Rihad's log

Finished my cycle today doing rack pulls 190kg (418lb) x 10. http://youtu.be/0bTTonO27Xw
20140117-64.2kg.jpg20140117-64.2kg-2.jpg

Progress since the end of previous cycle on 22 Nov. 2013:
Weight 66.3kg/146lb (waist 80.4cm/31.6") -> 64.2kg/141.5lb (waist 77.7cm/30.6")
Chest 99,5cm/39.1"->100,5cm/39.5"
Biceps 35,1cm/13.8"->34,9cm/13.7"
Thigh 54,6cm/21.5"->53,8cm/21.2"

Strengh:
Incline bench press 70kgх5 -> 72kgx5 (154x5->158x5lb)
Rack pulls 177kgx5 -> 190kgx10 (390x5->418x10lb)
Bent over DB row 40kgх7 -> 55kgx8 partial (88x7->121x8 partial)
 
Looking good, Rihad! Your V shape is becoming very nicely defined - and the definition in your posterior delts is great. Outstanding progress!
 
Partly/on-the-way-to shredded but tiny :s


Are your partial DB rows the 'bottom' part (from floor to x-height) or 'top' part (from chest/torso down to y-height)?
 
You're either:
(1) naturally lean & moderate
(2) naturally big & fat
(3) jacked up & lean, but on drugs

Which one are you? :)
 
I kinda (read as: definitely) feel like you've missed the point of everything Bryan, & others, have laid out over the last ten years or so if you actually believe that ...
 
Let me clarify: this guy is what I'd call natural & lean. There's really no good reason NOT to stay this way & bulk very very slowly, I'd say half a kilo a year?
Natural-Personal-Trainer.jpg




This guy is rather fat. There's no good reason to maintain these looks for the sake of "bulking".
berto_230lbs.jpg
 
Half a kilo a year is slow as f**k ... if you want to wait that long, be my guest. Personally, I feel like your depreciating hormone levels (aging) will beat out your goals.

Also, calling the guy in the second pic fat makes me wonder if you have a body image issue. Packing some extra adipose? Sure. Can I see muscle outlines regardless? Just as surely.

Go and google a picture of Chris Christie ... that's fat.
 
AlexAustralia said:
Half a kilo a year is slow as f**k ... if you want to wait that long, be my guest. Personally, I feel like your depreciating hormone levels (aging) will beat out your goals.
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If you're at a level of the first guy, you've pretty much already reached your muscle growth potential or are close to it and look good. Half a kilo was simply a conjecture. Make it a pound a year. Ok, two pounds :) While maintaining the looks.

Also, calling the guy in the second pic fat makes me wonder if you have a body image issue. Packing some extra adipose? Sure. Can I see muscle outlines regardless? Just as surely.
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Just as I thought you would say. The guy is fat enough that I'd never want to look anything like that again even if this would allow my deads to be 100lb higher and my arms to be 3 inches bigger.

Go and google a picture of Chris Christie ... that's fat.
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That's obese :D
 
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Just as I thought you would say. The guy is fat enough that I'd never want to look anything like that again even if this would allow my deads to be 100lb higher and my arms to be 3 inches bigger.
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Of course I said that, I don't have a body image disease.

If a 6-pack and growth slower than 1kg per year is good for you, more power to you. You know what you want and there's nothing wrong with that. It certainly isn't hurting anyone.

Having said that, 13-inch arms are small no matter what your bf% is, and a 6-pack isn't pulling 250kgs off the floor by itself.

As far as your goals go, have you given any thought to UD 2.0 to get you over the line? Abs are taking a while to show, compared to other conditioning.
 
UD2 (5-6 days of carb deficit with exacerbated glycogen depleting gym work followed by 1-2 days of refeeding) shouldn't be the only way possible. Lyle's stubborn fat solution using nauseating high-intensity cardio ("the mobilization") during fasted state followed by moderate intensity bike ("the burning") looks good, but I'm not sure how doing cardio suits a recreational lifter. I have found that "bodybuildish" activity (pushups + squats at home) accelerate my progress in recomposition in a good way, i.e. speeds up fat loss while providing metabolic work thereby enhancing the work done in the gym.


Let me try to put it from a different angle: it is much MUCH harder to reach & maintain the physique of the first guy while slowly bulking and it takes good amounts of diligence and will, let alone gym work, than the physique of the second guy, which simply boils down to eating lots & lifting more. Isn't bodybuilding all about aesthetics? It is for me. You don't have to be absolutely shredded to look lean, but don't have to look like you're overeating or "bulking" either.
 
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I've done Lyle's stubborn bodyfat while running a rapid fat loss style diet and had really good results with it. It sucked real bad and I wanted to kill everybody around me, but I got my bodyfat to the lowest levels they've been since back when I was 140 lbs.
 
We´re all here because we´re all interested in building more muscle. Some of us like the shredded look and others prefer to have a bit more to grab onto. I realise that you don´t want to go back to the bf levels you were at before, I get that, but it doesnt mean you shouldnt bulk. You could just limit the upper level of body-fat you feel comfortable reaching and whne you reach that you can start cutting. It might only mean you´re doing one full cycle, say 6-8 weeks, before you cut again. I feel you´ll build a much better physique if you allow yourself some sort of bulk.

You´re doing what I was doing wrong previously: neither bulk nor cut, just floating along. You´re obviously building strength and muscle, thats clear but I believe you could get much bigger and be able to reach shredded state when you choose. It changed for me when I was able to cut down to sub 10% and pretty much maintain strength and a good deal of my mass albeit glycogen depleated now and again. With the knowledge that I can fairly easily cut down and get dem abs out I was no longer scared of bulking. Im reaping the benefits after this bulk cos instead of being ca10%BF and 80kg Ill probably be around 85kg and 10% this time round.

Just get a good proper cut in so you can see shreddedness is possible then let go of your fear of fatness safe in the knowledge you can lose it all again within a couple of months.
 
gbglifter, shorter cycles, like 3-4 days eating enough for growth + 1 day burning off the fat may be a better option for me in the long term, when I finish recomposing
 
Thanks, gbglifter. I've been on this semi-cut semi-recomposition crusade well since March 14, 2013! Dropped from 80 kg to 64 so far. I hope more pushup/squatting activity I've been doing will accelerate it somewhat (let alone nice feelings from doing 1000 pushups in less and less time :)). I will finish cutting once I can see all of my abs. I also eat whatever I want, including pizzas, pasta, cakes, sweets, just in moderation.
 
You´re looking lean but looks like another few pounds need to come off until they´re showing properly. If I was you Id start counting calories properly for a few weeks and make sure you get in a deficit. Lose that last bit off your belly. Even with the extra cardio/pushups, if you´re not in a deficit the fat wont go away.
 
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