New Trainee's Photos, please critique..

[Liberator]

... not tooooo harshly tho... Im fragile /forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif

After you see/read my photo page, you'll understand this comment...... but once again I find myself shocked at my pics..... this time tho, because certain muscle groups look a lot better to me on screen than they seem to appear either in my head, or in the mirror..... I dunno why, but anyone else experience that?

Maybe my goals are just too high, I dunno... but the mental image of what I wanna be like is Schwarzenegger, so Im like a million years away from that and feel like I look like crap at the moment...

also, I don't really have any before pics that are poses as such, so just found what I could..

I bought my weights at xmas, but have only been following a bulking (as clean as possible at this early stage of learning) diet, and actually attending a gym for about 3 or 4 weeks...

Thanks to everyone here for helping me gain what I have done..... it wouldn't have happened without you so take a bow.. /forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I look forward to your comments,

~ Jonathan

My Personal Photo Journal (http://members.aol.com/bhnhstcdbso/journal.html)

[SkinnyBoy]

Wow, you have great biceps. Legs are nice too. I can't believe you packed on so much mass so quickly, either. The only area that seems to be lagging is your chest. Keep up the good work.

[Liberator]

cool, thanks SkinnyBoy http://members.aol.com/dataliberator/tu.gif,

and yeah, you're right.. my chest is rather a weak spot..

lol, I like your sig too... very cool.. mind if I kinda pinch it?.... Make Lunch, then war is my new training philosophy http://members.aol.com/dataliberator/tu.gif

[alanlws16]

**** your growing fast as hell, whats your diet,before and after stats?

[Vito]

Your doing great. What are your stats and diet like now?

[GetPsycho]

biceps are killer /forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

[Barlow]

nice traps /forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Liberator]

Well my diet before training this year was pretty consistent and pretty awful too..... basically one meal a day and about 10 cans of coke... I'd either eat a few sandwiches around lunch time or I'd have a big meal like Pizza or Curry about 10/11pm before going to bed... (Im a Computer Progammer/DBA)

My diet roughly looks like this now though:

<font color="orange">8-10am</font> (depends on when I goto sleep to make sure I get 8 hours sleep)
5 Dextrose/Maltodextrin Tablets
Bowl of Cereal with spoon of sugar and semi-skimmed milk(4% fat), either 6 shredded wheat, a bowl of Alpen (Rolled oats with dried raisins, nuts, wheat, etc)
Apple
2 scoops of protein (varied over last month from cyclone to mass and weight gainer, now to Milk, Egg, Whey &amp; Soy Combo Protein) with half milk, half water...
Sometimes 1 or 2 packets of pre-drained ready to eat tuna.

<font color="orange">2-3 hours later:</font>
2 scoops protein
either low carb yoghurt or low-fat cottage cheese w/ pineapple
sometimes packet or 2 of tuna.

<font color="orange">about 12/1pm</font>
Plain Tuna &amp; Sliced Egg Wholegrain sandwich, w/ Water

<font color="orange">2-3 hours after that:</font>(Pre-workout meal @ 5pm)
Cup of boiled white rice
2 Chicken Breasts, Thai marinated w/ coconut, chilli, garlic, etc
2 boiled eggs w/ yokes
whole head of brocolli
and just recently handful of brussell sprouts too
Huge Glass of water

<font color="orange">45-minute pre-workout</font>
4 x 50mg Caffeine Tablets (Pro-Plus)w/ .5ltr Water

<font color="orange">Workout 7:30pm</font>

<font color="orange">10pm Post-Workout Shake:</font>
2 Scoops with water/milk
4000mg Vitamin C, &amp; Glucose/Maltodextrose Tablets

<font color="orange">11pm:</font>
Sometimes a Salad in Pitta Bread on my way home

<font color="orange">12pm-ish Pre-Bed</font>
Cup of low-fat cottage Cheese w/ pineapple
and/or 2 Scoop Protein Drink..

unfrotunately my diet isn't always consistent... sometimes I'll miss my 2nd or 3rd meal, and replace it with a Jacket Potato with tuna mayonaisse, Spiced Chicken and Salad...

and some days I'll have no Tuna at all, somedays 6 packets of tuna but missing other protein sources...

and as for counting calories....... foooorget about it ~ something I need to work on/get some help with....


<font color="orange">Stats:</font>

I've never really known how to measure my state, so just measured what I thought appropriate ~

Shoulders: 51"
Chest/Lats: 46"
under ribs: 37"
across belly-button: 39"

R Forearm: 13.5"
L Forearm: 13.5"

Right Bicep/Tricep Extended: 15"
Right Bicep Flexed: 17"

Left Bicep/Tricep Extended: 15"
Left Bicep Flexed: 17"

Upper Right Thigh: 25.5"
Lower Right Thigh: 21"
Right Knee: 15.5"
Right Calve: 16.25"

Upper Left Thigh: 25.5"
Lower Left Thigh: 21"
Left Knee: 15.5"
Left Calve: 16.25"

</font>Liftin Stats:</font>
I only really know what I lift at home, because I've noticed my progression over the last couple of months...

Standing Military/Shoulder Press: 40kg
Standing EZ Barbell Curl: 60kg (3 sets 20reps)
(somewhere I read a - "10 signs your a freak"
and one of them was, that you can curl your own bodyweight..... my goal)
Bent over lat row w/ dumbell: 60kg
Forearm Curls: 60kg
Reverse Forearm Curls: 40kg
Behind head tricep extensions: 40kg

I kinda struggle and am not 100% strict with those movements (except reverse forearm curl), but then again I wasn't strict with half that weight 6 weeks ago either, so I'll just keep pushing and eventually it will be time to go buy some more 20kg plates...

The way I've been training at home is I bought 2 x 20kg plates, and 2 x 10kg plates and an EZ Curl bar..
then a couple of months later I bought 1 x dumbell bar, and then a month later bought one of those funny shaped tricep bars...

I started training with 20kg, and am able to increase the weight 10kg a side with the weights I have:

20kg,
40kg,
60kg.. and am now on 60kg for most exercises

I'm 6'2" tall and weighed my self yesterday:
99.5kg or (218.9lbs) or 15.6 stones

2 weeks ago I weighed exactly: 217lbs or 15.5 stones

I have no idea of my bodyfat levels... sorry, but I'd guestimate 25%

[Liberator]

Thanks GetPsycho http://members.aol.com/dataliberator/tu.gif

Is that a photo of Schwarzenegger in your Profile?... kinda looks like him but not 100% sure.....

also, I noted in your training journal that is says:

11-18-02 current split:

well... kinda looks like it could be a date there, but I've seen numbers like 42-??-?? too...

I've seen those numbers other places too, what does it mean?

[fluffy]

That's ridiculously fast progress!!! You gained like 50 pounds in 4 months?! /forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Whatever you're doing, keep on doing it /forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[icehawk]

Are you sure you can curl 60kgs (132lbs) for 3 sets of 20 reps??

And don't worry, you're not 25% bodyfat! /forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Probably between 12-14%...

You're a pretty big guy. You looked like of slim in your pics, but you're 6'2 and 218lbs so it's harder for guys like us /forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif (I'm the same height and only 190-ish)

Anyways, great bis, traps and legs. Chest and back need work. That's some really fast progress, keep doing what you've been doing!! /forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[MansonOzz]

Ridiculous progress! My God..
How often do you lift? Full body or a split?

[CheezitMan22]

jease...thats amazing progress...whats ur split man. lookin great

[Liberator]

I think by 'split' you mean which parts I train on what days right???

well, its hasn't been constant at all...

currently:
mon: chest, back
tue: triceps/biceps/forearms
wed: shoulder complete, forearms
thur: full leg routine
fri: back to mon:
sat: day off /forum/images/graemlins/blush.gif
sun: whatever workout felt the weakest that week

but.....

for like the first 3 months of this year, I've trained my upper body every day, doing curls, shoulder/military presses, dumbell side raises (not as much as the other exercises... its hard to start with 20kg for those), bent over dumbell lat rows (not as frequently either, but 60kg using a metal wrist strap/hook thing that I bought when I broke my metacarpel in my hand so I could start training sooner without pulling the bone apart)

I did have a few weeks off training in there because I tore the tendons inside my legs (the ones next to the knee, nearest the inside of the leg) when running with 20kg in my packpack for a few miles.. (I stopped after 2 miles, walked the bag home, then went straight back out for the last 2 miles)

but thats it basically...

I'll try to record a lil thing on my webcam of me curling 60kg's on my EZ curl bar for a set.

I was 26 yrs old on the 5th of April... I loaded up 60kg's on my EZ curl bar, racked out a set of '26', one for each year, and could have done 30... so after a minute or two I did another set of 20, then rest, then another set of 20...

Thanks for everyones comments tho /forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif You're all being very nice, lol.. http://members.aol.com/dataliberator/tu.gif

[BenchPressU]

nice trap work bro =] and guns...

[Liberator]

Hiya guys......

boy-o-boy, was today a rollercoaster..... man, i got so down after that steroid thread, about the IFBB pros, i felt like i'd never train again......

anyway, as it got closer to my gym time i decided to go even tho i didnt want to, which im glad i did....

today i decided to give 60kg curls a try again because normally i dont train with my max weight..

i whacked 60kg's onto the ez bar, knocked out 4 sets of 10 reps, upped the weight another 5kgs to 65kg's, did 8reps, knocked it back down to 60 and did another 10 sets, with my last set being 15 reps...

grrrrr... before I picked that bar up I had the mental image of some pro-bb's body part, or some huge guy in the gym, and just screamed in my head 'you steroid pumping *****' then let rip with perfect form too.......

now I really hope I don't offend anybody that may use steroids on this site, as that is not my intention... Im just soooooo disappointed to learn what I did today about steroids, that its flipped my world upside down basically, **** I was angry..... lol

I also did about 5 sets(10reps) of 12kg dumbell preacher curls, with mad contraction at the top, very slowly and controlled and held it at the top right at the end of the set for like 30 seconds, or til I dropped the db, inbetween each set I did a set of 12kg db behind head tricep extensions, and also did 4 sets of 10reps of 40kg reverse ez curls for my brachiallis... and a few other arm exercies.....

just wonderin how I'll feel about the whole bodybuilding thing tomorrow...

hope i still got the desire to keep it up...... I don't think I wanna take steroids.. but its made me think about a lot of stuff today...

I just feel soooo dumb, and stupid for looking upto these guys since I was a kid, and being envious of them, and working hard thinking I could get like that... I dunno.....

signin' off:

~Jonathan

[Liberator]

Updated Journal &amp; Pics (http://members.aol.com/bhnhstcdbso/journal.html)

Night...

[William Ustav]

Wow, if you keep that up you're easily gonna be a Mr. Olympia contender in a few years! That's the most awesome progress I've ever seen!!!

[groovechamp30]

JEEZ! That is some amazing progress...
I live in birmingham too, maybe you could gimme some tips!

[dekkajay02]

great bis!

[Liberator]

[ QUOTE ]
groovechamp30 said:
JEEZ! That is some amazing progress...
I live in birmingham too, maybe you could gimme some tips!

[/ QUOTE ]

well.. I don't really have many tips like you get in the Forum Magazine as such...

the gains I have made recently, are due to paying attention to my protein intake, and diet.... (I used to live on Coke &amp; Pizza)... literally!!

As far as training is concerened...... I know its unorthodox, and against all the basic rules of bodybuilding..... but lets say I can only just about manage to curl 40kg's on my EZ curl bar once or twice..... and I wanna be able to curl 60kg's.. but can barely lift it.....

I'll continue lifting 40kg's till my muscles are conditioned and I can curl 40kg's for say 10 sets..

then go onto my 60kg's... and start again..

(will normally take me 2 weeks to hit that gain).. I get up at 7am, take a bath, do my bicep curls for 30 minutes, then train again in the evening..).... and I do that everyday, or at least I used to do, before I started using a gym and not my home weights.....

I've recently being curling 75kg's on a straight olympic squatting bar at my gym... Im not sure how much the bars weigh, but I'd imagine at least 5kgs...

another thing I've been doing recently, is dumbell lat-pulls...

Wednesday, I did 30kg, 35kg, 40kg... then Thursday I did, 40kg, 45kg, 50kg, then some static holds with a coupla 55kg dumbells.....

the Friday in my room, I put all my weights onto the dumbell bar and did 3 sets of 8 reps on each arm with 60kg...

I don't think Im completely obsessed with getting hugeeee... tho... Im concentrating on my strength just lately, because after a few months in the gym, I noticed a big drop off in my strength, so I reverted back to my self-learnt method of training.. and whilst doin this am kinda cutting which is a cool experience for me... Im seein bits, I've never seen before, lol...

If you wanna train/spot anytime let me know... Im not sure which gym your near, but if its close I have no problems with that..

[Liberator]

Hiya.....

I added some new pics today which show my torso better..

icehawk was kind enough to suggest I was about 14% bodyfat, but think I might be higher..

Thanks guys.. (&amp; gals if theres any out there lookin, lol)