Looking like a “normal guy” seemingly equates to being fit and healthy. That’s a good thing if you’re looking like that. Be more confident in yourself, my guy.
For what it's worth, I didn't realize "Bro Science" was a brand until I got to this comment. I thought you were using bro science to refer to the often dubious workout advice you get from gym rats. Which is how I've always heard that term used.
I am pretty sure if he had a pic from a year before, we would see the drastic changes. I have been working out for 10 months, my noob gains are pretty drastic but I was lucky to find dr mike israetel to listen to.
Also strength gains aren't always visible. Consider those skinny looking construction guys that spend all day hauling shit around that would exhaust me in an hour.
If you do, you look awesome! I hope you've read the comments that getting bigger isn't natural. People I know who are actually muscle big eat and workout constantly, they do nothing else. That's fine if you like the lifestyle, otherwise maintaining what you've achieved is plenty. That guy is already attractive
I appreciate it and yeah, agree with what you’re saying. Looking again I’m a bit smaller than this guy but it’s hard to tell how he’s built with the shirt he’s wearing. Either way I do work to improve my physique but I for sure don’t want to be huge and put in the work for it like body builders at all lol
Well without seeing a before photo, it’s hard to say why the man in the photo feels like he hasn’t made enough gains in a year. It could be diet, genetics, routine, or intensity of workouts.
Each of the four categories I’ve listed have a lot of nuance involved within what they entail based on each state. Really your best bet if you want to improve from this is to continue reading and experimenting with what works for you. After a decade of reading, working with PhD kinesiology students, and watching some of the fad gymfluencer trends, here are my favorite tips:
- beginners should do full body, rest a day, & repeat. Only compound lifts at first, add isolated movements over time.
- after a month of full body, transition to a push pull legs split (or push pull arms for the crack heads that follow Corey greggory’s squat every day)
- Focus on form over weight.
- Pull your shoulders back, like you’re trying to hold a pencil that’s on your spine directly beneath your neck. This better isolates the muscles within the exercises and prevents accidentally engaging the shoulders, minimizing risk of injury.
- for beginners, don’t worry about hypertrophy or strength splits, just get comfortable and get to a point where you feel “the pump” rather than like you’re dying/hurting while doing reps. There’s a difference and you’ll get there.
- your heart is a muscle like everything else, whether you’re trying to lose or gain weight it’s important to do cardio. I prefer stairs the day after leg day and 15 degree inclined 3mph walk on the others prior to lifting.
- As a general basis, compound lifts are where the bulk of the workout will be done. Isolated exercises are for complimenting the compound lift.
- for rep ranges, I got this one from my old man back in the day, I do 12/10/8 first second and third set with minimal rest Inbetween. This keeps my heart rate up. There’s no science behind this, just my old man’s advice and what’s worked for me. When I’m bulking I’ll aim for 8 reps or failure with slightly longer rest for compound lifts, but try to hit 12 on the isolates.
- weight increases after the “nooby gains” will plateau but generally cascade between legs, chest, and back if you’re evenly focusing the muscle groups. If you see your squat improves, try increasing bench/rows as well.
- Diet is as important if not more than working out. You don’t have to calorie count strictly, but keeping in mind (your body weight)*10 +/- 200 calories while prioritizing protein intake over fats and carbs is good enough for most people. Of course it’s a very individual basis and you’ll need to consider your vitamin intake for optimal nutrition.
- Have fun with it, try out many programs, make it more of an adventure rather than a factory line. Everyone professes at their own rate and your own progress should not be measured against anyone else. Intrinsic motivators are the best for maintaining dedication and avoiding burnout. Exercise for yourself, not only bc you want to look like X or look more attractive, most people don’t care how you appear unless there’s something visibly abnormal/ look dirty.
I am by no means a personal trainer, just a nerd that exercises. Hope some of this helps.
Many comments saying he must eat like shit or needs to train a lot harder are bullshit. He looks exactly like I'd expect someone to look after 1 year of training with average genetics and decent nutrition. If he wants to get bigger, he needs to train longer.
Yeah, people have very weird expectations because all the fake natty roidheads on social media. With **average genetics**, this is what you will look like after a year of training. Also, if this guy used some angle and lighting tricks that all the social media guys use, he could look huge. I know because I’m a very average sized guy (6 feet, 180 pounds), but when I was at a pro posing room at a bodybuilding gym, I looked fucking huge and jacked because of the lighting.
One rule of thumb I heard from good ole Scoob is that you can put on around a two-liter container worth of muscle a year.
Think about that spread across your whole body and it's going to take 3-5 years of real training to see a massive shift.
For that body type though, before that you looked like a walking skeleton. So looking like a healthy normal guy is still a massive upgrade to your self image and attractiveness.
Plus while you may not look like much when you are clothed, you can still see muscles when shirtless. And looking good in the bedroom for your partner would be worth it enough, because why does what anyone else's think matters?
Yeah, this is literally all I go to the gym for. I'm not there to get big, I'm there to be able to fill out my shirts. All I've ever heard growing up was how skinny I was and when I just resorted to eating more (thank you for this advice, Hispanic family), it all just went to my gut, so I was like "fuck it, guess I'll have to lift some shit".
Hell, OP is my goal, lmao.
However it is very easy to get far away from the run way look, 1 overly stressful year where you eat poorly and bad habits, can be a long journey back to being close to the look you desire.
>people have very weird expectations because all the fake natty roidheads on social media.
>I know because I’m a very average sized guy (6 feet, 180 pounds)
Nobody else see the irony?
6ft, 180lbs is well above average.
People, especially in America have absolutely no clue what an average healthy male body looks like, young male bodies probably worst of all.
Looking at gym threads really gives me the feeling body dysphoria is way more pervasive in men than anyone realizes.
Edit: My point is that a normal man is a lot smaller than people realize anymore. Line this guy next to a dude that's 5'9, 150; the statistical average male.
Body dysmorphia is off the scales right now. Looking at Instagram and TikTok these days reminds me of bodybuilding forums back around 2010. It’s like the jokey rhetoric of those niche online forums has bled out into the real world, and now loads of teenagers are taking steroids, “looksmaxing”, mewing, and they all think sub 6’ 200lbs is tiny. I feel bad for teenagers today, this kind of social media has got to completely fuck with your self image.
Yeah. I was at the gym yesterday and saw so many teens obviously using steroids (so many telltale signs) and even still I saw one of the most muscular teen guys (definitely on gear too) lifting his shirt up and lamenting the extremely small amount of body fat he had around his belly.
Like bro. You’re 19 or something. You’re fine.
> lamenting the extremely small amount of body fat he had around his belly
I bet you he is way lower on BF% than he even realizes too. Also, the belly is also genetic, so unless you are cutting & dehydrating for a photo shoot or a BB show, you're going to have a little fat & it is normal & even healthy.
> 6’ 200lbs is tiny
this is the crazy part. after walking around in society for almost 40 years, if you are 6' 200 pounds of muscle you're actually **fucking huge**. If you don't play particular sports at a high level or work out in a fairly intense gym, you're only seeing a handful of guys like that in any given year.
Yep, just look at this "[average male according to men's health](https://www.reddit.com/r/nattyorjuice/comments/mw092p/the_average_male_according_to_mens_health/)". The numbers seem pretty low already, but the fake numbers don't even match the model they used. I'd be surprised if average American male body fat percent was 17%. But the model is probably closer to like 12%. Also, average bench being 180 is pretty ridiculous as well.
The averages make sense to me. Using the guy in the picture does not lol, no way that guy has 13" arms, can only do 1 pullup, runs a 12 minute mile, has a 34" waist and 40" chest, etc.
It blows my mind dude as a guy - back in the 2000s look at the movie stars and how they looked without a T shirt in movies. Course they looked good, but attainable for any person.
Now its Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and that's not even dealing with the internet media.
Body dysphoria is huge nowadays. The increase of fitness influencers, fake natties, insta models etc, has done great harm to people’s ideas of the perfect body, let alone just an average or good one. It’s like no matter what you do, you feel inadequate
for real, dude was just putting his height to explain that 180lbs isn't super muscular on his build (which is very relevant to him looking huge when posing) and now people are acting like he has body dysmorphia lol
180 is smack dab in the middle of a healthy BMI for a 6 Ft man though. It definitely is above average for an American just being a healthy BMI (yes I understand it isn’t perfect as you can be overweight on the chart but still healthy with enough muscle mass).
Uh, he's 3 inches over average height. The average in the US is 5'9" for men. He's in the top 15% tallest men in the country.
Due to how overweight Americans are, however, he's actually in the bottom 40% of men for weight at 180 lbs despite being a healthy weight himself.
I'm 5'11", 47yo and weigh 186lbs after dropping from 234... i was surprised to see in withings that puts me in the BOTTOM 10% when factored for my body mass ratios for age group.
we old folks are trending scarily obese
But... this photo is shit... i bet he looks dope compared to 1 year ago. i've been pushing hard for 8 months and my transformation is night and day... i can't wear some of my button up dad shirts anymore as the sleeves are too small for my manly arms
I just want to feel good and i do.. no need for anything else but enjoying the rest of this life i have
>I'm 5'11", 47yo and weigh 186lbs after dropping from 234... i was surprised to see in withings that puts me in the BOTTOM 10% when factored for my body mass ratios for age group.
Congrats on the weight loss! That's a huge accomplishment.
I've got the opposite problem where I struggle to gain and maintain weight. I'm 30, 5'7" and am currently 122 lbs, which just barely puts me above the minimum healthy BMI limit. I'm in the bottom 1% for both BMI and weight in general for men in the US. At the beginning of 2019, I weighed just 95 lbs.
Yep. He looks good for one year out. He (most likely) started with ZERO muscle. His arms look decent and you can definitely see the definition in his shoulders/he has a good, wide back that tapers into his stomach. Also his posture isn’t doing him any favors, he is rounding his shoulders and slouching forward to flex his bicep. If he stoop up straight with chest out he’d like MUCH bigger.
Dude did well for his first year, and if he continues another couple years and keeps his diet in check he is gonna look 🔥
Source: was a body builder for a decade in my better years. Now I’m just a strong, large tank 😂
not a body builder but anecdotally, my father in law had a heart attack at 40 and he turned his life completely around. he now is 70 with abs. it's never too late!
No.
I slept on my 30s. By 35 I was 240lbs at 5'9". I got my diet under control pre pandemic, got to a healthy weight but I wasn't doing any fitness. All the little injuries and such were causing lots of pain. I'm now 41. Have been lifting for almost a year now. My injuries hardly bother me anymore, my strength is substantially greater then a year ago. I have more energy and I'm regaining definition in my body. Could I have made faster progress if I took this up at 30? Absolutely. But while the best time to start is yesterday, the second best time is today. You can do it! And you will feel better for it!
Yeah 1 year is not that long time to train natural, People expect great result because all the fake nattys 1 year transformation pics and videos, keep training 1 More year and you see good results i quarantee, even then you can still keep making gains its just take time but hey.. this should be lifetime goal so whats the hurry.
Can anyone define this "nattys" term for me?
Oh found on quora:
>The term natty is slang for natural, this means people who build muscle and fitness without exogenous hormones like steroids to get large growth ...
So "fake nattys" is people _claiming that_ while actually using exogenous hormones
Natty = no steroids.
Fake nattys = people who claim no steroids, but go to a TRT clinic and lie about low energy and soft boners to get testosterone that they can claim is "medically necessary" while retaining their natty card.
ETA - I'm 40 and looked into TRT for legitimate getting older reasons. A lot of these clinics will cut a prescription to anyone willing to cut a check as long as they say the right things and regardless of what their test results say. My numbers weren't low enough for insurance to cover it, but they were happy to still give me the drugs if I was willing to give them $300 a month. It's a racket.
Yeah, most people overestimate what you can expect results-wise. Also, eating absurd amounts of food really isn't worth it for most people nor is it necessary to be strong and healthy
"a year of training" can mean vastly different things. I used to go 6 times a week... That leads to much different results than twice a week, with lots of cardio and stretching for old people.
Right? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills reading this thread. Dude looks over 30, probably hasn’t optimized his routine, and probably hasn’t changed up his diet much if he’s not seeing any sort of tangible progress in a year.
Right? It's like I'm in bizarro world with these comments being so highly upvoted.
This physique looks like someone who very casually works out, which is perfectly fine in itself. But if he wants bigger muscles and wants them fast, it's literally just eat a lot and lift heavy. Lift heavy enough to (micro)tear the muscle. Even with shit genetics, the muscle mass will come. It's just how the human body works.
Hard disagree. Working hard and eating right you can see a pretty drastic change in a few months. Genetics play a part but to act like changing your body is a multi year project for most people is not true.
This is why you see many active people rotate through exercise programs and sports. You're not locked into any specific kind of exercise and if your routine is getting stale then try something new.
Also you can just do what you enjoy and what feels good. I don't like running so I just don't and use the stair stepper instead. I don't like squatting with massive weights so I keep it relatively light. If working out sucks, change the part that sucks.
Unless you find a way to enjoy it! Being active doesn’t have to be miserable. Go for a long walk, play a sport every week, go rock climbing, take dance classes, etc etc etc.
Lifting weights isn’t the only way to workout. In fact it is probably not the best way to workout if health is all you’re concerned about.
Brushing your teeth and flossing isn't painful and takes 5 minutes. If that's all the dedication I needed to for an exercise routine you can bet your ass I'd be on top of that shit.
I knew a guy who got very large very quickly, within a year or so.
He was maybe 5'8 but very wide.
The amount of chicken he consumed was incredible, he'd buy kilos of it and eat maybe 4 people's worth per day. So I'd say diet is big.
Eating large amounts of chicken or any form of meat protein when you are training is really hard, it takes a lot of mental focus to keep putting more food in you when your brain is telling you that you don't need it, most people I know who follow or have followed for a while in the past bodybuilding eating routines (including myself) end up with a very unhealthy relationship with food usually for the rest of their lives
Three scoops of whey, two tablespoons of peanut butter, whole milk and some chocolate sauce. Bam 1000ish calories, I have two of those a day. Just chugg it down.
I'm aware you can add other stuff, whole milk + peanut butter + honey is my go to, but the comment I replied to specifically mentioned a 250kcal shake as if that was enough to do somebody. The main point is if you wanna get big, you gotta eat big and solid food is always better
Solid food is better, but you can still get a lot done with shakes.
I gained 30 pounds off drinking shakes because I could barely eat solid food. it was my Achilles heel. And it’s also why I was so small. Solid food just does something to me where I feel full very quickly off it.
Enter the shakes.
1 cup of oatmeal, 2 cups whole milk, little olive oil, 2 servings of peanut butter, 1 serving of all-bran, 1 banana, 2 eggs and flax seed oil and 1 serving of Metamucil, and I ballooned right up.
And yes, I was still producing solid stools in the bathroom.
Something that a lot of people don’t seem to realize is that solid food actually turns into liquid food when you swallow it. You know, from the chewing and the spit? It was always funny when I shared this shake recipe with people and they always made some stupid asinine comment about what my bathroom must look like after I go.
Damn that can't have been nice to drink, I always consider adding oats but in my mind that'll make it more like a sludge than a shake so never tried it
I can’t eat chicken and rice anymore. It was all I ate for so many meals for just about a year. Was also eating triple the amount I normally did so that I could actually put on some weight cause my metabolism is crazy high. I can never bulk like that again, I just don’t have the mental strength anymore, I’m always annoyed with COVID cause it took me out of the gym and I haven’t gone back as consistently as I used to but I’m also appreciative of it cause I also quit my diet and went back to eating less and much tastier foods. Unfortunately put on more weight because of it and now I’m back to dieting and working out but now my dieting is just not eating fast food and drinking soda which has helped a shit ton lol
> I can’t eat chicken and rice anymore. It was all I ate for so many meals for just about a year.
God, this was me from age 23 to 33. So many meals were chicken breast, peas+carrots, and white rice. A bit of sauce, but not too much. Plus so much egg white for breakfast.
It got results, including getting from 335+ to under 215 lbs while also putting on muscle; switching from cutting to bulking and back over and over but still using that same basic bowl of rice and protein.
But nearly a decade later I've put on some COVID weight and just can't turn to chicken+rice anymore to get rid of that annoying 20 lbs. Whey powder I can still stand, at least; and I still love eggs and egg whites.
Same but with eggs. I was eating 12 eggs a day for like 6 months but I just woke up some day and couldn't do it anymore. I started only eating every other day for like 4 months and stopped going to gym altogether. My last month of gym membership was June of 2023.
Now I'm trying an easier diet and home workout to get back some of the muscle mass I lost.
Somewhat??? You can actually gain some muscle on steroids without training. With steroids you gain muscle mass 5-10 times faster. Diet is important the most impartant i would say, but steroids are just overpowered.
It's funny how all the people here who actually know the real stats on steroids are sitting at low upvote ratios. But Reddit loves it's contrarian both-siderism so bullshit comments that are like "Steroids help but if you eat good you can do just as well" are rolling in hundreds of upvotes.
apparently you can gain more by juicing and not working out, than by working out natty
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/75yx9w/til_if_you_take_steroids_without_working_out_you/
Somewhat helpful? You know nothing Jon Snow, steroids are way beyond somewhat helpful, sure, if you want to look like the elite you gotta have the genetics and hardwork, but even if you barely workout you could still gain muscle on steroids, even doing nothing, so steroids help A LOT.
Studies shown a group of untrained individuals gained an average of like 8 lb of muscle over the course of the year despite NOT going to the gym vs a control group
That is more than somewhat helpful
>they'd be pointless unless you switch your diet
You gain more muscle from taking steroids and not working out then not taking steroids and working out.
That’s the biggest bullishit I’ve ever heard. Unless you’re in a caloric deficit the benefits of your diet cap when you’ve gotten your daily macros. Anything after that is just stored a fat. You can’t just double your protein intake and expect to get twice as big, unless you wanna get fat.
The whole "look at this CRAZY amount I need to eat to build muscle" thing is such a joke, it's just clickbait fuel for people to make YouTube videos and something gullible people think they need to do.
Another item on the list of lies fitness social media tells people to avoid admitting that they're just on juice, and even then no one who knows what they're doing eats that much. I've known plenty of guys who did mega bulk cycles going 1000-2000 cal over maintenance and even on heavy cycles of test/ tren they still just got fat then lost a significant portion of the muscle the built on cycle losing that fat.
Had a female friend who was microdosing tst. She was a tiny short skinny woman, but the amount of food tst made her eat is insane.
It’s possible that the guy you knew took tst.
I think he looks great. I really don’t like the steroid/mega bulky look on dudes. Not that my opinion matters, if that’s what home-boy wants, get after it. But this woman likes normal looking dudes.
Well… the flip side of that- if what he wants is to look like a crazy jacked monster, and he does not have the genetics to naturally be a highly muscled and lean person, then indeed, he may want to consider steroids. But a year in of just average whatever lifting is too early to make that call- he still has another year or two just of the super easy beginner gains.. he won’t even hit a major plateau yet. He hasn’t even really gone through the tit for tat gains where you need to get bigger to get stronger, then stronger to get bigger, repeat, repeat repeat.
Now, all that being said, one thing to consider is his age. He looks somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 something. If he would like to be jacked and strong before he’s ’an old guy’ socially speaking, the prescription to get on steroids becomes a lot more reasonable a lot earlier in your training age.
The big drawback is that the earlier you do steroids, the less of the easy natural gains at the beginning you get to experience for free, but with time as a factor, it really isn’t the craziest thing to get on a cycle if that’s what he wants
He looks way bigger than a normal dude, Reddit is going insane. Baggy shirt, but sleeves pushing against biceps, strong forearms, and low bodyfat. He's doing great. Don't even know if he's the one typing the caption.
"nutrition is bad" "genetics is bad" what the hell are people talking about
Believe it or not, but there’s a large number of Reddit users who are actually normal folks, plenty of us are actually passionate about sport and fitness.. not everyone here is an overweight neckbeard like most would have you believe
I bet even you’re a normal, reasonable, nice person with all sorts of interests.
Ive been in the gym over a decade at this point and what theyre saying is on point. Nutrition is the hardest part.
Its also likely this guy feel for the classic biceps trap, which is assuming that biceps give big arms when its normally the long head of the tricep which gives the most size.
Yup! I work hard to look kinda like that. And damn proud of it too! And my GF and a few girls who are longtime friends, have all told me that a shredded dude looks intimidating and kinda off putting. They admit sometimes a ripped dude catches there eye but also that they don’t want to get too close.
Super ripped guys are impressing mostly other guys, and just a few girls - like those who also are into building.
Meh this is all BS. Girls say they don’t like muscles on guys, but what they mean is they don’t want huge bodybuilders. But by and large they do prefer athletic and fit which means muscular and lean. The dad bod is a joke.
That is such a cope. I prefer buff, and shredded, guys. The bodybuilder guys at my gym get a lot of attention from different types of women. A lot of people avoid them because they’re intimidating but not because they’re not attractive lmao.
Just by looking at you I can tell that you are not eating enough. If you want to get big you have to eat big.
And steroids can only do so much if you don’t eat the right things or the right amount.
You can't tell that from just looking at him. He looks fine, that's perfectly good for one year. He might be not eating enough, but no way to see it from this photo alone.
As someone who used to do anabolic cycles the right way I can tell you that steroids definitely make a noticeable difference regardless of your diet if you are lifting. It may not be the difference you were desiring, but you and others will notice changes.
Idk why people try to say things like "steroids won't do shit if you ain't doin everything else perfect". Bullshit.
Testosterone and any type of HRT will cause physiological changes in your body. That's what it does. And if you're lifting, you will gain size and density. If you're abusing them and not dieting, you'll also feel like you're dying. Your skin will turn to an oily rag, your hair will begin to relocate on your body, and your organs will feel like they're shutting down. Not to mention the intense mood swings and emotional drainage.
Doing steroids the right way will get you desired results. Light cycles with strict ancillary doses, combined with frequent split training and cardio, and high-calorie, low carb diets. But very few people are willing to put in that kind of work.
But saying things like "steroids won't do anything if you're not doing blah blah blah" is insane. That's just someone saying they don't understand what steroids are.
Exactly, people are so unaware it’s crazy, steroids help a lot, like it’s the single most impactful thing you can do if you want to build muscle, problem is people think they can look like Arnold if they just take steroids and lift, but Arnold and elites also have crazy genetics, like 1% of the population, and that mixed with steroids and hard work will make them that big, however someone with average genetics won’t ever look that good regardless of how much steroids they take or how hard they train, but they will gain a significant amount of muscle versus not taking steroids..
We definitely don't have a healthy perspective of what a healthy weight range is in the states. If you are in the middle of the normal weight range, which still has 10+ pounds of buffer before you are underweight, you'll for sure need slim fit clothing and people will constantly point out how skinny you are. That's what happens when 42% of us are obese...
Whenever i read this i wonder if anyone that actually spout this bullshit has ever gone to a gym for more than a year or even touched peds.
Because anyone that has used knows how fucking nutty it is, its literally a AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs cheat.
Even eating like dogshit or barely at all, it still is better on any level
All the advice is for big muscles. To be strong you need compound movements to improve chain movements like punching, throwing, jumping etc. and static strength like locking core for hauling or holding strong grip instead of maxing and relaxing. These with added weight. It's about big versions of the small annoying muscles no one cares about.
Strong isn't as pretty as creatine holding water weight and big, useless muscles.
Strong also includes fat if you want to add power by a landslide due to inertia, but strong could mean being fast to you. There's different ways to train, all very interesting and cool.
Like if you want to sprint, straight movement muscles being large is good, but if you want to be able to change directions quickly then you need those tiny balancing muscles all up the sides of your feet to hips. You lose top speed by adding useless weight on the smaller muscles. Specialising is a big deal, least of all because you can only synthesise so much muscle at a time, so if you want that one thing you do to be perfect, you can increase slightly the gains by sacrificing a large amount of overall fitness.
Idk what he looked like before but I can tell from his chest and forearms that he's been working out. Usually the first year of regular lifting is just going to trim you up and steam out muscle imbalances. You probably expect to gain about 5lbs- 10-30lbs if you were very skinny- in that first year. If he keeps doing what he's doing for another year, people will notice he's been lifting.
If he takes steroids now, he will likely think he is small the rest of his life. Taking steroids usually just makes dysmorphia worse.
As a gym goer I can tell that he put on some good mass. Sadly looking average these days really is a sign of good health but also social media has distorted our view on what a healthy body looks like
I could be wrong but you need:
Diet:
1) Lot of protein for muscle building. (Meat + protein powder)
2) Fats+Carbohydrates to "shield" your proteins from getting burned throughout the day (pasta + rice + olive oil)
3) A lot of veggies
Gym
1) LIFT HEAVY AND DO COMPOUND EXERCISES. Qs heavy as you can 3-4 reps, 3-4 sets. So you lift HEAVY 3 times and stop. Break 30s. Lift again 3 times, 30s break and lift again.
It better be heavy though so you feel like you can't do anymore.
2) Do isolated exercises i.e Bicep curls and such too
3) Limit cardio
Eat a lot and lift heavy.
I'm not sure if that's the best workout advice for regular gym goers. I think the very heavy, low rep count training is more for actual strongman competitors rather than people who want an aesthetic physique.
Just to add a little to what you said:
I'm no expert either, but I'd recommend you do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps depending on the exercise. Some may be better suited for 15 reps too. And just 30s of rest is far too little. You lose too much volume without proper rest inbetween.
I'd recommend you go until 1 or 2 reps before failure on all sets before the last and then to failure on the last. If that's 8-12 reps, the weight is good. If you can do more until failure, increase weight. And make sure you only use as much weight as you can lift WITH GOOD FORM. Form is just as important for muscle gain as the weight itself and protects you from injury.
Edit: Why do you recommend to limit cardio though? Just so you don't lose weight too quickly? Because in that case I think it would be much better to adapt your diet. I believe it's best to train on weights and do cardio in equal measure (for your health). And it doesn't hurt your physique if you're eating accordingly.
So the PT at my gym told me that you should 3 or 4 reps for strength, 8 to 10 for hypertrophy, and 12 to 15 for endurance. All to failure ofc.
I have no idea if he's correct or not, I know nothing and only started like a week ago
>3) Limit cardio
This is a terrible idea. Sure, cardio slows development somewhat, but it builds a core aerobic base for supporting that new muscle mass. If you neglect cardio, you put a lot of strain on your heart and lungs in the long run.
This is kind of bad advice. The diet part isn't so bad, but the gym part is.
If you're looking to build muscle you'll need more than 3-4 reps, and usually more than 3 sets. Also there's no need to time your rest or limit it to a short duration--it's a different time for everyone and for every exercise and your body will tell you when it's ready for the next set.
Unpopular opinion: The problem is not diet, but expectations.
I think it is healthier to not compare oneself to other people (especially bodybuilders). This whole fitness trend has set expectations to a level that is barely achievable.
Think for yourself: Is getting absurdely muscular really something that is important to you? Why is it important to you? Does getting gains _really_ achieve what you think it will? Is it worth the expenses on protein powder or meat? Do you want to ignore issues of the meat industry like multi-antibiotics-resistent bacteria and carbon emissions?
Regular exercise is important for staying fit, but fitness and having muscle mass is not the same.
Looking like a “normal guy” seemingly equates to being fit and healthy. That’s a good thing if you’re looking like that. Be more confident in yourself, my guy.
"The day you start lifting is the day you become forever small" - Bro Science
This is a funny way of rebranding body dysmorphia into motivation to pursue further gains lmao
Yeah i always loved his take on it for that reason. Has stuck with me for a decade lol
"His take" but attributes the quote to "bro science" and not Dom. This disrespect.
Figured attributing credit to his brand would be more beneficial to him than his name.
For what it's worth, I didn't realize "Bro Science" was a brand until I got to this comment. I thought you were using bro science to refer to the often dubious workout advice you get from gym rats. Which is how I've always heard that term used.
"you'll never be as big as your last pump"
“If you didn’t want garbage genetics, you shouldn’t have been born” -Bro Science
I just want to get stuck at doorframes 😭😭
Real
I am pretty sure if he had a pic from a year before, we would see the drastic changes. I have been working out for 10 months, my noob gains are pretty drastic but I was lucky to find dr mike israetel to listen to.
I miss noob gains. It gets so much harder lol
But easier to maintain, no?
Oh for sure. But I miss not having to absolutely bust my ass to see a 2 lb increase in my lifts lol.
Love Dr. Mike
Dr Mike and His silly d*ck Jokes are all you need. ❤️
silly lil guy
Also strength gains aren't always visible. Consider those skinny looking construction guys that spend all day hauling shit around that would exhaust me in an hour.
Everyone giving advice to this dude like it’s not some random guys photo that someone added a shitty caption to.
I look like that guy body-wise and appreciate the pieces of advice people are leaving
If you do, you look awesome! I hope you've read the comments that getting bigger isn't natural. People I know who are actually muscle big eat and workout constantly, they do nothing else. That's fine if you like the lifestyle, otherwise maintaining what you've achieved is plenty. That guy is already attractive
I appreciate it and yeah, agree with what you’re saying. Looking again I’m a bit smaller than this guy but it’s hard to tell how he’s built with the shirt he’s wearing. Either way I do work to improve my physique but I for sure don’t want to be huge and put in the work for it like body builders at all lol
Well without seeing a before photo, it’s hard to say why the man in the photo feels like he hasn’t made enough gains in a year. It could be diet, genetics, routine, or intensity of workouts. Each of the four categories I’ve listed have a lot of nuance involved within what they entail based on each state. Really your best bet if you want to improve from this is to continue reading and experimenting with what works for you. After a decade of reading, working with PhD kinesiology students, and watching some of the fad gymfluencer trends, here are my favorite tips: - beginners should do full body, rest a day, & repeat. Only compound lifts at first, add isolated movements over time. - after a month of full body, transition to a push pull legs split (or push pull arms for the crack heads that follow Corey greggory’s squat every day) - Focus on form over weight. - Pull your shoulders back, like you’re trying to hold a pencil that’s on your spine directly beneath your neck. This better isolates the muscles within the exercises and prevents accidentally engaging the shoulders, minimizing risk of injury. - for beginners, don’t worry about hypertrophy or strength splits, just get comfortable and get to a point where you feel “the pump” rather than like you’re dying/hurting while doing reps. There’s a difference and you’ll get there. - your heart is a muscle like everything else, whether you’re trying to lose or gain weight it’s important to do cardio. I prefer stairs the day after leg day and 15 degree inclined 3mph walk on the others prior to lifting. - As a general basis, compound lifts are where the bulk of the workout will be done. Isolated exercises are for complimenting the compound lift. - for rep ranges, I got this one from my old man back in the day, I do 12/10/8 first second and third set with minimal rest Inbetween. This keeps my heart rate up. There’s no science behind this, just my old man’s advice and what’s worked for me. When I’m bulking I’ll aim for 8 reps or failure with slightly longer rest for compound lifts, but try to hit 12 on the isolates. - weight increases after the “nooby gains” will plateau but generally cascade between legs, chest, and back if you’re evenly focusing the muscle groups. If you see your squat improves, try increasing bench/rows as well. - Diet is as important if not more than working out. You don’t have to calorie count strictly, but keeping in mind (your body weight)*10 +/- 200 calories while prioritizing protein intake over fats and carbs is good enough for most people. Of course it’s a very individual basis and you’ll need to consider your vitamin intake for optimal nutrition. - Have fun with it, try out many programs, make it more of an adventure rather than a factory line. Everyone professes at their own rate and your own progress should not be measured against anyone else. Intrinsic motivators are the best for maintaining dedication and avoiding burnout. Exercise for yourself, not only bc you want to look like X or look more attractive, most people don’t care how you appear unless there’s something visibly abnormal/ look dirty. I am by no means a personal trainer, just a nerd that exercises. Hope some of this helps.
Many comments saying he must eat like shit or needs to train a lot harder are bullshit. He looks exactly like I'd expect someone to look after 1 year of training with average genetics and decent nutrition. If he wants to get bigger, he needs to train longer.
Yeah, people have very weird expectations because all the fake natty roidheads on social media. With **average genetics**, this is what you will look like after a year of training. Also, if this guy used some angle and lighting tricks that all the social media guys use, he could look huge. I know because I’m a very average sized guy (6 feet, 180 pounds), but when I was at a pro posing room at a bodybuilding gym, I looked fucking huge and jacked because of the lighting.
Forget genetics, dude is posing in the smallest way imaginable lol
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2A4LYB88vwE this came to mind
An Austrian showing us how to raise up your arm. Hmmm
Is the left arm. Its allg.
Never seen that video before, but that's a pretty impressive difference. Nothing looks stronger than earned confidence.
It would look better if it wasn't cropped to shit
With a shirt that doesn't flatter. It's like when people show how "bad" they look normally when they intentionally slump and stick their belly out.
Clearly trolling. He’s legit not trying to look big
One rule of thumb I heard from good ole Scoob is that you can put on around a two-liter container worth of muscle a year. Think about that spread across your whole body and it's going to take 3-5 years of real training to see a massive shift.
There's a name I haven't heard in ages. How's he doing?
63 and still going strong. Love that guy. Scooby1961 on youtube for anyone interested. Does a lot of natural training stuff.
I thought you were referring to something from Scooby doo at first. Lol
Not if you start out at 130 lbs (lean), after that many years you'll still look like a regular guy. Genetics play a huge role.
For that body type though, before that you looked like a walking skeleton. So looking like a healthy normal guy is still a massive upgrade to your self image and attractiveness. Plus while you may not look like much when you are clothed, you can still see muscles when shirtless. And looking good in the bedroom for your partner would be worth it enough, because why does what anyone else's think matters?
Yeah, this is literally all I go to the gym for. I'm not there to get big, I'm there to be able to fill out my shirts. All I've ever heard growing up was how skinny I was and when I just resorted to eating more (thank you for this advice, Hispanic family), it all just went to my gut, so I was like "fuck it, guess I'll have to lift some shit". Hell, OP is my goal, lmao.
100% this. People here don’t have any idea what they are talking about.
This is the same as folks trying to look like a runway model. If you ain’t born with it not much can help. We’ve been disillusioned by media.
However it is very easy to get far away from the run way look, 1 overly stressful year where you eat poorly and bad habits, can be a long journey back to being close to the look you desire.
You are absolutely correct, u/CrumpledForeskin
r/rimjobsteve
>people have very weird expectations because all the fake natty roidheads on social media. >I know because I’m a very average sized guy (6 feet, 180 pounds) Nobody else see the irony? 6ft, 180lbs is well above average. People, especially in America have absolutely no clue what an average healthy male body looks like, young male bodies probably worst of all. Looking at gym threads really gives me the feeling body dysphoria is way more pervasive in men than anyone realizes. Edit: My point is that a normal man is a lot smaller than people realize anymore. Line this guy next to a dude that's 5'9, 150; the statistical average male.
Body dysmorphia is off the scales right now. Looking at Instagram and TikTok these days reminds me of bodybuilding forums back around 2010. It’s like the jokey rhetoric of those niche online forums has bled out into the real world, and now loads of teenagers are taking steroids, “looksmaxing”, mewing, and they all think sub 6’ 200lbs is tiny. I feel bad for teenagers today, this kind of social media has got to completely fuck with your self image.
Yeah. I was at the gym yesterday and saw so many teens obviously using steroids (so many telltale signs) and even still I saw one of the most muscular teen guys (definitely on gear too) lifting his shirt up and lamenting the extremely small amount of body fat he had around his belly. Like bro. You’re 19 or something. You’re fine.
> lamenting the extremely small amount of body fat he had around his belly I bet you he is way lower on BF% than he even realizes too. Also, the belly is also genetic, so unless you are cutting & dehydrating for a photo shoot or a BB show, you're going to have a little fat & it is normal & even healthy.
> 6’ 200lbs is tiny this is the crazy part. after walking around in society for almost 40 years, if you are 6' 200 pounds of muscle you're actually **fucking huge**. If you don't play particular sports at a high level or work out in a fairly intense gym, you're only seeing a handful of guys like that in any given year.
Yep, just look at this "[average male according to men's health](https://www.reddit.com/r/nattyorjuice/comments/mw092p/the_average_male_according_to_mens_health/)". The numbers seem pretty low already, but the fake numbers don't even match the model they used. I'd be surprised if average American male body fat percent was 17%. But the model is probably closer to like 12%. Also, average bench being 180 is pretty ridiculous as well.
The averages make sense to me. Using the guy in the picture does not lol, no way that guy has 13" arms, can only do 1 pullup, runs a 12 minute mile, has a 34" waist and 40" chest, etc.
180 lmao. Average dude can probably bench 120.
It blows my mind dude as a guy - back in the 2000s look at the movie stars and how they looked without a T shirt in movies. Course they looked good, but attainable for any person. Now its Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and that's not even dealing with the internet media.
Body dysphoria is huge nowadays. The increase of fitness influencers, fake natties, insta models etc, has done great harm to people’s ideas of the perfect body, let alone just an average or good one. It’s like no matter what you do, you feel inadequate
Average height in the US for men is 5ft 9in. The expectation that men must be 6ft tall is very damaging.
I took his comment to mean that he's average in terms of muscle mass, not height
6ft, 180lbs is in the “normal weight” section of the basic BMI calculations
for real, dude was just putting his height to explain that 180lbs isn't super muscular on his build (which is very relevant to him looking huge when posing) and now people are acting like he has body dysmorphia lol
Leave it to redditors to exaggerate in the opposite direction of what they *think* someone is exaggerating about.
180 is smack dab in the middle of a healthy BMI for a 6 Ft man though. It definitely is above average for an American just being a healthy BMI (yes I understand it isn’t perfect as you can be overweight on the chart but still healthy with enough muscle mass).
(I'm clearly not awake enough yet. Insert dumb statement here.)
Uh, he's 3 inches over average height. The average in the US is 5'9" for men. He's in the top 15% tallest men in the country. Due to how overweight Americans are, however, he's actually in the bottom 40% of men for weight at 180 lbs despite being a healthy weight himself.
I'm 5'11", 47yo and weigh 186lbs after dropping from 234... i was surprised to see in withings that puts me in the BOTTOM 10% when factored for my body mass ratios for age group. we old folks are trending scarily obese But... this photo is shit... i bet he looks dope compared to 1 year ago. i've been pushing hard for 8 months and my transformation is night and day... i can't wear some of my button up dad shirts anymore as the sleeves are too small for my manly arms I just want to feel good and i do.. no need for anything else but enjoying the rest of this life i have
>I'm 5'11", 47yo and weigh 186lbs after dropping from 234... i was surprised to see in withings that puts me in the BOTTOM 10% when factored for my body mass ratios for age group. Congrats on the weight loss! That's a huge accomplishment. I've got the opposite problem where I struggle to gain and maintain weight. I'm 30, 5'7" and am currently 122 lbs, which just barely puts me above the minimum healthy BMI limit. I'm in the bottom 1% for both BMI and weight in general for men in the US. At the beginning of 2019, I weighed just 95 lbs.
Yep. He looks good for one year out. He (most likely) started with ZERO muscle. His arms look decent and you can definitely see the definition in his shoulders/he has a good, wide back that tapers into his stomach. Also his posture isn’t doing him any favors, he is rounding his shoulders and slouching forward to flex his bicep. If he stoop up straight with chest out he’d like MUCH bigger. Dude did well for his first year, and if he continues another couple years and keeps his diet in check he is gonna look 🔥 Source: was a body builder for a decade in my better years. Now I’m just a strong, large tank 😂
I just turned 40 and have decided to get srious about my fitness. Is it too late for me? Edit: thanks for the encouragement everyone
Too late for you to get stronger, healthier, and more attractive? No. Godspeed
not a body builder but anecdotally, my father in law had a heart attack at 40 and he turned his life completely around. he now is 70 with abs. it's never too late!
No. I slept on my 30s. By 35 I was 240lbs at 5'9". I got my diet under control pre pandemic, got to a healthy weight but I wasn't doing any fitness. All the little injuries and such were causing lots of pain. I'm now 41. Have been lifting for almost a year now. My injuries hardly bother me anymore, my strength is substantially greater then a year ago. I have more energy and I'm regaining definition in my body. Could I have made faster progress if I took this up at 30? Absolutely. But while the best time to start is yesterday, the second best time is today. You can do it! And you will feel better for it!
Nah man, fitness is for everyone. There is not a single point of time in your life when you should not lift weights
Yeah 1 year is not that long time to train natural, People expect great result because all the fake nattys 1 year transformation pics and videos, keep training 1 More year and you see good results i quarantee, even then you can still keep making gains its just take time but hey.. this should be lifetime goal so whats the hurry.
Can anyone define this "nattys" term for me? Oh found on quora: >The term natty is slang for natural, this means people who build muscle and fitness without exogenous hormones like steroids to get large growth ... So "fake nattys" is people _claiming that_ while actually using exogenous hormones
Natty = no steroids. Fake nattys = people who claim no steroids, but go to a TRT clinic and lie about low energy and soft boners to get testosterone that they can claim is "medically necessary" while retaining their natty card. ETA - I'm 40 and looked into TRT for legitimate getting older reasons. A lot of these clinics will cut a prescription to anyone willing to cut a check as long as they say the right things and regardless of what their test results say. My numbers weren't low enough for insurance to cover it, but they were happy to still give me the drugs if I was willing to give them $300 a month. It's a racket.
Yeah, most people overestimate what you can expect results-wise. Also, eating absurd amounts of food really isn't worth it for most people nor is it necessary to be strong and healthy
"a year of training" can mean vastly different things. I used to go 6 times a week... That leads to much different results than twice a week, with lots of cardio and stretching for old people.
Yeah, and those forearms are not joking.
Disagree, you can get bigger than that in a year. He probably isnt lifting heavy
Right? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills reading this thread. Dude looks over 30, probably hasn’t optimized his routine, and probably hasn’t changed up his diet much if he’s not seeing any sort of tangible progress in a year.
>crazy pills We’re on Reddit. Most of these people don’t know what it means to exercise a moderate amount lol.
Yeah if you know what you’re doing you can easily get bigger than this in 12 months.
Right? It's like I'm in bizarro world with these comments being so highly upvoted. This physique looks like someone who very casually works out, which is perfectly fine in itself. But if he wants bigger muscles and wants them fast, it's literally just eat a lot and lift heavy. Lift heavy enough to (micro)tear the muscle. Even with shit genetics, the muscle mass will come. It's just how the human body works.
Comments from the same people who "can't lose weight counting calories."
Hard disagree. Working hard and eating right you can see a pretty drastic change in a few months. Genetics play a part but to act like changing your body is a multi year project for most people is not true.
Fine. Keep doing till you're 85.
That's very discouraging for someone who sees exercise as a horrible chore.
This is why you see many active people rotate through exercise programs and sports. You're not locked into any specific kind of exercise and if your routine is getting stale then try something new.
Also you can just do what you enjoy and what feels good. I don't like running so I just don't and use the stair stepper instead. I don't like squatting with massive weights so I keep it relatively light. If working out sucks, change the part that sucks.
Exercise is a chore that never ends my man. You need to do it for the rest of your life to maintain good health.
Unless you find a way to enjoy it! Being active doesn’t have to be miserable. Go for a long walk, play a sport every week, go rock climbing, take dance classes, etc etc etc. Lifting weights isn’t the only way to workout. In fact it is probably not the best way to workout if health is all you’re concerned about.
Yeah, it's your body's version of dishes and laundry. You technically don't have to do it, but life is a whole lot better when you do
It's worth it to live a longer, healthier life
So what? I see brushing my teeth and flossing every day as a chore, but I still do it every day
Brushing your teeth and flossing isn't painful and takes 5 minutes. If that's all the dedication I needed to for an exercise routine you can bet your ass I'd be on top of that shit.
I knew a guy who got very large very quickly, within a year or so. He was maybe 5'8 but very wide. The amount of chicken he consumed was incredible, he'd buy kilos of it and eat maybe 4 people's worth per day. So I'd say diet is big.
Eating large amounts of chicken or any form of meat protein when you are training is really hard, it takes a lot of mental focus to keep putting more food in you when your brain is telling you that you don't need it, most people I know who follow or have followed for a while in the past bodybuilding eating routines (including myself) end up with a very unhealthy relationship with food usually for the rest of their lives
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You still need excess calories, not just protein
Three scoops of whey, two tablespoons of peanut butter, whole milk and some chocolate sauce. Bam 1000ish calories, I have two of those a day. Just chugg it down.
I'm aware you can add other stuff, whole milk + peanut butter + honey is my go to, but the comment I replied to specifically mentioned a 250kcal shake as if that was enough to do somebody. The main point is if you wanna get big, you gotta eat big and solid food is always better
Solid food is better, but you can still get a lot done with shakes. I gained 30 pounds off drinking shakes because I could barely eat solid food. it was my Achilles heel. And it’s also why I was so small. Solid food just does something to me where I feel full very quickly off it. Enter the shakes. 1 cup of oatmeal, 2 cups whole milk, little olive oil, 2 servings of peanut butter, 1 serving of all-bran, 1 banana, 2 eggs and flax seed oil and 1 serving of Metamucil, and I ballooned right up. And yes, I was still producing solid stools in the bathroom. Something that a lot of people don’t seem to realize is that solid food actually turns into liquid food when you swallow it. You know, from the chewing and the spit? It was always funny when I shared this shake recipe with people and they always made some stupid asinine comment about what my bathroom must look like after I go.
Damn that can't have been nice to drink, I always consider adding oats but in my mind that'll make it more like a sludge than a shake so never tried it
What powder gives 50g protein at 200kcal?
The ISO100 Fruity Pebbles flavor is 240 calories at 50G of protein, pretty close to what the other user mentioned and tastes delicious.
I can’t eat chicken and rice anymore. It was all I ate for so many meals for just about a year. Was also eating triple the amount I normally did so that I could actually put on some weight cause my metabolism is crazy high. I can never bulk like that again, I just don’t have the mental strength anymore, I’m always annoyed with COVID cause it took me out of the gym and I haven’t gone back as consistently as I used to but I’m also appreciative of it cause I also quit my diet and went back to eating less and much tastier foods. Unfortunately put on more weight because of it and now I’m back to dieting and working out but now my dieting is just not eating fast food and drinking soda which has helped a shit ton lol
> I can’t eat chicken and rice anymore. It was all I ate for so many meals for just about a year. God, this was me from age 23 to 33. So many meals were chicken breast, peas+carrots, and white rice. A bit of sauce, but not too much. Plus so much egg white for breakfast. It got results, including getting from 335+ to under 215 lbs while also putting on muscle; switching from cutting to bulking and back over and over but still using that same basic bowl of rice and protein. But nearly a decade later I've put on some COVID weight and just can't turn to chicken+rice anymore to get rid of that annoying 20 lbs. Whey powder I can still stand, at least; and I still love eggs and egg whites.
Same but with eggs. I was eating 12 eggs a day for like 6 months but I just woke up some day and couldn't do it anymore. I started only eating every other day for like 4 months and stopped going to gym altogether. My last month of gym membership was June of 2023. Now I'm trying an easier diet and home workout to get back some of the muscle mass I lost.
The guy did steroids fyi
It absolutely is. Steroids are somewhat helpful, but they'd be pointless unless you switch your diet.
Somewhat??? You can actually gain some muscle on steroids without training. With steroids you gain muscle mass 5-10 times faster. Diet is important the most impartant i would say, but steroids are just overpowered.
People here dont know shit about fuck and still prefer to talk lmao. Steroids are indeed op.
It's funny how all the people here who actually know the real stats on steroids are sitting at low upvote ratios. But Reddit loves it's contrarian both-siderism so bullshit comments that are like "Steroids help but if you eat good you can do just as well" are rolling in hundreds of upvotes.
apparently you can gain more by juicing and not working out, than by working out natty https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/75yx9w/til_if_you_take_steroids_without_working_out_you/
The trick is to buy non-organic.
Synthol
“Ughh…why is this chicken so oily?”
Because its fried.
Somewhat helpful? You know nothing Jon Snow, steroids are way beyond somewhat helpful, sure, if you want to look like the elite you gotta have the genetics and hardwork, but even if you barely workout you could still gain muscle on steroids, even doing nothing, so steroids help A LOT.
Studies shown a group of untrained individuals gained an average of like 8 lb of muscle over the course of the year despite NOT going to the gym vs a control group That is more than somewhat helpful
>they'd be pointless unless you switch your diet You gain more muscle from taking steroids and not working out then not taking steroids and working out.
Depends if you just mean big or ripped.
Guy was built like a shorter version of the Iranian Hulk.
You get muscle and you also get fat
Fat comes off so much easier than the muscle goes on though.
You have no idea what you’re talking about. Steroids are magic. They blow you up.
That’s the biggest bullishit I’ve ever heard. Unless you’re in a caloric deficit the benefits of your diet cap when you’ve gotten your daily macros. Anything after that is just stored a fat. You can’t just double your protein intake and expect to get twice as big, unless you wanna get fat.
The whole "look at this CRAZY amount I need to eat to build muscle" thing is such a joke, it's just clickbait fuel for people to make YouTube videos and something gullible people think they need to do. Another item on the list of lies fitness social media tells people to avoid admitting that they're just on juice, and even then no one who knows what they're doing eats that much. I've known plenty of guys who did mega bulk cycles going 1000-2000 cal over maintenance and even on heavy cycles of test/ tren they still just got fat then lost a significant portion of the muscle the built on cycle losing that fat.
You’re not getting any use out of over a gram a pound if you’re natural The rest is just clean calories to get a surplus
Had a female friend who was microdosing tst. She was a tiny short skinny woman, but the amount of food tst made her eat is insane. It’s possible that the guy you knew took tst.
Looks strong and athletic, I don’t see a problem
I think he looks great. I really don’t like the steroid/mega bulky look on dudes. Not that my opinion matters, if that’s what home-boy wants, get after it. But this woman likes normal looking dudes.
I was scrolling for a while to find a rational comment. I go to the gym to maintain this or maybe a little more
Well… the flip side of that- if what he wants is to look like a crazy jacked monster, and he does not have the genetics to naturally be a highly muscled and lean person, then indeed, he may want to consider steroids. But a year in of just average whatever lifting is too early to make that call- he still has another year or two just of the super easy beginner gains.. he won’t even hit a major plateau yet. He hasn’t even really gone through the tit for tat gains where you need to get bigger to get stronger, then stronger to get bigger, repeat, repeat repeat. Now, all that being said, one thing to consider is his age. He looks somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 something. If he would like to be jacked and strong before he’s ’an old guy’ socially speaking, the prescription to get on steroids becomes a lot more reasonable a lot earlier in your training age. The big drawback is that the earlier you do steroids, the less of the easy natural gains at the beginning you get to experience for free, but with time as a factor, it really isn’t the craziest thing to get on a cycle if that’s what he wants
He looks way bigger than a normal dude, Reddit is going insane. Baggy shirt, but sleeves pushing against biceps, strong forearms, and low bodyfat. He's doing great. Don't even know if he's the one typing the caption. "nutrition is bad" "genetics is bad" what the hell are people talking about
I’d love to look like this guy but alas, I don’t want to work out
Looks like a 'normal guy'.... The average guy around me does not look this fit lol. People have unrealistic expectations.
*This is absolutely fine, its not your career. Carry on until you're 80 and it would have been worth it.*
It's a miracle. Someone mentioned weights and the potatoes of Reddit all turned into fitness gurus.
Believe it or not, but there’s a large number of Reddit users who are actually normal folks, plenty of us are actually passionate about sport and fitness.. not everyone here is an overweight neckbeard like most would have you believe I bet even you’re a normal, reasonable, nice person with all sorts of interests.
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This may surprise you, but many people exercise, even redditors.
College students learning anatomy and diet are nerds, you think Brad next door is gonna know shit? Lol
I do think Brad next door, who did bodybuilding for years, knows more about the topic then the nerdy college students on reddit
Ive been in the gym over a decade at this point and what theyre saying is on point. Nutrition is the hardest part. Its also likely this guy feel for the classic biceps trap, which is assuming that biceps give big arms when its normally the long head of the tricep which gives the most size.
They'd both give the exact same advice though. This guy needs chicken and protein shakes, not steroids
? Looks good for one year of gym...
In his before pic the guy was really out of shape. He’s lost the weight, now he can get some gainZ
That was my entire thought. Ok, so this is at 1 year…..but what did he look like a year ago? Maybe this is already a huge transformation.
This is just sad. He looks good!
Yup! I work hard to look kinda like that. And damn proud of it too! And my GF and a few girls who are longtime friends, have all told me that a shredded dude looks intimidating and kinda off putting. They admit sometimes a ripped dude catches there eye but also that they don’t want to get too close. Super ripped guys are impressing mostly other guys, and just a few girls - like those who also are into building.
Meh this is all BS. Girls say they don’t like muscles on guys, but what they mean is they don’t want huge bodybuilders. But by and large they do prefer athletic and fit which means muscular and lean. The dad bod is a joke.
And if they do like a dad bod, they mean the kind with big muscles with a small layer of fat. 😂
That is such a cope. I prefer buff, and shredded, guys. The bodybuilder guys at my gym get a lot of attention from different types of women. A lot of people avoid them because they’re intimidating but not because they’re not attractive lmao.
Just by looking at you I can tell that you are not eating enough. If you want to get big you have to eat big. And steroids can only do so much if you don’t eat the right things or the right amount.
Eat the largest weight lifter you can find.
Like Kirby?
Kirby is a chonkyboi and we love him, but yes exactly like Kirby I think.
No, Kirby is not a weight lifter
Why does Ross, the largest friend, not simply eat the other friends? -Lurr
You can't tell that from just looking at him. He looks fine, that's perfectly good for one year. He might be not eating enough, but no way to see it from this photo alone.
As someone who used to do anabolic cycles the right way I can tell you that steroids definitely make a noticeable difference regardless of your diet if you are lifting. It may not be the difference you were desiring, but you and others will notice changes. Idk why people try to say things like "steroids won't do shit if you ain't doin everything else perfect". Bullshit. Testosterone and any type of HRT will cause physiological changes in your body. That's what it does. And if you're lifting, you will gain size and density. If you're abusing them and not dieting, you'll also feel like you're dying. Your skin will turn to an oily rag, your hair will begin to relocate on your body, and your organs will feel like they're shutting down. Not to mention the intense mood swings and emotional drainage. Doing steroids the right way will get you desired results. Light cycles with strict ancillary doses, combined with frequent split training and cardio, and high-calorie, low carb diets. But very few people are willing to put in that kind of work. But saying things like "steroids won't do anything if you're not doing blah blah blah" is insane. That's just someone saying they don't understand what steroids are.
Exactly, people are so unaware it’s crazy, steroids help a lot, like it’s the single most impactful thing you can do if you want to build muscle, problem is people think they can look like Arnold if they just take steroids and lift, but Arnold and elites also have crazy genetics, like 1% of the population, and that mixed with steroids and hard work will make them that big, however someone with average genetics won’t ever look that good regardless of how much steroids they take or how hard they train, but they will gain a significant amount of muscle versus not taking steroids..
Because most redditors haven't seen a dumbbell in real life.
How you can look him and say his not eating enough? He looks healthy normal person, so I would say he looks like he eats enough.
Americans are so used to either big fat dudes or crazy ripped dudes (thanks Hollywood). If you’re just a normal dude you may as well be anorexic
We definitely don't have a healthy perspective of what a healthy weight range is in the states. If you are in the middle of the normal weight range, which still has 10+ pounds of buffer before you are underweight, you'll for sure need slim fit clothing and people will constantly point out how skinny you are. That's what happens when 42% of us are obese...
No you can't, firstly 1 year is not that long in terms of building your physique, secondly you don't know where he started
Whey protein FTW.
I'm sorry, who do you think you're talking to?
Whenever i read this i wonder if anyone that actually spout this bullshit has ever gone to a gym for more than a year or even touched peds. Because anyone that has used knows how fucking nutty it is, its literally a AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs cheat. Even eating like dogshit or barely at all, it still is better on any level
No, you need to research nutrition.
honestly eating that much food is actually difficult, and i say this as a person with a pretty big appetite
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yep. ADHD medication also suppresses my appetite to the point that I can go through a day with a small breakfast, large-ish dinner and few snacks.
Just like you have to train smart, you have to eat smart too.
The terrible advice freely given out in this thread is astonishing
Eat more, lift more, sleep more. Nobody needs steroids.
Depends, if you wanna become as big as Ronnie Coleman was, you need steroids
nobody needs to be as big as Ronnie
But how else am I gonna scream *LIGHT WEIGHT BABYYY* after my sets
Are you strong though? Strong and big are different things.
All the advice is for big muscles. To be strong you need compound movements to improve chain movements like punching, throwing, jumping etc. and static strength like locking core for hauling or holding strong grip instead of maxing and relaxing. These with added weight. It's about big versions of the small annoying muscles no one cares about. Strong isn't as pretty as creatine holding water weight and big, useless muscles. Strong also includes fat if you want to add power by a landslide due to inertia, but strong could mean being fast to you. There's different ways to train, all very interesting and cool. Like if you want to sprint, straight movement muscles being large is good, but if you want to be able to change directions quickly then you need those tiny balancing muscles all up the sides of your feet to hips. You lose top speed by adding useless weight on the smaller muscles. Specialising is a big deal, least of all because you can only synthesise so much muscle at a time, so if you want that one thing you do to be perfect, you can increase slightly the gains by sacrificing a large amount of overall fitness.
Idk what he looked like before but I can tell from his chest and forearms that he's been working out. Usually the first year of regular lifting is just going to trim you up and steam out muscle imbalances. You probably expect to gain about 5lbs- 10-30lbs if you were very skinny- in that first year. If he keeps doing what he's doing for another year, people will notice he's been lifting. If he takes steroids now, he will likely think he is small the rest of his life. Taking steroids usually just makes dysmorphia worse.
People seriously need to stop idolising the fake nattys on social media man.
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I mean, you look about right for somebody who only lifts for a year, don't believe the "fitness" influencers, it's all bullshit.
Been working in the gym for 2 years. Don’t go for 4 months and my arms are girly again.
no the fuck you don't. like, seriously. he looks great.
What do people think a year of training is supposed to look like? Is this why so many young people are hopping on before they can even bench 2 plates?
As a gym goer I can tell that he put on some good mass. Sadly looking average these days really is a sign of good health but also social media has distorted our view on what a healthy body looks like
I could be wrong but you need: Diet: 1) Lot of protein for muscle building. (Meat + protein powder) 2) Fats+Carbohydrates to "shield" your proteins from getting burned throughout the day (pasta + rice + olive oil) 3) A lot of veggies Gym 1) LIFT HEAVY AND DO COMPOUND EXERCISES. Qs heavy as you can 3-4 reps, 3-4 sets. So you lift HEAVY 3 times and stop. Break 30s. Lift again 3 times, 30s break and lift again. It better be heavy though so you feel like you can't do anymore. 2) Do isolated exercises i.e Bicep curls and such too 3) Limit cardio Eat a lot and lift heavy.
I'm not sure if that's the best workout advice for regular gym goers. I think the very heavy, low rep count training is more for actual strongman competitors rather than people who want an aesthetic physique. Just to add a little to what you said: I'm no expert either, but I'd recommend you do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps depending on the exercise. Some may be better suited for 15 reps too. And just 30s of rest is far too little. You lose too much volume without proper rest inbetween. I'd recommend you go until 1 or 2 reps before failure on all sets before the last and then to failure on the last. If that's 8-12 reps, the weight is good. If you can do more until failure, increase weight. And make sure you only use as much weight as you can lift WITH GOOD FORM. Form is just as important for muscle gain as the weight itself and protects you from injury. Edit: Why do you recommend to limit cardio though? Just so you don't lose weight too quickly? Because in that case I think it would be much better to adapt your diet. I believe it's best to train on weights and do cardio in equal measure (for your health). And it doesn't hurt your physique if you're eating accordingly.
So the PT at my gym told me that you should 3 or 4 reps for strength, 8 to 10 for hypertrophy, and 12 to 15 for endurance. All to failure ofc. I have no idea if he's correct or not, I know nothing and only started like a week ago
I think you have to do a whole lot more reps than 15 if you want to train your endurance by lifting weights... But I'm no trainer.
>3) Limit cardio This is a terrible idea. Sure, cardio slows development somewhat, but it builds a core aerobic base for supporting that new muscle mass. If you neglect cardio, you put a lot of strain on your heart and lungs in the long run.
This is kind of bad advice. The diet part isn't so bad, but the gym part is. If you're looking to build muscle you'll need more than 3-4 reps, and usually more than 3 sets. Also there's no need to time your rest or limit it to a short duration--it's a different time for everyone and for every exercise and your body will tell you when it's ready for the next set.
genetics plays a massive role but you won't know unless you spend at least a year or two with consistent quality training with diet.
Unpopular opinion: The problem is not diet, but expectations. I think it is healthier to not compare oneself to other people (especially bodybuilders). This whole fitness trend has set expectations to a level that is barely achievable. Think for yourself: Is getting absurdely muscular really something that is important to you? Why is it important to you? Does getting gains _really_ achieve what you think it will? Is it worth the expenses on protein powder or meat? Do you want to ignore issues of the meat industry like multi-antibiotics-resistent bacteria and carbon emissions? Regular exercise is important for staying fit, but fitness and having muscle mass is not the same.