I like to train with heavy weights for muscle gain, going to failure at four to eight reps on my last set. My last program I would do each muscle group twice a week. To change it up I read that once a week is a good alternative. The article stated that change is good, and that I might not be giving my muscles enough time to rebuild by working them twice a week.
I workout four times a week:
Mon.--chest
Wed.--back
Fri.--arms
Sun.--shoulders and legs
My problem is that I'm constantly extremely sore. As an example I do my chest on Monday and the soreness will last into Friday.
Is this normal?
Is this effective?
And yes, I take my supplements.

Flycapt.

Here are a couple questions.

1. What about cardio? A good fitness regime is about balance. You need to exercise your heart too!

2. What are you eating? I'm wondering if you're not recovering because you're not giving your body the right fuel.

I know we've discussed protein at length, so you probably know it's key to rebuilding muscles.

I also know I've asked to see your diet before, but I'd like to see what you're eating now, please.

Also, specifically, please tell me exactly what you eat/drink post-workout.

I am 47 and lift similar to what you do in terms of intensity it seems. For me it depends on how hard I work them, but my muscle soreness normally lasts two days. So if I do chest on Monday, I am ready to go again with that muscle group on Thursday. I normally do one muscle group a week too. However, I just started another program where I will do one muscle group each week, but pick one muscle (e.g. biceps) where I really work them hard for 6 weeks working them twice a week.

If you do an unusually intense workout, 5 days might be normal, but I wouldn't think it would be normal to require 5 days for recovery most of the time. For example, I went on one of those Santa Monica trips where we went to the beach with Tony H and climbed ropes and worked really hard for a couple of hours at least. My abdominal muscles were so sore that a week and a half later I could bearly do a bench press without my abdominal muscles screaming (and as you know a bench press isn't an abdominal exercise!). I took a week off after that to recover fully.

When is the last time you took more than a couple of days off? In addition to your diet, you might be in overtraining mode. I've been there and it sounds like it might be. I'm sure Denis will help you get to the bottom of it.

Jim

I'm not doing any cardio.
Pre-workout I take creatine. Post-workout I have breakfast.

breakfast:
1 cup post shredded wheat n bran cereal
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 oz. almonds
protein shake(34g protein)
8 oz. skim milk

snack:
protein bar
fat free yogurt
1/2 oz. almonds

lunch:
turkey on whole wheat bread with mustard
1 oz. almonds
fat free yogurt
piece of fruit

snack:
protein bar
fat free yogurt
1/2 oz. almonds

dinner:
chicken breast or lean steak
vegetable
some carbs( either pasta, rice, or potato)
piece of fruit

bedtime:
200 calorie protein shake

I also take Betagen as a recovery supplement

My diet is approximately 3000 calories with a 35-40-25 split. I have been maintaining my weight of 180 lbs. for the past six months. I am a 40 year old male 5' 11" tall.

Nothing looks fishy here, though it's totally possible that you're nutrient deficient somewhere. I'd certainly take a multi-vit, at least, with this diet. What are your workouts like (give me rest between set time also)? They must be intense. Does your diet ever change? What other vitamins and supps do you take?

I do take a multi vitamin. The only time my diet changes is when I cheat once in a while, or when I have beef or pork instead of chicken. But I always maintain close to a 40-30-30 split.
My workouts are as follows:
Approximately 12 sets per body part with 6-12 reps per set going to failure. I rest about i minute per set.

Steve,

Do you think 35% carbs is a little low for someone doing intense workouts?

Jim

Yes, I do, and this is going to be my next suggestion. It's not glaringly wrong at this point though because lack of energy hasn't come up. Usually, the low-carb diet will give overweight people more energy at first because they are controlling their blood sugar levels, then lead to less and less energy as they get in better shape and start to bonk since your ability to push past your anaerobic threshold during ketosis sucks.

My next suggestion was going to be ample glycongen replenishment post workout. During a 1-hour window, when glycogen stores are depleted, there is a great opportunity to repair damaged tissue at an accelerated rate. A 4:1 carb/protein ratio snack works best during this time. So I'd suggest using a recovery formula designed for this. Ours would be perfect, but we don't sell it yet. So you can try Endurox or its equivelant. Jim eats sushi during this window, which is a good fit as that type of white rice has a very high GI. I would suggest trying this one thing and leaving everything else the same, meaning don't adjust your calories to account for these extra carbs. Then let us know if you're less sore.

Great stuff, thanks.
I have another question on symmetry. My right lat is very noticeably wider and thicker than my left. What is the best way to correct this. Since I lift heavy and go to failure on all of my sets it seems impossible for the left lat to catch up to my right. Do I need to go lighter on my right(not going to failure)?

I'm not exactly sure about this as I've never trained anyone through it. I've given advice on these boards and not heard complaints, so maybe what I say works.

Of course, working the larger one less, or letting it atrophy, is one way to do it. But I wouldn't suggest that. Better to work both hard and naturally let the smaller side catch up. One thing you could do would be to work a bit more on hypertrophy (6-12 reps) on the smaller side whilst doing a power cycle (2-6 reps) on the larger side. Your strength will be a bit out of balance but I'd think you can catch this up next cycle of power. Once the size is the same, do a transition cycle, then go back to hypertrophy on both sides, than power on both. That sound, in theory, work for you.