Title, I weighed 160-165 when I started, I weigh a steady 150 now. I'm 5'9" and 22 years old

I weight train 5 days a week. Chest - Back - Shoulders - Arms - Legs.
I do 30 minutes of cardio at %70 of my max hr 5 times a week.
I'm usually sore the following day.
(I considered ditching the cardio but I have a bit of a gut I'd like to get rid of)

My diet is:
calories 2250-2500
fat 50-60g
carbs 225-250g
protein 80-90g
(I record everything everyday)

I take protein powder and nothing else, one of my friends has an extensive list of things he takes (Protein Powder, Glutamine, Creatine, BCAAs, Pre Workout, agmatine? a few others i cant remember) and i've watched him get bigger the last 4 months.

I may not be noticeably smaller but i weigh ten pounds less and I'm not any stronger.

Its really demotivating to have negative results. I used to eat whatever I want, and spend most of my free time doing whatever I want, usually nothing active. Now I eat a fairly strict diet and spend the majority of my free time at the gym.

I know results take time, but I'm exactly 150.02 pounds almost everyday for the past 6 weeks. And the 6 weeks before that was a steady decline to 150.
(I log my weight every morning)

Any advice?

Well, 80g of protein is not enough. Up that to something much higher, like 150g.

Cardio will negatively impact your gains. You're doing far too much of it. If you really feel like you need to do it, limit it to twice a week. You can't do both. It's also not going to fix your gut, as the only thing that will do that is nutrition.

Up your calories. With all that weight lifting and cardio, eating 1900 (you edited the post: 2500 should be okay if you cut out the cardio) is going to cause you to lose weight and not build muscle. Figure out your TDEE and stay well above it.

What is your goal??

I am 5'9 and weight 155 lbs eating 2100 calories.. If you're looking to build muscle and strength than you need to eat more. You have to fuel your body to repair and replenish.

As for all the listed supplements your friend is taking, that's unnecessary imo. Eat right and you won't need so many supplements.

Supplements have their place, but I can tell you 95% of them have ingredients that aren't natural. It's garbage. Yes they may have a positive affect and work, but you can do without it or minimize usage. It's a multi-billion dollar industry just like pharmaceutical companies. All they care about is $$$.

Multi-vitamin, fish oils, your choice of protein, and creatine if you want is just fine. You don't really need BCAA's, glutamine and all these other products. Maybe there's some benefits, but there's so many arguments on both sides as to if works, it's useless blah blah. Why bother taking it then?

Get majority of your nutrients from food and any cap offs you need to make, get from supplements.

I'm sure others will ask about your program as well..

Just my 2 cents. At 155 and your height, even I feel small. Others say I'm not as small as I tend to see myself, but yeah lol.

For me 155 is a good weight. I have a slight belly too especially if I'm bloated, but seriously, I don't care about no abs if it's going to cost me to be skinny as fck. I'm good where I am at and continuing to build. I do calisthenics only so I can only imagine my body changes if I was at the gym. I enjoy BW training more though and is what I prefer. I have plenty to progress on.

Pick a goal. Focus on that goal.

You need to eat more. ^^

I've tried staying above my TDEE, Its hard. My job is very active and I can only eat so much before I feel sick.

I always thought it was 1g protein / 1kg body weight, I guess I was wrong. Ill try bringing it up to 150.

And you're saying cardio won't cut the fat from my stomach? I don't really understand that...

Yeah I guess I should've mentioned my goal. But I want to gain muscle. Lift more. Bench more. Get bigger. And if you're about the same height/weight as me then my goal is to be bigger than you. No offense.

And I've always been skeptical of supplements because I don't know much about them and i prefer to get nutrition through healthy food. I'm going to stick to just my protein powder.

Thanks

Calories and protein too low
No progressive resistance

What did you expect would happen?

Thanks

I'm going to explode if I eat anymore food. But thanks for the tip.

You’re eating 2500 calories?

Eat a chocolate bar or bowl of ice cream, have some chips

Roughly. I just eat 3-4 meals a day, a few snacks, and 2 protein shakes (which im going to double the protein on now)
That usually puts me at 2000-2500

It's 1 gram of protein per pound or something like 2.2 grams of protein per kg. It's the same thing, since 2lbs = ~1 kg. You should be consuming at least 150 grams of protein daily in order to see optimal gains. Also, if you can, try to eat a bit more. The more calories you get, the more you will grow. Since you're particularly active, you should be consuming even more calories than a normal person, who may only be active 3-5 days a week for the hour or two that they're working out.

Yeah I probably should've read up more on protein. I'm probably going to aim for 3000 calories and 150 grams of protein and cut my cardio down a lot. Thanks for the info.

By what you have written, I am not surprised you lost weight. You need to read a lot more about fitness.Extremely Horrible Program. Especially for someone who weights that much, and is new to working out. Go follow "Allpro-routine" Or "Fierce 5" in this section. They are waaaay better then what you are doing now.You eat way to to little calories, either you eat ALOT more, or eat a bit more and ditch the cardio. You have to eat more calories, to grow muscle. If you run all those calories away, you will lose weight of course.Way to few calories. Go double those protein,and increase fat more to. And increase carbs. Try to calculate your "Calorie needed" in the diet section. This will help you a lot.The guy is wasting his money. Take the protein powder, if needed. I would say, if you can afford it, then also buy creatine. Keep yourself away, from anything else, unless you have a good reason.i understand, but everything your doing is wrong. Honestly, like I said, try to read more. Your body is burning all those calories, because you run a alot, and you eat to few calories. You need to eat more calories, for your body to grow. But you are burning it all away.

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OP doesnt need more protein, he needs more carbs.

He also needs a proper routine. That 5 day a week bodypart split I'm guessin is high volume and not doing much more than added cardio.

Protein is fine. Eat more carbs or good fats to stay full longer.

Yes you'll feel sick eating more, its not easy...if it was everyone would do it.

Your prigram is horrible to say the least. Startubg strength, stronglifts, fierce 5, etc is much more suited fir you at the novice stage

1.4-1.8 grams per kilo of body mass is the general guide I think. Towards the higher end if you're cutting.

Opt for a premade program and increase your intake. I'm not the best eater in the world either, took some time to be able to increase portion sizes.

Since you wrote... "but I have a bit of a gut I'd like to get rid of" then keep going exactly as you are for another couple of months, except for increasing protein a little bit, try 1.5g per kg as your minimum (maybe 100g daily minimum). After your gut is reduced... then increase calories by 400 a day.

Reduce the cardio down to 4 times a week, but don't stop doing it as it'll be giving you great benefits. Make 1 of the cardio sessions a little bit easier and a little bit longer. Make 1 other a little bit shorter and a bit harder, keep the other 2 how you're used to doing them.

Focus on consistent quality training. You are detailed about everything in your post except your workout. I hope you are running a good program and not just doing a few workouts. You'll get the gains from running a good program hard and consistently.

Lastly, you need to be more patient... sorry but you probably need to give it another 4 months to see the gains, training works, but it takes time together started.

Edit: increase calories is easy, just add drinking some milk to your diet

Secondly, after reading your post again this is your biggest priority. Start a good program!!!

Fierce5
https://forum.obnoxiousbrutes.com/showt...hp?t=159678631

Stronglifts 5*5
free phone app !
https://stronglifts.com/5x5/

i'd eat more protein, at least around 110-120 grams, get on a proper novice program in the stickies

Cardio 5 times a week is great for fat loss but an awful idea if you want add muscle. You probably have lost fat so now cut out the cardio and add the muscle.

Well if your job is that active do you need 5 cardio sessions a week?? 3 is enough (or 4 if fitness is a priority). Getting calories is easy, drink 3% (full fat) milk. Look at the calories there. You can drink a quart a day easy (2 pints, about 40 ounces?, 1 litre) easy when spread out across a day, and checkout the calories. Drink 2 quarts if you really want calories!well it's somewhere between 1 g and 1.5 per kg depending on the person, if you've not been gaining try 1.5 (some studies funded by protein manufacturers have shown best results up to 2g per kg, sure they are hardly unbiased, but that doesn't necessarily mean studies aren't helpful)Yes, absolutely! If you do a lot of exercise but are in a sustained calorie surplus you will start to gain weight. If you do no exercise but in sustained calorie deficit you will start to lose weight.

Cardio is great, weights are great, they both support weight loss if you want that but it's the calories (net balance) that drives the weight gains or losses

the actual scientific number is 0.8g MAX.. .meaning less still has results

If you have issues with getting calories, then switch to peanut butter or take shots of olive or various oils.


If you're losing weight it's very difficult to get bigger, and doing a lot of cardio will affect strength as well.


start bulking and up protein to 100-120g, and eat peanut butter or oils for easy calories without a lot of discomfort. Follow fierce 5 novice, and come back in three months with 100lb added to your squat and deadlift and say you haven't seen any gains. you should probably be 10lb heavier as well (5lb initial water gainz, + 5-6lb actual weight gain)


I did similar, and you can read about in my log from last year. it's not hard dude, you just have to trust the people that have been doing it their whole life, and be consistent:

https://forum.obnoxiousbrutes.com/showt...hp?t=174586561

I don't have pics, but my forearms, traps, and abs exploded, despite not doing any direct ab work (which the program calls for) ((I already had a good foundation to start with though)). When I flex now I can see almost the whole 6 pack, and I'm 5'8 190lb. (I could see the top two even at 215lb) My chest sticks out over my stomach now too, when using good posture.

1g and 1.5g is perpetuated by the supplement industry for obvious reasons.

You need anywhere from 0.6g to 0.8g per pound of bodyweight. 0.8 being the Max.

If your job is that active then doing extra cardio is just wearing you down you're finding out.

Whole milk, peanut butter, pizza, burgers, mayo...you need calorie dense food.