new canadian

well geoff...u def have a decent amount of protein...ASSUMING your gettting enough total calories for all your training.  THEN i must ask u to describe your lifting routine..."a day in the life of geoffs at the gym"  ...your lifting schedule, exercises, sets per exercise and typical min and max reps.  THEN we can offer a diagnosis.

i'm a skinny guy goeffs...it takes me a lot of work to gain any weight...somebody has got to push me...for most of my growth phase i had this red-head as a spotter...u all know about them...red-heads have a little more energy than the rest of us.  this guy was psycho...

1. For one thing, whenever i got stuck on a lift he wouldn't lift the bar up for me like most people do.  he just gave me about 1/4 of a pound to JUST keep it moving in a forward motion...it may have taken me 1 minute to finish that last rep but it was 99.99% all me.  i would be squirming like a worm.  THAT is growth.  THEN after that rep he would tell me i had one more in me...more squirming.  even though the very last rep may have been only 50% me and it felt like my arms were not part of my body anymore, EVERY fiber of my muscle was spent.
2. only one body part per week.  if u push yourself as hard as u do in #1, u need a week to recover and grow.
3. need heavy days...where u do a few warm-ups then go immediatley to ~85% of max, then max, then 110% of max for 2-3 reps...u will only be able to get one though...or not even BUT your body will 'feel' the weight and accomadate by growing.  *u NEED a spotter*

took me about 6months to start growing...be patient and lift hard...i also lifted BEFORE tri training...so i had full reserves.  remember...lifting for mass will make tri training a little more difficult...just be sure to go easy on your legs.  keep the squats, leg extensions, and ham curls on the light side. 

look forward to seeing your schedule.

killer program geoff!  keep that spotter with u and u will be ripped in several months.  i see no leg workout...well, maybe deadlifts.  something i learned when building up biking and running (too fast) was that i developed some 'mild' hamstring tendinitis where is connect to back of your knee.  3 easy sets (10-15 reps each) of leg extensions and hamstring curls cleared it up...i would recomend these on the light side (i only do about 60-8-% of max) to keep those tendons and joints strong...deadlifts won't necesarily do that as not a lot of range of motion.

i see that your getting in about 3 bikes, 3 runs and 2 swims.  i think that u mentioned that swiming is difficult for u??? my recommendation is to eliminate a bike and add a swim workout.  so 3 run, 3swim, 2 bike.

i just came up with a program outline for my 1/2 im for sept 2004...check it out...just some ideas...it works for my schedule.  nobody is right.

note that i have space b/w long run and bike to recupe.  Sunday after long run is variable if it's raining on saturday.  i like to combine chest and tri's as they both overlap.  i only focus on the core lifts such as flat/incline bench, squats, tri pushdowns, narrow grip bench, military, preachers and standing db curls.  just 2 exercise per bodypart as my time is too short in the morn to do more and make the swim.  i look forward to the swim as it's a great cool down...if u notice in my log, this program is not implemented yet...waiting for school to be done...3 WEEKS BABY!!!!

hope this is insightful!  and i hope your getting sore. 

yeah rio...something i usually find out the hard way...u must work the damaged area for healing instead of sitting around...keep up on the extensions/curls.

thanx for the critique cameron...yes, when things get into the full swing, that is a lot on thursdays - legs and back, swim and eve run...since recovering from elbow tendinitis, the back is the last thing i have not implemented yet...so it will be light and very conservative.  that kind of pulling motions has a lot to do with your forearms muscles/tendons - even with wrist straps - SO it will be light and slow as that is where my teninitis was.  ideally, i want to do get back into doing upright rows and wide grip pullups for the back...gonna start with light rows and pulley pull-downs for now.  u know what cam?  even on an intense leg or back session, my swim is strong...the run may suffer BUT this is the only way i can have: 3 workouts per event, the runs and bike have a day in b/w, weekends are off except for long run so i have family and heal time.  i DID used to split up back and legs when i was full throttle...maybe i will sometime if i find i'm too tired.  may be implementing your idea in the future...see where i am...good to mix it up.

also cam, i see u do chest and shoulders the same day?  do u lift for strength or mass?  being both core mass exercises, i like to split them up...PLUS militarys r my fav...i need full reserves so doing them on a chest day is out.

rio, u should do wide grip pullups behind your neck (if it doesn't bother shoulders) that is a great latissimus dorsi (?) - mass exercise for your back...u will get those coveted wings.  of course, starting out, u will only be able to do a few per set.  can have a spooter helping u by lifting u up by the legs or waist.  also, wrist straps help a lot to hold on so u can focus on the pull-up and not on the grip.