Why do I suck at working out?

[ILoveLather]

Hello everyone! I hope you can help me understand where I'm going wrong with my workouts.

Little preface: been going to the gym for 2 years now. First year or so I was clueless, did machines only. Much more focus on running. Still, I made a lot of progress. Before, I was typical skinny, weak guy and I've developed muscles and strength, but I hit a dead end. Last year I made the switch to free weights, but again without a real game plan, I sort of just did a variety of lifts without much purpose. Last 6 months, I made the switch to a real game plan and have been following it through. This is my current routine:

A day:

3x8 Squats

3x8 Dumbbell overhead press

3x8 Dumbbell rows

3x20 Dips

3x15 Weighted, inclined situps

B day:

3x8 Squats

3x8 Dumbbell bench press

3x20 Dips

3x15 weighted leg lifts

1x8 dead lift

I work out 3 days a week, alternating between A and B. Usually on off days I do 3 quick sets of pushups and situps. I also ride my bike ~120 miles a week from 5 days of commuting and I usually go on a weekend ride for fun.

I'm really disappointed with my gains, the largest has been 20 pounds on the bench and rows. At one point I was doing 170lbs squats, but I've since had knee issues and been working on my form, so it's gone back down to 145 and despite attempts at adding weight, it's sort of stayed there. I've been unable to go over 145lbs on the deadlift simply because I feel my form giving with any added weight. My overhead presses haven't budged, which is incredibly frustrating. Often times I feel unable to complete sets and the weights I have before.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I always feel like I'm pushing myself to my limit and I come out of the gym physically exhausted. Diet could certainly have something to do with it, I'm not a big eater, especially in mornings. Being a student and working, I don't have much time to prepare the greatest food. I've never measured how much exact calories or protein I'm getting in my diet, but I believe it's sufficient. Usually I eat oats with peanut butter, whey protein and yogurt in the morning. For lunch I eat some fruit, a turkey sandwich and a cliff bar. Dinner I usually eat out with sushi or mexican or, I admit, sometimes fast food. If I don't eat out, I eat rice and beans with a few vegetables mixed in.

Any ideas what I do? Am I just not pushing myself hard enough? I'm really frustrated, I often leave the gym feeling disappointed at myself.

[bigm141414]

What is your diet like? 120 miles of commuting a week is quite a bit plus strength training so you'll need plenty of fuel. From what you list as your food intake this may be the biggest cause of you not making any gains. And all that commuting may be hindering your strength gains.

Are you following a linear progression? Have you tried going to a 3x5 rep scheme? How are your progressions? Do you increase the weight every lift day? Every week? And by how much?

[oystergirl]

Every single person's body is different and according to the physics of your body you have to know what is healthy and realistic for your body type. I have had friends who were power lifters in their time and now are suffering from scoliosis and severe osteoarthritis all because they pushed themselves past their reasonable limit.

How do you feel? How do you look? What are the goals of your program? Health, increased energy, decreased body fat, being a heavy lifting beast? Which is more important?

Looking at your diet it seems like you are not consistent in the style of eating you are choosing and that might be because you are a student. For most weight lifters that I know they eat a lot of protein, only eat carbs a bit before a workout on heavy lifting days and they now eat a lot of saturated fat. You seem to be more heavy in carbs which are good for your biking and not as good for your muscle gains.

Best of luck and keep on rocking!

[Waldo]

The workout looks good for gains. The solution here is pretty obvious, you need to eat a lot more. Try to hit 1g/lb of body weight in protein per day. Most people will struggle to do this, a "normal" diet will not supply this. 120 miles of biking is about 8+ hours of biking per week? That is at least 4000 extra calories burned, or ~600 per day. That is a lot. You will need to eat like a horse just to keep up with the bike riding. Add in lifiting to gain, and you will need to eat well over 3000 calories per day in order to reach those goals. By the looks of it you need to practically double how much you eat.

I would suggest counting calories just like a dieter, but aiming for a couple hundred calories per day surplus (it takes 2500 extra calories to build a pound of muscle), in addition to the 1 g/lb bodyweight of protein per day. At least just enough so that you can figure out if you are undereating, and if so, how much.

[aj_rock]

My initial thoughts are that you're pushing too hard on the biking frontier. 120 miles, depending on your pace, can burn between 2500 and 5000 calories over the course of your week.

Training the legs that much on a bike is also going to negatively effect your squats and deadlift. The muscle fiber types necessary for cycling (type I) are the complete opposite of what you're trying to develop with heavy lifting (type IIb).

In general, cyclists aren't very muscular. You'll probably have to pick one or the other.

[ILoveLather]

My first goal is to look better and I want to achieve it through functional strength training. Right now, I look more lean fit/skinny and I'd like to be a bit bulkier. My second goal is to have more power and endurance on the bike.

I began with trying linear progression, but I soon found I soon couldn't complete sets. Should I continue working at a weight even when I can't complete full sets? Or should I go down to a weight in which I can complete the full 3x8? The reason I didn't go with 3x5 is because I wanted some more focus on endurance and I've always heard 3x5 is more strictly for weight, 3x12 is more endurance. I don't know how accurate that is.

My diet is a bit weird. I actually find it physically difficult to eat a large volume of food, unless it's, like, candy. Food just becomes sort of bland in my mouth as I eat. I don't know what the cause of this is, because I'd sure like to eat a lot more. Still, I try to go with protein turkey in my sandwich, a protein bar and chicken burritos with protein. I also drink a lot of milk and add whey protein. Protein. Do any of you have any suggestions for someone who doesn't have a lot of time for food?

Thanks for the replies.

[chairohkey]

Bike less, eat more. Very simple.

[Sloth the Enduring]

I bike a lot too and I never made gains when I lifted until I started lifting heavier (I do 4X6 now and the gains have been coming quickly since I started that). You already have the endurance, so train what you're lacking. Cyclists are skinny, but they also have disproportionately strong legs and lower backs, you should be able to squat and deadlift a lot more than that if you start lifting heavier.

I won't tell you to back off the cycling, once you've been doing it for a long time 25 miles/day is nothing, especially split up into two parts. I'm sure you're a very efficient biker by now; there's no reason why you can't bike and lift and still get gains.

As far as eating, last summer I was following a program almost exactly like yours right down to the mileage and I ate a whole lot more than that while losing a pound a week. If you can't eat a lot at once try grazing. Put in a sample day or two into My Fitness Pal and check out your protein intake, I really doubt it's high enough - aim for a minimum of 0.7 gm/pound (most people here aim for a higher amount).

[Lachy]

... Right now, I look more lean fit/skinny and I'd like to be a bit bulkier. My second goal is to have more power and endurance on the bike.

... I wanted some more focus on endurance ...

If you want to get bulkier, you need to get stronger. You can't do that as effectively if you're focusing on endurance. I think, as others have suggested, that you drop reps and focus on a 3x5 or 5x5 routine. Increment the weight after each session that you complete all sets/reps, but only by the smallest weights you can. I'd also suggest switching from dumbbells to barbells.

For the bike, I'm certainly no expert, but I'd think that focusing on power and endurance at the same time would get you nowhere in either. Focus on power for a little while, a month say. Do short fast rides. Then switch to an endurance month, longer rides faster than you do now, but not as fast as your power rides. Include power stages in your endurance rides, where you get up to the speed of your power ride for short periods.

As for eating, perhaps try eating lots of small meals if you get bored with eating larger meals. Spezzy loves her chicken snacks, grilled chicken breast slices in ziplock bags that she can grab and munch whenever, maybe prepare a batch of those. Also, maybe you could look into GOMAD (gallon of milk a day), people have had good success with weight gain on that.

Good luck and keep us updated on your changes and progress!

[chairohkey]

As far as eating goes here's an article. Big On A Budget

[RJ2]

If you want to continue biking that many miles consider lifting 2 days a week rather than 3. That will give your legs an extra day of rest. I enjoy commuting to work by bike also. Great way to get in a workout and enjoy the fresh air.

[ILoveLather]

Thanks for the tips guys! I'm going to start doing 3x5 sets. That big on a budget article was very helpful, I'll work on eating more protein.

One q: If I follow a linear progression, and as I add weight if I'm unable to complete the full reps in the set, should I go back down in weight, or should I continue lifting at that weight until I can complete the full set and then add more weight?

[andygates]

Give it a few tries before you back off. It's not uncommon to get, say, 5,5,4, then 5,5,5-but-only-your-mother-would-grant-it, and finally 3x5 clean and tidy. It'd be a shame to back off before grinding through that.

That is a decent number of bike miles. In addition to "eat more" I want to throw "sleep more" into the pot too.

[bprime]

You have to choose biking or bulking up. The two can't coexist.

EDIT: Roids.

[Guest Snake McClain]

Give it a few tries before you back off. It's not uncommon to get, say, 5,5,4, then 5,5,5-but-only-your-mother-would-grant-it, and finally 3x5 clean and tidy. It'd be a shame to back off before grinding through that.

That is a decent number of bike miles. In addition to "eat more" I want to throw "sleep more" into the pot too.

I have to agree with this and the comments like it. EAT MORE MEAT!!!! and be sure to sleep as andygates said. Fo realz dog. Youz gots ta let dem muscles rest! *rap hands*

Seriously. get plenty of meat (try just eating some throughout the day instead of all at once if you get tired of eating it) and be sure to sleep. 8 hours is good.

[Flex Luthor]

Pick up Power to the People by Pavel Tsatsouline. It's a very easy read and will make you STRONG if you follow it. Added around 60-70 pounds onto my squat in under 2 months and was already an experienced lifter so those gains are huge. Also agree with bprime, you can't really lean out and bulk up at the same time. Pick one and go for it.

[macnip78]

It's been said here a couple of times but I will reiterate, you need to eat more, a lot more. That much biking, a heavy weight lifting routine for strength and building muscle requires a ton of calories. Track your food intake for the week and see how many total calories you are eating. Make sure you get enough protein and don't worry much about the rest of your macros (at least for right now). My guess is that you don't get near enough in a day.

If the only thing that doesn't taste bland to you is candy, then you need to cut way back on your sugars.