Made absolutely no progress in the past year when I had pretty much everything dialed in, starting to lose motivation..

[wmsgil]

1 year comparison & my body progression over the years

Please look at my bodyweight data too, I'm NOT doing maingaining

As you can see, I've made virtually no progress from Aug 8, 2022 to Oct 1, 2023. I chose to compare these 2 points in time because of similar body weight.

I'm generally very good at not comparing myself to others when it comes to progress, but I do compare myself to myself, and over the past year or so I started getting suspect about the gains I'm making (or lack thereof). But I just thought that I needed more patience and that I needed to trust the process.

But looking at the year over year pics I took at the same bodyweight, I think I'm not delusional in thinking that I've made no progress. This is very demotivating, especially because I put in so much effort and made so many sacrifices for the gym. And honestly I have no idea how to go about addressing issues like this, so I'm seeking help from you guys. I'll provide as much detail I can in this post. Thank you all in advance.

[h5]Stats[/h5]

25M, 6', 168.3lbs. Been training for around 4 years.

[h5]Routines[/h5]

Aug 3, 2020 to July 2, 2021: a mix between PPL, GZCLP, and nSuns

July 5, 2021 to Aug 21, 2021: Stronger By Science Reps to Failure 5 day

Aug 30, 2021 to Oct 18, 2021: PPL in shitty apartment gym because of travel, more so just maintenance

Dec 1, 2021 to Jan 16, 2022: got access to a real gym, started with PPL

Jan 19, 2022 to Sep 4, 2022: Stronger By Science Hypertrophy 5 day

Sep 7, 2022 to Dec 6, 2022: was travelling, mostly GZCLP, some days skipped, more so just maintenance

Dec 10, 2022 to Feb 25, 2023: Stronger by Science RTF + Hypertrophy 5 day (note that I got covid and recovered for 2 weeks between Dec 29 to Jan 15)

Feb 27, 2023 to May 27, 2023: Creeping Death II

May 30, 2023 to Aug 27, 2023: Trainedbyjp Full Body (beat the logbook training)

Aug 29, 2023 to Oct 8, 2023: Project Colossus

Oct 10, 2023 to Nov 26, 2023: Gamma Bomb

Nov 27, 2023 to Now: GVS Ravage

[h5]Diet & Nutrition[/h5]

MacroFactor data

I started a cut from end of Feb at ~172lbs to ~158lbs at end of Apr. Then maintained for a bit and started a lean bulk at a goal rate of 0.42lbs/week. I eat pretty much the same thing everyday, track macros religiously, and make sure I hit my macro goals everyday.
I follow a balanced diet plan by MacroFactor. Right now the macros are 141g protein, 75g fat, and 253g carbs for a total of 2261 calories a day.
I don't do drugs nor alcohol.

[h5]Supplementation[/h5]

Creatine, protein powder, fish oil, and Vit D. Nothing crazy.

[h5]Training[/h5]

I definitely put in the effort, pretty much always going to 0-1 RIR. I really don't think intensity is the problem here. I also control the eccentric, don't do cheat reps or ego lift, etc. Volume is on the higher end in general.

[h5]Recovery[/h5]

I get 7.5-8hrs sleep everyday. No high stress (same or below 2022 levels). Sedentary outside the gym. I seldom feel weak or lethargic in the gym. I also have intra-workout shakes (cluster dextrin and EAAs, as prescribed by John Meadows).

[h5]My guesses as to what's wrong[/h5]

Volume: I'm a recovering volume junkie, and while high volume worked well in my noob gain phase, perhaps it's not doing me any good now.

Strength progression: I'm not sure if this is a symptom or cause, but my strength (at least on the big 3) peaked at around the end of 2020 when I was eating like a pig and following GZCLP. And in general, I'm very weak for my size. Last time I did bench, I did 165x9, 165x7, 155x8... At my peak I did 200x5 which is not that impressive to begin with. And just in general for all exercises, I find it very hard to progress on strength. Usually when I start a new routine/exercise, I can make some initial progress, but then I just hit a wall and can't progress further on the numbers.

Bloodwork: I haven't done any recent bloodwork but previously when I did them, my T results were on the lower end, I think range was like 2xx-9xx and I was in the 3xx-4xx the few times when I did them, which is not ideal considering I should be at my peak T level around now, and all the factors like sleep, stress, diet are all dialed in. I do have some low T symptoms but they weren't severe enough to affect my daily life or gym progress so I didn't bother with TRT or whatever. But maybe now it's a good time to look deeper into it.

Hopefully I provided enough information, if not, let me know and I can provide more details. After this revelation yesterday, I lost a lot of motivation and find it hard to wake up at 5:30am everyday to go to the gym before work. Any help is appreciated, thank you.

edit: People are saying my legs are bigger but when I compare my thigh measurements from a year back to now, they're actually smaller now (56-57.4cm vs 56-56.5cm now). I think it could be lighting, the different boxer I had on, or maybe I was flexing in one and not the other, I'm really not sure.
Another thing that's for sure is that my arm had absolutely no growth.

 

[aeri20]

@wmsgil You’re ‘no progress’ physique is better than 99% of the populations lol

 

[asperd]

@aeri20 Yea I wish I had OP's physique.

As a novice (though some of my lifts are in intermediate territory now), it blows my mind how much harder it is for more experienced lifters to make additional gains. I can understand OP feeling like he's spinning his wheels after 16 months. In my first 16 months of lifting (Jul 2022-Nov 2023) I made far more dramatic progress from a sedentary skinny fat starting point. And my training from Jul 2022-Jul 2023 was total ass. If anything I think I made most of my gains from Jul 2023-Dec 2023 than Jul 2022-Jul 2023 just from overhauling my training. And then when lifters see the progress start to really slow down, its demoralizing. Thankfully I took pictures of how my body looked before I lifted to remind myself of how skinnyfat I was to motivate me to keep going.

 

[leena2016]

@aeri20 This. Doing other people's prewritten routines when you've been lifting for 4 years is crazy. Surely at this point one would know what split they enjoy & have goldilocks'd their way to something approximating the right amount of volume & frequency.

 

[ryannate]

@leena2016 There’s no real reason to deviate from a well written program such as CD2 or Gamma Bomb.

Maybe changing a few exercises due to what equipment you have access to or any exercises that cause you pain but other than that John Meadows made excellent programs that just work.

 

[jesuslovesme]

@aeri20 Probably like 99.99%!

 

[jessie101]

@aeri20 If I had OP's physique and someone said that I couldn't gain 1lb of muscle again I wouldn't be that mad tbh

 

[kkarolz29]

@aeri20 I was concerned at first but as soon I saw the pictures I was like get the fuck out of here lol.

 

[jbreyes777]

@wmsgil Hmm, question: what’s the longest you did a bulking phase for? Leanness clearly isn’t your issue, getting as low as 158 at 6 feet tall is reallllly lean. For comparison, I’m sitting at 5’8 at 185-190ish. (Some holiday pounds on there for sure). I’ve always been a bulkier guy, but even assuming that, 30lbs lower than what I’m holding at 4 inches taller is very lean.

Maybe try a slightly more aggressive bulk for a while. Give it a few months even and then see what kind of progress you make, because it seems like you’re always maintaining a pretty lean composition, and it could be as simple as the fact that you’re simply not eating enough to build more muscle.

I’ve hit similar stages as you. I was working in NYC as an actor for a while and I was trying to stay as lean as possible while still getting the best results I could, and I simply hit a wall. Didn’t get worse, but couldn’t progress, and it came down to calories. I simply wasn’t going to build any more muscle if I didn’t do a bulking phase, and at the time that wasn’t an option because I needed to keep my look consistent with my headshots.

I think you just need to go on a longer bulk and see what happens.

 

[wmsgil]

@jbreyes777 When I first started working out, I was doing perma dirty bulk pretty much. Did my first legit cut in 2021 down to 161ish then went on a bulk up to 176ish (lasted half a year). Most recent cut and bulk is shown in the "Diet & Nutrition" section. Cut for 2.5 months, maintained for a month, then started lean bulking for 6.5 months now (still going).

getting as low as 158 at 6 feet tall is reallllly lean. For comparison, I’m sitting at 5’8 at 185-190ish

I've always weighed in less than what people would think. Idk if doing a relative comparison like that is a good idea. If you just look in absolutes, judging from my physique at 158lbs, I was around 11-12% bf I'd say? That's not too crazy for an end of a cut/start of a bulk right?

I think you just need to go on a longer bulk and see what happens.

Yeah that's the plan right now. Thanks!

 

[jbreyes777]

@wmsgil Good point. Everyone has different body types, and I’ve always been more on the short and stocky side. If we were in LOTR, I’d be a dwarf and you’d be an elf haha.

That said, I think you’re still on a pretty mild bulk. I’m not saying to go back to full dirty bulk, but maybe look at upping the calls. 2,200ish cals isn’t too much of a caloric excess for someone that’s 6 foot, and I would guess you probably just have a naturally high metabolism. Maybe try something closer to 2400-2500 cals a day and see what that gets you. Maybe even 2600.

 

[dsal]

@wmsgil Looks like you are changing your split too much. Find a good split and stick to it. Train to full failure and get plenty of rest. Drugs and alcohol can prohibit recovery. Electrolytes are slept on try some powders. You don’t have to take them everyday but they do help in my experience. Maybe try a deload week. To me it looks like you are training to maintain like during a cut. Just focus on surplus and building strength the rest will come, don’t focus on your weight and body fat.

 

[wmsgil]

@dsal

Looks like you are changing your split too much.

I agree, this year I transitioned to doing more of a bodybuilding style training so I'm kind of experimenting with different routines. I really do want to just find one that works and stick to it. But it seems like none of them is working well right now...

Drugs and alcohol can prohibit recovery. Electrolytes are slept on try some powders.

I don't do drugs nor alcohol, will add this to the post. Will look into electrolytes, thanks.

Maybe try a deload week.

Idk why but I come back weaker if I take a deload week (GVS says it's the same for him), I don't feel tired in the gym so I just auto-regulate now.

To me it looks like you are training to maintain like during a cut.

Yea that's the problem... I've been on a lean bulk for half a year now with the intention of building muscle but I've yet to put on any size.

 

[marinam91]

@wmsgil Who cares if you're weaker after a deload week? Are your goals to put up big numbers every time you hit the gym, or to build muscle? There's overlap, sure, but the nuances make a difference. Getting 'weaker' after one deload week means your muscles stay the same size, but you get the chance to reintroduce progressive overload with a fully recovered body from a less injury prone starting point.

 

[dsal]

@wmsgil Do you drink a lot of milk?

 

[jericha]

@dsal Not OP, but I drink loads of milk. I really like it and it has a good deal of protein. Is that a problem?

 

[dsal]

@jericha I was saying that it’s very good source of fats and vitamins. Helps tremendously with bulking. I use little scoop of chocolate protein powder, I cook oats in water in microwave, glass of milk, banana and other fruits I got like strawberry or kiwi, scoop or two of peanut butter.

 

[heartfire]

@jericha Not sure where he was going with that cause it shouldn’t cause any problems

 

[wmsgil]

@dsal I don't drink milk

 

[dsal]

@wmsgil If you can I would highly recommend it.