Reaching one year

[getaway]

In a week or so I will be reaching a year of bodybuilding and so far I've seen some good changes, but lately, I haven't been seeing much change in my arms. So what I'm thinking is what could my body be lacking, I've changed my weights so i lift heavier, and I've been eating as much as I can, but then again can this be a calorie, protein problem?

[mesomorph]

It's hardly ever just one problem getaway but rather a combination of smaller factors. Obviously you've had some success with your program and diet so you've done things right! At this point you have probably reached a plateau which means that you need to have another look at your program and diet eg go from heavy weights to lighter weights and add extra reps, change to different exercises, alternate emphasis from bis to tris and vice versa on a weekly basis, have an arm day, eat more, include extra/other supplements into diet (creatine, glutamine, WPI). There are literally hundreds of different ways to bust through a plateau!! Others will post a variety of methods, the trick is to assimilate the info and choose those that make sense to you and then incorporate them into your program and see how things go. Be patient. Everything needs to be right before the body shows adaptation. cheers mate

[.V.]

Have you re-calculated your dietary needs taking into consideration the muscle you've gained? You've got more muscle now so you need even more calories keeping the same proportion of proper macronurient balance that has made you grow before to support and keep it. More still to make it keep growing. The trick is to find that amount without going so far that you make yourself fat.

Ain't it fun

An example to use which I totally missed out on and wasted one year of lifting with no real progress. At 185 I need about 1000 calories more each day than I needed at 170 to support all my activities. At 196, I need 750 additional calories. I'm now eating in excess of 4000 calories a day working my way up to 5000 or 5500 so I can start doing cardio again without losing muscle (and I have very little muscle to worry about). Anyone with real size really has to pack away the grub.

[getaway]

okay, i do karate about 3 times a week, sometimes two, and id say its some pretty intense cardio, and then i weight lift twice a week as well, at the top of my head, i think my calorie intake is around 1800-2500 im not sure, im 15, 140lb, and about 5'7 or 5'8. but im having difficulty in bringing myself to eat more, because i want the fat off my stomach to burn away, my abdominal muscles are visible, but i want it to become more cut and lean, im having difficulty acheiving this, do you have any suggestions?

Choose one - bulk or cut. It is very difficult to do both successfully. Or you could try rotating them several times throughout the year.

Workout and diet logs are essential tools to reach your goals. They give you constant feed back on what is working and what isn't. Yes, they appear difficult to maintain, but within a few weeks you get used to recording things and you will find they don't take much time.