for Workout A. Yes, you can add an exercise for your abs, and one for your biceps or whatever if you want.

Weights should be as HEAVY AS POSSIBLE while still making all the reps. If you fail, you’re going too heavy. If you succeed, you need to increase the weight (provided you were using correct technique). Failure is expected on occassion–if you never hit it you aren’t working hard enough. If you hit it all the time you are going too heavy.

You can, and should, add 1-2 warm up sets at the beginning of your workout, and maybe 1 warm up set for the other exercises. Other than that, stick to what is written.

[quote]beibitoi wrote:
lol… I’m not a troll. I’ve been reading several threads about that rippetoe program. I just can’t understand how it will get your body into shape. I’m 5’7", or 5’8" i think, 135 lbs., and 20 yrs of age. I don’t care much about my weight, as long as I have evident muscles with good shape. As to the weights that I use, I can now carry 60 lbs for bench press., 40 for military, and 30 for the barbell curl (just for you to have an idea of the strength.
[/quote]

Unfortunately for you and every other 130 lb person, you will not have evident muscles until you gain around 30 lbs. It is simply a fact. An ugly fact, perhaps, but a certainty nonetheless.

Also, as a rule of thumb, if you need more than 5 big exercises in a training session you are not training hard enough. Abs and conditioning/warm-up not included of course.

Finally, you need to be eating more. You’re eating 3-4 meals + 2 shakes, so that’s 5-6 feedings, but you need more calories in every feeding. If your scale weight is not moving up, you are not eating enough. If it moves up more than 3 lbs a week, you might be eating too much crap foods. Protein intake should be at least 140 g/day.

just want to make it clear. only 5 reps per set right?
I just did the workout A a while ago. For the squats, I just used light weights, since I haven’t done that before. I first focused on my form. As for my bench press, I can’t believe I used 80 lbs. And for the deadlifts, i only used 60lbs. I finished the program too early. I took 60-120 secs. rest every after set.

[quote]Aragorn wrote:
yes, that’s all finished for Workout A. Yes, you can add an exercise for your abs, and one for your biceps or whatever if you want.
[/quote]

If that’s the case, can i do this for example:

Day 1
Workout A of Rippetoe; and
CHEST
push-ups 12x3
bench press 12x3
incline bench press
butterfly

Day 2
Workout B of Rippetoe; and
the workout for the back (ALLEGED Brad’s program)

Day 3
Workout A of Rippetoe; and
the workout for triceps (ALLEGED Brad’s program)

and so on… i.e., I will use rippetoe like a warm up…

sorry if you find me stubborn, or if i make you suspect that I’m a troll… I just want to make everything clear … thank you again…

im confused. are you a guy or a girl?

[quote]kinein wrote:
im confused. are you a guy or a girl?

[/quote]

guy… i wouldn’t want to have a body like brad if i’m a girl… lol

Follow the Starting Strength routine as outlined, and make sure you’re eating enough, and you should see at least something in a month or so. I’ve been on a slightly modified version of Rippetoes for 4 weeks, and I’ve gotten trimmer, and have some evident muscle definition/gain.

For the record, I’m 5’11, 198). It’s a great program for beginners. And, like others have said, if it seems too easy, then you’re not doing it right. Once you get the forms down, pile the weight on and get to work.