Working out help

[Ledecor]

I've been working out for about a month now and I've made almost no visible progress. I go to the gym 6 times a week and I've been taking in a lot of stuff like protein through protein shakes and stuff like that. Could it be with what I'm doing? Should I be doing less weight and more reps or more weight but less reps? Also, some factors about me, if it matters, is that I've got a fast metabolism, I weigh 135 lbs and i'm about 5' 6". If anyone could give me some tips or pointers, that'd be great, thanks

[Egor2765]

One month? You won't make any visible progress, as you put it yourself, in such a small amount of time.
Take a picture of yourself in underwear now and take another one in 6 months or so and compare them. If you stick to a program and follow it, I promise you will look better/fitter/stronger/smaller whatever your goal is. Do the same in another 6 months and you'll have a nice collection of fotographs of yourself half naked.

Step 1 for visible progress: Pick a program
Step 2 for visible progress: Stick to it.
Step 3 for visible progress: Eat more.

Also, protein shakes are a supplement much like vitamin pills and it is not necessary unless you have trouble eating enough from regular foods.

[anakin57]

It will be hard to see muscle mass gains in just a month, but I would say focus on a combo of olympic power lifts, body weight workouts for reps and intensity, as well as traditional lifts (high and low weights; reps varied). Also check out crossfit for good workout ideas to mix it up; if you just do the same things it will be a slow build; try dead lifts, pull-ups, various push up exercises (try to do 500 each week), overhead squats, kettle bell swings, etc, and you'll see progress.

[Deleted]

first off. What is your goal exactly? kinda hard to give you a lot of help without knowing this, even though apparently people try.

Second. as mentioned, 1 Month, is not a lot when building muscle mass, however you should be able to notice a difference after a month but the difference will not be huge. But if you are training and eating correctly you should be able to notice your muscle tone getting more visible or noticeable. However were you going for losing weight, then you should be able to see a huge difference after a month if you really go for it. So yeah, gaining muscle takes longer than losing weight.

Third. Going to the gym is all fine and that, but what do you do?, you ask if you should be doing more or less, different or not, compared to what you are doing, but we don't really know what you are doing?.

Forth. How much protein do you get through shakes and stuff like that, and what else do you eat/drink throughout a day? also, you say you have fast metabolism, how do you know?

Fifth and Final. Without giving direct advice, figuere out what you wanna look like, or rather, what your goal is and start small or smaller, don't go straight for Arnold as that doesn't come lightly and it takes a lot of dedication and a lot of time, and more often than not people end up demotivated before they reach their goal and stop.

Some people might dispute this, but also, you could consider investing in a weight that can analyse your body, you can get those fairly cheap, and while they are not 100% accurate they are quite good as a guideline and can possible help you notice the difference before you can properly see it. use it once a week or every other week and hopefully you should be able to see the smaller changes in your body i.e. body fat percentage, Muscle mass percentage etc.

hope this cleared up a few things and if you need more help that you will provide more details so it will be possible to help you. Good luck and i hope you reach your goals.

[Ilara]

Be patient. You won't see any results in a month. Just keep doing what you're doing and don't give up

[Deleted]

Same as above need more info to help you better.

Are you in it for the long run or just before summer?
Age?
Male/female? (I know this isn't needed but for some things it's way different with weight etc.)
Goal? (strength, getting lean, building muscle aka getting big swole huge, or more agile etc)

and as people above asked those things are nice to know for helping you the best.

[AlphaOut]

I'll make a longer post tonight, I'm at work right now. Do your routine until you plateau then switch up weights/ reps or even what workout you're doing. For example do a week of resistance training or stability training. Make sure your diet is proper. Protein shakes aren't the end all be all, and you won't see any visible progress if you're eating a big plate of pasta at 10pm. Know what to eat, and when to eat it. If you're looking to get more definition, start doing a warm up jog and a cool down jog before and after your workouts. 5-10 min. Since you're doing a 6 day week, ensure you're incorporating cardio at least twice per week. You need to give enough time for your muscles to rebuild. Legs are the only thing you can work out twice in a row since they're large muscle groups. Anything else give 48-72 hours rest. And abs every single day. everyone's body is different though, so you'll have to find what your body needs as far as resting.

[Egor2765]

I'll make a longer post tonight, I'm at work right now. Do your routine until you plateau then switch up weights/ reps or even what workout you're doing. For example do a week of resistance training or stability training. Make sure your diet is proper. Protein shakes aren't the end all be all, and you won't see any visible progress if you're eating a big plate of pasta at 10pm. Know what to eat, and when to eat it. If you're looking to get more definition, start doing a warm up jog and a cool down jog before and after your workouts. 5-10 min. Since you're doing a 6 day week, ensure you're incorporating cardio at least twice per week. You need to give enough time for your muscles to rebuild. Legs are the only thing you can work out twice in a row since they're large muscle groups. Anything else give 48-72 hours rest. And abs every single day. everyone's body is different though, so you'll have to find what your body needs as far as resting.

Still waiting for more amazing information.

[AlphaOut]

Still waiting for more amazing information.

Sure, if the OP had anymore questions. I appreciate your concern though.

[Deleted]

One month is still too early to see visible gains, especially if you're still starting out. I would say, you can see improvements in about three months in, considering that you're following a solid workout program. Furthermore, make sure that your nutrition is in check as it goes hand and hand.

[The Big Ginger]

I think tweekzlol had very good points. It does depend on what you're doing in the gym? How much weight? How many repetitions? To failure? Are you doing the same exercises/muscle groups at least twice a week, or are you changing it up every day and are focusing on one muscle group per session?

One important tip, as I was/am skinny as well. You need to eat. Lots. And not chips and chocolate, but sensible foods that sustain and help you. If you don't eat enough, you'll struggle.

[BrannigansRaiders]

Like others have said a month is still very little time. What's your diet like? Diet is the biggest factor when it comes to losing/gaining weight. If you're under-eating you may get some noob gains, but it will be difficult to progress beyond that. Calculate your TDEE and eat 500-1000 calories above it daily; there are many places on the web that have calculators for this, but since they're just an estimate I'd suggest using a few to get an idea of your TDEE and starting there. If you're still not making noticeable progresses on your lifts after some time, up it. Try to eat something protein-heavy after your workouts. Once you get in the habit of eating above your TDEE, look into a macro calculator to get an idea of how many grams of carbs/fats/proteins you should be eating daily.

[SandraJohn]

I use food supplement

[EyelessCrow]

I feel bad for skinny guys I've been told by my buff weightlifting friends that I had an advantage by being fat and I didn't believe them. I was told recently that one of them was talking behind my back about how jealous he was of my fat lol. I've put on muscle like crazy in 4 months down, lost 8 inches off my waist...not sure of weight loss exactly anymore because I've put on so much muscle mass my actual weight hasn't moved but I know it's quite a lot because clothes are loose as hell. But for you it's going to be harder but yes it takes time and 1 month isn't going to do much of anything. This is a lifestyle change.

Be careful of the protein shakes. Don't overdo it. While necessary it's bad for your kidneys Whey especially as it's fast acting. I take 1 scoop shake with creatine before workout, bcaas during, and 1 scoop by itself after my workout and 1 scoop of casein right before bed because it's slow acting and will work through the night. Others have touched on the diet side. I try and eat some protein every hour and a half or 2 hours but it's hard.

I'm in the gym 5-6 days a week but only 4 of those are weight days. What is your schedule an what muscle groups are you hitting on what days?

[Lavey]

Diet is the first step to solving any fitness problem, then if you're screwing up in the gym, that's a easy solution.
So here's some diet suggestions

Here's a proven diet to put some hair on your chest, get bigger, and lift heavier.

Breakfast: 750ml smoothie and two scoops of protein powder
Breakfast 2: Eight egg omelette, 100g of oats and five pieces of fruit
Morning snack: Green tea mixed with coconut oil. Then 75g of whole almonds
Lunch: Two chicken breasts, rice and vegetables. Protein mousse
Snack: Three banana smoothie, almonds and peanut butter
And then: One litre of cranberry juice. One litre of buttermilk
There's more? One litre of coconut water and two scoops of protein
Evening meal: 600g of spaghetti bolognese and more protein mousse

That's the diet of Eddie Hall...

Now the diet of The Rock

Meal 1
10 oz cod
2 whole eggs
2 cups oatmeal
Meal 2
8 oz cod
12 oz sweet potato
1 cup veggies
Meal 3
8 oz chicken
2 cups white rice
1 cup veggies
Meal 4
8 oz cod
2 cups rice
1 cup veggies
1 tbsp fish oil
Meal 5
8 oz steak
12 oz baked potato
spinach salad
Meal 6
10 oz cod
2 cups rice
salad
Meal 7
30 grams casein protein
10 egg-white omelet
1 cup veggies (onions, peppers, mushrooms)
1 tbsp omega-3 fish oil
NOTES
► “I do cardio 4–5 a.m., then take 4–6 scoops of Optimum’s Amino Energy.”
► “After cardio I eat breakfast [Meal no. 1].”
► “After breakfast I hit the iron for 90 minutes.”
► “Post-workout I have 60 grams Optimum Nutrition’s Platinum Hydrowhey with 15 grams of glutamine.”
► “Thiry minutes later I consume 32 oz of Gatorade.

Now here's Ronnie Coleman's

Calories: 5562
Fats: 150g
Protein: 546g
Carbs: 474g

10 A.M.
l-arganine
L-ARGANINE 3-5 GMS
10:30 A.M.
xxx
GRITS WITH CHEESE 3/4 CUP
egg whites
EGG WHITES 2 CUPS
coffee
COFFEE 1 CUP
12:30 P.M.
pre
PRE-WORKOUT 1 SERVING
post
POST-WORKOUT 1 SERVING
l-arganine
L-ARGANINE 3-5 GMS
4 P.M.
chicken
CHICKEN 2 8OZ
red beans
RED BEANS 1 1/2 CUPS
brown rice
BROWN RICE 1 1/2 CUPS
cornbread
CORNBREAD 2 SERVINGS
6:30 P.M.
l-arganine
L-ARGANINE 3-5 GMS
7 P.M.
potato
BAKED POTATO 1 MEDIUM
chicken
CHICKEN 2 8OZ
10:00 P.M.
potato
BAKED POTATO 1 MEDIUM
chicken
CHICKEN 2 8OZ
lemonade
LEMONADE 8 OZ
french fries
FRENCH FRIES 1 SERVING
steak
FILET MIGNON 9 OZ
12:00 A.M.
post
POST-WORKOUT 1 SERVING
1:30 A.M.
post
WHEY PROTEIN 1 SERVING

[swisscheese]

https://stronglifts.com/5x5/

Is a pretty good program when starting out. Download the android app, start with just the bar, and watch your progress.

[Deleted]

6 times a week is a lot for a beginner. Those muscles need rest.

Do you have a proper program?

Are you doing compounds?

[Deleted]

Be patient.

totally agree!
and sure, 6 t/w is too much