Need help finding my mistakes, truly appreciate any help!

[goonstopher]

I have been at this for a long time. I've done more gear than I am proud to admit, shut down my hpta and have little to show for it. After elminating variables i am stuck with a few problems.

1. Gain fat too easy even when eating clean

2. Don't get sore/feel like muscle is worked regardless of training style

3. Get hurt very easy

4. Strength gains only last for the first set, no endurance AT ALL

This makes me think I need to work on the whole "mind muscle" connection and go lighter but the only time I have every felt workouts in the following days is when i break new PR's. I've done multiple times a week workouts (lower volume, either DC or derivative) for some time because of this lack of stimulation. My real concern beside this is that I can't seem to gain any real strength. Whenever I try higher volume the weights go down VERY fast after the first set. I think something tied to this (mind muscle/endurance, lack of true muscle stimulation) and whatever is causing it, is most likely the root of my problem.

I am blank page here, I spent too long pretending I knew it all and now see these amazing physiques that I can only dream of.

 

[muscle_n_blood]

Congrats on getting honest with yourself. In 40+ years of strength/physique training, I've had to do this a few times. There is no way to fully know what the roots of your problems are without knowing too much about you, like genetics, muscle composition, full history, etc. Plenty will give you answers, and some of them will be correct, some not.
I've had to do this a couple times (usually after injuries) and I recommend it:
Back up and punt; regroup; start over.
Decide exactly, very specifically, what you want for yourself in the way of mass, strength, and endurance. Then, decide on a program based on that combination of results you want, be it HIIT, DC, old school volume, whatever fits, and start from scratch. I mean with an empty bar. It won't stay empty long, and you can start with an unlimited amount of volume. Plenty of sets, very high reps. As you add weight, You can adjust the volume down if you want and work on the intensity and mind muscle connection.
Size and strength will come back. Endurance will increase. I do believe, however, that you need very specific goals for this to work best.
That, and patience. Patience is golden. Without it, you won't be doing this down the road when we really need it.

 

[goonstopher]

another thing I have noticed...

Complex carbs or starches make me have HORRIBLE gas, bloating, sickness and generally feel horrible. My body can't process them and I don't mean just wheat, even potatoes and rice kill me.

I gain fat fine but the carbs seem to not be getting to muscles. I generally feel much better on low carbs, my stomach, energy, everything and even pumps in the gym are better

 

[zaven]

Sounds like CNS fatigue is finally catching up to ya.....I would definitely ease up on the HIT/DC type training and cruise for a few weeks.

 

[bigfatandugly]

I have been at this for a long time. I've done more gear than I am proud to admit, shut down my hpta and have little to show for it. After elminating variables i am stuck with a few problems.

1. Gain fat too easy even when eating clean

2. Don't get sore/feel like muscle is worked regardless of training style

3. Get hurt very easy

4. Strength gains only last for the first set, no endurance AT ALL

This makes me think I need to work on the whole "mind muscle" connection and go lighter but the only time I have every felt workouts in the following days is when i break new PR's. I've done multiple times a week workouts (lower volume, either DC or derivative) for some time because of this lack of stimulation. My real concern beside this is that I can't seem to gain any real strength. Whenever I try higher volume the weights go down VERY fast after the first set. I think something tied to this (mind muscle/endurance, lack of true muscle stimulation) and whatever is causing it, is most likely the root of my problem.

I am blank page here, I spent too long pretending I knew it all and now see these amazing physiques that I can only dream of.

1- are you being honest with yourself in terms of how many calories you are eating in this 'clean' state? you can eat as clean as you want, but you are overeating clean food you'll still gain fat. do you do offseason cardio- even 20 minutes 3 times a week?

2 and 3- when was the last time you took a break from the gym of at least 2 weeks or more? are you overtraining when you are in the gym? do you lift to build muscle or just push weight? can you feel the body part you are training 'working'? speaking from a personal standpoint, once i stopped pushing weight around, started listening to my body, and training so that i can feel the muscle thru its range of motion my gains have been never been better.

4. by endurance you mean you become fatigued physically? short of breath? are you on HRT? if not, i would say that diminishing strength gains between sets is common place no? it is not logically to think that a muscle under the same load will produce the same results time and time again. muscles fatigue. if your system is down, and your not on HRT its certainly not helping.

 

[BigJB]

Honestly, it sounds like you need to hire a trainer. This site has plenty to offer.

 

[goonstopher]

Honestly, it sounds like you need to hire a trainer. This site has plenty to offer.

I REALLY want to!

Unfortunately I am doing very poorly for money right now, actually I am selling off some of my favorite possessions to pay bills. Whatever supplements I have now are all I got.

 

[goonstopher]

1- are you being honest with yourself in terms of how many calories you are eating in this 'clean' state? you can eat as clean as you want, but you are overeating clean food you'll still gain fat. do you do offseason cardio- even 20 minutes 3 times a week?

-I did DC for a while, didn't count. Then started looking at it and honestly, at time I was only around 3000 cals, I doubt I topped 4000 ever. Eating makes me sick because of the whole carb thing so its hard to make myself.

2 and 3- when was the last time you took a break from the gym of at least 2 weeks or more? are you overtraining when you are in the gym? do you lift to build muscle or just push weight? can you feel the body part you are training 'working'? speaking from a personal standpoint, once i stopped pushing weight around, started listening to my body, and training so that i can feel the muscle thru its range of motion my gains have been never been better.

- This is one piece of advice that I am going to definitely try. I got nothing to lose. Thanks, I'll start trying to figure out what movements I feel the most and only do those

4. by endurance you mean you become fatigued physically? short of breath? are you on HRT? if not, i would say that diminishing strength gains between sets is common place no? it is not logically to think that a muscle under the same load will produce the same results time and time again. muscles fatigue. if your system is down, and your not on HRT its certainly not helping.

- I have been forced to hrt by years of being a stupid college kid, wish I could take it back but que sera... Right now I am actually doing one of my 2 cycles or higher doses of the year and seeing very little strength gain but endurance aka contractile ability under tension over time is slightly improving but I notice it only improves in the sub 6 rep range. If I push a very hard set over that range then strength drops off, like say incline DB press. If I do 110's for 10-15 then I may as well go home because by my third set I will be getting 70's for 8. In comparison if I got 125's and did them 5 or so times I would be able to do 4-5 sets from 4-6 reps.

Thank you for your help - further info/replies in bold

 

[mexbeast]

ok what i can gather, are you diabetic? are you a body builder or power lifter? it looks to me like your mane concern when lifting is numbers and that could explain you getting hurt; also if you are not diabetic but lift too heavy low reps you may not stimulate glycogen formation there for not been able to use as many carbs, if your muscles are full of glycogen you would have plenty of energy and endurance; but since you say you don't it could only mean you maybe diabetic, i really hope not. i always used to bench too heavy and my chest was not growing, until i hurt my shoulder and was forced to go very lite and high reps, and guess what? my chest started growing at a good pace, so now weight means nothing to me i use the tools that will help me achieve my goals, hope that helps! oh almost forgot if you use too much orals that will fck up you digestive system.

 

[goonstopher]

ok what i can gather, are you diabetic? are you a body builder or power lifter? it looks to me like your mane concern when lifting is numbers and that could explain you getting hurt; also if you are not diabetic but lift too heavy low reps you may not stimulate glycogen formation there for not been able to use as many carbs, if your muscles are full of glycogen you would have plenty of energy and endurance; but since you say you don't it could only mean you maybe diabetic, i really hope not. i always used to bench too heavy and my chest was not growing, until i hurt my shoulder and was forced to go very lite and high reps, and guess what? my chest started growing at a good pace, so now weight means nothing to me i use the tools that will help me achieve my goals, hope that helps! oh almost forgot if you use too much orals that will fck up you digestive system.

I have a lot of warning signs of diabetes to be honest. Thirst, tingles in hands, problems with carbs and I actually get BETTER pumps on zero carbs. My dr ran a fasted blood test but not sure if glucose tests were the reason. Definetly something I need to look into. I am not on orals now and try to limit them eccept when cutting. started anavar but it got my prostate flaring (go figure) so I will stay away from orals for a while.

Doing dc I kep reps in the 8-10 range before the rest pause. Now doing ultimate diet 2.0 because I got too fat and need to speed up the first few pounds of loss. I have never seen any fat loss while eating any level of carbs, really only keto works. another indicator I am at least insulin resistant. Tried slin in the past and had to go to pretty high iu's... all not looking good.

Looks like I need to hit the articles forum a bit more. DC training is great but I added too much fat to be able to eat enough to continue making gains and my body hates when I eat carbs. The digestion/farts are literally HORRIBLE the second I add in carbs.

I feel like I learned my body a little. At different times different parts have looked decent but never together. Back and shoulders do well on high frequency. Tricepts and traps on high weight. chest seemed to be best when I did more flys and less bench, more incline and less flat but then again my physique does not show enough to claim that I know anything or it would be better... so really what do I know

Lord I need to hire someone but until I can these ideas really do help because when you get discouraged you start forgetting everything and need another perspective (or 5) to get your shit together.

 

[aussiebulldog]

with the fat gains while doing dc.. did you do fasted cardio and carbs cut offs?

 

[goonstopher]

with the fat gains while doing dc.. did you do fasted cardio and carbs cut offs?

Did carb cut offs. Thought I could get by without AM cardio because my cals were so low, honestly way to low to be doing DC, but I still added about 20 pounds of fat and muscle (about 50/50) in one bulk season. I only had 3 carb meals a day and 2 protein/fat meals. Maybe I can figure out how dante diets now, I heard min mention just greens and fats during the week for him. that might be the route I end up needing to go, more anabolic diet style.

 

[aussiebulldog]

yes ,the green diet.
maybe with carbs in the first meal and pwo only. that is what I am doing.

 

[Twatta]

..

sometimes you just need a break. Take a few weeks off. No diet foods, no exercises, etc. Be a normal person. Then readjust all your calories, macros, aerobics and start fresh.

I gain fat easily. So after all these years of dieting, I need to cut calories real low to start losing. I hate doing it, but with enough anabolics I hold on to my muscle.

 

[Michaelthomasj]

Sounds like CNS fatigue is finally catching up to ya.....I would definitely ease up on the HIT/DC type training and cruise for a few weeks.

x2 sounds like maybe you are burnt out. When was the last time you took a break? Maybe all you need is too get your diet right, and take a break. Get some real rest. Maybe a vacation or something. Stress can mess you up real bad.

 

[goonstopher]

x2 sounds like maybe you are burnt out. When was the last time you took a break? Maybe all you need is too get your diet right, and take a break. Get some real rest. Maybe a vacation or something. Stress can mess you up real bad.

I am forced to take breaks via injury every few weeks couple months.

I am hoping I can scrape together my pennies to hire someone but shelby's diet AND training is a bit high for me right now.

Here is a question:

If you aren't doing DC style or strict progressive overload and getting stronger (like when cals start coming down) then, How to you measure your workout? How do you know if you are going in the right direction?

 

[hemipower]

I have been at this for a long time. I've done more gear than I am proud to admit, shut down my hpta and have little to show for it. After elminating variables i am stuck with a few problems.

1. Gain fat too easy even when eating clean

2. Don't get sore/feel like muscle is worked regardless of training style

3. Get hurt very easy

4. Strength gains only last for the first set, no endurance AT ALL

This makes me think I need to work on the whole "mind muscle" connection and go lighter but the only time I have every felt workouts in the following days is when i break new PR's. I've done multiple times a week workouts (lower volume, either DC or derivative) for some time because of this lack of stimulation. My real concern beside this is that I can't seem to gain any real strength. Whenever I try higher volume the weights go down VERY fast after the first set. I think something tied to this (mind muscle/endurance, lack of true muscle stimulation) and whatever is causing it, is most likely the root of my problem.

I am blank page here, I spent too long pretending I knew it all and now see these amazing physiques that I can only dream of.

Have you done a blood test?
If you cannot: How is libido? Moods? Temper? Sleep patterns?
You said you have done a bunch of gear...how long have you been off and what did you do for PCT? It sounds like you are over trained for one, but second - I would check hormone levels as soon as you get back on your feet financially.

 

[goonstopher]

Have you done a blood test?
If you cannot: How is libido? Moods? Temper? Sleep patterns?
You said you have done a bunch of gear...how long have you been off and what did you do for PCT? It sounds like you are over trained for one, but second - I would check hormone levels as soon as you get back on your feet financially.

On gear... stupidly forced hrt on myself...

 

[bigfatandugly]

Thank you for your help - further info/replies in bold

i am not a physician, but it seems to more there is a lot more in play here than just overtraining.

were i you i would get some blood work done. i can't really put a finger on it, but how quickly you fatigue when you are training, and just your general state as you describe it seems well, off, you know? just a little too serious to attribute it to over training.

good luck. keep us posted if you do get the workup done? im very curious to see what exactly is going on with you.

good luck!

 

[goonstopher]

I got basic blood work done. Triglycerides were "excellent", tsh was normal and liver was high. thats all they really told me. It was done fasted first thing in the morning so that could have been for thyroid or glucose I think...not sure. Tests were done mainly to figure out why my BP would not go down.