You are most definitely thick. Very impressive and massive.
I have posted this picture a few times. It was taken by Doris Barrilleaux called The First Lady of Bodybuilding. She took many contest photos around southern Florida and usually in black and white.
This was taken at the 1992 Masters Nationals. I finished 2nd in the Heavyweight Class and weighed in at 218lbs (much smaller than you)
Great pic, and great pose! Black and white bodybuilding pics for some reason just have a much greater impact, visually. I’ve always liked that twisting back shot, and it looks good only on a certain type of physique, such as yours. The person has to be muscular while also having wide shoulders and a small waist….it is NOT a pose that can really be pulled off by just a sheer mass monster. I reckon it would make them look like a fire hydrant, haha. Very impressive indeed. If I remember I might ask my wife if she knows where my competition photos are around here.
I still lift heavy, but not insane heavy like when I competed…you tend to lighten the weight when you get older, or rather, when your joints, tendons, etc. get older. I also have removed most of the heavy free weight lifts, esp. ones that are brutal on your skeletal system e.g. barbell back squats, deadlifts, heavy incline barbell press[favoring now the incline smith machine] barbell military press…. BUT, to any young guys reading this, the GREAT thing about the human body is muscle maturity, which also yields muscle density. I don’t have to lift near as much weight anymore and I’ve still retained much of my size (right now I’m weighing 300-305lbs but the crazy thing is, when I tell people I weigh that much, they are shocked because they say I don’t take us near as much room as a regular/fat person at that weight. But I tell them that muscle tissue is much denser/more compact than fat tissue). Kids at the gym are always scratching their heads when they see how I look and then see the moderate weight I’m lifting….of course that also comes down to having decades of lifting experience so I know precisely what exercises to do, what form, how many reps, and all the little twists/holds/extras to do, WITHOUT just piling weight on. My wife always remarks how she thinks my muscles now are MUCH harder/denser than when I was younger, so, to the young guys, if you keep lifting, day after day, week, month, year after year, your muscles will only continue to get thicker/denser/harder. Only now do I realize how it all works…when I was the young guy in the gym and I’d see these older guys who were just big and thick, I immediately thought there was some sort of trick, some secret drug combination, some special exercises, etc. and they would tell me no. Naturally I would get irritated and think they were full of shit. But now I realize that it’s is TIME that will continue to hone your physique.
I would be nice if you can find some more competition pics. You cannot fake a massive look. You are either massive or you are not.
It is my position that competitive Bodybuilding for me is as much the art of deception as it is displaying your physique. The better you hide your weak aspects and present your strength, the higher you place. And I was far from massive. The more massive you are the less deception is necessary.
It took me 11 years of training to get to my first National level contest (1979 Jr USA), with the last 9 years prioritizing on improving my thighs. Even then 13 additional years later my thighs vastly improved in muscle maturity and density.
The maturity of muscle is amazing.
Hell yeah… fucking tank.
Im curious op. Hows the back look and lower body?
Im curious op. Hows the back look and lower body?
Hey man,
Back width is definitely my stronger area at the minute I think, but need to work on thickness, see pic below:
Terms of legs, definitely starting to see a bit more vascularity and a smidge of separation. I’m definitely strongest in my legs too from all the years in rugby.
I also used a different body measurement scale at my new gym. Still not going to be 100% accurate of course but it did put me at 17% BF and 208 which is more in line with people’s guesses here.
I’m focussed now on another year of clean bulk and responsible AAS use with regular bloods, if I can get to this time next year and put another 15-20 pounds on, loosely targeting 180-190 after a cut ready for some comps over the summer!
Thanks bro! Yeah, no one believes me when I tell them I weigh 305lbs at 5’11, but, yeah, I do. It really is a testament to muscle being MUCH denser than fat, and taking up less “space”.
@Hoppo92 Legs do looks good man, keep hitting them hard, and focus more on your hamstrings with stiff leg deadlifts, lying leg curls, glute-ham raise (if you have one).
As for your back, yeah, you have some width but being brutally honest mate, you HAVE to get some thickness! You need to ideally hit back twice a week, with an emphasis on HEAVY T-bar rows, barbell bent over rows, dumbbell rows, seated cable rows (alternate using the close grip attachment and the wide grip attachment to target different areas in the mid/upper back). I would also advise HEAVY deadlifts, or if those are a problem for you, then you have to AT LEAST do HEAVY rack pulls man. NOTHING will put slabs of muscle on your back like deadlifts/rack pulls.
You can do it, but you have to just start training with some crazy intensity and pushing yourself with heavy weights (not so heavy that you jerk or use crap form, though).
And none of this resting 4-5 mins between sets…give yourself 60-90 seconds between sets…maybe 2 mins on your last real heavy sets. That’s the biggest problem I see also with these kids nowadays in the gym, they stretch out 3 sets on an exercise over 15 minutes. How can you get a good pump, much less really exhaust the muscle, if you rest so long?
If you are really training hard, you should be like me when you leave the gym, sopping wet! I take 2 bath towels, and 2 hats to the gym when i train. Halfway through my workout, i have to switch hats because my first one is dripping sweat off the brim all over, and my first towel is sopping wet. When I walk out, I’ve sweated through my shirt, my 2nd towel, and 2nd hat! Sadly, when I look around my gym, I’m 1 of maybe 4 or 5 guys in there who looks like they fell into the pool. But that’s how hard I train, how fast I train, and with that much intensity.
Add to what @meastlake1 suggests about heavy back movements at the end of your back workout a couple sets of lighter weight where you can feel the contraction in your back as you slowly close in on the contracted position, like in a relatively wide grip pull-down. This is more about the feel than the weight.
Also, start posing your quads in the mirror. I don’t mean posing them by flexing them. With your feet on normal position try twisting your toes out without moving them. This should bring out the long lines in your quads. The more you practice this, the better you will get at it.
Thanks for the shoutout man!
@LGN - you are correct, 5’4” and my stage weight natty was about 140.
Based on your pics at 5’9” I’d say 25-30 lbs to lose to get stage ready, but it’s hard to tell without any pics of your back, profile, or legs. Get a great coach for sure, don’t try to figure it out on your own, and have a long, slow and steady prep.
Guys, whilst I have your attention could you weigh in on some advice for next PED cycle please…
3 month health phase starts next week, going to run TRT dose throughout and get my bloods done next week to check results at end of cycle, then another panel done before starting next blast. My midpoint bloods actually game back overall very good. Slight spike in LDL, and ratio wasn’t great, but I think I’ve managed this well through increased cardio (at the time I knew I wasn’t doing enough). I feel considerably fitter since so expecting ok bloods back.
For next cycle I’m thinking of introducing HGH, 2IU’s a week. I’ve also found what appears to be an efficient super bulk mix (3 x compounds in same vial): test D 200mg, Deca 150mg, EQ 150mg, so 500mgs total. I’ve not run Deca or EQ before so not clear / sure if this stack would be effective and what weekly dosage might look like.
My aim, as mentioned above is to stack the lean mass on. Open to thoughts please guys 
