Is it possible to gain 22 pounds in 7 weeks?

[nmartinez12443]

Just wondering what you guys thought about this routine I have had going and I seem to be putting on a lot of mass.

172 on October 6 and today Nov 24 I weigh 194 pounds.

My Diet
Throughout the day
3 banannas, 1 powerbar harvest, 2 shakes of True Mass (weight gainer), 2 shakes of whey protein, 1 healthy choice meal, 1 can tuna, 1 subway tuna or ham sub loaded, 1 chicken breast, spinach salad, 1 multivitamin, one other random lunch from cafe, water, creatine monohydrate.

Total Calories: 4,400ish

Workouts (lately I have changed it to make it more balanced)

Monday- bench press barbell, overhead should press dumbells, incline dumbell bench press, shoulder shrug, incline barbell bench, lat pull down, peck dek.

Tuesday- dumbbell curls, skull crushers, barbell curls, tri extensions, reverse tri extensions, machine curl, dips, burn out dumbell curls

Wed- leg curls, leg press, leg ext, calf raises, hack squat.

Thursday- Off

Friday- Same as Monday
Saturday- Same as Tuesday

Sunday- Off

 

[ssj4halo]

gj. It seems as if it was a lot of hard work. Its possible if its newbie gains. But after you hit them newbie gains, dont expect such gains.

 

[WC2]

It's very possible. I've seen guys gain 20 lbs in 5 weeks without AAS. With AAS, 2 -3 weeks. Not that I'm recommending AAS.

Your diet looks decent as long as your spreading your proteins throughout the day and taking in enough post-workout (most important).

I think your workout routine could use some work.

If you're trying to gain mass you should be primarily concentrating on big muscle groups. One whole day just for arms isn't the formula for this.

Why not do a split where you're working 1 big muscle group each day?

Simple example

mon - Chest/Tris
Tues - Back/Bis
Wed - Shoulders/Legs
Thurs - off/cardio
Fri - Chest/Tris
Sat - Back/Bis/Legs
Sun - off

 

[Alle_Gory]

I'm sure you can find a quick fix in a bottle somewhere.

 

[PaalPot]

Why don't you work your back ?

Focus on big muscle groups, instead of focusing on arms and chest. When you use larger muscle groups, more testosterone is produced in your body, and more muscle gain
is possible.

Do exercises like squats, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, chin-ups / pull-ups,
barbell rows and power clean instead of biceps curls, triceps extension, pec-dec etc.

Regarding splits:
It's much more efficient to do whole body workouts three times a week, than doing any split routine (as long as you are a beginner at least).

Both stronglifts.com 5x5 program and Starting Strength's beginner program are great examples of beginner programs.

 

[nmartinez12443]

thank you

they are new be gains, i was at 180 but lost some weight but i eat a ton of cals now. In terms of my routine, your advicing AGAINST bi/tri on day and chest/shoulder another. I was told doing it this way was best because they are connecting muscle groups.

But thanks for the responses.

 

[nmartinez12443]

also in terms of big muscle groups, I am doing all the major compound ones: bench, incline bench, over head press with dumbs, incline with dumbs, shoulder shrugs with bar and weight, (i don't do squats, because it hurts my back)

 

[Mex]

also in terms of big muscle groups, I am doing all the major compound ones: bench, incline bench, over head press with dumbs, incline with dumbs, shoulder shrugs with bar and weight, (i don't do squats, because it hurts my back)

I am just a newbie so dont take this with certainty, but if squats hurt your back and you have no preexisting medical condition, then there is a good chance you are not doing them correctly. Maybe one of the veterans can comment on this.

 

[Cure]

I am doing all the major compound ones
...

(i don't do squats, because it hurts my back)

If this is your balanced routine, I dread to think what it was like before mate!

The compound lifts are listed nicely by paalpot.

Half a dozen different ways to hit your pecs and sholders is not compound lifts.

Unless you have a medical problem, you MUST squat as part of any serious weights program. What exactly is the issue with squatting? what kind of pain is it? where abouts?


Cure.

 

[CaptainJ]

Terrible routine. You don't even deadlift or do a proper squat?

And why so many arm isolation exercises?

Do Rippetoes Starting Strength program.

 

[Colossus]

Well obviously its possible if you did it...

22 lbs in 7 weeks is totally feasible for a dedicated newbie, naturally. Once you get 5 or so years under your belt you wont be making these kinds of gains without AAS.

A few things:

I see ONE exercise in there for your back. You do FOUR different curling exercises and ONE back lift?!? WTF man, get serious. Lifts you should absolutely be doing: SQUATS (not hack squats), DEADLIFTS, and some sort of overhead press, which you have.

Unless you have some sort of orthopedic issue, there is no excuse not to squat and deadlift. Any experienced lifter will pound this into your head. If you dont wanna do them, dont be upset if some time down the road your gains hit a brick wall and you realize you have no thickness or raw strength.

Also, you are overworking your chest, like most newbies. All of that is not necessary. Do 2 exercises for your chest. If you still feel like you need to do more after that, you didn't lift hard enough on those two exercises. You need to redirect all of that energy into your BACK training. Think how many muscles are in your back, and how much that will contribute to your overall size...

Other than that, good on the diet and good on the progress.

Oh and one more thing: STOP doing skull crushers.

 

[nmartinez12443]

Point Taken

I will add squats to my leg routine and include back workouts on my leg day. I terms of rippetoes workout ehh, from what I saw its just 3 workouts, 3 days a week kid of weak. However, I agree I need to include more back workouts and squats.

 

[Alle_Gory]

I will add squats to my leg routine and include back workouts on my leg day. I terms of rippetoes workout ehh, from what I saw its just 3 workouts, 3 days a week kid of weak. However, I agree I need to include more back workouts and squats.

The workout it fine, YOU are weak. If you're not going to push your body it won't grow.

Do some compound exercises and tell me they're easy. There's a reason the workout is designed to be only three times a week. If you follow it, and you go hard, your body will require plenty of rest.

 

[nmartinez12443]

great advice one final question.

Okay how about this routine? One body part: 4 sets 5-6 reps HEAVY.

Monday: Bench Press, Close Grip Bench, Weighted Dips, Dumbbell Flys, Incline Bench, pek deck, abs

Tuesday: T-Bar Row, Chin Ups, Lat pull downs, Bent over Dumbbell Rows, cable row

Wednesday: Leg Extensions, Squat, Leg press, weighted Barbell Lunges, Leg curl, abs

Thursday: Heavy Dumbbell Press, Incline Press, Flys, Weighted Dips, machine bench press

Friday: Bicep Dumbbell Curls, Concentration Dumbbell Curls, Cable Curl, Barbell Curl, abs

Saturday: Barbell Shoulder Press, Machine Press, Dumbbell Laterals, Shrugs

 

[nmartinez12443]

sorry this post was misleading, but I did indeed put on 22 pounds in 7 weeks with the previous routine and diet, but I think your responses are correct and my workout needed mending I will let you know the results when I start my new workout monday. I also am upping my calories per day. I want to go from 172 to 215, lean out to 195 by May.

 

[Alle_Gory]

That's a good workout, but I don't think you will be able to sustain it for a long time. Looks like a burnout routine.

Avoid over-training, if you feel like sh*t and stressed, you're doing too much. Take a break.


Notes:

- Squat and leg press. I don't see the point of leg press.
- I don't see the point of incline press and doing shoulder press later.
- You don't need the peck deck with that much chest work. It's redundant. Maybe do more sets of other chest stuff?
- Too many curls on friday. That's a Monday workout, done in the squat rack.

Suggested:
-----------

1. Chest and tris together same workout. Heavy day.
2. Back and bis, together same workout. Heavy day.
3. Core work and other muscles. Stabilizer muscles. Medium day.
4. Day off. Heal and prepare for the pain on day 5.
5. Legs, include deadlifts. (don't forget the calves). Heaviest day.
6. Shoulders. Easy day.
7. Day off.

With this routine you will be able to do it longer. Assuming that heavy is the same thing to you and me. With your new routine, I would probably be immobile from muscle soreness after a week.

 

[The Message Boy]

OP, yes, you are putting on mass but you most likely are putting on alot of fat. I'm not sure if that's your goal but you are going to bulky/buffy/football linebacker route. If that's what you need you are going in the right path.

I would increase the Weight Gainer, that's the best thing for guys that need to pack on pounds. When it comes to the weights, I would keep it under 6 reps and go for strength/power exercises using as much weight as you can for 4-6 reps. Power exercises are those that target the BIGGEST muscles groups like the legs, chest, back, triceps.

That's the buffy route. But yeah, just add more Weight Gainer you'll continue to grow, while trying to keep the meals nutritious as possible even though eating alot of BREAD wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Alle_Gory]

I would increase the Weight Gainer, that's the best thing for guys that need to pack on pounds. When it comes to the weights, I would keep it under 6 reps and go for strength/power exercises using as much weight as you can for 4-6 reps. Power exercises are those that target the BIGGEST muscles groups like the legs, chest, back, triceps.

Weight gainer is mostly some form of dextrin. Maltodextrin usually. It's slightly better than granulated sugar.

 

[EFFORT]

Okay how about this routine? One body part: 4 sets 5-6 reps HEAVY.

Monday: Bench Press, Close Grip Bench, Weighted Dips, Dumbbell Flys, Incline Bench, pek deck, abs

Tuesday: T-Bar Row, Chin Ups, Lat pull downs, Bent over Dumbbell Rows, cable row

Wednesday: Leg Extensions, Squat, Leg press, weighted Barbell Lunges, Leg curl, abs

Thursday: Heavy Dumbbell Press, Incline Press, Flys, Weighted Dips, machine bench press

Friday: Bicep Dumbbell Curls, Concentration Dumbbell Curls, Cable Curl, Barbell Curl, abs

Saturday: Barbell Shoulder Press, Machine Press, Dumbbell Laterals, Shrugs

Why are you training 6 days a week?

 

[Alle_Gory]

Why are you training 6 days a week?

He probably thinks that more is better, but with training this is not the case.

In order to gain muscle, push your body as much as possible and give it as much time as it needs in order to heal and grow. 6 days a week is pushing it, its heavy. But you won't grow because there isn't enough rest.

It's a balance between rest, nutrition, and training that you must achieve in order to get optimal growth.