So yea, i'm new here

[BubbaJames]

I'm 26 and have been going to the gym steadily since october 2010, and noticed progress pretty quickly but that progress has leveled off a few months back. I don't have a good picture to show it, but in October i was 5'11, 137 lbs. My buddies at work were making fun of me becuase my duty belt looked way too big and i looked like i was wearing my dad's uniform. My weight now fluctuates between 150-154 and i'm much stronger than i was before, but i'm not packing on the pounds like my workouts should be doing for me. I know I need to up my calories, thats probably the hardest part for me. I spend pretty much all day eating, but i'm guessing the foods i'm eating aren't calorie-dense enough. I feel great right now, I had a lifescan done recently and my bodyfat was 6.7%. I just want to "get bigger". Nice to join you guys here. I'll try to get a picture of me up eventually and take some measurements (never done that before).

[NorthRoad]

What are your workouts like ?

[BubbaJames]

Weights 4 days a week.

legs: squats, leg press, calf raises, leg raise machine, leg lowering machine (not sure what that one is called), welghted lunges

chest/triceps- Benchpress (dumbell usually, just got a workout partner so now i can do the barbell press), dumbell flys, decline dumbell dumbell press, chest press machine, tricep rope pulldown, dumbell incline triceps extention, weighted bench dips

biceps/back/forearms- Barbell Deadlift, barbell bent-over row, wide grip lat pulldown, machine rows, wide grip barbell curls, dumbell curls, incline dumbbell curls, seated barbell wrist curl

shoulders: dumbbell shoulder press, dumbell shrugs, smith machine upright rows, dumbell front raise, standing low pulley deltoid raise, cable shrugs

most exercises i'm doing 3-4 sets, 5-8 reps of as heavy as i can go.

[NorthRoad]

Have you considered going full body with your workouts ? It looks to me as you're pounding your body with to much exercise. You're breaking it down without allowing it to build up. In my opinion splits are overrated ^ ^

[BubbaJames]

What do you mean go full body? I split my workouts becuase I really can't make it to the gym more than 4 days a week with my work schedule.

[NorthRoad]

I mean train your whole body 3 times a week. Focus on the big compound movements. In my opinion you are working out way to much. You are doing between 18 and 24 sets at your leg day. That's insane, unless you have years of experience, a great deal of muscle mass, eating a ton of food + taking anabolic steroids.

"maximum growth, and limit your volume to 9-16 sets per muscle group in a training session, 9-12 being better in most cases. " Christian Thibahowthefuckdoyouwritethisguysname

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/training_for_newbies_part_1

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/training_for_newbies_part_2

edit : also dead lifts are also a leg exercise. If you're ass ain't sore after doing them you're doing something wrong

[BubbaJames]

Wouldn't my body still be really sore from the previous session if i was working the same muscle groups 3x/week?

[NorthRoad]

If you do 24 sets of leg exercises on one day, there is no way in hell that your body is ready for a dead lift just a couple of days later. Also your bicep day is right before the shoulder day. Doing an overhead press requires bicep strength. Your biceps will be in such a state than you can't give your shoulders a big enough load.

If you plan on working out for 2 hours on Monday, yes then your body wont be ready to work out again. But if you keep your exercise brief and focus on the big lifts, it's no problem. Also you don't have to lift 100 % every time you can vary.

edit: I do High Intensity Training for muscle building. Which is full body but differs from what's usually practiced, and recommended by nerd fitness. So it would be nice if someone else came in with some recommendations here

[BubbaJames]

Okay, so I went to the gym this afternoon and did the following workout:

squats-

185x5

205x5

205x5

185x5

185x5

deadift 185x5 (5 sets)

benchpress 115x5 (5 sets)

that kicked my ass pretty good, i'm gonna try to go back on tuesday and try the same. I also am gonna try to up my calories and protein intake, maybe see if i can start putting on some pounds (both on me and on the bar).

[NorthRoad]

You're still up in like 15 sets per exercise

[NorthRoad]

You should head down to the muscle building brigade forum, and get help putting up a fullbody workout there