I’m consistent now, but I just feel my body is a slow fucking responder for some odd ass reason. I can’t believe I’m still stuck at benching 145, which just depresses the fuck out of me, but I guess we are all built different.
And I know, muscle makes everything better lol. I’m really judging by my waist (navel/belly) line, once it gets to 31 inches I can look to clean-bulk and put myself in a surplus again.
My only issue is rebounding, I have gone countless times from 65kg to 95kg back to 70kg to 90kg back to 66kg back to 83kg, I want to avoid this now. I guess it helps having this log and this community holding me accountable. I really really want it this time! Still only 23. There is a chance by 24/25 I can look good!
Just listen to all the guys in here giving you solid advice and you’ll be huge before you know it. I wished I’d have started out by listening to all their advice lol
Spoken like an anorexic.
Let it go. Don’t worry about it. Just lift and walk and eat clean and follow your program, and the future is bright. Don’t down talk your 145 bench. It is not a bad starting point and will get better. No need to mentally torture yourself over what was, or what could be, or genetics. You can be big and strong or jacked or whatever. It will take years. That’s ok.
It seems like the reason might be because you go to each extreme way too often… why not skip the cut, eat a moderate amount of good food and just aim to get stronger?
Cutting to 150lbs with minimal muscle probably wasn’t the way to get muscular and eating back up to 180lbs quickly isn’t the way to get lean… Just eat to your appetite and work your ass off man.
Ps I could not even squat 135 when I was 20. I trained 4x/wk and was skinny fat and weak.
So embarrassed by my light squats that I didn’t squat. Idiot. I’d have hit 315 years ago if ego weren’t a factor. Now, I’m close. 2 years on the straight and narrow, give or take.
Yeah I wont be going extreme this time. I’m sticking to the plan, small deficit for 3-4 weeks and then try to put my body in optimal conditions for gaining muscle/strength.
you are right, I have always gone extreme and thus bounced between 65 to 95kg constantly.
this time I’m seriously putting my faith in the program. I won’t cut for months this time, just 3-4 weeks to get some fat off and then follow his clean bulk once I hit 76-77kg.
I agree, it’s not that I’m worrying, I’m trying to structure a plan.
Good habits are great (I feel I have good habits now, consistently at the gym 5AM, diet is on point, tracking all macros, clean foods)
But you still need a plan regardless since your body is either in deficit, maintenance or surplus.
3-4 more weeks of this deficit and then let’s see where the bench numbers are at and what the waist, physique is at.
Just so you know, your waist will get larger if you put a good amount of muscle on, even if you lose fat. My waist at navel is 36" and I have abs. I think my lower back muscles have grown a lot. Most people say I look pretty good even though my waist is 36". 32" would be like stage ready for me. If you want to see what I look like with a 36" waist, you can check out my training log. It’s something like Ben’s Training: The Stupid Thread 3. Arnold had a 34" waist on stage as a reference.
My main point here is muscle can do a lot for you for the way you look. It isn’t as clear as just having a small waist. Proportions will change as you put on muscle.
Yes I think so too.
If the 30% body fat figure is correct, I’m holding just 0.3*175 = 52 lbs of fat on my 6 foot frame.
I’m just trying to milk this progression as much as I can in the next 3-4 weeks and then switch to maintainence/small-surplus, I know if I keep cutting I’ll end up like my 66kg physique again.
Yeah that makes sense. Out of curiosity, how big is your wrist? I think that determines some information about your frame in general. Mine is about 6.4 inches.
They say that the wrist doesn’t change much in size. I beg to differ. I used to be able to touch my thumb and middle finger around my wrist. There is at least .25" gap now. Additionally, there isn’t a significant difference in fat. I might be leaner than when I could touch my fingers together.
Maybe a bit bigger than average. My rib cage is larger than most guys my size (I am 5’10"), and my shoulders are a bit wider than most (that was true untrained, trained I am considerably wider than most). I am no freak or anything though, I know guys that seem like they should turn sideways to go though an average door.
Nice, you can put on a lot more mass and strength with bigger frames.
My training aspiration isn’t to reach that level, like I once mentioned, I’d be happy if I can look good in a muscle-fit shirt and shirtless. Some size, hopefully 225 bench for reps (which should help with size) and just being lean.
I do hope this new path I have taken will help me get there.
Hey, good on you for starting a log on here and seeking out/heeding good advice. That’s a huge first step!
Wanted to point out the statement you made above - there isn’t much about frame size that will have any effect on how much muscle you can hold, strength you can have, or fat you will carry until you near your genetic potential. It will make a tiny bit of difference in your current state, so I would ignore it because it can become a baked-in excuse for lack of progress. Even genetics as well. There’s no reason for you not to make good, strong progress for a decent amount of time provided you eat clean 90% of the time, get enough protein and rest, and work your ass off in the gym.
physique again.