Start Cutting or Go Progressive

Training Bodybuilding
41

[quote]timmwwaa wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Siphus wrote:
Thats strange you said 15" arms, cuz mine are 16! lol.

I have no need to be massive.
Perhaps an underwear model IS a good example… lol I’ve always strived to have a body like:

http://www.sexyhollywoodactors.com/profile_pics/christian_bale.jpg

or god forbid!:

Although that picture has been done to death before… and everyone agrees hes too skinny… I think you get my drift. It might seem like an easy goal to some of you meso’s, but not for me :slight_smile:

But anyways, most of my questions have been answered, and then some, and I appreciate your figurative slap in the face and kick in the ass to help me get back into gear. Thanks, again.

Is this what represents what has taken over this site? This is a BODYBUILDING forum. I truly think some of you have gotten lost.

Prof X, I truly appreciate your commitment to this site and the forums however, in my opinion the whole site has changed. Look at the articles focusing on muscle shaping and not getting too big. Look at the supplements–compared to even a few years ago… But alas all things change, continue your fight.[/quote]

On the contrary, this site has chosen to finally start hyping bodybuilding again as seen with their promotion of Stan McQuay (it took them long enough). Many of those skinny guys have stopped posting hundreds of pics of their toothpicks in the photos forum (which was truly getting out of control). Things like that happen when people speak up and quit allowing shit to just happen. Alas, keep believing that people can’t have an effect on their environment.

42

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Alas, keep believing that people can’t have an effect on their environment.[/quote]

X I honestly believe you have an effect on every environment that you encounter. Some people are just sheep however, and play follow the leader all day long.

43

I’m seriously disturbed if you’ve been training a year and your max bench is still 160ish. This tells me there is something fundamentally wrong in your approach. Sure, you may have lost some strength doing the V-Diet, but that would’ve bounced back fast. Even if it didn’t, you’ve had plenty of time to build it since then.

You seem to have a good knowledge, so what is lacking? Are you really pushing yourself in the gym? Is your max really your max or are you afraid to put some more weight on the bar?

If you have health insurance, I would consider seeing a doctor and maybe having your T-levels checked or looking for other possible reasons for your lack of progress.

I’m not a huge fan of canned programs, but you might want to find a beginner one on this site and literally follow it with zero tweaks, then see where you’re at in a few months.

Most definitely you do NOT want to cut. Eat a lot of food, but make sure you are busting your ass all week long. Take pictures, take measurements, follow your progress. If things moving in the right direction, then keep doing it. If not, change one variable and see how it goes.

44

One of the biggest misconceptions in this whole issue of goal setting is that skinny guys seem to think that if they don’t want to be as big as an IFBB pro the rules are essentially different than if they just want to “get bigger and stronger”. As if you really don’t have to eat that much or work that hard unless freakhood is your goal.

Any kind of significant change requires significant work and lots of fuel. Beyond puberty and “the newbie gains” (that was great lol!) the human body doesn’t grow lean mass easily. The rules are the same no matter what the end goal is.

Further, has anybody ever met someone or even seen someone here who said “I’m done growing now. I never want to get any bigger”? Almost to a man everybody’s always saying they want to be bigger, but as soon as you prescribe any kind of recipe for growth it’s “well, I don’t really wanna be huge”

It doesn’t matter. Train like you do anyway. You can always knock it off if you ever start to worry about how big you’re getting.

45

[quote]oldskinnyfat wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Christian Bale is not skinny in Batman Begins. He IS skinny in the picture you posted from American Psycho.

Yeah but he was ripped in the machinist :stuck_out_tongue:

[/quote]

Ripped? The guy lost like 60lbs by going on an eat nothing and do nothing program. That’s not ripped, that’s sickly… I was freakin impressed when he showed up for Batman with a good 40lbs on his pre-machinist frame tho.

46

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Christian Bale is not skinny in Batman Begins. He IS skinny in the picture you posted from American Psycho. In your first post it says you started at 185lbs and are now 190lbs. Even at your heaviest you were 205lbs which is a 20lbs gain (about what most beginners could expect if they ate enough to gain). Where did 35lbs come in? I showed you exactly where you messed up…by cutting off all human contact and saying that this represents “dedication”. How old are you?[/quote]

I started 2 year ago at 175 lbs. I started my workout half-assed for about half a year, then I found T-Nation. I then gained a quick 10lbs to 185. After this, I bought all the “fuel” i could afford and continued towards a max of 210lbs and a 1RM on bench by 25% more than i started.

After this, I V-dieted down to 185 again, a bigger, 185 though. After this, I lost membership to my gym, and have gained 10lbs… probably from lots of fat, considering i havent worked out in the past 3 months. I am currently 192 lbs, at 22 years old.

[quote]I’m seriously disturbed if you’ve been training a year and your max bench is still 160ish. This tells me there is something fundamentally wrong in your approach. Sure, you may have lost some strength doing the V-Diet, but that would’ve bounced back fast. Even if it didn’t, you’ve had plenty of time to build it since then.

You seem to have a good knowledge, so what is lacking? Are you really pushing yourself in the gym? Is your max really your max or are you afraid to put some more weight on the bar?

If you have health insurance, I would consider seeing a doctor and maybe having your T-levels checked or looking for other possible reasons for your lack of progress.

I’m not a huge fan of canned programs, but you might want to find a beginner one on this site and literally follow it with zero tweaks, then see where you’re at in a few months.
[/quote]

My bench was heavier at one time, but it has since gone down since the V-diet, and a 3 month off period. Baically a 4 month calorie insuffient diet, plus non-gym sessions. Shit happens. It migh thave bounced back fast, but I didnt get the chance to find out, since like I said, my membership got revoked due to lack of funds. The gallons of alcohol a week didnt seem to help either.

And no, I dont have health insurance.

I’m back on track now, today was my third gym session this week, and for anyone that cares, I’ll make a post on my progress. Its obviously starting off slow, but I’m hoping for a quick jump back to where I was a few months ago.

Prof X-

There are lots of different perspectives on the “perfect” body. Type “top sexiest male celebrities” in google, and I’m sure you’ll find more Brad Pitts and Orlando Blooms than you will Vin Diesels and Ronnie Colemans.

There is nothing wrong with this. But maybe its time to put away your hatred towards the “new mainstream” and accept that shit changes and not everyone wants the same thing.

47

[quote]Siphus wrote:
Prof X-

There are lots of different perspectives on the “perfect” body. Type “top sexiest male celebrities” in google, and I’m sure you’ll find more Brad Pitts and Orlando Blooms than you will Vin Diesels and Ronnie Colemans.

There is nothing wrong with this. But maybe its time to put away your hatred towards the “new mainstream” and accept that shit changes and not everyone wants the same thing.

[/quote]

Let me let you in a secret…CELEBRITIES GET ASS…JUST FOR BEING CELEBRITIES. I know, it sounds crazy, doesn’t it? You just can’t believe that women aren’t just going for their body type but that the guy’s celebrity status is counting for about 90% of the attraction in the first place.

That means your best shot is to get your broke no job having ass some real money and possibly a decent job so you can have a shot too. Being skinny with abs doesn’t fly for too long out of high school if “broke with no future” tags along with it.

Fads come and go…and then come back again and go again. While you spend your time chasing something GUARANTEED TO CHANGE in the next 5-10 years, you could be going after something with more substance…like possibly chasing your own goals instead of basing them solely on what you THINK other people want right now.

48

[quote]juicyfruitred wrote:
oldskinnyfat wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Christian Bale is not skinny in Batman Begins. He IS skinny in the picture you posted from American Psycho.

Yeah but he was ripped in the machinist :stuck_out_tongue:

Ripped? The guy lost like 60lbs by going on an eat nothing and do nothing program. That’s not ripped, that’s sickly… I was freakin impressed when he showed up for Batman with a good 40lbs on his pre-machinist frame tho.[/quote]

It was a joke and I laughed.

To the OP, if this whole thread was not a prank, take the good advice given here.

We are not all huge and many of us do not want to get huge but the same rules apply.

49

Wait, you’re a “dedicated” trainer and your max bench is 170?
What?
I’m a cross country runner and my max bench is in the 190’s.
Also, have you ever heard of squats and deadlifts? I’m by no means an expert, but I think most of the contributors to this website would agree that “random leg exercises” are not really sufficient.
I think you should stop worrying so much about all of this crap and start doing basic lifts, like me. Especially if you’re just starting over. Do compound exercises, leave out most of the isolation crap and focus on getting the basic strength down. Then you can look ahead to see how to better reach your goals.
Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like you should have a good solid strength base before you worry about how you look.