Long time reader first time poster cliche

[Deleted member 226465]

Hi guys, just saying hello

Been lifting quite a long time but only just got into bodybuilding specifically this year

Hoping to do a first timers show here in the UK next year

I’m about 5.10ft and 245-250lbs

Plan currently is to bring my bodyfat down another 10lbs or so and for the first time ever in my life be lean enough to actually push back up

Any critique welcome

The before and after pics are 6 months apart for reference

Very long way to go but hoping I can do well competitively

 

[Deleted member 226465]

Bodyweight in the before pics was about 290 and after pics 255 I think roughly

 

[Deleted member 226465]

I do have a few questions that could do with their own thread but I shall throw them in here to as they relate to me



Mixing high volume and high intensity training to get the best of both worlds

So for example

High intensity = 5 day density split that I’m sure you guys are aware of (Jordan peters PPL 5 day fixed split)

High volume = single body part over 5 days (chest, back, legs, off, shoulders, arms, off) but say 12-20 sets per body part


My thought process is best of both worlds and gives your body a slight break from max loads and intensity every other week

hopefully as well it may lessen the chance of picking up stuff like tendinitis and lengthen the time before you stall out on an exercise when you’re always trying to adopt the log book approach. Plus it’s mentally less taxing on the higher volume weeks which could be an indirect factor to helping progress.

It would obviously be very person dependent and would take some planning out but on the higher volume weeks you could potentially adopt some of the high insulin protocols Milo’s uses and then with it being every other week may increase the time you can do it for before peaking out with bodyfat etc


Interested to hear any experiences or thoughts in regards to this

 

[Performance Based]

I’m not a bodybuilder man but my feedback is you look bloody epic. Your hard work and tenacity is clearly visible. Back looks thick as hell.

Only constructive feedback I could give is quads/back seem to overpower hamstrings.



High Volume + High Intensity: For a performance perspective this has become hyper specialized. It isn’t alternated by week as that limits CNS adaptation and patterning.

Try not looking at the whole workout being high intensity. Identify your key performance indexes and plan accordingly.

IE my training yesterday

High Intensity
12x120 Seconds Max Effort Sprints

High Volume
Adjacent Training (that which reinforces the primary goal for the day - plyometric pin squats)
Full body bodyweight workout

Unsure if this goes hand in hand with your question. Typing on my phone so pardon if it’s all over the place.

And welcome to the board

 

[Virtuous]

Brother that back shot is effing epic. Awesome work, man. Seriously. That’s wildly impressive.

 

[td]

Looking good. Massive progress.

You're probably going to need to come down more than 10 if you want to be in the optimal place for muscle gain.

If it were me, I'd diet now like I was doing a show. Then rebound from that condition. You should be able to get back to your current bodyweight at a much better condition.

If you've never been stage lean, it's going to be harder than you expect. You'll have the experience for next year and you'll be in a better starting place.

 

[Deleted member 226465]

I’m not a bodybuilder man but my feedback is you look bloody epic. Your hard work and tenacity is clearly visible. Back looks thick as hell.

Only constructive feedback I could give is quads/back seem to overpower hamstrings.



High Volume + High Intensity: For a performance perspective this has become hyper specialized. It isn’t alternated by week as that limits CNS adaptation and patterning.

Try not looking at the whole workout being high intensity. Identify your key performance indexes and plan accordingly.

IE my training yesterday

High Intensity
12x120 Seconds Max Effort Sprints

High Volume
Adjacent Training (that which reinforces the primary goal for the day - plyometric pin squats)
Full body bodyweight workout

Unsure if this goes hand in hand with your question. Typing on my phone so pardon if it’s all over the place.

And welcome to the board

Thank you mate I appreciate that

In part yeah it may be to much to recover from a cns perspective jumping between maximal intensity one week and maximal volume the next it may need longer blocks

 

[Deleted member 226465]

Brother that back shot is effing epic. Awesome work, man. Seriously. That’s wildly impressive.

Thank you bro hopefully can make that look small in a few years

 

[Deleted member 226465]

Looking good. Massive progress.

You're probably going to need to come down more than 10 if you want to be in the optimal place for muscle gain.

If it were me, I'd diet now like I was doing a show. Then rebound from that condition. You should be able to get back to your current bodyweight at a much better condition.

If you've never been stage lean, it's going to be harder than you expect. You'll have the experience for next year and you'll be in a better starting place.

Cheers mate

Yeah 240lbs was a number me and my coach said initially but this will be open to changes once I reach it last Friday I was 247lbs.

The idea is to get lean enough to push up slowly until the end of the year as prep would begin January time

Where I’m at now is the leanest I’ve ever been which isn’t ideal however from speaking with quite a few different competitors and coaches they believe I’d be somewhere around 220lbs in contest condition so I’m on 25-30lbs off which is a lot but far less than I’ve ever been before

Slow and steady will be the key to both pushing up and dieting I think

 

[cage99]

Great transformation my man! WOW!!! Welcome to PM!!!! Post up your progress working your way to the competition.

Cage

 

[td]

Yes, I'd estimate you at a pretty gnarly heavyweight. With a good rebound from that, into the Supers the following year.

If you're working with a good coach and things are going well (and it certainly appears they are), ignore my post. Just execute. That's the real benefit of using a coach.

 

[Hyperemia]

Wow! That’s one hell of a transformation. Looking great!!

 

[Keefs]

I love the transformation! Looks really good! The back shot is probably the most impressive to me also. Keep at it brother!

 

[danieltx]

You look great - with the progress you've made you could definitely do well competing.

It's good to see a long-time lurker post pictures and even better that he looks good in them! Other members should take notes.

 

[Deleted member 226465]

Great transformation my man! WOW!!! Welcome to PM!!!! Post up your progress working your way to the competition.

Cage

Thank you dude yeah definitely I will keep it updated as I get closer to prep and then the comp itself really excited to see how I look when I’m properly lean

 

[Deleted member 226465]

Yes, I'd estimate you at a pretty gnarly heavyweight. With a good rebound from that, into the Supers the following year.

If you're working with a good coach and things are going well (and it certainly appears they are), ignore my post. Just execute. That's the real benefit of using a coach.

Thank you brother. Yeah for my height to be a legit big dude I think you’ve gotta be 240lbs+ stage weight unless you’re a total genetic which unfortunately I’m not .

I definitely benefit from having a coach if anything it stops you second guessing everything which can easily derail your progress

 

[Deleted member 226465]

Wow! That’s one hell of a transformation. Looking great!!

Thank you buddy

 

[Deleted member 226465]

I love the transformation! Looks really good! The back shot is probably the most impressive to me also. Keep at it brother!

Thanks mate yeah I would say back is probably my genetic strong point so to speak I’ve found heavy weight has really built it

In fact prior to bodybuilding I did a bit of powerlifting and did my first meet totalling

875kg/1925lbs

Squat 330kg/726lbs
Bench 200kg/440lbs
Deadlift 345kg/759lbs

 

[Deleted member 226465]

You look great - with the progress you've made you could definitely do well competing.

It's good to see a long-time lurker post pictures and even better that he looks good in them! Other members should take notes.

Ahh thank you mate I appreciate that and yeah I really hope so I realise I probably don’t have the genetics to be a top pro (very sadly) but I’m hopeful if I dedicate myself 100% over the next few years I may be able to do okay

 

[Flex500]

Thanks mate yeah I would say back is probably my genetic strong point so to speak I’ve found heavy weight has really built it

In fact prior to bodybuilding I did a bit of powerlifting and did my first meet totalling

875kg/1925lbs

Squat 330kg/726lbs
Bench 200kg/440lbs
Deadlift 345kg/759lbs

Oh yeah, that's ok I guess coming in just shy of a 2k total . I'm totally kidding that's incredible dude.

As far as your training question, I think we'd first need to define "High Intensity". Are you referring to intensity in the sense of a powerlifter ie % of 1rm or are you meaning it how we often use it on message boards and more of a "high effort / max mechanical tension" sort of meaning?

I was also in the powerlifting world before bodybuilding and between my educational background and real life experience, it's training with the highest degree of mechanical tension possible while eliminating all traces of momentum. My background is in physical therapy so I naturally have the "do no harm" rule as #1 but if the goal is purely muscle on the frame and staying injury free, nobody sets the example like Nick Walker. I'm actually not much of a fan of his physique or his personality but that's besides the point. This is also how he actually put on his muscle.

It's about going progressing as heavy as possible with no momentum but the weight is just the tool, the mechanical tension is what you are chasing and you have to find the right weight to keep it safe and momentum free but also heavy enough that it doesn't turn into an endurance exercise where you stop before getting to that extremely high tension point.

The volume debates get a little tougher. I tend to lean a little more into the Jordan/Dante, higher max effort/failure work for less sets per session. From a physiological perspective it never made sense to me to blast a muscle into oblivion. Plenty of people make progress on high volume, especially when you add in drugs, but more of a JP/Dante style just makes more sense. I also think wires get crossed and people say "oh you can't train like that forever it will kill your joints". This is patently untrue if you train the way Nick Walker does his reps. If you take all...and I literally mean all momentum out of these movements your joints will be like new.

Now the conversation changes a bit if you are still chasing powerlifting because you have prepping for meets and needing to do the actual movements you want to excel in etc. etc.