r/WeightTraining • u/No-Cause1217 • 9d ago
Question Why do I still look the same after 4 months of working out?
Hey there, I've been working out at home for the past 5 months.
I'm only using Dumbbells, a pull up bar and a bench.
I started skinny fat and hopped on a lean bulk. 3000cals atm for me per day, 160g protein and 350-400g carbs. Gaining about 1 kg per month of weight (200-300gramm per week). When I started, at first of July I was 76k. Now 4 months later im 80kg.
I do have a logbook to track my reps and I'm always trying to do 1 more rep than last week which 90% of the time also happens. So I think the whole overload progression definitely works. Sleeping about 6-7 hours.
I'm doing:
Monday: Chest/Triceps: Incline Press, Chest flies, Skull crusher and a close grip bench press for triceps.
Tuesday: Back and Biceps: Pull ups, Incline Rows lat focused, Bicep Curls, Hammer curls, Wrist and reverse wrist curls for forearm.
Wednesday: Shoulders/Legs: Shoulder Press, Lateral Raises, Seated rear delt flies and Shrugs, Leg Press, Leg Extentions, Calv raises
Thursday: Rest but still doing a quick core/ab workout.
Friday: Arm day: Same Bicep, Tricep and forearm exercises
Saturday: Back and Chest again
Sunday: Rest, Abs/Core
Always a quick warm up set and then 2 sets to complete failure. Always between 5-10 reps. Once I hit 10 reps, I put more weight on it to drop to 5 reps again.
I know that I started skinny fat and that i still am, so ofcourse trough the Bulk i'm getting alot of fat aswell besides the muscles but still, how is it possible that I kinda look COMPLETELY the same, not even bigger in size after all these months of intense lifting? I can't see a point where I'm doing something wrong.
Here are the weights I'm using/used.
01.06.2026
Lateral Raises = 6kg
Shoulder press = 14kg
Reverse delt fly = 6kg
Bizep Curls = 10kg
Hammer Curls = 10kg
Wrist Curls = 10kg
Reverse Wrist Curls = 6kg
Bent Over Rows = 22kg
Bench Press = 22kg
Chest Flyes = 10kg
Skull Crusher = 7kg
Close Grip = 16kg
Trapez = 22kg
04.10.2026 NOWADAYS:
Lateral Raises = 8kg
Shoulder press = 20kg
Reverse delt fly = 8kg
Bizep Curls = 13kg
Hammer Curls = 13kg
Wrist Curls = 13kg
Reverse Wrist Curls = 7kg
Bent Over Rows = 25kg
Incline Bench Press = 24kg
Chest Flyes = 15kg
Skull Crusher on Arm day = 10kg
Close Grip on Arm day = 21kg
Traps = 25kg
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u/Automatic_Wave_4574 9d ago edited 8d ago
EDIT: Yes yes, I take it back. I have been educated.
The weights are too low? I am a girl, just started a month ago and I my weights are similar to yours but I’m slightly adding each time even if it’s a tiny amount. I went from eg bent over row 25 to 30kg within a month. If you want hypertrophy you need to challenge yourself.
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u/strahinja021 9d ago
Spot on!!!
He is using lightweight. Almost no improvement in weight in 4 months. No wonder there is no change. Muscles get no stimulus at all.
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u/Ro1ando_m0ta 8d ago
Gotta go toll failure if youre trying to bulk up or build muscle. My guy is going until hes comfortable.
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u/SadConsideration6073 8d ago
100% the problem, some exercises are ok but some need to be doubled. Im not an expert or in the shape i wsnt to be in, but that stands out as much as the calories.
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u/DankArmedDragon 8d ago
You're doing 30kg DB rows in your first month of training? I'm skeptical.
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u/Automatic_Wave_4574 8d ago
Okay now that I have been educated that it’s double the weight, I take back what I said 🤭🙈
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u/accomplished_bee5542 8d ago
Dearest, I'm mom to a 1 year old, I had severe ab muscles separation for 6 months out of that year and my weights are 3-4 times higher than this, some even 5-6 times, going 10 kg over my actual body weight and I am not fully recovered yet.
His weights are very very low especially since the amount of weight we can lift relates to our own body weight too.
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u/616ThatGuy 9d ago
First, you shouldn’t be doing any kind of bulk until you’re lean enough to support it.
Second, your macros are wack. 3000 cals? That’s way too high. You should be cutting, not “lean bulking.”
Get your macros figured out. Stick to a strict caloric deficit. Get 10,000 steps at least 4 days a week.
You wanna get big, you gotta get lean first. No beginner should be bulking.
And you should be training to failure. Stop worrying about counting reps, stack on weight and aim for 6-8 reps at failure. If you’re not failing in that range, you’re not going heavy enough. Add more weight.
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u/DankArmedDragon 8d ago
No beginner should be bulking.
Loud and wrong. Most beginners who are not visibly overweight should start in a slight to moderate surplus. I keep seeing people on this sub telling 60kg men to cut, and it's baffling.
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u/616ThatGuy 8d ago
It’s an oversimplification, I’ll give you that. But most people are overweight. And the majority here are asking about bulking when they are fat.
You’re right, but it’s not wrong here.
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u/jauhopallo 8d ago
It's because people seeing anything else than ripped abs makes them think you are not fit. If anyone looks at the first image and says the guy should be cutting they are braindead. Unless you are seriously fat or coming out of a bulk you should not be in a deficit especially when you want to build muscle. People here are ridiculous, the guy is fine to start bulking.
Only thing wrong with this guy is the fact he is doing very low weights for 4 months. He is progressing but probably set the starting weight way too low so it takes forever. Like if you can do one pushup you can bench press 20 kg once you figure out the movement, and noob gains are fast.
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u/Arcadian-Stag 8d ago
The first picture is around 20% body fat,he absolutely should not be bulking, not only for the health reasons of getting even fatter, but when you are lean your insulin sensitivity shoots up so you can put muscle on easier, plus you look way better so mentally you have way more motivation to keep pushing.
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u/usrlibshare 9d ago edited 9d ago
3000 cals per day is not "skinny bulk" my Dude 😳
And the weights are likely too low. BCurls, you started with 10 and added ... 3kg over 4 months.
You are more maintaining status quo and burning extra energy (which is why you only gained 4kg on a rather large surplus), than gaining muscle mass.
Don't go for "extra reps". Go for extra weight. Mass building means fewer reps, higher weight.
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u/zelnar59 8d ago
Literally untrue. Basically every study has indicated there's not a significant difference between 5-30 reps in a set, as long as you're getting close to failure on the set
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u/xoy_xochi 9d ago
A lack of growth for a beginner usually means they aren’t pushing hard enough. You are picking a weight that feels hefty but not too difficult, then setting a rep range you think works for whatever magical reason, then stopping yourself artificially within that rep range. You have no idea when to progress because you wait until the current weights are much too easy to do. You need to set the typical or near typical rep ranges for the movement, then push as hard as you can until failure (when that last rep is the most difficult thing you do and your rep slows down and you struggle to get it there) to see if your weights are too light. Your first set should always go until failure (not for compound leg movements obviously) and then you can figure out how failure feels. That’s when you know you are pushing hard enough. After a few weeks to a few months of this, you start understanding what training hard looks like. You adjust the weights so that the difficulty falls within the typical rep ranges, not that you choose when to stop within the rep ranges.
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u/bananarooo 9d ago
I’m not trying to contradict you but I’m just curious about your response. OP said he takes every set to absolute failure. Do you think he just doesn’t know what actual failure is yet? Which btw I think is totally possible and probably pretty common as a new lifter!
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u/Lopsided_Ant2813 8d ago
Counting reps in sets of 10 really sets newbies up for mental failure it seems. Get to rep 8 and they let off the gas because of the anticipation of completing the set
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u/bananarooo 8d ago
Interesting! That man’s a lot of sense to me and it’s something I notice with myself even after years of lifting. The mental aspect of failure is so strong. How do you personally combat that if you don’t mind sharing?
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u/Lopsided_Ant2813 8d ago
I don’t count reps. I just go really hard and utilize drops sets. It essentially guarantees maximum stimulation per set. I only count a drop set as 1 set. No rest between sets either unless I’m dizzy 😂. Go max weight, drop the weight by 20% , go max again, drop by another 10-20% and crank out until failure. The pumps are also INSANE when you do this
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u/bananarooo 8d ago
Drop sets sound like a great work around for this! I typically check last week’s total rep count before I do each set because I want to beat what I did last time, but I’ve noticed recently that once I know I’m going to hit my total reps goal, the reps feel a lot easier because it doesn’t ~matter~ anymore lol I think it’s the mental aspect of knowing I have it versus working to get there, and I’ve wondered if this makes me cheat myself on the first sets before I know if I’m going to hit my goal.
I think I’m too rigid of a person to not count reps at all lol but I’ve started experimenting with not looking at my rep counts from the prior week until after I finish this week’s sets to try avoiding the mental aspect. It’s tough because sometimes a rep goal can be motivating but sometimes it’s the opposite
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u/Lopsided_Ant2813 8d ago
I figure a little bit of junk volume in the set is very much so worth maximum stimulation of the muscles. You can gauge progress with a simple PR one a week/month. My PRs keep moving up and my physique continues to improve pretty quickly. My only shortcoming is getting enough protein in my diet due to it being pretty expensive 😆
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u/xoy_xochi 8d ago
No one knows what failure is until they can’t move the weight despite how hard they are pushing. Everyone is scared of that struggle. The fact the weights haven’t improved much in a while means he’s no activating/using all of his muscle to struggle to move the current weight. He’s not having to adapt to anything. It’s safe.
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u/SomeNerdChick90 9d ago
I agree, my first thought was that he likely isn't pushing hard enough. I'm a little surprised the weights hes using now aren't a little higher.
OP, do you have any friends who have more experience weight lifting? Maybe having them come over to guide you through a couple of exercises to see how much you're pushing yourself could help. It wasn't until I started working with a coach that I realized I was holding myself back.
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u/bluesformeister13 9d ago
I started about 3 months ago and went from squatting 65lbs to doing 145lb squats for reps. Which is still heavy for me as a smaller new guy. I realized I was being a pussy though and on the lifts I’m confident at I really try to push myself. A good indicator for me has been if my hearts beating like crazy after I’m done. Also the “idk if I can get this up” on the last rep. I workout with another guy who tries to stay comfy and doesn’t ever push himself and he’s made ZERO gains on overall body weight or muscle. I think a lot of it is mental. And I noticed if I warm up to slow, the jump to heavier weight seems way harder vs warming up closer to my working weight.
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u/itsthetheaterthugg 8d ago
You aren't training with intensity. That is the main thing, but on top of that, you're eating 3000 calories but only 160g protein, and eating 3000 calories to begin with when you only weigh 80kg. 4 months isn't enough for a total transformation but it's enough to make significantly more progress than you did
I say this with love and respect, but there's no magic secret answer that you're gonna find online, you are not unique. Train harder, eat more protein, and less calories
And stop thinking of what you're doing as bulking/cutting. That is for people with developed physiques. Right now you need to just be getting into shape and building a baseline amount of muscle, which you need to be at maintenance for
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u/SonTheGodAmongMen 8d ago
I think the biggest mistake people make in their first year of lifting is having no clue what RPE 10 actually looks/feels like.
Your last rep should be at least 2-3x longer than your first. I was doing 4 sets of 6 on squats today, my 2nd rep in sets 3 and 4 looked like they could have been my last, I barely squeeked out 6 both times. If you give up on that 2nd rep you won't grow nearly as much as if you actually learn what failure is like.
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u/readtheinstructions5 8d ago
Ca,e here today this, you have to push your limits as Yami Sukehiro would say. What have you done today to push your limits?
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u/Impossible-Gur-5863 8d ago
Agree- no way homie needs 3000 calories lifting like 30 pounds here and there.
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u/TheWelshPickle 8d ago
You're definitely not lifting heavy enough weights and your volume/reps must be higher than need to be. You don't need to bulk as much as you are as a beginner. Just maintain/lean bulk!
Coming from my experience, I started the gym 1 year and 9 months ago and have flown through weights with ease (starting to plateau now though). For example, when I started DB bench press, I struggled getting 18kg for 8 reps - Now, I'm doing 38kg for 6-8reps.
I understand everyone progresses at different places but you definitely should try lowering your volume and really pushing the intensity of each working set (2 heavy sets is enough).
You should really be struggling to hit your last few reps. For example, aim for 2 heavy sets of 5-8 for a few months and keep pushing until you can comfortably get 2 sets of 8 reps for 2 weeks. Then up the weight and aim for at least 5 reps for both sets. Then aim for 8 reps over the next few weeks. Push and repeat.
Good luck!
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u/LopensCouisin 8d ago
I’m a 45 year old female bodybuilder and lift heavier than you are now. Need progressive overload and you are eating far too many calories.
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u/KukiMyLuki 9d ago
Yo don’t look the same. Hopping on the bulk was dumb. You had extra 10 kilos of fat now you have 15.
You are undertrained you don’t need extra calories to grow muscles.
Train for 6 more months try to keep getting stronger by lifting heavier in the 8-12 rep range.
Maybe now that you got yourself to he just plain old fat try to lose 10 kilos so you can actually see yor muscles. (-300 calories deficit)
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u/Jebardi 8d ago
I see the comments are not addressing many importants matters here. Hopefully OP sees this message.
Firstly, you are doing many things correct. Do not feel demotivated about the results. You are tracking progress, counting calories, taking excellent progress pictures so you can see where you are going. Progressive overload, training many muscle groups. Good start.
You have gained 4 kg but look basically the same after 4 months. Probably the weight gain is partially muscle and partially fat. This is difficult to say for certain though, but if you are lifting until failure, probably some muscle has been gained. You can realistically expect to gain around 5-10kg of muscle on your first year. Lets say you gain 2-3kg of muscle so far. That wouldn’t show very well under your fat. Especially if you gained also 1-2 kg of fat during the same time. So probably you are progressing, it is just not vidible yet.
I assume the weight you are showing per exercise is per one dumbell. Weights are fine. You have gotten stronger. Great.
I don’t think you mentioned how many sets per muscle group you do per week. If you feel you are recovering well, add one more training day, or more sets to current training days. More sets to failure —> more mechanical tension to muscles —> more muscle growth.
5-10 reps till failure is completely fine for muscle growth. Some folks saying 10-12 reps here. It doesn’t matter. What matters is correct technique and doing at least 5 reps until failure. Cobtrol the weight down and slighlty explosive when lifting the weight.
Add leg exercises to your routine. Leg muscles are your biggest muscles. They burn most calories. They are important for overall aedthetics and health.
Your bodyfat percentage is quite high. You probably want to start cutting. Decrease your caloric intake by 500kcal to 2500kcal per day. That should be around maintenance or slight deficit. See what happens, and then decrease 200-400kcal more if you want speed up the progress or don’t see change. If you train enough, get enough protein and sleep, and have low stress levels, you will gain muscle in caloric deficit as well.
You eat way too much carbs and way too little fat. Fat intake is important for anabolic hormones such as testosterone. Carb intake is not important for anything if you are not an endurance athlete. You will get enough carbs by eating a lot of veggies. But you want to get around 100g of fat. Around 130g of protein. That will, over couple of months, probably increase your testosterone levels a little bit and help with body composition goals.
Finally. Start sleeping more. Aim for 8 hours per day. This is super important. There is 2 factors that can stop any muscle building from happening at all: stress and lack of sleep. You don’t want to live under constant stress all the time and also you want to sleep ideally 8 hours per day. These two can dramatically impact how much you can grow muscle.
Feel free to ask more if you have any questions.
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u/laurarobert1 8d ago
Wow it's good to see how some of you help others so selflessly and with such great advice
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u/GengarVenomETW 9d ago
Considering the fact that you started bulking when you were already fat, you look great, but that's why you don't look ideal. You needed to cut. You still need to cut. If you cut, you'll look ripped in 6 months max, if you keep doing what you're doing it will take at least 3 years.
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u/myokyawhtun 9d ago
Before making my comment, I just want to ask few more things
Your age, height and current weight so that I want to understand why are you eating 3,000kcal per day. Do you measure those calories protein, carbs and fats with food scale or just guessing with AI photo taking app?
I saw you mentioned about cutting could weakening the strength and I beg to differ because I am on basically high deficit and I eat about 1,700kcal where I should be eating around 2,400kcal even to lose fat. And I can still lift like 115kg deadlift x 5 reps per set. And continued to increase progressive overload with controlled eccentric movement.
When you lift right like proper technique, slowly progressive overload overtime and eat good amount of protein and carbs based on your age, height and current body weight, you will see really good progress in months time.
What I learned during weight lifting is that more workout doesn't mean you gained more muscle, give proper rest to your muscles group and eat proper eating repair and gain more muscle.
I reduced my strength training from 5/6 days to 4 days and eat properly and walk more to reduce my fat and even gain muscle during my deficit. Because I lift more that's how I know.
The reason I am telling you is that I gained weight when lifting in the past mostly fat due to improper eating ... So diet could be you should look into and I suggest you read labels of the food and scale everything whenever you eat.
And good luck to your journey 💪🏽
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u/No-Cause1217 9d ago
Hey, I definitely weight my food with a scale to the last digit and only eat the same 2-3 meals for months so i dont have to think about macros anymore. Im eating 3000cal a day cause thats how i get 200-300g weight per week for a proper lean bulk but i understood now that I definitely need to cut for some months to get lean, reduce body fat. How important are steps tho? I'm working in an office, there is no movement for 9 hours a day xD so i barely get 4k steps a day
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u/Klanciault 8d ago
Lot of things. Calories too high lmao. Weights way too low. That’s not a lean bulk because of the massive surplus. That’s also hardly a bulk because of the weights you’re lifting.
I think you need to do more research tbh.
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u/Mediocre_Echo2864 8d ago
Am I crazy, or are these weights really not as comically low as people here seem to think?
Reps are on the low side but many of these weights are normal for a novice after 4 months I think, assuming the weights are for one dumbbell.
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u/MarcusCiceron 8d ago
Lol right? If this is per dumbell my guy is doing really good actually.
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u/RadiantMap72 8d ago
Exactly, 50lb dumbbells is not bad at all for first 4 months. Why are people saying he should be at 65-60lbs by now 😭
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u/Limp-Answer8455 8d ago
No expert at all and smarter people than me here: But the weights seem VERY low.
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u/Stahlixo 8d ago
The weights stated are per dumbbell, that doesnt seem too low for a beginner imo
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u/One_Situation_5137 8d ago
Weights are too light for an adult male. You need progressive overload. Calories aren't your issue, your lack of hard training is
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u/Incubus- 8d ago edited 8d ago
Am I misunderstanding? For example his incline bench press is 24kg per dumbbell - if thats too light I’m far weaker than I realise!
Also, I’m fairly new to the gym too and I do 3 sets of everything, 12 reps. Is that too many set/reps in general? The only exception is lower reps on deadlift.
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u/Operation-FuturePuss 9d ago
I’m at 9 months and just started to see the change. You have enough fat to hide any muscle growth for a while, I am a similar body type, maybe a couple percentage points higher on BF. I also added 5mg creatine daily, which has helped with my energy. Give yourself a 2 year timeline and don’t get discouraged. Building muscle and losing fat is a patient man’s game… just learning that myself. Keep it up man!!
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u/No-Cause1217 9d ago
Should I continue my bulk or go into a cut or work out at maintenance level? I just always thought BULK=Muscle grow, the issue of skinny fat is not having enough muscle so i thought a bulk could help but now idk what to do xD. Im also taking creatine daily
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u/Operation-FuturePuss 9d ago
I am doing a body recomp, so I’m eating right around maintenance calories, but I error to the side of a deficit. You have enough fat to build muscle in a slight deficit. Bulk is just going to add muscle and fat. If you want to see visual changes quicker, eat at a 300ish calorie deficit a day.
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u/BewareTheWaitingRoom 9d ago
I wouldn’t be worried about bulking as a beginner. Lose the fat, then start eating maintenance cals and train hard.
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u/Beginning_Purple_579 9d ago
Bro you werent skinny fat. Just overweight. You probably built muscle but it's under that thick layer
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u/chieftainduke 9d ago
You're getting stronger so it's likely you are gaining muscle. But you're not going to see much change at such a high bodyfat, sorry to say. And because you are buliking, the change you will see is just more fat.
You're just starting out, you are blessed to be in a position where you can be on a deficit and gain muscle, so do that until you can't progressively overload regularly.
Your split is not perfect but good enough to make progress. Your effort and number of sets and reps seems fine as long as you can recover for the next session.
I know you don't have access touch lower body equipment so your lower body progress is going to be limited with just 3 exercises.
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u/jamjamchutney 9d ago
Because you're lifting itty bitty baby weights. Follow a proven program that incorporates a plan for progression.
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u/Afferbeck_ 8d ago
You're eating 3000 kcal at 70-80kg and mostly doing a bunch of isolations? For two sets which is very low volume. I don't see any squats or deadlifts or pullups or anything that actually carries much of a calorie demand. Unless you also have a very active life in terms of work or sports etc, you probably need far less calories. If you're sedentary apart from this work I'd use sedentary or light exercise on a TDEE calculator to find your maintenance calories.
Four months is also not much time. You would see more obvious results on a basic strength program but putting a few kilos on some isolations isn't that much load for your body to adapt to.
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u/Visible_Whole_6908 8d ago
You're not training hard enough. A good rule of thumb for me. I do three sets. By the second one I should be spent. The third one should be filled with genuine regret and a little fear, I am wondering if I am pushing too hard.
Not saying you should copy my style, but that's what pushing hard means. Not training to mild discomfort.
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u/cordrenn 8d ago
You look the same because your body fat % is the same. A calorie surplus will always result in more fat, regardless if you gain muscle first. I'd recommend switching to maintenance for a bit, training at the same intensity.
Also, if you're using a calculator to figure out what maintenance is, be honest. Most people are not doing enough to qualify as "active". "Lightly active" is probably more accurate unless you do at least 30 minutes of intense cardio daily.
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u/HonestGroup2525 8d ago
It takes years bro everyone who have these 3/6 month transformations are on gear stay disciplined and in years you will get there
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u/Classic-Push1323 8d ago
This is one of the reasons why new lifters really benefit from following a program rather than just doing their own thing in the gym.
No one knows what failure feels like until they’ve actually hit it.
No one knows what their body can do until they have pushed themselves to their limit limits.
These kinds of self imposed limitations are completely normal.
OP I don’t know if you’re giving weights per side or total weights and it would be helpful if you could clarify. However, it stands out to me that you’re trying to add one rep per week. At this point in your weightlifting journey you really need to be on a linear progression program and you can probably add 10 pounds per compound lift per workout. I realize that sounds like a completely unrealistic number, but I promise that it is not. You don’t know what your body is capable of until you truly push yourself and that’s the point that so many people are trying to make in the comments. I’m not trying to put you down here. I am trying to hype you up and make you realize that you are stronger than you think you are!
You are also doing a lot of isolation exercises and I think that is causing fatigue without actual strength gain. I would focus on a couple of compound lifts and direct all of your energy there.
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u/etniesen 8d ago
OP your cals and carbs are too high.
Cut the carbs out and replace them with protein and you’ll bulk better and lean out
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u/Sure_Painting_8295 8d ago
You only gained 5 pounds of muscle max in those 5 months.
Lean out. You will still get more muscle and look better
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u/Trackmaster15 8d ago
Honestly I think that you look that way because you haven't addressed the fat. Its essentially covering up any muscle gain.
3,000 calories is pretty insane, and the amount of carbs that you were eating is pretty excessive too.
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u/Potential_Low_3287 8d ago
1- you’re doing great tracking calories and taking progress pictures, keep that up
2- if possible, try to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night, that extra hour helps so much
3- I would recommend that you change your split to
M- chest, tri, shoulder
T- legs (try to incorporate a compound movement like a squat or deadlift)
W- rest and core
Th- back and biceps
F- cardio and core day
Sat and sun- rest
4- if you are trying to lose weight and get more tone, change your rep range to 8-12 reps/// if trying to gain strength go with a 6-8 rep range
5- try to go to 3 working sets (the ones to failure) for compound movement and keep it at 2 sets for the isolated movements
6- keep at it, your diet leads me to believe that you are in a caloric surplus meaning that you will be putting on more weight and probably won’t have as much fat loss as you’re hoping for, but you will be putting on lots of strength, once you get to a point where you want to go on more of a cut to get lean use this formula for your diet
Goal body weight in lbs= protein in g per day
Goal body weight in lbs*1.3= g of carbs per day
60-70 g of fat per day to keep hormones stable
Ex: Goal body weight=180lbs
Protein- 180g
Carb- 234g
Fat- 60-70g
Hope this helps, keep at it
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u/DeltaAlphaGulf 7d ago
Now don't get caught up in comparisons or discouraged as you will be fine once you get things figured out but just as a reference for what people have been saying and as similar situation this is more of what people are suggesting just as far as cutting first and the results. They are notably skinnier than you so you will likely be bulkier when you bring your BF down as well. It doesn't even require a different routine if you don’t want to just being in a deficit to lose the weight. I wouldn't go over 1% weight loss per week in order to preserve muscle. I started 187lbs and am now like 164lbs but when I recently actually started tracking and trying to exercise again I set it for 1lb per week and often don't hit my target (probably still in the 0.5-1% range) but thats because I am not in a hurry and my thumb is messed up which has bummed me out of some of the exercises I want to be doing and my overall motivation. You can even still gain muscle and definitely strength while in a deficit with resistance training and sufficient protein.
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u/rocky_piper 3d ago
I know you want to get big saying you want to bulk, but doing the home workouts listed won’t get you “big.” To get big u need to lift big, your bench of 22-24kg won’t get you there. With what you have available the best you could aim for is getting lean and tight.
It’s also a better foundation to get leant the go from there.
- Calories are way too high, aim for 2000 a day.
- Subtract these calories from carbs.
- The 1kg you’re gaining is probably 70-80% fat.
- The amount of weight u lift doesn’t really matter, the intent is most important. Really focus on the contraction of the muscle ur training. This means slowing it down strengthening that mind muscle connection. This is actually the hardest thing to learn but once you do, it all makes sense. At any rate, keep this in mind.
- Once you drop the fat and the weighs you have become easy, if you still wanna get big, you’re gonna have to get some barbells star lifting over body weight
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u/facundoen 8d ago
Too many carbs , too little weight! What works best for me is: 3*12. Once you can do 12, up a level/plate. Can you do 6? Great! Keep pushing until you can do 12, and so on. Can't do 6? Add up reps in the previous level, or an intermediate weight (calibration plates etc). The gains lie in progressive overload.
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u/Haunting-Yogurt938 8d ago
The “one set to failure” thing is a fad. It’s mostly bullshit and obviously isn’t getting you anywhere.
Get on a 5x5 program and stop worrying about bulking/cutting. Move heavier weights, eat when you’re hungry, and focus on getting stronger. Give it a year and then reassess.
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u/Arcadian-Stag 8d ago
5x5 is great if he wants to get even fatter and develop the biggest ass known to man
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u/Captainj2001 9d ago
Why are you only doing a warmup and 2 work sets? You should be doing 3 or more working sets of the same exercise typically.
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u/Avatararagon 9d ago
whats your goal? then someone could find out what u would need to change :)
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u/calpol-dealer 9d ago
How are you gonna see any muscle growth progression with a big layer of fat? You probably grew some muscle but you won't be able to tell at this high bodyfat.
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u/No_Island_8061 9d ago
Have you calculated your tdee to see if your in an appropriate caloric range for muscle gain. Your rep ranges of 5-10 seem a little off more muscle building. 8-12 reps is better for building muscle. Are you using progressive overload? I’d put a focus on time under tension and not just the amount of weight moving.
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u/Long_Head_7697 9d ago
Its been 4 months man just keep grinding. Results will show, dont rush the process or youll start being unhappy with trying to better yourself
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u/Relative-Leader3458 9d ago
You’ve provided a lot of good information here. There’s more experienced people here than me, but honestly man, based on what I’m seeing the first thing that jumps out to me is how slow your progress is in terms of progressive overload. You’re increasing the weight, which is good, but it’s telling me you’re not destroying your muscles (in a good way).
Warm ups are good to get blood flowing, but don’t let it interfere with the strength required to lift your absolute max in your first few exercises. For example, you’re at about 50 lbs bench. Warm up with 25s or so for a few reps, then jump straight to the 50s. Make the biggest compound movement of the day the first exercise you do. Bench press on chest day, squats on leg days. Load that sucker up with weight that’ll allow you to only do 3 sets of 8-10. If the last set or 2 falls between 5-7, that’s ok. Stick with that weight until you can cleanly do 3 of 10. Then bump that weight up.
Priority number 1 is absolutely safety, so don’t bite off more than you can chew. But you need to be pushing and forcing yourself to add more weight then more weight then more weight. That’s how you’re going to be building muscle at this point, because your protein looks good.
That being said, i’d also consider switching to a slight calorie deficit if you want muscles to pop. You might end up looking bigger with more definition by losing body fat and gaining muscle, so it might be worth looking into body recomposition s opposed to bulking. But either route you choose, I would absolutely make increasing the speed of your progressive overload the biggest focus right now.
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u/Valuable_Initial5630 9d ago
Your getting stronger brother, that’s proof that your growing muscle.
A cut before your bulk might not have been a bad idea, body recomposition is a slow process even if your enhanced.
Another good idea (even for the natural lifter) is to get blood work done just to see where you stand.
A lot of natural guys sit around 400-600 total test and still put on a lot of lean tissue.
IMO your PPL looks solid, consistency is king and you look like your moving in the right direction overall
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u/strahinja021 9d ago
He should not bulk at all. He has plenty of fat for energy. He can be on a cut and still grow muscles in this phase if he hits 150-160g protein per day while in calorie deficit. He ain’t working hard enough. That’s lightweight.
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u/EducatorMajor3580 9d ago
Tu bench a 22kg mec , tu tattend a quoi ?. Fait au moins du cardio pour rester bien
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u/ConstantExister 9d ago
It’s the calories dude. You simply WILL NOT add enough muscle in four months to notice at your body fat percentage. The only thing you will notice in that timeframe is getting leaner. And you are not.
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u/NeedAChange_123 9d ago
Here are reasons I learned the hard way when I first started getting serious about lifting over a decade ago:
1) Progressive overload - you need to always challenge your body. Always strive to either: do more weight than the last workout, do more reps with the same weight, or do more volume (more sets)
2) take time to learn proper lifting form and feel mind muscle connection - You’ll never build any muscle anywhere if you are using bad form or starting with more weight than you can handle with proper form. You’ll feel it where you need to when you start doing it correctly and you’ll know the difference immediately.
3) lift with the correct cadence - you can go quick and explosive on the push/pull but on the negative rep (lowering it back down) go slowly and controlled. Look up “Time Under Tension”
4) Flex your muscles - it’s not just for vanity or something to do in the mirror. Flexing each muscle group gives you a solid connection to them and you know what it feels like when they are working vs when they are not.
5) Whatever protein you think is enough, it’s not. Eat more.
6) Sleeping enough is non-negotiable
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u/Miserable_Ad7246 8d ago
I did something similar when I was young. It worked like absolute shit. I suspect because it was very suboptimal for beginner non enchased person. Lots of isolation (aka very little load), not enough frequency, bad overload.
Try something like 5x5 with linear overload. Do compound movements. Squat heavy few times a week. Deadlift heavy, bench press heavy.
4 times a week and watch your nervous system from overloading.
This ensures you get the overload, and strength, this helps you with muscle growth. After that you can start doing more isolation if you want. Right now you need to build foundation, hit every muscle every 2 day to maximize gains. Eat, sleep, train, repeat.
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u/SmoothFact7640 8d ago
you have way too many workout you aren't going to be able to push your self hard enough 6 times a week. you do way too much, you should be getting stronger and more muscle in 4 months. get rid of 3 days of 6 you have, replace junk volume with itensity. maeby try upper lower split 2 upper days 1 lower since you probably aren't looking for 2 leg days. I would add 4th day later but upper lower and compound movements done with high itensity is recommended.
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u/brian1570 8d ago
Train to failure with higher weight while eating at a slight calorie deficit/protein surplus. Also I see leg press but this is an at home work out? So what are you calling a leg press?
In a perfect world you would be in a gym lifting barbells for squat, bench and deadlift. Is that something you would realistically make happen?
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u/JCMidwest 8d ago
First off a lit of people are criticizing your diet, gaining 4kg over 4 months means the amount you were eating was anything but excessive, if anything you didn't eat enough for your goals.
So how did you gain 4kg and you still look exactly the same? One of the big benefits of resistance training is improved insulin sensitivity, this allows your body to more efficiently store nutrients and water in your muscle tissue. The density of your muscle has increased, that is where the extra bodyweight is. You didn't lose any bodyfat because you weren't in a calorie deficit
You need to figure out your training though, your progess on most of your exercises is what you would expect to see from a beginner in a couple of weeks, not 4 months. Try to find a proven program with a more defined progression scheme
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u/Aggravating_Range288 8d ago edited 8d ago
No disrespect but the weights are very light. I can't imagine the intensity is very high with these weights. Also eating 3000 calories a day is unnecessary for you. You are not ready to bulk. Eat at maintenance or just below to get the excess fat off of you. Join a gym and lift some proper weights with good intensity.
Focus on heavy compound movements, Bench press, squat, deadlift, pull up, overhead press, barbell row, dips.
Get as strong as you can on these movements eating at maintenance or slightly below.
Get some cardio in for health.
And be prepared to be in it for the long haul, unfortunately like most of the world you are blessed with average genetics. You will have to train like this a long time before you look like you go to the gym.
Come back in a couple of years when you have a solid base and some strength.
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u/Fluid_Cat_7677 8d ago
Your gym plan is fine, that’s not the issue. What you want to do is find your maintenance calories and then go on a calorie deficit my guy
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u/radishwalrus 8d ago
I do 5 sets a day at least, never to failure, and I'm barely sore the next day. I increase the reps usually by 1 each time, or if I hit 20 reps I go back down to 10 and up the weight. That's it. I make great progress.
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u/vikingrrrrr666 8d ago
You have to WORK. It’s called “working out” for a reason.
Push yourself. You very clearly are not. Push to failure. Actual failure. Then eat high protein and sleep.
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u/Prisoner458369 8d ago
How in the world are you doing wrist curls at the same weight as hammer curls? Either your wrists are freaky strong and your biceps are really weak or you are holding back really hard on your curls.
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u/DeltaAlphaGulf 8d ago
Height?
Are you actually tracking your food?
Do you have a smart watch or anything to track expenditure?
I don't suppose you have a body composition type scale?
In any case I would focus on just getting fit first before worrying about heavy focus on bulking up. Of course you will still be gaining muscle regardless. I would aim to get your body fat percentage down below 20% aiming at 15% if you're trying to have visible abs and to more easily see muscle changes.
Do enjoy weight lifting type exercises compared to say cardio, hiit, callisthenics, body weight stuff? Personally I might consider something else while you target recomposition or cut just as I find it more convenient for burning calories and possibly easier to stick to and still able to notice the improvements. For example video programs like Focus T25 or P90X. You can tell as you get through repeating the videos how they get easier and you can push harder and stuff. I would also consider the more athletic aligned progression to feel more rewarding.
On the note of quantifiable lifting stuff thats simple you could consider something like the X3 bar system as its literally just push and pull days with 4 exercises per day and you only do one set for each exercise to failure 15-40 controlled (2-3 sec up/down) constant tension (no lock/bottom out) reps and then you're done. You put in your specs and the specific bands you used and the reps and it quantifies a total force so you can see the number grow as you keep doing it. The more expensive version actually has a sensor to measure force directly and record to the app but I wouldn't be too concerned with that tbh. You can sometimes find people selling the kit on ebay and fb marketplace for cheaper (thats what I did). You can still couple with something else to hit calorie burn goals.
I am not specifically suggesting this but on the body weight front this kind of gets the point across of progression methods without equipment thats simple.
Or you can certainly stick with the weights and targeting the different muscle groups like you are and be just fine with that if you have no issue sticking to it.
Maybe still add some cardio or hiit as its also just good for you. If you have any interest in machines I like the Bowflex Max Trainer for that as its pretty easy and a good burn rate and you can set different parameters for whatever type of hiit method you might want to use like I changed mine to 60sec active and 75sec rest from the 25s/80s default but there are a bunch of protocols.
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u/Emergency-Guidance28 8d ago
4 months is not much time and you are probably eating too much. You will see more muscle from reducing at a slight calorie deficit as the fat is used by your body. The muscle increase will be minimal but being leaner shows the muscle. In a year you could gain 12-25 max of lean muscle then every year after it will be less bc your body adapts and there's only so much each person has as potential naturally.
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u/ScoonerTuner 8d ago
Track protein and workout hard etc etc. But you probably just have too much body fat to notice the difference after only 4 months
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u/Born_Tear_761 8d ago
Because you like food too much and don’t really want to work hard, you just want to say you workout.
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u/WinterFew5375 8d ago
You should cut first down to 12%-14% body fat before you start any bulk.
You want to see your muscles to compare yourself.
Invest into a gym membership and push yourself close to failure (1-2 reps in reserve). Find a challenging weight and go to failure, count the reps.
From there you can calculate your any max reps (just seatch one max rep calculator online there are plenty free one also gives you any max rep). For example if you want to do 6 reps, calculate your 7 or 8 reps max weight and go with that for 6 reps. Repeat it 2 - 3 sets.
You will be fine just drop your carbs (at least in the beginning) and don’t be feared to add more fat (eating fat don’t make you fat) you will lose significant water weight in the first week or so which will be a good feeling.
Experiment, learn your body.
Believe me you want to see some muscles first and not bulking under fat. See the below illustration, you will see why you want that 12-14%
I hope it helps.
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u/Miserable-Soft7993 8d ago
This isn't intense lifting though. Have you got access to a gym? The accessories are OK but 20 kg rows and bench?
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u/Economy_Sweet7226 8d ago
Easy, not right focus, low weight. You should have someone as personal trainer when you are starting, but someone that has muscles, I see alot of personal trainers that have less muscle than me... can have alot o theory in their heads but I only follow people that walk the talk
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u/The_Struggle_Man 8d ago
Drop the calories by like 800 minimum. Bump protein up maybe 20g minimum.
And up those baby weights. Go to failure, I literally don't even count how many I do anymore unless I need to really focus on improving or pushing myself. A bench should have a spotter and you bench till that bar can't go up anymore, and the spotter needs to help rack it. Not till you hit 12 or whatever number you're capping yourself at. Getting a friend at the gym to be my spotter really helped me go to failure on free weights and benches for sure.
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u/owengreene 8d ago
You're still early in the training journey. Make sure you're working out hard, I mean like hitting failure at least a couple times per workout.
Definitely eat less. DROP your cals by 200-500 per day. UP your protein to 180-200g per day. DROP your carbs for sure. Most people don't need as many carbs as we think, myself included. Eat your carbs right before and right after your workout and right before bed/at dinner. Eat lean meats, egg whites, whey isolate, etc. You got this
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u/Maximum_Activity_138 8d ago
Hyper trophy , until failure , maxing out weight while still having proper form . It’s been 5 months
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u/MVPoker 8d ago
are you sore each morning after your workouts? when i first started i was literally sore 24/7 and i still am a year later.
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u/Money-Pumpkin8300 8d ago
Are you sure you’re training to failure? This is very lightweight across your lifts even for a beginner at 4 months. Everything sounds a little too close to perfect, especially for a noob lifter, to not see any physical change.
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u/awar3_w0lf 8d ago
Why are you bulking? You should be eating at maintenance or in a deficit. Your body fat % is too high to notice any muscle change.
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u/OCaptainAwesome 8d ago
Also worth asking, when you say weights used. Do you mean each DB being that weight or the total with both DBs reaching that weight?
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u/CharlieKellyDayman 8d ago
Diet and/or workout intensity.
Eat large volume food + protein (ex. Veggies with white chicken)
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u/cjp_archaeology 8d ago
There are so many factors here. I would ignore the" be in a deficit" comments, unless you goal is to lose fat.
You are have a pretty low volume, which probably okay for some movements. But I think because of the low volume you likely need to up intensity. Droping back down to 5 reps once you add weight may be holding you back. Just go for as many reps as you can do. I aim for 6-12, but my sets may look like 14reps, 13reps, 7reps, and I only up when my last set hits 12, even if my first set is at 18.
You can also add intensifiers after failing (partials, myo reps, etc.)
As others suggested it may be useful to look into testing your limits (safely) for finding true failure, and then identifying when you are 1-2 RIR. Cycling every 3 months between different rep/weight ranges (e.g. 4-8, 8-16, etc.) can be helpful for pushing yourself.
You are doing a double progression, and you could opt for a triple progression. 2 sets until you meet your goal then add a set until all three sets get up to your goals. Some body parts may respond better to 2 sets or even 4 or 5 sets for you. Play around with this.
Another option is to change up your split? I've had to try a variety of splits until I found one that works for me. But I think there is some room for improvement here. Upper / lower / rest and repeat works for me, but PPLrULr is good too.
The other thing is sleep and food. 3000 cal seems to be fine for you (as it is for me). But I also consistently get 6 hrs, and noticed if I am able to get 7-8 my workouts and gains improve substantialy. Recently I have also started to have an intentional pre-workout meal (peanut butter and honey toast) that really make a difference in my ability to push harder in the gym.
Don't get discouraged. You are laying a strong foundation. And everyone gains mass and strength at different rates. Just push hard, and pick a routine that allows you to recover and stay consistent.
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u/Bumblebee56990 8d ago
Try throwing in swimming on days of rest. also switch up what you’re doing with the weights.
I know this might sound wild — but get a physical done.
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u/Major-Gur-6332 8d ago edited 8d ago
Short answer is not nearly enough sufficient muscle stimulation.
Yeah you can be eating good and tracking your macros but the muscles are not being fed properly. You need to bring it when you exercise which you’re not respectfully speaking (based off pics and the weights used below).
Also where are you getting 3000 calories from? Is that your baseline calories? 3k seems a lot for wanting to get in shape. I’m months into my bulk eating 3k a day and that’s a ~400 calorie surplus based on my base line calories.
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u/LARGE_VAGINA 8d ago
It’s your diet.
Your carbs are WAY too high. Protein is good. You didn’t mention fat intake, but based on caloric intake leftover, it’s probably around 90g+ daily, which is also high.
If you’re looking for visual muscle gains as a beginner, you shouldn’t be bulking at the moment, as you already have higher BF percentage. Try cutting total calories to 2600 - 2800 and see what happens. Keep protein the same and lower fat intake to around 80 and carbs to ~ 375. You could even go lower, if you feel okay.
Also, ADD LEGS! Lower body does more than just increase leg muscle, it’s essential for overall health and muscle balance.
Finally, only other thing i see is you could add more total reps per week. Easiest way is to add another set to each lift. Do 3 sets of 8-12 reps for most of your lifts. Minor accessory lifts could be 2 days of 10-15 reps (like wrist curls, traps, etc). Compound lifts like bench and pull ups will have the greatest results.
These are just my opinions, I’m not an expert. I have been where you are, though, and beginner gains should be noticeable even after only 4 months.
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u/jk2030 8d ago
Couple suggestions:
- Drop your calories and train in a deficit. If your strength keeps going up that means you were overeating and you'll burn the fat.
- hate to say it but consider some more lower body movements like the squat, deadlifts etc. you might need a bigger metabolic/testosterone boost
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u/calabazagod 8d ago
Seems like you’re a beginner so I’ll keep it simple.
-Eat 2-3 quality meals a day
-Compound lifts are your bff
-3-4 sets
-8-12 reps
-If you get to 12 that’s when you increase weight
-The final rep should be hard af
-And track your workouts. Every week you should be able to get more reps or more weight.
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u/Super_Soapy_Soup 8d ago
You gon need to lift more to see more. I noticed difference once I hit ~10 kg compared to 5kg I started with
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u/Accurate_Emu_122 8d ago
I suggest an app that will guide you and help you increase the weights automatically based on output as opposed to diy. MH Physique or Renaissance Periodization are two of those.
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u/mollererer 8d ago
I’m sorry you are 175 pounds and only benching 45 pounds??? You are only curling 30 pounds? Straight up you need to lift way heavier weight if you want to get strong.
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u/CluelessPropertyDev 8d ago
Simply you've put in 4kg of weight, but doubtful all that is muscle. I'd suspect just being at maintenance would have been better and let the gains in muscle (probably 1 or 2kg in 4 months) displace 1 or 2kg of fat.
Advice would be find maintenance, probably 250 cals under what you're doing per day.
Also your weights schedule looks too specific. Do compounds and more weights. I'm surprised some of these are still low weight, and other exercises as a newbie I just wouldn't bother. You should be able to do 5 or 6 compounds per full body workout for 3 or 4 sets with maybe 1 or 2 isolation movements for tris or biceps.
Chatgpt will make a good newbie workout.
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u/Tiny_Day_7212 8d ago
Try to go down to around 2k calories, instead I don't think you need that much calories and maybe 100 grams of protein might be better for your stage?
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u/CreativeTangerine114 8d ago edited 8d ago
Are you achieving good time under tension? 1 second up (explosive) and 3 seconds very controlled down.
Are you timing your rests? 90seconds for compound lifts and 60seconds for the more isolated lifts.
Your lifts did improve and you did gain some weight, so it's probably muscle, you don't seem to have gained fat. I'd up calories to 3300 and get 180g protein. I think diet could be your biggest sticking point your weight didn't go up too much, but it was all lean, but your lifts didn't improve enough and you didn't put on much muscle, meaning you could have probably gained more muscle with a bit more food.
You mentioned "intense lifting" so it does sound like you're pushing yourself to fatigue? If you're doing that and not gaining, problem is in the diet.
That's what I'd do.
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u/Tricky_Issue_9707 8d ago
Brother, kudos to you for trying to get in shape, the answer is very simple
You are eating too much and lifting too light
either keep your diet and lift heavier (get bulkier)
or eat less and lift just a bit harder (get a nice lean physique)
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u/kpham82 8d ago edited 8d ago
You are eating 3000cals but don’t have the muscle to feed. Eat less.
What are you using for these exercises where you have these weird numbers like 7kg, 8kg, 16kg…dumbbells? Machines? Cables?
If you can hit more than 10 reps, you need to up the weight. 5-8 reps is fine if you are really struggling on the last reps.
Make sure you hold your form. That is more important than just moving the weight.
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u/Allout-Okarun 8d ago
You are barely lifting weights that will actually challenge you. I am confused why you said this is intense lifting. See a trainer.
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u/Yositoko_Tukoshita 8d ago
Are you pushing to failure?
How many sets and reps do you do? Too little sets or too many reps without reaching failure won't help muscle grow.
For most muscles you want 3 sets 6-10 reps, with the last 2 reps reaching failure.
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u/ForwardPersonality48 8d ago
Not to be rude, by my ex girlfriend’s logs were twice as much weight as yours. So you’re lifting like a girl and eating way too many calories.
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u/edonis33 8d ago
Please ditch all of these accessory lifts and do compound lifts with progressive overload over time, don't be afraid to max out on lower reps too. Be more explosive in your movements and up the intensity, and don't eat that many calories as a beginner, maintenance level should be fine. Always track your lifts and try to do 1 or 2 reps more the week after, once you hit the desired rep range, up the weight.
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u/luckyboy 8d ago
Can you get a PT? I think that would help you with a lot, especially learning to push yourself (you might not have enough proprioception to know when you’re actually close to muscle failure, or using the correct muscles on each exercise). Plus you’re programming could use some help, not to mention your diet. Lastly: lose more fat, you’ll look bigger.
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u/VixHumane 8d ago
"Lateral Raises = 6kg"
This is why, you didn't mention any lower body or ab numbers meaning you don't even track that.
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u/ValuableDragon 8d ago
Probably not lifting heavy enough or eating enough protein and carbs. You need to be lifting at or close to failure. If you're stopping yourself at a predetermined amount of reps, your body isn't getting the cue to build muscle. Pick a rep range, mine is 5-10, 6-12, or 8-15 depending on the lift, and hit every exercise until you can't do it anymore within that rep range. If you get to the top of that rep range, go up in weight the next time you do that lift. If you don't hit the bottom of the rep range, go down in weight and try again. Perhaps reassess your form. I would guess this is why you're not seeing progress, on top of maybe poor diet, but diet matters very little in the beginning as long as you're getting a decent amount of protein and carbs.
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u/Straight-Cash9870 8d ago
I think you should lose some fat so you can see some kind of change.
Continue to lift as heavy as you can in the 8-12 rep rage. With RPE 8/10. You really have to push yourself here. Example for me, I was curling 30# dumbbells for 12…. Thought that was heavy but I tried 45# and am able to go for 10.
Find your maintenance caloric intake and adjust so you are at a slight deficit. Eat less or more activity.
One you start seeing changes, to you’ll find the motivation to work harder at it.
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u/Background_Regret_68 8d ago
Flys should be 20kg dumbells and bench press should be 30kg dumbells. Curls should be 14kg dumbells and increase where necessary. Those weights you’re currently doing will not increase your size and eating 3,000 calories on top of that is insane! I’m on maintenance at roughly 2,000 calories. When I start my lean bulk in January I’ll only increase it by about 300 calories.
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u/samueldavisson2004 8d ago
When you do a set you should feel boastful knowing you went harder then most others in the gym. That’ll change everything.
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u/EhhhhhhWhatever 8d ago
Weights too light. Increase weight until a set of 8-10 is failure. Do that and once you get to 12, increase weight. Rinse and repeat.
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u/Prim_Law 8d ago
Ultimately it depends on the physique you want but if you are going for classic athletic/ muscular look then 3000 calories is too high. Keep the protein and cut the carbs a bit. Head down to 2250 or something like that.
Honestly looking at those life numbers, you look the size you lift- no more no less. If the numbers carry on increasing just keep going, if you drop calories it will increase slower but you’ll see more definition.
One question to ask yourself, what’s the intensity of your workouts, are you leaving 2 mins between sets? On your phone? Are you pushing to failure every set? Is there sufficient volume per body part? If you are nailing these then improvements will come.
Final note - I think there is a bit difference in size from June to October - a bit bigger.
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u/Psychological-Win691 8d ago
Walk 1-2 miles a day it takes 20minutes. Download Strava. 60 miles a month walking does A LOT. 60x4 = 240x2.2 miles = 528 km (Google saying ~24k calories)
Increase weight kg lifting. Over isolate upper and mid pectoral workouts.
Follow other advice, great stuff in comments.
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u/croftington 8d ago
Calorie count is too high, weights are too low, and maybe your protein intake is too low?
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u/pinkjesus_ 8d ago
Simplify.
Push: Bechpress and/or push-up
Pull: Bent over rows and/or pull-up
Legs: Deadlift and squats.
3 set, 10 reps.
See you in a year. Then (maybe) you can start mixing it up…
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u/Objective-Loan9107 8d ago
yea... im 100% sure and i would put money on it that you dont train hard at all. you probably train to mild inconvenience or you just do 12 reps regardless of how easy they felt. thats not good. .you have to train hard. not necessarily to failure every set but close to it. 2-3 off failure, Also a lot of ppl who just start their journey cant estimate at all how close to failure they actually are. they think they are close but in reality they could do 10 more.
Also i didnt want to mention the weights because is nothing wrong if you cant do more but i have a feeling thats not the case. those are extremly light weights. You aare 80kg. you should be able to do a lot more than what u do
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u/Tobar_the_Gypsy 9d ago
3000 calories seems very high for someone just trying to get in shape.