Yeesh, it was a joke. They’re obviously big and in the avatar he’s holding a camera which probably doesn’t put him in an optimal position to show his trap/delt development. I think anyone can notice that he’s pretty big.
On the topic of 18 inch arms. I think Prof X mentioned that in another thread along the lines of “when I moved from 15 inch arms to 18”. So I just stuck with that. Either way its a lot bigger than me and most other guys.
But back to the topic at hand…
I was referring to my pants specifically when I said clothes. Sorry… I have no problem with busting out of T-shirts… They’re usually a little more stretchy. Unless it’s my gut that stretching it out.
Yeah, I completely agree with the bulking/cutting idea. I just rather use shorter cycles than longer ones and focus solely on bulking (no cardio to inhibit fat loss etc.) I prefer to stick to 6-8 weeks to usually match the programs I do at the same time.
[quote]Garrett W. wrote:
Yeah, I completely agree with the bulking/cutting idea. I just rather use shorter cycles than longer ones and focus solely on bulking (no cardio to inhibit fat loss etc.) I prefer to stick to 6-8 weeks to usually match the programs I do at the same time.[/quote]
Have you ever stopped to think that these “short cycles” might be why you haven’t stretched the seams of any of your tee-shirts yet? I couldn’t imagine trying to fit into a shirt I wore even five years ago. It would look like I mugged a junior high school student for his Old Navy apparel.
I firmly believe that a person has to have at least one bulking cycle in their training career. I remember seeing an article by a respected author years ago that confirmed my suspicions when he said there are profound histochemical changes in a muscle that occur when a muscle is forced to expand through a period of weight training combined with overeating. It may have to do with the muscle fascia being stretched, which probably will never happen if one takes the clean eating/controlled weight gain approach.
I bulked up to 270 from 230 and my bodyfat was hovering around 18%. I came back down to about 235 (where I am today) and I still credit that bulking cycle for having the most profound effects on my body to this day.
[quote]gdm wrote:
I firmly believe that a person has to have at least one bulking cycle in their training career. I remember seeing an article by a respected author years ago that confirmed my suspicions when he said there are profound histochemical changes in a muscle that occur when a muscle is forced to expand through a period of weight training combined with overeating. It may have to do with the muscle fascia being stretched, which probably will never happen if one takes the clean eating/controlled weight gain approach.
I bulked up to 270 from 230 and my bodyfat was hovering around 18%. I came back down to about 235 (where I am today) and I still credit that bulking cycle for having the most profound effects on my body to this day.
[/quote]
That is the primary reason why I believe it to be effective. There is no way my body would have tolerated the gains I have made since starting had I attempted to “only add lean mass” all of the way through. There had to be some softer periods just to get my body accustomed to a higher weight set point. Between that and the issue of fascial stretching (which is one theory for why “muscle memory” works so well in spite of neural adaptation), I think it serves a much greater purpose than the “take the easy way out” label that some people try to give it. I just have not yet met the person who was able to gain that much size and make that much physical change while always remaining in the single digit body fat range.