I can’t gain muscle??

frelibro

New member
I’m 22m and I’ve been trying to gain muscle in my bi’s tri’s chest, the whole deal. I’ve been working out, going to the gym 5 days a week(2 years now), except when finals season comes around. I’ve been trying to get a stable and consistent protein intake, I’ve asked friends and gym goers to give me the best forms, and I’m also a swimmer, but for some reason I’ve made no progress whatsoever. It’s a bummer when I see people start, and a month or two in, they’ve made more progress than me. I’d really want to know if I’m missing something, have I not taken something into consideration? What do I add or omit and what should I correct. I’d really love the help!
 
@frelibro
  1. Do you workout using compound exercises?
  2. Are you in a calorie surplus?
  3. Do you train with hypertrophy in mind?
  4. Do you hit every muscle group at least 2 a week?
  5. Do you incorporate progressive overload?
  6. Is your diet rich in anabolic foods?
  7. Do you have an actual plan?
  8. Do you track progress?
  9. Do you have a fast metabolism?
  10. Are you consistent?
  11. Do you get enough sleep?
  12. Do you allow your body to recover?
 
@soldierofgodsarmy Not everyone can get big, well at least without PED’s. You can take your body to it’s natural limits with using compound exercises like bench, squats and deadlifts. Let these exercises be the staples of your training using isolating exercises as supplementals. Along with high quality protein like red meats, and salmon and clean carbs. Don’t forget about sleep and recovery. With all three you will have the perfect trifecta and be on your way to gain muscle in no time.
 
@gospelofgracetv Oh yeah, what would you tell my friend who has a super fast metabolism that has been training for years and doing everything right. Don’t get me wrong he’s a lot bigger than he use to be but an average person wouldn’t consider him to be big? What should he do? Please let me know I’ll tell him.
 
@pixeloriousspriteson Fast metabolism just means he has a higher maintenance so he has to eat more. It’s not rocket science to gaining weight and putting on muscle. Be in a surplus, eat adequate protein, train with progressive overload.
 
@pixeloriousspriteson Lol "his body won't let him" gain weight. This is just as bad as the fat claims of "I can eat 500 calories a day and be 300 pounds." If dude wants to gain weight he needs to eat more. There is no such thing as a "fast metabolism" lol.
 
@gospelofgracetv I have observed his body language, his N.E.A. T is through the roof and he doesn’t understand why he burns some many calories. We had a conversation for about an hour and his hand gestures were extreme, he moves his body the entire time. He’s always moving doing things and doesn’t understand that those little things burns alot of calories.
 
@pixeloriousspriteson Tough luck for your buddy, he still just needs to eat more or atleast make conscious choice to eat more calorie dense foods and do it consistently for weeks to months, while ignoring his sense of fullness or aka force feed, mass gainer shakes are good for that. Stomach will stretch to accommodate within few weeks, yes it's uncomfortable in the beginning. Basic principle of CICO still applies, just his calories out part is slightly higher

In general sense of hunger and fullness are just there to maintain bodyweight.
 
@niqhtcore Do you think he hasn’t tried eating more? He’s done it already he physically can’t do it. Its easy for people to say just eat more because they have no idea what people like him go through. He tried mass gainers, heavy shakes, junk food diets it all makes him sick to the stomach. Of course you people can’t fathom a world where a person finds it difficult to get big because most of are either overweight or obese.
 
@pixeloriousspriteson That's the tough luck part, he has to push through that sick feeling. Some people get lucky and it's easier to gain weight, some get lucky and it's easier to lose weight.
Eventually he will get used to it and stomach will stretch out. Ofcourse don't eat massive amounts at first, slowly over time period of weeks to months increase the amounts he eats and maintain it for months to even a year and do it consistently every single day. Add in some snacks, preferably calorie dense and place those on every countertop and table in his reach. Drinking sports drinks with high in carbs during workout, dextro or iso drink powders or just sugar, depending on amounts that can easily add 400-500 calories per every workout.

And yes i know how hard it can be to gain weight, i have ADHD and move around constantly, the hyperactivity part and often times just forget to eat. I struggle with eating just at maintenance and purely eat by numbers. Completely ignoring any sense of fullness or feeling bad. The only way i managed to gain weight was alcoholism for 2 years straight drinking over a six pack(500ml cans) every single day in addition to usual three full meals a day and bunch of junk food, beer did help to flush it down and yes i felt shit constantly due to hangover and overeating.
 
@usernumber3 I think there is a loss of communication or maybe I should explain what I mean. I said he is bigger than what he use to be meaning he gained muscle naturally. When I say get big let me explain what I mean by that. Getting big to me is someone the size of Chris Bumstead, Sam Sulek, Phil Heath. So people are saying all my friend has to do is eat more and he would be the size of Phil Heath? Absolutely not. It’s a strong possibility than even with PED’s he will never be the size of Phil Heath, genetics play a major role. There is so much misinformation out there people actually think anyone can put as much muscle on as Chris Bumstead.
 
@pixeloriousspriteson No that's steroids you ain't gonna look like Sam sulek or Phil heath unless you do roids regardless of genetics but there's a massive scale between a normal person and a conplete juice monster. If that's your/ your friends goal then really you need to get more realistic about what is humanly possible without peds its common knowledge that the people you're talking about take steroids
 
@pixeloriousspriteson Unless you are hunting for it, red meat and salmon could never be described as good-quality sources of protein. Red meat is chock full of chemicals , growth hormones etc. Salmon is predominantly farmed with thousands of fish living in a small space, swimming around in their own faeces and corpses of their fellow fishy friends.

I am a meat eater by the way. I love the stuff, and have no intention to form judgement. However, it's important to know what's actually in the food we consume.

For 'good' sources of protein in the modern world, it must be hunted, wild or organically raised meat, or a plant (such as legumes), but also dark green vegetables such as spinach, which contains a reasonable qty of protein as well as other useful micro-elements such as potassium and magnesium.
 
@obetuidyo Oh god, not chemicals! Why does it seem like I can’t find a single thing in the grocery store, nay the world, not made of chemicals? When will we be free?
 
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