Advise please

[Dracob_]

I'm a novice lifter (less than 9 months of total consistent lifting not consecutive months, about 3 or 4 of very inconsistent lifting) and I'm looking to compete in my first men's physique competition in May of 2018 and I'm wondering if I have enough time to do a lean-ish bulk and have enough time to also cut. Realistically how much mass can I expect to put on and stay relatively lean enough for a solid cut starting about 12 weeks out from the competition.

Here are some pics of my body transformation in the last six months of consistent lifting, starting with a cut I went on due to not being happy with my physique.

After the cut.

This is my most recent picture below, I'm retaining a lot of water due to being on vacation for the past week. So this is what I'll be starting at, the above pictures are for reference as to what I'd look like lean to give you a better idea on what I should work on and what I could do to maximize my gains.

My stats are as follows;

5' 10"

170 lbs

Any critique/recommendations will be appreciated.

Also if possible I'd love to be able to stay or at least be reasonably close to the way my body looks in my most recent pictures whilst also gaining mass I understand that I will gain fat but realistically could I keep my body looking somewhat like that throughout my bulking period?

 

[hairygrandpa]

Wow. 6 month?

With that success, you already know all the answers, keep doing what you are doing.

 

[Driven2lift]

More than enough time to lean bulk and cut back again by next May

You won't stay looking that lean throughout, don't psych yourself off the bulk if you add back some water weight and a bit of fat

You made exceptional progress in this period, I see no reason why you couldn't again

 

[Dracob_]

Thank you for the positive encouragement guys I appreciate it

 

[jgntyce]

Great progress brother! You know what you are doing!

 

[jtmass]

Don't take me wrong. But I am amazed you did that in 6months staying natty. I have been lifting for 7 months consistently and don't have the definition or vascularity of what you hold. If you did this naturally. You have a gifted body.

 

[hairygrandpa]

Don't take me wrong. But I am amazed you did that in 6months staying natty. I have been lifting for 7 months consistently and don't have the definition or vascularity of what you hold. If you did this naturally. You have a gifted body.

Yes, amazing transformation.
I couldn't pull that off even with AAS.
He nowhere stated that he did it natty, maybe he will share this info later on. If he used AAS, I would guess tren, anavar, maybe winni and/or T3 with clen -AND a hell of a diet and work on top.

 

[jtmass]

Yes, amazing transformation.
I couldn't pull that off even with AAS.
He nowhere stated that he did it natty, maybe he will share this info later on. If he used AAS, I would guess tren, anavar, maybe winni and/or T3 with clen -AND a hell of a diet and work on top.

Had to assume he's natty coz the post is under Natural Bodybuilding.

 

[JL2002]

You accomplished that in six months?!? That's it, I quit. ;-)

Nice work!

 

[Whorid]

Damn homie! You cut up real nice. You've got a nice taper too. Since you're nice and lean, I would just keep adding the lean mass and not necessarily bulk.

 

[Dracob_]

Had to assume he's natty coz the post is under Natural Bodybuilding.

Yes this is a majority natty transformation, I say majority because I did use an EC stack (if you even consider that not natty) for like a month, during month 5 but didn't like how jittery and shaky it made me so I stopped using it, so for 5 of the six months I was not using anything other than whey and bcaas.

I lifted 5-6 days a week and did a separate cardio session most every day also.

 

[Dracob_]

Back shot from today, just got done hitting legs and some deadlifts again if there's anything further to develop that could be very beneficial for a physique comp please let me know (what the Judges look for, training, nutrition etc.). I have done a lot of research but googling things can only teach you so much and everyone has different opinions on everything and I'm trying to learn as much as I can as I continue my fitness journey.

 

[jonnyroyal86]

Wow you look awesome, keep up the great work. Post pics before your contest, good luck. ����.

 

[jtmass]

dude. Come on. I don't want be an A$$****. But you built that back from nothing in 6months naturally is unbelievable.

 

[Driven2lift]

We have no "before" shot of his back. His previous BF% could have easily been hiding this from what pictures we have to go on.

I am thinking he was previously athletic? Physical job? Something built a good foundation.

That or AAS but he seems pretty sincere and he ceased EC use for safety... does not sound like a user lol

 

[BloodManor]

Op puts on 20lbs of muscle in 9 months
Claims natty
No reason to lie on this forum

 

[Driven2lift]

Did he say he added 20 pounds of muscle in 9 months?

 

[hairygrandpa]

His achievements would be awesome even with AAS.
As a natty (I have no reason to doubt it....yet) he may be blessed with awesome genetics -and he really knows what works for him.
Dracob_ , could you throw in a workout log? Would be interesting!

 

[Dracob_]

Here's the comparison, and I weigh less in the after pic than the before one. I was a wrestler all throughout Jr. High and high school essentially year around, and we did a lot of body weight exercises (squats, push ups, and pull ups) so I've done those since I was 10 years old until I was 18 when I stopped wrestling competitively for a school, now at 21 I only wrestle in the spring for a club but that's it. So yes I do have an athletic background but I never actually lifted weights during those times as I never thought it was necessary for a sport like that (I was wrong big time) so my only workouts were and have been wrestling practices. So idk if you consider that lifting, but I don't so I say I've been lifting as long as I've been going to a commercial gym and lifting, which is 9 ish months.

 

[jameschoi]

You could make a ton of money posting your workout and diet plan on youtube.

 

[Dracob_]

His achievements would be awesome even with AAS.
As a natty (I have no reason to doubt it....yet) he may be blessed with awesome genetics -and he really knows what works for him.
Dracob_ , could you throw in a workout log? Would be interesting!

My weeks went something like this;

Monday: Chest and Tris

Barbell bench: 3x6-12
Incline barbell bench: 3x6-12
Decline cable fly: 3x8-15
Incline cable fly: 3x8-15

Tricep pushdowns: 3x8-12
Skull crushers with dumbbells: 3x8-12
Overhead cable tricep extensions w/ rope: 3x8-12

Tuesday: Back and bis

Body weight pull ups: 3xto failure
Meadows rows: 3x8-12
Underhand grip pull downs on plate loaded machine: 3x8-12
Close grip cable rows: 3x8-12

Standing dumbbell curls: 3x8-15
Preacher curls with ez bar: 3x8-12
Single arm cable curls facing away from the machine: 3x8-15

Wednesday: Shoulders

Standing overhead press: 3-4x6-10
Cable side lateral raises: 3x10-15
Bent over rear felt cable flys: 3x8-12
Upright rows: 3x8-12
Dumbbell Shrugs: 3x10-12

Thursday: Legs

Squats: 4x6-10
Leg extensions: 3x8-12
Hamstring curls: 3x8-12
Barbell hip thrusts: 3x6-10

Friday: Chest and Tris

Same as Monday except I do incline before regular barbell bench with a little lighter weight going for 12-15 reps on everything.

Saturday: Back and Bis

Same as Tuesday except lighter weight going for 12-15 reps on everything.

Sunday: Off

This was my split during that 6 month period, lifting was at around 6:30 am then I also did 30 minutes of cardio at around 12 pm.

My split now will be same body parts on the same days but I will be doing heavier weights for a little less reps, trying to gain some strength as I bulk up.

I spend a lot of my waking hours doing research on the best ways to work out and I have found that working body parts twice a week will yield better and more results as long as you don't over do it. And as far as I can tell I think my body responds well to doing twice a week workouts. And I think my chest and back (especially my chest) are my weak points so that's what I'll be doing twice a week.

 

[Dracob_]

If it's something people would like to hear about, I'd love to take you all along my journey to my first comp, as I bulk and cut down for it by next May, can't guarantee I'll post every day but I think I could be very consistent (4-every day a week) with it. It'd be a long log obviously but if people will tune into it, why not

 

[Driven2lift]

As a brand new lifter we'd expect faster initial progress. That coupled with whatever diet helped you shed all the fat! What did you change?

 

[Dracob_]

You could make a ton of money posting your workout and diet plan on youtube.

I was actually thinking about making a YouTube channel lol

 

[Driven2lift]

Anyone who has a set of impressive before/afters can seemingly make money on social media lol.

I think it takes a decent amount of social appeal as well. If you're tackling YouTube, go in confident!

 

[jameschoi]

If it's something people would like to hear about, I'd love to take you all along my journey to my first comp, as I bulk and cut down for it by next May, can't guarantee I'll post every day but I think I could be very consistent (4-every day a week) with it. It'd be a long log obviously but if people will tune into it, why not

Can you post what you normally eat and any supps taken like whey,etc.

 

[Dracob_]

As a brand new lifter we'd expect faster initial progress. That coupled with whatever diet helped you shed all the fat! What did you change?

Before I kind of was just eating whatever I want didn't worry about macros or calories or anything. And after a lot of research and being borderline depressed about what I was doing to myself. I decided if I'm gonna commit to lifting I'm gonna do it right and make the most of it, with a trial and error method of dieting I did this I think successfully by weighing every day and adjusting accordingly and eating clean with one cheat meal maybe every two-ish weeks and dialing in on proper training that's where I ended up after six months. By clean I mean my diet was very boring was essentially just eggs, chicken, oatmeal, bread and veggies.

 

[Dracob_]

Hey everyone, if you would like to see it I started a bulking log in the training forum section, I'd love it if you all tuned in, It'll be updated close to every day with my workouts and what I ate throughout the day and weekly progress pics

 

[jtmass]

We have no "before" shot of his back. His previous BF% could have easily been hiding this from what pictures we have to go on.

I am thinking he was previously athletic? Physical job? Something built a good foundation.

That or AAS but he seems pretty sincere and he ceased EC use for safety... does not sound like a user lol

Yeah. I am not at all questioning if he is natty. I am just jealous. Simple. Damn! I need to re-evaluate my training and diet, I guess.

 

[jtmass]

Hey everyone, if you would like to see it I started a bulking log in the training forum section, I'd love it if you all tuned in, It'll be updated close to every day with my workouts and what I ate throughout the day and weekly progress pics

I am down with this.. Please post your progress.