Can someone help me with my situation

[fex]

I dont know if this is in the right section.
I would like to start of by saying ive been training for 3 years seriously been in the gym for about 4 years overrall.
Made really good gains naturally.
started off at 125 pounds and went all the way up to 180 pounds and recently did a cut to about 165.
Im 5'11 21 years old.

I had about 10 or so inch arms when I started and now they are at 13.5 bulked and 13 inches after my cut. I want to get to about 15-16 inch arms hopeully naturally.
I have 6 inch wrists and my bone structure is very small.

My goal is to just be normal physically as a guy.

I don't really want to do steroids if I dont have to in order to achive my goals, if I can, naturally. but would like your opinion of my position.

my 1 rep lifts are
Squat 315
deadlift 330
Bench 190

I was eating alot and towards the end of last year I was eating 4000-5000 cals. I did some blood test and the doc said I should lay of the carbs because my insulin levels were abit abnormal. probably because I was eating 400+ carbs a day (mostly from rice and brown rice).

SO now I have to lay of the carbs abit which means I have to bump fats higher to eat above maintence for while until my insulin normalises.

My gains for first year were 30 no noticable fat gain
seond year 15 pounds not so much fat
third year 15 but most of it was fat

So my goal is to have a normally muscular male body around 15-16 inch arms but my gains have been slowing down very drastically and even if I eat more I still wont get there within the next 10 years naturally.

Is there still hope to try and get to 16 inch arms naturally within next few years or do I have to do steroids now?
what do you think I should do to achieve my goal. (hopefully naturally)

 

[justin h]

Keep pushing natty...atleast until your 25ish.
Your test levels are just now starting to peak....so make the most of it while you can.
At 21, aas will do more harm than good comparably to if you were 31.

 

[fex]

Keep pushing natty...atleast until your 25ish.
Your test levels are just now starting to peak....so make the most of it while you can.
At 21, aas will do more harm than good comparably to if you were 31.

thank you for your response I do plan on staying natural hopefully I dont ever need to do steroids.
Is there anything I should be doing differently? Ive started dong more of power lifting routines lately.
Its really starting to affect my mood when im walking next to women in the street and im the same size as them. I just don't feel like a man.

 

[Black Beard]

You are on the right track. Keep eating over your TDEE, get enough sleep and focus on progressive overload(increasing your lifts).


If you want to know where you stand in terms of 1 rep max, check out strstd.com and plug your stats in.

 

[Dr. G]

Nothing you listed seems unobtainable naturally.

I realize genetics can be an issue, but there's no reason you can get 16" arms naturally. It might be all tricep, but that's a pretty easy goal.

After about two/three years of serious training your gains will be almost nonexistent(super slow) from my personal experience. After that initial period it's all diet, and "shaping".

 

[Dr. G]

I always wonder if you "little guys" really do eat 5000 calories.

I'm one of those people that can gain weight easily, and lose weight easily. I can't see someone not gaining weight @ 5k calories unless your lifestyle is similar to a marine.

 

[Black Beard]

Tell us more about your routine. Something is holding back your progress. Do you get enough sleep? Do you know your testosterone levels?

 

[fex]

ok thanks for all your responses.
I really did eat 4000-5000 for a good 4-5 months and most of it was fat so I am never going that high again, So i was gaining weight but muscle I didn't notice much..
I started training at 17 but that first year I didn't do anything seriously. from 18 to about 21 ive been training seriously.
I did get my testosterone checked 3 times over a period of a year. 1st time it was 12 (ng/L or something I dont remember the exact unit for it), and the last 2 times it was at 8. by what the doc was saying 8 is the average testosterone for someone at 21.
He also checked my insulin and told me its abnormal compared to previous years and that I should not eat as much carbs, like on my bulk eating 400+ carbs a day, just until my insulin returns to normal.

I get about 8-10 hours of sleep a night depending on what I have planned.

My routine varies from time to time
Ive done traditional bro split
upper/lower
push/pull
full body
5/3/1

I like full body the best which is what I'm currently doing at the moment.

eating wise I get most of my protein from meats such as fish, lamb, chicken, sometimes pork and eggs.
Most of my carb intake it from brown rice and rice sometimes potatoes and oats and little bread. And I do eat junk foods like burgers and chips I don't eat too much sugar based based foods, max like 700-1000 cal from sugar based foods a week.
I dont drink sodas. If I do its like once a month.
I drink alcohol like once a year and don't do any drugs.

Current routine

Monday


pull ups 3 x 15
BB row 3x 15
flat bench press 3 x 15
side db lateral 3 x 15
bb curl 2 x 15
tricep cable press 2 x 15
leg press 3 x 15



Tuesday off


Wednesday

wide grip pulldown 3 x 10
1 arm db row 3 x10
incline bench press 3 x 10
BB military press 3 x 10
db alt curl 2 x 10
bench dips 2 x 10
walking lunges 3 sets of 10-12 paces down and back



Thursday off


Friday

close grip pulldown 3 x 5
1 arm db row 3 x 5
bb flat bench press 3 x 5
db shoulder press 3 x 5
db hammer curl 3 x 5
tricep pushdown 3 x5
squats 3 x 5

 

[Duke30]

You have a good base program.

Now you have a goal.

Get bigger arms..then just train arms.

Nothing else.Just do it for 3 months. 4 times a week.

Don't over train the arms.Just get a good pump then get out.Find the limit and reps and sets.Keep the pump.

Now imagine getting that big arms goal then doing it again with another body part.This is why some bodybuilders takes years to show up well balanced.

One cannot train the whole body and expect the whole body to grow.It's just too much stress.Natty or not.You may gain weigh but that's about it.Or get a little bigger,But one who need alot of rest too.

I went from 16 inch to 18 inch.Just doing this program.If you get bored training arms..then you can pick your favorite other body part to train.I would just do shoulders and it helps along well.

 

[fex]

You have a good base program.

Now you have a goal.

Get bigger arms..then just train arms.

Nothing else.Just do it for 3 months. 4 times a week.

Don't over train the arms.Just get a good pump then get out.Find the limit and reps and sets.Keep the pump.

Now imagine getting that big arms goal then doing it again with another body part.This is why some bodybuilders takes years to show up well balanced.

One cannot train the whole body and expect the whole body to grow.It's just too much stress.Natty or not.You may gain weigh but that's about it.Or get a little bigger,But one who need alot of rest too.

I went from 16 inch to 18 inch.Just doing this program.If you get bored training arms..then you can pick your favorite other body part to train.I would just do shoulders and it helps along well.

I was using arms as an example of measurement because its easy for me to measure it.
My body is pretty proportional at the moment except my calves are lagging.
I want everything to grow proportionally.

So your saying you didnt train any other body part"? I am actually very interested in trying this.

 

[traps09]

Your routine needs some tweaking. I know I got good results when I started training shoulders and arms together. Giving them their own day. No, you don't need juice right now. Just keep working at perfecting your diet and routines and it will come to you.
Good Luck.

 

[Black Beard]

You need the correct measurement for your testosterone. Ng/L is wrong. You might have low testosterone, your routine and diet look pretty solid for a beginner, so low testosterone might be holding you back. The major difference between a man and a woman in terms of muscular hypertrophy is testosterone levels. Find out the exact measurement and post it here. Don't listen to the posters above(sorry guys) Keep it simple the way you are doing. Compounds exercises are great for beginners and natural bodybuilders. Once you build the mass, then you can "sculpt" with more isolation exercises. You are doing very well and i believe you may have low testosterone. When a doctor says average, it's usually bad.



Lower your rep range to 6-8. 12 max. 15+ reps is training endurance. You will not see any major hypertrophy from that. Your exercises look good, no BS. The optimal set range per body part for a natural bodybuilder is 4-6. For reps, maximal hypertrophy is seen at 8-12 reps. Like i said keep it simple, train hard, get enough rest and eat enough food and you will grow. The only thing that will hold you back at that point is "genetics" or low testosterone, which can be genetically and environmentally linked.

 

[Duke30]

So your saying you didn't train any other body part"? I am actually very interested in trying this.

Yes..that's correct.I already have a big chest and good triceps but lacking in the biceps.So I went with biceps and only spend 20-30 minutes in the gym.I only live one block from the gym so I didn't have to stay longer in the gym as to train other body parts.

I would do biceps then the triceps then do it the other way around every 2 weeks.

I would do high reps (15 starting)going down to low reps in the later months but no lower then 8.It isn't about how heavy..just enough to simulate resistance.I think this is where the genetics come into play.Some would do low reps,some high,but not too high(15-20)..the weight would be too light at that range.

 

[Duke30]

Let me let you in a secret.

When you eat alot,,,less blood will get to the arms.When you eat less..More blood will go to your arms.

With Steroid,it works both ways filling the digestion system and to fill your arms with blood engorging pumps,hence the increase of red blood cells.

The digestion system takes alot of blood to move all that food outta there.Takes 3 days for the food to go through your digestion system.

You're doing great having a base program and the food/eating/clean.Just a little tweaking is all.

 

[Black Beard]

Let me let you in a secret.

When you eat alot,,,less blood will get to the arms.When you eat less..More blood will go to your arms.

With Steroid,it works both ways filling the digestion system and to fill your arms with blood engorging pumps,hence the increase of red blood cells.

The digestion system takes alot of blood to move all that food outta there.Takes 3 days for the food to go through your digestion system.

You're doing great having a base program and the food/eating/clean.Just a little tweaking is all.

Source?

 

[fex]

You need the correct measurement for your testosterone. Ng/L is wrong. You might have low testosterone, your routine and diet look pretty solid for a beginner, so low testosterone might be holding you back. The major difference between a man and a woman in terms of muscular hypertrophy is testosterone levels. Find out the exact measurement and post it here. Don't listen to the posters above(sorry guys) Keep it simple the way you are doing. Compounds exercises are great for beginners and natural bodybuilders. Once you build the mass, then you can "sculpt" with more isolation exercises. You are doing very well and i believe you may have low testosterone. When a doctor says average, it's usually bad.



Lower your rep range to 6-8. 12 max. 15+ reps is training endurance. You will not see any major hypertrophy from that. Your exercises look good, no BS. The optimal set range per body part for a natural bodybuilder is 4-6. For reps, maximal hypertrophy is seen at 8-12 reps. Like i said keep it simple, train hard, get enough rest and eat enough food and you will grow. The only thing that will hold you back at that point is "genetics" or low testosterone, which can be genetically and environmentally linked.

Ok I made a mistake it was nmol/L and my ranges were 21,18,8 in order that I did the tests. I think the normal range was something like 8-38.

 

[Black Beard]

What happened to your testosterone?

 

[Duke30]

Source?

No source,,,just from experience.

One can try to see if it works...One week or 10 days..load up on the food..then the next week or 10 days eat less but don't run out of energy.Do the same type of workouts.

This is sort of analogy when eating a porter house steak for protein and the same amount of protein from a protein bar.Might get pumped a little faster eating the protein bar then if one had a porter house steak.

I know that's it not set in stone but anything to gain that last 1/2 inch.Sort of like eating less in the morning before working out then to work out after dinner.

This sort of comes from years of reading bodybuilder's magazines and it seems that after waking up,one would just have coffee ( I don't need coffee) and a fruit,then after the workout..you eat enough to replenish instead of bulking and taking some of the blood from your arms or favorite body part just by stuffing oneself to aid the digestion system.

 

[fex]

What happened to your testosterone?

what do you mean what happened?
The doctor said it normal for it to change from time to time as long as it stays within the normal range.

 

[Black Beard]

Lmao 21 down to 8. That's a big difference. Did you get kicked in the nuts or what?






You went from 605 ng/dl to 200 ng/dl