been liftin since late 2011 started off at 6’1 135 lbs an currently have been stuck at 155-160lbs for a year how do you know when you have reache your genetic limit. i hear alot of talk of people saying to wait to hop on gear til you reach your genetic potential but when do you know when youve hit it. im tryin to get to 200lbs 15% bf i know i got to eat… but is this a realistic goal to get without gear. i currently started a 3,500 - 4,000+ calorie goal. been slackin on eating cause i hate but recently started makin an effort to eat an have been hittin my cal goals the past few days.
also ive been having to deload alot lately havent been able to pass 205lbs on my squat. it feels like i lift harder an better on days i havent eaten vs days ive had few meals before liftin
You haven’t reached your potential, you just haven’t made getting bigger and stronger a true priority. If you want to gain weight, you will force yourself to eat, and you will bust your ass in the gym every day.
What’s your training look like? Have you been doing the same thing forever? You might not be doing enough or you might be doing too much.
Regarding nutrition I agree with SevenDragons; if you aren’t growing on 35-4000, it’s pretty obvious you need to eat more. If you struggle to get that much in, think about what you’re eating and when you’re eating. Personally I always prefer meals over shakes (accept around training) but maybe you need to start smashing some shakes that are packed with cals (whey, oats, nut butter, fruit etc.). I recommend you try drinking 50-100g of carbs during training with bcaas and then again post training, this time with whey. I prescribed this for a hard gaining client and he grew, a lot. I also gave him monster pre and post-workout meals. Throughout the day eat nuts and nut butters with your meals as they’re easy to eat. 15% is pretty fat so if you aren’t worried about getting fat just eat big mate.
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
I can’t resist posting the Dave Tate bulking diet.
I am always upset how every article about this diet skips the part about ensuring you eat 2 candy bars every 1-2 hours on this diet. It was supposed to be plain Hershey’s bars, because you can just stick them in your mouth and let them melt in case you were too full. It was in the original article on elitefts/Gym Talk III. Still an entertaining read.
TC: What lifting program are you following, and what are you doing for conditioning?
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
I can’t resist posting the Dave Tate bulking diet.
I am always upset how every article about this diet skips the part about ensuring you eat 2 candy bars every 1-2 hours on this diet. It was supposed to be plain Hershey’s bars, because you can just stick them in your mouth and let them melt in case you were too full. It was in the original article on elitefts/Gym Talk III. Still an entertaining read.
TC: What lifting program are you following, and what are you doing for conditioning?[/quote]
[quote]dt79 wrote:
Don’t expect results if you are unwilling to put in the effort, even while using gear.[/quote]
To add: ‘gear’ only magnifies work. Guys that juice do it so they can work out harder, longer, more often. The juice helps in recovery so they can do it well above and beyond the average Joe lifter. I think a lot of ignorant people believe that juice or HGH creates big muscles on their own.
This extra working is also why you always see the latest article about how so-n-so celeb or big guy eats 6 chickens a day and 4 dozen eggs while he works out 6 hours, 6 days a week! He’s a beast! Right. He can eat and lift like that because he’s juicing. Try that as a natural and you’ll end up fat, sick, and crippled.
Don’t mean to beat a dead horse but EAT! When you’re feel full eat more. Eat until you hate yourself just before the point of vomitting.
Go back to the drawing board with your programming. Find a proven mass builder and stick to it. Naturally skinny fellas like yourself literally need to eat everything in sight. Eat all the protein you can get your hands on. Drink lots of milk too if you can stomach it.
You need to eat a lot, every day, over a long period of time. The key is consistency. You can’t just eat big 4 or 5 days of the week and then skip some meals. It literally needs to be every. single. day. You said yourself you’ve hit your goal calories for ‘the past few days’. A few days will do nothing. You need months without skipping meals.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
You need to eat a lot, every day, over a long period of time. The key is consistency. You can’t just eat big 4 or 5 days of the week and then skip some meals. It literally needs to be every. single. day. You said yourself you’ve hit your goal calories for ‘the past few days’. A few days will do nothing. You need months without skipping meals.[/quote]
This is it right here.
I think most guys in OP’s boat believe that they’re eating more than they really are.
“I eat a ton!”
“Describe, please.”
“Well, yesterday, I slept until 11, so I didn’t eat breakfast. Then for lunch I had just an apple and a protein bar because I was headed to the gym. I had a protein shake after working out, so I wasn’t really hungry right away. Plus I heard that food interferes with the absorption of the protein shake, so I wanted to wait a few hours. But then I ate a giant plate of spaghetti and meatballs for dinner!”
Since everyone else has pretty well covered the eating side of things, what do your training sessions look like?
It’s possible that you’re not training in a way that helps stimulate eating; it’s also possible you’re spending calories on exercises that don’t benefit you much.