UPDATE: I’m having almost no luck building muscle. VIDEOS ADDED

[hellokitty]

@sbcalady I’m not doing the RIR in the program. I’m just following the workout splits and I’m going to failure on each workout. I’ve reduced the sets to 3 sets on compound lifts and 4-5 on isolation lifts.

 

[sbcalady]

@hellokitty You're doing the program just not the RIR part of it.

Tbh that program is designed for a very specific reason and that is mainly for people that have trained quite a few years and want to work more on sculpting certain muscles.

The only good day I see in that program is the third day, the upper back, the rest of them are just a lot of isolation movements and in your case I would suggest to put a lot more emphasise on getting strong in the big compounds, or if you can't do them at least similar movements.

Like pull up can be replaced with pull downs until you are strong enough to do pull ups. Bench press can be replaced with db presses if you can't do bench press.
Etc etc.

 

[hellokitty]

@sbcalady Thanks for the advice. What exercises do you think I should get rid of and/or keep? I do have pulldowns and presses in there. But for example there is a lot of stuff on the shoulders/arms day.

 

[sbcalady]

@hellokitty I would just change the program entirely tbh. Like if I would ask you right now, what is your progression plan? Does your program have a clear progression plan right now?

Do you have a progession plan and if so what is it?

Edit: I would probably redo every single day, that's why I say change program and do one that is more tailored towards beginners learning the ropes and increasing their strength.

 

[hellokitty]

@sbcalady Yes the program does increase weight every week. And I’m following that. It increases weight by 2.5% every week I think. It also increases reps, but since I plan on just going to failure now I just go to failure and I compare my reps to last week to see if I gained strength.

So my current progression plan is to increase weight every week or two where I can and depending on the weight I’m using (so I’d increase every week on heavy compound lifts like leg presses and lat pulldowns). And increase reps wherever I can. And on the smaller weight exercises (like bicep curls), I’ll increase the weight when I’m not falling below 8-10 reps on the last few sets.

Also I want to specify that my goal is not to become a body builder. Ideally I want to put on about 20-30 pounds more muscle and go down to 10-15% BF. That’s the physique I’m trying to attain and I expect it will take a few years.

 

[singularityone]

@hellokitty Leg presses and lat pull downs are not heavy compound lifts. They are accessories.

 

[dawn16]

@singularityone If it uses the majority of either Push/Pull/Leg muscle groups, it's a compound. I think you're too caught up on free weight SBD being the only thing classified as compound

 

[singularityone]

@dawn16 Ok. Lat pull down is not a compound lift. You can argue that leg press may be.

 

[dawn16]

@singularityone It uses almost the entirety of your back musculature (traps/rhomboids/lats), biceps and forearms, and core to stabilize. Per google:

"Compound lifts are any strengthening exercise where you're using more than one muscle group at the same time"

 

[raffy]

@hellokitty Dude you should switch to something simpler and worry about the long term. Give it a few months before doing comparisons, daily is just not gonna be meaningful. Try something like Lyle mcdonalds GBR, its so simple and just keep yourself pretty close to failure on machines and 1-2 in the tank for barbell. Add weight to the bar and let that increase your intensity.

 

[winston_32]

@hellokitty I'm no expert, and I'm sure you'll get more detailed advice, but that seems like an awful lot of exercises to be doing as a beginner.

My suggestion would be a program that focuses on the core lifts of bench, squat, deadlift and press.

Progress in those to build a foundation of strength.

 

[easy813]

@hellokitty Why do you have lat raises and pull downs on your chest day? And chest stuff on your back day? Just do a more focused bro split but keep both leg days. Make atleast 1 set of each exercise go to failure each session, the other sets CAN also be to failure or maybe 1 rep shy of it. Also I don't think you are counting calories right i don't think you would stay at that weight with that many calories. Also you don't need nearly that much protein 150g is more than enough

 

[hellokitty]

@easy813 This is just the way the workout program is structured. I might changed up the workouts in a few weeks or so. But I just made the change to going to failure so I wanted to avoid changing too many things at one time. Also I started this program 5 weeks ago so I wanted to give it some time before changing anything.

I can confidently say that I am definitely counting my calories correctly. I literally weigh and measure every single thing with calories that I consume. Everything. My mass gainer powder. The bread for my sandwich. The chicken I eat. The rice. The beans. The cheese. The mayo I use in my sandwich. I think I may switch to more carbs, but in a week or two. I want to make changes one at a time so I know what was holding me back.

 

[easy813]

@hellokitty If you're already 20% BF idk why you are taking mass gainer

 

[hellokitty]

@easy813 It’s just an easy way to get some calories in the morning.

 

[easy813]

@hellokitty I'm saying that if you're above 15% BF, you don't need mass gainer. As long as you consume adequate protein and are actually training hard you will gain muscle. You are in a position to lose weight and gain muscle if you just actually train to failure

 

[cattat]

@hellokitty Bro just do 5x5 or something for like 2 years and go to bed on time lol

 

[ilovebilliejoearmstrong]

@hellokitty Not going to go over every video in this comment but I can already tell you are not lifting correctly by the very first video. Find someone or pay someone to teach you how to lift. Your incline DB press was awful. Zero tension in the chest. Absolutely no arc in the DB path. It shows poor mind muscle connection and a lack of understanding of basic biomechanics. The pec moves the humerus in an arc. The exercise should reflect that. Not trying to be mean, but I think your biggest problem is not understanding weightlifting mechanics.

 

[hellokitty]

@ilovebilliejoearmstrong What do you mean by arc in DB path? Do you have a video of what you mean? As in my arm should move more like a fly? I definitely feel tension in my chest when I do the incline DB press.

 

[ilovebilliejoearmstrong]

@hellokitty The DBs should move in a small arc, not straight up and down. If the DBs come straight down to your shoulders, you're losing all the tension in your chest and your triceps have to do a huge amount of work to get the weight back up. And of course you feel tension in your chest. You should feel tension in your core too, but that doesn't mean it's a good core exercise.

Good video, starts at 7:08