What am I doing wrong? I’m 11 weeks into my cycle (500mg a week, every Sunday). I workout an hour every morning. Monday thru Friday. I haven’t grown. I’ve increased in the amount of weight I lift a little but arm size I’ve grown only ¼ inch. I take in about 225 to 250 gram of protein a day (I try to take in 300 but never seem to happen). Right now I am 235 lbs with 16 ¼ inch arms (cold, in the morning). I gained about almost 20 lbs in the last 11 weeks but the majority of the weight is in my stomach. I’ve gained almost 3 inches in my waist.
My BF is 27.5%. I’m 42 years old and have been lifting for 10 years. My personal records were back in 2011. Deadlift 450 and Bench Press 305. I weighted 218 and my arms were 15 7/8 inch.
I record everything. For example. December 20th I did incline bench press of (after warm up sets)
230x5
230x4
210x4
200x5
Then on January 13th I did
235x9
260x5
260x3
260x1
250x3
230x5
This is pretty much it with all my exercises. I try to increase in either weight or reps each week.
I did workout 3 day one week and only 4 days another week based on Christmas and New Years Holidays.
Why am I not growing in muscle size?
Ok not an expert on the field and English is my second language but I would say that probably your estrogen levels are high you should get some blood work to see how they are.
Also I think you started a cycle with a high BF%, that’s not the ideal due to the fact again of the estrogen levels risen up suddenly.
Adex is vital to keep estrogen levels low, you should use at least .25 ed during cycle at least that’s what I have read here.
Last but not least, I will up the protein intake at least 300grms /day remember is not the gear what makes you grow is the protein intake plus all the other details that we all know.
I hope that helps, as I said not an expert just trying to help you out!
Also starting at a high BF% like that is a big no no in my book if I’m advising someone. If you’re trying to gain and start at a high bf% even on anabolics you’re at a large disadvantage.
Also some factors:
-Are you actually keeping track of diet? You say you’re tracking protein but carbs and fats? There’s a very strong chance you’re under/overestimating what you’re actually taking in.
-Training. Are you actually training hard? Even at your age 10 years of training and only throwing up 260x5 on incline would have me believe somethings off.
500mg of what?? I assume its Test E… I bet your estrogen levels are high if you aren’t taking anything for it. A Test only cycle has plenty of potential for putting on some good size. You need to get bloodwork done and probably start something like Arimidex asap. Do you have any gyno? If so you might wanna go with something stronger like letrozole to hopefully clear that up.
Right now arm size would be the least of my worries. Nobody cares how your guns look if you have a bunch of gyno and a high BF%.
Also, I don’t think your diet is on point. Thats a pretty high BF%. I think you need more protein to grow. Also wanna make sure your other macros are on point and you are consistent with your diet. I think that getting on something for estrogen will definitely help with the BF and probably quite a bit of water retention.
You might want to put some more time into training as well. I’m not sure how intense your workouts are, but an hour seems pretty quick for a solid workout. I’m not saying that it can’t be done. But if you aren’t making progress you have to look at all aspects of what you are doing in and out of the gym. Hopefully this helps.