Plateau'd and need advice!

Hey guys,
Looking for some health/fitness advice from people who have a lot of experience.

I feel like I'm to that "plateau" point that everyone talks about and am struggling to continue seeing results.

Background on me:
5'9" around 140 lbs. 27 years old
Active and athletic build, in very good shape compared to the average person. Higher than average metabolism.

I workout 5 days a week (Mon-Fri) and some weeks I do Saturdays as well (making it 6 days/week). Been doing so for 3+ months.
My workouts generally run about an hour.
Workouts generally run like this:
- Cardio every single workout - Run 1 mile @ 7:30-8 minute pace, then run 4-5 45 second sprints (HIIT type sprints w/ 30 second rests in between)
- Standard Arms / Chest / Back / Shoulders / Legs workout rotations throughout the week.
- About 10-12 minutes of abs at the end of each workout

Diet:
Very disciplined on diet during the week. No more than 1,500 calories and solely healthy & low carb foods. Not Keto, but low carb diet. On the weekends that goes up some due to drinking, etc.. but nothing too crazy.

Anyways, to the issue. I'm satisfied with the growth I'm seeing in arms/chest/shoulders, etc. I just cannot get rid of that little bit of lower stomach fat. Can't do it. Abs are visibly noticeable, but the lower ones are subpar compared to the upper abs due to the lower stomach fat.

I feel like I'm doing everything right.. cardio, eating healthy, and good metabolism.. but can't seem to get results on burning that off. I've added a little more cardio in the last week or two and not any noticeable difference.

Anyone have any tips that worked for them? Something they added?

Anything helps, thanks y'all!

 

[Pow]

Likely will take longer than 3 months. Don't get disheartened and keep at it.

Our body's get used to things very quickly and adapt, finding the most efficient way of doing it. Switch up your cardio. Swim, cycle, run, play sports etc.

Another big determinant is sleep, make sure you are getting 8 hours of quality sleep!

 

Likely will take longer than 3 months. Don't get disheartened and keep at it.

Our body's get used to things very quickly and adapt, finding the most efficient way of doing it. Switch up your cardio. Swim, cycle, run, play sports etc.

Another big determinant is sleep, make sure you are getting 8 hours of quality sleep!

Thanks for the input. I read a lot about HIIT workouts (outside of sprints intervals) that people swear up and down by. Do you think they are worth it/work?

 

[Pow]

Couldn't tell you man, I don't know that much about them.

When looking for what to do I generally read science journals and not Google. Something I'd recommend!

 

Thanks buddy

 

Are you changing your workouts every few weeks? Make sure to change out your routine. Your body will get used to the same movements and you will plateau and not see much improvements. Make sure that you are taking the correct supplements, eating the right foods. ( A cheat meal every now and then isn't the end of the world..)

If you really want to maximize your gains, I would suggest bulking, and then cutting your weight. This will really help maximize your build. But as I as I said before, I would change up your routine every few weeks.

 

Are you changing your workouts every few weeks? Make sure to change out your routine. Your body will get used to the same movements and you will plateau and not see much improvements. Make sure that you are taking the correct supplements, eating the right foods. ( A cheat meal every now and then isn't the end of the world..)

If you really want to maximize your gains, I would suggest bulking, and then cutting your weight. This will really help maximize your build. But as I as I said before, I would change up your routine every few weeks.

Haven't really changed it up at all, tbh. About 6 weeks ago I added in some lightly different workouts to target specific muscle heads.. but that's about it. Yep, need to try this.

Not really sure as far as supplements go. Any advice? All I take is whey protein daily.

 

Haven't really changed it up at all, tbh. About 6 weeks ago I added in some lightly different workouts to target specific muscle heads.. but that's about it. Yep, need to try this.

Not really sure as far as supplements go. Any advice? All I take is whey protein daily.

I would also look into getting some Creatine. (Maybe a mass gainer?) You and I have the same build, but I'm not sure your end goal. Creatine basically helps you build muscle and endurance strength.

I would just try to eat as often as you can. The only way you'll see big gains is if you put on the weight / cut the weight. - Make sure the weight you put on is healthy weight.. I wouldn't go out and eat fast food every day. haha. chicken, rice, beans, sweet potatos, etc...

 

[S]

@IGotOwned

Firstly, what is your goal? Are you aiming to lean bulk and gain muscle mass alongside a leaner core?

If you’re aiming for the above, your current diet and routine is completely wrong.

What you need to change (basically everything):

1. Stop working out 6 days a week, 4 max – your body needs to heal, and your current routine is extremely inefficient. You can work out 6 days a week If you change your routine, if not, 4 max. However, even with a different routine, 4 – 5 days a week is plenty.

2. Focus on technique and hypertrophy when training – train till fatigue for everything you do.

3. Ensure you either gradually increase the weight or reps, and or both. This will vary per exercise.

4. You can’t spot reduce fat, no matter how many hours you do isolated ab exercises for, it won’t matter.

5. You actually NEED to eat MORE - you’re 5’9 and weigh 63KG, but you’re ONLY eating 1500 calories a day, whilst doing all that exercise? You should be eating 2000-2200 a day, 50% carbs, 40% protein, 10% whatever else, if you’re training 5-6 days a week. Eating the right amount based on how often you workout is EXTREMELY important. Eating more does NOT = gaining fat, it will result in you becoming more lean while gaining size

6. Cardio 5-6 days a week is nuts. 2 MAX. Doing cardio doesn’t result in abs. You’ll lose overall muscle mass due to how apparently lean you already are.

7. Once your caloric intake is higher, your routine more efficient, and your training is technique focused, you’ll see results far more clearly.

Lastly, what exercises are you specifically doing?

I’m unsure if this applies to you (but you may be unintentionally making mistakes as such), but a common mistake (can be applied to many exercises in principle) is sub-optimal training. Heaps of youtube videos on this, and it's how I learned.

For example, if you’re doing dumbbell curls, and your goal is to A) increase arm size and strength, but also B) strengthen and lean out your core – more specifically, your abs, don’t do alternating dumbbell curls, and don’t do them seated. Do both arms at the same time, whilst standing.

Why? A) When you alternate your arms during the reps you have a period where one of the arms is resting. This is taking the tension off of the biceps for the 2-3 seconds that it takes to perform the rep on the other arm. If you are training for metabolic hypertrophy, this brief period of rest is enough to sap all of the benefits of that form of training and is therefore something you want to avoid;

B) Curling with just one hand (say 20KG) means that your core will only have to contract hard enough to control the 20KG. Whereas both arms at the same time will mean that you will have to work that much harder in order to control the 40KG combined; and

C) Quite often muscle imbalances are developed by performing your dumbbell bicep curls in an alternating fashion. If one side is weaker than the other, you might see that your weaker arm struggles far more to complete the rep. At the same time, you might find that you simply cannot move the weight at the same speed that you can on your stronger, more powerful arm. Both of these are problems which are not easily seen when you are doing one arm at a time. Forcing the dumbbells to move together is a great way to overcome whatever disparity exists, and even-out the development of your biceps.

Msg me if you need more info.

 

[Pow]

Pretty sure creatine just sends more water to your muscles, and then when you stop taking creatine you lose that water bulk...

 

Pretty sure creatine just sends more water to your muscles, and then when you stop taking creatine you lose that water bulk...

Not entirely correct. It is the cells that are more capable of taking up water. The swelling of cells causes your muscles to look slightly bigger. The effect is very individual, but people often tend to add 1-5 kg of bound water. This effect is only present during the period of supplement intake.

However, creatine can also help you carry out that last one or two reps in a set. This is what’ll help you put on more muscle mass.

 

@IGotOwned

Firstly, what is your goal? Are you aiming to lean bulk and gain muscle mass alongside a leaner core?

If you’re aiming for the above, your current diet and routine is completely wrong.

What you need to change (basically everything):

1. Stop working out 6 days a week, 4 max – your body needs to heal, and your current routine is extremely inefficient. You can work out 6 days a week If you change your routine, if not, 4 max. However, even with a different routine, 4 – 5 days a week is plenty.

2. Focus on technique and hypertrophy when training – train till fatigue for everything you do.

3. Ensure you either gradually increase the weight or reps, and or both. This will vary per exercise.

4. You can’t spot reduce fat, no matter how many hours you do isolated ab exercises for, it won’t matter.

5. You actually NEED to eat MORE - you’re 5’9 and weigh 63KG, but you’re ONLY eating 1500 calories a day, whilst doing all that exercise? You should be eating 2000-2200 a day, 50% carbs, 40% protein, 10% whatever else, if you’re training 5-6 days a week. Eating the right amount based on how often you workout is EXTREMELY important. Eating more does NOT = gaining fat, it will result in you becoming more lean while gaining size

6. Cardio 5-6 days a week is nuts. 2 MAX. Doing cardio doesn’t result in abs. You’ll lose overall muscle mass due to how apparently lean you already are.

7. Once your caloric intake is higher, your routine more efficient, and your training is technique focused, you’ll see results far more clearly.

Lastly, what exercises are you specifically doing?

I’m unsure if this applies to you (but you may be unintentionally making mistakes as such), but a common mistake (can be applied to many exercises in principle) is sub-optimal training. Heaps of youtube videos on this, and it's how I learned.

For example, if you’re doing dumbbell curls, and your goal is to A) increase arm size and strength, but also B) strengthen and lean out your core – more specifically, your abs, don’t do alternating dumbbell curls, and don’t do them seated. Do both arms at the same time, whilst standing.

Why? A) When you alternate your arms during the reps you have a period where one of the arms is resting. This is taking the tension off of the biceps for the 2-3 seconds that it takes to perform the rep on the other arm. If you are training for metabolic hypertrophy, this brief period of rest is enough to sap all of the benefits of that form of training and is therefore something you want to avoid;

B) Curling with just one hand (say 20KG) means that your core will only have to contract hard enough to control the 20KG. Whereas both arms at the same time will mean that you will have to work that much harder in order to control the 40KG combined; and

C) Quite often muscle imbalances are developed by performing your dumbbell bicep curls in an alternating fashion. If one side is weaker than the other, you might see that your weaker arm struggles far more to complete the rep. At the same time, you might find that you simply cannot move the weight at the same speed that you can on your stronger, more powerful arm. Both of these are problems which are not easily seen when you are doing one arm at a time. Forcing the dumbbells to move together is a great way to overcome whatever disparity exists, and even-out the development of your biceps.

Msg me if you need more info.

Wow, what a great post, man. Thanks for posting it. I just sent you a PM to further the conversation. If anyone else is interested, LMK and I can post it here as well.

 

[Robot X]

Wow, what a great post, man. Thanks for posting it. I just sent you a PM to further the conversation. If anyone else is interested, LMK and I can post it here as well.

Please post very interested

 

Here was my reply to him. Waiting to hear back.

Hey man,

Thanks for the post on my topic. It was absolutely awesome. Thanks for taking the time to do it. I don't want to give the impression that I have no clue what I'm doing. I've done a ton of reading, knowledge building, etc.. just wanted to get some input on how to take it that extra mile.

I want to run something by you, get your opinion, continue the conversation, and get more advice.

My take-a-ways:

1) Goal: Yeah, not looking to eat 5K calories a day, bulk up - get fat, then cut like the previous guy before you mentioned. Just looking to put on some muscle (which I've done a good job at so far.. arms and chest are definitely bigger) and get a lean core. The really lean core is the part I'm struggling with. Got a solid 4 pack with the other two slightly visible.. they just have a little bit of stubborn on top of 'em.
2) Need to cut down to 4-5 workouts a week.. maximum (Which is what I do most of the time)
4) I'm aware about trying to spot cut fat.. not possible. This is why I've been hitting cardio hard. I'm normally running 1 mile a workout and then 2 or 3 sprints afterwards.. that's only 5-6 miles a week, which I feel isn't too much is it?
5) I'll work towards eating more. I eat tons of chicken, vegetables, turkey, nuts, etc.. I'll just make a point to increase the intake. Are you sure about this, though? I've read that 2K-2.2K is where an average male should be, and I'm obviously a little smaller than that.

I'm also really interested in you mentioning sub-optimal training. Could you possibly send me some good bicep / tricep, chest, shoulders, general upper body workouts that prevent this?

Thanks again.

 

Here was my reply to him. Waiting to hear back.

Hey man,

Thanks for the post on my topic. It was absolutely awesome. Thanks for taking the time to do it. I don't want to give the impression that I have no clue what I'm doing. I've done a ton of reading, knowledge building, etc.. just wanted to get some input on how to take it that extra mile.

I want to run something by you, get your opinion, continue the conversation, and get more advice.

My take-a-ways:

1) Goal: Yeah, not looking to eat 5K calories a day, bulk up - get fat, then cut like the previous guy before you mentioned. Just looking to put on some muscle (which I've done a good job at so far.. arms and chest are definitely bigger) and get a lean core. The really lean core is the part I'm struggling with. Got a solid 4 pack with the other two slightly visible.. they just have a little bit of stubborn on top of 'em.
2) Need to cut down to 4-5 workouts a week.. maximum (Which is what I do most of the time)
4) I'm aware about trying to spot cut fat.. not possible. This is why I've been hitting cardio hard. I'm normally running 1 mile a workout and then 2 or 3 sprints afterwards.. that's only 5-6 miles a week, which I feel isn't too much is it?
5) I'll work towards eating more. I eat tons of chicken, vegetables, turkey, nuts, etc.. I'll just make a point to increase the intake. Are you sure about this, though? I've read that 2K-2.2K is where an average male should be, and I'm obviously a little smaller than that.

I'm also really interested in you mentioning sub-optimal training. Could you possibly send me some good bicep / tricep, chest, shoulders, general upper body workouts that prevent this?

Thanks again.

You should be eating 3k+ calories a day. That's for about 1.5-2lbs of weight gain per week. I personally burn 1550 calories per day, so I just double my caloric intake. - 2-2.2k calories for your build is just enough to pretty much maintain your physique. Just make sure you're eating good foods.

 

You should be eating 3k+ calories a day. That's for about 1.5-2lbs of weight gain per week. I personally burn 1550 calories per day, so I just double my caloric intake. - 2-2.2k calories for your build is just enough to pretty much maintain your physique. Just make sure you're eating good foods.

I mean no disrespect, but it sounds like your goals are not congruent with mine. Did you read my last post? I know for a fact I should not be eating 3k calories to obtain the results I’m aiming to get.

 

I mean, regardless to what I say, you're going to do what you feel comfortable with. I'm just trying to help you out.

 

Not going to scroll through all the replies, but do you supplement at all?

 

Not going to scroll through all the replies, but do you supplement at all?

Only protein.

 

Only protein.

if he only does protein shakes (assuming that's what you're referring to) that could possibly be why he feels so empty.

Think of it this way, when you get low gas on a car, what do you do? you top it up. Supplements although not required if you're in the right mind work the same, and of course it goes without saying over the years we do feel the effects more without such things, examples can be shown with older men (gym experts) who use roids.

I'm 29, (Just turned) about 220lb and i'm 6'1, not the most giant guy in the world but I am a major meathead when it comes to my abilities in the gym.

One thing I do find though, and I agree I do get my fuel tank empty fast, this could be in the case of OP due to low carbs, your body is going to crave carbs especially if you're low carb. Sometimes I end up having like a can of monster +a preworkout scoop (I use C4 or Rich Pianas supplements for it) and I tell you what, I go double my normal weights literally, I get like a fuzzy feeling around my whole body due to the doubledose not saying it's a good thing to do, but it works.

I would highly suggest trying some and see how you go @IGotOwned , one thing you need to remember is your digestive system is going to play a big part, if you're digesting your food too fast it's going to burn through you like a mother fucker.