How long does it REALLY take to get big?

[b said:
Quote[/b] (dkm1987 @ Nov. 29 2005,3:29)]7 years, 5 months, 16 days, 13 hours, 41 minutes and 22 sec. Exactly to the second.
See
Dreaming, K.O.
Assessing the perfect Resistance, Nutrition and OTC Supplement plan for the average gentically gifted enthusiastic wannabe BodyBuilder who wants to have maximal muscle mass in the shortest duration but refuses to use known exogenous hormones.  
J Phys. Sport Cond Res Sci. 2006 Oct;15(5):414-33. [Pub Med way ahead of print]
Am I the only one who that this was really funny? Ok, sad, true, AND funny? :D
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Joe.Muscle @ Nov. 29 2005,1:47)]I hate to be the one who bears the bad news...
The truth is unless you are extremely genetically gifted you can only do so much naturally. That being said you can still look fantastic being natural. Most guys who are truely lean and in shape are not half as big as you prob think they are.
Lean appearance is everything.
Great post.

Just to keep things in perspective some of you might want to plug in your stats to this calculator and set some realistic goals.

How BIG can I get naturally?

Keep in mind that the closer you get to these measurements, the slower you will grow.

Plus, I want to reiterate the fact that getting lean is a very important part of looking the "part". I mean, if you want to impress people they have to actually be able to see whatever amount of muscle you have built. And it takes suprisingly little to really impress the average person.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Bryan Haycock @ Dec. 01 2005,7:52)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (dkm1987 @ Nov. 29 2005,3:29)]7 years, 5 months, 16 days, 13 hours, 41 minutes and 22 sec. Exactly to the second.
See
Dreaming, K.O.
Assessing the perfect Resistance, Nutrition and OTC Supplement plan for the average gentically gifted enthusiastic wannabe BodyBuilder who wants to have maximal muscle mass in the shortest duration but refuses to use known exogenous hormones.  
J Phys. Sport Cond Res Sci. 2006 Oct;15(5):414-33. [Pub Med way ahead of print]
Am I the only one who that this was really funny? Ok, sad, true, AND funny?  :D
No, I did :D
 
When I go to a bar, or a party I am the big guy. Wow "what do you do?", "Do you take roids?" etc.......... When I go to a serious gym I am middle of the pack....but at least I am in the pack. No complaints, works for me. Most gains in the first two years, but the gains keep coming, sometimes it is size gains, sometimes it is strength gains ---- and there has to be something said for maintainace.

cheers, Bob
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Bob Evans @ Dec. 01 2005,10:15)]When I go to a bar, or a party I am the big guy. Wow "what do you do?", "Do you take roids?" etc..........  When I go to a serious gym I am middle of the pack....but at least I am in the  pack.  No complaints,  works for me.  Most gains in the first two years,  but the gains keep coming, sometimes it is size gains, sometimes it is strength gains ---- and there has to be something said for maintainace.
cheers,  Bob
Exactly...great example.

Also to add to what Bryan said about the lean factor.

This is extremely true. I have seen guys and have been one of the guys who puts a white tee shirt on and man you look huge muscle everywhere, but take the tee shirt off and now you are puggy!

MASS in the off season is very confusing you can look huge with the shirt and soft and puggy without, also you may look at a guy who looks slim in his shirt, average build then see him on the beach with his shirt off and lean and he looks like a monster!
 
I'll compound the whole lean idea.
I tend to stay pretty lean year round, I get down to 5% in the summer and up to, at the most, 12% in the winter.
I do get a lot of comments about looking big but in reality I'm only 170 lbs and 5'10" tall. I've never looked at myself as "big" but staying lean is very deceptive. I think I look bigger at 165 lean than at 175 and chubby.
Thanks to HST I'm growing again after the inital 20 lbs of muscle in the first year then nada for another year and a half.
I look pretty skinny in street clothing and I don't have the frame to ever be impressive in baggy clothing but at the gym or beach I do get compliments.
I would recomend for everyone to get down to 5% bodyfat atleast once in thier life just to see how much more muscular you can look.
 
The calculator gave me a good idea. Just under 18" biceps with a 49" chest on a 6'2 frame is what it says would be my max without AAS. This would be at 8% body fat.

Probably wouldn't make the cover of Flex but should look like a monster on most any beach!

Thats give me a nice realistic goal to work toward! Thanks
 
Yeah, and I think you can comfortably walk around at 10-13% bodyfat without looking like you are fat... which would allow you to carry more muscle than that.

I'm one of those guys (at the moment anyway) who is cursed to look like a normal guy when I have clothes on. Well, more or less. You can see my arms when I'm in short sleeved shirts, and they look pretty good from what I've heard, and with the right collar on a shirt, you can see my traps... but other than that, you can barely tell I lift weights unless I take off my shirt.
It kind of sucks, because we all like to have recognition for what we have accomplished, but it also doesn't really matter that much. After all, I'm doing this for me, right?
 
I get compliments all the time on how much bigger I got... and people notice this whether I am wearing a long sleeve shirt or a tank top. Toten, I wouldn't think you would look like the average guy in normal clothing, people can tell if you are weight training.

-Colby
 
Oh, what rhetoric!
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I have been with HST since 2002, have grown some, but my best growth yet was in the last three cycles, where I quickly grew to 72 Kgs from my previous quasiconstant 65.

My arms from when I started till now went from 13" to 15,5" pumped, not quite what I want yet but getting there.
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My shoulders and top frame is getting rounded nicely, I believe since I upped the volume to my current 5x/week mix of compounds and isolations. It has also started working nicely to getting leaner, I have not bothered to take measurements again but I can see it in the mirror.

One thing that I have gained is respect, and a whole lot of people at work consider me an expert in training methods and come to get advice, I have had since I started about 5 "disciples", I am now on my sixth one and it is an excellent feelling to see someone go through the metamorphosis that hard core HST can cause
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I am one happy bugger so far, and am not unhappy with my gains, for one I never in my wildest dreams thought I could ever bench 100 Kg. for 3 reps unassited or squat them, but my target for this cycle in squats is over 140 Kg. which is 2x my bodyweight.

So for those who sometimes ask can HST provide strength, the answer is one big YES!

I have also been stubborn enough to try all kinds of variations but always ended up coming back to the real HST principles they just work best!

'nough said!
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[b said:
Quote[/b] (Bryan Haycock @ Dec. 01 2005,9:00)]Just to keep things in perspective some of you might want to plug in your stats to this calculator and set some realistic goals.
How BIG can I get naturally?
Keep in mind that the closer you get to these measurements, the slower you will grow.
Well dang, I am already pretty close to that now. (Bodyfat significantly higher than 8% though, so I have a little room for improvement, at least!)

If I were not worried about my liver and my family tendency to heart attack and stroke, it might be time to go "non-natural" :)
 
Hey Totentanz,

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]It kind of sucks, because we all like to have recognition for what we have accomplished, but it also doesn't really matter that much. After all, I'm doing this for me, right?
Absolutely right, you're doing this for you, so that you feel ok with yourself. Weight training (and training in general, I suppose) can have a major psychological impact on you (positive, of course). Besides, I don't think you are doing justice to yourself. Like "The Bryan" said;

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]And it takes suprisingly little to really impress the average person.
So, I wouldn't worry for that part either. You may seem small to yourself, but don't even think for a second that people aren't noticing.

Regards,
Dimitris
 
Totentanz you look great. I bet people notice you even with normal clothes on. Remember you only check your self out in a mirror for a few seconds -- don't get the full picture.

This thread is drifting tward the "reacting to muscle" thread. But a issue being raised is how we think of ourselves, our own reaction to our own build. I think most lifters have a touch of muscle dysmorphia or big-o-rexia. We think we are smaller than we are. Dysmorphia in the extream is a guy who is 260# and thinks he is 185# -- Quits his job to lift and does massive roids for years. Hopfully we are not there. But I notice when I see a pic of myself.. or see my self in a mirror at a friends house (as in not my normal bathroom mirror) I think I look a lot bigger. I just get "stale" on looking in my own mirror.

I said before that at a hard core gym I am middle of the pack. That is middle of the pack of the bigger guys there -- I don't count the skinny or fat guys. What amazed me is the big guys "accept" me. They will talk to me, ask what program I am on or ask for a spot. So you don't have to be 240# with a 32inch waist to be "in the club". I found that a pleasant surprise.

One trick is to enjoy the ride..... enjoy every gain and every stage you go through. Otherwise you are Donald Trump thinking he is not rich enough.
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Peace, Bob
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Bryan Haycock @ Dec. 01 2005,9
wow.gif
)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Joe.Muscle @ Nov. 29 2005,1:47)]I hate to be the one who bears the bad news...
The truth is unless you are extremely genetically gifted you can only do so much naturally. That being said you can still look fantastic being natural. Most guys who are truely lean and in shape are not half as big as you prob think they are.
Lean appearance is everything.
Great post.
Just to keep things in perspective some of you might want to plug in your stats to this calculator and set some realistic goals.
How BIG can I get naturally?
Keep in mind that the closer you get to these measurements, the slower you will grow.
Plus, I want to reiterate the fact that getting lean is a very important part of looking the "part". I mean, if you want to impress people they have to actually be able to see whatever amount of muscle you have built. And it takes suprisingly little to really impress the average person.

thumbs-up.gif
- good stuff
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Totentanz @ Dec. 01 2005,10:18)]I'm one of those guys (at the moment anyway) who is cursed to look like a normal guy when I have clothes on.  Well, more or less.  You can see my arms when I'm in short sleeved shirts, and they look pretty good from what I've heard, and with the right collar on a shirt, you can see my traps... but other than that, you can barely tell I lift weights unless I take off my shirt.
It kind of sucks, because we all like to have recognition for what we have accomplished, but it also doesn't really matter that much.  After all, I'm doing this for me, right?
I sympathize with you Toten. I'm on the same boat myself. I usually wear those big button-down polos. Nobody notices my muscle there. I look like an ordinary guy who probably never lifted a weight in his life.

But when I wear a white t-shirt (as Joe's example), I get the "Dude, you are getting huge all the time!". But then when I switch back to wearing those big polos or whatever formal attire, yep, back to normal person. Disappointing really.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (jvroig @ Dec. 02 2005,9:49)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Totentanz @ Dec. 01 2005,10:18)]I'm one of those guys (at the moment anyway) who is cursed to look like a normal guy when I have clothes on.  Well, more or less.  You can see my arms when I'm in short sleeved shirts, and they look pretty good from what I've heard, and with the right collar on a shirt, you can see my traps... but other than that, you can barely tell I lift weights unless I take off my shirt.
It kind of sucks, because we all like to have recognition for what we have accomplished, but it also doesn't really matter that much.  After all, I'm doing this for me, right?
I sympathize with you Toten. I'm on the same boat myself. I usually wear those big button-down polos. Nobody notices my muscle there. I look like an ordinary guy who probably never lifted a weight in his life.
But when I wear a white t-shirt (as Joe's example), I get the "Dude, you are getting huge all the time!". But then when I switch back to wearing those big polos or whatever formal attire, yep, back to normal person. Disappointing really.
You'll probably laugh at this...

I'm a friendly sort and I hug friends and relatives, whether greeting or departing.  When they wrap their arms around me in response they almost always comment on how big I am. Some ask if I'm working out, etc.

So give more hugs...  they'll definitely know you're a big'un  when they reach around your upper torso
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I get a bigger kick out of being a "sleeper" and then hearing their comments when they realize "I'm not a squirt"
laugh.gif
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (jvroig @ Dec. 02 2005,9:49)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Totentanz @ Dec. 01 2005,10:18)]I'm one of those guys (at the moment anyway) who is cursed to look like a normal guy when I have clothes on.  Well, more or less.  You can see my arms when I'm in short sleeved shirts, and they look pretty good from what I've heard, and with the right collar on a shirt, you can see my traps... but other than that, you can barely tell I lift weights unless I take off my shirt.
It kind of sucks, because we all like to have recognition for what we have accomplished, but it also doesn't really matter that much.  After all, I'm doing this for me, right?
I sympathize with you Toten. I'm on the same boat myself. I usually wear those big button-down polos. Nobody notices my muscle there. I look like an ordinary guy who probably never lifted a weight in his life.
But when I wear a white t-shirt (as Joe's example), I get the "Dude, you are getting huge all the time!". But then when I switch back to wearing those big polos or whatever formal attire, yep, back to normal person. Disappointing really.
Simple answer...


Wear the WHITE T-shirt everyday...hehe.
tounge.gif
:D
 
how much lbs can you gain in one cycle w/ +500 Cals? anyway? i think i can get 1 lb.. ;) .....am i in the right direction?
 
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