staying hard/dry year round

[Mr.Huge]

For those of you who can do this what are your secrets to success of always looking hard and dry? I would guess keeping the sodioum levels low. Clean diet staying active and training regularly but how do you keep the water retention down to a minimum year round? Without diuretics? With diueretics? How much water is too much? How much is too little? Your help is appreaciated.

Im getting down to the weight i need to be at have already dropped 30-35lbs definately look much better then where i let myself go. I am leaner and harder and still have about the same strength on everything if not stronger in most areas so lost very little strength (bench is about the same.

I plan on cutting about another 15lbs -20lbs this will bring me down to about 190 I may even go as low as 180 if i need to. I have not been this light since probably my softmore year in highschool which would be over 12 years ago.

Once again im doing this naturally with minimal supplementation just a high protein diet low carb and low fat along with cardio twice daily for 40 mins each time and lifting 4-5 times a week as well. Clean diet for the last 6-7 weeks.

When i used to use a/s and other hormones i would normally be around 215-225lbs at about 10-12%bf but that was over 2 years ago since i last used. I have been as heavy as 245lbs at about 14%bf in the past and when i began dieting and training again recently i was about 233-238lbs.

Im trying to keep it clean and stay as lean as possible. top four abs are coming in nicely and veins are showing again. So i am happy with what i have accomplished so far but not where i need to be yet.

Any tips tricks or comments are welcome. Im 28, 5'10 202lbs-204lbs first thing in the morn now. Im shrinking like theres no tommorrow. Oh well i just want to be lean again thats all. Don't care about gaining any size at this point. That can come later.


Mr.Huge

 

[vitor]

I strive for this look, majority of the time.

Keys,
Cardio Everyday day
Diet clean, almost all thet ime, every now and then, will go have some drinks,
or pig out,

Once you get where you want, you can lax a tad on the training and cardio

Personally, I love to do 20-60mins of cardio everyday and lift m-fri

Im around 215, and id say 9-10%, have abs,and nice veins, Ijust have to watch, junk food, like one day wont kill you, but a weekend binge, will.

Just be persistant.

 

[Reload]

I agree with Vitor here. Just keep doing what your doing and try to be as consistent as possible. Stay away from diuretics...unless you have CHF, nothing good can come from them over the short term. I'm kind of in the same situation as you although certain health concerns have brought me to it. Like you I'm dropping weight (both fat and a lot of muscle) but to be very honest...I feel great about it! I know my heart is already thanking me for it as evidenced by a consistent/significant drop in my blood pressure.
Eat clean but enjoy life as well. Balance, I'm convinced is the key to everything in life. Get in your cardio but for god's sake, don't cage yourself in the gym getting it. I've recently managed to get mine on a longboard (surfing was my first love) which unfortunately took a back seat to my constant desire for more mass. Surfing and gaining mass go together like oil and water.
Take the discipline you've developed as a bodybuilder and apply it to a clean, healthy lifestyle without drugs and I promise you'll have more energy and more self confidence despite losing a few "hard won" pounds of muscle tissue.
It's a blow to one's ego I know to lose the lb's of muscle you've tried so hard to maintain. Hell, look at every former pro (who's alive). Most are a mere shell of who they once were but it hasn't stopped them from getting in the gym and simply living HEALTHY. Every last one of us on this board and others will come to a point (Im at this point now) where you have to weigh the pros against the cons. Do I want to continuously subject myself to an unhealthy way of living, of risking a future/career due to obtaining illegal substances that seem to be more and more scrutinized by the public at large every day?
Or...do I clean up my act now while youth is on my side, take care of my body/mind/spirit so that I can enjoy watching my own children grow up healthy and strong?
It's a personal decision. I chose the later and hope to be bouncing a grandchild off my knee someday.
Irregardless what I say, it sounds like your on your way to a healthier Mr. Huge...congratulations and keep at it!

 

[gooey]

I agree

there really r know big secrets huge, consistency is the beast of all. Everyday counts, every meal counts, training, cardio, time and time again. Make it easy, accessible and fun and u will keep doing it. Doing great my friend
gooey

 

[treny]

huge!!!! what the hell are you doing bro.... you need to email me man [email protected]

 

[Mr.Huge]

Hey long time no talk...

huge!!!! what the hell are you doing bro.... you need to email me man [email protected]

Sent you a email... tried calling a few times only have Ashleighs # not yours so everytime i talk to her your ass is working... so ofcourse i sexually harrass her while your putting in long hard hours at work. Tell her to give you my # give me a ring sometime fool.


Mr.Huge

 

[Mr.Huge]

Vitor, Reload, Gooey..

thank you for your imput it was very much appreaciated. If your one who tends to retain more ater then most though is there something I'm missing in my diet or something i can do to lessen the natural water retention? I plan on staying consistant and have been since i started training again thats not a prob but is there something i could be doing differently? I drink lots of water probably close to 2 gallons a day. Maybe more some days. Should I not drink this much water?


Mr.Huge

 

[Reload]

Achieving a hard/dry appearance and maintaing it long term are two very different things. Unfortunately everyone has a specific set point/thermostat/BMR controlled by our thyroid gland and it's feedback loop with the hypothalamus. Not everyone is gifted with a fast metabolism. I always envied those that did/do. Our BMR "Basal Metabolic Rate" dictates the amount of calories we burn through normal activity. Increase that rate and you lose body fat (muscle as well if your not careful)...this is where AAS are so valuable. Lose the fat, limit sodium in the diet, increase your BMR through increased activity (sports, cardio, etc.) and you'll start to achieve more definition. The "dry" look we see on the stage these days is really only obtainable through the use of diuretics and T3 to achieve paper thin skin with an extremely low body fat %. Come off these meds abruptly combined with a typical off season diet and you get a rebound effect...water retention and a supressed BMR = increased body fat greater than before you started you precontest diet.
Very few can maintain that hard/dry look year round and those that do are asking for a world of health complications in their future in the form of kidney, liver and vascular damage. Curtis was/is a perfect example of the "stay on all year" philosophy trying to maintain that hard/dry look. It eventually took his life and I lost a great friend.

 

[gooey]

genetic predisposition...

u are given a blue print form your parents genes that tell how your boyd to respond and act. Their are people in this world that are shredded without trying and eat worse then many. But their skin stays so thin --> genetics. U and I are not like that, the more muscle u have under that skin u looked ripped but may not have the thin skin that others have. Unless u were predisposed and had really think skin when younger minus any drug use, I dont think that u can have your skin like that all year round. U want that skin to be tighter, gain more muscle then bring it back down. Eat clean as best as u can year round and do your cardio. If I were u have fun now see how u look after awhile then turn it round put the "good" calories back in and try to gain some LBM at a slow rate not splurge rate that only gets u fatter and water retained. I think if u had a really good clean offseason and a consistent loading stage of food and weights ud gain some muscle cause thats how your body naturally is. The when u want bring the BF% down again through diet and cardio. Each time u diet more fat comes off, and it gets easier, and more effiecient.
gooey

 

[vitor]

Its really all about consistency. Call me weird, but I wake up and do 1 hour of cardio just about every day, I own a life fitness eliptical, its just my morning routine, wake up, wipe the crust outta my eyes, put on some clothes, grab a water, watch digital cable, espn, news, music video's, then I goto work all day, then workout at night.

You can be ripped most of the year, and i think to be sane, and healthy from time to time, really have a cheat day, like lower the protein, have cake for breakfast, fried chicken for lunch, ice cream.

 

[yellowcabs]

I agree with Vitor here. Just keep doing what your doing and try to be as consistent as possible. Stay away from diuretics...unless you have CHF, nothing good can come from them over the short term. I'm kind of in the same situation as you although certain health concerns have brought me to it. Like you I'm dropping weight (both fat and a lot of muscle) but to be very honest...I feel great about it! I know my heart is already thanking me for it as evidenced by a consistent/significant drop in my blood pressure.
Eat clean but enjoy life as well. Balance, I'm convinced is the key to everything in life. Get in your cardio but for god's sake, don't cage yourself in the gym getting it. I've recently managed to get mine on a longboard (surfing was my first love) which unfortunately took a back seat to my constant desire for more mass. Surfing and gaining mass go together like oil and water.
Take the discipline you've developed as a bodybuilder and apply it to a clean, healthy lifestyle without drugs and I promise you'll have more energy and more self confidence despite losing a few "hard won" pounds of muscle tissue.
It's a blow to one's ego I know to lose the lb's of muscle you've tried so hard to maintain. Hell, look at every former pro (who's alive). Most are a mere shell of who they once were but it hasn't stopped them from getting in the gym and simply living HEALTHY. Every last one of us on this board and others will come to a point (Im at this point now) where you have to weigh the pros against the cons. Do I want to continuously subject myself to an unhealthy way of living, of risking a future/career due to obtaining illegal substances that seem to be more and more scrutinized by the public at large every day?
Or...do I clean up my act now while youth is on my side, take care of my body/mind/spirit so that I can enjoy watching my own children grow up healthy and strong?
It's a personal decision. I chose the later and hope to be bouncing a grandchild off my knee someday.
Irregardless what I say, it sounds like your on your way to a healthier Mr. Huge...congratulations and keep at it!

Great post. I'm at this point too. I work as a lifeguard at a pool and I have been the really ripped guy the past few summers. I'v been off gear for about 4 months now, and while I still look good by regular standards, I'm not ridiculously ripped and dry like I was. It's hard to not go back to doing what I was doing, I think "maybe I'll just do some more test and epistane." But I'm concerned about my health and want to start living healthier.

 

[Ironman2010]

Its very easy to maintain a body bro. Its when you need to cut or bulk you require change and have to think about it

Once you have reached your ideal look, stay around maintanence cals basically, keep cardio in....not a great amount of cardio but some in, keep your training intenst. Have a nice meal once a week or anything like that, thats how im maintaining it right now. Keeping the same cals week in week out, have found the magic number so my sessions are really good....im doing 15-20 mins cardio 5xs per week, and having a cheat meal twice a week, my weight is constant and lean-ness is the same.