• 🛑Hello, this board in now turned off and no new posting.
    Please REGISTER at Anabolic Steroid Forums, and become a member of our NEW community! 💪
  • 💪Muscle Gelz® 30% Off Easter Sale👉www.musclegelz.com Coupon code: EASTER30🐰

How often should i be making gains

skel1977

Registered
Joined
May 23, 2013
Messages
132
Reaction score
4
Points
0
Location
usa connecticut
IML Gear Cream!
Its been literally 30 days today since i started going to the gym. Im curious about how often i should see gains and increase weight on lifts.

For instance I have made gains in some areas but not in others.

Legs. Im up 25 pounds on my squats, 20 pounds on press, 10 pounds on my curls and extensions.

Biceps and chest I have not been able to add any weight. Except for dips. I use to need the machine assist, now i can do them quite easily. This was most surprising to me.
Quite frustrating that im still at the same weight.

I assume bicep will be the hardest to add weight because the weight increments will be in the 5 pounds, which is a large % of the 25 or 30 pound dumbell im curling now.
My bench press could be mental. Im pretty scared to add weight without a spotter. Should i be benching on the smith machine instead?


Back and shoulders not really sure, will find out in a couple of days though when i try to increase weight.
 
Its been literally 30 days today since i started going to the gym. Im curious about how often i should see gains and increase weight on lifts.

For instance I have made gains in some areas but not in others.



Biceps and chest I have not been able to add any weight

for bi's it might take awhile b/c ( I bet) you are already lifting too heavy with incorrect form (b/c 90% of people do this, and you're new)


. Except for dips. I use to need the machine assist, now i can do them quite easily. This was most surprising to me.
Quite frustrating that im still at the same weight.

I assume bicep will be the hardest to add weight because the weight increments will be in the 5 pounds, which is a large % of the 25 or 30 pound dumbell im curling now.
My bench press could be mental. Im pretty scared to add weight without a spotter. Should i be benching on the smith machine instead?


Back and shoulders not really sure, will find out in a couple of days though when i try to increase weight.

Idk how but I missed the bolded above. Just my guess but that weight it too heavy for you. Go down in weight and do it without moving your elbow and be sure to extend your arm.


And when you say you can't increase weight on a lift what does that mean? Let's say you can BB bench press 135 10 times, you can't do 145 even once?
 
After re reading what i typed i guess its silly. I could increase weight. Just scared without a spotter. I dont want to be the guy dropping a barbell on his throat

my last bench was

10 135
8 135
7 135
5 135

Im going to try lowering the weight like you suggested on my curls to make sure i use bette form. Thanks
 
36. I have never lifted weights before until this past month. I was fat and lost 30 pounds and now im trying to stay in shape for good. I was at the gym last night and benched 165 on the smith machine so I know i can go up in weight.
 
Congrats on starting a new way of life of fitness. I bet your overall goal is to gain strength and size. A true test of strength is to max out on pull ups!! Go ahead and do as many as you can today, then every week do it again. I like to track my body progress by using a measuring tape. Your body weight will go up and down, this will drive you nuts. Counting weight pound for pound and trying increase every week is cool and motivating. I want to advise you do not get stuck doing the same exercises every week. Your body will develop muscle memory and begin to do the exercises with the lease efforts on your body. Short hand switch up your work outs. exp. week one do high reps low weight 4 sets of 15 reps. week two heavy weight low reps 5 sets 5 reps. week three do super sets or drop sets. I would recommend asking some of these guys if they have workout routines, I know the body parts I want to hit and then I just make it happen.
 
congratulations on your efforts....i would suggest that 30 days into working out you should not be concerned about lifting heavy weights or even to failure. you should concentrate for at least 3-4 months on your learning and lifting technique and concentrate on keeping good form until it becomes natural to you. no matter what weights you use you will have some gains in the beginning due to many factors one of which is just you are getting better technique. Use weights that you can lift more than 10 reps ( 15 should be hard) then only increase the weight after a while when you feel comfortable with the weights and your form is perfect.
 
My bench press could be mental. Im pretty scared to add weight without a spotter. Should i be benching on the smith machine instead?

Try to stay away from the smith machine if you can. I almost always train alone, and when I first started I was scarred of not being able to lift the bar off me. So I used the smith machine. And I was very surprised to find out the amount of weight doesn't transfer to free weight. I could bench 20lbs more on the smith machine.
So I use the power rack. It's usually very slow at the gym when I train, so if it's the same with you try the power rack. So you don't have to worry about crushing your chest.
 
36. I have never lifted weights before until this past month. I was fat and lost 30 pounds and now im trying to stay in shape for good. I was at the gym last night and benched 165 on the smith machine so I know i can go up in weight.

Okay, I was asking because you can expect different gains when you're in your early 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's and so forth. You should try to increase weight on each major lift at least minimally every week. If that can't be done, then at least try to increase the reps. When that becomes to difficult, it's time to take a week off and start a completely different workout which will enable you to make the necessary weight adjustments. Otherwise, you'll likely be maintaining with minimal gains, if any. Also, adjusting your diet i.e.. increasing calorie intake, protein intake, eliminating junk food can help you make the gains. Finally, creatine monohydrate has always allowed me to break plateaus in strength and size so you can try that for a few months on and few months off.
 
Okay, I was asking because you can expect different gains when you're in your early 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's and so forth. You should try to increase weight on each major lift at least minimally every week. If that can't be done, then at least try to increase the reps. When that becomes to difficult, it's time to take a week off and start a completely different workout which will enable you to make the necessary weight adjustments. Otherwise, you'll likely be maintaining with minimal gains, if any. Also, adjusting your diet i.e.. increasing calorie intake, protein intake, eliminating junk food can help you make the gains. Finally, creatine monohydrate has always allowed me to break plateaus in strength and size so you can try that for a few months on and few months
off.

Well good news this morning. I went for it. My bench is now 165 8 times. My squat is up 30lbs since a month and a half ago. Everything is up. Very happy this morning :)

Try to stay away from the smith machine if you can. I almost always train alone, and when I first started I was scarred of not being able to lift the bar off me. So I used the smith machine. And I was very surprised to find out the amount of weight doesn't transfer to free weight. I could bench 20lbs more on the smith machine.
So I use the power rack. It's usually very slow at the gym when I train, so if it's the same with you try the power rack. So you don't have to worry about crushing your chest.

I have been staying away from the smith machine. Ill continue to do so. I do love the power rack.

Congrats on starting a new way of life of fitness. I bet your overall goal is to gain strength and size. A true test of strength is to max out on pull ups!! Go ahead and do as many as you can today, then every week do it again. I like to track my body progress by using a measuring tape. Your body weight will go up and down, this will drive you nuts. Counting weight pound for pound and trying increase every week is cool and motivating. I want to advise you do not get stuck doing the same exercises every week. Your body will develop muscle memory and begin to do the exercises with the lease efforts on your body. Short hand switch up your work outs. exp. week one do high reps low weight 4 sets of 15 reps. week two heavy weight low reps 5 sets 5 reps. week three do super sets or drop sets. I would recommend asking some of these guys if they have workout routines, I know the body parts I want to hit and then I just make it happen.

Thanks mate. I will definitley start switching it up. I do pullups on back shoulder days. These are easy for me since i have been doing pullups with a bar at my house for quite a few months.
 
Oh and my weight is 155 up from 150. Yep my weight flucutates and it does drive me crazy.


When you weight yourself you have to be consistent to get an accurate reading (same time every day after the same activities eg eating, sleeping). I weight myself every morning after I take a shit. I don't eat or drink anything before I weigh. You also must wear the same thing when you weigh.
 
I always weigh myself in the morning as soon as i wake up. I sleep naked so i weigh myself as soon as i walk into the bathroom. I can weigh in at 152 and by the end of the day im at 158. I figured 155 was a neutral number. Compared to last month it ws 146 in the morning or as high as 152 in the evening.
 
TMI brother, lol, I wouldn't focus so much on weight it'll come. Just go by how you look in the mirror and check every couple weeks unless your getting ready for a comp or have to make a certain weight for a sport.
 
^^^ this i weigh myself probably once a year... you should focus on your looks but don't stay in front of the mirror all day, your weight does not indicate muscle gains for sure it can indicate fat gains as well which you don't want. you have been in the gym for 30 days dude and you are already obsessed by weight gains and how much you can lift and so on !!! just focus on your routine and training and all the good stuff will follow otherwise you will be only frustrating yourself... gains are not measured by days they are measured by months and years.
 
Im going to avoid the scale from now on. I was going through my phone to find pics of when i first started lifting. Some progress has been made I think, but not sure. I feel like i can say better definition. I feel stronger. I know im stronger, my lifts have gone up fairly steady. I have been working hard both in and out of the gym. I guess these are my newbie gains.



Pic taken on 5/9
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc67/Skel1978/05092013_zpse207bfe7.jpg
Pic taken on 6./23(last night)
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc67/Skel1978/06232013_zps7a815026.jpg
 
Don't worry about the numbers bro, you will eventually find that you'll have body parts that are stronger than others and lifts that are stronger or weaker than others. Remember the muscle doesn't know how much weight is on the bar.

You didn't mention anything about your diet. Diet is key, if your diet isn't on the mark forget about making gains.
 
Not really following a strict diet right now. My only goal is to hit my protein requirements every day. I try to hit 220g per day but am satisfied if i hit 150g.
Changing up the way I eat though to help me hit my goals easier. Eating meat in the morning instead of oats. Going to carry around 2 containers of pre cooked chicken breast or steak with me at work from now on.
Going to try to eat every 4 hours instead of just 3 times a day. My snacks are going to be peanut butter on bread for my fats or hard boiled eggs. Also changed from low fat milk to whole. Adding more raw broccolli to my diet as well, probably my before i go to bed snack.

going to try to drink the charles poliquin magnesium bottles(have some samples) to see if it helps me sleep better. I sleep like crap right now. Dropping muscle milk after this tub is done and then going to be using a better brand.
 
Last edited:
I woudnt worry too much about the weight of your lifts. I know for me personally I have to make a mental note to NOT try and out lift other people in the gym and instead focus on good form and muscle contraction.... and my body is changing very rapid... everyone else at my gym all looks the same they did a year ago.... also, if I could go back and tell myself one thing before I started my transformation, it would be to FOCUS ON DIET. if your not eating to make gains, you wont make gains.
 
I'm going to drop weight on my lifts so i can go at a 1:3 tempo. My buddy said each set should be 40 to 60 seconds. 1 second up and 3 seconds on the negative. Its a good way to switch my routine anyways since ive been doing the same thing for about 5 weeks now.
I'm really trying with my diet but I almost feel like it was easier to lose weight than it is to gain weight. Both are challenging especially since i trained my stomach not to want food now.
 
IML Gear Cream!
my trick for the diet, is to be consistent. thats really what it comes down to. stick to certain amount of calories/macros for 2 weeks and them evaluate where your at... and then adjust more/less according

dont worry about "seconds up" or "seconds down." just focus on muscle contraction, form, and time under tension.
 
Hay thanks for all the advice. Im going to continue this in my journal. Needless to say ive avoided the scale for the last week or two but finally decided to see where im at, 159lbs! Someone at worked asked im on steroids. Ill take it as a compliment. Anyways adding to journal now
 
Triceps: I don?t isolate my triceps or tricepts(three concepts). I feel they are hit hard enough with bench, weighted dips, overhead press. Also curious if i start isolating them, will this translate over to my bench press.


Core: Are these enough for my core. Weighted decline situps with a 25lb plate and what I call ab dips though I don?t know the true name. Just grab a 45lb plate and lunge to the side. Pl;us I assume im hitting my core with squats and pullups


Legs: Also my legs are taking a long time to recover. My first exercise was squats last night and my legs still felt strained from 5 days ago. The strain is felt below the groin on my inner thigh. As a result my squats were limited
High reps for calf raises or do i stick to 8-12 rep range.
Where should my feet be on leg press. Low or high on the sled. Will pointing my toes out work my calves or ruin my ankles?
 
Are you stretching after your workouts? It's an overlooked part of training.
 
I am not. I noticed a cramping in my left calf last night after doing a set of raises. I immediately stretched and it went away. I was able to continue with my calf raises. I will stretch after from now on.
 
careful stretching before/during workout. you put yourself at greater risk of injury.

hop on the treadmill for to 5 to 10 minutes before you hit the weights. that will warm your body up and prime the muscles.
 
Good luck with everything, keep grinding and it will pay off.
 
Hay mates and mate ettes. Back for more help. I started lifting 5/9 so its 2 months now. Still making progress but I feel there is room for improvement. I want to switch up my routine

1)I realize the muscle groups i am training with each other can be modified. For instance Im training chest and biceps together. I feel like id rather train back and biceps. Makes more sense to me
2)I have becoming reliant on Mr smith machine and machines in general. I feel I need to get away from doing that. Being a newbie i was scared to add any kind of real weight to the bar for fear of not having a spotter. I feel like I can move on now though.
3)Ive been using this same program(created by myself) for 2 months. Havent even been training triceps. Time to switch it up and move forward

Of course any help is appreciated.



The old
8-12 reps, Somtimes pyramid

Back/shoulders

Pullups 3 sets
Smith overhead press 4/5 sets
Seated machine rows 4 sets
Lat pulldown machine 4/5 sets
Dumbell front lat raise 4 sets
Barbell rows smith machine 5 sets
Hammer smith machine rows 5 sets



LEGS/abs


Squats 4 to 5 sets free weight
Leg extension(machine) 4 sets
Leg press 4 to 5 sets
Leg curl(machine) 3 sets
Seated calf raise 3 sets
Weighted decline situps 4 sets
Hammer strength crunch machine
Ab lunges(dont know the real name for these)Hold 45lb plate and lean to the side to work sides of abs. Saw people doing these at the gym and did them


Chest/bicep

Bench Press Smith machine 5 sets
Machine flies 4 sets
Incline bench smith machine 5 sets
Cable rows 4 sets
Hammer curls 5 sets
Scott curls ez bar or staight bar 4 sets
Cybex cable curls/scott 4 sets
Reverse curls 4 sets

-------------------------------------------
That was the old this is the new. Hypertrophy 8-12 reps still 4/5 sets


A: CHEST, SHOULDERS, TRICEPS

Chest
? Barbell Press
? Dumbell Incline Press
? Dumbell Flies
? Cable Crossover

Shoulders
? Overhead Press Barbell
? Upright Row
? Dumbbell side Lateral Raise
? Hammer strength overhead press

Triceps
? Barbell Lying Triceps Extension
? Weighted Dip
? Cable Push downs
-----------------------


B: Back, Biceps

Back
? Deadlifts
? Chinups
? Lat Pulldowns
? Cable Rows
? Shrugs

Bicep
? Hammer Curls
? Scott curls
? Cable Curls
? Reverse Curls
? Seated incline dumbell curls
------------------------


Legs, Abs

? Squats
? Leg Extensions
? Leg press
? Leg curls
? Seated Calf raise
? Dumbell Lunge


Abs

? Weighted Decline situps
? Crunches
-------------------------
 
Back
Top