Having trouble packing on more weight need advice

[Showtime25]

Hey guys, I know I dont post much on the site but I am on every night reading all the great advice you guys give to others. So I wanting to become more involve with the MC team and going to post more often to help others and get help from others. So here is my dilemma, I am currently at 6'1 240lbs and having trouble going over 240. I used to train and eat during the day but now working over night and training over night. I'm currently eating 6 to 8 times a day including waking up to eat during the day along with two protein shakes one in between meals and one for post. Also to add having trouble feeling rested as well, my rest periods are around 8 to 12 hours of sleep. So anyone who has advice for me I can really use it and appreciate it. Also reason to add weight is I am preping for my first show next year and trying to go in as a big heavy weight. I start dieting in January and show time is in April. Looking forward to be a big part of the team.

 

[Metal85]

hmmm could be just you needing to acclimate to the schedule. Working over nights blow, I have done them in the past (13 hour shifts) and it was extremely hard at the time to gain any sort of weight, then I got them and things started gaining back like they should have. At the time I was tiny too. I was 186 than I got a stomach virus 2 times in less than 2 months, than something they thought was mono about 2 months after that and I went down to 145 and still couldnt gain the weight back on night shift even tho I was naturally 41 pounds heavier. try keeping track of your calories and up them

 

[Showtime25]

Damn man that sux, when I was around 170lbs I worked at a prison also over nights really had no problem gaining weight at the time but it was really slow gaining. But at that time I wasnt sleeping I was only getting like 4 hours tops. But my meal layout is pretty much this, Cal is at a little over 7500 trying to bump it to 10,000 but its hard enough to eat at night so doing alot of force feeding which takes forever, cal Protein is around 400 to 600 depending in how my day goes, carbs is under 400 havent count them lately fats i try to keep low at all time but it varies as well depending on my days.

 

[Ox 51]

Wow 7,500 calories and you aren't growing, that sucks. What supplements are you taking?

 

[Lightsout]

Have you tried any weight gainer !!! That would suck eating 7500 cals and day and not gaining any weight.. I feel your pain bro I been at 250 lbs forever !!!

 

[dreww]

damn how do you get down that much food? I couldnt do it if it was all fast food.

 

[Showtime25]

Yea eating that much is a real pain in the ass. Trust me not that easy lots of force feeding. Supplements I take are mass-peak by inner armour its about 600 cal with water and 1000 with whole milk. Creatine monohydrate at 10 to 20g a day, then I just finish intravol by muscletech. That's all I am really taking for weight gain wise. I heard to try a weight gainer called Russian bear its 5000 cal per serving but a serving is a gallon of whole milk and not sure if I can pound a gallon of whole milk a day for a week and still try to get all my meals in too.

 

[Ox 51]

Are you doing any crazy cardio that is burning up a ton of calories?

 

[big in vegas]

Fuck man, if you tried downing a gallon of milk a day, you'd probably be bloated like a motherfucker. I'd split that into 2 days or something

 

[The Dude]

I finally got to a decently clean 270lbs this year at 5'9. It was much like you though, what really surprised me was that as I started dieting for my show and cleaning things up (no dairy) I got stronger at 240lbs than I was at 270lbs. I mean all over stronger and more powerful. All of my meals were clean chicken, fish, red meat and clean carbs and fats and I swear I was growing. To put it in perspective, I went from 270lbs and will probably compete around 212. Bodyweight doesn't really matter. Log your poundages. Give your body lots of real quality food and get at least a 20min nap a day. This may also sound crazy, but try to add in 20 min of cardio first thing in the morning before you eat. I'm just sharing my recipe.

 

[Showtime25]

I do low intensity cardio once maybe twice a week but its only to keep my metabolism up. My cardio consists of 15 min on treadmill walking at high incline then another 15 on stairmaster. I was doing high rep and high weight set workouts but it was leaning me out more than actually growing. Just changed to really high weight with low reps like 6 to 8 no more than 10, my old routine was 12 reps to failure. TO BIG yea not a bad idea I will just do that with the milk split it into two days I don't think I can handle a gallon a day of milk. TO THE DUDE thanks for your advice will take it up. I do the fasting cardio about once a week then regular cardio one more time later in the week in the middle of the night to stay awake. Also if you don't mind I will pm you my meal layout to see what you think and possibly make changes.

 

[The Dude]

Sure I can give you an idea of what my new offseason diet will look like. Personally I grow much better in the 15 rep range and build up the weight while stressing the tendons as little as possible.

 

[Presser]

Showtime25 glad your getting more involved, and I would also suggest maybe changing your workout a bit, and maybe try going pretty heavy with 4 sets of 4-8 rep range. That type of change might be just what you need.

And again glad to have you with us actively!

 

[MrPerfect]

for me when it comes down to putting weight on, the more rest the better brother. Also trying to squeeze a meal in in the middle of the night really helps too. Nothing too heavy

 

[Showtime25]

To presser glad you mention changing workout cause a buddy of mine is a powerlifter and just gave me a workout to try for two months. Tried it last night on leg day and felt like my legs were going to explode. Its pretty much 5x5 beginning weight starts at 80% and u finish at 100% with an extra set that u can only complete at 15 but finish at 20. The rest of the workout consist of one more compound movement and 3 isolations for four sets with 10 breath break then hit it again. For all four sets the max is 30 reps together. What do you guys think of this regimen? Any tweaks or good setup for now? To Mr. Perfect I am getting around 8 to 10 hours of rest but not feeling rested any suggestions on that? And again I wanna thank the bro's out there for the help I do appreciate it and will keep updating on how I am doing for gaining. Trying to figure out how to make an album to post pics for this year's progress till show time next year, but can't resize pics, reason being is that I lost the internet at my house and do all of my internet work off my phone.

 

[big in vegas]

To presser glad you mention changing workout cause a buddy of mine is a powerlifter and just gave me a workout to try for two months. Tried it last night on leg day and felt like my legs were going to explode. Its pretty much 5x5 beginning weight starts at 80% and u finish at 100% with an extra set that u can only complete at 15 but finish at 20. The rest of the workout consist of one more compound movement and 3 isolations for four sets with 10 breath break then hit it again. For all four sets the max is 30 reps together. What do you guys think of this regimen? Any tweaks or good setup for now? To Mr. Perfect I am getting around 8 to 10 hours of rest but not feeling rested any suggestions on that? And again I wanna thank the bro's out there for the help I do appreciate it and will keep updating on how I am doing for gaining. Trying to figure out how to make an album to post pics for this year's progress till show time next year, but can't resize pics, reason being is that I lost the internet at my house and do all of my internet work off my phone.

Definitely keep us updated on this routine

 

[Chris250]

I'd say if your diet is good, and your getting your rest. Then the next thing to look at is your training program. With you working night shift, that can really cause some issues for your body, and getting good rest. Your body wants to sleep at night, so trying to make it sleep during the day is hard, and can really cause some issues with real rest.

But as for workout, I would try lower volume, higher intensity workouts. Getting to the gym only 3-4 times per week. Going only to positive failure for awhile to see if it gives you more recover, to grow more. Sometimes the best thing to do is back off, and let the body rest some more...

 

[Lightsout]

I'd say if your diet is good, and your getting your rest. Then the next thing to look at is your training program. With you working night shift, that can really cause some issues for your body, and getting good rest. Your body wants to sleep at night, so trying to make it sleep during the day is hard, and can really cause some issues with real rest.

But as for workout, I would try lower volume, higher intensity workouts. Getting to the gym only 3-4 times per week. Going only to positive failure for awhile to see if it gives you more recover, to grow more. Sometimes the best thing to do is back off, and let the body rest some more...

3 to 4 times a week. you are killing me. lol

 

[Chris250]

3 to 4 times a week. you are killing me. lol

I actully cut my training back to only 4 days a week.

I do

tues - delts and triceps
thurs - legs (all in one workout)
sat- chest and bis
sun - back and traps

I have found that by cutting my volume down, and giving my body more rest time, im growing better than ever. Im holding down a very lean 246-248lbs right now. I have been doing this for about 3 months now, and my strengh is crazy right now. Remember you grow while your body is resting, not when it is in the gym. Go to the gym to tear your body down, so it can build it back up stronger and bigger. If your in the gym to much you wont grow as fast or at all. Why ? Because your not letting your body recover. Some people can train 6 days a week, and grow, but they are the genetic elite. People who can look at a hot dog, and grow...lol !!! But ,for normal people, you gotta really think about how your training and eating is. Make it fit your body, and learn from what your body is telling you...

 

[Chris250]

Here are some recent pics of me at around 246lbs. This was prob about 3 weeks ago. I would say, im a tad fuller now, as I have finally giving myself more cals to grow on...But training as I said, is down to 4 days a week, super intense, lots of forced reps, rest pauses, drop sets, negatives, ect, ect. Anything to make the workout more productive.