Opinions on training/diet??

whitehot

Hi people, I would appreciate some input from any of you experts out there on my training routine and diet etc.

I am 35 years old 5'8 tall and currently weigh 151lbs (68 kilos) with 9% body fat.I have been training for 2 1/2 years and over the last few months I seem to have plateaued on the weight I can lift and muscle gain.

My current training routine looks like this:

Warm up- 10 mins on x-trainer

Mon/Thurs:
CHEST

Flat barbell bench press-4 sets 10,8,8,6 increasing weight on each set
Crossovers-3 sets 10,8,6 as above regarding weight
Incline dumbell press-4 sets 10,8,8,6 same weight
Pullovers-3 sets 10,10,10 same weight

BACK

Lat pulldowns-4 sets 10,10,8,6 increasing weight on each set
Seated rows-4 sets 10,10,8,6 same weight
hyper extensions-3 sets 10,10,10 holding 10kg weight

Bi's

EZ bar preacher curls-3 sets 10,10,8 increase weight on last set
21's-3 sets 10,10,10 same weight

Tue/Fri:
Shoulders

Military press-4 sets 10,10,8,6 increasing weight on each set
Upright rows-4 sets 10,8,8,6 same weight
Front plate raise-3 sets 10,10,10 same weight
Shrugs-4 sets 10,10,8,8 increase weight on each set

Legs

Squats-3 sets 10,10,8 increasing weight on each set
Hamstring curls-3 sets 10,10,8 weight as above
standing calf raises-3 sets 10,10,10 weight as above

Tri's

Tricep Extensions-4 sets 10,10,10,8 incresing weight on eac set
Tricep pushdowns-4 sets 10,10,10,8 weight as above

I alternate the amount of sets I would do for chest/back on mon/thurs ie 4 sets of chest 3 sets of back on a monday then 3 sets of chest 4 of back on a thursday and the same with shoulders and legs just to mix it up a bit.I try and fit one abs session in a week depending how knackered I feel at the end of a session.

My diet consists of a typical day like this:

6:30 large bowl of porridge, glass of fruit juice
9:30 3 pieces of lean back bacon on bread, tea or coffee
12:00 chicken breasts on bread with salad, yoghurt, piece of fruit, water
2:30 4 scoops whey protein with water
5:15 3 scoops whey protein with water (after training)
7:00 Steak/chicken/salmon (1 of these) with jacket potato, rice, veg, water
9:30 bowl of pasta or noodles or scrambled egg on toast, 2 scoops of whey with water.

I take CEE each day before training

My goals are to put on a further 14lbs (6kg) of lean muscle so any advice anyone can offer to help me achieve t hiswould be appreciated.

Thanks Mike

crazycal1

you could try by cuttin back the amount of times you train per week,try cutting back on the volume,start doing a form of deadlift(stiff leg as your squatting)and stick to the big compound exercises and get lots of rest

Young Gun

See the example cutting and bulking diets in the diet and nutrition forum as this is where your problem is. Your nutrient intake is spread poorly throughout the day whilst you are definately on the right lines

Nick500

thats a lot of whey protein you are taking there ! i tihnk 4 scoops is excessive to say the least, that about 100 grams of protein just there, most likely to be above your body's ability to absorb. Better to split up those 7 scoops between 12 and 7pm to 1 every hour if you could, but ideally you should be eating a meal in there instead of taking all that whey. I would suggest putting 2 of those scoops with your 6:30 meal, having another helping of chicken breasts on salad at 230, having 1 - 2 scoops with oats before working and 1 - 2 scoops with oats or dextrose (depending on your PWO schedule) after working out, then have your 7:00 meal about 6:00, have the 9:30 meal about 8:00, and before bed have 2 scoops of whey in milk (for slow absorbtion).

This way you have spread out the protein requirements better throughout the day, remember protein powder is a supplement not a replacement for food (but fine to make MRP shakes with it).

Good start though !

Nick