Need help

[knucklesamich]

"8 to 12 sets per day each set to failure"
Bro, a lot of folks train differently, but I think you are overtraining my man. Try 1 - 2 sets each to failure, 6 - 12 reps. It took me forever to figure out I was overtraining, it took me forever to realize this. I like how Mentzer put it (God rest his soul). Imagine you are digging a hole, and when you're done, you're going to put a hill on that hole. Each set you do is like taking more out of the hole, you cannot build the hill until you fill up that hole. The bigger the hole, the more time it will take to fill it up and you cannot build the hill until the hole is filled.

You tear down muscle in the gym, you build muscle when you rest. IMO, focus on building strength, if you get enough rest, the next time you perform a particular exercise e.g. lat pull downs, you should be able to add more weight than before or complete more reps than last time. Muscle takes a little while, I can relate, it is frustrating lol. IMO, PEDs provide much faster recovery, but not fast enough for example, to train arms or legs every day, that's way too much.

 

[qadsan]

I made great progress with lower reps earlier on.

* especially once I started pinning testosterone . . .

But I never experimented with higher rep ranges back then, so I do not know whether I would have done even better with higher rep ranges. Maybe not?

I also experienced injuries working in lower rep ranges, that maybe, just maybe I would not have experienced working in higher rep ranges. My tendon connections and deep muscle tissue certainly do not seem to feel the same strain shooting for 15 as shooting for 5-8. It seems to me, not scientific, just my opinion, that the higher rep ranges are a lot safer for more advanced lifters, older, bigger, handling higher workloads on tendons that are no longer 19 years old.

That’s been my experiences as well as I’ve gotten older. Higher reps with lighter weights has definitely cut down on my injuries. The other thing that has helped me a lot in terms of reducing my injuries is first warming up with much lighter weights while going through the motions before going heavier, and also holding a stretch with the lighter weights to help stretch things out in my shoulders, chest, back, etc, before I start the heavier weights.

 

[cousinmuscles]

That training routine and what you are saying makes no sense. You can't train to failure and keep your next sets in the same rep range unless you keep dropping the weight. You obviously don't go heavy and don't do demanding exercises.

Go for reinventing yourself in training. Ditch the machines. Your new gods are Squats, Deadlifts, Bench press, Barbell row, Overhead press, Pullups and Dips. These exercises demand a lot

Progressive overload: Never duplicate a workout in reps/weight/sets. Either you do more reps, more weight, more sets, or some times same but much better technique/form. When you stall, you change the exercise to a variation, like seated barbell press, front squat, deficit deadlift, seal row et.c. You can also change rep ranges and do better than you did last time you did this rep range.

You only need 3 sets of each exercise. If you go to failure do so on the last rep or if you like proper HIT then you only need one top working set and go for a new maximum maximorum (PR).

Aim to do sets with 2 plates on OHP, sets with 3 plates on bench, sets with 4 plates on squats, sets with 5 plates on deadlifts, sets of 20 on pullups, sets with 2 plates on dips. By then you should look the part. Add another plate and you are looking like a monster. On your journey to these numbers, while facing obstacles and plateaus, you will figure out all the details of what you have been doing wrong.

 

[Slowww]

Seeing the post again if you want to check insulin go get your A1C tested. Also begin testing blood glucose with a glucometer regularly.
The first test will check your fasted insulin over a longer period of time (3 months)
Glucose tests on a weekly/ daily basis can help determine if you are becoming insulin resistant or if you are becoming more sensitive. They can help you determine if you need to change some dietary aspects, cardio, etc.

You also said you believe you have thyroid issues. My wife and I thought she had thyroid issues. So we went to the doctor and it turned out she did… they prescribed medication now it’s fixed. Unless you have some rare condition it’s probably not too challenging to fix so just go to the doctor and either rule it out or fix it. That being said I also take thyroid medication, but I don’t have real thyroid problems, it’s just done to manipulate metabolism after seeing my blood assay results and that it could be improved.

Those are some basic things you can do to address those two POTENTIAL issues. But they might not exist, so at least check it out.

 

[rokkrul3r]

I went back to this thread to respond to this.

Progressive overload.

You say no beginner will lift a decent amount of weight in a higher than 10 rep range?

So, let's say the beginner ignored this and tried for 12-15 anyway. He selects a weight he can get for 12. He keeps a workout log. He gets his 12 reps. Maybe it was not quite the maximum amount of weight he could have done first time out of the gate for 12 reps. BUT, next time, he focuses on doing more, 13, 14, maybe even 15. Of course, once he hits 15 reps for however many sets he is doing, then next time it is time to increase the weight, right?

So now he goes a little heavier. Now he is at that heaviest weight he can perform, and he has a few workouts under his belt. Maybe he does not get 15 reps with the new weight, but he keeps his log and keeps shooting for more reps, until he gets 15, and the next time, he goes a little heavier. He is now lifting what you call a decent amount of weight, that is, an appropriate weight for his rep range and continual progressive overload (which progress happens quickly for a beginner, as we all know). And the weight continues to go up each time he hits his target reps.

The only possible way a beginner cannot "lift a decent amount of weight . . . at a higher than 10 rep range" is if somehow at sets of 11 repetitions that beginner refuses to do more next time. I do not think that there is any magic line that says the beginner will add repetitions and weight when working out for 8, 9, or 10 reps, but stop doing so if he performs 11 reps.

Progressive overload.

Anyway, my advice was not necessarily for a beginner. I am of the opinion that beginners can do practically anything and make progress. They will make progress reracking the weights others leave lying around. Just lift. All the fancy stuff does not matter. Being a beginner is a magical time of progress every workout.

But folks who have been lifting a while, sticking to 5 reps, as in your post, or 5-8, as I did for a long time, or 8-10, as is often recommended, well, I am saying give it a month of 10-15 on most body parts and 15-20 on some body parts and see what you think of the results. You may be pleasantly surprised. Maybe not, but I have yet to hear of somebody switching to 15-20 reps on heavy leg exercises (e.g., squat and leg press) and not liking the results. They don't like the workout, but that is not the same thing as the results.

If you try it for a month and find that your results are worse than had you been doing 5 reps or whatever you prefer, then, fine, you have learned that it does not work for you.

Progressive overload works in a variety of rep ranges, however, and shooting for growth in a little higher rep range seems to work for most people, especially those who have only worked in lower rep ranges and never tried it (maybe just because it is a new type of stimulus, I won't pretend to know the reason).

someone properly overloading and keeping a log might be beginning, but he's not a beginner

beginners are clueless, lack bodily self awareness, eat like trash to support decent high rep failure sets and should always do 5x5 first

in regards to periodization and mixing low and high reps, I agree it's the best

 

[CamCamthePowerMan]

Just wanted to give an update on my progress… first cycle was expectation vs reality, and lessons learned. I was gaining muscle at an exceptional rate with my program... It took me 5 months off cycle to come to this realization.

 

[Liter O' Test]

Just wanted to give an update on my progress… first cycle was expectation vs reality, and lessons learned. I was gaining muscle at an exceptional rate with my program... It took me 5 months off cycle to come to this realization.

can you elaborate? was this body dysmorphia or not tracking the scale? maybe a recomp where you stayed the same weight but lost fat and gained muscle? Were your expectations just too high but realized this is just how it works?

 

[CamCamthePowerMan]

can you elaborate? was this body dysmorphia or not tracking the scale? maybe a recomp where you stayed the same weight but lost fat and gained muscle? Were your expectations just too high but realized this is just how it works?

Yes I would say a classic case of body dysmorphia and impatience. With a side of being an amateur. Next cycle I want to and am going to incorporate body mass measurements and fasted weight measurements.