Need help: Reached plateu (Body building)

[NNoor]

Asalam Alykum WrWb

I need help of brothers who are heavy lifters and bulked up.

I am frustrated because hitting the gym hard is not working. I am starting to feel i am wasting my time the no. of hours I spent.

Whats the way of going about bulking up and getting ripped.. ?

What exactly do u guys do and how long did it take for you?

JazakAllah khair

If you are a really skinny guy and you want to gain weight to improve your self esteem and get more respect from your peers, then you don't need to get huge. You just need to be a decent weight. Or if you are fat and want to lose weight for the same reasons, you also don't need to use protein shakes/supplements. But what you need to do to gain that mass is lift heavy, eat healthy and rest well.

The key to gaining a good amount of muscle (I'm not talking bodybuilder levels, just enough to look good) is to not worry about gaining mass. I recommend a 5x5 routine for beginners, e.g. stronglifts or starting strength. I used a variation of it myself when I got serious about lifting. Just google it. The key is to pick a program and stick to it, and try to add more weight to your lifts every week. So for example, if the first week you are pressing 110 lbs for 5setsx5reps, then the next week, you should try 115 lbs. If you move up to 115 lbs but find you can't finish all the sets/reps, stay with that weight until you can, then add more.

Other important things: keep a log. take it with you whenever you work out so you can keep track of sets, reps, weights and rest times. You need to time your rests. If you decide you're going to take 2 mins between sets on a particular lift, you need to stick to that.

get enough sleep. and eat only healthy food.

We can give you more specific advice if you can tell us clearly what your current stats are and what your goals are. So...height, current weight and body fat, desired weight and body fat, desired lifts, desired times for running, etc.

Right now it seems like you are not very clear about what you want, and it seems like you are trying to do too much.

[FususAlHikam]

Asalam Alykum WrWb

I need help of brothers who are heavy lifters and bulked up.

I am frustrated because hitting the gym hard is not working. I am starting to feel i am wasting my time the no. of hours I spent.

Whats the way of going about bulking up and getting ripped.. ?

What exactly do u guys do and how long did it take for you?

JazakAllah khair

I used to lift a lot in the past, when I was a young buck, I am 30 now so I had to hang up the weight lifting gloves. The only bicep curls youll see from me are with a spoon going from the plate of cake to my mouth!

No, I am kidding. You have to (1) eat a lot especially a lot of protein and (2) lift heavy weights. But you mention getting ripped. Are you trying to bulk up or get ripped? Bulking up like power lifters? You can stay your weight, maybe gain 10-20 lbs more, and get ripped you know that?

Yup like NNoor said, you dont sound clear. What do you want to achieve?

[FususAlHikam]

Wa alykum Asalam.

-Weight lifting is a great stress buster. I can list out almost 15 endocrinic hormones and peptides which are released in response. All for the good.

-You look good - you feel good - you do good - Helps the psych, self esteem, confidence.

-If combined with sports and outdoor activities, it gives you practical strength enough to fight in case you need to. Not sure about "war" but def prepares you with strength

-Its a good way to channel energy specially for youth, id rather be spending time in this than hanging out with friends, cinema, smoking, getting heightened by the youthful ways of these days.

-It creates discipline in your life.

-Many others.

Going for the round "Moulana Look" also helps to achieve all of the above, and we have plenty of living examples

[FususAlHikam]

I have to disagree with this. I'm into powerlifting/olympic lifting...and this notion of "functional strength" or "practical strength" is really misunderstood. Yes, certain exercises, usually the ones that involve machines, like the leg press, are not functional. Because it is isolating your leg muscles, the strength you will gain from doing leg presses is only really good for doing leg presses. However, if you do heavy squats for example, that is working your legs plus your lower back and core. The strength you gain from that will be useful in any number of activities that involve lifting and moving heavy objects (e.g. furniture). It will also strengthen your body, and hopefully if you build up your strength and mass when you're young, you will retain a good amount of strength in old age. That's a major motivation for me, so I don't have to be dependent on people once I'm old,

Doing endless reps of a lift is essentially pointless. For example, a person who does a 3x5 routine for squats with 225 lbs will easily be able to bodyweight squats for 40 reps. But will a guy who only does bodyweight squats for 40 reps day in day out be able to squat 225 lbs? Of course not. So whose strength is more functional? They only way to get stronger is to gradually increase the load on your muscles so they get stronger to adapt.

People think that being really strong means being huge. That is not the case. The reason bodybuilders have bad stamina is because they don't train cardio usually and they have too much mass. While it's true that a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle, the converse is not necessarily true. You can make huge strength gains without putting on any mass by improving the neural adaptation (muscle fiber recruitment). Of course, at a certain point, your muscle will have to grow in order to get stronger, but you could weigh a lean 160 lbs and deadlift the same amount of weight as a guy who weighs a lean 180 lbs depending on how efficient your muscles are.

Just look at American Football players, strength agility power, look at Ahmad Hankins here probably one of the BEST Americana Football players of 2010 that went underrated and unnoticed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HNf_P_JWNE

[xs11ax]

I used to lift a lot in the past, when I was a young buck, I am 30 now so I had to hang up the weight lifting gloves.

you are still young! im 34!!!

just drank some jack3d (high caffeine pre-supp) and off to my gym (in my loft) to do some training when it kicks in in half an hour.

anyway im sticking to my low weights and high reps. i have done some heavy weights in my youth and personally found that being massive becomes a hindrance. i suppose its all down to what a person is trying to get out of it. personally i train firstly in order to be able to fight. inshallah i am hoping to go into MMA after about 6-12 months of training if i can stay focused and work hard enough without slacking.

[FususAlHikam]

you are still young! im 34!!!

just drank some jack3d (high caffeine pre-supp) and off to my gym (in my loft) to do some training when it kicks in in half an hour.

anyway im sticking to my low weights and high reps. i have done some heavy weights in my youth and personally found that being massive becomes a hindrance. i suppose its all down to what a person is trying to get out of it. personally i train firstly in order to be able to fight. inshallah i am hoping to go into MMA after about 6-12 months of training if i can stay focused and work hard enough without slacking.

Fighting depends on skill and smarts and some strength yes. A skilled fighter can take anyone down size doesnt matter. MMA is for sport, I think most of mma is jiu jitsu isnt it? I think Krav Maga looks pretty good for street fighting.

[NNoor]

Yep, but strength (without excessive mass that slows you down) can only help you in fighting. Bruce Lee was a small guy, only 135lbs, but he used to take strength training seriously. He used to bench ~300lbs and could hold a 125lbs barbell straight out in front of him for time. His forearms were also massive; he trained them because he knew it was important for grappling.

[Colonel_Hardstone]

Yep, but strength (without excessive mass that slows you down) can only help you in fighting. Bruce Lee was a small guy, only 135lbs, but he used to take strength training seriously. He used to bench ~300lbs and could hold a 125lbs barbell straight out in front of him for time. His forearms were also massive; he trained them because he knew it was important for grappling.

Is his routine written anywhere?

[Mullah]

nice thread.

i dont use the bench but the rod. thats because i dont go the gym and have the weights in my home. been lifting weights since 5 years with a gap of nearly two and a half years.
i generally aim for strength and fitness. that's why i do cardio and push ups along with lifting weights.

[BrotherMaher]

Salam Brothers,

I used to do some bodybuilding when I was younger, I lost the motivation for it though hehe. To the OP, if you want to get bigger you're going to have to eat, eat, and eat some more. Consistency is also key, if you're not consistent you're not going to get very far. I can sit here and write you a nutrition plan and weight training regimen but you need to find these on your own. I say this because when you figure out the mechanics of the workout and the nutrition aspect of growing, then you will be able to see how your body reacts to certain exersises/meals.

My advice would be to go on a forum specifically for bodybuilding. The one I used gave me a wealth of information. Remember, stay safe, halal, and don't let your ego get too big!