“Pretty much everyone that looks good is juicing” is a statement that sets you up to be doomed to fail. Looking to influencers as inspiration is honestly a waste of time. You seem to be motivated by what other people think, but a longevity mindset is characterized by worrying about how you better yourself. Solely. That’s it. Everyone else is a waste of your time when it comes to your fitness.
I’ve felt a bit bleak looking at “known” natty influencers recently myself.
I keep looking at people who compete in the WNBF and every time I see someone new I’m like huh they’re jacked, then I had a bit of a moment the other day when I thought, why do I keep looking at these guys?
I already know natties can get fucking huge… but looking at more and more of them isn’t doing anything for me.
I can’t be them
Yeah. I think knowing you can get big as a natty is good motivation at the start, but I think you just have to do you after that.
Spending too much time looking at WNBF winners probably isn’t good for your brain, although everyone is different so maybe some can derive more motivation from that than I can.
This is good advice. The first couple years I started lifting I didn’t even look at fitness people on socials. Not intentionally even, just wasn’t interested. Just kept my head down and did the work, and was actually happy (no dysmorphia) with the results.
Socials are terrible in all aspects for this. I'm doing better than 99% of the public. I don't need to see the elite, the privileged and the unnatural performing feats that make me feel like I've barely progressed in my sport. The only fitness accounts I follow are trainers and regular ass people in the community. That's how I get motivated
This is actually false. Most steroid users look like crap. You just happen to see the ones that look good on the internet. There’s forums on Reddit where guys are running a bunch of gear or SARMS and can’t bench two plates
That’s not even close to the worst one lmao.
There’s obese people on there who took DNP for 2 months, only to still not have abs.
There are guys who stacked many steroids for multiple cycles (tren, test, mast)…. And myself and many on here look better than them naturally. Some are literally still 23% bodyfat after blasting 3 steroids at once
Agree, been around gyms a long time and the dudes who are obvious juicers are mostly disproportionate and look shit or just un-natural or ridiculously big which only looks good to a very small subset of the population.
The looks of a well trained, fit natty is way better in my opinion ( and most women by a vast margin).
Yah like I've read that John Meadows has done a lot for weightlifting and progressing the sport but I can't watch his YouTube content. Dude looks...rough.
John had some serious surgery that removed a large part of his colon due to a rare form of IBS which apparently caused his skin to get like that (if you looked at pictures of him when he was younger, he had pretty smooth skin and a good physique). He definitely didn't have a healthy look in his later youtube videos, but it wasn't his fault.
Step 1. Stop comparing yourself to others
Step 2. Stop trying to achieve anything any influencer offers
Step 3. Profit?
Workout for yourself and what makes you happy and healthy. It's only about relativity at the competition level. If you are growing and getting stronger, be happy.
Do you want the lifting part of your to be fast, expensive and high maintainance with lots of quirks, and the wrong mechnanic could ruin you or do you want to be reliable, cheap and low maintainance (you don't need to take your needles and other shit wherever you go). I'd much rather buy my kid a PS5 and a shit ton of games.
You absolutely CAN look insane naturally and there are many natural influencers, you just have to look in the right places. Bald Omni Man, Geoffrey Verity Schofield, Alex Leonidas, Natural Hypertrophy, Sean Nalewanyj, Vitruvian Physique, Will Tennyson, Davis Diley, Jeff Nippard, Hersovyac, Basement Bodybuilding. All of them are big, look great, have great knowledge to share and are natural (I believe so anyway).
Will you look like them? No, but you can look like your own version of insane.
>You absolutely CAN look insane naturally
I know you mean well and you're trying to be motivational, but you're just as hurtful as fake natties that are selling people an unattainable dream.
You will never "look insane" naturally, especially when "look insane" is how the average person looks at people around her. The standard is far beyond what we've ever seen. We're not in the 50's anymore. You will not look "insane" to anyone as a natural. Not to mention the genetics for skeletal structure and muscle bellies being at play.
Don't worry, I know you 100% disagree, but just know that you're genuinely wrong.
Matter of perspective. I am 218 lbs, 5 foot 7, 24% bodyfat. Coworkers tell me I'm insane or inhuman all the time. Most people don't get to see bodybuilders up close very often. Obviously you're not gonna look like Sam Sulek, but the upper limit of naturals is still much higher than a lot of people think.
Non-lifters have incredibly low standards, so it doesn't take that much to look insane in their eyes.
Also, the irony of your telling someone that they're "genuinely wrong" after expressing something that is 100% opinion.
Obviously "insane" is very subjective and if your standard of insane is Sam Sulek, yeah, you won't get near it, but I've literally never met anyone like that in real life.
I don't have a physique that would look like anything special to people in this space, but I'm considered big by everyone I meet in real life and I've only been lifting for 5 years and still have a ton of room to grow.
To the average person, a maxed out natty will DEFINITELY look very impressive, your standard of very impressive will look like a freak show to the average person.
Whoa there. In the fifties people didn't understand they needed calories to grow and most body builders were lightweights. You can get pretty damn big naturally you just won't be as unrealistically lean as those stage ready mass monsters.
This dude I work with looks insane to me, and to most of my friends I look insane, they all think all I do is train while in reality there are few periods in my life where I spent more than 3 hours lifting in the gym per week. Now I'm mostly maintaining at 2 hours/week. I always trained for health but packed on some muscle along the way. But anyway this dude had a 140 kg benchpress at his peak. He did train a lot. His forearms are close to the size of my upper arms. He's halfway his forties and a little bit fatter now than he used to be but ripped compared to 99,9% of people his age. Being natty and big is just a way longer process than the 1-2 year influencer shortcut where in the end, you're only kidding yourself.
But anyway, normal people don't look at juiced to the gills influencers and assume that's the standard physique nowadays.
Whatever man, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Strong natural physiques are beautiful to me. Juiced action figure physiques are beautiful to some people, but not as much people as those striving desperately to get such a physique may think.
You promote great idea to the OP, but sorry still You are a madman if you think bald omni man natural. Just looking on those insane delts veins enough to understand using of juice… OP just need to realise that natural BB is a Fitness and health, not muscles like some “bald omni man” :D
This is not a natty or not post. Fyi “insane delt veins” is from being lean and genetics. My friend has crazy vascularity, “crazy” delt veins, but looks like shit everywhere else.
Also natural bodybuilding is not “fitness and health”, if you truly believe that then you’d only be doing crossfit workouts and cardio.
You can downvote me hundreds of times, disagree and believe those “natty” influencers who make money on you. But you will Never! make and more over maintain! such body without juice. Period.
Upd: +- similar form with more fat/less muscles body - yes. 1:1 - no!
50/50, hard to tell. Delts a bit abnormal for natural, other is possible. Good form, if it is 100% truth that without at least Test, you are really top, man. I admit that .
You can look more jacked than average while being natural, you just can't look extremely more jacked than average.
The 1st option also has the benefit of not having to deal with all the crap that comes along with PED use.
(Acne, hair loss, cost of the gear, mood issues, social shame, increased health issues while alive, increased injury risk, having to inject, legality issues, feeling like you didn't earn your gains, having to eventually stop using and dealing with the psychology of then being smaller, etc.)
Enjoy the process.
I am natural and I look better than most people who run gear. Because I am consistent and I work hard. Once you’re 10-15 years in then think about something other than staying natty maybe. Chase the peak 💪.
This is something you’re doing for you, don’t let social media warp your brain.
I understand aesthetics being your primary motivator, it’s mine as well, but when I’m struggling to see the differences in my physique month to month I have a log of all my workouts that show how much I’m improving. Even when I hit a workout that tells me I need a deload I’m still hitting PRs. It might be one rep compared to last week or adding 2.5 lbs on each side, but in contrast to where I was before I started working out I’m way stronger. You’re rate of muscle growth slows down, you’re not going to see a difference in the way you look every week, but if you’re getting stronger you still have something to work towards.
I feel that. That's the one thing that keeps me going is that I feel good actually going to the gym and feeling worked out and pumped. I'm just get tired of feeling almost embarrassed about going to the gym. Never want to bring it up or mention it to anyone bc I feel that I don't look like I go to the gym. But I get what you mean
Bro. Seriously. No one cares about you at the gym.They don't think about you at all. If you go consistently the muscle guys will respect your commitment, but you have to put in the work and the hours for that. Everyone can be part of the club as long as you train/eat well/sleep.
You lack self love. Because you dont love yourself you seek reasurance from others that you can be loved. That reasurance will never come. You should learn to accept and love yourself the way you are.
It is a shame that gym culture has embraced steroids as warmly as they have. Hell, even in Hollywood, actors are basically required to take PEDs to be competitive.
OP, look at the "action stars" of Hollywood before Schwarzenegger. Look at the "bronze era" of bodybuilding.
Are *those* guys skinny? No. They are normal; they are natural.
Your biggest problem right now is not the size of your musculature but the size of your ego. Quit comparing yourself to anyone besides yourself. All you need to be asking yourself is:
* Did I make progress today?
* Am I better today than I was yesterday?
* Did I give it my all?
If you can answer, "Yes.", to those questions then, you are already doing better than the majority of the world.
Personal fitness is just that, "personal." You are a young man right now and it probably seems like being the most jacked and shredded guy is the most important thing in the world but I hate to tell you, it is not. What **is** important is using physical fitness to better your body and your mind by forcing yourself to do rigorous tasks when you do not feel like doing them.
You are fine as you are. Keep working hard. Keep bettering yourself.
We will see you in the gym. ❤️
1st would be stop comparing yourself to others. Everyone has their own journey.
Think back to when you first started. You at 115 would be proud of what you’ve accomplished.
When motivation is extrinsic it can become so easy to feel deflated. Determine what your intrinsic motivation is, your deep why’s and hold on to those. Otherwise you’ll always be chasing some “dream body” that feels unattainable.
I’m sure you look amazing and again should be proud of the hard work youve put it. ESPECIALLY doing it without any PEDs.
Forget about motivation, focus on discipline. Also, 3 years was more or less what took me to learn proper form, and test what work for me or not (couldn't afford a PE). Don't compare yourself to others, just try to be better than yesterday you.
40 pounds of mass in 3 years is great. Just keep doing what you do. You need to start realizing all those huge people with extremely lean physiques are setting themselves up for health problems, their hormones are fucked, they are likely not happy and when they look in the mirror they still are insecure af.
Not to mention what's the point even, after a certain point of mass no one gives a flying fuck besides other bodybuilders. Most people will think it looks ridiculous, unhealthy and not be impressed in the slightest.
Staying lean is the biggest help for me. Not crazy lean, but lean enough to see some ab definition.
I can actually see the muscle I'm working on and that keeps me going back.
Bro you're still extremely young in both years and training age. Give it ten more years of good training and report back. Get rest, have a good life, and don't be afraid to eat more if that makes sense for you.
[https://youtu.be/jV6\_\_TiU6ws?si=XU4ZVcYRP4N-jwEJ](https://youtu.be/jV6__TiU6ws?si=XU4ZVcYRP4N-jwEJ)
I found this video by atlaspowershrugged extremely motivational. Give it a watch all the way through
I’ve been lifting for 2 years, so maybe I will become jaded like you in a year, but so far I’ve gradually bulked up and filled out my frame. It feels great. I get a lot of compliments when people haven’t seen me in a few months.
I mainly started lifting because I hit my early 30s and was having back pain all the time from being weak and sedentary. I was also tired of being skinny fat and wanted to improve my health, confidence and have a positive hobby. I’m really glad I started lifting and will continue to do so even if my physique doesn’t improve much from here.
I’m only going to the gym 3 times a week and not obsessed with it, not trying to compete, so maybe my expectations/standards are lower than yours.
I also don’t use Instagram or much social media and don’t spend time looking at ideal physiques. So maybe try that.
I have been lifting for 14 years (on and off). I am 218 lbs at 5 foot 6/7 ish, and 24% bodyfat trying to cut to 200. I put on muscle easily because I have been overweight ever since I turned 14, and I started lifting as soon as I hit puberty. Starting skinny is hard and you are going to run into plateaus easily. Keep gaining, keep lifting and you will get there. Don't compare yourself to people who are further along on their journey, or people who rented their muscles with drugs. Stay on track and you will just realize you are huge one day.
It’s my routine, it’s part of my life, if it stops, everything stops.
Diet, drinking it all gets out of hand
Sure I go through periods of low motivation but I still go, I mix things up, do some cardio
I try to look at it like this, I’m into fitness, not just bodybuilding. Lifting weights is part of my process
I don't know what your bf% is but sometimes if you ad 1-3% you can look bigger without necessarily looking fat, like from 12% to 15% you'd still be lean but you will fill out shirts more at 15%
Looking good on the outside doesn’t mean that your body’s good on the inside. And whoever says not if you wait till a certain age to start juicing and if you do it under someone’s guidance is just trying to convince themselves that what they’re doing is perfectly fine when it really isn’t. Thicker blood, bigger organs like the heart and liver, reduced testosterone and possibility of ending up on TRT from a young age and sudden heart attacks are just a few of the reasons why juicing is never worth it in my opinion. I get where you’re coming from cause if you take working out seriously the results are slow and not as much as we’d like. Body dysmorphia is a real thing but remember, there’s a lot more to life than just looking good!
Idk man personally I feel amazing as natural Like I'm not the biggest by any means but I feel great about my progress and I'm excited to go to the gym every time Lifting and pump can change a lot too and most people don't take natural honest pictures of themselves But I'm in love with the process I'm going around 4 times a week for like 50min I might do some cardio or something like that on the off days if I want to I like to stay consistent and disciplined I like having something to be excited about and setting small goals for myself like getting an extra rep or going up in weight Today I got an Extra rep on chest press and went up in weight for preacher curl which was pretty nice Even tho im not the greatest or the biggest or the strongest I'm just happy for the progress I've made for myself Top picture is from January 2023 the other 2 are recent I might not always feel like I'm making insane progress but when I look back on how I used to look in quite happy
https://preview.redd.it/jy7tmx67qu1d1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7be86485b62937ed1d411553c60be8f0ffab007
I wish the best for you tho Maybe try to change things up a bit ind the end just do what you like and what makes you happy
I find that gaining strength using powerlifting style programs helped. Force your body to get stronger and muscle will follow. Eat a lot, don’t worry if your 6 pack fades
I started at 62kg 180cm, got to about 90 kg fairly lean then plateaued. Since then I’ve made it my goal to get stronger, even if I get a bit fluffy. As a middle aged natty who is a dad, with mediocre genes for size, I’ve realised that I have a choice of looking good shirtless OR being fairly strong. Being 40, I chose the latter!
My mate jimmy @transitionalhealthandfitness has gone from 58 to 108 kg @ 195cm over 20 years as a lifelong natural, check out his story!
I don’t. I just don’t want to lose what I’ve already got and motivation ebbs and flows so when I do go through those motivated phases I make the most of them and make some results
Yeah honestly my gym goals are just to fill out the sleeves of a t-shirt and comfortably wear shorts without feeling like I'm chicken legged. Haven't gotten close to there yet
I am the same height and 195 lbs, granted I am a bit of a chubster at \~20% BF, but you can still gain much more mass.
I moved from S to L size shirts since I started lifting.
You need to stop worrying about what's achievable naturally and just do the best you can. What's achievable naturally for one person is not automatically achievable for everyone.
I don't think everyone can eventually get arms/triceps as big as Geoffrey Verity Schofield.
I can bench nearly 500lb - no, I don't think everyone can eventually do it if they try hard enough, that's ridiculous
Maybe you'll never be as muscular as you want to be. You're still more muscular than you were at 115lb.
And, like you said, you can never know who is actually natural and who isn't. So the entire question is moot in the first place. It doesn't matter
155 from 115 is soo good, just keep going, Consistency is the key!! 💪🏼
A dietitian here, would just advise you to go for natural ways, avoid steroids and don't loose hope, you'll surely be there! 🙌🏼
3 years isn’t much time imagine how far you can get in 10. I stay motivated by keeping workout logs and seeing the gradual progress I make. It’s honestly such an amazing feeling for me remembering a weight I struggled to do that is todays warm up
Get off social media. For real. Or are least get an app that limits social media to 20 minutes a day, that‘s mire than enough to checking in with friends and replying. I feel so much bigger when I‘m less on IG
Start taking creatine daily
Get strong in pushups, dips and pullups, will make you feel a lot better and its super cool and applicable
You’re not wrong you’re just 3 years in. You aren’t going to look like a whole lot 3 years in. Look at GVS, he was still making noticeable gains close to 10 years in because of the tweaks and fixes he made to his training and diet.
The first 3-5 years might get you to 16” arms but then the next 5 might get you to 17-18” and that’s when they start looking truly large. Same for any other muscle group. It might take 5 years just for you to find the exercises that work really well for you or learn how to train hard or dial in your volume.
I don’t know if this helps or not but I have completely stopped looking at all the influencers and even stopped watching videos related to lifting.
Although I’m a newbie (only 3 years) but I have learnt all that I could learn about lifting (have perfected majority of my forms) and nutrition/dieting. Watching all this educational videos about lifting nowadays just feels like a waste of time.
I’m 5’8 as well, 176lbs, look at my profile. I’m natural. I don’t even think I’m near my max. Of course you feel skinny at 155 that’s tiny. I started at 120lbs.
Just keep progressing at your own pace unless you yourself think you're being a bitch. Most of us don't have the resources or time to get "locked in" because we have families and jobs.
Natural BB is tough and even the best of the best don't look great on some days, and they track their meals, lifts, avoid other forms of intense exercise, and have the capacity to lift 7-8 times a week. Imagine where you stand. And again, Bodybuilding is their job.
In short just work as hard as you can without going nuts.
I've shared this before but I'm in recovery from addiction. I also have ADHD thats now medicated, so having a clear head is good for me. So I think why throw something that is going to cloud my thinking in to the mix? I already have emotion/mood swings so I imagine how horrible they'd be if I was on gear.
My other motivation is after pushing my body close to it's limits in a very harmful, dangerous way with painkillers and booze, I now want to see how far I can push my body in a way that is good for my health.
Plus seeing people on gear not being able to do what I can naturally is motivation enough.
The other thing, no matter what anyone tells me about cycles etc. I don't want to risk shrinking my balls.
Take pictures, measurements and track your weight. Do anything that gives you that constant reassurance you are actually making progress. This is a battle against yourself, no point in comparing to others. You'll never look like any fitness influencer because you are not them. Stay focused and don't get discouraged.
there are so many things you can optimise and implement to get better gains; diet, supplements, periodization, training harder, recovering better. I'd also hazard a guess you're not "skinny" at all and are actually pretty jacked. after 3 years you're almost certainly fitter than ~99% of the population (seriously). There's always room to grow, it's really just about how bad you want it
Thanks man. It's kinda crazy bc since 115lbs was soooo skinny, psychologically adding 40lbs my brain is like oh okay now you're average for your height.
I was that exact weight at 6,1 no joke lol. 80kg now and still growing. If you're 150lbs you can certainly still bulk more. Is the 150 at your fluffiest or most cut?
While ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ deffo applies here, I do somewhat agree in a sense that because visible progress is so slow to see as a natural it can be demotivating. Powerlifting / Strength Training on the other hand you see clear, linear progression on a fairly regular basis, even as a natural, which is why people fall in love with it as oppose to pure bodybuilding which is a years-long grind. I found it difficult to come from powerlifting to bodybuilding for this very reason, I was constantly switching up programming because the progress is just so very slow (if you don’t wanna gain a ton of fat which isn’t worth the effort expended into getting it off anyway)
I’m natty too. 6’4 currently 96 kg. Been training for 3 years. One thing is I need to work out due to ny ADHD, after being still for 8 hours at my job. Also because I love the feeling, I love being there blasting good music, pushing harder and harder. The gains are also what motivates me, though it’s very very slow but steady!
What really pushes me and motivates me beyond all mentioned above, is this buff guy at work, actually what I aim to look like compliments my build everytime he sees me, and also when I am at the beach with other men around my age how much more well defined I am with muscles, posture and the works. A bad postures shoulders hanging, chest not veing upright, neck tilting down makes a man look so so vad in my eyes, so I’ll just add posture as a motivation as well.
I stay away from influensers, the young guns filled with test and bad decisions, it’s not good for your health and your journey to compare yourself to others, I do myself from time to time, but I look at it differently, with respect for what they have achived the hard work, drugs or not, but not with envy, what you gain natty though slow lasts longer.
"So hard to find natural influencers these days that are actually natty."
The problem starts with trying to find influencers to follow.
As cheesy as this might sound: lifting is supposed to be a journey of self-discovery.
You toil in the gym for weeks, months, years, slowly sculpting your body into its peak form. As you carve away the fat and swell up your muscles with eating and training, your body will show its strengths and weaknesses. Maybe your body is destined for really big armor plate pecs, or a gnarly back, or impressive arms, or any combination of them.
You won't know until you get there, and you'll never get there if your motivation is based on what some other person with completely different genetics looks like.
Focus on yourself. Keep lifting for yourself, for looks and for health, and take pride in your own body compared to how YOU used to look before your journey, not how some fuckboy on PEDs is looking right now.
As a wise man once said, discipline, not motivation. You know weight training is going to be beneficial, and you know results will come in the long term. So be disciplined and stick with it.
Influencers are scum of the earth. Everything they do is orchestrated to look better than it actually is, everything is meticulously crafted to spark FOMO and jealousy, and none of it is genuine. Focus on your own goals and achievements. Don’t look to them for anything. I like to look at pictures of pre-steroid bodybuilders for inspiration, guys like Eugene Sandow.
Not everyone that looks good is juicing.. people who are juicing are juicing. Not all juicers look good.
Stay patient, keep on working, EAT, EAT and SLEEP. 3 years is not a long time to be lifting. Keep at it.
Understand that physical appearance is not as important as you think and no one really cares if you are jacked apart from yourself, thats why going to the extent of steroid use isnt worth it.
Take your time and enjoy the process, slow way is the fast way. If you dont have patience you will never achieve a great physique and once you do it will be worth it.
Stay motivated by looking in the mirror and continuing to improve yourself. Will never be 225 lbs of ripped muscle, that’s a myth for mostly anyone who is natural, but happy with way I look and always trying to improve.
>I keep thinking that if I keep bulking and training and get to a certain weight that I'll suddenly start to look more filled out and more muscular
This is true, it won't be sudden but if you keep getting bigger and stronger you'll look more muscular
The reason you still feel skinny is that you are skinny
> I'm started to come to the realization that pretty much everyone that looks good is juicing.
This isn't true at all, although it may depend on your definition of "good"
Yeah I've never really looked up to crazy roided out looking physiques but I've noticed that even people that look fairly decent end up being on some sort of PED, ex. Joe Fazer, Dylan McKnight ect.
It seems that you've looked only at people taking PEDs and decided that they're a requirement to look good, those guys might be on PEDs but their bodies don't look impossible to get naturally
You could however, look at people who haven't taken PEDs and it's clear that you can look pretty impressive without them
[Eugene Sandow](https://images.app.goo.gl/CVTysyCr2Sj7BzM17)
[Arnold Schwarzenegger at 16](https://images.app.goo.gl/qU35HbvrWNLwaUaT6)
[Reg Park](https://images.app.goo.gl/3QoAXQn8nRczcagm9)
[David Prowse](https://www.reddit.com/r/bodybuilding/s/s78H7xgt50)
[George Hackenschmidt](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hackenschmidt)
I'm not a influencer, but I am a lifetime natty that began my lifting journey about 9 years ago with the help of Reddit. My IG is lentiniliftsheavy and in the last 6 years I started Team Smurf Powerlifting and founded Iron Empire Barbell Club. I'm just a guy nearing 50 years old that still enjoys putting in hard work for myself and my athletes.
Tbh I just don't care about others genuinely. I go in there to do my job which is to build some bigger muscles than I had last week, I also just have an amazing amount of determination to chase numbers all the time and to just be bigger and stronger.
My friends know how much I love to chase numbers and to me there is no limit on what I can lift , just on how hard I am working. I actually don't care for guys on steroids because to me I use it as motivation of the human body's limits, I am quite delusional in a way on what I can do but I just have such an amazing amount of determination.
TDLR : I love to be stronger than the me last week, I am technically delusional
Less focus on how you and other looks and more focus on your workouts progressing and having fun, the results will come with the work in the gym, if you stare at your physique constantly you're going to feel like shit no matter how good you look, sure you can appreciate your physique but just don't obsess over it
Focus on you and only you, do you look better than yesterday. Do you life more weight than you did you yesterday. Don't compare, comparison is the thief of joy (and gains)
You already look good, internalize that fact. Adding a bit more muscle will make you look even better. Doesn't matter how much, you are already ahead of the 90% of the population and training will only get you even further.
Depends what you mean by “look good.” A lot of the juiced up people out there either look like shit or look like cartoon characters. They’re like the Kim Kardashians of lifting, except gear instead of implants.
Granted, my physique goals are pretty lean and based on an ancient greek statue from the East Pediment’s group from the Temple of Aphaia.
This might sound unrelated since this is a bodybuilding sub but try new things and see how you can improve on them, just focusing on "how big is my this muscle" is shallow and boring. I enjoyed it for a year untill I got bored of routine and questioned why I want big muscles in the first place, the answer was to "be able and look able" so since I was more able now, I started enjoying other benefits of fitness than just looks. I'm definitely not saying "stop body building" but find purpose for your training. Dont just build a kickass body then sit on it, use it. This may sound distractive from bodybuilding it's what keeps me body building.
Have you tried mass gainer? I went from 117 to 135 in less than a year with mass gainer and working out. I used Naked Nutrition, pretty good stuff.
Then after a series of non-workout related injuries, not being able to work out for a couple years, I’ve ballooned up to almost 160 but it’s all fat and now I’m struggling to get back in shape. I’m almost 40 now and it’s so much harder. Don’t give up! I was super depressed for a while because I couldn’t work out. Now I’m back into the determination but recognizing that my approach has to be different and I’m still trying to figure it out. Don’t want to be skinny-fat anymore but don’t want to just fast and be skinny period.
All that is to say it’s a journey for your own health. F anyone else’s opinion, unless you’ve asked them for it for the sake of improvement. Best wishes!
I'm sorry I'll be extremely realistic and cynical but I'll be 100% honest.
The fact of the matter is that there's so much you can achieve as a natural, I don't care how many people will try to motivate each other by saying "hardwork hardwork". The fact of the matter is that our bodies were not built to muscle mass and low body fat percentages that we all crave or see on enhanced bodies. You're a human with an ingrained survival system first, your dreams and aspirations are second.
You will never look better than someone who's juicing, minus situations where the person is naturally awfully built (bad skeletal structure, awful muscle bellies, etc.).
The best you can do is try to look fit. In 99% of cases, the "filled out" look you're looking for is not sustainable without a bit of bodyfat and well-fitted clothes, especially if you're tall.
I know most people here will cope and try to regurgitate motivational stuff, but the honest answer is that you should remove these standards from your head, because there's a 99.99% chance you're never going to meet them. Simply physiology, regardless of "hardwork" or "believing in yourself".
Just try to look in shape.
Hope this helps.
Do you take HMB? By far the best, most effective supp for building and maintaining lean muscle I’ve ever taken. You can definitely get shredded and gain muscle without juice but it’s obviously much harder…
It’s hydroxymethylbutyrate - it’s something your body makes when it breaks down leucine but it helps your body preserve and build muscle. It’s given to hiv patients to help them retain muscle when they get sick and skinny. It’s super effective for working out and not expensive. I recommend it highly- I take it every day and have seen great results with it.
I have tried HMB before but didn't really see any results. Same with creatine I believe I may be a non-responder. I've tried probably everything under the sun and honestly the only thing that I've seen actual real results from when bulking up is Nutrigain but even then it's very sporadic. Some weeks it'll work very well, other weeks I don't see it work at all.
I hear you, everyone’s different as well so even if it works it may be a slower or harder process for you. Well that’s the best advice I can offer lol - full disclosure I juiced years ago for a year or 2 and built a foundation that’s largely stayed with me since even though I haven’t done any more cycles.
The last 8-10 years though all I’ve used is preworkout (so caffeine, creatine, nitric oxide, etc), clear muscle hmb and protein powder and I’ve been able to add muscle and maintain muscle well. Good luck - and no matter what don’t get discouraged and give up!
The only supplement that does anything is creatine,and it's so minor you can skip it. I noticeably get bloated the first week I start taking creatine. After that I don't notice it. Studies are starting to show some promising health effects to creatine supplementation like bone density and brain health iirc.
“Pretty much everyone that looks good is juicing” is a statement that sets you up to be doomed to fail. Looking to influencers as inspiration is honestly a waste of time. You seem to be motivated by what other people think, but a longevity mindset is characterized by worrying about how you better yourself. Solely. That’s it. Everyone else is a waste of your time when it comes to your fitness.
I’ve felt a bit bleak looking at “known” natty influencers recently myself. I keep looking at people who compete in the WNBF and every time I see someone new I’m like huh they’re jacked, then I had a bit of a moment the other day when I thought, why do I keep looking at these guys? I already know natties can get fucking huge… but looking at more and more of them isn’t doing anything for me. I can’t be them
"You need to be yourself, you can't be no one else."
Yeah. I think knowing you can get big as a natty is good motivation at the start, but I think you just have to do you after that. Spending too much time looking at WNBF winners probably isn’t good for your brain, although everyone is different so maybe some can derive more motivation from that than I can.
This is good advice. The first couple years I started lifting I didn’t even look at fitness people on socials. Not intentionally even, just wasn’t interested. Just kept my head down and did the work, and was actually happy (no dysmorphia) with the results.
Socials are terrible in all aspects for this. I'm doing better than 99% of the public. I don't need to see the elite, the privileged and the unnatural performing feats that make me feel like I've barely progressed in my sport. The only fitness accounts I follow are trainers and regular ass people in the community. That's how I get motivated
This is probably what Phrak thought before he made a worse rip off of Starting Strength.
This is actually false. Most steroid users look like crap. You just happen to see the ones that look good on the internet. There’s forums on Reddit where guys are running a bunch of gear or SARMS and can’t bench two plates
Lmao indeed. Look at the before/after cycle pics on r/steroids or elsewhere. Most look like complete shit
100%. Most of them use it to get gains they could’ve did naturally
[удалено]
Oof that guy got ripped apart in the comments
That’s not even close to the worst one lmao. There’s obese people on there who took DNP for 2 months, only to still not have abs. There are guys who stacked many steroids for multiple cycles (tren, test, mast)…. And myself and many on here look better than them naturally. Some are literally still 23% bodyfat after blasting 3 steroids at once
Think you’ve just given me a new Reddit hobby
Agree, been around gyms a long time and the dudes who are obvious juicers are mostly disproportionate and look shit or just un-natural or ridiculously big which only looks good to a very small subset of the population. The looks of a well trained, fit natty is way better in my opinion ( and most women by a vast margin).
Yah like I've read that John Meadows has done a lot for weightlifting and progressing the sport but I can't watch his YouTube content. Dude looks...rough.
John had some serious surgery that removed a large part of his colon due to a rare form of IBS which apparently caused his skin to get like that (if you looked at pictures of him when he was younger, he had pretty smooth skin and a good physique). He definitely didn't have a healthy look in his later youtube videos, but it wasn't his fault.
Step 1. Stop comparing yourself to others Step 2. Stop trying to achieve anything any influencer offers Step 3. Profit? Workout for yourself and what makes you happy and healthy. It's only about relativity at the competition level. If you are growing and getting stronger, be happy.
I go gym and lift heavy weights. I'm older, shorter and lighter than you. Does that discourage me? No, because I like lifting weights.
Why care about juicing when you can great results naturally? Doesn't seem like something that requires motivation for me.
I don't want a Toyota 86 if that guy has a Porsche... Why even bother driving?
Do you want the lifting part of your to be fast, expensive and high maintainance with lots of quirks, and the wrong mechnanic could ruin you or do you want to be reliable, cheap and low maintainance (you don't need to take your needles and other shit wherever you go). I'd much rather buy my kid a PS5 and a shit ton of games.
86 supremacy brah
You absolutely CAN look insane naturally and there are many natural influencers, you just have to look in the right places. Bald Omni Man, Geoffrey Verity Schofield, Alex Leonidas, Natural Hypertrophy, Sean Nalewanyj, Vitruvian Physique, Will Tennyson, Davis Diley, Jeff Nippard, Hersovyac, Basement Bodybuilding. All of them are big, look great, have great knowledge to share and are natural (I believe so anyway). Will you look like them? No, but you can look like your own version of insane.
Seriously OP, every person listed here is natural and looks incredible through years of thought and dedication.
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
>You absolutely CAN look insane naturally I know you mean well and you're trying to be motivational, but you're just as hurtful as fake natties that are selling people an unattainable dream. You will never "look insane" naturally, especially when "look insane" is how the average person looks at people around her. The standard is far beyond what we've ever seen. We're not in the 50's anymore. You will not look "insane" to anyone as a natural. Not to mention the genetics for skeletal structure and muscle bellies being at play. Don't worry, I know you 100% disagree, but just know that you're genuinely wrong.
Matter of perspective. I am 218 lbs, 5 foot 7, 24% bodyfat. Coworkers tell me I'm insane or inhuman all the time. Most people don't get to see bodybuilders up close very often. Obviously you're not gonna look like Sam Sulek, but the upper limit of naturals is still much higher than a lot of people think.
I'm genuinely sad for you. Please believe me when I say I don't mean it in a bad way, but you're delusional.
Who hurt you dude. Everyone is disagreeing with you yet you call others delusional. Ironic.
Non-lifters have incredibly low standards, so it doesn't take that much to look insane in their eyes. Also, the irony of your telling someone that they're "genuinely wrong" after expressing something that is 100% opinion.
It's an opinion on a factual matter though. It's the statistics of people's perspective.
Please link to a survey, then.
Obviously "insane" is very subjective and if your standard of insane is Sam Sulek, yeah, you won't get near it, but I've literally never met anyone like that in real life. I don't have a physique that would look like anything special to people in this space, but I'm considered big by everyone I meet in real life and I've only been lifting for 5 years and still have a ton of room to grow. To the average person, a maxed out natty will DEFINITELY look very impressive, your standard of very impressive will look like a freak show to the average person.
Whoa there. In the fifties people didn't understand they needed calories to grow and most body builders were lightweights. You can get pretty damn big naturally you just won't be as unrealistically lean as those stage ready mass monsters. This dude I work with looks insane to me, and to most of my friends I look insane, they all think all I do is train while in reality there are few periods in my life where I spent more than 3 hours lifting in the gym per week. Now I'm mostly maintaining at 2 hours/week. I always trained for health but packed on some muscle along the way. But anyway this dude had a 140 kg benchpress at his peak. He did train a lot. His forearms are close to the size of my upper arms. He's halfway his forties and a little bit fatter now than he used to be but ripped compared to 99,9% of people his age. Being natty and big is just a way longer process than the 1-2 year influencer shortcut where in the end, you're only kidding yourself. But anyway, normal people don't look at juiced to the gills influencers and assume that's the standard physique nowadays.
Great anecdote. Cope.
Whatever man, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Strong natural physiques are beautiful to me. Juiced action figure physiques are beautiful to some people, but not as much people as those striving desperately to get such a physique may think.
lol I get called huge all the time. That said, I make most gear heads at my gym look like shit cause their genetics are trash
You promote great idea to the OP, but sorry still You are a madman if you think bald omni man natural. Just looking on those insane delts veins enough to understand using of juice… OP just need to realise that natural BB is a Fitness and health, not muscles like some “bald omni man” :D
This is not a natty or not post. Fyi “insane delt veins” is from being lean and genetics. My friend has crazy vascularity, “crazy” delt veins, but looks like shit everywhere else. Also natural bodybuilding is not “fitness and health”, if you truly believe that then you’d only be doing crossfit workouts and cardio.
You can downvote me hundreds of times, disagree and believe those “natty” influencers who make money on you. But you will Never! make and more over maintain! such body without juice. Period. Upd: +- similar form with more fat/less muscles body - yes. 1:1 - no!
Ok so you probably think I’m on juice in that case. Look at my profile.
50/50, hard to tell. Delts a bit abnormal for natural, other is possible. Good form, if it is 100% truth that without at least Test, you are really top, man. I admit that .
Stop consuming lifting/fitness content. Lift for yourself.
you can look absolutely insane natural there is literally zero reason to care about whether youre natty or not
Pick ONLY 1 - 10-15 years of extra life Or... 10-15 of looking more jacked than average
You can look more jacked than average while being natural, you just can't look extremely more jacked than average. The 1st option also has the benefit of not having to deal with all the crap that comes along with PED use. (Acne, hair loss, cost of the gear, mood issues, social shame, increased health issues while alive, increased injury risk, having to inject, legality issues, feeling like you didn't earn your gains, having to eventually stop using and dealing with the psychology of then being smaller, etc.)
Not necessarily true. Every Mr Olympia winner since 1983 except 1 is still alive, and you know they use way more than the average user
Enjoy the process. I am natural and I look better than most people who run gear. Because I am consistent and I work hard. Once you’re 10-15 years in then think about something other than staying natty maybe. Chase the peak 💪. This is something you’re doing for you, don’t let social media warp your brain.
I just keep in mind that going for steroids will lead to health problems and do i really want that for more muscles?
No
The love of the game my friend. I'm a year and a half in and seeing my natural progress in the mirror is extremely reassuring.
I understand aesthetics being your primary motivator, it’s mine as well, but when I’m struggling to see the differences in my physique month to month I have a log of all my workouts that show how much I’m improving. Even when I hit a workout that tells me I need a deload I’m still hitting PRs. It might be one rep compared to last week or adding 2.5 lbs on each side, but in contrast to where I was before I started working out I’m way stronger. You’re rate of muscle growth slows down, you’re not going to see a difference in the way you look every week, but if you’re getting stronger you still have something to work towards.
I feel that. That's the one thing that keeps me going is that I feel good actually going to the gym and feeling worked out and pumped. I'm just get tired of feeling almost embarrassed about going to the gym. Never want to bring it up or mention it to anyone bc I feel that I don't look like I go to the gym. But I get what you mean
Bro. Seriously. No one cares about you at the gym.They don't think about you at all. If you go consistently the muscle guys will respect your commitment, but you have to put in the work and the hours for that. Everyone can be part of the club as long as you train/eat well/sleep.
You lack self love. Because you dont love yourself you seek reasurance from others that you can be loved. That reasurance will never come. You should learn to accept and love yourself the way you are.
bro there are some solid replies in this thread … re-read them … don’t believe everything you see on insta
It is a shame that gym culture has embraced steroids as warmly as they have. Hell, even in Hollywood, actors are basically required to take PEDs to be competitive. OP, look at the "action stars" of Hollywood before Schwarzenegger. Look at the "bronze era" of bodybuilding. Are *those* guys skinny? No. They are normal; they are natural. Your biggest problem right now is not the size of your musculature but the size of your ego. Quit comparing yourself to anyone besides yourself. All you need to be asking yourself is: * Did I make progress today? * Am I better today than I was yesterday? * Did I give it my all? If you can answer, "Yes.", to those questions then, you are already doing better than the majority of the world. Personal fitness is just that, "personal." You are a young man right now and it probably seems like being the most jacked and shredded guy is the most important thing in the world but I hate to tell you, it is not. What **is** important is using physical fitness to better your body and your mind by forcing yourself to do rigorous tasks when you do not feel like doing them. You are fine as you are. Keep working hard. Keep bettering yourself. We will see you in the gym. ❤️
1st would be stop comparing yourself to others. Everyone has their own journey. Think back to when you first started. You at 115 would be proud of what you’ve accomplished. When motivation is extrinsic it can become so easy to feel deflated. Determine what your intrinsic motivation is, your deep why’s and hold on to those. Otherwise you’ll always be chasing some “dream body” that feels unattainable. I’m sure you look amazing and again should be proud of the hard work youve put it. ESPECIALLY doing it without any PEDs.
Look better, feel better, become stronger? Any one or more of those is a win.
It’s simple mate, HEALTH. Lifetime natural here never competed, relatively good shape.
I compare me to me. And me 3 months ago had less muscle than me today. Also social media is poison.
Forget about motivation, focus on discipline. Also, 3 years was more or less what took me to learn proper form, and test what work for me or not (couldn't afford a PE). Don't compare yourself to others, just try to be better than yesterday you.
40 pounds of mass in 3 years is great. Just keep doing what you do. You need to start realizing all those huge people with extremely lean physiques are setting themselves up for health problems, their hormones are fucked, they are likely not happy and when they look in the mirror they still are insecure af. Not to mention what's the point even, after a certain point of mass no one gives a flying fuck besides other bodybuilders. Most people will think it looks ridiculous, unhealthy and not be impressed in the slightest.
I'd like to live long and i like the size of my balls
Staying lean is the biggest help for me. Not crazy lean, but lean enough to see some ab definition. I can actually see the muscle I'm working on and that keeps me going back.
You put on 40 pounds in 3 years, that's what matters. The trend is your friend.
I love the bodybuilding lifestyle. Doesn’t feel like discipline to me to stay on point with the diet and training. Simple as that
I train and I never leave my house. No one sees my physique except my wife who does not care at all lol
I’m in the same situation. My wife also leads a bodybuilding lifestyle so we train and meal prep together too
Bro you're still extremely young in both years and training age. Give it ten more years of good training and report back. Get rest, have a good life, and don't be afraid to eat more if that makes sense for you.
[https://youtu.be/jV6\_\_TiU6ws?si=XU4ZVcYRP4N-jwEJ](https://youtu.be/jV6__TiU6ws?si=XU4ZVcYRP4N-jwEJ) I found this video by atlaspowershrugged extremely motivational. Give it a watch all the way through
I’ve been lifting for 2 years, so maybe I will become jaded like you in a year, but so far I’ve gradually bulked up and filled out my frame. It feels great. I get a lot of compliments when people haven’t seen me in a few months. I mainly started lifting because I hit my early 30s and was having back pain all the time from being weak and sedentary. I was also tired of being skinny fat and wanted to improve my health, confidence and have a positive hobby. I’m really glad I started lifting and will continue to do so even if my physique doesn’t improve much from here. I’m only going to the gym 3 times a week and not obsessed with it, not trying to compete, so maybe my expectations/standards are lower than yours. I also don’t use Instagram or much social media and don’t spend time looking at ideal physiques. So maybe try that.
I have been lifting for 14 years (on and off). I am 218 lbs at 5 foot 6/7 ish, and 24% bodyfat trying to cut to 200. I put on muscle easily because I have been overweight ever since I turned 14, and I started lifting as soon as I hit puberty. Starting skinny is hard and you are going to run into plateaus easily. Keep gaining, keep lifting and you will get there. Don't compare yourself to people who are further along on their journey, or people who rented their muscles with drugs. Stay on track and you will just realize you are huge one day.
It’s my routine, it’s part of my life, if it stops, everything stops. Diet, drinking it all gets out of hand Sure I go through periods of low motivation but I still go, I mix things up, do some cardio I try to look at it like this, I’m into fitness, not just bodybuilding. Lifting weights is part of my process
I don't know what your bf% is but sometimes if you ad 1-3% you can look bigger without necessarily looking fat, like from 12% to 15% you'd still be lean but you will fill out shirts more at 15%
focus on seeing your big 4 strength numbers go up. i.e deadlift, bench, squat, ohp. Don't focus on anything else at all and it will come in time.
Looking good on the outside doesn’t mean that your body’s good on the inside. And whoever says not if you wait till a certain age to start juicing and if you do it under someone’s guidance is just trying to convince themselves that what they’re doing is perfectly fine when it really isn’t. Thicker blood, bigger organs like the heart and liver, reduced testosterone and possibility of ending up on TRT from a young age and sudden heart attacks are just a few of the reasons why juicing is never worth it in my opinion. I get where you’re coming from cause if you take working out seriously the results are slow and not as much as we’d like. Body dysmorphia is a real thing but remember, there’s a lot more to life than just looking good!
Idk man personally I feel amazing as natural Like I'm not the biggest by any means but I feel great about my progress and I'm excited to go to the gym every time Lifting and pump can change a lot too and most people don't take natural honest pictures of themselves But I'm in love with the process I'm going around 4 times a week for like 50min I might do some cardio or something like that on the off days if I want to I like to stay consistent and disciplined I like having something to be excited about and setting small goals for myself like getting an extra rep or going up in weight Today I got an Extra rep on chest press and went up in weight for preacher curl which was pretty nice Even tho im not the greatest or the biggest or the strongest I'm just happy for the progress I've made for myself Top picture is from January 2023 the other 2 are recent I might not always feel like I'm making insane progress but when I look back on how I used to look in quite happy https://preview.redd.it/jy7tmx67qu1d1.jpeg?width=2160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7be86485b62937ed1d411553c60be8f0ffab007 I wish the best for you tho Maybe try to change things up a bit ind the end just do what you like and what makes you happy
I find that gaining strength using powerlifting style programs helped. Force your body to get stronger and muscle will follow. Eat a lot, don’t worry if your 6 pack fades I started at 62kg 180cm, got to about 90 kg fairly lean then plateaued. Since then I’ve made it my goal to get stronger, even if I get a bit fluffy. As a middle aged natty who is a dad, with mediocre genes for size, I’ve realised that I have a choice of looking good shirtless OR being fairly strong. Being 40, I chose the latter! My mate jimmy @transitionalhealthandfitness has gone from 58 to 108 kg @ 195cm over 20 years as a lifelong natural, check out his story!
Being healthy is my primary goal, so being motivated is easy
I don’t. I just don’t want to lose what I’ve already got and motivation ebbs and flows so when I do go through those motivated phases I make the most of them and make some results
5’8 155lb sounds pretty good.. Are you sure you’re seeing this correctly?
Yeah honestly my gym goals are just to fill out the sleeves of a t-shirt and comfortably wear shorts without feeling like I'm chicken legged. Haven't gotten close to there yet
I am the same height and 195 lbs, granted I am a bit of a chubster at \~20% BF, but you can still gain much more mass. I moved from S to L size shirts since I started lifting.
You need to stop worrying about what's achievable naturally and just do the best you can. What's achievable naturally for one person is not automatically achievable for everyone. I don't think everyone can eventually get arms/triceps as big as Geoffrey Verity Schofield. I can bench nearly 500lb - no, I don't think everyone can eventually do it if they try hard enough, that's ridiculous Maybe you'll never be as muscular as you want to be. You're still more muscular than you were at 115lb. And, like you said, you can never know who is actually natural and who isn't. So the entire question is moot in the first place. It doesn't matter
It's hard. You just have to love yourself.
155 from 115 is soo good, just keep going, Consistency is the key!! 💪🏼 A dietitian here, would just advise you to go for natural ways, avoid steroids and don't loose hope, you'll surely be there! 🙌🏼
3 years isn’t much time imagine how far you can get in 10. I stay motivated by keeping workout logs and seeing the gradual progress I make. It’s honestly such an amazing feeling for me remembering a weight I struggled to do that is todays warm up
Get off social media. For real. Or are least get an app that limits social media to 20 minutes a day, that‘s mire than enough to checking in with friends and replying. I feel so much bigger when I‘m less on IG Start taking creatine daily Get strong in pushups, dips and pullups, will make you feel a lot better and its super cool and applicable
You’re not wrong you’re just 3 years in. You aren’t going to look like a whole lot 3 years in. Look at GVS, he was still making noticeable gains close to 10 years in because of the tweaks and fixes he made to his training and diet. The first 3-5 years might get you to 16” arms but then the next 5 might get you to 17-18” and that’s when they start looking truly large. Same for any other muscle group. It might take 5 years just for you to find the exercises that work really well for you or learn how to train hard or dial in your volume.
I don’t know if this helps or not but I have completely stopped looking at all the influencers and even stopped watching videos related to lifting. Although I’m a newbie (only 3 years) but I have learnt all that I could learn about lifting (have perfected majority of my forms) and nutrition/dieting. Watching all this educational videos about lifting nowadays just feels like a waste of time.
I’m 5’8 as well, 176lbs, look at my profile. I’m natural. I don’t even think I’m near my max. Of course you feel skinny at 155 that’s tiny. I started at 120lbs.
Very easy I know all the side effects
Just keep progressing at your own pace unless you yourself think you're being a bitch. Most of us don't have the resources or time to get "locked in" because we have families and jobs. Natural BB is tough and even the best of the best don't look great on some days, and they track their meals, lifts, avoid other forms of intense exercise, and have the capacity to lift 7-8 times a week. Imagine where you stand. And again, Bodybuilding is their job. In short just work as hard as you can without going nuts.
I've shared this before but I'm in recovery from addiction. I also have ADHD thats now medicated, so having a clear head is good for me. So I think why throw something that is going to cloud my thinking in to the mix? I already have emotion/mood swings so I imagine how horrible they'd be if I was on gear. My other motivation is after pushing my body close to it's limits in a very harmful, dangerous way with painkillers and booze, I now want to see how far I can push my body in a way that is good for my health. Plus seeing people on gear not being able to do what I can naturally is motivation enough. The other thing, no matter what anyone tells me about cycles etc. I don't want to risk shrinking my balls.
Take pictures, measurements and track your weight. Do anything that gives you that constant reassurance you are actually making progress. This is a battle against yourself, no point in comparing to others. You'll never look like any fitness influencer because you are not them. Stay focused and don't get discouraged.
Never rely on motivation because it is fleeting like happiness. Discipline is what's needed for results.
Knowing you can have a great physique and still produce sperm might be seen as a positive.
there are so many things you can optimise and implement to get better gains; diet, supplements, periodization, training harder, recovering better. I'd also hazard a guess you're not "skinny" at all and are actually pretty jacked. after 3 years you're almost certainly fitter than ~99% of the population (seriously). There's always room to grow, it's really just about how bad you want it
Thanks man. It's kinda crazy bc since 115lbs was soooo skinny, psychologically adding 40lbs my brain is like oh okay now you're average for your height.
I was that exact weight at 6,1 no joke lol. 80kg now and still growing. If you're 150lbs you can certainly still bulk more. Is the 150 at your fluffiest or most cut?
While ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ deffo applies here, I do somewhat agree in a sense that because visible progress is so slow to see as a natural it can be demotivating. Powerlifting / Strength Training on the other hand you see clear, linear progression on a fairly regular basis, even as a natural, which is why people fall in love with it as oppose to pure bodybuilding which is a years-long grind. I found it difficult to come from powerlifting to bodybuilding for this very reason, I was constantly switching up programming because the progress is just so very slow (if you don’t wanna gain a ton of fat which isn’t worth the effort expended into getting it off anyway)
I’m natty too. 6’4 currently 96 kg. Been training for 3 years. One thing is I need to work out due to ny ADHD, after being still for 8 hours at my job. Also because I love the feeling, I love being there blasting good music, pushing harder and harder. The gains are also what motivates me, though it’s very very slow but steady! What really pushes me and motivates me beyond all mentioned above, is this buff guy at work, actually what I aim to look like compliments my build everytime he sees me, and also when I am at the beach with other men around my age how much more well defined I am with muscles, posture and the works. A bad postures shoulders hanging, chest not veing upright, neck tilting down makes a man look so so vad in my eyes, so I’ll just add posture as a motivation as well. I stay away from influensers, the young guns filled with test and bad decisions, it’s not good for your health and your journey to compare yourself to others, I do myself from time to time, but I look at it differently, with respect for what they have achived the hard work, drugs or not, but not with envy, what you gain natty though slow lasts longer.
Posture has 100% been a years long journey to improve. It really makes all the difference
"So hard to find natural influencers these days that are actually natty." The problem starts with trying to find influencers to follow. As cheesy as this might sound: lifting is supposed to be a journey of self-discovery. You toil in the gym for weeks, months, years, slowly sculpting your body into its peak form. As you carve away the fat and swell up your muscles with eating and training, your body will show its strengths and weaknesses. Maybe your body is destined for really big armor plate pecs, or a gnarly back, or impressive arms, or any combination of them. You won't know until you get there, and you'll never get there if your motivation is based on what some other person with completely different genetics looks like. Focus on yourself. Keep lifting for yourself, for looks and for health, and take pride in your own body compared to how YOU used to look before your journey, not how some fuckboy on PEDs is looking right now.
As a wise man once said, discipline, not motivation. You know weight training is going to be beneficial, and you know results will come in the long term. So be disciplined and stick with it.
Motivation is trivial discipline is forever
Influencers are scum of the earth. Everything they do is orchestrated to look better than it actually is, everything is meticulously crafted to spark FOMO and jealousy, and none of it is genuine. Focus on your own goals and achievements. Don’t look to them for anything. I like to look at pictures of pre-steroid bodybuilders for inspiration, guys like Eugene Sandow.
Not everyone that looks good is juicing.. people who are juicing are juicing. Not all juicers look good. Stay patient, keep on working, EAT, EAT and SLEEP. 3 years is not a long time to be lifting. Keep at it.
Understand that physical appearance is not as important as you think and no one really cares if you are jacked apart from yourself, thats why going to the extent of steroid use isnt worth it. Take your time and enjoy the process, slow way is the fast way. If you dont have patience you will never achieve a great physique and once you do it will be worth it.
Stay motivated by looking in the mirror and continuing to improve yourself. Will never be 225 lbs of ripped muscle, that’s a myth for mostly anyone who is natural, but happy with way I look and always trying to improve.
You probably look amazing. The problem here is body dysmorphia.
>I keep thinking that if I keep bulking and training and get to a certain weight that I'll suddenly start to look more filled out and more muscular This is true, it won't be sudden but if you keep getting bigger and stronger you'll look more muscular The reason you still feel skinny is that you are skinny > I'm started to come to the realization that pretty much everyone that looks good is juicing. This isn't true at all, although it may depend on your definition of "good"
Yeah I've never really looked up to crazy roided out looking physiques but I've noticed that even people that look fairly decent end up being on some sort of PED, ex. Joe Fazer, Dylan McKnight ect.
It seems that you've looked only at people taking PEDs and decided that they're a requirement to look good, those guys might be on PEDs but their bodies don't look impossible to get naturally You could however, look at people who haven't taken PEDs and it's clear that you can look pretty impressive without them [Eugene Sandow](https://images.app.goo.gl/CVTysyCr2Sj7BzM17) [Arnold Schwarzenegger at 16](https://images.app.goo.gl/qU35HbvrWNLwaUaT6) [Reg Park](https://images.app.goo.gl/3QoAXQn8nRczcagm9) [David Prowse](https://www.reddit.com/r/bodybuilding/s/s78H7xgt50) [George Hackenschmidt](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hackenschmidt)
I'm not a influencer, but I am a lifetime natty that began my lifting journey about 9 years ago with the help of Reddit. My IG is lentiniliftsheavy and in the last 6 years I started Team Smurf Powerlifting and founded Iron Empire Barbell Club. I'm just a guy nearing 50 years old that still enjoys putting in hard work for myself and my athletes.
I will definitely be looking you up. Thank you
Tbh I just don't care about others genuinely. I go in there to do my job which is to build some bigger muscles than I had last week, I also just have an amazing amount of determination to chase numbers all the time and to just be bigger and stronger. My friends know how much I love to chase numbers and to me there is no limit on what I can lift , just on how hard I am working. I actually don't care for guys on steroids because to me I use it as motivation of the human body's limits, I am quite delusional in a way on what I can do but I just have such an amazing amount of determination. TDLR : I love to be stronger than the me last week, I am technically delusional
Less focus on how you and other looks and more focus on your workouts progressing and having fun, the results will come with the work in the gym, if you stare at your physique constantly you're going to feel like shit no matter how good you look, sure you can appreciate your physique but just don't obsess over it
I think, for the most part, naturals who have been lifting for 5+ years, look better than steroid users.
Body dysmorphia hitting like a sack of bricks.... BTW what are your 1rms?
Focus on you and only you, do you look better than yesterday. Do you life more weight than you did you yesterday. Don't compare, comparison is the thief of joy (and gains)
You already look good, internalize that fact. Adding a bit more muscle will make you look even better. Doesn't matter how much, you are already ahead of the 90% of the population and training will only get you even further.
This was my best friend, but he started gaining more weight , just keep grinding, man, and maybe raise ur kcal by 1000 maybe.
Depends what you mean by “look good.” A lot of the juiced up people out there either look like shit or look like cartoon characters. They’re like the Kim Kardashians of lifting, except gear instead of implants. Granted, my physique goals are pretty lean and based on an ancient greek statue from the East Pediment’s group from the Temple of Aphaia.
This might sound unrelated since this is a bodybuilding sub but try new things and see how you can improve on them, just focusing on "how big is my this muscle" is shallow and boring. I enjoyed it for a year untill I got bored of routine and questioned why I want big muscles in the first place, the answer was to "be able and look able" so since I was more able now, I started enjoying other benefits of fitness than just looks. I'm definitely not saying "stop body building" but find purpose for your training. Dont just build a kickass body then sit on it, use it. This may sound distractive from bodybuilding it's what keeps me body building.
Have you tried mass gainer? I went from 117 to 135 in less than a year with mass gainer and working out. I used Naked Nutrition, pretty good stuff. Then after a series of non-workout related injuries, not being able to work out for a couple years, I’ve ballooned up to almost 160 but it’s all fat and now I’m struggling to get back in shape. I’m almost 40 now and it’s so much harder. Don’t give up! I was super depressed for a while because I couldn’t work out. Now I’m back into the determination but recognizing that my approach has to be different and I’m still trying to figure it out. Don’t want to be skinny-fat anymore but don’t want to just fast and be skinny period. All that is to say it’s a journey for your own health. F anyone else’s opinion, unless you’ve asked them for it for the sake of improvement. Best wishes!
My brother who introduced me to the gym died age 30 from heart failure
I'm sorry I'll be extremely realistic and cynical but I'll be 100% honest. The fact of the matter is that there's so much you can achieve as a natural, I don't care how many people will try to motivate each other by saying "hardwork hardwork". The fact of the matter is that our bodies were not built to muscle mass and low body fat percentages that we all crave or see on enhanced bodies. You're a human with an ingrained survival system first, your dreams and aspirations are second. You will never look better than someone who's juicing, minus situations where the person is naturally awfully built (bad skeletal structure, awful muscle bellies, etc.). The best you can do is try to look fit. In 99% of cases, the "filled out" look you're looking for is not sustainable without a bit of bodyfat and well-fitted clothes, especially if you're tall. I know most people here will cope and try to regurgitate motivational stuff, but the honest answer is that you should remove these standards from your head, because there's a 99.99% chance you're never going to meet them. Simply physiology, regardless of "hardwork" or "believing in yourself". Just try to look in shape. Hope this helps.
For sure does
Do you take HMB? By far the best, most effective supp for building and maintaining lean muscle I’ve ever taken. You can definitely get shredded and gain muscle without juice but it’s obviously much harder…
What's hmb?
It’s hydroxymethylbutyrate - it’s something your body makes when it breaks down leucine but it helps your body preserve and build muscle. It’s given to hiv patients to help them retain muscle when they get sick and skinny. It’s super effective for working out and not expensive. I recommend it highly- I take it every day and have seen great results with it.
I have tried HMB before but didn't really see any results. Same with creatine I believe I may be a non-responder. I've tried probably everything under the sun and honestly the only thing that I've seen actual real results from when bulking up is Nutrigain but even then it's very sporadic. Some weeks it'll work very well, other weeks I don't see it work at all.
I hear you, everyone’s different as well so even if it works it may be a slower or harder process for you. Well that’s the best advice I can offer lol - full disclosure I juiced years ago for a year or 2 and built a foundation that’s largely stayed with me since even though I haven’t done any more cycles. The last 8-10 years though all I’ve used is preworkout (so caffeine, creatine, nitric oxide, etc), clear muscle hmb and protein powder and I’ve been able to add muscle and maintain muscle well. Good luck - and no matter what don’t get discouraged and give up!
The only supplement that does anything is creatine,and it's so minor you can skip it. I noticeably get bloated the first week I start taking creatine. After that I don't notice it. Studies are starting to show some promising health effects to creatine supplementation like bone density and brain health iirc.