Need Some Advice

Training Bodybuilding
1

Good Morning.

I’m looking for advice on whether some goals I have are achievable. Let me just tell you a little bit about myself.

I’m from Australia, 17yrs old, 5’6", weigh between 56 and 59kg (123-130lbs) and fairly certain that anyone with half the mind to do so could crush me into a fine powder. Oh, and I’m vegetarian (brought up this way my whole life - religious reasons).

Previously I’d been doing karate for about 3 and a half years until I hyper-extended on a front kick and tore a cartilage in my left knee in June 2005. Due to this I worked on my arms a lot more. However in December of the same year while doing push-ups, somehow or other I injured my left elbow as well. So since then I’ve done virtually no ‘real’ exercise as now the left side of my body is pretty much useless.

I’ve only just had an operation on my knee in August 2006 since I couldn’t afford it at the time, which worked out for about a month before it relapsed into a slightly worse condition. As for my elbow, doctors say they’ve never seen any condition like it. I can’t lift anything heavier than, say, 10kg, but that is pushing it to its absolute max.

I’ve always put on weight very easily (my thighs are atrocities on their own) so to stay somewhat healthy I’ve really only gone for about a 30-60min walk every day and maybe some light 5kg weights here and there over the last 1.5 years.

Now, my goal is to be able to bulk up considerably and then get myself to something like 5% body fat, much like this guy, except maybe a bit more bulky:

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=790345

My question is - if tomorrow I woke up and I was magically completely physically fit and able to start working out, do you think I could attain a body like that in about a years time? Is that remotely possible or am I getting ahead of myself? I’ve read through some threads and I can tell that a lot of the posters here are pretty hardcore bodybuilders. My main goal is for the weights to complement my martial arts training but a body like that^ one wouldn’t go amiss either.

So one year. One year. Possible?

Thanks in advance for any help or insight you guys can offer.

2

Maybe depends on where you are now and how hard you work.

#1 you gain really easy yet your roughly 123 lbs that doesnt pan out.
You need to get healed concentrate on recovery get to working out, eating right and enough. aim to do better then your self every day take some kindd of little step and see what the heck you can do in a year 5 years life. your not doing a thing thinking about it put it top cation and do it.

Phill

3

The best example of a vegetarian bodybuilder would be Bill Pearl. He defeated all the great bodybuilders of his time. The guy in the pic had very little bodyfat but in order to put on an appreciable amount of size and strength you’ll have to add a little bodyfat. I was your exact same size when I graduated from high school and now weigh close to 190 lbs at 5’8". On another note, and I’m not sucking up to Phill but he is one of the few people here who knows what the hell he’s talking about. Beware of a lot of the advice from some of the “hardcore bodybuilders” on this site as many have never competed, have no idea what they’re doing and merely repeat what they’ve read.

4

Ah yea Phill, forgot to expand on that point. I actually put on some weight when I first got injured… weighed roughly 150lbs. That’s why I go walking every day and those small dumbells just to burn off what I can. Also alternate between low carb and low energy foods. Is there anything in particular you recommend I try eating to keep up my nutrition? Most of the information you find on this site is all based on the assumption that, well, you can burn it off at the gym.

And thanks for the tip TornadoTommy. 190lbs, nice. But really, you were the same as me when you graduated high school? 5’8" is like a lost dream for me =P How the heck did you get taller? Anything in particular? And how old are you now?

5

[quote]fever wrote:
Ah yea Phill, forgot to expand on that point. I actually put on some weight when I first got injured… weighed roughly 150lbs. That’s why I go walking every day and those small dumbells just to burn off what I can. Also alternate between low carb and low energy foods. Is there anything in particular you recommend I try eating to keep up my nutrition? Most of the information you find on this site is all based on the assumption that, well, you can burn it off at the gym.

And thanks for the tip TornadoTommy. 190lbs, nice. But really, you were the same as me when you graduated high school? 5’8" is like a lost dream for me =P How the heck did you get taller? Anything in particular? And how old are you now? [/quote]

Yhea id read JB’s seven habits article and keep it simple and nail those for your diet nail; a soldi clean diet recoever and come back strong.

Phill

6

[quote]fever wrote:
Ah yea Phill, forgot to expand on that point. I actually put on some weight when I first got injured… weighed roughly 150lbs. That’s why I go walking every day and those small dumbells just to burn off what I can. Also alternate between low carb and low energy foods. Is there anything in particular you recommend I try eating to keep up my nutrition? Most of the information you find on this site is all based on the assumption that, well, you can burn it off at the gym.

And thanks for the tip TornadoTommy. 190lbs, nice. But really, you were the same as me when you graduated high school? 5’8" is like a lost dream for me =P How the heck did you get taller? Anything in particular? And how old are you now? [/quote]

Actually I’m a bit under 190 lbs (about 186-187 lbs) and I’m probably somewhat shorter after a heavy squat session,lol. You may or may not get taller, it’s all in your genes. Just make the most of what nature gave you. Good luck with your rehabilitation.