Critique this pic

[RebelMachinist]

Okay so I want some critique from you guys. Good bad ugly I don't care lay it on me. I know I need a lot of work especially on the love handles and posterior delts I have that forward leaning shrug caused by too much bench pressing and not enough counter work to balance it out. Following pic is a side by side done on an app. Left is May 2014 right is tonight. I'm kinda disappointed and def think I should have way more progress. I did get my deadlift from 275 to 413 and my bent over row from 135 to 175 during this time. I have also started to do T bar rows and land mine exercises. Tonight was first night of that. Anyways lay it on me. I'm all ears.

 

[tunaman7]

You have a good base to work from. Just have to decide if you want to pack on more mass or to start chipping away to find your definition. If it's more mass then keep doing what your doing. If it's definition then dial in your diet...get the right balance of cardio to weights. And...be patient. Once you start to see definition it hard to go back. I like running Mast, Tren and Test to help things along. Some clen and T3 helps even more. But you never know what you got till you start to lose some of the the fat that hides your progress. I know I'm stating the obvious but we have some top notch brothers here at EG that can show you how to do it right. Good luck and good work.

 

[RebelMachinist]

You have a good base to work from. Just have to decide if you want to pack on more mass or to start chipping away to find your definition. If it's more mass then keep doing what your doing. If it's definition then dial in your diet...get the right balance of cardio to weights. And...be patient. Once you start to see definition it hard to go back. I like running Mast, Tren and Test to help things along. Some clen and T3 helps even more. But you never know what you got till you start to lose some of the the fat that hides your progress. I know I'm stating the obvious but we have some top notch brothers here at EG that can show you how to do it right. Good luck and good work.

tunaman7
First off thanks for the solid reply. I'm still trying to add some more mass I'm on 500 test and EQ and 350 Tren right now. After this I plan to cruise for a while and try to cut. I've started to clean up my diet. Went out an got a to. Of new Tupperware and a 10 pound bag of skinless boneless chicken breats brown rice and some veggies I also eat peppers as I grow my own they really add good flavor. It's so hard for me to wanna cut because I've always been super skinny ectomorph and all I can focus on is mass mass mass and more mass

 

[drakonrep]

its xmas time! awesome back! you look lean enough for a good round of offseason and musclegains or if you want to shred up some more it wouldnt take long at all

 

[krustus]

except for people with exceptional genetics... progress can be slow...(even on gear).. i see some changes for sure... if mass is your goal and you are not a genetic freak...then it might take a while. embrace then journey.. keep moving forward.

fatloss can be faster ...for the average joe... but getting totally ripped (stage ready) is a different animal than getting lean. getting to a lean state from where you are now would be very doable and probably not take too long.

 

[LittleTom]

What are your overall stats? Height, weight...

 

[RebelMachinist]

Stats are
5' 10
200 pounds
27 years old
Training since 6th grade but consistent and seriously for 3 years. Ultimatley I would like to do a show there is a local on here in Memphis TN. I don't have those good genetics I wish I did lol I'm not a total hard gainer either. I also have a really fast metabolism it's inherited.

 

[RebelMachinist]

When I get home from work I'll get the wife to gets some pics of the front and side and my Wheels I got hairy ass legs tho so not sure how good that's gonna go. I can already say that my pecs and biceps need major work in my opinion.

 

[misterB]

looks like good overall progress. since youre thinking sabout a show id focus on a few things

1- looks like you have nice low lat insertion, focus and get good back / lat development, its going to help

2- your shoulder tie-ins look good at the trapezoids , could be a strong point so work that to exaggerate shoulder width along with the lat work

3 - start killing legs, maybe 2 leg workouts a week , light and heavy

4- show us the front, but you got lots of good stuff going on, good work , three years consistent is where the magic starts to happen, you're going to see lots changing now that you have consistency

 

[sityslicker1]

looks like good overall progress. since youre thinking sabout a show id focus on a few things

1- looks like you have nice low lat insertion, focus and get good back / lat development, its going to help

2- your shoulder tie-ins look good at the trapezoids , could be a strong point so work that to exaggerate shoulder width along with the lat work

3 - start killing legs, maybe 2 leg workouts a week , light and heavy

4- show us the front, but you got lots of good stuff going on, good work , three years consistent is where the magic starts to happen, you're going to see lots changing now that you have consistency

misterB
just to add to this, not sure what your lifting style has been. low volume, heavy weight or lots of volume moderate poundage. Strength progress is important obviously, but it's not always linear to muscle growth. Maybe change things up in your routine. More reps or hitting muscle groups more than once a week. Just some food for thought. When I started increasing the frequency or muscle worked, hitting failure quickly with few sets as possible with moderate weight and really feeling that muscle squeeze my growth really took off vs lifting and swinging heavy ass weight.

 

[krustus]

but it's not always linear to muscle growth. Maybe change things up in your routine. More reps or hitting muscle groups more than once a week. Just some food for thought. When I started increasing the frequency or muscle worked,

yes ...for me shear size and mass is way trickier than getting lean... have to manipulate frequency, volume , intensity... and change up now and then...

you do need to hit a certain level of strength though... no one gets huge from pumping out reps on the bench at 95 lbs.... but after a solid base of strength... then the pump and volume matter more i...as you can't always get stronger.

 

[RebelMachinist]

just to add to this, not sure what your lifting style has been. low volume, heavy weight or lots of volume moderate poundage. Strength progress is important obviously, but it's not always linear to muscle growth. Maybe change things up in your routine. More reps or hitting muscle groups more than once a week. Just some food for thought. When I started increasing the frequency or muscle worked, hitting failure quickly with few sets as possible with moderate weight and really feeling that muscle squeeze my growth really took off vs lifting and swinging heavy ass weight.

sityslicker1
I have typically done 5x5 workout but I've recently started 10x10 using 60-70% 1 RM AKA GERMAN VOLUME TRAINING

 

[zombieslayer]

I second what misterb and sityslicker1 and Krustus said.
Your traps look good, and looks like your arm got thicker too.

I never had much success building mass until I started powerlifting.

The 5-3-1 book by Jim Wendler is an excellent resource for this.
Just check on Amazon.

And Heavy Partials have also been of GREAT benefit for me.
Working the Heavy Partials and 5-3-1 will definitely make you thicker.

And training back and legs will make everything thicker.
Lots of back and lots of legs.
And Deads and Squats do both of course.
I REALLY like HEAVY 1-arm dumbell rows too,
100lb for 3x20(these will definitely bring up your Deads.)

I wouldn't go high volume or high frequency for mass, but be consistent, and try to train everything in a week to 10 days. 10 days between HEAVY squats workout is fine.
But don't stretch it out that far, unless it's HEAVY weights.
And, if I'm going HEAVY on Deads AND Squats, I will alternate them every other week.
Deads this week, Squats next week, Deads again the following week, etc.

I agree with sityslicker that if you go for more frequency, you would "hit failure quickly with few sets as possible with moderate weight and really feeling that muscle squeeze my growth really took off vs lifting and swinging heavy ass weight."

I do this now with regularity, but I did heavy partials/powerlifting/5-3-1 for years and built my foundation with heavy weights first.

I would add that certain cheats can be beneficial when used only on the heaviest set, like heavy cheat barbell/ez curl bar curls.

Eat plenty of quality foods, and get plenty of quality sleep too.

But, youth is such an AMAZING BLESSING.
If I could be 27 again, simply AMAZING.

Be patient AND be consistent and you will achieve success Brother!!!

8) 8) 8)

 

[RebelMachinist]

I have his 5/3/1 and I didn't like it personally just wasn't heavy enough for me. I'm really liking this German volume training tho. I've been thinking on this all day and I wanna start to get some definition. There is a show in Tunica,MS next May I wanna enter that show and get on a program and regime to get show ready. I have little less than a year to get ready. Front pics coming later tonight. I know I'm gonna need a lot of work there but I'm really gonna need some solid advice I may not win the show but I'm sure as hell gonna try!

http://www.battleonthebluffbodybuilding.com

 

[RebelMachinist]

Okay so they may not be the best pics and the bathroom had the brightest lighting I can't have bright lights anyways I have a eye condition from ulcers. So here goes. I noticed some GLARING lacking muscles. Also what do u guys think my body fat is 16% ??

I can also in person see more definition in my legs in person than this low quality iPhone pic
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[RebelMachinist]

..... when I first started


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[RebelMachinist]

Forgot this quad pic

 

[RebelMachinist]

Nobody is saying anything lol must be really bad. Well anyways I'm gonna do my best to bust my ass and get ready to do that show next May. I'm liking the German volume training and add in some heavy days or a full heavy week followed by moderate

 

[LittleTom]

No man its not bad at all and is impressive from where you started. Now this is probably not what you want to hear but it will save you a lot of time later down the road. Cut, get down to a lower BF before you try to add mass on. What you have done is added size but also a good deal of fat... Now by no means are you fat or even to big to bulk all I am saying is that it is so much easier to stay lean then it is to get lean. If you bulk now its gonna be harder and harder the more time goes on. Get lean and mean and very slowly add on muscle. Then once get that solid foundation, you can take your bulks out a bit further as in terms of weight and fat gain because you will have that base and know what it takes to get back to that lean look. Otherwise you may spin your wheels and always get bigger but still gain BF and have a real hard time getting back to that hard tight look. Trust me.. Thats my take...

 

[misterB]

ok looking good, good base to get rolling. id say get a regimented diet plan going, eat lift, sleep . just add drugs as you reach plateaus