My bodybuilding progress

[max silver]

I was perusing through my collection of progress pictures of my own personal bodybuilding journey, and thought I'd bite the bullet and post some pictures to illustrate my progression over the past 3 years or so.

First a little background. I started out pretty damn fat, probably lumping myself into the skinny-fat bodytype, consisting of a smallish frame/bone structure, but chunky as all hell and with little to no muscle on my body. I started losing weight because of excessive partying, consisting of a ton of raving and drug use. Seeing the fatloss results, I decided to look into lifting weights to help things along, and hopefully build a little muscle along the way. At the beginning picture, I weighed in at about 175 pounds, and was literally disgusted with my body, with a low self esteem to match.

Here's my pre-lifting photo to give an idea of what I started with:

 

[max silver]

Through a lowered carb diet, with once weekly refeeds, I managed to lose approx. 40 or so pounds of fat, leaving me very damn lean, but skinny as a damn twig. I weighed in the neighbourhood of 132 pounds in this picture, which is slightly disturbing to consider now, but I was wholey determined to obtain the elusive six pack, which I did manage over the course of 6 months or so.

 

[max silver]

Not being happy with how frickin small I was, I decided to try bulking for the first time. I'm not sure for the exact reason, but bulking didn't really seem to do much in the way of growing new muscle, I just found myself regaining the fat I battled so hard to lose. I suspect that I raised my calories way too fast this first time bulking, and the resulting photos show how my waistline was expanding at a far faster rate than anything else.

 

[max silver]

Over the next year, I continued with the bulking cutting routine, yet with far too much time spent cutting in order to try and remain reasonably lean. I still to this day have an overbearing fear of growing fat, enough so that I am very likely 20 pounds lighter than I could be without this phobia. This picture, where I weighed in at around 142 pounds, was at the end of a cutting diet, at about the peak of condition I reached on that particular cut. This is where I was starting to become happy with my progress, finally starting to obtain a bit of muscle on my frame. Slow going, but progress nonetheless.

 

[max silver]

Fast forward another year, but one in which I made very little progress. I returned to my partying ways, which really cut into my gains, and the overbearing fear of fat gain once again led me into cutting way sooner than I should have on several occasions. The following pictures are taken from the summer time, the first being during a superone+ cutting cycle towards the end of the cycle, and the second taken 2 weeks post cycle. Weights were 152 and 147 respectively.

 

[max silver]

Fast forward another year, at the end of an M1T/superone+ bulking cycle. I had to cut this one short due to joint problems, but made good gains during the cycle. Peak weight was 171 pounds, with me weighing in at 165 pounds when the picture was taken 2.5 weeks post cycle.

 

[max silver]

The next 3 pictures were taken at the peak of a cutting cycle consisting of 1-test transdermal and 3-alpha transdermal. I only weighed in around 155 or so, but was at my alltime peak in vascularity and muscle hardness. I wish I would've previewed the pictures the day I took them to check for the quality levels, as they turned out really washed out and improperly exposed, thusly not showing the detail level I managed to obtain on this cycle. Nevertheless, here they are:

 

[max silver]

I am currently entering my 4th and final week of pct, and have done a decent enough job of maintaining my gains from the cutting cycle, as well as keeping bodyfat gains at an acceptable level. This pic is from today, with a weight of around 160 pounds or so.

 

[Funny Monkey]

definetely can tell improvment. Good Job!

 

[max silver]

Phew, that was a marathon of picture posting, but I felt I was finally comfortable enough to share my own story and progress pictures. After my pct is done, I intend to go on a mass phase, without the assistance of androgens, hopefully until I reach the 175 mark or so, at which point I will begin a cutting cycle. I've found for myself that recomposition cycles aren't really the answer, as while I've managed to lose fat and gain muscle on these, the progress with each is much slower than it would be with just one specific focus. I feel I now have a lot better handle on proper diet/training/supplementation for a successful bulking cycle, without packing on as much fat hopefully.

I have been considering making the jump over to the "dark side", but am really leaning towards building a bit more mass before doing so. I have the merchandise on hand already, but it's a while before I feel I'll really be ready to utilize it.

 

[5111]

Nice change from your first to your current pic. You have got some great abs and great lats.

 

[Sticks]

Damn bro that's a great job. You've made a great transformation.

 

[ryansm]

Great post Max. I think you are the first one to set it up that way, and it's very informative showing the dedication and hard work it takes to live this lifestyle of ours. Keep it up bro, and good luck to further progress.Invalid Link Removed

 

[jminis]

Your making progress and becoming happy with how you look, congrats on that. I think your smart in waiting to use the AAS. You can def pack on more beef without them. keep training hard and stay away from the Raves. :thumbsup:

 

[max silver]

Thanks for the positive reinforcment, it really helps to keep my focus and motivation in proper order. It's been a long 3 years, with various joint pains and minor injuries to contend with, along with working a 12 hour rotating shift, which tends to wreak havoc on my sleeping habits. As it turns out I love this lifestyle, and have no plans on quitting anytime soon, as I continue on towards the size I wish to obtain (shouldn't take more than a few more years), which is (or was anyway) a lean 175 pounds, with bodyfat levels in the range I was at in the 132 pound picture, but with the extra 40 pounds of mass to show for it. Short term goals are to improve on my problem areas, namely chest and biceps, which I have seen little growth in over the time I've spent training.

And Jminis, I definitely do have to stay away from the raves. I still attend them a few times a year, but not nearly in the type of frequency I used to, which at the peak was a few times a month. That really takes a toll on the body, as well as the mind.

 

[JBlaze]

holy ****, good job

 

[beamen28]

great job man! u really made some huge improvements from that starting pic

 

[Manu20]

Great transformation bro!!

 

[keith1569]

great job bro..definately a good improvement

 

[NPursuit]

Nice work! Nice layout and description of the pics too.

 

[size]

Great work. It appears that you have a wide waist(not fat but wide hip bones) which makes the need to increase shoulder size important.

 

[MaDmaN]

Awsome transition,great to keep records like that..very motivating..!!!!

 

[hypo]

good job, just keep going.

Like you already said- you can make more progress if you stick with one goal over a longer time. Get your BF to where you feel comfortable then do a clean bulk, read up on diet to get this down pat. If you stick to bulking for a year you might be surprised what you could manage, and not even put on that much fat if any with the clean diet and occasional cardio session.

BTW- I've seen a few friends lose 30+ pounds using the same drugs you're talking about, I know it is very tempting to get back into it and it surely does take a strong will to remove yourself from the scene. Keep it up!

 

[SJA]

atta baby!!! Nice journal.

 

[jahkaya]

I like all the supps in the background....looks like a friggen pharmacy. Way to keep plugging away for so many years.