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Feel like I've reached a plateau - require knowledge! Or have I?

Puggy

Puggy

Member
Hello all,

I'm in a bulking phase, I'm just trying to grow. I feel as if my growth is quite slow, but I'm unsure.
I've put on 1kg over the last two months. And my body fat is realitivly similar as it was when I started.

I'm at a 600 calorie surplus and training 5-6 times per week. Specific bodybuilding routine.
Macro's are 250P, 80F, 300C+

30/1/15 - 90.1kg
1/3/15 - 91.1kg

I'm just needing some advice, to see if you think this is normal or if I need to change something?

Thanks
Daniel
 
If you're sure you've gained lean mass and minimal fat, 500g/month isn't bad going. Most people will gain a lot of weight when bulking but a lot of that will be fat which they then have to cut back off. If you're going for a lean bulk, keep doing as you're doing.
 
Mate, if you can, hire a proper BB trainer to mix things up for you and push you into a new level of pain, you'll grow again.
Don't know any in W'bool only Melb.
 
Growth isn't linear, you will have periods of slow and periods of faster growth. I would bump up my calories for a fortnight and see how it goes. I would be on the lookout for signs of exhaustion with such high volume too. Maybe have a recovery week with low volume and high calories then get back into it and see how the next month or so goes. Just a thought.
 
If you ae going for a lean bulk and only gained minimal fat I would consider that some good gains an keep at it, you may want to increase Cal's for the next couple of weeks just to see the results to break thorough the platue if you are in fact experiencing a plague....too many people in my opinion gain too much fat when bulking which they just have to strip back when they cut anyways,
 
Puggy said:
Hello all,

I'm in a bulking phase, I'm just trying to grow. I feel as if my growth is quite slow, but I'm unsure.
I've put on 1kg over the last two months. And my body fat is realitivly similar as it was when I started.

I'm at a 600 calorie surplus and training 5-6 times per week. Specific bodybuilding routine.
Macro's are 250P, 80F, 300C+

30/1/15 - 90.1kg
1/3/15 - 91.1kg

I'm just needing some advice, to see if you think this is normal or if I need to change something?

Thanks
Daniel
Click to expand...

You're eating about 3000 calories a day and training 6 times a week. I was having about 3900 calories for breakfast and training 8 times a week and still didn't put on any weight. Either increase your daily caloric intake, reduce your training frequency, or both.
 
Just curious [MENTION=2727]Fadi[/MENTION] ; how much lean mass do you think it's possible to gain in say a month?
 
White_Lie said:
Just curious @Fadi ; how much lean mass do you think it's possible to gain in say a month?
Click to expand...

dr-evil.png
 
White_Lie said:
Just curious @Fadi ; how much lean mass do you think it's possible to gain in say a month?
Click to expand...
If you are a total beginner to the iron game and you were training consistently and taking optimum care of your recovery aspect, then an initial spur of about 2-4kg wouldn't be at all surprising. As you progress (and the more you progress), the slower those gains would be. It's always a case of "WOW Charlie, is that really you son!"...when you see someone who has taken up resistance training you haven't seen in a month or so. At 15, I went from 60kg to 63kg in one month without trying to add any weight on, and without training for bodybuilding. I began as a weightlifter, with 3 sessions a week under the close eye of a dedicated coach all those years ago. And I remember asking him, shall I lose weight to lift in the (back then) 60kg division? To which he replied in the negative, knowing from experience that my bodyweight was going to be on the increase as I had just started in that sport.

Having said the above, people are different, and would respond differently to resistance training, eating, and their overall recovery pattern differs from one another. Some may sleep better because of the training some may feel all wired up etc. So we all respond differently.

As one progresses in the sport, a gain of 250gm a month of pure muscles would be verging on absolutely phenomenal! Of course we need to take into account that nothing works in a linear fashion, but much more in a sour type of a way.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Fadi, that's more what I was thinking for 'seasoned lifters'.

He has increased by 500g a month - without an accurate bodyfat scan it would be difficult to tell how much is lean but do you think this is too low/slow and he should still increase his calories and also possibly risk increasing his fat gain?
 
White_Lie said:
Thanks Fadi, that's more what I was thinking for 'seasoned lifters'.

He has increased by 500g a month - without an accurate bodyfat scan it would be difficult to tell how much is lean but do you think this is too low/slow and he should still increase his calories and also possibly risk increasing his fat gain?
Click to expand...
Ah, now that you've put it that way, my definite answer is no, no he should not increase his calories etc.

Having said that, he ought to monitor his bodyweight and see what occurs in another month, if it has not moved, then a change in his activities, eating habit, or both, would be in order.
 
Puggy said:
Hello all,

I'm in a bulking phase, I'm just trying to grow. I feel as if my growth is quite slow, but I'm unsure.
I've put on 1kg over the last two months. And my body fat is realitivly similar as it was when I started.

I'm at a 600 calorie surplus and training 5-6 times per week. Specific bodybuilding routine.
Macro's are 250P, 80F, 300C+

30/1/15 - 90.1kg
1/3/15 - 91.1kg

I'm just needing some advice, to see if you think this is normal or if I need to change something?

Thanks
Daniel
Click to expand...

I'm not sure why you think you have stalled.

Going on current growth this time next year you will be 97.1kg. If your not getting fatter that is great progress. Growing muscle is a slow process
 
Bazza20 said:
I'm not sure why you think you have stalled.

Going on current growth this time next year you will be 97.1kg. If your not getting fatter that is great progress. Growing muscle is a slow process
Click to expand...
Good thinking Bazza
If a bloke can put on 7kg of muscle in a year, he's doing better that most.
What many lifters lack is patience
 
Your diet looks sound. Keep fueling your body as is.

If you want to mix things up, do it with your training. Play around with volume and weight/reps.
 
Thankyou all for your great answers! You've made me feel a fair bit better.
At a 600 calorie surplus, I thought I may have put on more weight, but I began to think into a little more today.

I train high volume, 1-2.5 hour workouts, intense.
I'm young, tall and already burn alot of calories throughout the day.
I also thought of another thing that is keeping me lean and it's a fat burner that I have taken every single day since starting this bulk.
I'm actually extremely close to how lean I was at the end of my mini cut in Novemeber, but quite a bit heavier.

So as you all said, I'm just being a worry wort. And I should be happy with what I am doing.
Need more patience is all.

But even though I may feel a little more at peace. I should also try some of your suggestions, first thing however, I will not use my fat burner for a week and see the effect.
If I gain more than usual, and look fluffier, I can assume maybe the fat burner is actually doing its job.

Then I will start encorporating some of your ideas!

Thanks
Daniel
 
One thing I'd say is that if you aren't actually gaining weight then you are actually eating maintenance calories. As you eat more, get bigger, your metabolism is slightly higher. The opposite happens while dieting.
 
Fadi said:
You're eating about 3000 calories a day and training 6 times a week. I was having about 3900 calories for breakfast and training 8 times a week and still didn't put on any weight. Either increase your daily caloric intake, reduce your training frequency, or both.
Click to expand...

I agree with this
5 to 6 days is week is ok but gotta remember thats a shitload of calories going out if your training with intensity and pushing yourself

after doing this for a few months you should be able to eat all day long and just soak up anything and everything with that gym frequency and good ethics
 
C_T said:
I agree with this
5 to 6 days is week is ok but gotta remember thats a shitload of calories going out if your training with intensity and pushing yourself

after doing this for a few months you should be able to eat all day long and just soak up anything and everything with that gym frequency and good ethics
Click to expand...

Someone who can eat all day long and not gain weight is someone who doesn't know how to eat.

Good ethics to gain weight. Lol. Ok.
 
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