Right now, I am a gainer. I started lifting at age 12-13 and was a gainer simply due to growing. Lifted through high school with that mindset and got up to about 220 my senior year. Then College hit, and I became a lazy 250lb fatass in the first year of it. I started seriously lifting again and lost some fat, got down to about 230-235 and gained some strength. A year ago, I fell into the “cutting and get lean” crowd.
Was somewhat successfull, as my avatar is me a year ago at the finish of a triathalon. I weighed in at about 210 there. That type of training saw me leave the weight room for about 3 months. Yes I lost some weight, but when I got back into the weight room, my bench press fell by about 60lbs, along with similar decreases in my squat and deadlift numbers. The only thing that increased during the cut were my number of unweighted pull-ups.
Took me about 5 months to get my strength levels back to where they were and start making gains again. Right now I am up to about 235-240 and am hitting PRs again.
SO, I went from gainer, to loser, back to gainer. The cut had some beneficial effects, like a general increase in cadio endurance, and I can see more veins now, but I still wonder what my strength levels would be now if I had not done the cut. As for my current plan, I intend to stick to gaining until I can’t fit through most doorways.
EDIT: not trying to pad my psot count(obviously). Damn double clicking.
[quote]hawaiilifterMike wrote:
It is all dependent on diet. I was an idiot eating all the junk food I wanted and lifting only 3 times a week and gained a crap load of weight/fat. So I guess I was a gainer - not the good kind (muscle).
If I was smart (which I am NOT), I would have gotten ripped (at least under 10% bodyfat) then I should have done the smart bulk that Shugart and Thib talks about/writes about in articles.
I know many people will say that most bodybuilders do not do this type of thing, but I am a wimp and I did not and still do not want to take steroids, GH, insulin, etc… to do the dirty bulking that most bodybuilders routinely do.
Edit: It was my mistake for not writing more clearly in my original post. When I was referring to bodybuilders, I am referring to at least NPC national level heavyweights and/or pro bodybuilders at 300+ pounds, not wannabe’s (including myself on this site.)[/quote]
You need to do some serious reading/researching and re-evaluate the way you think, sir.
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
i suck because i keep getting injured[/quote]
HA! I know the feeling bro. Keep on trukin’ and you’ll find the way. Stop listening to authors and do what your body tells you. I started getting hurt more when I started listening to authors. I was bigger, stronger and healthier without all the professional advice! I’m 32 and am just figuring it out again. I started at around 11 years old. Some injuries are from old sports injuries but they are all manageable.