Struggling to gain muscle mass

J

jrock8787

New member
Hi there. I’m really struggling with my muscle mass. I do notice I’m growing but it’s painstakingly slow. Them i see a lot of guys at the gym growing a lot faster than I am, am I find that a bit discouraging. I do not know if they are vegan or not, use steroids or something. I do know they are younger.

Backstory. I’ve been vegan for 7 years now, and intend to stay that way (duh). Turning fourty this year, very slim build and I have longer arms and legs that “normal people”. Also have some stubborn belly fat that does stick 😅. Lengthwise I meters 1,86, and my weight is 72 kg.

I tried to keep track of macros and I found that very stressful, and that made that info very unreliable.

My workout schedule
Tuesday: upper body (1,5 h)
Wednesday: legs and lower body (1,5 h)
Saturday: upper body (1,5 h)
Sunday: running (1 h)

I try to walk as much as possible. Also just picked up skating. I try to fiddle everything around my family, work and my own business.

I also take proteinepowder, creatine, and try to get as much protein as possible.

I hope you guys have some good tips.
 
@jrock8787 A couple things:

Comparison is the thief of joy. Are you really able to track how fast people at the gym are growing? That feels like it would be difficult, and like you said, they might be on steroids, but even if they aren't, everyone is different. Go at your own pace.

Second: growing muscle naturally takes a long time. Social media and superhero movies have skewed our expectations in terms of how big and lean you can get naturally. They're generally on TRT at least or anabolic steroids in many cases. Many men can gain 0.5-1lb/muscle per month if they do everything right. Over the course of a couple months that isn't much, but over the course of years it adds up. But it takes patience.

In terms of your own results - the biggest drivers by far will be consistency in terms of how hard you're working in the gym every day, and your consistency in terms of diet.

Workout: You need to really be busting your ass in the gym to grow. The best way to do this is to pick a proven routine which has guidelines for how to progressively overload, and trying really hard. Which program are you running now?

Diet: You are very skinny. I can almost guarantee you aren't eating enough. Your belly fat sticks out because you likely don't have much other muscle mass. How much weight have you gained since you started? "As much protein as possible" also doesn't mean much. Aim for ~1.6g/kg of bodyweight.

If you bust your ass in the gym and eat more, you'll gain muscle. It won't be quick or easy. But you gotta work for it.
 
@dubschanging Thanks for responding. I got a lot of responses saying I do not eat enough. I do think that this might be the case. I used to be very focused on not eating more 2500 kcal because I have a desk job. But it makes sense I need to eat more
 
@jrock8787 You're not eating enough and/or lifting heavy / intensely / often enough.

That's all it comes down to.

If you are very slim, stop tracking macros, stop walking, skating and doing cardio. Stuff your face with high protein meals, and then pick up heavy things and put them down over and over again with a nice intensity and purpose.

From the sounds of it, and based on 90% of people with the same problem, your diet and workout is likely nowhere near as dialed in as you think.

Also, at 40, TRT is calling your name ;)
 
@unidentified I do not want to ditch walking running and skating. I used to run around 20k before I ran into an injury. And I take great joy in doing this.

I do realise I might eat to little. And it makes sense actually.

I don’t know about the trt. I think my testoron levels aren’t that much lower than 20 years ago. 😅
 
@jrock8787 I understand you said tracking macros in the past has been stressful but it is really helpful when you have specific goals, such as gaining muscle. Personally I don’t pay much attention to fats/carbs and instead focus on protein/calories, so that should feel less stressful. Without tracking you are likely underestimating your calories and protein.

Consistency, making sure you’re utilizing progressive overload, and rest are all extremely important. Growing muscle takes time.

Lastly, I do want to say try not to compare yourself to others. Your journey is different than theirs and frankly a lot of people are on TRT or other PED’s, you don’t know how long they have been working out, different genetics, etc.

Keep at it and you’ll keep making improvements.
 
Also, are you following a specific plan? If not it might help if you do! I was doing CBum’s plan for a while and really liked the results.
 
@caritasium Not really. I have a training scheme I made from excercises, but it is not something a pro came up with. So it also makes sense that I maybe focus on some wrong stuff. Any suggestions?
 
@jrock8787 Gotta eat bro, at your height youre pretty skinny. Eat 3-3.5k clean cals a day and dont worry you will grow. Work outs shouldnt last longer than 1h or then your cortisol levels will go up and can affect your hormone levels. Keep in under an hour and go hard. Its also all about the diet, to gain mass you gotta eat lots. Rice beans tofu pasta oats smoothies lets go baby
 
@jrock8787 Need a little more info. What does your lifting regimen actually look like, how many calories and how much protein are you consuming regularly?
 
@jrock8787 I can attest to what other people are saying here that progress is slow and consistency is key. I successfully did a recomp and since then, gaining muscle mass and losing body fat has been excruciatingly slow. But like people are saying, track your macros and follow a workout program with consistent overload and give it time.
 
@jrock8787 I don't want to sound pessimistic but genetics plays the biggest role in how muscular you can get. I've spent the past 12 years in the gym trying to put on mass. My diet is on point, I get excellent sleep and my training routine is decent too. However I've only put on about 10 lbs of muscle in total and most of that was in the first few years. Not saying you shouldn't try but just make sure you don't compare yourself to others. What's important for building muscle is a calorie surplus, protein, a training program that allows you to be consistent in the gym and getting proper rest. After all that, the only supplement that you should consider besides protein powder is creatine.
 
@jrock8787 My opinion is that being 39 (older than some others in the gym, and you also don't know the 'training age' they have, so try not to think about it), not doing enough training volume (training things once to twice per week could be questionable, depending on sets involved), potentially not accounting for the impact of such a long running session in terms of calorie burn and effects on leg training, and/or not tracking diet reliably could be problematic.

You're also mentioning a pretty full life outside the gym and while some people can successfully balance all that, I genuinely don't think I could've ever gotten to my level of fitness if I had all that going on. You can't really compare your circumstances with someone who's, say, in their late 20s, potentially single, not responsible for a business, who doesn't have children, and who can do high-volume weight training 5-6 days a week, as well as count their calories without affecting other people
 
@dawn16 I have been lifting for over three years, but taking it seriously for about a year now. I do know that I am broader because I moved from an eu m to eu l shirt.

Calorie wise about 2200, protein I aim for 1,5 g/kg
 
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