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Your thing? Did it shrink?
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Hey, I feel ya on that bench. Mine finally came up when I went BACK to my comfort width grip instead of the BB'er wide grip/elbows stuff, but I did that to save my shoulder, not for strength. I was just a bit over where you've started and went up to 345 for a single. It's back down now that I'm doing more volume training, and pausing on the chest.
It should come up fairly well for you on such a big bulk. Mr. Anabolic.
 
Eh... not sure what I was trying to say. I might have been complaining because my thighs have grown almost two inches - granted they were down in size a bit after all the weight I lost. But it seems like I can't win. I work fullbody - thighs grow. Drop some of the leg work and increase sets for upper body - thighs grow. It disgusts me.

Anyway, 345 for a single is crazy. I doubt I'll hit that anytime soon. I'll be happy just to get to 255... at least then my bench number won't look moronic compared to my squat, dead, row and press.
 
Well, I tried to take some pictures today. It's real hard to hold the phone still while doing this. Good thing I never tried to become a surgeon - unlike some people who have perfectly steady hands, mine always tremble slightly no matter what.

Anyway, only one turned out unblurred. It isn't a great one as I wasn't flexing and you can really see how fat I'm getting in the lower back. If I had gotten a decent front picture, you'd see my slightly distended belly too. Oh well, I don't mind. Besides, only 2 months and a couple weeks before I am finished bulking...

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Wow Tot, that is an incredible change since your last pictures were posted! Noticeable upper body size and the unfortunate gain of fat around the midsection (not trying to offend you, just sayin - trust me I know how it goes)... are you going to IF during your next cut - I assume this will occur in June?
 
Thanks guys. After my cut, I'll probably post some better pictures and have someone else take them for me to minimize camera jitter.

And yup. IF for the win. I wish drugs were legal, I'd hop on a low dose test cycle to be sure I keep my gains while I cut, but alas... Anyway, IF worked insanely well for me last time with minimal discomfort when I combined it with an EC stack, so that's the way I'll go this time too. I didn't lose much muscle last time anyway, except for some size in my legs, so I don't think I have too much to worry about. If I spend a week or so at maintenance first that will probably make the transition work smoother.

I was actually considering inserting a PSMF week or an IF week into the middle of my bulk, maybe next month sometime, just to give myself a psychological break from having to stuff my face constantly. Hopefully the dieting for a week will reignite my appetite and make me want to eat a lot again too. I probably won't actually do this though.
 
I've ordered a bottle of this stuff for now. "AndroGenerator" - it's been blogged on the 'roiders website by the guys as being better than anything else for PCT, but can be used alone for, oh, just about everything that GH does, including libido and releasing free test. We'll see.
Oh, and you're lookin' good Tot. Mass rocks, even with a front bumper.
 
Well, I don't think I'm quite ready to actually venture into the dark side yet, even if just using stuff like that... maybe next year. I realize that to reach my ultimate goal of a lean 240 lbs, I won't be able to remain natural, but I'd like to delay the inevitable.
I'd consider looking into peptides like IGF, etc, since most of those aren't really illegal, but they are so damn expensive. Plus I hear a lot of conflicting reports about whether they work or not. IGF seems to be a good one for keeping muscle mass while cutting though. I just can't afford the insane price tag. You could buy several months worth of testosterone for the price of a month long cycle of IGF.

And hey, the great thing is that even with the fat, I look great with my clothes on. Not like anyone except my wife is going to be seeing me sans my clothes and so far she loves the mass I've been gaining. She keeps wrapping her arms around me and commenting on how much I've grown - hey, it's great for me self esteem! Haha.
One 19 or 20 year old kid I know keeps insisting that I've got access to steroids and wants me to give him the hook up. I keep telling him, it's food + hard work with a little bit of daily creatine tossed in. As if I would source him even if I had a source... he's about 160 lbs and nowhere near ready for steroid usage.
It's weird, but I never really responded to creatine before. In the mix I have now, it seems to be doing great. I did combine it with taurine, which might be why.

You know the thing that sucks most about this, more than the fat gain, is the loss of flexibility I've been experiencing. I can't touch my fingers behind my back anymore, and front squats have been problematic unless I use the cross-arm form. I thought the DC stretching would increase flexibility but it seems to be worsening it...
 
Natural bodybuilding is tough. For the majority of us, we can either get really big and fat like the powerlifter look....or get pretty lean, but not very big.
I wish at least some basic steroids like testosterone were legal too. I only tried it for a very brief time as you know, and it seemed relatively harmless. I think if one gets tested by a doctor and gets the OK, the doc should be able to write them a prescription for their personal use, even if its just vanity. They prescribe botox and all kinds of drugs for vanity, so why not steroids?
 
It is tough.

Well, if only we were in Canada or the UK... you can't get it by prescription, but it's okay to have for personal use. The big plus for me in those places is that you could discuss your usage with your doctor and not have to worry about losing your insurance, getting a police visit to your house or public condemnation for potentially providing steroids to "the kids."

I have used Winstrol in the past, as I've discussed, but only during a cut and now I wish I had been bulking at the time instead. It was an amazing compound. I can only imagine what a nice test/deca cycle would be like. I'd like to run a 500 mg a week test + 400 mg a week deca cycle some day, maybe front loaded with dianabol... well, once I hit that 500 lb deadlift, and I'm struggling to get to 600... then the temptation may become great enough for me to risk the potential legal consequences.

The thing that really bugs me is how insanely easy it is to get estrogen and things like you mentioned, botox, etc, but not the EVIL testosterone. Heaven forbid!
 
Great results Tot. Those traps of yours look thick as a brick. Even carrying a bit of fat, with big traps and shoulders, you can never look like a typical overweight person.

I think it's great to have decent lifting goals as a natty and then to decide whether you want/need to take things further on the dark side. For most natty, average height lifters, a 500lb deadlift has to be a very worthy benchmark as a result of dedicated training.

I'm not quite sure what the legalities are of AAS over here in the UK? I think certain drugs are allowed for personal use, as you mention, but I think it's illegal to purchase them (and to sell them) so that kind of makes possession a bit dodgy too. I don't think you are allowed to brew your own either! Perhaps importing them from Mexico is ok? If they got through customs I'd be amazed.
 
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(BAX67 @ Mar. 20 2008,19:30)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Looking pretty LARGE man. You really have some nice width and thickness in your back.</div>
Yeah, as in &quot;Whoa, are you big, or what?&quot;

Even with a bit of fat from your bulking, your back looks strong and firm. After this pic, your 500 lb lift seems more likely to come sooner rather than later.
 
<div>
(Totentanz @ Mar. 20 2008,14:18)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">You know the thing that sucks most about this, more than the fat gain, is the loss of flexibility I've been experiencing.  </div>
to what do you attribute this loss of flexibility?

the reason I ask is that I've put on ~ 10# since january. not a huge bulk, but it's not like I was leaned to begin with... at any rate, I haven't experienced a loss of flexibility (I do a decent amount of cardio &amp; stretching). I know you mentioned you'd been doing some of the extreme stretching the DC program calls for.

in your opinion, is flexibility loss inevitable w/ a bulk?
 
I don't know. My arms and lats have been growing and my arms are where I've lost flexibility, so who knows. I can't do that thing where you reach one arm over the top of your back and then bring the other arm from under, and touch your hands (did I explain that right? I'm tired from work...) but I used to be able to. It seems like my lat growth has gotten in the way?

But I never had that problem with HST so maybe the extreme stretches are reducing my flexibility, I don't know. I'm not really too sure how stretching works because I've never bothered to read about it. Is there some sort of recovery period where you are less flexible? Sort of like when you toast your CNS and experience a temporary loss of strength maybe?


In other news... I've done something to my left forearm. I was retarded and decided to do push presses rest pause style with 155 lbs. Obviously that isn't a good idea, but too late. Now my left forearm has a twinge. I'm going to baby it for a few days and hope it gets better, but if not... I guess I'll have to end my bulk early. I'd rather not, since I'm making better progress than I have in a real long time, but I'm not going to push it into a serious injury.
I also have had a sore lower back this week because I went a little too far with the rack pulls. I haven't been able to do these since October or November, but now that I have my stuff back out in my garage, they are fair game. Anyway, I was doing rack pulls for my back thickness exercise on Tuesday. I warmed up with 385 for 10 and it felt easy, so I figured I'd do a workset with 405 for 6 reps, then another workset with 505 for 4 reps. It felt fine.
But... the next day, and for the last several days, my lower back has been so sore, I felt like an old man. It was almost better yesterday but then our nice spring weather was disrupted by a freak snow storm that dumped about a foot on us. I had to shovel my driveway, which is very long and wide. My lower back must be really pissed at me right now.

So... lesson learned. I should have started off lighter with the rack pulls and built up instead of starting that heavy. The sad part is that I was going to go for some heavier singles after the set with 505. I had the plates loaded to do a 555 and I was hoping to top my PR of 605, but I had to cut my workout short because I had to leave to go see my son's concert at his elementary school. If I hadn't had to stop early... who knows.
My hands were pretty sore afterwards too, they must have gotten weak over the winter. I'm sure they will toughen up quickly enough though.
 
SOME GOOD NEWS

I went out to the garage after reading a few logs on here, inspired to do some more lifting. I wanted to see what I can do that doesn't bother my forearm. Overhead pressing is out for now.

Here is what I ended up doing.

OHP
45x3 (arm wasn't liking it, even with just the bar)

FLAT BENCH
135 x 10 (felt fine)
185 x 3
205 x 1
215 x 1
225 x 1
235 x 1 (235 was hard but I felt I could probably get a double with it. However, I decided not to push it)
205 x 5 + 4 + 3 (rest pause)

DEADLIFT
315 x 8
385 x 3
455 x 1
485 x 1
505 x 0 (I don't think I rested enough after the 485 before attempting this)
500 x 1 (HARD but I think could have had that 505)


Unfortunately, I didn't have the camcorder ready because I really wasn't expecting to do this yet. However, after that benching, I wanted to see how deads felt... then just kept going. I haven't done a max single for a while now, at least not when I was still reasonably fresh. Last time I attempted one was after having done very heavy rowing the day before, so... probably not the best example, that one.
I have been doing worksets with deads that have gotten reasonably heavy and going by the RM calculators, my 1 RM should be 485, so that's why I was confident I could get that. But though 485 felt real heavy, it didn't feel like it was an all out effort, so... I just went for it.

Needless to say, I am very happy. Also, obviously I do not have to stop bulking yet. I will just have to avoid anything that makes my arm hurt until it feels better. So... no overhead pressing. I suppose upright rows might bother it too, but I won't know until I try.

I'm sitting down now catching my breath, but I think I might go out there and try for that 505 again in a minute. I still feel like I could lift more. Usually a max dead leaves me totally drained.

Regardless, I'm going to see about getting a video of it soon. Even if I go out and do more today, I won't bother bringing the camera because the chance of hitting 500 again today is probably not too great. So in another two weeks, once I'm good and rested up again, I'll go push for another single and bring the camera this time.
 
<div>
(Totentanz @ Mar. 22 2008,17:16)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">500 x 1</div>
I'm surprised you didn't break another bar again!

that's an awesome dead, very nice milestone. how do you plan to celebrate?
 
Thanks guys. Needless to say, I'm in a great mood now.

I'm celebrating by eating an entire medium pizza hut pizza. Pan crust, only cheese on it because I don't feel like ham and pineapple today.

Oh I did go back out there and try again. The bar didn't even move. I thought about dropping down to 400 and doing my working sets I was supposed to do, but... nah. I'm going to rest instead.
 
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