As the title says long time lurker, I guess this thread is a bit of a intro aswell as some questions.
A bit about me, 22, been training since I was 17 although it may not show, have had some seriously slow progression in my upper body as well as some major bulk fails, but I think I’ve learned from my mistakes.
Best lifts:
Rack Deadlift: 455x2 (belt and chalk)
Parralel Box Squat : 365x6 (belt)
Barbell Bench: 185x12-14 or so (told you upper body sucks!)
Just finished cutting down to my current size after said bulk fail and back on my way up.
I have some seriously noticeably muscle imbalances and after reading what I could on here I was looking for some opinions on what exactly could be done, if anything. I have been trying to incorporate more unilateral work, but I am leaning towards some of them being genetics, weird muscle insertions or w/e.
Anyways I suppose this thread is useless without pics.
I’m impressed… okay,… now,… torso and delts look good, although delts could be a bit thicker, arms definitely lagging beihnd the torso, lats could thicken up a bit… legs?
I’ve followed your threads a lot Stu, and honestly, its an honour to have you comment. My arms have always been lagging and I have been trying just about anything to bring them up. I am definitely trying to work on some my lateral delts as well especially to try and balance out my thick waist. I’ll throw up some more shots here, legs I’ve been told have always been my strong point although I am all ass and hammies haha.
I’ll try and find a better leg shot, but this one also helps to display the tragedy going with my arms hah
Gonna agree with stu here. If i were to say some immediate focuses, id say Lat/Delt width. Your quad width is decent, though a bit more wouldnt hurt. As for arms, id say a bit more Tri. For the most part, you look decently Bi symmetrical, though i will say your left Brachioradialis is larger than your left, and i dunno if its just the angle of the lighting, but the left quad also looks a lot better (fuller, wider). We need some Calves too! =p
AND please, dont ever refer to your waist as a thick waist lol. Those of us with actual thick waists are restricting the urge to shank you right now lol
Just finished cutting down to my current size after said bulk fail and back on my way up.
I have some seriously noticeably muscle imbalances and after reading what I could on here I was looking for some opinions on what exactly could be done, if anything. I have been trying to incorporate more unilateral work, but I am leaning towards some of them being genetics, weird muscle insertions or w/e.
Anyways I suppose this thread is useless without pics.[/quote]
Symmetry wise most people are going to have slight differences all over. You can give dumbbells or things like single leg presses a shot to be sure the strength is equal(which may catch up the slower side) but more than likely it’ll never be mirror perfect.
You’ve got a good foundation and are plenty lean, perhaps the back can come up to match your chest but overall you are balanced pretty well. Good work
Not to kiss ass too much here, but its a bit of a thrill to see so many posters that I have followed over the years chime in here. I appreciate all the help guys.
With that being said, I've been focusing my back day more around vertical pulling and shoulders I am now starting with db lat raises before any pressing. I've also moved away from back squats for now (gasp!) in favour of fronts, I do have a definite imbalance between legs as scott pointed out well so maybe I will incorporate single leg work at the start of leg day as well? Any other suggestions, info, criticisms or anything much appreciated!
I think at this point you want to just keep getting bigger and stronger.
Like I said, you have a great base, and you’re quite lean, so I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t just keep increasing the weight on all your lifts and eating enough to support your training efforts. You have plenty of room to grow without worrying too much about fat gain - and if it starts to become an issue I’m sure you know how to keep it in check.
Definitely work on that bench, and just make sure you eat enough - can’t deny the importance of that.
I’m a big believer in simplicity - increase all your lifts by 30 - 50 pounds, eat to support that, and you’ll get the new size you’re after.
Personally i cant find anything wrong with single leg work if u have enough time to do it. Personally i just like to get in and out of the gym because of lack of time but SkyNett’s post hit the nail on the head.
O and good work just dont get down on yourself if you have trouble getting those lifts up because everybody has those times where their lifts wont budge. Just keep it up!
Thanks for the responses guys. I know what you mean about the single leg work as far time wise goes beyond a front squats, hacks, SLDL and calf work its hard to fit it all in under a reasonable time for me. My legs are pretty good have always progressed fairly easily as I said the upper body stagnates pretty frequently and progresses slowly.
That being said I am definitely on the way back up, keeping a better track on the calorie count with slight increases as needed, hopefully I can blow passed some old PR’s.
Honestly man… ur legs look good, i wasn’t able to see the hamstrings but maybe since ur upper body stagnates more frequently why not increase the frequency or number of assistant exercises for those lagging parts in your upper body in order to see some more growth and strength gains in those areas. I wouldn’t worry about lagging strength in the bench press since everyone is built a lil differently as far as what lifts they can exceed in. The only time I would worry about it is if the chest and deltoids aren’t proportionate to the rest of the body.
By the way this is coming from someone who has only lifted 2.5 years so take it for what it’s worth. Just my imput I guess.
Yeah right now I’ve bumped up the frequency of bi’s and tri’s, using a lot of bb curls and weighted bench dips as the foundation. Everything else is your pretty standard split type stuff. Legs, Chest/Back, Shoulders/Traps. My hammies I think area doing a lot better than my quads, I’ve always been an ass/ham squatter I think so that’s why I’ve moved to Fronts and Hacks for the time being.
And the advice is very much appreciated, in those 2.5 years you have lifting your definitely ahead of me so no worries there haha.
