I have one more question to ask. You say you stuck to basic free weight movements, but did you (and do you still) incorporate any machine work in your training? If so which do you like?
X—Agreed. I was carrying a lot of extra body fat at one point in time, which did allow me to add a lot of lean mass in the process, which when I finally dieted down, really showed. I was more emphasizing the importance of “smart nutrition” to those who use “bulking up” as an excuse to almost completely disregard the importance of consuming the proper nutrients when attempting to add muscle to their frames.
Like 6 donuts versus a homemade pasta meal with a shit load of added chicken/beef…neither is a “clean” meal, but the difference between the two is obvious.
I should have stated this more clearly.
Questions for you: Have you ever dieted down to a low body fat percentage? You’d look amazing.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]synergy93 wrote:
Another successful bodybuilder that doesn’t do an all out bulk in the offseason. [/quote]
Dude, no offense, but YOU bulked up even if you don’t anymore. No one has ever suggested that someone continue bulking up after they are already fucking huge…but I do stand by the fact that most of the really big guys around at one time or another were carrying quite a bit more body fat even if they choose to stay leaner later on.
Alex, you are amazing. Keep up the good work. I wish this site attracted more people like that.[/quote]
@therajraj: Don’t worry man, made the same mistake, until I realized that we’re not created equal (I know I know…duh!!!) and that what is perfect for someone, can be harmful for me, diet wise, training wise and so on, and so forth!
As for the use of machines, I use them often during my offseason, just not when my body is still fresh and efficient. I’d rather use heavy free weights movements, barbell or dumbbell, first in my workouts, and as my body gets more and more tired, thus more prone to injury due to lack of focus, I switch to machines, helping me stay with a strict form. Smith machines is an all around machine I use a lot, where I’ll do many movements like chest and shoulder presses, rows, trap work, close grip press, even some leg work like front squats and split lunges.
[quote]synergy93 wrote:
X—Agreed. I was carrying a lot of extra body fat at one point in time, which did allow me to add a lot of lean mass in the process, which when I finally dieted down, really showed. I was more emphasizing the importance of “smart nutrition” to those who use “bulking up” as an excuse to almost completely disregard the importance of consuming the proper nutrients when attempting to add muscle to their frames.
Like 6 donuts versus a homemade pasta meal with a shit load of added chicken/beef…neither is a “clean” meal, but the difference between the two is obvious.
I should have stated this more clearly.
Questions for you: Have you ever dieted down to a low body fat percentage? You’d look amazing.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]synergy93 wrote:
Another successful bodybuilder that doesn’t do an all out bulk in the offseason. [/quote]
Dude, no offense, but YOU bulked up even if you don’t anymore. No one has ever suggested that someone continue bulking up after they are already fucking huge…but I do stand by the fact that most of the really big guys around at one time or another were carrying quite a bit more body fat even if they choose to stay leaner later on.
Alex, you are amazing. Keep up the good work. I wish this site attracted more people like that.[/quote]
[/quote]
I will pm you about my plans in the near future because I don’t like discussing everything openly, but yes, I have dieted down in the past just not much below 10-11% by calipers.
I only brought that up because some of these newbs really seemed to be missing what all went into you or anyone else looking that filled out and developed.
I have seen very few who can look that thick who never “bulked up” in the past. Even Cedric McMillan wrote in MD about how many hamburgers he ate to put that initial size on. Most of the guys who don’t never seem to look that filled out in my opinion.
People look at the end product and assume things were always like that while ignoring all that it really took over those years to pull that off.
Newbs don’t want to go through those periods of pure size gain. They want to look like cover models from day one 'til huge.
@Professor X: Like I said before, In my early years, I did bulked-up, even did overfeeding for couple years at first. Crazy shakes of 3000 calories a pop, a bowl of oatmeal or pasta the size of Africa, drinking liquid eggs ‘‘Rocky’’ style, been there, done that!
But since Im a mesomorph by nature, putting size was never that tough, so I ended up putting on fat as well!!! I remember my first show, my trainer back then had me ‘‘ballouned-up’’ at 242 lbs, but to a huge 17% bf! 4 months of hell later, I won my first show, looking and feeling like crap, at 176 lbs!!! That experience alone almost had me quit the bodybuilding scene, and from that point on, I never bulked-up that fat during the offseason, and I’ll never will!!!
But your right though, at some point, I feel that you do need to stretch the muscle envelop or fascia, even if that means putting on a bit more fat…but past 14% bf, I also feel that the weight you put on is not quality weight anymore, but merely just fat.
[quote]Alex Raymond wrote:
@Professor X: Like I said before, In my early years, I did bulked-up, even did overfeeding for couple years at first. Crazy shakes of 3000 calories a pop, a bowl of oatmeal or pasta the size of Africa, drinking liquid eggs ‘‘Rocky’’ style, been there, done that!
But since Im a mesomorph by nature, putting size was never that tough, so I ended up putting on fat as well!!! I remember my first show, my trainer back then had me ‘‘ballouned-up’’ at 242 lbs, but to a huge 17% bf! 4 months of hell later, I won my first show, looking and feeling like crap, at 176 lbs!!! That experience alone almost had me quit the bodybuilding scene, and from that point on, I never bulked-up that fat during the offseason, and I’ll never will!!!
But your right though, at some point, I feel that you do need to stretch the muscle envelop or fascia, even if that means putting on a bit more fat…but past 14% bf, I also feel that the weight you put on is not quality weight anymore, but merely just fat.[/quote]
Alex,
How long into your bodybuilding career were you at the point you made this transition? I only ask because from the reading I’ve done about the most impressive physiques in the sport, the “X factor” so to speak, is that they got huge for years before adopting this never go above a certain BF%. Also, you got some freaky calves dude. Awesome.
[quote]Alex Raymond wrote:
@Professor X: Like I said before, In my early years, I did bulked-up, even did overfeeding for couple years at first. Crazy shakes of 3000 calories a pop, a bowl of oatmeal or pasta the size of Africa, drinking liquid eggs ‘‘Rocky’’ style, been there, done that!
But since Im a mesomorph by nature, putting size was never that tough, so I ended up putting on fat as well!!! I remember my first show, my trainer back then had me ‘‘ballouned-up’’ at 242 lbs, but to a huge 17% bf! 4 months of hell later, I won my first show, looking and feeling like crap, at 176 lbs!!! That experience alone almost had me quit the bodybuilding scene, and from that point on, I never bulked-up that fat during the offseason, and I’ll never will!!!
But your right though, at some point, I feel that you do need to stretch the muscle envelop or fascia, even if that means putting on a bit more fat…but past 14% bf, I also feel that the weight you put on is not quality weight anymore, but merely just fat.[/quote]
Dude, I just applaud you for being real about it (synergy as well) because there were years there where I was saying the same shit and people were acting like I didn’t know what I was talking about…even though I was making more progress than the people complaining.
I don’t feel a need to “bulk up” again at this size, but I doubt that starting at 150lbs that I would have ever gotten that big trying to stay under 10% body fat from the start.
We agree as far as the concept.
I was just making sure these newbs quit getting the wrong idea because I have had some even tell me CT never bulked up when he has written as such many times.
That can not be a coincidence.
alex, you are very inspiring and keep up the hard work. I must ask out of curiosity, what is your main shoulder routine? because those delts are amazing!
To Alex (any Synergy, if you read this), both of you have done the tried and true method of bulking up then cutting down at some point in your training careers. However, neither of you seem to be fans of this method. Hypothetically speaking, what route would you have done instead when you first started out (assuming you weren’t training for something else like football or other sports)?
@wiggles: I started lifting when I was 17, overfeeding my 165 lbs frame almost at the same time. I would say I did that untill I was 21 or so, when I finally decided I wanted to get shredded, see what I’d look like…I dieted down from 230 lbs to 190 lbs, when I finally looked ripped enough. From that point on, I started to stay leaner during the offseason, manipulating my carbs, timing and source wise. Then came also my competing career, which helped me stay focussed and on course during offseason.
@coolusername: I have to admit dude, shoulders where always my favorite bodypart to train!!! I use to do a lot of behind the neck presses, heavy lateral raises, heavy rear delt machine…but at some point, my shoulders overshadowed everything, especially my chest, to the point where I had to stop doing shoulder presses for 6 months, only maintaining my delts with light laterals and rear delt movements, in order to get my chest growing again. Thats the main difference between getting bigger or getting better I think, Im a bodybuilder, an artist almost, I want my body to be like a melody sort of speak, every bodypart connects to the next one smoothly.
@iwong: It’s not that Im not a fan of bulking up, it’s just that dieting takes so much energy and is so tough, that now Id never go back to my old ways…which doesn’t mean I dont recommand beginners to follow that route. What I would recommand though, is to be wiser that what I use to be when it comes to calories sources…maxi-mass shakes with tons of sugar, for exemple, wasn’t a smart choice for me. Cheating untill I almost puke, not a smart choice either!!! lol! But stretching your muscle cells by increasing slowly your calories, staying as clean as possible and using healthy fats also, I think, is the way to go!
Something I’ve noticed with a lot of competitors, is that after a couple of times (or even once) of having to drop 40, 50 maybe even 60 lbs for a contest, and then finding out that you only put on 3-5 lbs (on a seasoned trainer, not the younger ones!), well, it can kinda make you wonder if there’s a better way.
S
very impressive, love watching those vids
Hey Alex
Awesome work, CT definitely pushes you guys hard! How much are you weighing at the moment? When are you due to compete?
Keep up the crazy work!
M
@The Mighty Stu: That’s exactly what happened to me!!! My first show, I went to a soft 242 lbs down to a crapy 176 lbs in 4 months, melting away everything, fat AND muscle. So basically, I suffered the whole year, stuffing ma face like crazy during the offseason and then starving for 4 months, not one cheat meal allowed!!! After that show, I said to myself I’d never go thru that kind of torture again!!!
@precedent: On the videos posted so far, my weight was arround 224 lbs or so, but since I competed last saturday (august 14th), and Im now in my ‘‘all you can eat’’ week, that I NEED to have after such a long preparation, otherwise I’d go nuts, I would say my weight is now more arround 235-240 lbs, with a bodyfat arround 8%…its offseason mode for me now and believe me, Im enjoying every moment of it!!! lol!
@dieselallnight: I have to admit, it was strange a bit at first to see me working out on video clips, but now, Im just like you guys, I cant wait for the next one to pop up!!! I had such a blast with the guys, and even though I was on my last week before the show, meaning I was on a strict diet, I still feel that I put on a good 2-3 lbs of muscle during that time, which speaks volume on coach Thibaudeau training methods! There’s genius work behind all his madness, let me tell you!!!
[quote]Alex Raymond wrote:
@wiggles: I started lifting when I was 17, overfeeding my 165 lbs frame almost at the same time. I would say I did that untill I was 21 or so, when I finally decided I wanted to get shredded, see what I’d look like…I dieted down from 230 lbs to 190 lbs, when I finally looked ripped enough. From that point on, I started to stay leaner during the offseason, manipulating my carbs, timing and source wise. Then came also my competing career, which helped me stay focussed and on course during offseason.[/quote]
Thanks for the reply Alex. Yet another testament to “doing it right” the first time, instead of getting caught up in the endless bulk/cut cycle to early. Certainly helps keep me motivated.
Great physique dude!Your calves seem like a very strong bodypart for you.Were they always genetically very good for you or did you have to work hard to bring them up?