I am not making progress with weights

[CCS]

Both examples assume your diet and sleep is right. With poor diet and poor sleep, you're screwed.

I have poor sleep. I was up at 3am after cuddling a woman most of the night. We went on a walk for a hour before going back to sleep. This only a day or two after my heavy workout. No wonder I don't have gains.

 

[joseph49853]

CCS, you need to do something to shock your system. Otherwise, you'll grow at the same rate as that of all beginners, except the very few genetically gifted. No amount of nutrition is going to change this natural process, I don't care what anyone tells you.

My advice is to spend half a day, with absolutely no weight, doing full *** to the ground squats... with perfect form. I'm talking about doing hundreds, into a thousand, do this a few times a month. As many as you're capable of doing in the span of a few hours. Take it seriously, it works.

 

[hair today gone tomorrow]

CCS, you need to do something to shock your system. Otherwise, you'll grow at the same rate as that of all beginners, except the very few genetically gifted. No amount of nutrition is going to change this natural process, I don't care what anyone tells you.

My advice is to spend half a day, with absolutely no weight, doing full *** to the ground squats... with perfect form. I'm talking about doing hundreds, into a thousand, do this a few times a month. As many as you're capable of doing in the span of a few hours. Take it seriously, it works.

if you had a brain you would NOT do this....a thousand body weight squats? yah that sounds efficient... :wink:

 

[joseph49853]

if you had a brain you would NOT do this....a thousand body weight squats? yah that sounds efficient... :wink:

I'm not familiar with your story. How long have you been bodybuilding/weightlifting?

This is the overload principle taken to the extreme.... similar to the theories behind the confusion principle. These techniques have been around for decades in bodybuilding, and followed by the likes of Schwarzenegger, Ferrigno, Columbu etc. Ordinarily your muscles adapt to the same stimuli and create stagnant growth periods. You want to increase the workload and take your body BEYOND failure a few times a year. Obviously squats are the most powerful exercise to create true physiological changes in the entire body. Read a biography or two on Lou or Arnold if you want to see these principles in action.

BTW, you could also do these weighted, but it probably wouldn't be advisable for a beginner. And expect to hurt the next day.

 

[Harie]

CCS, you need to do something to shock your system. Otherwise, you'll grow at the same rate as that of all beginners, except the very few genetically gifted. No amount of nutrition is going to change this natural process, I don't care what anyone tells you.

Beginner growth is just about the best growth you'll ever get. I don't understand how beginner gains aren't good enough? Most people would kill to keep their beginner gains going as long as they could. And shock the system? He's a beginner. He doesn't need any shock programs just yet.

CCS IMO you're making this WAAAAAYYYYYY too complicated. You aren't eating enough, aren't getting enough sleep & aren't training correctly. If you don't do those 3 things, you will never grow no matter what "supplements" you take.

It's simple: Eat, lift, eat, lift. You don't need to count carbs, grams of protein, fat percentage etc. Just eat and lift.

In keeping with Joseph though, what lifts are you doing? How many days/week are you training? What weight are you repping with for each lift you do? I also think that since you don't squat, you should at least try unweighted squats, or 1 legged squats.

 

[joseph49853]

The first year you're not neccesarily trying to make gains, but build a solid foundation. Especially if you're a young teenager 13-19 yo, or for some your early twenties, the capacity isn't yet there to become super huge anyway. Although, busting out the squats (also deadlifts, clean and press, bench presses) can help to afford a significant physiological change in males with increased test and HGH production.

 

[CCS]

Most body builders will cut till they get to 8-% body fat then bulk until they get to about 10%.

I have no way of knowing where that is. I think I'll just try to keep it visible at all time, and bulk by putting on 5 pounds (who knows how much is fat), and cut until my 6 pack looks as defined as I want.

You can cut and bulk in the same day, just not the same hour. Cut first thing in the morning, then load up on glycogen and hit the gym and start bulking again.