[quote]1morerep wrote:
Der Candy wrote:
It will be much more rewarding, imo, if you get that bench up to at least 3 plates a side for reps (and have the resulting mass)before considering stepping on stage.
deanosumo wrote: A lot.
20% bf and you are only 200 pounds…even in a natural show you would struggle. And if it is your first time to diet down, you will probably not do it optimally and you will lose a lot of muscle in the process, unless you do gear, in which case you won’t lose a lot.
i disagree with both of these statements. too many people are overly concerned and influenced by numbers whether it be body weight, lifting stats, bf %, measurements, etc. what really counts is how you look. i’ve seen so many guys who outweigh me and out lift me but they don’t look anything like me.
you can stand me next to a guy who’s my height (5’7), and say 175-180 lbs at 9% bf and can bench 315 for reps. in my best form, i was only 160 lbs at 9% bf. i can’t even bench 315 once. do you think you can automatically figure out who has the higher numbers just by looking at us?
i’ll bet that in the majority of cases, you can’t. if i were ever to compete, i’d probably have to trim down close to 150 lbs! on paper, that’s not very impressive.
if i were to post here anonymously, sans pic, and say, “hey guys, i’m going to do my first show. i’m 5’7, 152 lbs at 4% bf. got any useful tips”? do you know the flaming i would get?!? what are u nuts??
get your ass back in the gym and gain some weight! but with my particular body type and full muscle shape, i’d be able to go at it with guys outweighing me by quite a bit so don’t be obsessed with numbers!
numbers are very useful…don’t get me wrong. they are an excellent guide to keeping track of progress (or lack there of). but the numbers themselves, or what they represent are meaningless. i’ve seen many guys benching 315 for reps and i swear you can hardly tell they work out.
i seriously suggest you start dieting down asap. when you get yourself under 10% bf, have some pictures taken and give yourself a hard, objective critique.
do you need more size to make a dent in a show? maybe…maybe not at this point. you may look huge! or you may look like a skinny fitness model. it’s your body type…how you ultimately look on stage and not the actual numbers that will make or break your success.
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You make some sense 1morerep, but Zephead isn’t you. He is 20%bf and has been lifting for one year. More than likely, if he dieted down to enter a show, there would be nothing to show.
Sorry zep nothing personal, but it seems you have been honest about your numbers, and they aren’t impressive. Not that you can’t get there. And 1morerep you are right, numbers aren’t everything, and how much you can bench is not part of a physique competition. But if you think there is no correlation between how much you can lift and how you look, you are deluded.
And as for bodyweight- well, at Zep’s calculations, 200 pounds minus 20% bf equals 160 pounds lean mass, but as any bber knows, it doesn’t work out that way. He will lose muscle as well on the way down. Do you think he can step onstage at 140 something pounds at 5’9"? This is bodybuilding. Not the anorexia league.
I do agree with get your bf down to a level around 10% or where you can see your abs, then make a decision from there.
One reason why I am posting again on this topic is, when I was about 20 I felt the same way. I was going to enter a competition within a year. But I was deluded. I hadn’t put in the time under the iron and I hadn’t built any quality mass yet.
Good luck Zep but ask yourself- do I really look like a bber yet?