Weigh In: 220.6 lbs
I’m certainly more defined, but I have lost considerable size. Frustrating! I’ve also reached my mental capacity for body anxiety, and can no longer continue “cutting” because of how small I feel. THEREFORE, I am officially beginning bulking. Starting today.
Alexies’ routine is out, I’m going back to my old bodybuilding routine…but I’m changing the order of muscle groups to how Alexies does it. Seems to make much more sense. Triceps and Chest on the same day? Of course! Duh!
Diet is going back to my good ‘ol bulking regimen of excess calories and protein. Will post diet logs shortly and a new routine hopefully.
stupidgit
Yes!
I already made that decision when I switched from a powerlifting-centric routine to a hypertrophy routine. Running on the routine from my powerlifting-ex, I was focused mostly on building strength and maximising my bodyweight to strength ratio. I could lift nearly three-times my bodyweight…but I wasn’t growing much.
When I started dating Mr January, I started lifting less weight, but I grew much bigger and faster.
In a way, I’m already sacrificing strength for my “dream body.” Its just happening very, very slowly. Sigh.
riceandchicken
I love your screen name, Rice and Chicken.
Plastic surgery aside, you can’t target parts of your body to lose fat. Your only option is to workout and lower your body fat percent over your entire body.
I know. That sounds super tedious.
Anonymous
I actually love the sore feeling from a good workout. It’s reminder that I pushed myseld hard enough that I ripped muscle tissue and fascia and will be growing bigger later.
That said, I don’t try to minimize the sore feeling. Nevertheless, adding potassium supplement to your diet will help reduce the sore feeling, and has the added effect of helping you lose water weight.
Anonymous
Genetics picked for me.
Even as a twink, I always had a very “sturdy” midsection and a broad neck-line. 100lbs later, my sturdiness has been amplified! I doubt I could ever pull off the bodybuilder look; nobody in my family is able to get their mid-section lean enough…it’s a pacific islander thing, I think.
Anonymous
I haven’t taken my measurements in a while, but the only thing that’s changed recently is my waistsize:
- Weight: 230lbs
- Height: 5’8”
- Chest: 51”
- Biceps: 18”
- Neck: 20”
- Forearms: 14.5”
- Thighs: 30.5”
- Waist: 33”
My thighs used to be bigger than my waist…THAT was horrible for finding clothes. I’ve eased up on my leg workouts and it’s really expanded my wardrobe options.
Another brand worth exploring is EXPRESS. Their MX dress shirts are 1-4% lycra. The stretchiness gives them a flexible fit with a tailored feel; a staple for any wardrobe. Most of my dress shirts are from EXPRESS!
Edit: Pants question
Zachrisso wanted to know what brands of pants work for my body type.
Again, EXPRESS uses 1-4% lycra in their dress pants, which is great for guys that have very large thighs and a trim waist. Check our their PRODUCER pant, I have four of them…they’re very rump-flattering.
Bonobos also sells a few stretch cotton pants, and occasionally offers seasonal colours. (Like my white stretch pants!) The quality of Bonobos is much better than EXPRESS, and they use cotton, unlike the stretch-wool options provided by EXPRESS. I highly recommend them…and if you don’t like their pants, you get a free return shipping label to exchange them or return them completely.
If anyone is interested, I have a $25 off coupon for Bonobos.
Anonymous
Any anaerobic routine will allow you to to build size, albiet very slowly. Supplements can help reduce the healing time of your torn fascia which results in slightly faster growth.
The only clinically-proven supplement that’s legal is Creatine Monohydrate. I use it in all my shakes and before workouts. I can usually lift 20-30lbs more weight while on Creatine.
Anonymous
There are only two workouts I do for my butt:
- Squats
- Good Girls / Bad Girls
Back when I was the Art Director at COLT, I had a training session with one of our COLT stable hands. The trick to getting the shelf-ass is the abductor/adductor machine.
The trick to this machine is to position yourself so that you work the glutes’ instead of the sides of your legs. You do this by pushing your lower back away from the seat. We call it Good Girls/Bad Girls because the new form for this exercise is much dirtier than it should be.
theadventuresoftheliberalsexual
Kettlebells are freakin’ awesome. Everyone should play with them. You can buy regular bells anywhere, but this company sells “designer” bells that would look cooler in your house:
Awesome, right? I want to get one for my apartment. Use it as a doorstop when I’m not tossing it around.
Anonymous
Besides typing at 125WPM, I ride my bike ~6.4 miles each day. I think I’m set for cardio, but I would like to get back into swimming in the mornings.
I’m just worried that too much cardio (while good for my heart) is bad for my bulking goals.
Anonymous
My bodybuilder dad had started me on a variation of German Volume Training, and it worked really well for building strength but not size. I didn’t really take supplements when I was younger.
Anonymous
I can usually finish my workout in under an hour. I’ve read that working out for over an hour is unnecessary.
