[IronMarc]

Alright guys, here are some pics of me takin with a cell phone camera...I've managed to cut down quite a bit from what I used to be, unfortunately I dont have any before pics from my heavier days. I'm still kind of heavy for my height, 5'7" and 172lbs, don't know my bf% but I can tell you I am not very vascular if im not pumped, if that is any indication. Also I have some loose skin on my lower stomach, if there's anything you guys can tell me to fix it (without surgery) ie. excercises, making my abs thicker and tightening the skin, i dont know if its possible but maybe someone knows better. Well the pics are on myspace cause I have no idea how to upload them here, so if you dont mind clicking on a link and giving me some feedback that would be great. I'm 18 years old, 19 in September, and have been BB'ing for a lil more than a year. I'm not the best poser either haha.



IronMarc - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
thanks for your time guys

[Jayhawkk]

Stop your *****in, you look fine The skin will tighten.

[IronMarc]

Actually, the pics that aren't ab shots were taken a few months ago, I think i was 186lbs in them.

[Pfunk47]

you look good - that's just the remaining fat also you've lost 14lbs since then - either your shredded and/depleted which will bring loose skin or you lost some muscle. I'd say it's time for you to bulk clean and gain some muscle, that will reduce your BF% and fill in the "loose skin"

[IronMarc]

I'm still new to bodybuilding, and i'm not quite sure what Bulking Clean would involve...High Carb, high Protein, low fat eating? When I dieted I didn't exactly deplete my body of food, just cut out the bad foods and did it the slow way..I haven't lost many of my gains either, but after awhile, when progressed slowed and i plataued on gaining mass and strength, I decided the next thing to do was to get shredded or at least in my case, a lil definition. Abs were always a goal of mine, I always thought they were the "core" (excuse the pun) of a fit physique, Everything else came almost natural to me, chest, back, legs...arms and abs were hard gainers. I'm not too worried about losing muscle at the moment. I will probably use anabolics in the future when I am matured enough, physically and mentally.

[Ziricote]

A clean bulk just means you eat whole foods and healthy fats, carbs like brown rice, brown pasta, oats and proteins like chicken, fish, beef and eggs. Fats would be flaxseed oil, olive oil and fish oils.

You'd eat ~500kcal over your maintanence calorie intake, your macros would look something like 50C/35P/15F. Try doing a search for bulking diets.

[Pfunk47]

IMO - go with bobo at flanutrition.com - cheap and the best thing you could do at this point. I wish I had the nutritional knowledge I have now - he is the best place to start - then off his teachings, search boards, read, read read and you'll learn the right way. I did it backwards - learned everyting I could but with all the different approaches to nutrition and training - it can drive you crazy trying to find the right one though you learn a lot through trial and error.

[IronMarc]

Thanks for the advice, I am glad I can ask people who know enough about the sport to give advice to beginners, like myself, even though this is an individual sport it's great that we can learn from others.