I dug up the original set of photos I took when I started posting in this section and began training under proper instruction.
In the before pics I weighed 52kg, in the after pics (taken now) I weigh 59kg. Body fat amount doesn’t looked to have changed in the comparisons, which means I’ve pretty much gained about 5kg of lean muscle in 1 year (which is shocking yes) but sounds about right.
Physique ‘looks’ wise I’m pretty disappointed really (not that I have anything to blame, I didn’t eat so I didn’t grow).
Strength wise I couldn’t have asked for more really in my first year of serious lifting, well not even a year really. In October 2006 I had a hernia operation and then it would have been around late December early January I started getting back into it to record a 65kg bench, 105kg squat and 140kg deadlift at the Australia day comp.
In 2 weeks at the mid-September mini-meet I’m aiming for a 140kg squat, 80kg pause bench and dunno about the deadlift. The squat has been my favourite lift and I’ve pretty much just been focusing on it for the last 6months hence the progress.
In the next year I want to focus on developing my upper body strength. I’m going to be keeping my training simple - the staple of it being overhead pressing and close grip bench press.
Hope ya learn from my mistakes and do better
Can’t build a physique whilst working 2 jobs (13hr days), getting 4-6hrs sleep, not eating right, and prolly overtraining in a never-ending effort to lift more and more weight.
I’m not going to lie to you those gains in one year are not that great, remember diet is very important continue to read and learn more. Also several of your links are broken for me for some reason.
[quote]GHOSTrun wrote:
And the deal breaker… in a ‘relaxed’ state you wouldn’t be able tell jack shit that I lifted[/quote]
Very honest of you, and quite courageous to show it.
Anyone who is used to checking themselves close up in the mirror when they’re pumped need to stand 6" from a full mirror just after waking up when you’re the opposite of pumped - that’s what other people will see when you’re just wandering around.
However ghostrun, in the other pics you look like youve done work and your strength is up so thats positive progress. Now just add some good foods and more mass will come.
being a level on this site has nothing to do with it. the only difference i see is you had a tan in some pictures, so either you went to the beach a lot over a year, or you just hung out in a gym with very strong lights. either way, it was a waste of a year.
[quote]Jacked Diesel wrote:
being a level on this site has nothing to do with it. the only difference i see is you had a tan in some pictures, so either you went to the beach a lot over a year, or you just hung out in a gym with very strong lights. either way, it was a waste of a year.[/quote]
hehe the crack about being a level on this site was sarcasm.
I do see some leg improvement and as well your back, nothing drastic but it’s there. Obviously your relaxed state is different as well. Still, in your very first two pics, it’d be hard to tell which is the before and which is the after unless you wrote on them.
If you’re only interested in strength gains, a different forum might give you more feed back. Such as the Strength Sports forum here. Obviously you’re not too concerned about appearances, but most people here are. It would make sense, considering what your goals seem to be.
[quote]kakugo wrote:
If you’re only interested in strength gains, a different forum might give you more feed back. Such as the Strength Sports forum here. Obviously you’re not too concerned about appearances, but most people here are. It would make sense, considering what your goals seem to be.[/quote]
Look I’ll be frank, my mentor told me if I can’t be bigger then someone I may as well lift more then them. Now I train for functional strength as number 1 motive (for health reasons really, not too fussed about competeting anytime soon, just want to be strong).
I won’t lie though, I do care about my physique as well. Bodybuilding training doesn’t really interest me. Lifting medicore weight pretty slow doesn’t float my boat at all. The physique of Dave Tate when he cut up is a good look. It looks powerful. So I am happy to slowly transform my body over many years as a nice side effect to getting strong along the way.
kakugo I post on many forums, it’s just interesting to receive feedback from different view points, it keeps me open minded.
[quote]PF_88 wrote:
I do see some leg improvement and as well your back, nothing drastic but it’s there. Obviously your relaxed state is different as well. Still, in your very first two pics, it’d be hard to tell which is the before and which is the after unless you wrote on them.
Nice squat btw.[/quote]
The last time I took measurements was in January 26th this year. Between then and now, my legs have gone from 18.5" to 21", and my waist has gone from 25" to 27". My back & shoulders are thicker/denser. No change in arm size, and I wouldn’t know where to look to measure my calves lol.
You have made gains and good for you. Your upper spine used to poke through but now has muscle on top.
I’d say the only thing you need to change is your diet, eat more. You can tell from the pics you did not gain a large amount of fat so you have room to up the food inake.
aight, i see where you’re coming from. good approach, you’re not biased by taking only one view point and discussing only from there. good luck to you!
Your lat width has improved quite a bit. YOU don;t look to have gained any body fat (look leaner in a couple of the pics inspite of the worse lighting), and thats a good thing, but maybe you shd make sure you’re eating enough to put on mass, if thats what your looking for.
