18 Inch Arms

Training Bodybuilding
1061

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
If it were as simple as getting heavy and strong, pushing through bodyweight barriers, many more guys would be top nattys.

[/quote]

? Genetics being the leading factor, how you gain muscle does not change based on being natural or using steroids. Steroids simply cause more anabolism to take place. They don’t completely rearrange your genetics.

Yes, it is as simple as pushing past weight barriers and getting heavy and strong.

That is like saying more people would be pro bodybuilders.

Theer are a select few with even the genetics to be top naturals. Even less Ronnie Colemans. Those are the breaks.

This is one sport that calls you more than you call it…and no one will know where they stand till they reach that goal.

1062

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
IMO, if you are a competitive natural bodybuilder (emphasize natural and competitive), you won’t truly know how much you have improved unless you diet down to a low enough BF to identify weak points and reveal pretty much everything. Hopefully that makes sense. Im all for bulking, and I plan on getting pretty heavy myself after my contest, but to truly judge how much progress you’ve made over the years, I think it’s tough to see without getting very, very lean.

Why is it that top natural pro’s gain 2-5 lb of stage weight/1-3 years after they’ve been established? It’s hard. If it were as simple as getting heavy and strong, pushing through bodyweight barriers, many more guys would be top nattys.

[/quote]

I totally agree with this for those who are already competitive.

The way I view it FOR ME is before ever competing, the best estimation you can do is set yourself measurement and weight minimums for off-season whilst in reasonable condition (ie. not fat). So for me at 5ft 10 and say 15% BF or whatever, we might be looking at going from 195 > at least 220 preferably 230 and an increase of at least 1.5" on arms preferably 2" before dieting down for a show would be any use, if I reach those minimums then I know I will have put on muscle in the right places and dieting down would have any sort of benifit. From there on it I totally agree with you- I would then finally know my “proper” weaknesses etc.

1063

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:

My arms are not 18 I don’t think. Haven’t taped in YEARS…but I must say that I am more impressed with your shoulders than your arms. Arms are great, but the shoulders are pretty damn good

1064

[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
IMO, if you are a competitive natural bodybuilder (emphasize natural and competitive), you won’t truly know how much you have improved unless you diet down to a low enough BF to identify weak points and reveal pretty much everything. Hopefully that makes sense. Im all for bulking, and I plan on getting pretty heavy myself after my contest, but to truly judge how much progress you’ve made over the years, I think it’s tough to see without getting very, very lean.

Why is it that top natural pro’s gain 2-5 lb of stage weight/1-3 years after they’ve been established? It’s hard. If it were as simple as getting heavy and strong, pushing through bodyweight barriers, many more guys would be top nattys.

[/quote]

Yea exactly. Over the last few months my idea of what is really possible as a natural has come down to be honest, seeing the weights of naturals who cut down. Take Stu for example, he competes now around 175 yet he started training 20 years ago at 150lb. 25lb in 20 years. Now of course that hardly tells the true story of stu’s progress (which is impressive) but yea…it seems the truth is told much better when getting really lean to see what’s what. There are very few physiques I see of people I know are natural that I really see as ideal, and those that are are generally very lean. I used to see pics of steve reeves thinking he wasn’t as big as I’d like to be, but staying natural I’d be lucky to get near that (apparently). You certainly have to be HUGE to be impressive at above 12-15% body fat or so. Especially to the general public who just see’s “fat” or “jacked”

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[quote]David1991 wrote:
Yea exactly. Over the last few months my idea of what is really possible as a natural has come down to be honest, seeing the weights of naturals who cut down. Take Stu for example, he competes now around 175 yet he started training 20 years ago at 150lb. 25lb in 20 years. Now of course that hardly tells the true story of stu’s progress (which is impressive) but yea…it seems the truth is told much better when getting really lean to see what’s what. There are very few physiques I see of people I know are natural that I really see as ideal, and those that are are generally very lean. I used to see pics of steve reeves thinking he wasn’t as big as I’d like to be, but staying natural I’d be lucky to get near that (apparently). You certainly have to be HUGE to be impressive at above 12-15% body fat or so. Especially to the general public who just see’s “fat” or “jacked” [/quote]

You are doing a whole lot of generalizing. Muscle shape and fat distribution play a large roll in how you look. Focusing too much on scale weight and arbitrary BF% may end up hurting more than helping.

Also, as you get older you will stop caring what other people think so much and actually do this for yourself. (Not saying you don’t, but you get my point.)

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Alright, there’s a whole lot of weird shit going on in this thread right now. People distribute weight VERY differently. This is just too big of a topic with far too many possibilities for an estimate about “at what size someone starts to look good” or whatever. For real.

Also, success is TOTALLY within the eye of the beholder. Some dudes want to get jacked to pull pussy. Others want to see how high they can make their PL numbers. Others want to pose on a stage in a competition of physiques. It is what it is (cliche, but true.)

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[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
I haven’t been training for 5+ years. When I first hit the weights I just liked benching and did nothing else…That was about 5 years ago…Was never consistent, trained other muscle groups on and off…I first started seriously training going on 3 years in the fall.

Anyways that’s irrelevant though.

Idk this might come off wrong, in the sense that I don’t want to misdirect people.

I’ll put it this way…at this point in my life, I care much less about the weights than I did back 2 years ago or even 6 months ago.

It’s not that I don’t want to lift, quite the opposite, and not that I don’t have big goals for myself, most which I am well on my way of achieving or have achieved.

But instead, I guess I know what I am doing, I am comfortable with how I look and that has taken away the obsession. I don’t need to think about the gym, because I already have done enough thinking about it, that if I at this point did not know what it takes to grow then I probably shouldn’t be lifting weights anymore.

I also am pretty leinant with my diet…I kinda IF as well…not hard, produces results…

Basically things have just fell into place.

So point is, I am excited to lift, to hit PRs, fulfil goals etc., but it really occupies little of my time, not much thought goes into my training or diet anymore…I guess when I stop making progress this might change, but it’s much more relaxing to not get stressed out about meals and if I can lift 5 more pounds today…idk where I am trying to go with this.[/quote]

Serious question…if 18" arms and bodybuilding is really no longer your thing, why continue to post so much in an “18” arm thread"?

For the record, I knew tons of guys who got comfortable with how they looked in college.

They aren’t so comfortable now.

You are setting the stage for the rest of your life to played out based on the decisions made now.

That isn’t a push in any direction, by the way. It is simply opening the discussion to a bunch of college students that some of us have been there…and life experience is one hell of a teacher.[/quote]

Ohh shit, well we’ll put it this way, I am all about progress…I want 20 inch ripped guns sure, I want to take my body to the limit with strength and muscle…

I guess we are just taking different means to the same goals…I want to stay at a bodyfat I am comfortable at and will not be going above that. I want to look good all year round…And by good, I am going by a definition that I set for myself…I’ll have abs for the rest of my time training, I’ll be gaining weight, strength, size but taking my approach…I do this for myself first and foremost, but to look good, and that’s how I want to be.

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[quote]nik133 wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:
^^you had two beers and then couldnt even hold the bar the next day while deadlifting? Thats hard for me to believe.

if your nutrition/training is right then having 1 or 2 beers on the weekend isnt going to kill you IMO. (probably wont even effect you much)

If you’re closing down the bars 4-5 nights a week and getting hammered… well then thats a different story lol[/quote]

This, it had nothing to do with the beers. If you had some negative feelings and dwelling on how you did something you perceive as “wrong” or destructive towards your training, than that can definitely fuck you up. However bodybuilding usually harbors extreme behavior which isn’t necessarily to your benefit (I.e having beer is bad, you need to eat every 2 hours or you’ll go catabolic, you need a pwo dextrose shake or you won’t make gains) and these are things which if you look into are usually baseless and completely false.[/quote]

Exactly…

Fwiw, I drink most of the week…heavily once, a couple beers a day usually…but there still there…and I eat junk food daily too…I think the macros, overall cals and whatnot are most important…This is just me chilling though, when I do a contest, which I will at some point diet needs to be spot on.

1069

[quote]jp_dubya wrote:

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:

My arms are not 18 I don’t think. Haven’t taped in YEARS…but I must say that I am more impressed with your shoulders than your arms. Arms are great, but the shoulders are pretty damn good[/quote]

Damn, thanks…I never thought my delts were that good, but because of that, I’ve been hitting them so hard for the past 6 months, tons of laterals and heavy presses…

Your the first person to compliment them though, so I know I am on the right track…thanks bro.

1070

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:

Fwiw, I drink most of the week…heavily once, a couple beers a day usually…but there still there…and I eat junk food daily too…I think the macros, overall cals and whatnot are most important…This is just me chilling though, when I do a contest, which I will at some point diet needs to be spot on.[/quote]

I have come to agree with this, overall macros seem to be much more important than anything else. I stick with healthy food 99% of the time because its routine but I’ve had it where I just fit pizza and ice cream into my diet (say if I’m taking a girl out and don’t want to look weird lol) and didn’t suffer from it at all. Having said that idk how I would try to fit alcohol into that…even at the same calories you’d be missing other macros and the research I’ve done on it seems to indicate it doesn’t act in the body like other calorie sources. A bit here and there probably doesn’t hurt much though.

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I agree with all those who say there’s no point setting limits on yourself with arbitrary numbers and measurements… like I said I think for bodybuilding it’s better to set minimums, which for me would be say 16.5" arms and 220lbs before I even considered trying to lose bodyfat specifically. There is no set number, if I still looked ok and was gaining easy, it would be onwards and upwards, but a number which would display great (and possible) progression is just what I’m aiming for.

1072

[quote]David1991 wrote:

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:

Fwiw, I drink most of the week…heavily once, a couple beers a day usually…but there still there…and I eat junk food daily too…I think the macros, overall cals and whatnot are most important…This is just me chilling though, when I do a contest, which I will at some point diet needs to be spot on.[/quote]

I have come to agree with this, overall macros seem to be much more important than anything else. I stick with healthy food 99% of the time because its routine but I’ve had it where I just fit pizza and ice cream into my diet (say if I’m taking a girl out and don’t want to look weird lol) and didn’t suffer from it at all. Having said that idk how I would try to fit alcohol into that…even at the same calories you’d be missing other macros and the research I’ve done on it seems to indicate it doesn’t act in the body like other calorie sources. A bit here and there probably doesn’t hurt much though. [/quote]

Idk man.

I am kinda laxed…if I see I am getting “fat,” I’ll up cardio/cut out some unecessary food.

If I am not making progress in the gym (which hasnt been the case in a very long time) I’d switch something out.

But, I don’t count calories, reps, sets, anything I just eat, train, make minor adjustments.

At the end of the day I bust my ass. I am lifting harder than 99% of people I see in the gym. I think hard work and consistency trump everything else.

My approach has been very unmethodical and I am still getting awesome results…Lifts are going up every workout (for the most part)…I am getting leaner growing…

It doesn’t take much…

I also think worrying about body weight is kind of a waste of time…I’m much more enjoying monitoring the mirror.

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Austin, I like your approach. I think the scale and all the minutia hold people back. Obvi guys like myself (newer to the game) benefit from a structured program, but as long as lifts are going up, intensity is there (and by ‘there’ I mean you’re leaving the gym drenched in sweat knowing that you could not POSSIBLY lift any more weight than you just did), and you’re eating for your goals in a general way, then yeah. Right now my focus is on building. So I’m facilitating that by eating a fuck ton of food.

But in the future, I’ll probably maintain my muscle and then cut down. From there I’ll maybe repeat that cycle, but eventually I’d like to have a good looking physique, and kind of self regulate. I think bulking/cutting is unnecessary for people not wanting to compete. I might compete one day, but my point is that unless you’re going to step onto a stage, then why record macros, etc…

I learned a lot from MODOK on this subject. He did one big bulk (which I guess I’m doing now) to develop muscle and size. After that, he never had to get so soft again. But I know 1 thing for SURE. Nobody is going to look like Austin Bicep without getting big (and soft) to get that muscular in the first place. A scrawny, skinny dude can NOT gain respectable muscle mass without adding fat. Unless you’re Mad Titan of course lol.

Austin, keep it up.

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^^ Thanks man

Here’s a sloppy 410 lb bench

But just to show, I am much lighter, stronger, putting in work…I take this shit seriously.

1075

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
^^ Thanks man

Here’s a sloppy 410 lb bench

But just to show, I am much lighter, stronger, putting in work…I take this shit seriously.

Sloppy or not, you don’t get to a 410lb bench without being serious as hell. Especially lean.

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Well…it’s been a while.

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Impressive Bro. How much you weighing right now?

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[quote]johnman18 wrote:
Impressive Bro. How much you weighing right now?[/quote]

Thanks John…hovering around 218-222 varies daily lol and how my carb intake is…

Here is a good comparison…time span is 11 months and my body weight has remained the same in both pics.

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THere seems to be a bicep peak there. Damn good.

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[quote]austin_bicep wrote:

[quote]johnman18 wrote:
Impressive Bro. How much you weighing right now?[/quote]

Thanks John…hovering around 218-222 varies daily lol and how my carb intake is…

Here is a good comparison…time span is 11 months and my body weight has remained the same in both pics.[/quote]
You can definitely notice a big difference. I’m sure you didn’t do the same exercises or routine that whole time period but would you mind sharing your arm training for those 11 months?