Never Getting Any Stronger

For reasons obviously unknown to me, I never seem to be getting stronger or improving with my weight lifting. I alternate days of heavy weight lifting and 1hr bike rides. On days that I work out, I eat about 2300 calories. My question is, why am I not getting stronger, or building any muscle? Is it because I eat too little, I'm not pushing myself hard enough when I am lifting, etc.

What are your stats, how long have you been lifting, and how hard are you pushing yourself when lifting? ^^

I have been lifting for about a year and a half now. My workout targets my chest, back, shoulders and arms. I do bench presses(135 is my heaviest set), rows, shoulder presses, bicep curls, etc.

Have you been doing the same routine for a year and a half? If so, that's probably your problem.

No I haven't. Recently I have for the last couple of months though. Maybe I need to change up my routine even more frequently?

Once you can do 3 sets of 12 for these exercises, have you upped the weight, and gone down to 3 sets of 8 (or as many as you can do)?

I can never improve to the point where I can do 12 reps of each set.

What are your stats (gender, height, weight, age), and what is your typical breakdown of food - protein, fat, carbs? Also, are you doing cardio on the same day as weights. Are you working out on an empty stomach? Are you drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, etc? Also, are you currently working on losing weight, and if so, what is your typical deficit?

Male, 170lbs, 5'-10", 18 y.o

 

I normally eat about 350g of carbs, 90g of protein, and 70g fat.

 

I do cardio the days in between my lifting days. I work out after having a light snack. I do drink lots of water.

 

My overall goal is less body fat, and more muscle. My typical deficit is around 300-400 calories.

If I did the math right (4 calories from a gram of protein or carbs, 9 cals from a gram of fat?), your percentages are 60% carb, 15% protein, 25% fat.

I think you need more protein to start. You definitely want to be getting more calories from your protein than from fat (which is hard, because fat gives you more than twice the cals per gram).  I know lots of people use the protein powders to up the amount they get. Maybe some others can recommend? I'm not experienced with this, but I know others are.

Awesome, thanks a lot for your help.

A:  You are eating so little protein I'd be surprised if your lifts weren't decreasing over time.  Aim for 40/30/30.  That's Protein/Carbs/Fat.

B:  You won't gain much if any muscle mass when undercutting your maintenance level.  Eat it and remember that your metabolism is elevated significantly for 24 - 38 hours after 45 - 60 minutes of heavy weightlifting.  This means that your actual maintenance level is higher than you think, plus your body is trying to repair muscle with those calories, not store fat.

had basically same problem being tall and lean   went to swimming and bikes and body is in better shape and tone.....am 6' 4" find what you need and by the way what was the goal???

My goal is to build muscle mass, while keeping body fat low.

Do you do legs? I have heard that working your legs releases a lot of hormones and will give you great results all over your body. Some have told me that they tell people "if you want a bigger upper body, don't neglect your lower body!"

Original Post by bmx9279:

My goal is to build muscle mass, while keeping body fat low.

 Find a professionally designed weight lifting routine like Home Grown Muscle or Total Body Training or something from the New Rules of Lifting and stick to it.  Make sure you're eating enough calories and getting enough sleep.

i was having a similiar problem last year. this year i gave myself an extra recovery day/week, sometimes even between different exercises.  it seemed to help a lot, especially with my tricep & ab strength as well as my running endurance.  so once and awhile i would take two days off, or take one day off or the next day i do a very very light exercising.  i just find that after the extra day here and there, i perform so much better.  you know the old saying that its actually the recovery time that muscles rebuild themselves, and not the actual exercise.  

but perhaps just an increase in protein might help you.

anyway i tried to find a couple of articles i read before but couldn't,  but this one sounds almost the same.  http://www.timinvermont.com/fitness/fund.htm

or here is another one with some physiological babble in it.  http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/training/ weightlifting.htm

rnjt,

 

Do you think that spending the day in between when I lift, counts as a recovery day even though I bike?

I'm a little skeptical that this is not my problem for a few reasons. I always take Saturdays completely off, and I most of the time take Friday off. So shouldn't I be recovering enough already?

 

And, I'm never THAT sore for a long period of time after I workout. So I don't get it.