How long do you have to wait until you see results?

[Whoseyourdaddy]

Ive been working out for about 5 months now, and ive been kind of dissapointed in the lack of results, can someone give me hints, especially in arm size. I have however, been able to increase my leg size dramatically. How long would it normally take to increase an inch of arm size??

Also, my left arm is bigger then my right, despite the fact that Ive been using dumbells for 3 months now. What gives?

Age 20:

Weight: 185

[Nainoa]

For me, I gained nearly 2 inches early on... However... When I started 14+ months ago, I was severely atrophied, having been laid up from a knee injury, and general laziness...

So I pretty much just bounced back to where I had been in previous era's of weight lifting as a hobby... I would say it took 16-18 weeks, to re-gain those 2 inches on my arms... Then another 32-35 to gain another half inch...

Arms take a while to get "New Growth."

Of course to get the most out of your routine, you need to bulk have surplus cals etc... etc...

[lowkey122]

I've been lifting for almost 4 months now and have gained right over an inch in biceps. Seems like I hit the wall too cuz I just measured in Saturday, like I do every 2 weeks, and had absolutely no positive measurements for the very first time. I just switched to an HST program for the first time and found it rather ironic that "hypertrophy-specific-training" didn't encourage any hypertrophy for me. I don't attribute it to diet because I've eaten better over the last 2 weeks than I have since I've started. So I'm switching back to a split routine. Point is, if you don't see results, change something and from what I've read and experienced, it usually has to do with diet or training, in that order.

Some people may advise to measure less often but since I'm still new, I'm still trying to gauge what's working for me and what's not since everybody benefits from lifting differently. If I see small gains, I stick with what I'm doing and find ways to improve. If I see pitiful/no gains, I switch something out. I'd rather find out that I just wasted 2 weeks of my time than looking back and realizing I wasted months only to begin revising from that point.

Also, people will mention to load up on good calories but I've found that what's more important is timing those good calories like timing on an engine. If you're not shooting those carbs/proteins/fats to your body at the most efficient times, like a poorly timed engine, you're wasting a lot of fuel.

[Nainoa]

I've been lifting for almost 4 months now and have gained right over an inch in biceps. Seems like I hit the wall too cuz I just measured in Saturday, like I do every 2 weeks, and had absolutely no positive measurements for the very first time. I just switched to an HST program for the first time and found it rather ironic that "hypertrophy-specific-training" didn't encourage any hypertrophy for me. I don't attribute it to diet because I've eaten better over the last 2 weeks than I have since I've started. So I'm switching back to a split routine. Point is, if you don't see results, change something and from what I've read and experienced, it usually has to do with diet or training, in that order.

Some people may advise to measure less often but since I'm still new, I'm still trying to gauge what's working for me and what's not since everybody benefits from lifting differently. If I see small gains, I stick with what I'm doing and find ways to improve. If I see pitiful/no gains, I switch something out. I'd rather find out that I just wasted 2 weeks of my time than looking back and realizing I wasted months only to begin revising from that point.

Also, people will mention to load up on good calories but I've found that what's more important is timing those good calories like timing on an engine. If you're not shooting those carbs/proteins/fats to your body at the most efficient times, like a poorly timed engine, you're wasting a lot of fuel.

You know... You sound a lot like me, when I was at what I call "The Wall."

Having worked out on and off for 14 years before I made it a permanent lifestyle change... I've found that there's a point around the 4-5 month mark, where your body is nearing or is at, the most muscular it's ever been before... And it resists changing to that "Never before seen state of hypertrophy."

I hate that goddam wall... Been to it 5-6 times now in my life... Hell I think one of the reasons I keep up lifting is simply because I know that if I stop and atrophy into "A Normal Person." That I'll pick it back up again, and have to dick around with that stupid wall!

However... I have come up with a system, that got me past the wall this last time... Gave it to my buddy when he got to that wall, and it worked for him.
(Sadly he gave up lifting.)

If you're truly interested I can give you what I came up with and did...

Note it's only for "Wall Breaking." And the second I post it up, someone will follow by saying that I'm smoking crack.

[mpodlesny]

If you have been working out for 5 months with no results then that leads to only one thing, your diet is all wrong. Your body needs the proper amount of nutrients in order to grow, get stronger and change.

[lowkey122]

......If you're truly interested I can give you what I came up with and did...

Note it's only for "Wall Breaking." And the second I post it up, someone will follow by saying that I'm smoking crack.

I'm all ears. Personally, the "highly critical" just highlight their ignorance. I think the most important thing you can learn when researching bbing is that everyone's body is different and responds differently to diet and training. The training that works for some may not do jack for another and vica versa. When people immediately criticize another persons training regimen, it just goes to show they missed one of the most critical fundamentals of the whole sport. I like to take in all information without bias, no matter the source, which some people don't like to do because they either already know exactly what works for them or think they know more than they do. Like I said, I'm still new so all new information is greatly appreciated.

[Nainoa]

I'm all ears. Personally, the "highly critical" just highlight their ignorance. I think the most important thing you can learn when researching bbing is that everyone's body is different and responds differently to diet and training. The training that works for some may not do jack for another and vica versa. When people immediately criticize another persons training regimen, it just goes to show they missed one of the most critical fundamentals of the whole sport. I like to take in all information without bias, no matter the source, which some people don't like to do because they either already know exactly what works for them or think they know more than they do. Like I said, I'm still new so all new information is greatly appreciated.

Well Here it is... My "Crack Smoking" Noob Wall Breaker...

Okay... I essentially came up with this routine, by using things that had gotten me past "The Wall" in the past... Mixed with advice from the boards, and a couple of nutritional articles I read.

In the past era's where I worked out I would hit "The wall." Find a way past it, then the season would end, or would change, or I'd just straight get distracted by life and give up...

Each time I'd hit "The wall" get past it, gain a little more... Lose... Start over again a few months later... Hit the wall, and it would be even harder to get past again. Finally this last time, about 10 months or so ago, I hit it and could not for the life of me get past it... So I tried a little bit of everything, with some new stuff mixed in, and I shattered the mofo...

It's pretty much designed to trick your body into accepting it's new role of progressive adaptation.

Here's the refined plan that I gave my buddy.

*Note all reps should be of the appropriate weight for that number of reps.
All negatives must be slow, controlled and purposeful... Form should be tight!

Also, I have lift days set up on Sun, Tues, Thurs... If you want to go M,W,F... That's fine.

Total duration is 8 weeks of actual lifting.

It starts out...
Take 7-9 days off...
During this time, eat like a normal person... Not BB-ing clean, but not total junk either.

PHASE 1: DDC Modified.
(Deads, Dips, and Chins +)
Duration: 2 weeks
Do this Sun, Tues, Thurs...
Mon & Wed, do stretch work.

Routine consists of:
Warm up & Stretch

Deads 3X9-10
Dips 3X10 (Weight with a belt if needed.)
Chins 3X? (If you can do 10, then weight with belt if needed.)
Incline DB Bench 2X8-10
Calf Press 2X20-25
Bent Rows 2X10
Cuban Rotations 2X25
Weighted Crunch 1X20

Cool Down...

Diet notes: Eat your standard BBer's kind of clean
Protein: 2g per pound of body weight.

PHASE 2: 15-10's & Burn
Duration: 2 weeks
Do this Sun, Tues, Thurs...
Mon & Wed, do 30 minutes of moderate cardio

Week 1
Warm up and Stretch

2X15 Incline Bench (DB or BB)
2X10 Dips

2X15 Squat
1X10 Deads

2X15 DB Military Press
1X10 Lateral Raises

2X15 Bent Rows
1x? Chins

2X15 Cuban Rotations
1X10 EZ Curls

2X20 Calf Press

1X15 Oblique Crunch Right
1X15 Oblique Crunch Left
1X10 Weighted Standard Crunch

Cool Down

.....

Week 2
Warm up and Stretch

2X10 Incline Bench (DB or BB)
1X15 Dips (If you can't do 15, do as many as you can.)

1X15 Squat
2X10 Deads

1X15 DB Military Press
2X10 Lateral Raises

1X15 Bent Rows
2x? Chins

1X15 Cuban Rotations
2X10 EZ Curls

2X20 Calf Press

1X10 Weighted Oblique Crunch Right
1X10 Weighted Oblique Crunch Left
1X15 Standard Crunch

Cool Down

Nutritional notes:
Same Clean BBer's diet... Except add in a pound of bacon, and a pound of unsalted peanuts or almonds per week. And up your carbs a little.

I know it sounds dumb to put Bacon into your diet... But your body will be needing extra fats, and the monosaturated fats in nuts are good primers for the building blocks of hormones.

PHASE 3... Split/Full Body

Week 1, do a standard Split of:
Sunday: Chest/Tri, Tues: Legs, Thurs: Back/Bi
Pick a day whether it's Mon or Wed to do 30 mins of cardio... The other day is rest.

Week 2... Do a full Body workout on Sun, Tues, Thurs
Mon or Wed do 30 mins of cardio... Other day is rest...
(If you've never set up a fullbody routine before... Essentially planning one out is simply a matter of taking the number of sets you do per body part in a split, and dividing by 3, so at the end of the week your total sets per body part is the same.

Week 3 do a standard Split of:
Sunday: Chest/Tri, Tues: Legs, Thurs: Back/Bi
Pick a day whether it's Mon or Wed to do 30 mins of cardio... The other day is rest.

Week 4... Do a full Body workout on Sun, Tues, Thurs
Mon or Wed do 30 mins of cardio... Other day is rest...

Nutritional notes: Standard BBer's diet... Except slightly elevated carbs on Week 2 & 4.


Take a week off...


Have any questions?
*Have any questions other than "Where do you buy your crack pipe?"

I know the 2 weeks of 10-15's might seem a little on the light side... But wait till you get done with 3 weeks of Deads, Dips and Chins, every other day 3 sets each...

[the iron addict]

I would bet 1000 bucks every one of you guys that are stuck are doing WAY too much work, and not eating near enough. It's that simple. THERE IS NO REASON IN THE WORLD TO BE SUCK AFTER SUCH A SHORT TIME TRIANING. YOU GUYS SHOULD BE GROWING LIKE WEEDS, BUT YOU ARE NOT! There is no reason in the world to be doing 3-4 lifts a bodypart and hitting the gym 4-6 days at your stage of the game. I put a LOT of muscle and pounds on the bar for my personal training clients and more often than not do it with 1-2 lifts a bodypart and 3 days in the gym a week.

Iron Addict