Hi there,
I've been training for several months now, and I am struggling to gain muscle mass. I gained a bit of muscle mass, but it feels difficult to progress. I would greatly appreciate some help on how to improve on this!
I believe that my form is in general correct, and I have been trying to use progressive overload. I've been watching several videos from Scott, in addition to reading a few books to gain more knowledge on tactics to encourage muscle growth. I started possibly in the worst muscle condition that anyone has ever heard. For instance, deadlift with 25kg was very hard. I managed to significantly improve -- I can now deadlift 60kg. I know that this will still sound like a very low weight for most guys, but at least it was an improvement :-)
However, I feel tiredness and lack of energy at the gym, and I've been feeling extremely tired after training too. After each set of deadlift, I tend to even feel dizzy. And the tiredness frequently prevents me to push my training harder. When I train in the morning, it also feels like this tiredness can even impact my ability to concentrate on my work for several hours. Should I bring some protein + carbs shake with me to the gym, to take a few sips while training? Or could it be that I'm training too long? After warming up, I've been spending 1.5-1.6hs at the gym. My exercise program is shown at the end of this post.
I bought a scale that can check the muscle mass and body fat percentage. I have only used it for a bit more than a week now, but there seem to be some interesting patterns. For example, I change my body fat percentage by 1% up or down quite easily. At first I thought that maybe the scale wasn't good enough. But then my wife said that her stats are very stable from one day to the next, varying by only 0.1%. So, it may not be a problem with the scale. Another interesting pattern is that it seems I tend to loose 300gr of muscle mass in the morning after training while gaining some 300-500 grams of fat. It seems that over the next 2 days after training, my muscle mass starts to increase back again, but very slowly, and much more slowly than the rate of loosing muscle right after training. Does it mean that I should be increasing my protein intake while perhaps reducing my carbs? I always ensure that I get 1.5 x my body weight grams of protein on my training day.
I'm a bit afraid of increasing my carbs or calorie intake because even though I have very low body fat, all of it accumulates on my lower abs. Possibly, I am on the skinny fat category. When I started training, my biggest goal was to get my abs better defined. However, since I started training, it seems that I actually gained more fat over my abs, and thus my abs became more difficult to show than before training. So, getting rid of the fat around my abs is another point that I am struggling with.
Overall, I'm really struggling with the issues above, and I hope that there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
Age: 36
Height: 165cm = 5'41''
Weight: 51kg = 112.44lbs
Bodyfat: 7.5%
Goal: Muscle Gain
How long you have been exercising: 10 months
Daily calories: 1840 to 2040
Daily macros in grams: protein 100-150gr, carbs 180-270, fat 40-80gr
Training 2 to 3 times (not always possible to do 3x a week due to long working hours)
Workout plan (changed around 3 weeks ago to the following):
Day 1:
Stretching
Cable crunches 3x12reps
Plank: 3x45 seconds
Pull ups: 3x7reps
Barbell bench press: 15reps warm up, pyramid 12, 8, 6 reps.
Chest flys: 15reps warm up, 3x12 reps.
Deadlifts: 15reps warm up, piramid 12, 10, 6 reps.
Row: 15reps warm up, 3x12 reps.
Bodyweight dips (focusing on triceps): 3x15 reps.
Stretching
Day 2:
Stretching
Cable crunches: 3x12 reps
Wood chopper: 3x15reps
Standing barbell shoulder press: 3x8reps
Cable laterals: 2x8 reps focusing on rear deltoids
Face pull: 5x10 low weight reps (trying to fix rounded shoulders)
Incline leg press: 15reps warm up, pyramid 12, 10, 8 reps
Leg extension: 3x10 reps
Leg curl: 3x10 reps
Drag curl: pyramid 12, 10 8 reps
Barbell curl: 2x8 reps
Stretching
Day 3 (whenever possible):
Stretching
Stability ball pass: 3x12 reps
Oblique crunches: 3x20 reps
Standing dumbbell push press: 15 warm up reps, pyramid 12, 10, 6 reps
Lateral raises: 3x12 reps
Barbell chess press: 15 warm up reps, pyramid: 12, 10, 6 reps
Close grip barbell press: pyramid 12, 10, 6 reps
Inclined bench bicep curls: 3x12 reps
Glute bridge: 3x12 reps
Stretching