Little to no upper body progress since December 2023

Hello guys, @Alessandro Mainente

I'd like to figure out what is it that I'm doing wrong with upper body training. At this time last year, December 2023, I was getting into 4x12 for pushups and ground rows and 4x30s for planche lean. I'm still in the same place for the three exercises and I've been working out consistently throughout the year mostly doing upper body twice a week. I've experimented with A) adding an extra set of 5x9 after 4x12 and B) doing 5x10 + 3x6 of 1-2-3 tempo reps. Still, can't go past 4x12 and there are days even where 5x9 feels tough again. Right now, I'll try to just do upper body once a week but I'm concerned it won't be enough reps for the week.

I honestly don't know what else to try, I don't understand why the body is having such a hard time moving past these exercises, it's not like they are that demanding. I follow the Thrive nutritional guidelines, I know exactly how much to eat to loose or gain weight but still nothing changes strenght-wise if I put on 1 or 2 kg. 

Other than that, I sleep pretty well and I posted form checks for the three exercises.

Please help.

16 hours ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Hello guys, @Alessandro Mainente

I'd like to figure out what is it that I'm doing wrong with upper body training. At this time last year, December 2023, I was getting into 4x12 for pushups and ground rows and 4x30s for planche lean. I'm still in the same place for the three exercises and I've been working out consistently throughout the year mostly doing upper body twice a week. I've experimented with A) adding an extra set of 5x9 after 4x12 and B) doing 5x10 + 3x6 of 1-2-3 tempo reps. Still, can't go past 4x12 and there are days even where 5x9 feels tough again. Right now, I'll try to just do upper body once a week but I'm concerned it won't be enough reps for the week.

I honestly don't know what else to try, I don't understand why the body is having such a hard time moving past these exercises, it's not like they are that demanding. I follow the Thrive nutritional guidelines, I know exactly how much to eat to loose or gain weight but still nothing changes strenght-wise if I put on 1 or 2 kg. 

Other than that, I sleep pretty well and I posted form checks for the three exercises.

Please help.

HI Miquel, one of the most important thing is to be sure to do the exercise properly.....so...please post a form check...because if activation and/or techinque are bad you are engaging other muscles...

Hi Alessandro,

Yes, as I said I already posted form checks for these exercises:

Pushups:

https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/37047-a2-pe2/

Ground rows:

https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/37048-b2-pe2/?do=findComment&comment=281699

Thanks for the quick reply, btw.

On 12/25/2024 at 1:11 PM, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Hi Alessandro,

Yes, as I said I already posted form checks for these exercises:

Pushups:

https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/37047-a2-pe2/

Ground rows:

https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/37048-b2-pe2/?do=findComment&comment=281699

Thanks for the quick reply, btw.

Tagging you @Alessandro Mainentein case this didn't notify you.

10 hours ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Tagging you @Alessandro Mainentein case this didn't notify you.

have you tried an higher caloric intake?

probably the main suggestion it is to add accessories exercie in order to fill the gap of lck of muscles...

2 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

have you tried an higher caloric intake?

probably the main suggestion it is to add accessories exercie in order to fill the gap of lck of muscles...

Yes, I tried eating more but the improvement is still very little. 

What additional exercises could I add? 

4 hours ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Yes, I tried eating more but the improvement is still very little. 

What additional exercises could I add? 

probably iw ould od

2 exercises for the triceps , 2 for biceps, one for the chest (like wider grip pushup up), one for the shoulder (lòike atndrior deltoid raises, one vertical pull for the lats like bands pulldown like . probably i would o 8-12 rep ranges all the set to failure 2-3 set once a week.

on my lighter and long-leverage clients i seen that muscles can be a limiting factor.

1 hour ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

probably iw ould od

2 exercises for the triceps , 2 for biceps, one for the chest (like wider grip pushup up), one for the shoulder (lòike atndrior deltoid raises, one vertical pull for the lats like bands pulldown like . probably i would o 8-12 rep ranges all the set to failure 2-3 set once a week.

on my lighter and long-leverage clients i seen that muscles can be a limiting factor.

 

Let me see if I got it right:

Once a week, 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps for each exercise reaching failure at the end of every set.

Do these look like good exercise options?

• 2 biceps exercises: Pelican curl eccentrics and bodyweight bicep curls.
• 2 triceps exercises: Bodyweight tricep extensions and rope pushdowns.
• 1 chest exercise: chest flies (I can do more than 12 wide pushups easily).
• 1 shoulders exercise: anterior deltoid raises.
• 1 lats exercise: lats pulldown.

1 hour ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Let me see if I got it right:

Once a week, 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps for each exercise reaching failure at the end of every set.

Do these look like good exercise options?

• 2 biceps exercises: Pelican curl eccentrics and bodyweight bicep curls.
• 2 triceps exercises: Bodyweight tricep extensions and rope pushdowns.
• 1 chest exercise: chest flies (I can do more than 12 wide pushups easily).
• 1 shoulders exercise: anterior deltoid raises.
• 1 lats exercise: lats pulldown.

 

modifications needed:

2 biceps exercises: chin up hands completely together (use elastic bands to reach the desired number of reps) and bodyweight bicep curls.

2 triceps exercises: Bodyweight tricep extensions and rope pushdowns.

1 chest exercise: use intensity technuque and slow tempo so 3'' down, 1'' stop at the bottom, 1'' up, do max rep, rest 15'', max rep, rest 15'', max rep ...this is one set.

1 shoulders exercise: anterior deltoid raises.

1 lats exercise: lats pulldown.

2 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

modifications needed:

 

2 biceps exercises: chin up hands completely together (use elastic bands to reach the desired number of reps) and bodyweight bicep curls.

2 triceps exercises: Bodyweight tricep extensions and rope pushdowns.

1 chest exercise: use intensity technuque and slow tempo so 3'' down, 1'' stop at the bottom, 1'' up, do max rep, rest 15'', max rep, rest 15'', max rep ...this is one set.

1 shoulders exercise: anterior deltoid raises.

1 lats exercise: lats pulldown.

So for the chest I do the wide pushups, not the chest flies, right?

Also, I don't totally understand what counts as a set: Max reps of 3" eccentric, 1" pause, 1" concentric + 15" rest = 1 set. Is that correct?

How much time should I rest in between sets for the other exercises? 15" as well?

Also, do I need to do the modified tempo version for the other exercises too? 

16 hours ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

So for the chest I do the wide pushups, not the chest flies, right?

Also, I don't totally understand what counts as a set: Max reps of 3" eccentric, 1" pause, 1" concentric + 15" rest = 1 set. Is that correct?

How much time should I rest in between sets for the other exercises? 15" as well?

Also, do I need to do the modified tempo version for the other exercises too? 

o for the chest I do the wide pushups, not the chest flies, right? EXACTLY

Also, I don't totally understand what counts as a set: Max reps of 3" eccentric, 1" pause, 1" concentric + 15" rest + max rep same tempo as before, 15'' rest, max rep again. this is one set

How much time should I rest in between sets for the other exercises? 15" as well? in between sets of the same exercise 1'30'' is enough. beteeen exercise the time to move from one exercise to the other.

Also, do I need to do the modified tempo version for the other exercises too?  not necessary.

how much weigth did you gain in the last year?

1 hour ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

o for the chest I do the wide pushups, not the chest flies, right? EXACTLY

Also, I don't totally understand what counts as a set: Max reps of 3" eccentric, 1" pause, 1" concentric + 15" rest + max rep same tempo as before, 15'' rest, max rep again. this is one set

How much time should I rest in between sets for the other exercises? 15" as well? in between sets of the same exercise 1'30'' is enough. beteeen exercise the time to move from one exercise to the other.

Also, do I need to do the modified tempo version for the other exercises too?  not necessary.

 

how much weigth did you gain in the last year?

December 2023 I weighted 84-85 kg and now I weight 86-87 kg. I'm 1,98 m tall. I guess it's much less than I should have, right?

Thank you so much for the specifics.

On 12/28/2024 at 4:22 PM, Miquel Malet Casas said:

December 2023 I weighted 84-85 kg and now I weight 86-87 kg. I'm 1,98 m tall. I guess it's much less than I should have, right?

Thank you so much for the specifics.

too less, you should at least gain 5 kg more..

16 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

too less, you should at least gain 5 kg more..

What would be a realistic time frame to gain 5 kg of muscle while following the Thrive guidelines with a surplus of calories? 6-8 months?

7 hours ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

What would be a realistic time frame to gain 5 kg of muscle while following the Thrive guidelines with a surplus of calories? 6-8 months?

it depends on the caloric intake, unfortunately i do not know how does Thrive program works.

12 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

it depends on the caloric intake, unfortunately i do not know how does Thrive program works.

It's the one that comes with the GST subscription, more precisely called Thrive behavioral-based nutrition and has 19 tasks.

15 minutes ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

It's the one that comes with the GST subscription, more precisely called Thrive behavioral-based nutrition and has 19 tasks.

Thrive it is an "idea" of diet management BUT if you want to manipulate better your diet then you must take into acocunt the caloric intake....

On 12/31/2024 at 11:14 AM, Alessandro Mainente said:

Thrive it is an "idea" of diet management BUT if you want to manipulate better your diet then you must take into acocunt the caloric intake....

Are there any resources like books, videos or anything that you recommend to learn more in depth about it?

I can imagine it's a matter of just eating more if the weight doesn't go up but still I'd like to dig deeper in the topic.

19 hours ago, Miquel Malet Casas said:

Are there any resources like books, videos or anything that you recommend to learn more in depth about it?

I can imagine it's a matter of just eating more if the weight doesn't go up but still I'd like to dig deeper in the topic.

YES, a surplus of 200 kcal x day it is enough. adding 1% of your bodyweight x month should be fine..