motiv ation....not enough results

[skywhr]

I eat pretty healthy
I work out 4 days a week

starting to lose motivation cause Im not seeing enough results.

been working out regularly since january....
my weight has pretty much stayed the same + or -12#
6'-3" 260#
I want to get down to 210 max


what do you guys do when you start to lose your drive?

 

[KoolDrew]

If you're weight has pretty much stayed the same, you need to either add more activity or consume less calories.

 

[Killerme33]

What do you do for your work out?

 

[presidentender]

Eat less and exercise more.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Yeah, what is your workout and what do you eat in a day? You need to start tracking your food intake through something like fitday.com or sparkpeople.com. See the fat loss sticky at the top of the forums for some help and summary of what you can do.

 

[skywhr]

breakfast usually consists of 3 eggs and a boca grilled patty

pre workout 1 scoop ON Whey w/ water
pre workout shake with creatine and NO
post workout shake
2 scoops ON whey w/ water
lunch is usually a half subway sub or chicken breast or some tuna

dinner is usually salad, salmon, and some sort of roasted veggie

 

[skywhr]

workout

monday & thurs I work chest, biceps, triceps, crunches and calf raises

tues & fri I work shoulders, back, legs, squats, crunchs and calf raises

I use freeweights mostly and some smith machine

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: skywhr
workout

monday & thurs I work chest, biceps, triceps, crunches and calf raises

tues & fri I work shoulders, back, legs, squats, crunchs and calf raises

I use freeweights mostly and some smith machine

Well, I'm gonna go ahead and tell you this without being concerned with your results. Why do you work abs and calves everyday? They are the same as normal muscles and need a day of rest too. If you involve any weight in those exercises, do them every other day. Also, don't ever use the smith machine. That is a piece of crap and you are more prone to injury with it that you would be using the squat rack for any exercises you do with the smith.

Also, track your calories, make sure they are on par and everything's ok. Eyeballing your calories is a terrible idea. On top of that, start some cardio. If you don't like your results, cardio will take you that extra step in burning extra calories during a workout session.

 

[skywhr]

Im using what is available
I have a small gym at work....
I use the equipment thats available

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: skywhr
Im using what is available
I have a small gym at work....
I use the equipment thats available

Perhaps it's time to find another gym that has barbells and a squat rack, etc. These things are pretty essential for a good routine. Also, go for a run - you can do that anywhere. That cardio will help you burn some more calories.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Maybe take a week off the weights to de-condition, and spend that week doing HIIT and/or extended cardio. Then keep the cardio in the mix on off days or after the weights.

Do you know your body fat % for now and the start of the year? Maybe all the lifting since Jan. has resulted in a change in body composition, and you have gained lean mass, which is responsible for your weight not dropping as desired?

 

[Red Dawn]

Definitely ramp up the cardio even if it means a lot less weight training. Also cut down on all the Protein Shakes

 

[KoolDrew]

breakfast usually consists of 3 eggs and a boca grilled patty

pre workout 1 scoop ON Whey w/ water
pre workout shake with creatine and NO
post workout shake
2 scoops ON whey w/ water
lunch is usually a half subway sub or chicken breast or some tuna

dinner is usually salad, salmon, and some sort of roasted veggie

Which means nothing without macronutrient and calorie breakdown.

 

[dealmaster00]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Definitely ramp up the cardio even if it means a lot less weight training. Also cut down on all the Protein Shakes

Yep, you probably shouldn't take more than 2 shakes a day. Real food is better than just drinking shakes all the time. There's a reason it's called a supplement.

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: skywhr
I eat pretty healthy
I work out 4 days a week

starting to lose motivation cause Im not seeing enough results.

been working out regularly since january....
my weight has pretty much stayed the same + or -12#
6'-3" 260#
I want to get down to 210 max


what do you guys do when you start to lose your drive?

I look in a mirror and imagine what my life will belike without working out. It's not pretty.

 

[skywhr]

I do see some results I used to have to wear a size 42 waist to feel comfortable now Im comfortable in a 38 waist
so I know Ive lost some of the fat.

I am trying to ramp up the cardio this week, I hate cardio but I guess I will have to get over it.
I only have 2 protein shakes a day
I have a pre work out shake that has creatine and NO called dynamite
I have a post work out shake that has creatine and aminos called reload
Text



A friend of mine is talking about doing some pretty drastic things to get results which I have no intention of doing. He is 6' 170#s

 

[Kaido]

What time do you go to bed? And how long have you been doing this schedule for?

 

[skywhr]

I get to bed most nights 9:30-10:30pm get up at 5:30am sun-thurs
fri and sat i stay up late 12-1am and sleep til 9am

been doing this routine among other similar routines since January 08

 

[skywhr]

when I started working out I was 275# or so
I do see some results its my motivation thats wavering
today we did

incline bench smith machine
decline dumbbell flies
flat dumbbell bench press
dumbbell curls
concentration curls
skull crushers
v bar tricep pulldowns
calf raises smith machine
&
crunches

 

[spamsk8r]

If you're not losing weight, you're eating too much. Track your calories every single day, and make sure they're less than your maintenance. You could try to shoot for 2500 calories to start with. Eat 2500 a day for a week, then weigh yourself and see if you lost weight. If you lost more than 2 pounds, add 250 calories. If you lost less than a pound, subtract 250 calories. Repeat until you get the right amount of calories so that you lose 1-2 pounds per week. I'm not going to comment on your routine, but I will tell you you're wasting a lot of time in the gym when there are simpler, more effective programs available (see the Fat Loss sticky at the top of this thread for more info).

 

[skywhr]

Good to know I'm wasting my time with my current routine. I am currently averaging 2400 calories per day so I will try to lower it by 250 calories. Ive read through the fat loss sticky already and Ive checked the 5x5 program and I am getting info from stronglifts.com.

 

[skywhr]

tomorrow my routine consists of

squats
calf curls
leg extensions
calf raises
pull downs
rows
shoulder press
shrugs
crunches

 

[Bucks]

As others have stated, you obviously need to add some more cardio into your routine. Some things you could do to make this process a little more fun and motivating would be to:

*workout/run with a friend.

*join a sports team or other physical activity. There are usually adult leagues in sports such as soccer and basketball that may help becoming more fit, as well as meeting new people.

*try something other than running. Ride a bike or go swimming.

These are some of the things that help me break the monotonous routine of just running the same path 3x per week.

 

[gramboh]

Check out the sticky regarding lifting programs. It sounds like you are relatively new to lifting, and are doing somewhat of a haphazard program with lots of isolation exercises. I think you will gain more strength/muscle doing a novice program like Starting Strength or Stronglifts.com 5x5. I was doing similar exercises to you and have gained a lot of strength on SL 5x5. Plus, I find it really motivating as you have a set program and are increasing the weight every single workout (or trying to). I felt like before I was doing random stuff without any real goals, whereas now I have short and longer terms goals and am excited as hell to get in the gym and lift after work (I get really upset when I miss a day). I'm in week 10 and still seeing gains and super motivated. I know some people on here don't like seeing SS/SL 5x5 recommended all the time, but I think you should check it out.

 

[citan x]

Originally posted by: skywhr
tomorrow my routine consists of

squats
calf curls
leg extensions
calf raises
pull downs
rows
shoulder press
shrugs
crunches

I would change the routine to:
squats
get rid of leg extensions, calf raises, and calf curls
lunges (optional)
replace pull downs and rows with pull-ups
shoulder press
get rid of shrugs and crunches
If you must have an abs exercise, I would go with sit-ups, leg-lifts (hate those), knees-to-elbows (a bitch)

Just a thought.