+ 9 A little “before and after” action
EDIT: Bottom shot is actually from March 18th, 2017 (a month back) and the top is January 4th, 2018. The newly uploaded picture is the true “before” shot from January 12th,2017 (my first day on Dr. prescribed TRT and 1 month and 6 days before my first workout back from the shit show of a hiatus).
I had taken two years off due to a second shoulder surgery and the nasty relapse that came with it. I have never been as out of shape in my life as I have in the bottom picture- so I finally nutted up and went after it.
I’ve only been doing Olympic weightlifting 5 days a week and our training cycles have some accessory/hypertrophy work incorporated at the end of every practice or session, but it’s minimal.
With that being said, I’m going to start adding in body building/hypertrophy work 5 days a week, most likely after Oly practice and with a solid meal inbetween. Or, 3 days a week in the mornings. Still trying to work out the most efficient means necessary.
If I’ve made this much progress from just my oly lifting cycles, I know i can really take it to another level with doing B.B./hypertrophy work as well.
I’ll try and add some better pics to this post later, the ‘ol phone and eroids site arent wanting to play nice with one another.
I’m at 236lbs in the mornings and 239-240 in the evenings. Was weighing 200-205 in the newly uploaded picture last January.
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Great progress , keep it up +1
Thanks bro
looking nice and defined keep it up bro +1
Thanks bro!
Great work bro! That’s assuming the top picture is the ‘after’ shot lol
+2
Thanks homie- much appreciated! I’m on the Benjamin Button Cycle, all the cool kids are doing it! Hahah
Great work brotha... keep the grind homie
Thanks brotha- sure going to try, it’s what keeps me sane. Had 2 separate 3.5 week “breaks” a few months back and it drove me near insane.
Right observation, wrong conclusion. How you look is determined by genetics and diet. Weight training, whether it’s high rep, low rep, strength, volume, oly, whatever, all works equally well if the exercise selection is good and the programming is correct. We used to think that different rep ranges stimulate different types of fibers, and while that’s technically true to some extent, we now know through rigorous lab controlled studies that the difference is clinically insignificant insofar as strength and hypertrophy gains.
So rejoice: you can train any way you enjoy the most as long as the workload is there!
Great shoulder girdle progress +
I agree that most programs work about the same as long as the work is there. But don’t you think that hypertrophy (let’s just call it traditional bodybuilding) splits allow for more balancing of the physique and bringing up problem areas than just a powerlifting regimen? So while the development is roughly the same in terms of lbs of muscle gained, the bodybuilder appears “more” developed because he’s more balanced and aesthetically pleasing?
And with Olympic weightlifting (aka weightlifting) you’re at a rather large disadvantage because of the two movements (technically 3) we focus on- 1.) snatch and 2.) clean and jerk; whereas with powerlifting you have bench, deadlift, and squats (which we work on as well, and also do deadlifts/pulls). So the ability to work on/develope your chest is subpar at best- the only movement that hits the upper chest is the split jerk (or any variation thereof) , and also when we do push/strict presses.
There’s also nothing we do that developes the biceps whatsoever, even in accessory work. You do hit that muscle group a little when we do back accessory work such as bent over barbell rows, single arm dumbbell rows, and I guess maybe even a little on clean/snatch pulls and during second extension when you’re pulling during either the snatch or c&j.
But when it comes to shoulder, back, legs, and core- I’d we have it covered to a t- and I agree with Brooklyn In that aspect that I believe strength training has the ability to create a more aesthetically pleasing body if you have the correct training regimen/cycles, but like I said, it’s just hard to develope your chest/bis in Oly lifting like you can with powerlifting. They’re two completely different beasts.
No. All good strength training programs have weak point training in it. You’re thinking of selective bias. In other words, men who are genetically gifted for aesthetics tend toward bodybuilding while men gifted with large structures and good leverages tend towards strength sports. Scot Mendelson for example trained like a bodybuilder, realized his blocky proportions aren’t suited towards it, and switched to powerlifting. On the other hand, Dan Green trains like a powerlifter, and he’s a damned good one, but he looks more like a bodybuilder. Can’t change genetics. No, I don’t think a body part split will lead to a more aesthetically pleasing physique than a strength training split, that’s absurd, and it defies basic human biology. If anything, I think even guys wanting aesthetics would be better off using a strength program.
Bodybuilding vs powerlifting diets are another story.
Most of the powerlifters I know train only squat, dead, and bench. Which is great but obviously you’re describing a more comprehensive program.
That’s the worst claim I’ve ever heard. If that was true Bodybuilders, powerlifters and Olympic lifters would look the same. They don’t . That’s just bad advice...
Meh. I’ll just let this one go. No point.
Thanks brotha, much appreciated! And I agree, I follow Brad Schoenfeld, Alan Aragon, and Mike Israetel- the amazing research/studies they put out are bar none the greatest. Some of their research suggests what you just said.
I suppose I could have worded it a little better. With Oly lifting there’s not much that focuses on the chest, bis, tris. Due to some of the movements they’re definitely worked to a certain degree/minimally.
I follow them too. I get a lot of information from them. I can appreciate that you stay up on the latest science
Yeah my man, likewise. They’re as legit as they come. Sometimes it can get a little overwhelming at first when trying to tie it all together.
In your opinion, would adding in the hypertrophy/B.B. work be best in the AM or PM post Oly practice/session with a meal in between. I feel that if I do the AM and get adequate nutrition during the day, that by the time Oly practice comes around at 6:30 I’d be ready to go, as long as I monitor my CNS stress and work load.
If you’re a weightlifter and that’s your primary focus then everything else is technically assistance work, right? I’d do assistance work in the PM. Are you competitive?
This is true my man, this is true. Yeah I plan on doing it post Oly practice/session w/ a solid protein shake w/40 grams of carb powder in between. Like I said above, Oly lifting hits the shoulders, back, core, and legs 100% and lacks building the chest and bis/tris for the most part. Def hits them minimally- but it’s just that, minimal.
I used to compete years ago, but I’m about to start up again- I think. The USAW granted me a therapeutic use exemption for TRT therapy (which was a pain in the ass) when I renewed my membership this year. I just don’t know how I feel about competing after having used gear/continue to plan on using. It’d be different if there was an untested federation like there is in powerlifting. Idk man.
Lots of people “get away with it” in everything from tested feds, to tested leagues, to even the olympics. It’s less of a moral dilemma and more of a “do I have the know-how to beat random testing consistently”’question.
Pwhore_tilum66Very Nice ! Keep going !
Thanks my man!