I am a male, 175 cm tall, 30 years old with Asian roots, which I believe may influence my genetics and possibly contribute to the challenges I’m facing with my physique.

I have been training consistently for many years, but unfortunately, I have seen very little progress. Despite eating a high number of calories, my body weight increases only very slowly, and most of the fat I gain tends to accumulate around my stomach. Overall, I would describe myself as “skinny fat.”

In the gym, I struggle to make progress in strength. Even when I reach a point where I can perform 12 full repetitions with a certain weight, increasing the load becomes extremely difficult, and my repetitions drop significantly. For example, on lat pulldowns, I have been stuck at 50 kg for a very long time without any improvement.

I also get tired very quickly, and my strength endurance is quite poor. Especially during exercises like bench press or pulling movements, I run out of energy fast and cannot maintain my performance.

Because of these ongoing struggles and my dissatisfaction with my appearance, I have started to feel increasingly frustrated and even ashamed of how I look. I strongly want to become more muscular and stronger, which has led me to consider the possibility of using steroids as a way to finally achieve the progress I’ve been unable to reach naturally.

What do you think about this? What am i doing wrong? Should i perhaps go for more repetitions instead of forcefully trying to increase the weight? (Instead of setting goals of 12 repetitions, doing like 15-20?)

Or should i actually just start a cycle?

🔴 Push Day

Focus: chest, shoulders, triceps

• Bench Press – 3–4 sets (6–10 reps)
• Incline Dumbbell Press – 3 sets (8–12 reps)
• Shoulder Press (machine or dumbbell) – 3 sets (8–12 reps)
• Lateral Raises – 3 sets (12–15 reps)
• Tricep Pushdowns – 3 sets (10–15 reps)
• Optional: Dips – 2–3 sets

🔵 Pull Day

Focus: back, rear delts, biceps

• Deadlift (optional heavy) – 3 sets (4–6 reps)
• Pull-Ups or Lat Pulldown – 3–4 sets (6–12 reps)
• Barbell or Cable Row – 3 sets (8–12 reps)
• Face Pulls – 3 sets (12–15 reps)
• Bicep Curls – 3 sets (10–15 reps)
• Hammer Curls – 2–3 sets

🟢 Leg Day

Focus: quads, hamstrings, glutes

• Squats – 3–4 sets (5–10 reps)
• Leg Press – 3 sets (10–15 reps)
• Romanian Deadlift – 3 sets (8–12 reps)
• Leg Curl – 3 sets (10–15 reps)
• Calf Raises – 4 sets (12–20 reps)

Twice a week, i have been lifting for 2 years now and barely made any progress. I was doing PPL once a week, but a different plan then this one