[quote]sloh wrote:
1 big bowl of frosted flakes with protein shake poured over (subbbing for the milk),
[/quote]
That sounds so amazing, so amazing.
[quote]Scott M wrote:
Yeah if you aren’t careful your day will end up
Gorge #1
Nap/coma
Gorge #2
Nap/coma
Gorge #3
Nap/coma
Sweaty, hot, bloated… fun for about 10 minutes but you promise you’ll never do that again… well until next Sunday rolls around lol. Your experience sounds right in line with what I hear from just about everyone.
[/quote]
I couldn’t agree with you more. The day of my first refeed, I napped after the first meal expecting to wake up 30 minutes later. I woke up over 3 hours later and almost missed the next meal.
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
That sounds so amazing, so amazing.[/quote]
The first meal is enjoyable. The subsequent meals…not so much hahaha.
2nd meal for today…bowl of frosted flakes with protein shake, bowl of pasta with indian curry, 4 waffles drowned in syrup
3rd meal…3 waffles drowned in syrup, bowl of pasta with tomato sauce, lean cuisine pizza, protein shake
Sloh,
Great work man. What a transformation! If you have dedication to goals like your muscle gaining goals, you’ll ace med school or whatever career you pursue.
Keep it up!
lol Scott I’m the same way when it comes to hearing about refeeds. Last wednesday I had a full box of pancakes with syrup and whipped cream and later in the day a giant bowl of pasta. Technically not completely a skipload though.
Sloh, you mentioned that in the past you cut before holding your weight. So basically the process of 125 → 200 wasn’t all in one go? How many times and at what weights did you try cutting at before getting to 200?
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
lol Scott I’m the same way when it comes to hearing about refeeds. Last wednesday I had a full box of pancakes with syrup and whipped cream and later in the day a giant bowl of pasta. Technically not completely a skipload though.
Sloh, you mentioned that in the past you cut before holding your weight. So basically the process of 125 → 200 wasn’t all in one go? How many times and at what weights did you try cutting at before getting to 200?[/quote]
I’ll preface this by saying that I made progress in spite of some of the things I did. I was not perfect along the whole way but I learned from it and tried to move ahead.
But since you asked…the 125-200 was not all in one go. I always knew in the back of my mind that at some point, I had to at least hit 190 if I ever wanted to compete at 154. There was a point in time in the beginning when I hated the fact that I had to bulk up where I told myself that I wanted to compete in the bantamweights and look like one of the older members on this site “gottatrain” for reasons that I would not have to bulk up as much. Now, I am not bagging on gottatrain’s physique at all. He looks great and he, himself, had also stated that he had to bulk up at least 30 lbs past his competition weight. I can’t find the exact post but he has stated it on this forum in the past…you guys can do a search.
But I absolutely grew to love the physiques that people around the height of 5’5-5’6 carried who competed around 154-165. An example from this site is BA_Warner. Do a search for him and look at his pictures…he is on the very right. I talk about height so much because I believe a couple inches in height makes a world of difference in terms of how big you can look at a certain weight.
I exchanged a few PMs with him and he revealed to me that his highest weight was around 200. He also said that his ideal weight is around 170-175 and anything heavier than that, he just gets fatter…and he recommended me to stay around 10% bodyfat during my bulk.
To be honest, I have heard many people say this over the years after they are big and lean. But IN MY HONEST OPINION…and this is my opinion only…I believe him bulking up to 200 allowed him to compete at 155-160 looking the way he did. Sure, he may not have gotten that heavy again in the future…but he did once…and that is my point.
I’ve gotten to the point where when I see someone around my height who competes around 155-165 and has the physique I like, the FIRST question I ask them is “What is the heaviest you have been in the offseason?” 90% of the time, it’s always AT LEAST 30 lbs heavier. That is the most important question for me…everything else may be important, but I like knowing that first.
Here is BA_Warner’s offseason pic.
I am going a little bit off tangent here but my point is…I believe me throwing in diets along the way from 125-200 hindered my progress. In my opinion, I could have hit this weight in probably similar condition, and in a less amount of time had I went from 125-200 without dieting. However, I would have thrown in maintenance weeks for my body to do recomps. I.e. 125-150…maintain calories high and recomp for 3-4 weeks…continue going up.
I dieted probably twice along this entire journey of 125-200. One time at around 140-150 (yep pretty pathetic) and one time around 170-180. I lost around 10 lbs each time. Each time, I also lost strength right off the bat…because I didn’t maintain and I dropped the cals drastically. Can you imagine what would have happened if I had done a full blown cut then and lost more weight? When I returned to the pre-bulked weight, my body composition was not that drastically different either. Learn from my mistakes.
Good post, sloh. Most of these bigger guys love to act like they always stayed lean…after they got big. It would be much like me dieting down but writing from that point on that I am against bulking up. You literally have to grill and interview some of these guys to find that out though because most love to pretend their genetics are so insane that they hit 230+lbs without ever going above 10% body fat.
If your goal is a SIGNIFICANT GAIN in lean body mass, you have to force that much of a gain unless you simply have legendary genetics for staying lean no matter what. There is no way in hell my body would have accepted the weight I’m at now considering my starting point without simply forcing a huge weight gain (muscle and body fat) earlier on.
That is again not some recommendation to gain body fat. It is a recommendation to listen to your own body and eat and lift accordingly. Not everyone is going to reach their goal if their primary focus is on staying super lean at all times.
Pasta and Indian curry?
Pictures!
Great post Sloh. It’s hard to believe it’s the same guy in those pics, the 2nd one really doesn’t look very impressive but he looks incredible in the 1st. I wonder how he’d look walking around throughout the day (i.e. with clothes on not posing).
Honestly at my height I probably need to get up to around 260 as a top weight, ideally being around 220 8-10% in the end (although I’m sure at that point I’ll want more), really just a matter of time and putting up with the fat gain lol. I’ve considered doing short quick cuts along the way but it does seem like the end result of that compared to just gaining all the way can be pretty small.
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
Great post Sloh. It’s hard to believe it’s the same guy in those pics, the 2nd one really doesn’t look very impressive but he looks incredible in the 1st. I wonder how he’d look walking around throughout the day (i.e. with clothes on not posing).
Honestly at my height I probably need to get up to around 260 as a top weight, ideally being around 220 8-10% in the end (although I’m sure at that point I’ll want more), really just a matter of time and putting up with the fat gain lol. I’ve considered doing short quick cuts along the way but it does seem like the end result of that compared to just gaining all the way can be pretty small. [/quote]
Sounds about right if you are 6’ and 6’1 as it says in your profile. I tend to correlate 7 lbs to each inch in height of difference. The fat gain is temporary and if you’re willing to look past the few years you’ll be softer than you’d like, I am almost certain that after you lean down, you will not regret the sacrifice one bit. Bodybuilding is unlike other sports where the more you practice, the more people see your improvements and offer you praise. There will be those people, particularly the weekend warriors, who will not understand what you’re doing at all. If I’m not mistaken, you said you were also looking to go into medicine? Can you imagine coming out as a doctor and sporting a respectable physique? I’m not trying to be superficial here, but that sounds pretty damn appealing to me.
I will be hitting 190-200 again after I compete, and I am sure I will be leaner and holding more lean mass than the first time I hit this weight.
Sloh your inspiration man. Im 6 foot and I hit 200 a couple of weeks ago. I need to step my game up with out a doubt, good shit.
[quote]sloh wrote:
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
Great post Sloh. It’s hard to believe it’s the same guy in those pics, the 2nd one really doesn’t look very impressive but he looks incredible in the 1st. I wonder how he’d look walking around throughout the day (i.e. with clothes on not posing).
Honestly at my height I probably need to get up to around 260 as a top weight, ideally being around 220 8-10% in the end (although I’m sure at that point I’ll want more), really just a matter of time and putting up with the fat gain lol. I’ve considered doing short quick cuts along the way but it does seem like the end result of that compared to just gaining all the way can be pretty small. [/quote]
Sounds about right if you are 6’ and 6’1 as it says in your profile. I tend to correlate 7 lbs to each inch in height of difference. The fat gain is temporary and if you’re willing to look past the few years you’ll be softer than you’d like, I am almost certain that after you lean down, you will not regret the sacrifice one bit. Bodybuilding is unlike other sports where the more you practice, the more people see your improvements and offer you praise. There will be those people, particularly the weekend warriors, who will not understand what you’re doing at all. If I’m not mistaken, you said you were also looking to go into medicine? Can you imagine coming out as a doctor and sporting a respectable physique? I’m not trying to be superficial here, but that sounds pretty damn appealing to me.
I will be hitting 190-200 again after I compete, and I am sure I will be leaner and holding more lean mass than the first time I hit this weight.[/quote]
Yup either medical or dental school, maybe I’ll just make myself go to the very upper weights then, since I won’t have time for a social life anyway lol.
Then again, even this year I plan on pushing the weight up significantly past what it was before, and I’m certain not the type who needs to see his abs all the time…considering I’ve never been below 11% at best, generally 13-17%. Your right though about when one comes back down and I’m sure your progress when you compete will show that.
the photo’s are amazing, and so are your posts! very inspiring stuff,good luck at your show!
From a private message that I thought would be relevant to this thread.
I have no idea what my arms measure. I don’t have a measuring tape 
They most likely look bigger than they actually measure because I am short. I will say that my arms, more specifically triceps, responded very well from the beginning just like my calves. I can get a pretty good pump in my arms just after 1 set of light curls or extensions. For that reason, I am probably not a good person to ask how to bring up triceps.
I have never used any type of steroids. Supplements I have tried include protein shakes and fish oil. I got to a point in the offseason where I wasn’t even drinking shakes anymore and everything I put in my mouth was solid food. I believe I can achieve my goals relative to bodybuilding with my genetics (which I believe are average) drug-free. Obviously, if I wanted to compete as a lightheavy at my height, I would have to reconsider this…
I do plan on being on some type of HRT when I get older and my natural test levels start dropping. While there are adverse health effects to taking a boatload of drugs, I also believe there are adverse health effects if a male allows their test levels to dip too low.
Finally…I think it’s obvious, but I have absolutely nothing against people who use drugs to further their goals. Progress is progress.
Awesome work Sloh. We see so many self-professed ‘scientific’ minds trying to bodybuild and avoid trial & error by sitting on their asses quoting studies trying to justify the best way to progress. They forget that science is nothing without experimentation. You talk the talk and walk the walk. Brains and brawn.
Kudos.
Sloh, I have already commented on the SICK progress you made but I have a few questions…
Did you find it easy to put on weight after you dieted down? Husky (no offense) fellas seem to put weight on much easier then guys who started out as bean poles.
Second question.
What weight do you plan to hit in your future bulk and have you reconsidered moving up a weight class?
Losing 50lbs must be a mind fuck after you worked so fucking hard to put it on. I respect anyone who diets down to contest condition because I would NEVER attempt such a thing.
[quote]Elite0423 wrote:
Sloh, I have already commented on the SICK progress you made but I have a few questions…
Did you find it easy to put on weight after you dieted down? Husky (no offense) fellas seem to put weight on much easier then guys who started out as bean poles.
Second question.
What weight do you plan to hit in your future bulk and have you reconsidered moving up a weight class?
Losing 50lbs must be a mind fuck after you worked so fucking hard to put it on. I respect anyone who diets down to contest condition because I would NEVER attempt such a thing. [/quote]
Thanks and no offense taken! I’ll try to answer your guys’ questions to the best of my abilities if I feel I am qualified. Don’t hesitate to ask.
When I initially lost around 80 lbs, I had absolutely crashed my metabolism. I wouldn’t even call it dieting, it was crash starvation. I wasn’t eating anymore than 1,000 cals a day while performing around 45-60 min of cardio everyday for a few months. I didn’t want to lift weights b/c I thought it would impede the weight loss. I had an obsession with wanting to be skinny. It was so bad that I would repeatedly go through these day long binging episodes with absolutely no self control, and then go right back to a 1,000 calorie diet for several days after that. I remember one time, I actually found myself shoving my fingers down the back of my throat feeling so guilty that I had binged so much. It was after this incident that I knew I was going down the wrong road and I had to get my shit together.
With that said, yes, the weight would start coming back real quick when I tried to eat like a normal human being again. However, once I committed myself to gaining weight and putting on muscle, I gradually eased myself into the increased food intake and my metabolism picked up.
Whether I put on weight easily is relative to how many calories YOU think is a lot…so I’ll just tell you how many calories it took me to gain weight from what I remember and you can decide from there.
At 135 lbs…I needed around 3,000 cals to gain
At 160 lbs…around 4,000 to gain
At 180-200…I needed around 5,000 cals to gain
Although I was a former fat boy, I don’t necessarily think I necessarily have a slow metabolism. Growing up sitting in front of a computer all day and considering a normal meal 2 boxes of pizza will get anyone fat.
I plan to hit the 190-200 range again on my next bulk. Many people around my height at 5’5-5’7 who compete at around 154 regularly bulk up to the 190 range and diet back down again. I believe that I would have to do the same if I want to continually make improvements. The thing about a contest condition 154 is that when you start bulking back up again, I believe you’ll still be pretty lean at around 170. The 170-195 is not that big of a jump, in my opinion. You have to also take into account the rebound that your body makes the first couple weeks after being that lean and just being more receptive to the food you eat.
For this contest, I am aiming for lightweight. In the future, I would like to stay in the welterweight class. At this point, I don’t have a desire to move up into the middleweight category. The physiques of people like Victor Prisk and Luis Santa are what I aspire to look like.
[quote]sloh wrote:
[quote]Elite0423 wrote:
Sloh, I have already commented on the SICK progress you made but I have a few questions…
Did you find it easy to put on weight after you dieted down? Husky (no offense) fellas seem to put weight on much easier then guys who started out as bean poles.
Second question.
What weight do you plan to hit in your future bulk and have you reconsidered moving up a weight class?
Losing 50lbs must be a mind fuck after you worked so fucking hard to put it on. I respect anyone who diets down to contest condition because I would NEVER attempt such a thing. [/quote]
Thanks and no offense taken! I’ll try to answer your guys’ questions to the best of my abilities if I feel I am qualified. Don’t hesitate to ask.
When I initially lost around 80 lbs, I had absolutely crashed my metabolism. I wouldn’t even call it dieting, it was crash starvation. I wasn’t eating anymore than 1,000 cals a day while performing around 45-60 min of cardio everyday for a few months. I didn’t want to lift weights b/c I thought it would impede the weight loss. I had an obsession with wanting to be skinny. It was so bad that I would repeatedly go through these day long binging episodes with absolutely no self control, and then go right back to a 1,000 calorie diet for several days after that. I remember one time, I actually found myself shoving my fingers down the back of my throat feeling so guilty that I had binged so much. It was after this incident that I knew I was going down the wrong road and I had to get my shit together.
With that said, yes, the weight would start coming back real quick when I tried to eat like a normal human being again. However, once I committed myself to gaining weight and putting on muscle, I gradually eased myself into the increased food intake and my metabolism picked up.
Whether I put on weight easily is relative to how many calories YOU think is a lot…so I’ll just tell you how many calories it took me to gain weight from what I remember and you can decide from there.
At 135 lbs…I needed around 3,000 cals to gain
At 160 lbs…around 4,000 to gain
At 180-200…I needed around 5,000 cals to gain
Although I was a former fat boy, I don’t necessarily think I necessarily have a slow metabolism. Growing up sitting in front of a computer all day and considering a normal meal 2 boxes of pizza will get anyone fat.
I plan to hit the 190-200 range again on my next bulk again. Many people around my height at 5’5-5’6 who compete at around 154 regularly bulk up to the 190 range and diet back down again. I believe that I would have to do the same if I want to continually make improvements. The thing about a contest condition 154 is that when you start bulking back up again, I believe you’ll still be pretty lean at around 170. The 170-195 is not that big of a jump, in my opinion. You have to also take into account the rebound that your body makes the first couple weeks after being that lean and just being more receptive to the food you eat.
For this contest, I am aiming for lightweight. In the future, I would like to stay in the welterweight class. At this point, I don’t have a desire to move up into the middleweight category. The physiques of people like Victor Prisk and Luis Santa are what I aspire to look like.
[/quote]
Thanks for answering that Sloh. Guys who make significant progress are a dime a dozen and you’ve done just that both with fat loss and muscle/strength gains. Keep it up because what you’re doing is obviously working.
Hey Sloh how much weight per week did that level of calories have you gaining at? I remember back when I was around 160 I was eating about 4000 calories per day but honestly I was gaining way too fast. This last year, even though I was heavier, I noticed I gained at a good rate with ~3000. Part of it was that in the past if weight gain wasn’t where I wanted it to be for just 1 week I would increase ~300 calories so it added up pretty quickly even though I would have continued gaining without increasing so quickly.
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
Hey Sloh how much weight per week did that level of calories have you gaining at? I remember back when I was around 160 I was eating about 4000 calories per day but honestly I was gaining way too fast. This last year, even though I was heavier, I noticed I gained at a good rate with ~3000. Part of it was that in the past if weight gain wasn’t where I wanted it to be for just 1 week I would increase ~300 calories so it added up pretty quickly even though I would have continued gaining without increasing so quickly. [/quote]
It came out to about 5 lbs per month, so about 1 lb per week if you broke that down. If I’m able to gain weight on 4,000 calories, I don’t go on and eat 5,000 to force more. This is largely individual though. If someone is first starting out or has great genetics, they can push the envelope and gain more than 1 lb per week. Around 1 lb per week seemed to work well for me.
There were times where my weight would not budge and I would have to keep pushing the calories. I remember during these times, I had to push my caloric intake up to around 5500 calories to gain. After busting through that plateau, it seemed that my body would start gaining on lower calories again, leading me to believe that the body grows in spurts and it’s not one linear trend.
what does 5k calories a day look like ?