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I am kinda feeling like I am going backwards instead of forward, seems like I am getting weaker instead of stronger, I just started lifting in March, so its going on 5 months now, seems like I am running out of energy half way thru my work out, I am doing bench press, dead lift's (not often), squats, t-rows, seated front rows and barbell curls, I am working out about an hour three times a week in the very early hours before work, Its been real hot and humid the last few weeks, think maybe the heat and humidity have anything to do with the energy level dropping? diet has not been as good as I would like it to be, I am only eating 3 times a day, and have been working a lot of hours, I know rest is most likley a factor, just rambling... thanks for listening

The weather may make you feel run down to a point so it could be that. Get some more sleep at night. Your only eating 3 meals a day that wont cut it, cant you make up 2 protein shakes while your at work. That will give you 5 meals right there.

If you cant make it through a workout you may need to switch it up try less volume, try lifting eod, dont take everyset to failure.

Just some thoughts

When you wake up in the morning you could be dehydrated. That could definitely play a role. Are you able to get in a good breakfast? And/or a pre-workout shake. Don't want to lift in a fasted condition for sure. And of course as fzi said you'll need to eat more.

You had asked about warmups a while back. Make sure you're not overdoing the warmup. It's certainly possible to plateau in terms of strength but there's certainly no reason you should be getting weaker or fatigueing too quickly. So most the time this kind of thing is behaviour related rather than training related. I.E. sleep like you mentioned, fuel, hydration, etc.

Is it still TBT? Wouldn't hurt to post your workout. To see if some of the changes fz1 mentioned may be necessary. Obviously the quick answer on diet is EAT MORE. Try to drink something during the workout. At least water (and get that pre workout shake) but if I was getting fatigued so early I might be hitting the gatorade or something.

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If you act sanctimonious I will just list out your logical fallacies until you get pissed off and spew blasphemous remarks.

Your doing all of those exercises 3 times a week, plus not eating enough, and on top of it all not resting enough? I think thats the answer. Diet and rest are so important IMO. Try to up the meals, and sleep for a week, see where you stand at that point, I'm sure that will be the solution.

If you think the heat is gettin to you definatly be sure to drink something during your workout. Like eric suggested gatorade, or maybe try some citulline malate.

I was thinking about citrulline malate also. That can work wonders in terms of anti fatique and lifting endurance (for lack of a better term). But I didn't want to suggest any supplements until the basics were in place in terms of diet, rest, pre/post workout nutrition, etc. Definitely a good call though.

BTW, it would seem to me kind of difficult to evaluate your strength when the set and rep scheme changes every workout.

Ok let me get a little more specific, I get up at 4 Am, have a cup of coffee, and wake up, have a protein shake before and after work out go into the garage around 4:30 - 4:45 start with either bench press or squats for a warm up with 5 sets of between 5 - 10 reps only about 100 lbs, ok go ahead laugh I can take it . then I swithch to the other either bench or squat, then (cable) rows, either high pulling down or low pulling up. If time allows then some barbell curls, I try to work out on Monday, Wednesday & Friday in order to have the weekends for fishing etc. I don't do all these excersises every Monday & Wednesday because of time restrictions, On Fridays I am usually off so I take my time and try to make up for what I didn't get to during the week. Like if I missed squats on Monday & Wednesday then on friday I will do 5 sets of between 5-10 reps then continue with the rest of the routine, trying to stick with mostly compound excerises. I eat a few rice cakes right after the work out with some PB & J on them. then S,S,& off to work, Mon, Tues, & Wed are 15 hour days 7 Am to 10:30 PM and 10 hour's on Thursday & 8 on Saturday this is where the sleep shortage comes in. Yes I have time most mornings for a good breakfast, and I am a breakfast guy I LOVE breakfast... eggs are my favorite...
I am trying to stay with a TBT but in all honesty I have not been ridgid in sticking to the program as it is written. I drink about 4-5 16 oz bottles of water a day, and other then a couple cups of coffe in the morning don't drink anything else except for a V8 once in a while. my weights are probably not even what most of you warm up with but then I am not in the same catagory as you guys that have been lifting for years I dont expect to be able to compete with you in weight lifting, no pun intended. I guess I can take a coupe shakes to work with me and have them as meals as you suggest, but I will most likley have to drink them warm, but that will soulve the eating problem. I am taking whey potein isolate usually with water, amino acids 1800,a multi vitaimin, 17 HD all from GNC, and fish oil gel caps

First of all NOBODY is gonna laugh at your lifts here. Personally I could care less if you were lifting 30 pounds so long as you were progressing which is really all that counts.

Sounds like you don't have a definite plan of attack when you hit the garage. That's the first order of business. If you're not keeping a log book, start now. It is quite possible for you to do a very effective program that only has you working for maybe 45 minutes. Maybe even less. You don't want to go over an hour anyway.

If it were me, with those restrictions I'd be wanting to do a full-body strength routine centered around squat, deads, bench, pulling (emphasizing rowing) that would also put on a great deal of mass IF you can eat enough. IMO, that's the most effecient use of such a restricted schedule. I would also say to open up those weekends but I know how guys can be about their fishing!

I think Mark Rippletoe's Starting Strength program would be a good place to start. Here I will cut and paste what 0311 previously posted so I don't have to look too hard

The program is as follows:

You alternate Workout A and Workout B every other day, 3 times a week. So you could either do Mon, Wed, Fri or Tues, Thurs. and Sat. Depending on what works best for you.

Example:

Week 1:

Monday - Workout A
Wednesday -Workout B
Friday - Workout A

Week 2:

Monday - Workout B
Wednesday - Workout A
Friday - Workout B

Etc.

For the actual workouts read below:

Note: This doesn’t include warm-up sets

**Means this is OPTIONAL**

Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift
**2x8 Dips (if you cant do these or no assist machine then do Decline Dumbbell Bench Press with your hands Facing each other)

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Standing military press
3x5 Pendlay or Bent Rows (or power cleans)
**2x8 Chin-ups (recommended mainly if doing the cleans)

Assistance work:

Most people cant get it through there head that compound lifts also work your arms Plenty and always Insist on direct arm work. As quoted by Madcow2, “Don't **** with this. Every bodybuilder seems to have Attention Deficit Disorder and an overwhelming desire to customize everything.” If you are one of these people note that you have the option of doing the dips and chins which give PLENTY of arm work. Abdominal work is fine to do also if needed.

I recommend weighted decline sit-ups and/or Hanging Leg Raises at 2x8-10.

Weight:

As for the weight, make sure that you use the SAME weight throughout the sets. For example if I do the first set if Squats with 200lbs then I do the other 2 sets of squats with 200lbs.

Every week make it a goal to increase each of your lifts by 2.5%. Meaning if I lifted 100lbs for my Bench Week 1 then Week 2 I would try for 102.5lbs. If I did 200lb Squats Week 1 I would try for 205lbs in Week 2. Sometimes you will be able to do more but don’t mess with your form just to lift more.

Warm-up Sets:

Before all your working sets it is best to do a few warm-up sets. Specifically for your first lift. You don’t have to do the whole thing for the other lifts but definitely the first.

What you do is you ramp your weight up to your working sets.

For example:

2x5xbar (sets x reps x weight)
1x5x85
1x3x125
1x2x155

And the working set weight would be 175.

If you are lifting your working sets under 150 I would cut out the 3rd warmup set of 1x5 because it wont be needed.

The Lifts:

**Used references and quotes from Madcow2 and Bodybuilding.com**

Barbell Squat: These should be full range Olympic style squats. Use the full range of your body - that means as low as you can go which for almost everyone is past parallel. If the top of your thighs aren't at least parallel it's for sh!t. If you think this is bad for your knees going low, you and whoever told you that are relying on an old wives tale. Anyone who knows the human body will tell you that below parallel is MUCH safer on the knees whereas parallel and above put all the sheer right on them and doesn’t allow proper transfer of the load to the rest of your body (this is how your body was designed).

Rest a barbell on the upper portion of your back, not your neck. Firmly grip the bar with your hands almost twice your shoulder width apart. Position your feet about shoulder width apart and your toes should be pointing just a little outward with your knees in the same direction. Keep your back as straight as possible and your chin up, bend your kneesand slowly lower your hips straight down until your THIGHS ARE AT LEAST PARALLEL TO THE FLOOR. Once you reach the bottom position, press the weight up back to the starting position.

Look in the PreWorkout Nutrition sticky to get ideas of how to improve your pre and post shakes to give you more energy for the workout.

Hey Eric3237 I think your hitting the nail on the head, No I have not been keeping a log, I am going to search the site and see what entries I should be making in a log, sitting here thinking about what your saying, I can see I don't have a real direction or plan in place, so if I am going to get serious I'd better get serious. good advice...I started eating smaller meals and adding more of them thru the day the afternoon one around 3 PM I had to force my self to drink but I think can get used to it once I find the right things to eat that don't make me feel like I am going to explode. i am gong to start this tomorrow morning, I will post in a week or so. Thanks I really appreciate the response.

Thanks for all the great advice guy's
Frank

Ok. Sounds good. Don't start lifting at maximum capacity. Start with moderate weights. I'd say using about 70% of your 1RM. If you have no idea where your lifts really stand you may want to figure it out but if you just pick weights you can do for 3X5 fairly easily you should be okay. It's not rocket science.

*Edit* I just looked back at your response and I realized I don't know what you were planning on starting, a log book, a new diet, Rippletoe or all three, so the above advice may not make any sense, lol.