Back At It - Some Opinions and Crititque Appreciated


Here are some pics I took recently. I just started lifting again seriously three months ago after four years of off and on training. Just wondering if you guys can tell me some weak points I have and if I should lean up a bit or keep bulking. Also here’s a link to some photos I took about 4 years ago:
http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/pictures_pics_photo_body_image_performance/update_pics

Back

Front Double Bis


Relaxed

Side Chest

Triceps


Legs

Lats

Most Muscular


Calves

Calves 2

You could stand to lose a lot of fat.

Your calves are beasty.

thanks for the reply rocky, i agree i think i should lean out and then bulk. thanks for the comment about the calves

Eat 6 meals per day with making sure you’re gettin 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. Do some cardio of course but not too much because your muscles won’t grow if you do. You don’t have to put a label of bulking, or losing weight(because you’re not that overweight.)

That would be my suggestion.

[quote]marti1rj wrote:
Eat 6 meals per day with making sure you’re gettin 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. Do some cardio of course but not too much because your muscles won’t grow if you do. You don’t have to put a label of bulking, or losing weight(because you’re not that overweight.)

That would be my suggestion.[/quote]

Thanks for the feedback bro. I’ve been eating 7 meals a day. Getting a little over 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight becuase I’m kind of limited financially with the food I can buy right now. I’ve been doing some HIIT on my day off from lifting. I was actually around 230 at 5’7 in July in these pics I’m 212.

I’m not trying to be an asshole, and props to you for posting pics of yourself when you may not look your best.

That being said, you look pretty overweight/unhealthy to me. Are you obese? No. Are you healthier than a lot of people? Sadly, yes, but I still think you look too much like a more muscular version of George Costanza. You said you had been “off and on” for 4 years, which I take to mean you made basically no progress in the gym. You really just look like you’ve gotten chubbier since then, and in that previous thread you were talking about needing to lose weight.

If you don’t particularly care about your physical appearance for the time being, go ahead and bulk up, and get stronger, etc. I certainly wouldn’t recommend it though. Have you ever actually been lean? Again, I’m not trying to be a jerk. It’s a serious question. I’m guessing probably not, or at least not in a long time. I think you should diet down, and actually get to the point where you like what you see in the mirror, and you look healthy, and then worry about bulking up. Maybe try to be a little more healthy about it, too.

[quote]eeu743 wrote:
I’m not trying to be an asshole, and props to you for posting pics of yourself when you may not look your best.

That being said, you look pretty overweight/unhealthy to me. Are you obese? No. Are you healthier than a lot of people? Sadly, yes, but I still think you look too much like a more muscular version of George Costanza. You said you had been “off and on” for 4 years, which I take to mean you made basically no progress in the gym. You really just look like you’ve gotten chubbier since then, and in that previous thread you were talking about needing to lose weight.

If you don’t particularly care about your physical appearance for the time being, go ahead and bulk up, and get stronger, etc. I certainly wouldn’t recommend it though. Have you ever actually been lean? Again, I’m not trying to be a jerk. It’s a serious question. I’m guessing probably not, or at least not in a long time. I think you should diet down, and actually get to the point where you like what you see in the mirror, and you look healthy, and then worry about bulking up. Maybe try to be a little more healthy about it, too.[/quote]

You’re not coming off as an asshole at all bro. This is the kind of stuff I want/need to hear. Diffrent people’s honest opinions. The leanest I was at least healthy (not using drugs i.e cocaine, yeah i know im an idiot) was those pictures I posted in my previous thread from Feb. 2006. Yeah, I basically made no progress in the gym the 4 years I was talking about. I basically maintained strength but that was about it. It really pisses me off that I made decent progress from 18 y.o. to 19 y.o. and then from 19 y.o. to 23 y.o. when I’m at the age to make the most progress and put on muscle I wasted it. I definetly agree about getting leaner. I still wear size 32 jeans right now very comfortably but still you’re definetly right. I’m 212 right now so I’m guessing I need to get down to around 175-180 while trying to maintain as much muscle as possible. Again thanks for the feedback man.

Lean out if for no other reason than just to see where you ACTUALLY are muscularly.

[quote]thefederalist wrote:
Lean out if for no other reason than just to see where you ACTUALLY are muscularly. [/quote]

I agree

I would suggest getting your tattoos covered up immediately.

what are your goals? from the aesthetics perspective - yeah, cutting down some won’t hurt, although I’ve seen ppl with body types similar to yours do really well following a pl-type routine with high-rep squats thrown into the mix without changing their diet much. you probably won’t get haut abz but some back/leg/pec mass won’t hurt nothing lol. looked at the thread in your link where you posted your lifts, those were (are?) really low.