Here’s the story: I’ve tried Creatine, Glutamine, ZMA, Tribex, Androsol, Methoxy 7, Vanadyl Sulfate, various MRPs and protien powders, caffine/ephedrine stacks, and who knows what else, in many, many stack variations. The only thing that seems to benefit me is the MRPs. Nothing else has any effect on me. I eat like a horse, I train like a madman (no, I don’t overtrain) and I get almost next to nill results. I’m about 5’7" 172lbs. The only way I can gain weight is if I get fat. I NEED HELP! I WANT TO GET BIGGER, AND DOING HOURS OF RESEARCH DAILY HAS NOT PRODUCED ANYTHING THAT HAS WORKED! Does anyone have any suggestions? I am at the end of my rope, and although I will keep training, I wonder if my only recourse is to start a mild steriod stack. Anyone? Thanks guys.
What type of training do you do? How often do you eat? What exactly is your dietary routine? How much fat are you at the moment; percentage wise? How much protein do you consume per pound of bodyweight? Do you get enough water?
AMIR
Steve, I understand your frustration. Building muscle is a very tricky proposition. Don’t expect it to be that easy. There are so many factors to consider, as AMIR pointed out. The simple habit of getting 9 hours of sleep a night has helped me out tremendously. I have a friend who thought he was doing absolutely everything right, but when we talked about it, he told me he was eating very “clean…” chicken breasts, rice, lots of veggies, etc… and almost no fat! He started gulping down a few tablespoons a day of oils and he was back on track.
The point here is that there is always a limiting factor if you’re not making progress. Maybe it’s your diet, maybe you are in fact overtraining, maybe you’re just partying or drinking too much or not sleeping enough, not getting enough water, etc…
I have two suggestions for you.
1)Outline exactly what you’re doing here on this board, and I’m sure you’ll have plenty of responses as to what you’re doing wrong and what you’re doing right.
2)If you’re up to it, email Ian King and ask him for a personal consultation. It’ll cost you some money, but it will be well worth it. I’ve emailed him before, and he’s very responsive and helpful.
A note on creatine… you must take at least 0.15 x weight in kg (divide lbs by 2.2 to get kg) daily – and in divided doses of about 5g. I read this somewhere (from a Doc) and it seems to be right.
Doug pretty much summed it up. And if Androsol didn’t work for you, you’re doing SOMETHING wrong. Outline complete workout and diet and we’ll figure out what the problem is.
obviously you want to grow but maybe you should accept the fact that maybe genetically you can’t gain weight,which isn’t a bad thing just look at guys like chris faldo and flavio buccani they make 150lbs look fantastic.i weigh 170 and i’m 5’6 i can bench 400 and squat 550 for reps. what worked for me was some time off ,like 2 weeks and a low volume approach,oh yeah now people make remarks like i’m built like brick shit house and still only weigh 165 lbs but i had to come to terms with my genetics and the fact you don’t have to weigh 200 to look impressive.
Steve, relax! technically, you should be able to gain LBM with a good training, good nutrition and enough rest alone. If you don’t grow even using supplements like androsol, it’s because you do something wrong. First of all, make sure you eat right (doesn’t mean to eat like a horse) and train right (using the right volume and intensity, and the right exercises, keeping it simple). Remember that if you are not using steroids, muscle comes gradually, pound by pound. You won’t notice an increase of LBM of 1 lb per month, but at the end of the year, it represents 12 lbs, which is significative for a drug free builder. My suggestion is this: 1- rest completely for 2 weeks (no workouts, plenty of sleep); 2- use no supplements, just MRPs; 3- after your rest period, try an Ian King program like the 12 weeks to super strength, and apply it to the letter; 4- try to use only 1 muscle building supplement at a time, that way you will see if a product does something for you, if not, never use it again, then stack the ones that work if you want; 5- don’t have a fixation on muscle building that makes your life miserable, you will see your results in the gym first when you increase your loads. If you have more than 10% bodyfat, you won’t notice a LBM gain of 3 lbs. Stay tuned on this website, it will increase your chances of success in the long run.