Mass escapses me!

Erwabo · 19-Jun-07, 01:53 PM

I have been doing P90X for about 3 months now and it has been great. I have lost 6% BF and gained about 8lbs of muscle, but its not really geared for mass so I have been adding a chest workout on Saturdays which includes:

Flat Bench (Smith Machine)
Decline (Smith Machine)
Dumbell Flyes
Dumbell Decline
Butterlfy (on machine)
Dips

I eat 150 to 200g Protein a day(between food and protein supps), I eat 2500 -3000 calories a day 40% Carb and 40% protein, then on days that I run (training for marathon) I eat more to supplement. I tried NO-Explode but it did nothing for me, my body hardly responded to it. I STILL have seen such little gains in my chest. Is this jsut genetics or could I try something like Muscle Milk . Some advice please. Thanks

**LiftGirl** · 19-Jun-07, 02:33 PM

Are you just working chest or are you working all your muscles (including legs and back)? You might need to increase calories a bit more. Are you writing down and tracking what you eat or just estimating?

**Lady C** · 19-Jun-07, 03:51 PM

You are working conflicting goals - lean for a marathon & mass. It is really tough to gain mass while training for endurance running.

I would not try to gain until the marathon is over.

Do you have updated pictures? Those are a couple years old.

Erwabo · 19-Jun-07, 05:50 PM

Yes I do have some updated ones. I havent been on here for a while. I will have to update those ones this week. I do track what I eat as its part of the P90x program. I was thinking the same thing that I may need to eat a bit more. I have also heard that its hard to do both, but I figures since I still had fat on my body that the endurance training would eat that up before preventing some good muscle gain. I am working my legs and back but not as hard as I am my chest

CF-OC_gal · 19-Jun-07, 10:25 PM

Good to hear that you had results from a video fitness program. The P90X sounded like it was well thought out.

I think your problem is that you are following a generalized program which conditions you across several fitness modalities such as CV, strength, agility, power, flexibility, speed etc. As a result you are not specializing in any one area of fitness that would result in mass building, but you are getting conditioned and your metabolism is responding.

After your marathon do more focussed training following some of the more popular bodybuilding/strength building programs and cut down on the number of P90X style workouts and cardio.

**LiftGirl** · 20-Jun-07, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erwabo

Y I do track what I eat as its part of the P90x program. I was thinking the same thing that I may need to eat a bit more.

If you are not gaining muscle or fat, then you can add some calories, maybe 250 or so every two weeks until you start gaining.

Erwabo · 21-Jun-07, 07:09 PM

Yeah, that is what I have been hearing, so today I added a whole wheat bagle with some natural peanut butter and an extra piece of fruit.

Thanks for all the replies!

Erwabo · 09-Jul-07, 11:36 AM

Okay, well I am about to start a 2nd round of the P90X program, but I am going to increase my weights that I use to help with some mass. Unfortunately I am still doing my marathon training throughout the summer, so my gains will not be maximum, however I was wondering...in addition to protein shakes, what are some of the best rated products for mass and muscle gain? Muscle Milk, or Meta Tech or things of this nature. I want to build what I can and burn off any extra fat in the process and then I will start a more intense muscle building routine after the marathon is over. Thanks for the input.

**LiftGirl** · 09-Jul-07, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erwabo

what are some of the best rated products for mass and muscle gain? Muscle Milk, or Meta Tech or things of this nature. I want to build what I can and burn off any extra fat in the process and then I will start a more intense muscle building routine after the marathon is over. Thanks for the input.

Not to sound like a smart alek, but food is really the best for mass and muscle gain. Lots of it.

**.V.** · 10-Jul-07, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiftGirl

Not to sound like a smart alek, but food is really the best for mass and muscle gain. Lots of it.

That's not sounding like a smart alec. It's good advice.

Food, up to 20 cals/lb, maybe even 25 if your other activities warrant it and basic, heavy lifting at least 3 times a week will help give you mass.

By basic, heavy lifting, I mean things like squat, dead, bench, row.

pullups, overhead press, dips, and arm work if you like but these aren't mandatory.

Give it a try, see what it does for you.

Erwabo · 10-Jul-07, 10:23 PM

WOW...so thats around 4000 calories for me. I am assuming thats 4000 calories of primarily lean healthy carbs and protein rich food. Man...its hard to eat that many calories in a day. I ended up looking through some of my muscle magazines and they showed how much you would eat and what the meals would be like...thats ALOT of food. It feels counter-intutive to eat that much yet still lose fat. I am at about 9-10% body fat, but its getting to be pretty stubborn fat, I am having a hard time getting an extra 5% off even with running 25+ miles a week.

**.V.** · 10-Jul-07, 11:02 PM

when I cut, I only eat 10 calories/lb but I only do it for 8 weeks. I won't be cutting for close to a year though, I've been on a 1+ year bulker but messed up when I stopped eating for a few weeks a couple of months ago. But I still never got over 10-12 percent body fat when all was going as planned.

at 4K/day I lose weight. I'm still not gaining and just maintaining because I have a hard time eating enough. But I counted my calories today and I ate 4300 and this was with about the same food I've eaten for a month. I'm woking on getting to 5K/day if I can stomach that much food as soon as possible.

Maybe it's not just nutrition, perhaps you need to re-vamp your workouts. Perhaps a change of pace in cardio. Run faster, run sprints, look at some of the bodyweight folks workouts here on DF. Other good options are burpees, jump rope, cycling, switch to HIIT.

Or my favorite and the easiest for direct fat burning. Start doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, possibly even increasing over time to an hour each day. I keep hearing how that's catabolic. But if your nutrition is right, it really isn't. The people I know who do it this way aren't losing any muscle.

Another option is to take a look at max ot cardio or geurilla cardio for a metabolic boost and all day fat burning. Then you are done in only 15 or 16 minutes. Pretty effective too, I just hate it because of the intensity. I cannot deny it's effectiveness though.

Basically, if what you are doing now doesn't work the way you want...then do something different.

**Gooseneck** · 11-Jul-07, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brat

..I think your problem is that you are following a generalized program which conditions you across several fitness modalities such as CV, strength, agility, power, flexibility, speed etc. As a result you are not specializing in any one area of fitness that would result in mass building, but you are getting conditioned and your metabolism is responding..

Couldnt of said it any better myself, in fact I know I could not.

: When it comes to sheer mass building, you need to lower the intensity by half, incorporate compound lifts such as; benchpress, squats, deadlifts, pullups, etc.