andyellis1981

Background
Im a 26 yr old male and have been training on and off since i was about 20, but due to my lifestyle i was inconsistent and would regularly stop for weeks and months after putting in alot of time. Since then things have changed and since the 2nd week in Jan 07 i'v kept to a regular routine and seen alot of positive changes but not to the extent i'd of hoped to have seen.

Am i expecting to much in a year or can you pls help to improve my routine, diet and overall performance. Any comments are appreciated

Aim
If i trained as much as i'd researched in the past i have no dout i'd be alot bigger and toned than i am now. What im trying to say is im not expecting you to teach me the world, iv been a member on here for quite a few months and have read numerous threads as well as books and also gained knowlede from people who train at my gym, im just looking for a way to improve.

I'd like to be able to take on a steady growth of lean muscle mass with minimal impact on fat. I understand to grow quick this has to be sacrafised but im not sure the constant build then cut, build then cut is for me. I would like to look good all year, not just exceptional for 6 months.

My Routine
I train on a 3 day split, around 3-5 times a week and just rotat from one routine to the next each time i go regardless of day. I work Back+Bi's / Chest+Tri's / Shoulders+Legs and an element of Abs at the end of each. I'll warm up for 5 mins and cool down for 5 mins pre and post workout either cross training or rowing (i used to do more cardio but thought this was restricting my development by burning carbs rather than sourcing my growth)

As for diet, i try not to restrict my self to much and always have a lazy day each week and enjoy a beer glass of wine with evening meal. Usually though my daily intake resembles
8.00 - Protein Shake with water
10.00 - Musli
12.30 - Sandwich (e.g. chicken,tuna)
15.00 - Natural yoghurt
16.00 - Protein Shake with water and creatine 5g
17.00 to 18.00 - Training With Protein Shake and water straight after
19.30 - Evening meal (I like cooking so always try different stuff but always red meat, chicken or fresh fish with rice or veg)
22.30 - Protein shake with milk (to slow absorbtion) before bed

Currently i only supplement with PHD Whey Protein and PHD Creatine alothough over the past year i have tried Cyclone, Optimum Nutritions 100% Gold Whey and Also the BSN Stack (Synta 6, No-Xplode, Cell Mass adn Nitrix) The only product of these i felt any gain from was No-Xplode.

I have gone from a 34'' to 32'' waist since Jan but have only put on 4kg form 78 to 82. Any suggestions ?????

invisiblekid

To be honest mate I'd be satisfied with that progress. Sounds like you've shed fat and gained muscle to me.

Diet needs some work and that's where I'd look first if you haven't gained.

invisiblekid

HTH

gym rat

look through the diet section mate, your definatly not getting enough calories in ya, progress is good tho, i bet if you upped your protein and carbs you'd get bigger within 2 to 3 months

andyellis1981

Cheers guys, pls keep them coming, its all well and good me researching all i can but the feedback from you guys who are living this now is deffinately what i need.

I did suspect my food intake wasnt sufficient, my protein intake is around 170g per day but im sure my carb levels are to low, need to find how i can ramp these up without storing to much excess fat so i can still cut or maintain at the same time.

Cheers

gym rat

try a clean bulk mate, you cant go wrong heres a sample of my diet

breakie, bowl of porridge with banana and protein shake

mid morning tin of tuna with jacket spud

lunch, 2chicken fillets and rice

pre workout, protein flapjack or porridge with protein shake and 100g of unsalted peanuts

post workout, pro recover or mass gainer and flapjack

1 hour after training, steak and rice or spuds and veges or same as lunch

mid evening, chicken sandwich or homemade stew

bed, reflex quattro with milk and sometimes cottage cheese if im hungry, and again some nuts, maybe only a handfull

mate the key to gaining lean muscle is to eat as much clean food(with high protein) as possible, if anything, up your protein from 170 to 240g a day.
hope this helps mate, once you've started you'll grow like a weed

andyellis1981

I'v noticed alot of talk on a number of threads about WMS Waxy Maize Starch, would this fit into my diet or am i missing something about why its taken. My appologies but untill 10 mins ago i'd never heard of it.

andyellis1981

With reference to the above message, would normal corn starch have the same effect or are there negatives with this

hackskii

For a routine I would stick to basic compound lifts, using strict form using a controlled lift on the negative and positive part of the lift.
Squats, dead lifts, military press, pullups, dips, bench, rows.
Dont need much more and for a base this is perfect.

Each week try to improve slightly on reps from the last week.
Stick to 8-12 reps and once you get to about 14 or so reps, add weight the next week.
You will get there it does take time.

Stanco

Invisiblekid, milk gives you thick skin? Is that necesarrily bad thing?? I recently got an in ijection and the nurse said i had really thick skin and i drink a ton of milk each day.

Ollie B

Mate you have done very well. Dont fix smething that aint broke and never be dissapointed in your efforts to achieve your goals. Keep it up son

ah24

IMO milk doesn't give you thick skin - how can it?

It has a fair amount of carbs but if bulking and it fits into your macro's, wheres the problem? I drink just under 1L of milk a day, hasnt done me any harm - if you were dieting however then yes cutting milk would be adviseable.

cyberheater

I'd be pretty pleased if after a year of training i'd put on over half a stone of lean muscle tissue.
Add them up over a 5 year period and you'll end up being pretty big and lean at the same time.

bigden

use the mirror rather than scales to judge your progress u say u have dropped 2 inch on the waist and added 4kgs thats gotta make u look alot better than before. i dont tend to judge my progress with scales i go by what i look like in the mirror

thestudbeast

The carbs are low GI but dairy is high II so there will be a strong insulin response to milk it seems and hence fat storage. I'd be interested to see the II reaction to raw milk, I think a different story might be told.

Edit: reply to original question. Your doing fine mate, looks like a few more calories like in invisible kids post are required but overall nothing to worry about.