I feel like I’m bulking wrong and don’t know what to do?

[retropod]

@livin4christ2 By cheat I mean less than ideal macros, yeah. Like I go out to eat without any mind to my macros.

I lift 4-5x a week, but aim for 5 days. I do 2-3 leg days, 1 push day, and 1 pull day. On leg days, I do squats, hip thrusts, deadlift variations, lunge variations, and then accessory movements. On upper body days, I do rows, chest/shoulder presses, lat pull downs, lateral raises/flys, then a bicep or tricep isolation exercise. I usually do about 2-3 compound heavy lifts then 2-3 accessory lifts regardless of the day.

My strength has definitely increased, but I guess I do admit I increase weights modestly bc I’m extremely wary of hurting my back. My hip thrust has gone from 95 (reps of 12) to about 215 (reps of 8) and my squat has gone from 65 to 95, but this is making me realize how much I don’t track the weights I lift lol. Could that be the problem?

 

[duanea]

@retropod Yeah, it def sounds like you’re not increasing your weights aggressively enough so your food isn’t fueling the muscle gain right now. When you’re working, the last 2-3 reps of every set should feel hard or be a real struggle no matter what your rep scheme is.

 

[msmarti]

@retropod That is indeed the problem.

 

[polcat]

@retropod Yes if you're not pushing yourself at some pace then you're going to get less than you'd expect out of a bulk.

If you don't aim for regular progression you will end up spinning your wheels. It's commonly why its suggested people follow set training programs, as it guides progression for you, to avoid this happening.

You should probably be looking at novice weights achieved by 9 months. Such as your squat is clearly behind... but you've been going to town on thrusts by the looks of things! You are better aiming for balanced across the board though I think in the end, plus you have more to gain from anything that's currently at a lower standard.

Your nutrition sounds fine so I think it does just need a bit of focus on the workout program side... be a bit more methodical about it.

 

[retropod]

@polcat Yeah my squat is an extreme weak point for me. All this advice helps a lot because I always assumed I was messing up nutrition wise, thank you

 

[dynamitex]

@retropod Lifting programs

 

[dawn16]

@retropod Yeah, your nutrition seems fine overall. Good amount of protein and calories on macro tracking days, and getting a bit less protein in 1-2 meals a week (“cheat days”) shouldn’t be enough to slow your progress that much. So I really think it’s the gym side of things that’s the issue.

Maybe going a bit higher rep could help? If it’s just a nerves thing I personally find it less scary mentally than heavy weight/low rep, and it’s still good for muscle building. You may also want to practice failing using a low weight if you’re specifically concerned about safety on squat/bench. Also if you can afford it a few trainer sessions could be helpful.

 

[livin4christ2]

@retropod Well, to build muscle you need to progressively overload the existing muscle you have, so yes not being on some kind of a structured program and not tracking your strength progress is definitely a problem. If you only went up a very modest amount of reps and/or weight in the time you’ve been bulking I wouldn’t anticipate a large muscle mass increase.

Imagine you were a runner and you decided you want to run a faster mile. You know you need more protein to fuel muscle growth so you increase your protein and thus calories. You know you need to practice consistently and with frequency, so you do both. But also imagine that despite doing both these things you don’t really have a proven running program designed to improve the stamina of your legs and lungs, and you’re not tracking any of your times. After 9 months would you expect to have measurable improvement? Probably not but even if you did, how would you quantify it without any historical data?

The good news is you can start tracking NOW and work with that data. You can also pause your bulk and just eat at this new level of maintenance with an eye toward recomping while you get a little more aggressive about your programming and efforts. I would anticipate you would see muscle growth in several months with this strategy. Regarding your back, have you been injured before or are you just generally nervous? Proper form and bracing should keep you safe there unless you have a previous injury.

 

[retropod]

@livin4christ2 This is super good to know, thank you for such a detailed response! You make a good point and I know I should be a bit more structured. I used to track my lifts a bit but definitely got lazy with it, so I’ll get on it.

 

[livin4christ2]

@retropod Make it easy on yourself and use whatever method is the least annoying/most likely for you to follow through with. For example, I’ve tried a probably 5 or 6 fancy, popular apps and I always find that a notebook ends up just being the easiest for me.

Good luck and let us know how the second part of your journey goes!

 

[teatimebabe28]

@livin4christ2 Personally I think notebooks are better, if only for reliability and longevity. Mine go back 11 years, work without electricity or updates and I can drop a loaded barbell on them.

Oh and physically flipping through all my workouts feels awesome. Almost filled my current one again