that’s not a limit you’ll be hitting particularly soon, so that’s good. By my estimation, you’ve got somewhere between 20-30 lbs of fat to lose to step on stage. So when you diet down to contest condition, you won’t be close to 252.
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I tried following a posing routine for the first time the other day and damn was I shocked on how much harder it was to pose than I thought
I’m gonna be looking to hit 265 in the next 6-8 months(I’m actually around 255 as we speak) without gaining any more bf. My bf is 16.5% currently(tested by dexa scan) then diet down to 240-245. What bodyfat % should I be looking to hit prior to stepping on stage
Don’t worry about a number. Worry about how you look. Have someone take progress pictures of you, don’t rely on mirror selfies. Use very neutral lighting, don’t try to find lighting that makes you look extra cut or anything, lol.
Judges will not have you standing on a scale when you’re on stage, and you won’t have your bodyfat % written on your forehead. The ONLY thing that matters is what you look like. You track your scale weight to make sure you’re moving in the right direction, but you have to combine that with progress photos to make sure things are coming together for you. I would suggest following some competitive bodybuilders on instagram to see how they look throughout contest preps, so you have a better idea of how lean you should look at any given point in your prep.
As others have said, you have a lot of bf now and it is hard to tell. You don’t need so many calories to build muscle. You have enough fat that you can build muscle while cutting.
What is your workout routine and philosophy? How much cardio? I think you need to push harder at the gym, stick to a clean diet. I’m 6’5” at 225 lbs.
Also, are you on anything that may be making you puffy? You look natural but I don’t know for sure.
That was a while ago! I have updated pics that I’ll post soon
I’ve since ramped up my workouts and my cardio, sitting at around 240 right now
I’ve ran compounds in the past, but I’ve been off for a couple yrs and gonna stay off for now
Appreciate the feedback! 
Update bro! I love transformations.
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in more specific terms, what do you mean with this? and how did you come up with the conclusion that you are a hardgainer? just curious, not trying to be critical or trolling.
/best regards
oops, i see now that the log is really old. well, anyway i let my post be here.
Yeah, so 20 yrs of training, and the fact that I started out as a 150lb basketball player in High School let’s me know that I’m a hardgainer. Thanks for the question
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i guess, after some years of training everybody turns into some kind of hardgainers. to me from the pics you don’t seem to have the very thin skeletal frame of the hardgainer, especially the arms look quite big imo. with a bone structure able to carry muscle it should be possible to add muscle, i read somewhere at t-nation that you need to get below 12 % bf to really build muscle, when you are fatter than 12 % the body really don’t know how to build muscle, or something like that the article said. i’d say you are north of 12 % in the pics, some 18-20% maybe.
I don’t know anybody who shows abs at 20% but you could be right.