Struggling with progress/gains

[mattellis]

I started out on Geoff Neuperts 12 week program with 12kg (a little light) and then completed The Giant 1.0 with 16kg

Currently running 1.1 with the 16kg

I just don't feel like I've gained ANY muscle considering I've been training for 6 months now

I'm thinking of switching programs to something a little more "bodybuilding"

I was thinking of keeping the programming base the same but mixing in other stuff

Eg:

Workout A
- Clean and press autoregulated for 30mins, possibly following The Giant rep scheme and changing each time I perform workout A
- Chin ups - 3 sets to failure, increase until I hit 10 strict reps and then add weight
- Curls/tricep superset

Workout B
- Swings perform 100 reps in as fewer sets as possible
- Squats? I haven't figured out a rep/training idea for these yet, not a fan of sets to failure on squats so advice sought here
- Lateral raises 3 sets to failure

Perform this alternated MWF

Any thoughts?

 

[ant0099]

@mattellis If you're following a well respected program, increased in strength but haven't gained weight, your eating is likely your #1 issue, not your program.

 

[hunter101]

@mattellis So you don't feel like you're gaining muscle. Are you gaining weight to begin with? Are you eating to grow?

Your plan looks decent - my only worry is that you'd be dropping the frequency for C&P a lot. You could modify it to have The Giant every workout, followed by:

• A: Chinups, curls, triceps, as outlined
• B: Swings, squats, lateral raises. Swings and lateral raises as you've described - squats could be 3-5 sets with 2 reps in reserve.

Alternatively, you could give it the DFW Remix treatment, with squats as part of the Remix part of the program.

As another alternative, I recently did what I called The Hydra. Every gym workout I'd do:

• 30 minutes of The Giant for double kb snatch
• 30 minutes of The Giant
• 30 minutes of The Giant for double kb front squat
• Often I'd do some barbell work, dips or weighted chinups at the end. Sometimes I didn't feel like it.
• Towards the end I'd superset the exercises. Snatch/burpees/chinups, C&P/chinups, squats/double swings/situps.

On top of that something like 150-160 daily chinups. None of the chinup sets were to failure - it was a matter of just accumulating a ton of easy volume.

I had my best growth in years following that plan. You can obviously scale it down - maybe start with 30 minutes of C&P, 15 minutes of double kb front squats, and 30 daily chinups.

 

[roseprince]

@hunter101 Did you make the hydra up Lenny? Bc that's awesome might have to steal that idea

 

[hunter101]

@roseprince Steal away!

It was basically me doing The Giant, having fun with it, and then wondering what would happen if I started doing it for front squats too... and then for double snatches... and the last 3-4 weeks I added other exercises as supersets.

I'm definitely going to run it again - but currently I'm focusing on single kb snatch, so it's only The Giant + Giant Squats.

You may want to build up to it in some way. It probably wouldn't have been sustainable if I jumped straight into it, but adding another chunk every 4 weeks worked great. An alternative might be to start with shorter time blocks for each exercise and then steadily increase.

Also remember to eat enough to offset it. And listen to your body - I managed to go up to 5 days in a week a couple of times, including 4 days in a row, but find out where your tolerance for volume and frequency is (and don't be afraid to push a bit beyond - those tolerances are themselves trainable).

 

[roseprince]

@hunter101 Nice!! Good to know thanks man

 

[learnandbloom]

@mattellis 1 take progress pictures. 2 try to weigh yourself a few times a week. 3 eat to gain weight.

That said, I really like adding in chins, arm work, and lateral raises. I’ve done it on tons of Geoff’s programs. IMO, you can bang 100 swings outs in five to ten minutes. Squats are fine too. I’d still shoot to clean and press three days a week, run your accessories, and get swings and squats in whenever you have the energy.

 

[clarencew]

@mattellis As others have said caloric and protein intake should be your focus and yes some of that will be fat. Strength is a bulk based phase. Not all of that bulk will be muscle. You must eat in a major surplus to grow.

Sleep is just as important. That is when your body provides natural testosterone, muscle and tissue repair and adaptation to your strength building.

I enjoy kbs but only as supplemental exercises to barbell training. My strength just never changed much with solely using kbs. In just 3 months of Starting Strength linear progression my strength and muscle has skyrocketed comparably.

I do plan to reintegrate kbs into my routine once my Starting Strength program ends. But they never provided me the growth that I was looking for as consistent weight increases are not possible with kbs like it is with barbells. Moving increased weight is what has changed my strength and muscle most.