# Training But Little Gains?



## Aingeal Dorcha (May 1, 2019)

So for the past 2 weeks, I've been hitting the gym 2 times a day, A hour before my classes and 2 hours after thereover. I used to be anorexic af since I was extremely overweight I am not anymore. I have been eating 3 meals a day good rich protein foods with little carbs in my diet every day. Yet in the 2 weeks of me hitting the gym which I hit hard to the point my callus's bleed I have seen very little gains in my muscles. For all the gym freaks on this forum and just people with knowledge in growing muscle, do you think I'm doing something wrong as in form, not enough reps, to heavy/too light, etc. I know its hard to tell with little information but how fast should I be seeing results in the gym? I am mainly asking since I am going to MEPS Monday and still can't do a pull up I have very little upper body strength.       Thanks


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## Bambi (May 1, 2019)

Good things take time. You're going to hurt yourself. Slow down, take it step by step. Fitness is a stairway, you can't skip up the stairs without expecting to fall down eventually. Go once a day, an hour a day. You're not going to get that pullup before Monday. You don't even do pullups at MEPs. Relax. Results will take a month or so, dependent on how you train, what you're eating and your body itself.


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## Devildoc (May 1, 2019)

Height/weight is all they do at MEPS.  What you do for fitness should be independent on what should happen at MEPS.  If you are worried about being underweight, find a bulking plan and add calories to your diet.


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## Gordus (May 1, 2019)

Aingeal Dorcha said:


> So for the past 2 weeks, I've been hitting the gym 2 times a day, A hour before my classes and 2 hours after thereover. I used to be anorexic af since I was extremely overweight I am not anymore. I have been eating 3 meals a day good rich protein foods with little carbs in my diet every day. Yet in the 2 weeks of me hitting the gym which I hit hard to the point my callus's bleed I have seen very little gains in my muscles. For all the gym freaks on this forum and just people with knowledge in growing muscle, do you think I'm doing something wrong as in form, not enough reps, to heavy/too light, etc. I know its hard to tell with little information but how fast should I be seeing results in the gym? I am mainly asking since I am going to MEPS Monday and still can't do a pull up I have very little upper body strength.       Thanks



It essentialy comes down to knowing and 'tricking' ( can't find a proper term ) then consequently adjusting your metabolism. Have you talked to the trainers / instructors at your gym, told them everything they need to know about you for that purpose and worked out a realistic plan for that specific gain ?


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## Cookie_ (May 1, 2019)

Aingeal Dorcha said:


> So for the past 2 weeks, I've been hitting the gym 2 times a day, A hour before my classes and 2 hours after thereover. I used to be anorexic af since I was extremely overweight I am not anymore. I have been eating 3 meals a day good rich protein foods with little carbs in my diet every day. Yet in the 2 weeks of me hitting the gym which I hit hard to the point my callus's bleed I have seen very little gains in my muscles. For all the gym freaks on this forum and just people with knowledge in growing muscle, do you think I'm doing something wrong as in form, not enough reps, to heavy/too light, etc. I know its hard to tell with little information but how fast should I be seeing results in the gym? I am mainly asking since I am going to MEPS Monday and still can't do a pull up I have very little upper body strength.       Thanks



You're trying to get after it, which is awesome; but your workout schedule here is like finally getting a leg cast off after 6 months, then trying to run a 50k that day.

If you can't even do a pull-up, hitting the gym for 3 hours each day and working until callouses bleed is doing nothing but fucking your body up. 

Here's the deal. Stop it with the bro-splits, the heavy/light, stop worrying about building muscle.
You don't have enough of a base to be focusing on that. 

I'd advise you just follow the Marine Corps WOD.
Take those extra hours a day and work on low impact activities, like swimming or flexability/stretching drills.

Give your body the time it needs to rest, and you'll improve.


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## Hillclimb (May 1, 2019)

Pretty vague. Are you asking about a period of 2 weeks and why you're not seeing gains, or just stating you've been hitting it harder the last two weeks?

Without looking at your training or knowing anything else; I'd say you're over training. 3 hours of training a day for me is like... an hour in the gym, a 30 minute run, and an hour of jitsu all at different times of the day(and even then I dont think it's a full 3 hours). 

If you're really going ham for 3 hours collectively, it's safe to say your CNS is shut down and you just cant recover/grow.

Other things to consider is how are you measuring gains? Are you tracking lifts like bench/squat/deadlift, or are you just doing pilates? Quality of your sleep? Actual calories/macros in and out.


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## Hungry_Dog (May 2, 2019)

Start counting things; Volume of weight listed/reps etc. Calories in(Particularly) are going to effect gains, also hours slept per night. You don't grow at the gym; you grow during your rests.


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## Aingeal Dorcha (May 3, 2019)

Hillclimb said:


> Pretty vague. Are you asking about a period of 2 weeks and why you're not seeing gains, or just stating you've been hitting it harder the last two weeks?
> 
> Without looking at your training or knowing anything else; I'd say you're over training. 3 hours of training a day for me is like... an hour in the gym, a 30 minute run, and an hour of jitsu all at different times of the day(and even then I dont think it's a full 3 hours).
> 
> ...


Sorry for the late response but for diet, I have been eating 3 meals a day around 1.5k calories usually stuff like eggs, chicken, steak, salmon etc. and I have been measuring my gains on my ability to increase the weight I'm lifting. I'm kind of new to the whole gym thing I just started since I'm starting the enlistment process and have been slotted for delayed entrance.


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## Aingeal Dorcha (May 3, 2019)

Cookie_ said:


> You're trying to get after it, which is awesome; but your workout schedule here is like finally getting a leg cast off after 6 months, then trying to run a 50k that day.
> 
> If you can't even do a pull-up, hitting the gym for 3 hours each day and working until callouses bleed is doing nothing but fucking your body up.
> 
> ...


Will do,    Thanks


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## Devildoc (May 3, 2019)

Aingeal Dorcha said:


> Sorry for the late response but for diet, I have been eating 3 meals a day around 1.5k calories usually stuff like eggs, chicken, steak, salmon etc. and I have been measuring my gains on my ability to increase the weight I'm lifting. I'm kind of new to the whole gym thing I just started since I'm starting the enlistment process and have been slotted for delayed entrance.



It takes time.  Patience, grasshopper..... Seems to me you need to up your calories tho...


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## Aingeal Dorcha (May 3, 2019)

Devildoc said:


> It takes time.  Patience, grasshopper..... Seems to me you need to up your calories tho...


I will give more calories a try, its just I'm not really fat nor skinny im in the perfect middle just no muscle so I was trying to stay exactly where I am fat % wise.


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## Grunt (May 3, 2019)

I think a lot of your issues are possibly "image" related. Don't necessarily base your progress of what you see early on. Strength doesn't necessarily show itself at the onset.

Keep eating right and working out and the rest will follow.

Don't overthink it.


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## Devildoc (May 3, 2019)

Aingeal Dorcha said:


> I will give more calories a try, its just I'm not really fat nor skinny im in the perfect middle just no muscle so I was trying to stay exactly where I am fat % wise.



1,500 cals is still about 200 under the RDA.  When you exercise you burn a lot of that; you are young, so your metabolism is still revving.  You need calories in the form of protein (which it looks like you got) and good carbs and a smattering of healthy fats in order to gain strength and keep the gains (gains in either strength or size).  With the body type you are describing I don't think you will drastically alter your body fat %.


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## Cookie_ (May 3, 2019)

@Devildoc beat me to it. You need the calories to maintain and build. Clean proteins, complex cards,and whole fruits/veggies are your friends.

To build off what @Hillclimb and @Hungry_Dog said, keep track of what your lifts/reps are. Do understand that, as you're new, it's not uncommon to see your lifts jump 5#-20# quickly, as you learn to perform them. Don't get discouraged when gains slow; that's when it most important to keep pushing.

I'd suggest you check out Athlean-X on YouTube. Jeff was a former head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the NY mets.
He's got a ton of videos (workouts/education) that will probably help you out.


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## Bambi (May 3, 2019)

I was skinny, then skinny "fat" before starting my fitness journey, 9th grade rolled around, joined JROTC, joined the "Warrior Club" and worked out every day with them, worked out on my own, did some dieting and stuff, but never really saw much improvement. Went too far too fast. Slowed down, saw improvement. Lost 20lbs, gained a few in muscle, got really strong. I would say doing 1 hr of exercise right now would be best. You can ramp it up after you have a basis of fitness, and you will grow from there. The DEP is also a good tool depending on your RSS, talk to your recruiters about workout/diet plans. Best of luck


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## Hillclimb (May 3, 2019)

What's your current height and weight? I always did the weight I wanted to be x 12 = total calories to be eating. Never knew where I got it from, but it worked as a good baseline for me to adjust from


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## Aingeal Dorcha (May 6, 2019)

Hillclimb said:


> What's your current height and weight? I always did the weight I wanted to be x 12 = total calories to be eating. Never knew where I got it from, but it worked as a good baseline for me to adjust from


I'm currently 5,11/5,10 idk each time its one of the two and I'm 165lbs


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## Zulio6 (Jan 12, 2020)

Bro, Protein synthesis can take up to 48 hours for maximum muscle gain. Not that being huge will help very much for muscle endurance orientated pipelines. Focus on slow linear progress over a longer period of time. 3 full body workouts per week incorporating swimming/running intervals, sprints, 1km repeats, plyometrics and tons of weighted calisthenics and sled sprints will do wonders for overall fitness and muscle composition..  And easy cardio on the non intense full body workouts is an overall effective program.


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## Butthead (Jan 13, 2020)

Gaining muscle weight is extremely hard, and it takes time. Like, months. 

Try to talk to a nutrition expert or even a personal trainer. They have a lot of education and resources to aid you in not only getting the results you want physically, but to bust those plateaus. 

That's also A LOT of time at the gym. Your body has to be able to recover or you're really just hurting yourself more than anything. If you're going to do two-a-days like that, make your second "workout" something mobility related such as yoga and/or pilates.


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## DasBoot (Jan 13, 2020)

Fuck getting bigger. As a 215 pounder I can say it sucks being bigger. I can still run, especially for a big boy, but if I was 185-195 it would be so much better. You can be strong as shit without being that big too- I know dudes who look scrawny and are deadlifting 4 wheels. Lift to be stronger, low reps high weight. And then run using a 10k training plan. If you stay the same weight who gives a shit. You’ll be more effective in whatever selection your pursue.


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## Cookie_ (Jan 13, 2020)

^^^^
Hard agree with @DasBoot 

To use movie character analogies:

People still have this perception that all SF/Ranger/MARSOC/etc dudes are all John Rambo or Dutch type yoked, when (in my personal experience) a good majority of dudes more closely resemble Ethan Hunt or Jason Bourne.


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## DasBoot (Jan 13, 2020)

Cookie_ said:


> ^^^^
> Hard agree with @DasBoot
> 
> To use movie character analogies:
> ...


You definitely have the monsters, they are more prevalent than I imagined when I got here (I grew up with my dad saying what you said, so I imagined everyone was actually pretty lanky and triathlete built). I think that is more old school- we have a picture of our Company after panama and the biggest dude is smaller than me. 33 min 5 mile string beans.

These days guys look more like NCAA wrestlers, hockey players and rugby hooligans.  With the outlying Gronkowskis and Lance Armstrong's on the Big-Small scale.


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## Ooh-Rah (Jan 27, 2020)




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## Steve1839 (Jan 27, 2020)

I was 5'8" ,145# when I made it to my first ODA after training group (that's Boomer speak for the Q)....I could climb ropes like a mofo, run like a deer and keep up with a ruck on my back...and as my team sergeant liked to remind me, someone had to be boosted over walls,sneak in through tight spaces and be the first across a crevasse....not to mention the fact that I was less conspicuous than some of my Rambo-esque teammates....


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## oneleggedhumper (Jan 29, 2020)

DasBoot said:


> Fuck getting bigger. As a 215 pounder I can say it sucks being bigger. I can still run, especially for a big boy, but if I was 185-195 it would be so much better. You can be strong as shit without being that big too- I know dudes who look scrawny and are deadlifting 4 wheels. Lift to be stronger, low reps high weight. And then run using a 10k training plan. If you stay the same weight who gives a shit. You’ll be more effective in whatever selection your pursue.


Also agree. There is very few things that I can say being bigger helps with, I'm 6ft 215lbs around 17% body fat. Cardio isn't an issue as long as its trained regularly. I started going macho man with all the lifting and the only thing it did for me was destroy my back and my shoulder to the point of where i got shot up with cortisole every week and got 2 hours of sleep on a good night. Not worth it. Get a macro counter, up your calories to around 2400-2800 and give your body time to recover. Your progress is going to come from your rest and how well you treat your body after. Getting in the habit of a good yoga routine and foam rolling is awesome for your body, Its the only thing that got my body back to being capable again. Prevent those injuries. When you get a handle on things look up videos and post about insulin sensitivity and how to play with it, having the knowledge is a great tool when losing or gaining weight.


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