over training? or am i just genetically helpless

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ORIGINAL: ss396

hey , ive been lifting for 8 months and made minimal progress , while i have added on nearly twenty pounds , im getting fat , i dunno , i work out hard , for me anyway its hard , i rarely miss a day so this cant all be fat , i dont add weight easily so there has to be some muscle!.. i hope.. i can see a slight bit of muscle but when i ask people to take a look at me shirtless they say they see nothing. maybe a slight bit. :(

anyway back on topic , my routines barely changed since i started , maybe change one ex' per muscle . and all of a sudden i cant even lift the weights i lifted fine before. i want to add weights but now i find myself decreasing them cuz i cant do what i once could , for example ..

on mondays i do chest , first ex is bench press , the bar weighs 45 pounds , and i use a 35 weight on each side , i normally i can get thr u set one on my own and set two and maybe need help on the last two reps on set three , but for the last month , its like first set i might get thru even tho after two reps i feel drained , but the next two sets i need assistance after 6!

then when i jump to the next ex i find the same thing , i give myself a full week to heal so i dont get it!!!!!!

why , if im not sore and have had a week to heal am i not even progressing but going backwards? , its so frustrating to be doing this for 8 months and see minimal gains and then start going backwards!!!!!!
is this at all normal? does this happen often to beginners?

its on all exerceises to , weather its for chest ,tris back or bis ,

this guy the works at the gym , huge bodybuilder , took the time to show me how to do the low row properly cuz since i started my lats never get hit cuz i for some reason cant do anything for them properly , he showed me , i did less then 2 full sets and my lats were pumped! and hurt the next day , and then the last two weeks doing 3 full sets on my own! im not hitting them at all!! its a curse i follow all the steps and when i do my back i only hit the middle ,a nd the only ex i do that feels like im doing something is bent over rows with BB. I KNOW IM GOING ON AND ON BUT IM FRUSTATED!!!!!!!!!!!!! this week on bis i crapped out so early !!! what the hell is wrong with me!


I DO TYPICALLY 4 EXERCISES PER MUSCLE , 3 SETS 8-10 , ofweights that are decently heavy so that i struggle getting to those numbers!... but all of a sudden when i havent upped the weight in a long time , the weight ive lifted for months seems to be to much and im going backwards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is this overtraining? i dont see how i could successfully lift this weight for months and all of a sudden its too much? also i do have the full week to heal!HELP ME!

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ORIGINAL: ss396

my diet is slowly improving from all junk ... ive converted to whole wheat bread , i ve cut out pop all together as of this week , and for a long long time , ill only be drinking water , and natural juices... like grape , orange apple , not like kool-aid sugary crap. i dunno im done with chips and junk food , ive cut down alot but as of this week its all gone , i know the types of foods to eat i just havent applied it yet , while i do still eat some bad stuff , for example if i get a sandwhich at quiznos , and they put bacon on it , i dont see that one thing harming me cuz im not over doing it or eating all my meals with food like that. the reason im so frustrated it all the fat i am gaining , i eat no more then i have since before i started , so when i started lifting i have gained weight , i just dunno why im lifting weight and gaining fat!

my routine is this , most the exercises are the same ive been doing since i start , i have changed up abit like one exercise here and there per muscle , i just changed a few last week so ill put the new ones in CAPITALS.

monday chEst and tris
*flat bench with BB . 3 sets of 8-10 , at my max of 115lbs
*incline bench with DBs , 3 sets of 8-10 , with 40-45lbs dumbells
*ISO-DECLINE BENCH PRESS MACHINE - 3 sets of 8-10 with 35-45 weights on either side.
*pec dec . 3 sets of 8-10 at 100lbs

*behind the head extentions with both hands on one dumbell , 3sets or 8-10 with 45-50lbs DB
*push downs with V-shaped handle , 3 sets of 8-10 at 50lbs on the stack , sometimes i use more sometimes i cant use any more and struggle with the 50 alone but dont go under 50lbs
*bent over extentions with rope over the head and twist at the end . 3 sets at 35lbs 8-10 reps

Tuesday , legs and abs
*V-squat machine-3 sets 8-10 reps of145lbs and i max at 235lbs.
*seated calf raises- 3sets 8-10 or 75lbs.
*leg curls- 3 sets 8-10 at 50lbs.

*seated ab crunch machine -4 sets at 70lbs 8-10
*hanging leg raises - 4sets 8-10
*leg raises while lying down. 4 sets of 8-10
*crunches on the ex-ball 4 sets 8-10

wednesday - back and bis
*shrugs , 3 sets 8-10 at 35lbs per DB
*bent over rows with BB usually 50lbs 3 sets 8-10
*SEATED ROW WITH STRAIGHT BAR 3 SETS 8-10 AT 70LBS.
*lat pull down at 70 lbs , 3 sets 8-10
*straight arm push downs --i think its called that , suppose to be for the lats 8-10 3 sets

*curls with BB 50lbs , 3 sets 8-10
*hammer curls with a twist at the top with DBS 3 sets 8-10 at 20lbs
*seated incline hammer curls with 20lbs , 3 sets 8-10
preacher curls with DBs 20lbs , 3 sets , 8-10

thursday- off

friday shoulders and abs

abs the same as tuesday

was doing upright rows with BB but changed that this week cuz it was hurting me

*seated shoulder press 3 sets 8-10 , at 35lbs db in each hand
*seated iso incline shoulder press machine with 45 weights on each side 3 sets 8-10 reps
supersets* of lateral raises and front raises with 10lbs dbs.

***my shoulders are recked for some reason and hurt with most exercises with tris push downs , my shoulders hurt , anything for chest , like i dunno why they hurt , this just started , i was thinking of doing the 3 day full body routine , and i read that u should take off one to two weeks to heal up , if i did this would i lose alotta gains ? im already flabby i dont want to get flabbier , also on this break if i did some cardio would that cut my gains? and be a bad idea?.... anyway this is my routine , before i start a 3 day i wanna give it like 2 more months of the split and see if getting a new routine i make some gains!... adivce?

quote:

ORIGINAL: ss396

hey guys i just wanna say thanks , i know i am repetitive and what not with my posts , im just getting frustrated.. and i do appriciate the advice.

as for my stats im 160-165lbs , 5'11 , dunno my body fat but a friend from the gym , huge bodybuilder said my body fat cant be over 10% and is probably less... i look skinny but shirtless u can see some cellulite..... i was 145 when i started , i dunno how it could be all fat!! umm i mean my arms have gotten bigger but i think have peaked and as for my back! lats especially , little to no growth , i can hit my back just fine but my lats i cant seem to get it right and its soooooo frustrating! LATS and PEcs i want to get way bigger so bad ,

so by frequency u mean im not hitting these muscles often enough and the 7 days is too long of rest?

im interested in the 3 day thing , but that fact that u only do like one exercise for chest makes me think i wont get bigger , ill get smaller!....

cant i change things ?, i mean , some things dont work for me , like weighted pull ups! i can barely do 3-5 with just my weight , adding weight i would be helpless!.. and squats holding DBs or BB i lose my balance , but i can use the V-squat machine fine , would that work ?

and stuff like hang, clean and press , im scared and hurting myself cuz for some reason i am cursed and always have bad form , no matter what the weight!

so heres a few quick questions i need filled.

*would the cardio 2-3x a week cut me?????? i dont want to lose weight my goal is 185-200 solid and ripped , not bulky and fat so i do have a long way to go , i just starte a creatine cycle.

*could i , or should i add alittle more to the chest routine being that i want tthat to get bigger quick... im going to the bahamas in january , it would be nice to have some size by then!
i read a routine that i was gunna try this week , like first u do pec-dec to warm up then one heavy set that is a tripple drop set for pre exhuastion cuz they say its the only thing that hits just pecs... then do incline bench on the smith machine , only one set of triple drop , get to 6-8 wmyself then 2-4 more with a spotter then drop the weight with no rest 4-6 my own then a few with potter then drop it and so on and so on , and the same for flat bench!... sounds like a good thing but with this 3 day maybe its tooo much?

**it is a good idea to make the two routines A and B and do ABA one week and BAB the next , cuz that sounds good to me.

and umm ya , can i expect to see some gains 4 weeks in? just wanna see some to stay motivated , anyway , im gunna read thru that 3 day thing again and come up with my own and run it by u guys to see what u think!!! thanks again