Why Can't I Gain Muscle?

One more thing - if you did not get any improvement at 170lbs, well, you will continue to get no results as long as you stay below 170lbs. You have to get your weight above that before YOU start seeing improvements. If you keep your weight below that, because you are getting too “fat”, then you will not gain any strength. 170lbs is the starting point because you have already proven that for your physiology, you are neither muscular nor strong when your weight is below 170lbs.

I say stop training, eat your way to 170lbs, then start training and continue eating with a target of at least 200lbs whether it looks fat or not.

Until you do that, you will continue to stay as you are now.

Because what you are really saying (you have not stated any specific goals) is that you want to be as strong as someone who is 240lbs but you want to be as skinny as someone who is 160lbs but you want to look like someone who is 220lbs cut and you want to eat like someone who is 130lbs and you want to train like someone who is 300lbs but you actually train like someone who is 140lbs and gets tired easy.

By all means correct me if I am wrong and give me the exact poundages you want to lift, in what timeframe, and what bodyweight you want to be, and fat % you want to be - specific, actual goals.

bump

“I can’t read stickies!” “I can’t go to the gym consistently!” “I can’t eat enough!” “I’m not lifting more every time I go into the gym!” “Why can’t I get bigger?” “Hold my hand for me!”

Wannabebig,

How much do you squat-bench-deadlift? If this is such a big problem for you, you should go get a checkup and make sure there’s no obvious medical reason for your lack of progress. Then, as soon as I got those results back, I would join a good powerlifting club or gym. Start training with a team of guys and get your shit together. For all your blustering, you probably just don’t know what it means to train hard and learn how to get stronger, and make no mistake it is a skill.

Attitude and environment are the two most important aspects, and you haven’t really mentioned them. I don’t want to embarrass any of my friends, but I’ll tell a little story. One of my friends I see at the gym has been berating me with questions about how to get bigger for months now. It was actually getting annoying because I would tell him the same thing every time: eat more, get your damn weights up. Then I would tell him to just cut the bullshit and start training with our team. Well, the other day he was pulling rack pulls at 365 for 5. One of our girls, who is no behemoth or anything, steps in, slangs up her belt and pulls the same thing. This guy was shocked, he couldn’t believe it.

Now, maybe we’re two different mean, him and I, but if that were me, I’d be piling on some more plates and getting more aggressive with that lift.

That’s the power of training with good teammates and in a good environment. Sometimes if we’re doing jumps or oly lifts or something I’m not good at and I’m not confident, I’ll make my training partner do it first, and then I smoke it.

Anyway, that’s my advice since the last time this thread was going.

Train hard,

Conor

I hate this thread

[quote]conorh wrote:
<<< For all your blustering, you probably just don’t know what it means to train hard and learn how to get stronger, and make no mistake it is a skill.

Conor[/quote]

The skill thing is really missed in this game and is definitely a part of training meaningfully hard. The fact that equipment is moving does not necessarily mean that sound stimulus is taking place.

I totally agree with Conor. Obviously you’ve tried a lot of things. But with a good high-cal diet, it is pretty much impossible to look the same if your major lifts go up 200 pounds (I’m talking deadlift, squat, bench, etc). I know you’ve been training hard, to failure, etc, but you’re not that STRONG yet.

What are your major lifts now? This could be the missing piece to the puzzle. And if you commit to a powerlifting team, you’ll spend time training with very strong people who train very hard. Most of the really big guys on these forums are also quite strong!

[quote]Professor X wrote:
wannbeBIG wrote:

I’m going to take a week off…

Good start!!![/quote]

LOL

TEST to see if something is wrong.

This is a test for people to see if something is “wrong” with them.

Here is the test:

  1. Pick a weight you can do 8 reps with.
    Do only 5 sets of 5 reps with it.

It should not be hard. It should just feel good.

  1. Do Bench, Bent row, Squat.

  2. Do NOTHING for ONE WEEK. No weights, no bike riding, no sport, no injury. Just normal life.

  3. Come back next week do the same with 5% more weight.

Analysis: if you CANNOT do those exercises with 5% more weight then something is wrong. Note that the original week you were doing 5 reps with an 8 rep max. The 5x5 with that weight should not be hard. If you cannot add 5% to it the next week, then something is wrong with you and you should see a doctor. Seriously, something might actually be wrong that needs looking at. Unless you have the flu or something.

If you can add the 5% then shut up complaining that you have something wrong with you. There is nothing wrong with you, you are just doing things wrong.

If you can’t do the test, if you can’t be bothered, then shut up complaining that you have “tried everything” because you have not. Establishing whether you are sick/broken should be your first task.

Now this test is not perfect. If a person can add 5% to the weight as specified that is no big deal, that person could still have poor potential for strength. But it does show they are not “broken” somehow.

[quote]Professor X wrote:

But…what if I want “relative strength” and “functional muscle” and don’t want to get too HEEEYYOOOGE?! I mean, I currently weigh about 145lbs and don’t want to look like Ronnie Coleman. Besides, aren’t bodybuilders weak? That means I could get too huge if I keep lifting the light weights as long as I stay in the 8-12 rep range, right?

It isn’t like 20" arms are very strong because I know a guy in my 10th grade class who can bench press 200lbs and he only weighs 140lbs so he has more “relative strength” than Coleman.[/quote]

Quote courtesy of Men’s Health magazine.

[quote]v10hanz wrote:
Trogdor wrote:
Honestly this thread is pointless, and the advice given about as meaningless. Many of you assume that if someone can not bench 300+ or squat 400+ than they should just eat more and talk less; your logic here doesn’t make much, if any, sense. While the articles on this site are quite informative, personal experience as well as shared experiences of others have no substitute.

I’ve been training seriously for four years, and I cannot even touch a 300lb bench (but honestly I couldn’t give two shits about bench training), nor can I deadlift 400lbs (which is by far my favorite lift); the answer to these problems, however, is not “just fucking eat”; neither is my lack of dedication to blame. I train 4-8 times per week (depending on the current program) intensely, using only free weights and 90% compound lifts; this however, does not mean I train wisely. Why have I made such little progress? I honestly believe I just haven’t figured out how I best respond. Eating more has not worked for me and working harder is not an option. I am not complaining about my genetic potential, my lack of growth, lack of supplement funds, lack of anything…
I don’t give a shit about how long this takes, it’s now my lifestyle and I believe, with patience, I will eventually understand myself that much better. However, if I so choose to ask a question of those more experienced than I, I would appreciate a response with due thought and consideration. I respect all your efforts and successes, but you can take your condescending attitudes and shove them up your collective ass.

Well I give you some credit for standing up to the masses… but at the same time, you mention that you don’t train wisely and that you’ve been training for 4 years. If working harder is not an option, what about working more efficiently?

You also mention that you’ve eaten more, and that it hasn’t worked. Did you give your body enough time to adapt, or did you just pile on extra calories?

If what you are doing hasn’t worked for you in 4 years… it’s time to change it.

~V[/quote]
How the fuck is working harder not an option? Unless you are blacking out at the end of every set(its the end of the set because you blacked out lol), you can be working harder. If you are blacking out like that, you should probably take it easier and you’re constant headache should pass in a day or 2.

Oh man, going back and reading this thread made me giggle.

I’d say it was a timely bump as well.

[quote]Trogdor wrote:
Honestly this thread is pointless, and the advice given about as meaningless. Many of you assume that if someone can not bench 300+ or squat 400+ than they should just eat more and talk less; your logic here doesn’t make much, if any, sense. While the articles on this site are quite informative, personal experience as well as shared experiences of others have no substitute.

1)So you want to ask the question of those more experienced; but when the answer is eat more and bump up your intensity; you become defensive and discount the answer.

I’ve been training seriously for four years, and I cannot even touch a 300lb bench (but honestly I couldn’t give two shits about bench training), nor can I deadlift 400lbs (which is by far my favorite lift); 2)O.K. so you haven’t reached those type of numbers yet…how much have you improved in the last couple of years on the compound lifts you do?

the answer to these problems, however, is not “just fucking eat”; neither is my lack of dedication to blame. I train 4-8 times per week (depending on the current program) intensely, using only free weights and 90% compound lifts; this however, does not mean I train wisely. Why have I made such little progress? I honestly believe I just haven’t figured out how I best respond. Eating more has not worked for me and working harder is not an option.

3)if the type of ‘eating more’ you have done did not result in an increase of bodyweight that you were able to transfer into strength increases on your lifts-then you were not ‘eating more’ correctly and the answer to your situation is indeed to ‘eat more’ correctly! Perhaps this is one of the things you will eventually discover.

I am not complaining about my genetic potential, my lack of growth, lack of supplement funds, lack of anything… 4)sounds like complaining to me??

I don’t give a shit about how long this takes, 5)that’s good; because with your approach you amy need the time.

it’s now my lifestyle and I believe, with patience, I will eventually understand myself that much better. 6)be prepared; you may like what you learn; afterwards you will no longer have any excuses.

However, if I so choose to ask a question of those more experienced than I, I would appreciate a response with due thought and consideration. I respect all your efforts and successes, but you can take your condescending attitudes and shove them up your collective ass. 7)with all the heavy squatting we do(400lbs remeber)-I doubt you’ve be able begin penetration!![/quote]

What do you mean by clean diet?

Holy Bat-bump Batman!

2 Likes

What the heck!!! This thread still active!!! I thought T-Nation had taken all their forums off to facebook or livesquawk or whatever … astounding. Decades later …

The Mighty Stu!!! Still around! awesome. Wonder what happened to Prof X, last I heard was years back when he started training with Thib but then disappeared (although I disappeared more)

Well, it has been decades now, wonder how WannaBeBig got on with his life. Spent a lot of time trying to help that guy, as others did, wonder now if he was a bit of a troll for attention.

Most of my training these days is keeping the daemons of age away … but doing well with that, should not complain, actually should be grateful for all things.

Take care all

Wow… haven’t been on here in years, just got a random email notification from you posting on here, Magarhe. Like, pre-smartphone type years ago. I have no idea if anyone I know still posts. If so, I hope you’re well!

Whoa i remember your ‘T-cell Alpha log’ was good stuff -convinced me to get off HIT training and put in some serious volume.

Actually got a lot friendlier/drama free round here. Guys like Prof X long gone

Hope you stick around

Dude pre-smartphone for me was a few months ago, my phone that predated cameras finally died and has been replaced. It is a new world … and I seriously thought the forums had been closed on T-Nation because I could not find them easily, every article had links to some facebook chatting or something, now I see that there are in fact active forums still! Hilarious. Have been reading the articles all these years (still get email notifications) but thought everyone had disappeared into some new millenial void of tweeting and so on. Lots of changes in the world, lots of new stuff in training, too. New approaches, some whacky equipment

Now this is a blast from the past. I see a few names I recognize though. There were some good times and a LOT of good info in the old discussions.