7
Right click and select “view image” (or something similar) to see bigger versions of the photographs.
Thanks World, I’m looking forward to that…although cardio is NO fun right now while in the middle of this tren cycle…
[quote]Cortes wrote:
Right click and select “view image” (or something similar) to see bigger versions of the photographs.
Thanks World, I’m looking forward to that…although cardio is NO fun right now while in the middle of this tren cycle…[/quote]
Shit C,
You’ve really packed on some density with this run. I’m really impressed. Hey you’re looking great man. This is your first contest right? I think you will look even bigger and more defined as you probably know already, once you get your tan on bud. I’ll be starting my M probably tomorrow.
I’ll let you know how it goes. But seriously, once you get your final cut going, and throw down some color, you will look superb.
Great efforts put forth, it shows.
ToneBone
As World said, good body bad tan 
Obviously they make that insta-tan stuff so no worries.
C aren’t you still like two months out from your show? I’m wondering if you are bringing that plane in too low and too fast?
Thanks Tone!
I’m definitely looking to start my run with Melanotan in the next couple of weeks here. I’ll be purchasing it in the next couple of days and yeah, I think a good, deep tan will go a long way toward “cleaning up” the conditioning. I’m definitely looking forward to hearing how the MT works out for you. Are you NOT going with the loading phase? I’ve been reading other resources on it recently, and the consensus seems to be that the loading period is a waste of time, and that the user will be far better served by using a sane dosage and getting actual sun in that time instead. Keep us posted. And take care of that shoulder.
[quote]InTheZone wrote:
Cortes wrote:
Right click and select “view image” (or something similar) to see bigger versions of the photographs.
Thanks World, I’m looking forward to that…although cardio is NO fun right now while in the middle of this tren cycle…
Shit C,
You’ve really packed on some density with this run. I’m really impressed. Hey you’re looking great man. This is your first contest right? I think you will look even bigger and more defined as you probably know already, once you get your tan on bud. I’ll be starting my M probably tomorrow.
I’ll let you know how it goes. But seriously, once you get your final cut going, and throw down some color, you will look superb.
Great efforts put forth, it shows.
ToneBone[/quote]
[quote]sapasion wrote:
As World said, good body bad tan
Obviously they make that insta-tan stuff so no worries.
C aren’t you still like two months out from your show? I’m wondering if you are bringing that plane in too low and too fast?[/quote]
Man, you guys are a lot nicer than I expected. Seriously, when I looked at those pics, I actually started to get a little depressed. I now feel like I still have SO much work to do.
In all honesty, too, I do. I still have a good 15-20lbs of fat to lose, in my reckoning. It may not look that way (or you guys are just being kind and it does ;), but I’m still holding onto a nice chunky layer gently enveloping everything but my hands and feet. I think the remaining 9 weeks will have me “touch down” just right. I hope. Anyway, whatever mistakes I make will serve as experience and I will know that much better what to do next time.
Fantastic shoulders Cortes. Even with the bad lighting they really stand out.
Jelly
Well, you are definitely lookin’ SWOLE (my favorite word). Great work, I’m not sure who already said it, I think it was Tone, but ‘dense’ is certainly the word. Which is a very good thing.
Since you complained about everyone being nice to you:
Yes, you still have a lot of work to do as far as prepping for a show goes.
However, 9 weeks is a lot of time and plenty to dial yourself in, especially with a tan (lol).
I’d just say, you can’t afford to throw away a week or two by cheating to high hell on a weekend or anything. But if you stay pretty straight, you’ll be fine.
How much longer are you on cycle?
[quote]Jelly Roll wrote:
Fantastic shoulders Cortes. Even with the bad lighting they really stand out.
Jelly[/quote]
Thanks JR. I think my shoulders are my best bodypart, too. Wish my calves would grow in the same manner.
Thanks GetSwole. I’m not going to go nuts. One of the greatest aspects of any great endeavor in life (not just bodybuilding), is the wonderful reality of momentum. When I was bulking, I found it so hard, come Saturday and Sunday, to stay away from beer and whiskey and mega-calorie-dense food and sleeping late the next day and whatever the hell I wanted. I was not off-the-deep-end out of control, but I would eat and drink and occasionally do things that the saner side of me didn’t want to do. That’s momentum in the wrong direction. But when you will wrestle that pendulum back from yourself and set it swinging in the opposite direction, those changes cease being even choices, rather you become driven to eat chicken and brocolli instead of cheeseburgers and fries, or to drink water instead of beer. Or to get up an hour early and go run before breakfast instead of sleeping an hour or two later than you had intended. And all of these things that you used to desire, you don’t completely stop desiring them, but you just don’t move in their direction any longer. And to say that doing or not doing something is easy or hard misses the whole point. There is only having made a decision to be one way, and then making the decision to be another. And it never ceases to amaze me, when we do make such a decision, that the process from that point forward almost seems to be taken from our hands…so long as we keep the goal in mind.
Oh yeah. I’ll get to work on that tan, too
[quote]GetSwole wrote:
Well, you are definitely lookin’ SWOLE (my favorite word). Great work, I’m not sure who already said it, I think it was Tone, but ‘dense’ is certainly the word. Which is a very good thing.
Since you complained about everyone being nice to you:
Yes, you still have a lot of work to do as far as prepping for a show goes.
However, 9 weeks is a lot of time and plenty to dial yourself in, especially with a tan (lol).
I’d just say, you can’t afford to throw away a week or two by cheating to high hell on a weekend or anything. But if you stay pretty straight, you’ll be fine.
How much longer are you on cycle?[/quote]
[quote]Cortes wrote:
Jelly Roll wrote:
Fantastic shoulders Cortes. Even with the bad lighting they really stand out.
Jelly
Thanks JR. I think my shoulders are my best bodypart, too. Wish my calves would grow in the same manner.[/quote]
I forgot to mention those delts too. Really nice shape and definition to them buddy.
On the MT question regarding the “loading”.
I think it’s unnecessary, and don’t intend to do anything but the desired amount from the get go. I’ll be using a slightly more conservative dose than most. I remember Johnny Blaze using the standard 1mg/day, and by the 5th day he woke up noticeable darker, and well on his way to looking a lot like one of the oompa loompa’s, lol. And then we have JS’s account which changed his mind to the direction I’m heading in with regards to doseage also. Here’s a snippet from his log;
“I would definitely be careful with this. I don’t think I gave it the respect it deserves. Rainjack and others warned to be judicious in use, but I didn’t really listen. I think you want to have people around you that you trust and make sure to ask them how you’re looking. I did this during a finals period where I was studying a lot [and taking T-Nation and basketball playoff breaks] and doing little else. I didn’t see a lot of people, and I don’t think friends are going to give you unsolicited opinions, necessarily, the way family would. I thought I was looking real good. But my family came for graduation. Last night, they told be I looked bi-racial [not necessarily a bad thing] and bizarre. I didn’t tell them why-they wouldn’t approve of this. I just said I got a spray-on. I think the way I would do this again would be to take .5mg three times a week in the summer. No ‘loading’ period. And hit the beach on the weekends and maybe get some sun indoors one other day a week. More as an aid to get a nice moderate-dark tan without being extreme.”
So I will be using .5 for a week, just to see how much change that produces, and then I’ll ramp up to .75 or 1mg/day tops. JS was tossing down 2mg/day, and you see the result of that.
Seriously though, I’d much rather take my time, and really allow it to start “cookin”, before I make a solid decision on doseage. Having been a ‘Cabo’ regular years back and worshipped the sun most of my life, I know I tan well. But that’s a different story now, and I haven’t really gotten in to beaching it full bore for several years. That makes me pretty darn white now, lol. So, I want to keep this somewhat subtle, and able to be passed off as simple sun worship.
Today may well be the day I start, if so I’ll probably start a log akin to the others we’ve seen for comparison with my more slow and steady approach.
Keep up the willpower, you are really ratcheting things up, so you’ll need to stay mentally tough.
Best,
ToneBone
Hey, I just realized there is a new function on T-Nation in which, if you just click an image (standard left-click) it will open up a larger image in a new window. Cool.
Good job, it looks like your hard work is starting to reap some rewards. I won’t mention any critiques, as it seems that everything has already been said before. Keep it up, you’re lookin’ solid.
Peace,
Hey Cortes. I don’t want to junk up your thread, so I’ll just say: I answered your questions in my blog. Cheers. It’s a race. Who can get leanest the quickest.
Looking very solid Cortes.
Upper back and shoulders look great in the back double bicep, and you’ve got forearms like a fuckin’ gorilla.
[quote]Cortes wrote:
Jelly Roll wrote:
Fantastic shoulders Cortes. Even with the bad lighting they really stand out.
Jelly
Thanks JR. I think my shoulders are my best bodypart, too. Wish my calves would grow in the same manner.[/quote]
You probably address this in the t-cell alpha thread on calves [maybe not]. But how do you train your calves? I know they are so genetic but still. I have medium calf genetics but I made such a priority to blast the hell out them. So people might think they are a natural specialty which they aren’t. I’m one of the few PL’ers who does not want to walk around with huge thighs and pipe cleaners below the needs
[quote]Cortes wrote:
Well gentlemen, it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Picture (and excuse?) time. First the excuses 
I obviously still have work to do on my posing. There is a HUGE difference between looking in a mirror and then not being able to see what you are doing and looking at the picture afterward.
Also, in all honesty, the lighting really, really washes out my physique. I do not look nearly this smooth right now, but the lighting and the camera work combine to take most of my definition away. Seriously.
The stuff there is no excuse for: chest and calves. I was going to use the one short cycle to work on them when I thought the show was in September. I’m still working on them, but on a caloric deficit I’m not expecting miracles.
Anyway, enough whining. Show is, once again, on July 27th, a little more than 9 weeks away. Obviously still plenty of work to do in the meantime. Let me have it.[/quote]
If i may Cortes, since deciding to compete myself (given myself a little more time to bulk up than you have - a good 12 months), i have learnt a few really good things and i would like to give you some links that have helped.
I dont know how far along you are, but as you said, that posing needs work. All it takes is practice, everyday.
If there is a guy there who is bigger than you but cannot pose for shit, looks awkward, out of place, jerky, nervous and you are fluid, confident and moving from pose to pose with no hesitation, with delberation and ease, and you are a peach on the stage… you will be able to beat him. Practice practice practice… i will link you to some of the things i used to get the basics down for practice: (you may know all this… i just thought you may not too)
http://www.fitnessatlantic.com/article10.htm
http://www.thearnoldfans.com/bodybuilding/posing.htm
http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=2096285
http://www.zone-training.net/articles/BBGuide.pdf
The last one is a FANTASTIC tool.
Good Luck…
[quote]World1187 wrote:
Ya know Cortes… I have a rather fun bit of cardio for you to try.
Find some water a bit deeper than you are tall. Then get yourself a cinderblock. Hold it above your head and start treading. I just broke 9 minutes today and it gets more fun everyday.
It might spice your cardio up a bit for sure man…
If that’s not feasible, PM me and I’ll send you a few good cardio routines I used before one of my contests…
World[/quote]
If you would please, World, PM some of those cardio routines my way. Many thanks.
[quote]arthursaxon wrote:
and you’ve got forearms like a fuckin’ gorilla.
[/quote]
C’mon… They’re not THAT hairy…
[quote]sapasion wrote:
Cortes wrote:
Jelly Roll wrote:
Fantastic shoulders Cortes. Even with the bad lighting they really stand out.
Jelly
Thanks JR. I think my shoulders are my best bodypart, too. Wish my calves would grow in the same manner.
You probably address this in the t-cell alpha thread on calves [maybe not]. But how do you train your calves? I know they are so genetic but still. I have medium calf genetics but I made such a priority to blast the hell out them.
So people might think they are a natural specialty which they aren’t. I’m one of the few PL’ers who does not want to walk around with huge thighs and pipe cleaners below the needs[/quote]
I don’t have a seated or standing calf raise machine, but I have modified the Smith machine so that with a small platform, a padded board, and a bench I can do either of those exercises.
A few months back I was doing between 6 to 8 sets of both seated and standing calf raises every time I went to the gym and that was actually working very well to finally stimulate them to grow.
Unfortunately, I overdid it, injured myself, and couldn’t mess with them or even run for a few months afterward. I’m recovered from that but still wary about going completely balls to the wall like before out of fear of another injury, so I am doing 3 to 4 sets of either seated or standing or leg sled 3 to 4 times a week.
They are growing, and they are not quite as small as the lighting in some of those pictures might lead you to believe, but yeah, they stil have a long way to go to catch up with the rest of me. Any suggestions?