Think I've Plateaued With My Regiment

[CyberFire]

So, I've been dieting and exercising pretty religiously since July 2008. Since then I have lost a total of 50lbs, and have gained significantly from a strength and endurance standpoint.

Over the last two months though, i feel like I have plateaued as I've been hovering around the same weight. So, I need some helpful advice. I posted my typical diet and exercise routine below.

Diet
-------

Breakfast (~7am) -
Muscle Milk
Tri-O-Plex Bar
Snack (~9am) -
2 eggs with bell peppers, onion, tomato, mushrooms, feta cheese
2 pieces wheat toast
Lunch (~11:30am)
Tuna (6-8oz) with cheese, lettuce, tomato on wheat
or
Grilled chicken breast (6-8oz) with cheese, lettuce, tomato on
pita
or
Fried whole chicken breast with broccoli rabe, bell pepper,
olive oil on multi-grain roll
or
Greek salad with chicken breast (6oz), egg, tomato, cucumber,
olives on romaine lettuce with oil/vinegar dressing
Snack (~2:30pm)
Tri-O-Plex with carrots or some form of fruit/vegetable
Dinner (~5pm)
Tri-O-Plex
Supper (~8:30pm)
Salmon (10oz) with mixed vegetables
or
Mixed green salad with cucumber, tomato, egg, and chicken
breast (6oz)
or
Chicken breast (6oz) sandwich and 12 nuggets
or
Muscle Milk
Snack (~10:30)
2 scoops peanut butter


For the Muscle Milk and Tri-O-Plex bars, here are the nutrition facts:

Muscle Milk - 16oz water / 2 scoops - 300 Cal, 12g Fat, 6g Sat Fat, 16g
Carb, 5g Dietary Fiber, 3g Soluble Fiber, 2g Insoluble Fiber, 32g Protein

Tri-O-Plex - 430 Cal, 15g Fat, 4g Sat Fat, 45g Carb, 4g Fiber, 30g Protein


Now for my workout routine. The exercises and such change to help prevent my body from adapting, but this is a general overview of what I do.

Mon - Cardio, 30-45 minutes interval training on elliptical
Tues - Chest, Back, Shoulders resistance training. Typically I do bench (flat and/or incline) and dumbell flies or dips for chest. For back I'll do lateral pull downs and seated row or bent over row. And for shoulders I do free weight shoulder press and either lateral raises or upright rows. So, I do two movements per body part, typically in a circuit or super set, for 4 sets of 12-15. This takes me about an hour, then I do 30 minutes of interval training on an elliptical
Wed - Cardio, 30-45 minutes interval training on elliptical.
Thurs - Biceps and Triceps. Typically Ill do close grip bench press, skull crushes, and either kickbacks or pull downs for tricep. For bicep I do preacher curls. Again, I do two movements each for 4 sets of 12-15 reps. Once Im done I do 30 minutes of interval training on the elliptical
Fri - Rest
Sat - Rest
Sun - Squats - 8 sets of 12-15 reps.

So, thats my routine in a nutshell. Its designed around strength and endurance. I dont always weight train in that order, but that gives you an idea of the exercises I do.

Let me know what you guys think and where I need improvement.

[Shane_Bos]

I dont believe in reaching a 'plateau'. Or atleast the word means not that you have stopped growing or losing weight (depending on your goals) but rather that your progress has slowed down.

You have to understand, when you're a 'big' guy, it will be easier to lose the fat, which is why you can shed 50lbs so quickly (well done by the way). When you get to a point where your body fat is fairly low, it gets harder to lose the rest. The same is true when trying to gain weight, usualy because your body is used to you pulling and pushing things.

Im not too sure what your goals are but if you want to lose more weight, concentrate more on cardio and cut out the high cal supps.

If you want to gain weight, your diet looks good (alot better than mine :lol: ) but you may want to alter your routine.You have a nice selection of exercises - lots of compound movements. The superset idea is a good one too but i think you just need to look at what exercises you are doing and when. I suggest:

Sun: Chest, tri's and shoulders (push exercises)
Mon: Back and bi's (pull exercises)
Tue: Legs
Wed: Chest, tri's and shoulders
Thu: Back and bi's
Fri: Rest
Sat: Rest

Do some cardio each day too. Aim for less reps for strength (4-8) and more reps for muscle growth (8-12). If you can lift 3 or 4 sets of a weight at your target amount of reps, up the weight. You have to constantly push yourself and keep upping the weight to continue to grow - alot of people neglect this and is a common reason for a 'plateau'.

Congrats on what you've done so far!

[MrWeather]

Plateaued? Bullshit, first add more calories in the morning such as some oatmeal with some berries or fruit to kick start your metabolism after a night of fasted sleep. Remember that you only get what you put into yoru exercize, are you working as hard as you can on each and everything you do, intensity is the key.

Shane I strongly disagree with your split, only one day for legs? they are the biggest muscle group in the body i would change that split to something like

M: Chest and bis
T: Back and Tri's
W: Legs (squat focus)
TH: off
F: Chest and bis
SA: back and tris
SU: Legs (deadlift focus)
M:off
the repeat

Rep ranges for hypertrophy and strenght are over rated i have built plenty of muscle with 2-6 rep ranges and plenty of strength by using 8-12, just be sure to try and make progress with every workout.

remember weightloss like weight gain comes in intervals, so a few weeks may go by and no progress then a few weeks down the road and then bam, progress, stick with it and try not to get frustrated.

-Weather

[Shane_Bos]

You dont have 8 days in a week though. Depends what your focus is and how much time you have. CyberFire worked out for 5 days a week so was sticking to that. I work out 3 days a week and am growing satisfactorally for now.

I believe there is truth in the rep ranges for strength and mass gaining, however, I believe they are inter-linked and also, you need both. After a cycle of 4 weeks training for strength you can switch to 4 weeks training for size.

[CyberFire]

Thanks for the advice. I will re-visit my routine and make necessary tweaks and re-post. I have a feeling stress has a lot to do with it, but I think it is also time to re-evaluate things.