Feel like I'm not making progress, any advice?

[static_jacket]

So, I've been hard at a workout program for three months. goal is to make muscle gains and cut fat. I've dropped only one pant size, and don't feel like I've been making gains. I've been very strict with diet and exercise, let me go into detail.

Diet: I've been eating 2200 calories with 25/40/35 macros on rest days. and 3000 calories with roughly 35/35/30 on lift days. I don't really cheat, other than a beer or two on occasion. Lift days I'll also take 20 g of whey before a workout and 30 g after. I make sure to take in some carbs before lifting, and immediately after.

Workout: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday- Always do a variety of core workouts, bicep curls started at 50 now at 75, one leg standing body weight calf raises, tricept pushouts started at 40 now at 60, side lateral rises at 15 (haven't been able to do any more), shrugs started at 40 now at 50, chest press started at 85 now at 120, dumbell flies started at 20 now at 35, every other lift day I alternate between squats and quad extension and ham curls ,squats started at 200 now at 250, quad lifts started at 125 now at 150, ham curls started at 145 now at 170, and low rows started at 100 now at 130. All at 2 sets and 12-15 reps, depending on if I'm getting gassed.

Thoughts?

[Boss Man]

What you've described is progress, considering some of your lifts have gone up, so I don't understand what your concern is after only 3 months of working out.

It looks to me like you've wanted to run before you can walk and expected what might take 6 months to happen in 3 months.

You just need to be patient and not fuss about it that much, because I personally can't see anything that majorly wrong with what you're doing.

There's only thing I think I could suggest, which is your rest day calories could be around 15%-20% higher, as there's a significant discrepancy versus weight days, of 26.66% total calories.

[triathlondaddy]

Up your protein (you haven't mentioned your nutrition much) and consider a pre-workout supplement to increase your intensity

[Boss Man]

Personally I think pre-workout supps are just a load of hyped up rubbish. A bit like those pre-shave products people recommend people use before they shave that they don't need.

Maybe someone could use some Creatine or a protein powder pre-workout, or an energy drink, but something actually called a pre-workout supp, I personally don't rate them. They don't need to be used otherwise big natural dudes 25+ years ago wouldn't have been so big.

Frankly a gimmick in mind, but if people want to use them, then it's not call .

[static_jacket]

Well, I'm not a big fan of supplements, aside from whey protein. From what I've been starting to hear about supplements being a contributing factor in early deaths among bodybuilders, professional and amateur alike, I'd rather just do it the old fashion way.

Bossman: I just followed your advice and kept doing what I was doing, it just feels like I've hit a plateau and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I haven't been able to move up on any of those weights without sacrificing form, which I've already been worried that I've been doing. I'm also kind of hesitant to shed weight from sets, because I don't want to hurt progress any more. I've gained 5 pounds, still being rather strict on eating clean. It's just frustrating, maybe I should be patient, but I'm like most Americans and really want to see some progress for all this hard work, but haven't lost any pants sizes since I started getting serious about lifting.

[Boss Man]

Try amending your calories and cut 10g of carbs out of your meals and replace them with the equivalent amount of calories from fats.

The body will develop a deficit between carbs and energy requirement, that should hopefully be satisfied by fat, as fat is a secondary energy source.

Also you may well be replacing some fat with muscle, which is why you might not feel as if there is much change.

You're also trying to compare what you wrote 3.5 weeks ago to now, which isn't much of a time frame and you have to be patient with things, because you cannot expect change in a flash; nobody can.

[TotalCoaching]

As others have said, it generally seems like you're doing what you should be doing. I know it can be discouraging if you're not making the progress that you wanted, but keep going and you will progress over time. Good luck!