Fitness

Hey I am kind of feeling sad right now.

I started working out in December 2024 and since then I am consistantly in the gym. I started off with Full Body for a month but got bored and did a Upper Lower Split for maybe 6 weeks and then I swapped to PPL.

I ran PPL 6x a week.

My workout I could just say was (imo) on the lower end (Push had 2 Chest, 1 Shoulder, 1 Triceps // Pull had 1 Vertical 1 Horizontal 1 Shoulder (Face Pulls basically) and 1 Bicep exercise and Legs I did Barbell Squats, Leg Curls, Extensions, Calf Raises and 1 Ab Exercise)

I am still SKINNY. I mean not skinny my chest and belly are still fat and my arms and legs skinny.

What I changed in diet: Increased Protein intake from never ever tracking in my life to 2.2 g per kg bodyweight. I cut out most crap but still it bad stuff cause I need kcal to gain muscle. I try to eat healthy 3000 kcal a day but its hard but I always have my 2.2g of protein a day in me. The lowest I tracked was 4 months ago 1.55 gramm protein. The highest I had was a month ago with 2.9g of protein per kg bodyweight.

I started at 83.9 kg, droped to 76.5 kg (kcal reduced to 2100-2300) and now I am back to 80 kg after I increased kcal a month and half ago to 3000 kcal.

I am still benching only 22.5 kg (8 reps) dumbbells. I started at 15 kg which is already nothing (male, 32 years old) now. I started Lat Pulldowns at about 30 kg now I am at 73 kg (6 reps)

What am I doing wrong? How can a body (again I am a 32 year old male) only bench 60 kg (Barbell Flatbench Press) for 3 Reps??

Its depressing. People start off at 60 kg. I worked my way to 60 kg and thats considered beginner lift. And I cant even do 4 reps lol.

My genetics are so bad I honestly dont know what to do at this point.

Maybe PPLPPL is too much and I am not recovering properly? But its only 4 exercises day. And I dont even feel tired after training - despite not even being able to lift another rep. People say you should feel exhausted after training. I think if Id go back to the gym I can do another 9 reps of my last weight. But I cant do more than 9 reps of something if my energy is gone.

Today I did Cable Hammer Curls (38 kg...) 11 Reps, then 8 in my second set and in my third set I made 6 reps. It wasnt possible to get 7. I squeezed so hard to try to get the 7 but it wasnt possible. I took a shower, came back to the cable machine and did 9 reps of hammer curls with 38 kg. So I didnt train to failure earlier?

I just want to look decent and not skinny anymore. I need help....

Going to the gym isnt actually the problem at this point. I am so ready for my workouts I cant wait to go again. A reason why I prefer PPLPPL over Upper Lower or Full Body cause I have time to be in the gym every day for 1-2 hours (my workouts currently with these 4-5 exercises only 50 minutes per workout though) but Id have time for more if it was worth it.

Edit: Yeah it might look like progress my Lat Pulldown 30 kg to 73 kg (6 reps) but how am I even sure if I wasnt able to do 73 kg in december 2024 already? I never tried it. I just started off at 30 kg. I remember the 30 kg feeling quite hard, but just by looking in the mirror Id say I didnt gain strength/ muscle at all. My wife says I look wider but I think she is just wanting me to feel proud lol.

I slightly remember trying to Bench Press the Barbell (20 kg at my gym) and did a few reps and added 5 kg left and right (so 30 kg) but I eventually instantly switched to Dumbbells cause I had no spotter and was alone most of the time in the gym and didnt want to die early by weights squooshing me. But I also never really bench marked my barbell bench.

I am now way too addicted to the gym to quit this and I want to improve. So I wont quit... but it is super frustrating not seeing any changes (to me, my wife says she sees difference) and not seeing my compound lifts go up in weight.

Its just so.. dunno, it feels useless to do this and keep grinding.

To maybe get more efficient help if someone finds the time here is my little programm I am doing:

I warm up 10x50% weight, 6x 70% and 3x 80% of my working weight I plan to do that day, so 3 warm up sets:

Push A:

1. Incline DB Bench Press 2x6-9, 1x9-12
2. Seated Shoulder Press 2x6-9, 1x9-12
3. Dumbbell Flys on Incline Bench 3x10-15
4. EZ Bar Skullcrushers 3x10-15

Pull A:

1. Lat Pulldowns Neutral Grip 2x6-9, 1x9-12
2. T Bar Rows Chest Supported 2x6-9, 1x9-12
3. Cable Face Pulls 3x10-15
4. EZ Bar Curls 3x8-12
5. Dumbbel Hammer Curls 2x10-15

Legs A:

1. Barbell Squats 3x9-12 (not secure to do lower reps for me, scared)
2. Leg Curls (unilateral) 3x10-15
3. Leg Extensions (bilateral) 3x10-15
4. Calf Raises Smithmachine 3x8-10 + 2x6-8
5. Decline Crunches 2x to failure
6. Cable Abbductors 2x10-15

Push B:

1. Incline DB Bench Press 3x9-12
2. Lateral Cable Raises 3x10-15 + AMRAP Set after set 3 (30 second rest, 50% weight)
3. Chest Press Machine 2x6-9
4. Overhead Cable Extensions 3x10-15

Pull B:

1. T Bar Rows Neutral Grip 3x9-12
2. Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns 3x9-12
3. Cable Face Pulls 3x10-15
4. Cable Hammer Curls 2x6-9, 1x10-15
5. Seated DB Curls 2x10-15

Legs B is actually the same as A just swapping unilateral and bilater with curls and extensions, and replacing Squats with RDLs.