# Can't Break This Plateau!!!



## Jeff (Jan 24, 2014)

Get ready to read because this is going to be a long post...

I have been working out for about two years and at first I saw some amazing gains. I lost 60 pounds of fat and was able to lift more weight than I ever thought possible. About 2 months ago I noticed that my muscles didn't get sore anymore and the amount of weight that I could lift had decreased. Oddly, I didn't lose any weight or muscle mass. I did some reading and learned that I had hit a plateau. I decided to take 2 weeks off and start over from scratch. This brought back the muscle soreness after workouts, but I still wasn't seeing any gains. I read everything I could find about breaking plateaus and began doing them. Here are the things I have tried:

-Eat several servings of fruit and dark green vegetables a day.
-Only eat lean meats.
-No fried foods.
-Try to eat 4-5 decent sized meals throughout the day.
-Limit my fast food intake to less than once a month.
-No chocolate, candy, cookies, cake, ice cream, potato chips, etc.
-Only eat whole grain/dark breads.
-No soda. I only drink water, Propel, and other forms of flavored water.
-Make every workout different/unique in some way. Eventually I do run out of workouts and have to recycle them, though.
-Change the number of reps and rest time between sets every time I lift.
-No cardio on days that I lift so my body focuses on only the muscle group(s) trained and not my heart/lungs.
-Get 8+ hours of sleep to alow my body time to recover.
-Take 1-2 days off each week to give my body time to recover.
-Chug a protein shake within 10 minutes after each workout.
-Drink a casein protein shake mixed with 1% milk before bed on days that I lift.
-Use creatine, nitric oxide, and testosterone supplements.
-No drugs or alcohol.

I don't see what I'm doing wrong. I should be seeing crazy gains by doing these things. Does anyone have any tips?

Thanks,
Jeff


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## DocDePanda187123 (Jan 24, 2014)

What are your goals and stats? Your issue could be diet related, training related, or both.


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## Iron1 (Jan 24, 2014)

What movements are you struggling with?
What poundage are you stuck at?
What program are you running?
How long have you been running it?

Dang Doc, like minds.


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## Bravo187 (Jan 24, 2014)

What's your usual meal plan with each 4 to 5 meals you eat?


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## Jeff (Jan 24, 2014)

Docd187123 said:


> What are your goals and stats? Your issue could be diet related, training related, or both.


I don't really have any goals set for myself other than get strong and stay healthy/in shape. I'm not trying to be a world class bodybuilder or anything.



Iron1 said:


> What movements are you struggling with?
> What poundage are you stuck at?
> What program are you running?
> How long have you been running it?
> ...


A rough overview of my decline:

I was able to bench 235, but now I'm stuck at a 1 rep max of 195. Sometimes I can do 205, but I usually need a little help from my spot. Incline went from 185 to 155.
I used to be able to do 50+ pushups in a set and now I can barely do 25-30.
My one rep max for curls used to be about 50 pounds. That has decreased to 40 on a good day.
Leg press has gone from about 900 down to 700.
Shoulder press went from 155 (I think?) to a max of 135.
Rows have stayed about the same at 75 pounds (my back has always been weak).

There are other things I do for these muscle groups, but It would take forever to list them all.

I'm not following any specific program. When I lift I recycle the same 10 or so exercises for each muscle group. Each time I lift I make sure that I never do the same 3 or 4 exercises together. The problem is there are only so many exercises for each group, so sometimes I'm forced to reuse an exercise from my previous workout. It's sort of hard to explain over the internet... I have been doing this since I started.



Bravo187 said:


> What's your usual meal plan with each 4 to 5 meals you eat?


I need something quick and easy for breakfast, so I eat a meal replacement bar and a greek yogurt that has fruit already mixed in it.

For lunch I usually eat a turkey sandwich on 100% whole grain bread with just a little bit of light Miracle Whip on it and whatever fruit I have laying around (apple, banana, grapes, etc). This changes depending on where I'm having lunch and what I have around the house, but that's what I eat 80% of the time.

Between lunch and dinner I munch on some sort of vegetable, fruit, or both. Depending on the vegetable I may dip it in light veggie dip, but I don't coat it. Just enough to taste the dip. Occasionally I'll mix in a greek yogurt.

Dinner varies widely depending on what my mom cooks. It almost always consists of a meat, starch, and vegetable.

My after dinner meal is usually pretty rare, but if I do eat it's pretty much the same as my post lunch/pre dinner meal.

Now that I look at my diet, the stuff I eat between meals seems more like little snacks, but at least I'm not snacking on junk food.


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## Stevethedream (Jan 24, 2014)

Dude I honestly think ur not eating enough imo. It looks like u range anywhere between 100 - 125g of protein per day and ur carbohydrates are almost about the same. Remember this is just speculation on what u posted. Every meal u should shoot for around 30 - 50g of protein and about 40 - 60g of carbs. I know u lost a lot of weight already but u shouldn't fear to eat a little more. The protein will help with muscle building and the carbs will help with energy and recovery. I know u said u ain't looking to b a bodybuilder or pro of that sort but increasing ur macros I believe will help u build more muscle and get over that plateau. No one knows ur body better than u yourself do so just start mixing things up and see how u feel and look. You also didn't tell us what ur height, age, body fat and weight is. Remember that 80% of bodybuilding is diet/nutrition so if u are eating correctly,  u shouldn't have any problem at all growing and becoming stronger. Good luck buddy and remember to post up ur stats like I stated above.


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## NbleSavage (Jan 24, 2014)

^^^ What StevetheDream Said ^^^


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## Bravo187 (Jan 25, 2014)

Steve is 100% right. You gotta eat quite a bit more. If you are having problems eating more, I suggest a peptide called GHRP-6 if you can get your hands on some. It'll always help your appetite a ton by stimulating the release of Gherlin, PLUS a big benefit to using it is that it'll increase your GH! You can never go wrong with some extra growth hormone!


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## Hero Swole (Jan 25, 2014)

My advice is either to bend your rules and eat a bit dirty and add more cheat meals. Or lower the training volume.


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## Jeff (Jan 25, 2014)

Stevethedream said:


> Dude I honestly think ur not eating enough imo. It looks like u range anywhere between 100 - 125g of protein per day and ur carbohydrates are almost about the same. Remember this is just speculation on what u posted. Every meal u should shoot for around 30 - 50g of protein and about 40 - 60g of carbs. I know u lost a lot of weight already but u shouldn't fear to eat a little more. The protein will help with muscle building and the carbs will help with energy and recovery. I know u said u ain't looking to b a bodybuilder or pro of that sort but increasing ur macros I believe will help u build more muscle and get over that plateau. No one knows ur body better than u yourself do so just start mixing things up and see how u feel and look. You also didn't tell us what ur height, age, body fat and weight is. Remember that 80% of bodybuilding is diet/nutrition so if u are eating correctly,  u shouldn't have any problem at all growing and becoming stronger. Good luck buddy and remember to post up ur stats like I stated above.


I am about 5' 8, 21 years old, no clue what my body fat is, and I currently weigh ~155 pounds. I'll take a look at the nutrition facts of what I'm eating and try to put something together with a lot of protein and carbs. 



Bravo187 said:


> Steve is 100% right. You gotta eat quite a bit more. If you are having problems eating more, I suggest a peptide called GHRP-6 if you can get your hands on some. It'll always help your appetite a ton by stimulating the release of Gherlin, PLUS a big benefit to using it is that it'll increase your GH! You can never go wrong with some extra growth hormone!


Lack of appetite isn't what's keeping me from eating a ton. I eat what I eat because it's already prepared or easy to prepare. To be honest I'm just too lazy to make myself a huge meal, especially in the morning when I'm half awake and have to rush out the door. I suppose I could prepare my meals the day before so I can just grab it out of the fridge and eat.



Hero Swole said:


> My advice is either to bend your rules and eat a bit dirty and add more cheat meals. Or lower the training volume.


By lowering the training volume do you mean workout 3-4 days a week instead of 5-6 like I currently do, or just do fewer exercises when I go to the gym?

Thanks for the tips so far!


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## Hero Swole (Jan 25, 2014)

Try push/pull/legs and see how it goes. Ultimately is up to you to figure out what works out best.


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## Hero Swole (Jan 25, 2014)

And you definitely need to put in more effort in the kitchen.


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## Bravo187 (Jan 25, 2014)

You just have to find the time to cook, and cook in bulk. For an example, what I do is buy a huge pack of skinless chicken breasts and season it and lay them all out on the tray and stick it in the oven till it's done cooking, when the chicken is done put the meat in Tupperware containers so you can eat them on the go. While the meat is in the oven  I cook a few cups of brown rice in the rice cooker, after the rice is cooked I wrap the rest of the rice in Saran Wrap in a burrito shape and toss it in the freezer so when I wanna have fresh "moist" rice I just toss it in the microwave for 3 minutes. Repeat this with steak and fish and you will have meals for a few days and not have to be in the kitchen slaving away for 5 hours throughout the day for a few days... This is what I do if I don't have time to cook, if you wanna be fit and get big you gotta EAT.


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## Tren4Life (Jan 25, 2014)

NbleSavage said:


> ^^^ What StevetheDream Said ^^^




I second that motion


motion carried


you need to EAT


I hope your seeing the common link between all of what we are saying here


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## AlphaD (Jan 25, 2014)

Listen, here is some sound advice.  Your 21 years old eating mommys food.  You want to up your gains in this game you need to eat, eat and eat some more. When i was 14, i was wrestling and couldnt always eat what my parents prepared, so guess what, i learned to freakin cook. Yeah, yeah i know your always in a rush. Well i have 2 kids and my own business, and still manage to have a weeks worth of food prepared.... ..  you can either do it or find excuses not too.  Your a big boy now.....choose the latter.


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## NbleSavage (Jan 25, 2014)

AlphaD said:


> Listen here is some sound advice.  Your 21 your old eating mommys food.  You want to up your gains in this game you need to eat, eat and eat some more. When i was 14, i was wrestling and couldnt always eat what my parents prepared, so guess what, i learned to freakin cook. Yeah, yeah i know your always in a rush. Well i have 2 kids and my own business, and still manage to have a weeks worth of food prepared.... ..  you can either do it or find excuses not too.  Your a big boy now.....choose the latter.



Plus Chicks dig a man who can cook.


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## Jeff (Jan 25, 2014)

Bravo187 said:


> You just have to find the time to cook, and cook in bulk. For an example, what I do is buy a huge pack of skinless chicken breasts and season it and lay them all out on the tray and stick it in the oven till it's done cooking, when the chicken is done put the meat in Tupperware containers so you can eat them on the go. While the meat is in the oven  I cook a few cups of brown rice in the rice cooker, after the rice is cooked I wrap the rest of the rice in Saran Wrap in a burrito shape and toss it in the freezer so when I wanna have fresh "moist" rice I just toss it in the microwave for 3 minutes. Repeat this with steak and fish and you will have meals for a few days and not have to be in the kitchen slaving away for 5 hours throughout the day for a few days... This is what I do if I don't have time to cook, if you wanna be fit and get big you gotta EAT.


Sounds good. I'll give that a shot.


Steelers4Life said:


> I hope your seeing the common link between all of what we are saying here


I do.


AlphaD said:


> Listen, here is some sound advice.  Your 21 years old eating mommys food.  You want to up your gains in this game you need to eat, eat and eat some more. When i was 14, i was wrestling and couldnt always eat what my parents prepared, so guess what, i learned to freakin cook. Yeah, yeah i know your always in a rush. Well i have 2 kids and my own business, and still manage to have a weeks worth of food prepared.... ..  you can either do it or find excuses not too.  Your a big boy now.....choose the latter.


Will do. It's just so much easier having someone else cooking my food for me, but you guys are right. Time to get my ass off the couch and into the kitchen...


NbleSavage said:


> Plus Chicks dig a man who can cook.


Lol.


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## Jeff (Jan 27, 2014)

I have a couple more questions for you guys:

1- Does anyone have any low salt poultry, beef/steak, fish, and whole wheat pasta recipes they would recommend? I'm heading to the grocery store soon and can't really find much on the internet.

2- I heard a rumor from one of my lifting buddies that too much masturbating can cause low testosterone levels and hinder muscle growth. Has anyone heard this before? It sounds like BS to me.

3- Any programs you guys recommend? I did some reading and saw that my little routine has a lot of flaws so I'm going to stop doing it. I wouldn't call myself a beginner, but I'm definitely not experienced, so something for an intermediate lifer would be good.

4- Does anyone have any tips for skin tightening? After losing 60 pounds I have a bit of excess skin and it hides the definition in my chest, arms, and especially my abs. That cream stuff doesn't do shit.

There was one more but I forget what it was  I'll add it if I remember...

Thanks again.


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## PillarofBalance (Jan 27, 2014)

Jeff said:


> I have a couple more questions for you guys:
> 
> 1- Does anyone have any low salt poultry, beef/steak, fish, and whole wheat pasta recipes they would recommend? I'm heading to the grocery store soon and can't really find much on the internet.
> 
> ...



1.  Salsa is good on everything. You can boil chicken and bury in salsa.
2. That's bullshit. Keep jerkin it or you'll get out of practice.
3.  Sheiko #29 will make a man out of you and put serious size on you.
4. If its severe that would require surgery.  A better option may be patience. Put weight back on but muscle instead of fat and it will push against the skin.


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## SFGiants (Jan 27, 2014)

Visit Burger King often my friend!


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## Jeff (Jan 27, 2014)

PillarofBalance said:


> 1.  Salsa is good on everything. You can boil chicken and bury in salsa.


Sounds good. I'll look up some salsa recipes and make my own. The stuff from the jar sucks.


> 2. That's bullshit. Keep jerkin it or you'll get out of practice.


That's what I thought.


> 3.  Sheiko #29 will make a man out of you and put serious size on you.


Awesome. I'll check it out and start it tomorrow.


> 4. If its severe that would require surgery.  A better option may be patience. Put weight back on but muscle instead of fat and it will push against the skin.


It's not as bad as what Fat Bastard had at the end of Austin Powers, but it's enough to be able to pull it out a decent amount. I can pull out the excess skin on my gut and use it to capture rain and have enough water for a glass or so. I'll just have to see what happens over the next few months.


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## gymrat827 (Jan 27, 2014)

Jeff said:


> Sounds good. I'll look up some salsa recipes and make my own. The stuff from the jar sucks.
> 
> That's what I thought.
> 
> ...



give yourself some time with the skin.....i bet over the new few months it will get quite a bit better.  You are still young, which is going to help your cause.

Also being 21 your natural Tes & GH are still high.  With the right foods/training you should be able to get stronger.

Id focus on adding a tad bit of weight more each week.  shit i know the 2.5lb plates may make you feel like a girl, but if you are able to bench 5lb more each wk you will make steady progress.  same goes for deads/squats.  

another thing i use to give my food some taste is lemon's & limes.  also look for the sodium free seasonings at the store.  

if you need help with fourm, watch a few youtube vid's of guys do the big 3 lifts.  I know you may already be doing them, but pay close attention to how they do the movements.


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## f.r.a.n.k. (Jan 27, 2014)

Focus young jedi


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## PillarofBalance (Jan 27, 2014)

Some good posts in here guys. Good for anyone to read. Advanced guys have some of these issues too. But most are too hardheaded to post and ask for suggestions.


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## Jeff (Jan 27, 2014)

gymrat827 said:


> give yourself some time with the skin.....i bet over the new few months it will get quite a bit better.  You are still young, which is going to help your cause.


It's been about a year and the amount of skin has gone down. I think I'm just impatient and want it all gone now.



> Also being 21 your natural Tes & GH are still high.


I hope so. Next time I get a blood test I might ask them to check my testosterone and growth hormone levels.



> Id focus on adding a tad bit of weight more each week.  shit i know the 2.5lb plates may make you feel like a girl, but if you are able to bench 5lb more each wk you will make steady progress.  same goes for deads/squats.


I agree, using the 2.5 plates does make me feel like a pussy. The smallest plates I've been adding are 10's. Adding that much weight must be bad. 



> another thing i use to give my food some taste is lemon's & limes.  also look for the sodium free seasonings at the store.


I have plenty of lemon/lime juice in the fridge so I'll see how my food tastes with that. My dad has diabetes so I have plenty of low sodium and sodium free seasonings at my disposal.

Any grilling ideas? As a man I need to master the art of grilling.



> if you need help with fourm, watch a few youtube vid's of guys do the big 3 lifts.  I know you may already be doing them, but pay close attention to how they do the movements.



Pardon my noobness, but what exactly are the big 3 lifts? Bench, squats, and deadlift?

One thing I definitely need to focus on is my form. Once the weights start getting heavy is when my form goes to shit.

 I think this week I'll just do light easy weights to get my form down before I start loading up the bar.



f.r.a.n.k. said:


> Focus young jedi



I'm working on it.


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## gymrat827 (Jan 27, 2014)

yes, Bench, squat and dead's are the big 3.  

if you are shaky or cant move the weight in a linear motion you are most likely trying to do too much........2 things you can do.  1, move down in weight.  2...do 1-3 reps.  than rack it.  give yourself 3-4min rest and do another 1-3 reps.  

this will allow you to move as much weight as possible without burning out.  1min - 90 seconds of rest is enough in most cases, but when your trying to break threw to higher levels its not going to cut it.  

I too am in your shoes.....trying to get to the next level.  I am doing some lifts with lots of rest and very few reps.  so either give more rest and do very low reps, or cut back the weight a bit so you can rep to 8/10ish.  

Both ways will breakdown the muscle.  but they will do it slightly differently.  


last, use real lemons/limes.  much better in the taste dept.


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## Jeff (Jan 27, 2014)

I'll give that a shot. 

Thanks for the help everyone!


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## Jeff (Feb 20, 2014)

Just wanted to give you guys a progress update: after a few weeks of eating more/differently I have begun to see results again! Slowly but surely my maxes have begun to go up and my muscle endurance has increased. My first few attempts at cooking were a disaster, but I eventually got the hang of it.

I have gained a few pounds as well, but I'm not to worried about it. I am 90% sure it is muscle and not fat.


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## captainamerica18 (Feb 27, 2014)

Go up in weight, in the strength spectrum 4-6 reps for 3 sets. And don't change it until you can make that a hypertrophy set 8_12 reps for 3 sets


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## stonetag (Feb 28, 2014)

PillarofBalance said:


> Some good posts in here guys. Good for anyone to read. Advanced guys have some of these issues too. But most are too hardheaded to post and ask for suggestions.


Hey I resemble that remark. In my own little world of lifting, when I feel I'm experiencing a stagnant period I stop lifting for at least a week, possibly 2, and come back with hopefully a more optimistic mind set. I believe your attitude plays a part, and will reflect a more productive workout. IDK..works for me and many other bro's!


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