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11-21-2007, 07:43 PM
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Me 7 years ago and Now - Funny...
For all you ****ers that think you cannot grow, this should inspire you. I've always been insane strong for my size, but to get size has taken some work and I've had to learn a lot to get where I'm at physically...
My buddy sent me this pic. Me 7 years ago. Skinnier than the skinniest ****er here maybe... About 172lbs?  Me at the end of Sept (same pic from the other thread). Closer to 250 than 240...  Point being this - anyone can drastically change. Great, I had abs in that first pic. But I also had nothing else but calves... I've gained at least 50-60lbs of muscle, and that pic was BEFORE I dicked my back up. Oh, and this one:  Last edited by musclesntx; 11-21-2007 at 07:46 PM. 
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11-22-2007, 09:16 AM
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Thats crazy impressive man! Nice work!! What were you eating during those years... little children or something?
 nah, but seriously, I'd be really interested in knowing what your diet was like. Calories and just the ratios of carbs/protein/fat, not all the crazy details unless you have a few secrets we oughta know  I'm an ecto (strong mofo for my size but cant put on mass), and I eat like crazy (mostly all clean foods, no junkfood or cheating), and the gains are coming, but very very slowly. its hard for me to put on mass, but the strength is there for sure, kind of how you were. Excellent job!Last edited by No_Logic; 11-22-2007 at 09:26 AM.
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11-22-2007, 09:56 AM
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You have to train heavy, period. You have to continue to make progress. Hell, in those pics I could still bench in the lower-mid 300s. I don't remember when I couldn't do that. Sure, I could run 10 miles in about 70 minutes too (and I do NOT run anymore) but I didn't make constant strength gains. You have to eat for how you want to look. Yes, it has to be gradual - if you're 165 and want to be 300 you aren't going to eat like a 300lber today. Maybe a 185er and then a 215er, etc until you're up there. But you have to keep an eye on that mirror, and I think that as long as your strength continues to improve you'll continue to grow. I don't mind people who like to chart and graph their foods, but 99% of the time I find that people's fear of overeating and becoming fat leads to them becoming anorexic. I mean, there are few beasts in this world. There are a bunch of skinny kids who lift weights and there are a bunch of fat dudes. I know people that have been in gyms with me since that first pic and they looked about like I did, and I see them now and they still look like that. Why? They go to the gym and I know they lift. There's just so much more to it. Consistency is a HUGE part because apart from some serious injuries, I haven't taken any considerable time off. I could go on and on, but the fact of the matter is to don't overthink it. Have a plan, work your ass off, and use common sense in the kitchen.
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11-23-2007, 11:58 AM
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Wow B. That's a big difference! I agree, your face doesn't look much different, but you do look much more mature with size on you. In the smaller picture you look like you have a baby face. In the bigger picture you still have a baby face, but it looks much more intimidating, lol. Am I making any sense?
__________________
Gettin' lean!
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11-24-2007, 12:44 AM
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11-28-2007, 09:40 AM
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Tommy made me think about something, so I thought I'd log it with some estimates.
1994 - My senior year of high school I was 220 during football season (played RB so I needed the cushion). Approx 16% bf Began prep for Pararescue school in August that year. 1995 - Pararescue training, got down to 157 at about 10% (you want to have extra fat going into spec forces training). But I got way too light. Kept at about 157-165 for the next 2 years. End of 1996-1997 - ballooned to 210 and about 19% bf. This was huge for me. Decided to make a change and this is when I started PTing. Got down to low singles, entered a all-natural military only bb'ing contest on my own, no dieting help, no posing help, finished 4th of 12 people. Was proud, but never really got into it again. 1998-1999 - Stayed extremely lean. For no reason other than to do it, got down to mid 4% lol. Seriously. Honestly, staying so lean cost me a lot of years on muscle gain. I would be so much bigger, but I think I delayed growth tremendously by never putting on size. I was in the AF, so the smaller look was more desirable for function. Plus, I deployed a lot. Hurt my knee at the end of 99. Oh, and broke both collarbones at the same time. The knee rehab was a blessing - cardio 3x per day kept me super lean. It killed size, but I was so ridiculously shredded it scared me. 2000 - Deployed to Saudi, gained a little weight, up to about 185. 2001 - the pic above where I'm a 170lb bone. I had leaned WAY down. I'm not as small as I look in that pic, my upper arms were about 16, waist was about 30. Still, tiny compared to where I am now. Was running 40-50 miles per week and was able to run 10 miles in under 70 minutes on a track. No ****. 2002 - weight started going on with a few knee injuries and general laziness. 2003 - catastrophic back injury. Ballooned to 225, probably 19% bf. 2004 - Ripped it up quick (got down to about 8.5%) and gained some strength back, but just wasn't serious for the entire year. Hit my biggest squat ever this year - my first 700. But I was still 14% for most of the year. 2005-mid 2006 - went to Iraq and it was bb'ing camp. Got up to high 220s, 10-12% most of the year+ mid to late 2006 - didn't do ****. Partied, was glad to be home. Worked out about 2x per week maybe. Worked 16 hours per day everyday as I was starting my business back up. Stayed in the 220s, just lost precious muscle mass and gained fat. Early 2007 to now - became the beast. I had never focused more and had never put more into gaining size. Leaned out and gained size simultaneously, and am at the pic size now (I'm actually a bit leaner, about the same weight). Arms are well over 18 (18.5). I'm stronger in every lift (but I don't do 1RM squats very often) but my bench has absolutely exploded. My abdominal circumference is just over 31 (like 31 1/4). My quads? Just over 33" (33 1/16 maybe). My best attribute is my thickness. Hank has mentioned it on MW, but I feel as thick as I am wide. Glutes and hams are showing stirations, and if I flex my abs, I have veins and can see all the muscles including the obliques. If I trained squats intensely for 1RM and avoided pain, I'd be in the 1800lb club (minimum).
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11-28-2007, 09:50 AM
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I just want to know what you did in the last year so I can do it too 
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11-28-2007, 10:38 AM
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Lifted extremely heavy 6 weeks on, 2 weeks off pretty much nonstop. I don't freak out on eating, but my biggest intake is at 3x per day - morning, pre and post-workout. I only eat 4-5 time per day, but every meal is at least 1000 cals. I sleep 8-10 hours per day, whether it is continuous or not, I get my time in the sack. I eat mostly whole food. I usually have 4 real meals and maybe one big ass muscle milk shake around bedtime. But I can't explain how intensely I lift. It's f'n heavy... I don't hold back and my goal is to get stronger every time I'm in the gym. My big lifts are typically in the 3-5 range. My support lifts are in the 8-20 range. I do heavy ass squats at very high rep which kills the oxygen, but my legs are an asset anyway, and I'm not sure too many other people can get away with what I do for them. Only supps I take on a regular basis is Pharmanex multis. They're expensive but they're pretty much the only multi proven to absorb/work (as I have the biophotonic scanner that shows an increase in carotenoid score whenever I test). People hate to hear this, but I keep it extremely f'n simple. I used to freak out over every detail, but I wasn't growing during that time. This year I've put at least 25lbs of muscle on, and the year ain't over yet. I just know one thing - and the guys that have been down here to visit can vouch and most of them experience it too: wherever we go, we get attention for our size. The pics don't really do justice because there's nothing to compare me to in them. While I don't feel absolutely massive, I like the treatment. And when I think about it, I don't know too many guys as lean as me that are 6' in the 240s. So I guess I do have pretty good size.
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11-28-2007, 10:52 AM
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While I appreciate the suggestion, I'm just in no hurry to do that. I get the twinge every once in a while, but it quickly fades. My height is a serious liability and I'd have to gain another 40 solid pounds to be dominant at this height. Is that realistic? I don't know, and it would take a while. I could be competitive locally, but I don't want to be just competitive and not just locally. I like to think big. I have so much business related stuff going on that I want to get rolling. I have a 3 year old that I'm raising and a few other things that take priority over competing, so if I can't give my all to it, I'm not going to do it. My goal? Keep at or near the pace I've been on this year. I think I've finally gotten down what I need to do to improve my body drastically. I'll evaluate where I'm at in a couple of years and make some decisions then. I do want to point out something about the pic with my arm behind my back - I hadn't done cardio but like 3 times in 8 months in that pic. LOL - I also eat red meat (and I mean real steaks) like 6-10 times per week. So it's not like I'm remotely dieting. I think I have the capacity to get peeled as hell, but I'm riding the wave of size I'm gaining. I can't breathe for **** half the time lol but it's fun to scare the **** out of people at Whataburger drive thrus.
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11-28-2007, 11:03 AM
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 Then maybe Governor of Texas?
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11-28-2007, 11:11 AM
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I see what you're saying now about "huge" Tx. HaHa, yes, definetly much bigger than Wally Szerbiak.
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11-28-2007, 11:18 AM
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Dont forget you sent me pics along the way...This year is the year you impressed me big time! I always knew you knew your stuff, dont get me wrong, but you said it yourself, it was this year that you became the beast! Pats on the back to you big man! Most of my lifts are in the 6-10 rep ranges and my assistance work is in the 10-20 rep range, sure I can lift heavier, but my joints suffer when I do, so 6-10 works pretty well as a result and I always bust serious as$ in the gym (i'm a maniac by nature). In fact, you and I sound similiar when it comes to our tenacity and motivation IN the gym... I coin myself a beast by what I bring to the table alone. I'm a pretty hyper guy at times, I just focus that extra aggression and testosterone to my workouts...Now, if I can just learn from you and PJ on how to commit 100% to the other avenues, maybe I'd be ok So I think the key is deloading, diet changes and some extra sleep each night. I will find a way to bring it all together someday! Last edited by BiggerGuns=LongerDrives; 11-28-2007 at 11:25 AM.
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11-28-2007, 12:44 PM
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I said get stronger every single workout, and while that is important, my real focus is to blast the previous 6-8 week cycle of training. I'll go up, up, up, up and then deload, and then start at about 85% of where I was at and try to get to 110% in a few weeks. I don't obsess with numbers, but in my mind, I know where I'm trying to be and as long as those sets and weights keep getting heavier, my muscles will continue to grow. And of course, the size gains are easy to track. There are a lot of things I can do to manipulate how fast I grow, but right now, it's just happening.
I think that after your first 2 years or so and you're ready to change things up and gain some serious size, the WORST thing you can do is eat every 2-3 hours. Sounds contradictory to everything that has been said over the last 10 years - I think that is great for losing fat, but for gaining rock, I think 4-5 huge meals about 4-5 hours apart are key. See prisoners - no supps. They have water and ****ty food but they can eat all they want. Some of the biggest dudes on earth are in the can. It's no coincidence.
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11-28-2007, 12:45 PM
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