10 Things I've learned in my almost 20 years of bodybuilding

@jannieb Nice post man, I agree with everything.

I don't know how the fuck you live on only 30g of fat though bro lol. My hormones couldn't handle that.

The only comment I will make, which is not really disagreeing because I didn't read it as you saying this, but I do really dislike the "You don't need motivation you need discipline" comment that has been getting popular the last 2 years or so. There has to be an end to justify the means. Discipline is employed to ensure a goal is met. Motivation is what establishes the goal, and drives the discipline. Many times moto will wane on a daily level, that is where the discipline takes over and ensures the necessary things are accomplished to achieve the goal. Take a prep for example, in the slog of it, discipline is crucial to ensure you are consistent, but when push really comes to shove and shit really gets hard it is that vision of accomplishing the goal, reaching stage level conditioning, competing, even trying to win a show that keeps you honest, and justifies the discipline used.
 
@jannieb Cheers bro. Thanks for the read. Similar boat here. Started lifting at 18 (32 now) and about 205 lbs at 6feet, probably similar BF (though probably higher now since I havnt been able to lift for 2 weeks) haha.

Id echo everything you said. Consistency is the key. Somedays I dont feel like it, but ill go through the motions anyways and still lift...

Never saw benefit to dirty bulk. Admittedly never got as big as 275 though... Tried low vol/high vol, full body, you name it...

In the last ~2 years, Ive arrived at a point you mentioned here. I only do things I enjoy, rather than forcing myself to do lifts I hate.

Hopefully this encourages other, I know it encouraged me and a silver lining of all this, was dealing with minor shoulder inflammation and impingement before this. Since, ive been resting, icing, and its feeling phenomenal! Maybe it needed a break haha!
 
@christian987 dirty bulking is just really dumb. It involves eating crap food and going way past the amount of calories as is necessary for maximal muscle growth. Extra calories only help build muscle up to a certain point, past that it’s all fat. If you’re “dirty bulking”, you’re eating crap and going way past that point.

I’ve done it, back in high school, and i did get massive and strong, but my body fat was insanely high for what im normally at and my cardio went to complete shit. i looked like shit too, and felt like shit to top it all off. It’s so incredibly unhealthy.

There’s also been numerous studies showing it doesn’t work, those extra calories just build more fat, and we all know eating crap foods is bad for you.

Dirty bulking is not something anyone should do for any reason. It’s basically just the “easy way out” for putting on mass, there’s absolutely no evidence anywhere that it is superior to just eating a sensible calorie surplus while training. Potato chips aren’t going to build muscle.
 
@sandyanna As someone who dirty bulked for so long - it really is dumb! Its fun but dumb as hell! lol

I met Lee Priest at his biggest once when I was at my biggest, and once when he was lean and I was in the middle of a pre-contest and I told him "Hey I get super fat too in the off-season" and he laughs and goes "It's super fun, isn't it?"
 
@christian987 Yeah wish I had never got talked into a dirty bulk by a old friend who was big into bb always said he was natty and pushing dirty bulk for the mass and muscle like him gave it a try going from 178-185 lean sitting around 8% bf to dirty bulk to 205 and bumped to 215-220 by still being talked into the more mass the better your cut will be. Then only to find out he was on all kinds of gear bulking recomp cutting 🤦 was a lot stronger but hated the way I looked and some how hes doing supposedly doing the same thing but getting leaner telling me to push on that weight. Ehh we aren’t friends anymore
 
@jannieb Great post man. Wondering how you feeling when you’re bulking vs being lean? Only ask because a lot of people say they feel better lean, but I’ve always felt better when I’m really packing the food in.

Good job not drinking, that’s absolutely my biggest hurdle lol.
 
@r3yu I felt terrific when I was heavy lol.... although clearly not as agile and athletic, couldn't run as much as I can now, etc. but overall I felt good. I felt ridiculously strong, like I was a walking blubbery tank lol

But I still feel great now, and a big part of that is because I am keeping my carbs high... when I used to diet for shows my carbs were extremely low and that messed with me, but when I decided to diet down again at the start of 2019, I said to myself that I had to find a way to do it without going low carbs... so I read up and studied a lot Layne Norton's teachings - I was sold, love a lot of what he outlines and explains.

But- because I'm insisting on keeping my bf at 12-13% and my waist at 32"... I'm ALWAYS hungry lol - thats the life though.
 
@jannieb Good post!

I agree with everything you said.

I'm walking the same path as you do, and I'm currently 27 years old and I have been lifting for 10 years, still natural. When I hit my 20th year milestone, I'll also be 37 years old :).
 
@julianclayton A little bit but not too much to be honest, nothing crazy. I'm actually quite surprised that it's not worse considering how big I was for how long I was and all my yoyo dieting.
A true test of that would be if I dropped another 15-20 lbs into contest shape (that day will come again at some point :)), then we'd really see if they're is loose skin or not.
 
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