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Weight gain has plateaued

H

haggis

New member
Hi there.

I am a 40 year old guy who has been getting fit and doing a regular weight gain gym routine now for about 1 year. I am your typical ectomorph and have had a constant weight of about 70KG most my adult life. At 6ft 2 I am pretty slim. I have been doing a 2 day split routine and have what I think is a fairly effective nutritional regime with enough protein for weight gain (about 150grams a day). Through the first 8 months of training I have steadily gained about 7 kilos which has been great and my strength and general robustness has increased accordingly.

My main issue is that with all this success I seem to hit about 77Kg and then even lose a bit of weight and stay at about 76kg. Obviously I have no strength gains from this point either.

I swap my routine around a bit as well and usually feel quite a bit of muscle soreness after workouts so I assume I am still ripping muscle for regrowth. So I am not sure what to do to continue my growth. I not interested in huge gains but have the objective of breaking 80 to 82 kg. The other thing to mention also is that I do a bit of cardio, I ride my bike to work everyday which is about 18-20 mins each way. I know that mass building involves lots of rest and not too much cardio but this is not negotiable and I have managed to put on 7 kg while doing this anyway.

The main thing I think that might be a factor is if I am getting enough carbs. I do not have a lot of knowledge here so I would like some insight into this, especially from someone who really has alot of experience here.

Tks
 
2 day split routine is where your lacking, have a read of the begginers thread its a 3 day split full body based on compound exercises.

Also out of interest what did your 2 day split look like? and What are you Deadlifting, Squatting and Benching.
 
Can I just say 'welcome', and well done so far?

I'm a full 4 inches shorter than you and for me, putting on muscle weight at this age is also a major battle. Of course, running around on a soccer pitch at least twice a week for hours on end doesn't help!!
 
haggis said:
have what I think is a fairly effective nutritional regime with enough protein for weight gain (about 150grams a day).
Click to expand...

To have an effective 'nutritional regime' you need to be aware of your total calorie intake and sufficient macronutrient requirements to support the goals you are after.

If you have not calculated that both, your body composition and training progression will not eventuate.

Nutritionally as a guide your should aim for at 40-45 cals per kg of bodyweight with MINIMUM 2g Protein/kg (3g would be better) and 0.8g Fat/kg. Fill the rest of your calorie requirements with what you wish (all carbs, a mix of protein carbs and fats etc what ever you like). Do that for a couple of weeks and then just simply adjust calorie up/down depending on your progress ;)

Training, just ensure you are training for BOTH myofib and scara hypertrophy. Getting stronger = getting more muscle and improving body composition. Simple :)

Oh and as CF said welcome and good job so far ;)
 
Thanks for the guidance and cheers for the welcome.

Just been working out my calorie intake and looks like I am definitely short, particularly taking into account 35 mins of fairly energetic bike riding per day. And I am high metabolism anyway.

To answer you Q staunch after about 5 months I went to a 3 day split and felt like I was over training. I seemed to be a lot tireder on the 3 day considering my other physical activities included. So I dropped back to 2 days. Admittedly, 2 days doesn't quite seem enough either.

I am strengthening a long term lower back issue so I don't do dead lifts but horizontal leg squat machine - top out at 130/140 kg.
Top out on bench is two 50 lb dumbbells.

I am probably getting about 2500-2700 cals and a fair bit lower on weekends when my routine is different and I am actually less active. Also I am probably on the limit of 2g/kg for protein particularly as my protein intake has not increased since starting yet I am 7 kg heavier.

thanks again guys
 
Muscle soreness is not a result of "ripping muscle", how many times does this need to repeated.
Muscle soreness is a result of either doing an exercise incorrectly or not often enough or both.

2day split? Please elucidate.
It seems as though you need a change, we can help.
 
haggis;211431. said:
I not interested in huge gains but have the objective of breaking 80 to 82 kg.
Click to expand...
Here is your first failure.

If you train like you want to be 100kg ripped then you may just achieve your 82kg.
 
Depending on how you do it, lifting will stimulate either Myofib or sarco hypertrophy. So in the end it is lifting :D
 
AndyMitchell said:
Haggis

If you jump into the boxing ring, expect to be hit.

Shrek is suggesting something here.
Click to expand...

Hi Andy,

I find your comment somewhat confusing. Is this forum a boxing ring? Have I laid down some sort of challenge by asking a simple question? Is your brain so overstimulated by testosterone that you see a simple question as a challenge, metaphoric or otherwise!
 
AndyMitchell said:
Haggis

If you jump into the boxing ring, expect to be hit.

Shrek is suggesting something here.
Click to expand...

Yes, he is suggesting something, granted. I suggested that I think he is wrong. His comment is short sighted and fails to take in any number of aspects of a person (namely me) and to completely dismiss their efforts and focus which up to this point have been quite successful.
 
LOL at Haggis.

It's constructive criticism.
Take it or leave it.
So many times I've heard "I don't want to be huge". Truth is 99.99% of guys who lift weights never end up huge. That is my point.

As Andy says, "Lift like you life depends on it, because it does" ?
 
haggis said:
Yes, he is suggesting something, granted. I suggested that I think he is wrong. His comment is short sighted and fails to take in any number of aspects of a person (namely me) and to completely dismiss their efforts and focus which up to this point have been quite successful.
Click to expand...

Then why have you started a thread about plateauing?
 
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