I am not making any progress HELP

[Kouklasou]

I have been lifting since Jan. and I have seen some results since the first month but have yet to go any further. I feel like all I am doing now is maintaining and I do not want to stay this size. I want to add bulk to my legs and see more definitionin my arms.
What am I doing wrong?
I have to say that I know that I am not getting enough protein because I am struggling to find one that is right for me. I have an aversion to lactose but I have tried and liked muscle milk with water but I think it's too fattening. Correct me if I am wrong but are the extra carbs etc in Muscle milk ok if I want to bulk up or no?
How many shakes a day do I need?
For my legs, I have been doing leg presses, leg ext, leg curls, squats, dead lifts, lunges and I am not seeing anymore progress than what I already have. What more do I need to do?
I am just really lost here. Some help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[badcompany87]

Originally Posted by Kouklasou

I have been lifting since Jan. and I have seen some results since the first month but have yet to go any further. I feel like all I am doing now is maintaining and I do not want to stay this size. I want to add bulk to my legs and see more definitionin my arms.
What am I doing wrong?
I have to say that I know that I am not getting enough protein because I am struggling to find one that is right for me. I have an aversion to lactose but I have tried and liked muscle milk with water but I think it's too fattening. Correct me if I am wrong but are the extra carbs etc in Muscle milk ok if I want to bulk up or no?
How many shakes a day do I need?
For my legs, I have been doing leg presses, leg ext, leg curls, squats, dead lifts, lunges and I am not seeing anymore progress than what I already have. What more do I need to do?
I am just really lost here. Some help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

If you're trying to bulk up, then the carbs in the Muscle Milk are fine. Protein is a big deal, your muscles need it to grow. Since your 150lbs, you need about 150g of protein a day. Don't get all of the protein from shakes. Try and get as much of your protein from food as you can. I usually have two shakes a day...one in the morning, and one before bed. That's about 50g of protein right there...you just gotta get another 100g from good food...which isn't too hard with tuna, chicken and salmon. Since you want to bulk up your legs your going to need a calorie surplus.

I need more information about your workouts though. So for upper body you want to tone up, and lower body you want to bulk up right? What kind of split do you do? Since you want to tone up your upper body...you need to use a light-moderate weight that you can use for 3 sets of 12-15...this will tone you up. For your legs if you want to add mass, you definitely need to do squats and deads are good too. You need to go pretty heavy to add mass...use a weight you can do 3 sets of 6-10 reps with good form. If you have a spotter you might want to try 1 set of 20 for squats...it helps with endurance and mass...but you have to use enough weight to where you fail at the last rep...so you gotta have a spotter...look up some workouts on the main site too....lots of info out there...good luck.

Oh and have you seen any increase in your lifts?

[kimm4]

If you want more definition then you need to lose body fat. If you want bigger legs then you need to bulk. Doing both at the same time...more than likely not gonna happen.

Whether you want to lose body fat or bulk...training should always be heavy. The results you end up with all fall back on your diet...so that's where you need to start.

[Kouklasou]

I am sorry, I didn't mean to say tone up on top I meant bulk up on top too =)

[imperfectly_lou]

You don't HAVE to use protein powder. WPI or a WPI/WPC combo is useful post workout as it is quickly digested and utilised for muscle recovery, but you should look to get the majority of your protein from real food sources - lean meats, dairy, nuts and seeds.

[Kouklasou]

Originally Posted by badcompany87

If you're trying to bulk up, then the carbs in the Muscle Milk are fine. Protein is a big deal, your muscles need it to grow. Since your 150lbs, you need about 150g of protein a day. Don't get all of the protein from shakes. Try and get as much of your protein from food as you can. I usually have two shakes a day...one in the morning, and one before bed. That's about 50g of protein right there...you just gotta get another 100g from good food...which isn't too hard with tuna, chicken and salmon. Since you want to bulk up your legs your going to need a calorie surplus.

I need more information about your workouts though. So for upper body you want to tone up, and lower body you want to bulk up right? What kind of split do you do? Since you want to tone up your upper body...you need to use a light-moderate weight that you can use for 3 sets of 12-15...this will tone you up. For your legs if you want to add mass, you definitely need to do squats and deads are good too. You need to go pretty heavy to add mass...use a weight you can do 3 sets of 6-10 reps with good form. If you have a spotter you might want to try 1 set of 20 for squats...it helps with endurance and mass...but you have to use enough weight to where you fail at the last rep...so you gotta have a spotter...look up some workouts on the main site too....lots of info out there...good luck.

Oh and have you seen any increase in your lifts?

I have seen increase in my lifts. I started leg presses at like 50lbs and I am up to 200 but I do not feel like I can fail at that weight and I currently have no spotter =/
With upper body, eh...it really all depends. I am not to confident in that area and like I said, have no spotter. He's deployed for a year and I am living in a new city for that year. I guess I just need to find someone at my gym.
My splits right now are non existent since I am feeling a little less motivated. I am open to suggestion. I need help putting one together. I am confused, do I need to work out my parts MORE to add more mass or less? How many days per week should I do legs, triceps/chest, back/biceps?
I was doing (1)Chest/Triceps/abs,(2)Legs/abs,(3)back/biceps,(4)off REPEAT

[kimm4]

Originally Posted by Kouklasou

I have seen increase in my lifts. I started leg presses at like 50lbs and I am up to 200 but I do not feel like I can fail at that weight and I currently have no spotter =/
With upper body, eh...it really all depends. I am not to confident in that area and like I said, have no spotter. He's deployed for a year and I am living in a new city for that year. I guess I just need to find someone at my gym.
My splits right now are non existent since I am feeling a little less motivated. I am open to suggestion. I need help putting one together. I am confused, do I need to work out my parts MORE to add more mass or less? How many days per week should I do legs, triceps/chest, back/biceps?
I was doing (1)Chest/Triceps/abs,(2)Legs/abs,(3)back/biceps,(4)off REPEAT

Maybe you just need a new workout. Got to the top and click on supersite. Type in split workouts under the search and you'll find tons of them. Just pick one and go with it. When it comes to how many times a person trains a specific body part that's really up to you. If you feel a certain body part is lagging then sure, you can hit it a couple times a week.

I've been lifting heavy for over 20 yrs and I've never used a spotter. I keep weights heavy and I use a 4-10 rep ranges. There are times when I do a final set and go light for an extra 15-20. There are other times where I pick the heaviest weights and get 1-2. Switch things up by doing straight sets, super sets, tri sets, drop sets, pyramids, reverse pyramids, waveloading, etc...throw in slow negatives, static holds, 21's, forced reps, failure, etc...

The idea is to constantly switch things up to keep the muscle guessing. This is how you make the best gains.

Keep at it!

[Candice_B]

Originally Posted by Kouklasou

My splits right now are non existent since I am feeling a little less motivated. I am open to suggestion. I need help putting one together. I am confused, do I need to work out my parts MORE to add more mass or less? How many days per week should I do legs, triceps/chest, back/biceps?
I was doing (1)Chest/Triceps/abs,(2)Legs/abs,(3)back/biceps,(4)off REPEAT

What are your typical reps, sets, and volume of exercises per workout by the way ?

I sometimes change between once a week bodypart, or twice a week, it depends on your routine/ schedule, etc.

[badcompany87]

Originally Posted by Kouklasou

I am sorry, I didn't mean to say tone up on top I meant bulk up on top too =)

Well if you're bulking altogether then you gotta go heavy bottom and top. I'm bulking right now too... My split is like this. I have two Workouts A and B. Workout A is for chest, tris and shoulders. Workout B is for legs, back and biceps. On Monday I do workout A, Tuesday I do workout B and Wednesdays off. Then Thursday workout A and Friday workout B and then I take the weekend off. Anytime you wanna add mass, you need to do major compound movements, I'm sure you've heard of the bench, squat and dead. I always do bench and squat, occasionally I'll do deadlifts. I have a back injury from high school, so my lower back gives out quick. In workout A, the chest is the major muscle so I do the compound exercise (bench) 4 sets of 6-10 reps. Overall I'll do 4 exercises for chest, the bench is the only one I do 4 sets on, the others are only 3 sets. And for shoulders and tris I do 3 different exercises each with 3 sets each. In workout B, I prefer to do the one set of 20 for squats instead of 4 sets of 6-10 reps...the 1X20 is easier on my back personally. And then for legs I do 4 exercises altogether, for back I'll do 3-4 exercises just depended on how I feel because it is a large muscle, but I always do rows. And then biceps get hit really hard when you go heavy on your back so I do 2-3 exercises for them with 3 sets. I just started this split in August, I like it. I was doing the generic full-body 3 days a week for mass program thing and it's pretty killer, you need to be able to get a lot of rest...it wasn't working for me. And I also wanted to bring up certain muscles because not everything was in proportion, so I thought a split would work good. When you're bulking...you have to go heavy on all you're lifts. I know you don't have a spotter, I don't either. On squats, I barely make it to my last rep, but I squat in the power rack, so there are catch bars. Bench is kind of harder to go real heavy on without a spotter, so when I know I'm about to fail, I rack the bar and have two dumbbells ready to go next to me and I just press till failure...but if you have a smith machine at your gym...then you're good...but above all...EAT!!! Im telling you...you won't see any results unless you eat eat eat!!! I don't know how you're metabolism is...but if it's quick like mine...I recommend the see-food diet. Hope this helped.