I need some help here

[Majo]

hi guys...

I'm new to this board and I'm seeking out for help. I've been doing bodybuilding now for over a year and I just can't seem to build much more muscle mass than I now have, but I want to pack on more muscle mass on my chest and arms and thighs. I thought when i tell you how I train and what I eat, you might be able to help me a little bit further. I've tried mass gainer, but I seem to put on weight on my abdomen with that and I'm really afraid to gain fat mass and not pure muscle. I'm gaining fat mass quickly if I don't watch what I'm eating, but gaining muscle is the issue for me.

I'm 6'3" and weigh around 180 lbs, I'm 36 years old

Here is my workout regimen right now. (I've done some things differently before but thought I needed to change it up now since I'm desperate for putting on more mass somehow)

• I'm always doing 4 sets with 15 - 20 reps for legs and 8 - 12 reps for the rest ...sometimes till failure when i upped my weights.
• I'm not having a break in between exercises anymore, instead I'm doing 1 set of crunches with 30 reps between each exercise.

Mondays

Lunges - 4 sets
squats - 4 sets
leg curls - 4 sets
straight leg dead lifts
standing calf raises
good mornings

Tuesdays & Thursdays

Bench Press
incline press
arnold press
pullover
bend over rows
push ups

Wednesdays & Fridays

front dumbbell raises
dumbbell lateral raises
seated dumbbell curls
close grip press
standing tricep extention
incline butterflies

...

my diet:

Breakfast

2 capsules platinum active x multivitamin

45g plain quick oats
49g whole egg
95g egg white
100g source yoghurt o%
100g strawberries

= 400 cal, 45 carbs, 8g fat, 27g protein

1st snack

100g source yoghurt 0%
granola bar

= 155 cal, 26 carbs, 3g fat, 6g protein

lunch

200 gr combined of lettuce & cole slaw & broccoli slaw or just spaghetti squash with mixed vegetables
100 gr onions
150 gr whole eggs
250 gr meat grilled pork or chicken or beef or 1 can of tuna
200 gr natural plain yogurt 2%

2nd snack

100g source yoghurt 0%
granola bar

= 155 cal, 26 carbs, 3g fat, 6g protein

pre workout

3000mg (4 capsules) weider double buffered creatine
1 scoop (1 serving) whey isolate with water

= 150 cal, 1 carb, 0 fat, 35 protein

post workout

1 scoop (they recommend 4 scoops) mass gainer in 250 ml coconut water

= 235 cal, 25 carbs, 4 g fat, 25 g protein

supper

200 gr combined of lettuce & cole slaw & broccoli slaw or just spaghetti squash with mixed vegetables
100 gr onions
150 gr whole eggs
250 gr meat grilled pork or chicken or beef or 1 can of tuna
200 gr natural plain yogurt 2%

before bed

1 scoop casein

= 140 cal, 0.5 g fat, 9 g carbs, 25 g protein

.... hope that helps...

[Praetorian]

In order to gain more muscle you will need to change a few things. Also please realize that in order to optimize muscle gain some fat will be gained as well...the idea is to keep it predominantly muscle.

1. Training needs to change I would suggest a 4 day per week routine:
mon- Chest + Triceps
Wed- back + traps
Friday-delts and biceps
Saturday-legs
2.Your rep range is too high which means you are not pushing heavy enough weights....for legs 6-10 max and for upper body stick to 5-8 reps. For someone starting out strength is a good indicator of progress. This will change as you advance but for now strive at getting stronger while maintaining proper technique and full range of motion
3. You need to start EATING....the amount of calories and protein you are eating is barely enough to support the muscle you have...I would suggest 6 meals per day, 50g pro+ 40g carbs+ 15g fat per meal...as a start
4. Stop rushing your workouts...take a break between sets enough to get breathing back to normal. You wont build muscle training aerobically...you need to push eat set as hard as you can....this wont happen if you are out of breath.
5. Stop doing crunches between sets...thats just silly...pick a day or two to do abs. You cant lift heavy on compound movements such as deadlifts or squats if your core is exhausted
6. Stick to whole foods and shakes with protein powder...AVOID weight gainers they are nothing but added sugar....granola bars...throw that crap out.

P

[Skailes]

Praetorian pretty much beat me to it. I would have you also have a protein shake with natty peanut butter as your snacks. I am a little more in favor of higher reps for BBing, but in your case at this point in time you'll do better with some lower reps work for the next few months so as to improve your strength and muscle mass. And where in Gods name did you come up with the abs in between sets crap.....mens health? If you want to be a bodybuilder then you need to train like a bodybuilder so do your abs after your chest/tricep workout is completed and you only need to train them once per week like all body parts. Also stick to the basics like presses, rows, deads, squats etc as these are what will build the muscle you're after.

Good luck.

[Majo]

thanks guys! my wife always told me that I need to eat more carbs and protein in order to gain more muscle, but I was afraid that I'd gain my "beer"belly back instead of muscles. I'm just wondering if I should eat that much, because work wise I'm sitting in equipment all day long... not moving much. I only do an hour of workout per day, 5 days a week. 45 min. weight lifting and 15 min. treadmill afterwards.

I'll work on my meal plan (not so sure how and what I'm gonna do) ... after reading the first reply I already added 1 protein shake to both of the snack meals today and I guess I will eat oats at the snacks instead of the granola bar. I very much dislike peanut butter (must be a german thing) ... so that is not an option really for me.

I used to eat sweet potato for lunch and suppers but then I thought I'd cut down on carbs and found spaghetti squash... which has like no nutrients at all.. I'll change that back and rather eat sweet potato then.

as for the abs in between sets... lol... I had the idea myself, thinking I'll need to exhaust myself more in order to get shredded.... bad idea as I can tell by your answers. change will be made :D promise

[Sean Summers]

Not enough protein. Drop the granola bars.
45g of oatmeal is just under 1/2 cup....that amount is for dieters.
Crunches between sets .... WTF?
Switch up rep scheme.
Seems like a lot of yogurt to me....

[Hosehead]

thanks guys! my wife always told me that I need to eat more carbs and protein in order to gain more muscle, but I was afraid that I'd gain my "beer"belly back instead of muscles. I'm just wondering if I should eat that much, because work wise I'm sitting in equipment all day long... not moving much. I only do an hour of workout per day, 5 days a week. 45 min. weight lifting and 15 min. treadmill afterwards.

I'll work on my meal plan (not so sure how and what I'm gonna do) ... after reading the first reply I already added 1 protein shake to both of the snack meals today and I guess I will eat oats at the snacks instead of the granola bar. I very much dislike peanut butter (must be a german thing) ... so that is not an option really for me.

I used to eat sweet potato for lunch and suppers but then I thought I'd cut down on carbs and found spaghetti squash... which has like no nutrients at all.. I'll change that back and rather eat sweet potato then.

as for the abs in between sets... lol... I had the idea myself, thinking I'll need to exhaust myself more in order to get shredded.... bad idea as I can tell by your answers. change will be made :D promise

If you wanna be big you have to be prepared to say goodbye to year round abs unless you are a mesomorph. Sounds like you are an ecto , like myself. Calories and heavy lifting changed the way I looked. You can still add more muscle and keep a six pack but if you are looking to really bulk up you have to say goodbye them unless you are prepared to use AAS or ancillaries. Don't be a JKurz. Don't count almonds and don't do crunches bewteen what should be balls out sets. No one who does balls out sets should be able to do crunches.
Good luck and take Praes', SS' and Skailes' advice. You won't find three more knowledgable behemoths who are happy to help (free of charge)anywhere else.

[Praetorian]

To avoid getting fat while gaining muscle...keep protein and fats high but time carbs around energy requirements...ie workouts and other physical endeavors.
P

[TT Eric]

as for the abs in between sets... lol... I had the idea myself, thinking I'll need to exhaust myself more in order to get shredded.... bad idea as I can tell by your answers. change will be made :D promise

Doing this might work for a while to cut, but in the long run this will raise your cortisol hormones levels (catabolic). And as the big guys said, you want to go heavy weights with longer break, like 2-3 min between heavy sets for bigger muscles and maybe 2 min for smaller muscle, this kind of training will optimize testosterone natural production which will help you build mass. And like Prae said make sure you get 50g protein 6x per day so you never lack of muscle building materials.

Eric

[Sean Summers]

Use cardio and diet to burn away the fat. Use weights (crunches in your case) to build/maintain muscle.