Woke at 245.7 lbs, looking very similar to yesterday. Not sure where that came from TBH.
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I’ve said it before but I really fucking hate eating these days. I’m tired of eating till I feel sick and then keep going until the portion is done.
Twenty-two pounds to go and then I can finally start shifting to maintenance mode while I decide if I need to cut back and rebuild or just sit.
I know I’m fat right now. My waist is still smaller than my chest though, not by a ton but enough I guess. Strength is OK, I think, overall - at least as far as I can tell accounting for the fatigue I’m carrying.
If I do decide to cut back down from 260 lbs it won’t be to less than 220 lbs, and it won’t be until after my next meet. I think I’ve got another half year until I get to 260, at most. Maybe less.
I should probably take some photos and put them up. Some informed feedback would be useful.
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Your commitment to gaining weight is admirable
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I know exactly what you mean about being sick of eating. When I get to that stage I usually just revert to a few high calorie high protein shakes a day to give the jaw a break
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Todays training
Band work, wide neutral grip pull-ups (nine. Room for 10. Major boost for me, I was getting worried for a bit but turns out all I need is to bring my grip in to just over shoulder width and have a neutral grip), hand release push-ups
Bench press
5xbar - tried no cuffs. Yeah, nah
5xplate
3x176 lbs
1x209 lbs
4x2x236 lbs - couldn’t dial my setup in, elbows kept fucking around and not flaring right
11x236 lbs - setup decided to cooperate. Just ij time. Should’ve left it at 10, but wanted the 11th. Some bar dip but managed to get through the sticking point. Lower back cramped up a bit and quads pumped the hell up
https://www.instagram.com/p/BobWESJgs_G/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1djr6dizvi7sh
Spoto press
3x5x187 lbs, three second pause of the last rep of each set
Dips
3x10 at bodyweight - right lower lat cramped on the first set. Go figure
Seated row
4x10 with bands as we don’t have a seated row machine
Inverted rows
1x15
DB lateral raises
2x12x27 lbs
All up an hour and 40 minutes, extra thorough stretching. Somehow this week so far everything feels easier. I think it’s a combination of three good sleeps over the long weekend and my body adjusting to the new working maxes.
Here are some pictures of me in band lighting and underwear. Cue @the_myth @BOTSLAYER @danteism @anon96032531 @yogi1 @littlesleeper
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Under your fluff you have obviously built a really solid physique, especially your upper body
You always had solid legs, but the deadlifting and pull ups have obviously paid off Because your back is brilliant
You are wanting to continue powerlifting and stay within your current class?
If I was in your position, I’d recomp of sorts, stay within 10kg of your current weight and try lower your body fat,
Not a cut by any means but enough that you’re within a decent %, but still increasing lifts
How’s your quality of life with everything? Is the weight playing a factor in anything?
I know as soon as I hit +135kg, everything turns to shit and I know you’ve mentioned you’re hating the food
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Thanks man.
Yeah, recomp is tempting but I’m a stubborn SOB. Recomp will be for when I’ve hit around 120 kg and normalised that. I can live with forcing the food down for another half year or so. I might just whinge about it occasionally 
once I’m not trying to add weight I’ll be able to dial back the intake.
Quality of life isn’t really impacted much. Nothing that outweighs the progress, at least. Not a fan of lacing up my shoes though…
I’m not fussed about staying in a weight class. I just want my 7/4/7. I’m fairly certain I’ll need to be in the 125s to get it just for the bench. Whether that’s 125 on the nose or 115ish remains to be seen. That’s what’s going to determine whether I recomp sooner rather than later. The other factor will be whether I’ll need to cut back simply to have room to add muscle, and I think that will be determined by my total.
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Does Greg have any advice?
My take from it is I’d rather have more muscle and less fat, and if I’m still hitting that total but physically I look and feel healthier with the added bonus of a little cut that drops you down a class but you still lose no numbers would be ideal
There’s also the other big determining factor, and that’s what misses KO thinks😂
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yea lol. squirt fest.
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Looking strong as fu*k.
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AAA-grade Beef.
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What a fatass! Oh, wait, I was looking in the mirror… Looking strong, man!
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You should use the quote function when you’re replying to a comment further up the thread.
I had to search the comment to which you were replying.
Talking about a squirt fest after Mark posted pics plus a comment about how his wife feels about his body really confused me. 
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I was really confused as well 
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Looking pretty thick, man.
From a bodybuilding perspective; your back (especially the yoke area) and quads are great. Hard to say anything about hamstrings without a side view. So you got the “go” muscles on point.
Show muscles could use a bit more work (namely delts and arms), but as you are a powerlifter I’m pretty sure that doesn’t matter too much to you. Also, delts and arms look a lot better once a person diets down and the lines become more pronounced.
All in all, if/when you decide to diet again I’m 100% sure that we’ll have a vastly improved lean Mark around.
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Woke at 242.2 lbs, less bloated.
Thanks guys. Helps to have external feedback.
Greg’s position is that it’s fine to get leaner, but be prepared to get weaker. I’m not prepared to do that for a while.
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I thought you were carrying a bit more fat that you really are.
Your quads Mark are stupidly big. Awesome.
And your back is big and full.
Keep stuffing Mark 
I would let the daily mobility and moving around be the determining factor.
As long as you can move around, run a bit without pain or discomfort, jump high and long you’re good to go if by a point you can’t do it, I would cut back a bit and recomp.
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eek! lmao. good point.
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Nah, I like the ambiguity
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I couldn’t do that weighing 185
I get what you mean though, and that’s a brilliant idea. So far, so good.