Weight Training Question!!

B

battle78

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Hey everyone - appreciate anyone reading this and offering their insight.

I'm 36 years old, 6'4", 180 pounds and just started working out for the first time in my life almost 2 months ago now. Always fairly lean, very little muscle, bit of an ecto/meso mix. I've been working with a trainer and the program he has me on I think is pretty solid; we're on phase 2 (he's changing things up every 3-4 weeks) - I'm doing 4 days a week, push and pull split. Here's a sample of what I've been doing weekly right now:

Pause Bench Presses
Skullcrushers
Pushups, Incline Pushups
Romanian Deadlifts
RKC Planks
Goblet Squats, Reverse Goblet Squats
Machine-assisted pullups
Deadstop One-Arm Rows
Close Grip Lat Pulldowns
Pallof Press, kneeling Pallof Press
Hamstring Curls
Seated Curls
Leg Press
Rope Tricep Pushdowns
Inverted Rows
Bulgarian Split Squats
Seated Straight Bar Cable Rows
Decline Crunches

Lots of compound stuff - I'm working my ass off, pushing hard, etc. Now here's my question ...

I feel stronger and can feel some changes - nothing earth-shattering. What little muscle I have is feeling tighter and I have gone up in intensity on a lot of the exercises I've been doing.

However ... I made the mistake of taking a recent photo comparing month 1 with month 2 - I'm nearing 2 months of working out end of next week, and ... well ... there is ABSOLUTELY ZERO physical changes in the mirror. NOTHING!

Shouldn't I be seeing something by now, at week 7?

My trainer suggested that maybe I'm not consuming enough calories. I wasn't really keeping track until he said something, and only recently started eating 3100 calories on workout days only - I'm REALLY hoping that was the problem. My diet is decent; all homemade foods, fresh, clean. The thing is, even if I hadn't been consuming enough calories, shouldn't something have happened?? Even the very little flab I have has remained the same - it looks like I took those photos on the same day. Talk about being disheartened and discouraged. I know I have to be patient, etc. but this was so deflating.

Any insight would be tremendously appreciated!!!

Thanks !
 
It sounds like you've experienced a change in body composition, even if it's not visible. There's a bodyfat range I call the dead zone, because within that range you've got enough fat to mask muscle definition, but not enough to actually start looking fat. Ergo, within this range, body composition changes don't show up in the mirror. The exact range that makes up the dead zone is fairly individualistic, but typically it's somewhere around 12-18% for males.

Any change in bodyweight over the last 2 months? You can potentially build 20lb of muscle in your first year (assuming good genetics and nutrition), meaning you'd be looking at gaining about 5lb in 2 months.

Another factor is simply that you're tall. Let's say you have gained an optimal 5lb of muscle mass so far -- you've got 76 inches of height to spread that across. 5lb of muscle clustered together is big, but 5lb spread across your frame is probably not easy to pick up on visually.
 
I will add a bit to Goldfish's statement here, what he says is spot on for the record too. I am very ecto so know how slow the muscle gains can come. I also know that if you look for imperfections and criticism of yourself you will always find it.

Changing every 3 to 4 weeks is not optimal for muscle growth gains unless you have outstanding genetics. Most are best served changing between every 6 and 8 weeks, something a lot of PTs are afraid to do because clients will tend to leave thinking they are being lazy rather than accept they are doing what's best for them. Change over week is hell when doing this, because everything is new to your body, week 2 is still a killer because of it being new, weeks 3 to 5 or 7 dependant on genetics give you maximal gains with week 6 or 8 feeling really solid and often surprising you with something dramatic, before starting all over again. Intensity needs to be kept up by increasing load in the 6 to 10 (some say 12 and I won't argue 2 reps) rep range to keep you in the rep max zone at all times for maximal muscle growth. You will hear people saying that aching stops after a few months, keeping up this style means you will ache forever and gain far better than those making such statements, I have been doing this change style, not session style, decades and ache daily.

Diet is a huge thing and so simple that it's easy to get dangerously wrong, remember the first part of diet is die and treat it with due respect. You are marginally lighter and a half foot taller than me, so if training intensely you will need pretty much the same amount of food as I do. Consider that due to my weight I burn 700 calories going for a 5.4 mile run, and so would you. Carrying the weight we have takes energy. The more muscular you become the more energy you will use, though this is far less dramatic than most will have you believe. If you are eating and training with someone your build and my height they will become comparatively heavier than you, because you need more fuel.
That said be careful here too, it is easy to add blubber by eating too much as well. I did this last year when trying to gain more weight despite being 1.5 times my original bodyweight at my height. I realised that when I gained weight it was virtually all blubber so the target of gaining more weight was ditched. Unless resorting to intra-muscular hormone supplements I think this is as heavy as I will get by gaining muscle, and in fairness going from 126 to 182 pounds isn't bad.
Decide what you want, discuss it with your trainer and us if you like and we can get you there. You are evidently willing to give it the effort required, now it's just fine tuning.
 
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As long as you're born with good genes, changing every three to four weeks isn't the best way to get bigger. In general, most people are better off changing physical therapists every 6 to 8 weeks. Physical therapists are afraid to do this because their clients will think they're lazy instead of realising that they are doing what's best for them. Because your body hasn't changed for a week, it's hard to make changes. Week 2 is still hard because everything is different. It's still hard because everything is different. People usually make the most progress from weeks 3 to 5 or 7, depending on their genes. Then they start all over again, but this time they make the most progress from weeks 3 to 5 or 7. Increase the load in the 6 to 10 (some say 12 and I won't argue 2 reps) rep range to keep your intensity up and keep you in the rep max zone at all times. This will keep you in the rep max zone at all times. This will keep your muscles growing to their full potential, which will help them grow at their fastest rate possible. In the beginning, you might hear people say that the pain will go away in a few months. But if you keep up this way, you'll be in pain for a long time and gain more than those who say that. There are still pains in my body even though I've been changing styles for a long time.
 
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