[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
[quote]kakno wrote:
A well deserved thread, I respect what you and bonez do in the beginner’s section. And it looks like you put your knowledge to good use.
And why the fuck do some people hate countingbeans? [/quote]
cuz he’s a soulless ginger with 4 toes on each foot and 6 fingers on each hand. [/quote]
Fuck yeah, GINGER bitches be tha sexah!
I’m sorry I’ve been interjected into your thread Mr. Popular. But I’m getting a kick out of it.
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
[quote]kakno wrote:
A well deserved thread, I respect what you and bonez do in the beginner’s section. And it looks like you put your knowledge to good use.
And why the fuck do some people hate countingbeans? [/quote]
cuz he’s a soulless ginger with 4 toes on each foot and 6 fingers on each hand. [/quote]
Fuck yeah, GINGER bitches be tha sexah!
I’m sorry I’ve been interjected into your thread Mr. Popular. But I’m getting a kick out of it.
[/quote]
Hehe. I would have thought 4 toes on the feet and 6 fingers on the hands would give you a superhuman advantage?
[quote]Elite0423 wrote:
DC training, of any other training routine where a muscle only gets 1 or 2 exercises.[/quote]
In DC training, every muscle group gets 3 exercises, with 3 work sets to failure within one rest-pause. It really isn’t much different from traditional training.
When I train my chest, I will pyramid up to 1 heavy set on flat bench, then a moderate weight set, then pyramid up to 1 heavy set of incline bb/db bench, then pyramid up to 1 heavy set of DB flies. Done.
If I were DC training, instead of going to failure 3 times with 3 different exercises, I go to failure 3 times with 1… and then next time, with a different exercise… and so on…
Hypothetically, after two weeks I’ve gone to failure as many times on flat, incline, and flies with traditional training, as I have with DC training. So it’s just a matter of personal preference.
What I will say about DC training is this: I personally think there is a lot of value in training 6+ hours in a week, and doing “lighter” exercises like flies and side raises. DC training will obviously build mass on a person, and do a better job of it than some masturbatory routine like Farting Strength, because it isn’t neglecting ENTIRE muscle groups and uses progressive overload as it’s guiding principle… however, will DC training make you the best developed bodybuilder you can be? I personally don’t think so.
Starting Strength and Stronglifts are the two routines I can think of that only really use 1 exercise per muscle group… and then they leave a whole bunch of muscle groups off that list as well… the fact is, these programs create neither well-built intermediate bodybuilders, nor strong balanced injury-free intermediate powerlifters. They do a real shitty job of both, and I wish they would just GO AWAY.
Thanks Mr popular, I’ve often seen your posts in the beginner forum and wondered what you looked like. Good to see your pics and it doesnt surprise me that you have made good progress based on your solid knowledge.
I really consider it a service the way you post in the beginner forum, kind of like the way other people volunteer in the community, I’ve learned a lot from people like you and its probably time I start doing it a bit more regularly now that I am beyond the beginner level.
I’ll be reading along with this thread, just so you know there are definately people interested.
Doyle
Ok some questions, You hit 200 recently, what weight did you go up to before you decided to loose a bit of fat?
Also, along the way did you ever take it easy on the eating/bulking for a few months to give your body a rest and “recomp”?.
Have you got an idea how much actual weight you plan on cutting?
Did you take measurements along the way or did you just rely on the scale and the mirror?
[quote]Doyle wrote:
Ok some questions, You hit 200 recently, what weight did you go up to before you decided to loose a bit of fat?
Also, along the way did you ever take it easy on the eating/bulking for a few months to give your body a rest and “recomp”?.
Have you got an idea how much actual weight you plan on cutting?
Did you take measurements along the way or did you just rely on the scale and the mirror?[/quote]
According to the scale this morning I weigh 199lbs. Before cutting weight this time, the heaviest I got up to was 208lbs (the pic above is me fully ‘bulked up’ before dieting).
Once in a great while I will measure my arms or calves or something, because they are my biggest glaring weak points… but in general I just go by the mirror and the scale.
I first hit 200lbs about a year ago, maybe a little more. I think it was on page 2 or 3, but the post where I talked about needing to increase my lat size, and had two front double bicep comparison pictures? Yeah I weigh almost exactly the same in those two pictures, strange as it may be.
Big long story about how I got to this point by sucking really bad and then getting injured because of it:
As far as taking it easy at times, the truth is you could not say I’ve been at all consistent these past several years of lifting lol. There were stretches of lame eating and missing the gym for weeks, there were times I when I trained really hard but didn’t eat, and times where I ate really well but hardly trained. Most of that stuff was in the first year or two, and not surprisingly I looked like crap.
Mostly what I did was eat really well for a month or so, train hard, put on 5-10lbs of muscle and then stagnate for a while out of laziness/lack of motivation. I “spurted” like this all the way from 130lbs to 180lbs (eating too much and training too little), and then it took about the same amount of time to go from 180 to 200 (eating too little and training too much at times). Needless to say I do not recommend this approach, and if I could go back in time I would slap myself.
It was a pretty sad case of analysis-paralysis.
I had the knowledge, but without the CONSISTENCY - in the kitchen and in the gym - I had nothing impressive to show for it.
At one point over a year ago I guess, I badly separated my shoulder, and that completely hindered my upper body training for at least 9 months. I could do next to nothing that involved using my arms. That was an extremely frustrating and painful time for me, and truthfully I’m so happy just to have a shoulder that feels 90% normal again that it has lit a fire under my ass ever since. I remember trying to bench press the bar, and getting shooting pain through my shoulder and arm, and racking it and thinking god damnit if I could just have a normal shoulder again I would never sacrifice my progress for lousy time management or creature comforts, I could be so much more if it weren’t for this injury… and it’s that motivation that took me from 200lbs of gross, to 200lbs of pretty good.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned at this point, is that if you can’t say you’ve eaten at least 1.25 grams of protein EVERY day, trained at least 5 days a week EVERY week, and added some weight to the bar EVERY month… for minimum 3 months… then you have nothing at all to complain about as far as bodybuilding progress goes.
Consistency and Intensity are the two things that reign supreme over all other factors in bodybuilding (including genetics except in some hypothetically rare cases… but go ahead and try to find me one).
You could take one guy, put him on the most advanced bodybuilding program of all time, with the most advanced nutritional support… yet if he only pushes himself just 90% of the time, and if every few days he only eats 2500 calories, he is going to be making less progress than his twin that only does a dozen exercises and eats the simplest diet, but leaves the gym 6 days a week drenched in sweat, and overloads on protein and calories every day without fail.
A word on routines: The problem with following someone else’s pre-made program, is that it’s like trying to learn how to drive by only ever practicing in driving courses. They could be some incredibly complex or difficult courses, but bodybuilding is about reaching a destination… you need to get yourself out onto the open road. There is no course that really prepares you for driving on the highway for the first time.
Mr. popular, i always appreciated ure no bs adivce!!! since ure advanced and know a thing or two about what mistakes people make, i have a few questions. (btw, nice avatar!)
(1.what is your biggest mistake bodybuilding wise in training?
(2.what’s you’re biggest mistake nutritional wise?
(3.what advice do you give to someone who used to be obese(37%bf) by 10 years old, lost it at age 16(165lbs@14%bf) and is now bulking “clean”(hate that word)
(4. and, what’s one advice you have to beginners?
thanks in advance and continue the good job.
will be catching up soon =)
Thanks man, its pretty interesting when you get to talking to people and even the ones that have had great progress never have plain sailing all the way. I like that saying “stop making excuses and make progress” (something like that) successful people are the ones who are consistent and persistent.
I had some injury set backs recently which really made training a drag, but I just continued doing what I could and working around it and I was able to maintain most of my strength. When the problem cleared up I made my best progress all year in the month after.
Itâ??s crazy in that pic of you at 208 that even though you are carrying a bit of body fat your waist is still so small, I guess this is a benefit of starting with such a light frame. BTW IMO your arms donâ??t look like a week point size wise, only in the double bi you can see that as you said your peak is not the best.
You really made a lot of progress on your back width in a year without gaining weight, I guess this means that you support the idea of a “recomp” (improving body comp/getting bigger stronger while staying at the same weight).
The reason I’m interested is that I have experienced this a few time over short periods of a month or two in the past. I would just have a maintenance diet and keep lifting hard and I would get stronger and leaner (loose 2-3cm off my waist) without loosing weight.
I am currently 204.5 and my plan is to continue bulking to 210, however I am getting a bit fatter and I’d like to lean down after I get to 210 before I think about gaining again. So I guess my question is, would it be a good Idea to try and hold my weight at 210 for 6 months or so or would it be better to actually cut weight.
I really donâ??t have much fat to loose before I would feel comfortable to continue bulking maybe a bit over an inch off my waist, I can take some photos if that will help.
I don’t mean to be taking over the thread but hopefully this stuff is useful for other guys too.
[quote]deadliftgoal500 wrote:
(1.what is your biggest mistake bodybuilding wise in training? [/quote]
Thinking that if I did most of the right things, most of the time, that I would still get most of the results. Inconsistency was my biggest mistake.
Consistency, again, but second to that my biggest nutritional mistake was not realizing the importance of protein, and getting at least 1.25 grams of it every single day.
My advice is to stop thinking of things in terms of “clean bulking” or “dirty bulking”, or any other rigid categories for anything. Just understand that form follows function… If you don’t consume any foods conducive to fat gain, and you lift weights intensely 4-6 days a week, and do cardiovascular exercise on a regular basis maintaining a high level of endurance… then what do you think you’re going to look like?
Think of bodybuilding like any other sport, where frequent intense practice is how you improve (and the more the better, up to a point), and understand that being a master of the basics is how you set yourself apart (this is true for any spectacular athlete).
[quote]Doyle wrote:
You really made a lot of progress on your back width in a year without gaining weight, I guess this means that you support the idea of a “recomp” (improving body comp/getting bigger stronger while staying at the same weight). [/quote]
To be clear, after the “before” front double bicep picture was taken I dieted down to about 185-190. However, at that weight I felt flat and small, and had to acknowledge that my lats and arms totally sucked… so my journey back up to 208lbs was spent trashing my back and training my arms twice a week.
I wouldn’t say that I’m a proponent of “the recomp”, but I will say that I do not believe the human body is anything close to as mathematically rigid and mechanical as some would have us believe. Above all I believe we are ADAPTIVE organisms.
6 months sounds excessive as far as maintaining a new bodyweight, but I will say that I don’t recommend making any kind of drastic changes once you hit 210lbs for the first time. If it were me, after hitting 210 I would continue training normally while cleaning up my diet, letting an initial layer of bloat and garbage come off for the first month or two just by avoiding sugar and processed food/drink… and then slowly add in cardio (speedwalking on a treadmill) to bring you down where you want to be.
My thoughts on arm training:
Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that my arms suck. This is both because of poor bicep genetics, and neglectful training early on. The latter I am working hard to fix.
Playing catch-up is not fun. I have never, ever, heard a decent argument for why you should avoid training a major muscle group - and that is true whether your goal is bodybuilding, or powerlifting. Unfortunately I wasn’t smart enough to realize that my first year or two of lifting, so I trained like an idiot. Don’t be like me!
Best exercises for my biceps:
Barbell curls. Usually working up to a heavy cheat set, then dropping down and doing a strict set.
Incline DB curls. All the benefits of regular DB curls, except that you get a stretch at the bottom, which means a greater contraction at the top.
This old-as-dirt nautilus preacher curl machine. I don’t know what the deal is with this thing, but it’s just perfect.
Best exercises for my triceps:
Pushdowns. Plain old boring pushdowns. Though my tip for these is this: as you begin lowering the weight, don’t think about moving your hands up; instead, think about pointing your elbows straight down into the ground… this increases the stretch in the triceps while also keeping tension on them.
Weighted dips. Chin-in-chest, upper back hunched over and shoulder blades together at the bottom.
I do other miscellaneous tricep exercises, but those two are the staple mass-builders.
Thoughts on chest training:
My chest routine is extremely basic, and has been for a while. Flat barbell pressing, incline bb/db pressing, and some kind of fly (for a while now it has been DB flyes and these have really added a new element to the shape and depth of my chest).
I can only speak for myself, but personally going as heavy as I possibly can on chest exercises becomes work mostly for my shoulders and triceps. By going a bit lighter and focusing on the stretch and contraction of the pecs alone, I have seen much better results.
Some big mistakes I see a lot of people making with chest are (a) neglecting to get a stretch at the bottom of the exercise, and (b) doing redundant exercises.
The pectorals are a muscle that I have found respond extremely well to overloading those fibers in a fully stretched position - the more you can stretch them while keep tension on the chest muscles, the fuller and deeper their development will be. You will find this to be true for all the best chests in bodybuilding (in fact, this is true for almost every legendary bodypart you see)
Every exercise I do is chosen for a specific purpose. I would never do flat barbell bench and flat dumbbell bench in the same workout, because I would train whatever came first with enough intensity that by the time I get to the other exercise I wouldn’t be able to lift any worthwhile amount of weight. Some people rely on redundant exercises because they are uncomfortable giving their all to just one exercise for one muscle or action… don’t be one of those people.
You made some amazing progress on your arms man!
Thanks man
Solid.
[quote]mr popular wrote:
Consistency, again, but second to that my biggest nutritional mistake was not realizing the importance of protein, and getting at least 1.25 grams of it every single day.
[/quote]
I’m going to assume you meant 1.25g/lb bw here. lol.
Nope, he just eats 1.25 grams of protein a day. All that extra stuff is bad for your kidneys.
Bad quality phone pic update.
Competed in a powerlifting competition at 194lbs (took third place overall), now I’m back up around 205lbs.
Going to keep bulking until my wife gives birth in a few months.
[quote]mr popular wrote:
Bad quality phone pic update.
Competed in a powerlifting competition at 194lbs (took third place overall), now I’m back up around 205lbs.
Going to keep bulking until my wife gives birth in a few months.[/quote]
what numbers did you put up??
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
[quote]mr popular wrote:
Bad quality phone pic update.
Competed in a powerlifting competition at 194lbs (took third place overall), now I’m back up around 205lbs.
Going to keep bulking until my wife gives birth in a few months.[/quote]
what numbers did you put up??
[/quote]
I had never trained for powerlifting before, so nothing worth writing home about obviously. lol
My butt kept rising off the bench so I never cleared higher than 245. I don’t know how you guys do the whole paused benching thing, it just killed me! There were guys competing that got bumped out of the whole competition because they couldn’t even pause press their first attempt.
Other than that I got a 425 deadlift and a 385 squat.
It was a fun experience and I will definitely be entering future competitions once I get my shit together and actually have decent numbers.
[quote]mr popular wrote:
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
[quote]mr popular wrote:
Bad quality phone pic update.
Competed in a powerlifting competition at 194lbs (took third place overall), now I’m back up around 205lbs.
Going to keep bulking until my wife gives birth in a few months.[/quote]
what numbers did you put up??
[/quote]
I had never trained for powerlifting before, so nothing worth writing home about obviously. lol
My butt kept rising off the bench so I never cleared higher than 245. I don’t know how you guys do the whole paused benching thing, it just killed me! There were guys competing that got bumped out of the whole competition because they couldn’t even pause press their first attempt.
Other than that I got a 425 deadlift and a 385 squat.
It was a fun experience and I will definitely be entering future competitions once I get my shit together and actually have decent numbers.[/quote]
was that comp. sanctioned by a federation??
as for the whole butt thing, i can’t remember where i wrote about that recently but the butt rising is a result of pushing through the soles of your feet. when benching powerlifting style to maintain an arch you actually do more of a leg curl and drive the heels into the floor. this will firmly plant your ass on the bench and get your hips up, get better leg drive and maintain your arch.
those are respectable numbers. keep up the good work.