T Nation

Age 39, 6'2, 205lbs

Rate My Physique Photos
#1

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I am almost embarrassed to post these. I don’t seem to look as good in pictures as I thought. At 6’2" it looks like I need to put on a lot more mass, especially in my legs. It also looks like my right shoulder / upper back is larger then my left side. In the past 6 months I went from around 235 down to 205 and I am stuck at 205. I have raised my carbs and calories slowly over the last couple of months and I have smoothed out a little but have not gained any weight. Not sure whats going on. I think need a lot of work…

What’s your opinion?

#2

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Legs

#3

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db bicep

#4

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Mm

#5

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mm

#6

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front

#7

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back

#8

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lats

#9

Facial expressions are worth a 9 imo

#10

Solid base, legs need work, posing needs work, but unless you’re gonna step onstage someday, it doesn’t really matter :slight_smile:

People don’t “hold water”, that’s what competitors say when they screw up their diet, or if they’re not natural competitors, what they say when they failed to come off of specific drugs that can actually cause the body to retain fluids.

S

#11

I know my facial expressions look funny… I have never posed before or even really practiced. The reason I posted these pics was to get an opinion if I should even consider competing. There is a big show in my area this spring and a bunch of my friends think I should compete. I know I definitely need to work on my legs big time. I am currently using Eric Cressey’s “Show and Go” program and I am in phase 3. I am thinking about adding more leg work to the program. Thanks for the opinions so far…

#12

Not too bad. Like Stu said your posing needs work. You would look so much wider if you pushed your elbows out and flex your lats on the front double bi etc…

#13

You put your age in the title so…do you want to be rated how you look for a 39 year old, or just in general? For pushing 40 you look great. In general back width is the most glaring issue to me. Could be posing but I can tell from your lower back and traps that back is a weakness. Also, I rarely say this but…abs - for how lean you are there should be a lot more there. All that aside, with a couple posing lessons you could get on stage. You look good.

#14

Yeah, I guess I want to know how I look for my age and even if I should bother getting up on stage. I don’t want to make a fool of myself.

I thought my back and traps were one of my strengths. In these pictures i am at around 8% BF. When I was down around 6% you could see my abs a little better. I think I may actually be training my abs to much. I do them around 3 times a week and they don’t seem to be growing. I wonder if I should train them less and use more weight with them? I think posing may have a lot to do with it, but what do you suggest I do to bring up my back thickness, lower back, traps and abs? I am currently working on adding mass to my legs by training them more often. Thanks for the help.

#15

[quote]Blaiser wrote:
Yeah, I guess I want to know how I look for my age and even if I should bother getting up on stage. I don’t want to make a fool of myself.

I thought my back and traps were one of my strengths. In these pictures i am at around 8% BF. When I was down around 6% you could see my abs a little better. I think I may actually be training my abs to much. I do them around 3 times a week and they don’t seem to be growing. I wonder if I should train them less and use more weight with them? I think posing may have a lot to do with it, but what do you suggest I do to bring up my back thickness, lower back, traps and abs? I am currently working on adding mass to my legs by training them more often. Thanks for the help. [/quote]

If you aren’t doing abs heavy yet definitely get on that. Decline situps with a db and cable crunches are two good heavy ab movements. Pullups and/or wide grip pulldowns will help big time with width - heavy. For thickness I like to see various grips on seated row, with a good pause and squeeze on each rep and then an iso hold at the end of the set. If you’re already doing tradition trap movements - heavy bb/db shrugs try something explosive like cleans or high pull. You’ll certainly feel it the next day.

Lower back - are you deadlifting? Deads, good mornings, SLDLs will all help thicken up your spinal erectors. These all could be stronger than they look and you’re just cutting yourself short with posing. If you have a bbing buddy or can find a guy/girl in the gym who competes I highly suggest you hit them up for a lesson. Anyway, you look good and you wouldn’t look like a fool on stage.

#16

Thanks for the help Bobbi. I will incorporate more heavy ab work into my routine. Right now I am doing a lot of leg raises, planks and ab wheel rollouts. How many times a week should I be doing abs?

I am up to 80 lbs on pullups for multiple sets of 3.

I am also deadlifting at least once a week.

I think a lot of it has to do with my lack of experience with posing, I guess I need practice with that.

#17

Once a week if you crush them. A good ab workout will leave you not wanting to laugh the next day :wink:

#18

Hey man your upper body is pretty legit! I see you’ve def been pounding out the bench presses however you gotta work on that posterior all the way. From the calves up your back side is where your weaknesses are at. You also mentioned a your left shoulder/arm being smaller than the right on ur back pose, what a pain in the ass right? Unfortunatly judges see those things and im pretty sure thatll count against ya in a competition.

Its pretty ballsy to get on stage, and i dont think ud look lika “fool”. The ab issue looks to me like a lack of thickness and it looks like bobbi gave you some good pointers. A big mistake i’ve seen with abs is too fast motions and too high reps or so much weight that someone can’t even contract the target muscles properly to get a solid effect. When u hit the abs properly, ur rib cage feels like you got black and blues all over it. I made up a great ab move that put on thickness in just about everyone i taught it too, Send me a PM if ud like to try it.

#19

i think for 39 you look awesome dude.

if i was a 19yo blonde bimbo chick, i’d totally skip school to come hang out with you

#20

Thanks for the help guys. I am currently using CTs HP Mass program and my body seems to really respond well to all of the volume. I have increased my calories and have noticed a big difference with that. I am still staying lean without gaining any fat but seem to be putting on more muscle. I think I may have been starving myself previously. I have been concentrating on abs, legs and back to try to bring those areas up. I will try to post some updates soon.