samanthamturner
New member
Sorry in advanced for any lack of data.
I've been wanting to write this up for quite some time now. Not only to show people the progress I've personally made, but to hopefully inspire others that they can make a positive change in their lifestyle through bodybuilding. I'll post as many pictures and data as I have, but it might be sparce when I go over my beginning stages.
So where do I begin? I was a solid 6ft 138lbs at the age of 23. My lifestyle consisted of going to work and coming home to play video games (I bet that sounds familiar to a lot of people). I was always really skinny growing up and told my metabolism must be super high. When I would eat, I would always down huge quantities without batting an eye.
So what changed?
My buddy was home from college for the summer. Throughout our lives he was always just as skinny as I was, but a bit shorter than me. When I finally saw him after over a year of being gone, he had blown up, but not in a bad way. He had put on a solid 20lbs of muscle and looked jacked in my eyes. I was amazed at the progress he made. He insisted I start coming to the gym with him, so I did.
Beginner Total
Bench - 45lbs Deadlift - 95lbs Squat - 95lbs
Summer of 2013 is where I truly started my journey in bodybuilding. I had zero idea where to even begin, but luckily my buddy helped guide me through my beginner stages. We both started following "Arnold's Blueprint to Mass" https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/arnold-schwarzenegger-blueprint-trainer-main.html. Every workout was a struggle in the beginning. I was weak, my body constantly ached, and I was always hungry. Progress seemed to come quick at the start. I remember hitting the milestone of 150lbs after a year and feeling stoked at how huge I was. This was with zero diet change, besides maybe adding in a protein shake after my workout. From here is where my progress started to stall. My lifts started not progressing and my bodyweight wasn't moving. I had become so obsessed with that scale moving up that I knew what I needed to do, eat.
So I started eating more, a lot more. This consisted of anything I could get my hands on, mostly junk food. The extra calories started to do their work and my bodyweight and lifts started going up again. After another year, I think sometime in 2015, I had reached a weight of 180lbs. I sat at this weight for almost a year, doing nothing but trying to progress my lifts. I was finally happy with bodyweight for the first time in my life.
Intermediate Total
Bench - 185 Deadlift - 360lbs Squat - 270lbs
During this time, my girlfriend had also gotten into bodybuilding. She had become almost as obsessed with the gym as I was over a short period of time. Then one day she had brought up competitive bodybuilding in conversation because her friend had just competed and spoke highly of her coach. I mostly shrugged it off at first and thought I could never compete with other bodybuilders, I'm just not big enough. Over the course of the next week or so, she insisted we go at least speak with the coach and see if it's something that might interest us, and I hesitantly agreed. So we met with my now current coach. He agreed I was too small to compete, but said I had potential to do well if I put on a lot of size. I was inspired by the words of encouragement that I could someday compete with other bodybuilders, so I hired him about December 2015.
Immediately he gave me macros to track. This was a first for me, as I never even tracked calories before. We started off low and worked up to where I finally started putting on weight. I always thought I used to eat a lot, but this was a real eye opener, I wasn't eating shit. Every meal made me so uncomfortably full at the time, that it would take me up to an hour just to finish a Tupperware full of food. But I continued eating and my bodyweight and lifts started skyrocketing.
Beginner Bulk Macros
C - 550 F- 100 P-220
My first plan with my coach was a progressive overload power-building routine. It was a five week routine that consisted of percentage work based off my one rep max. The start of the cycle for example would be 77.5% on deadlift for 3x7. The final week would be 85% for 3x3 with the last set being an AMRAP. We would base progress off this AMRAP and estimate a new 1 rep max based off this. We added in some basic hypertrophy work after my compounds, but the focus remained on the big three. Over the course of the next year I managed to put on another 30lbs and was sitting at the heaviest I'd ever been, 210lbs.
Intermediate Coach Total
Bench - 240lbs Deadlift - 405lbs Squat -315lbs
It was finally time to start prepping for the show I had put all this weight on for. My coach immediately started me up on two days of cardio doing wingates for 4 sets, nothing crazy. My macros moved downward and so did my weight. I really didn't start to have any hunger issues until five weeks in and that's also when my lifts started to feel heavier. This continued to trend downward until I reached show-day at 172lbs Spring of 2017.
Current macros by show day.
C - 128 F - 28 P - 225
Cardio - 9 sets of wingates, 3 days a week
My first show had gone well. I won my class and narrowly lost the overall. I was ecstatic and couldn't wait for my next show in Chicago. Our plan was to maintain our current bodyweight heading into the next show two weeks later. This show went a bit differently though. I got last in my class and was pretty disheartened. The competition was much higher and I really felt underclassed. I didn't feel I looked any different from my first show, so it really put a damper on my mindset. I knew what I had to do though. Just like every other bodybuilder wants, I had to get bigger and I had to get leaner.
We started my second bulking phase after a reversing for a couple weeks. This time we opted for a less agressive apporach on the diet.
C - 480 F-90 P - 200
Over the course of that year I managed to get some pretty decent totals on all my lifts.
Bench - 285 Deadlift - 505lbs Squat - 375lbs
We didn't change much in terms of my routine besides adding a bit more hypertrophy volume. We stayed on this path until March of 2018. At this point, I was sitting at about 205lbs, but looked and felt much leaner even though I was only 5lbs lighter than my previous bulk.
At this time, we began my prep for my 2018 season. This time we withheld cardio and opted for a more aggressive approach on cutting macros. we held this strategy until about week 10 where we added in treadmill sprints. The macros below are the numbers I stayed at from week 10 all the way until week 25. We continued this until my first show in September at the NGA P4P Undefeated Championships. Our peak week strategy was a simple front load. We depleted the week before, loaded on Monday and Tuesday, and maintained until a slight load up Friday. We didn't adjust our water, but did do some mild sodium manipulation. It was also during peak week that I decided to also register for the Classic Bodybuilding class as well. I had one week to try and perfect my posing and get some kind of routine down.
C-148 F-48 P-220
3 Days of Cardio - Stairstepper Sprints, 20 min incline walk, treadmill sprints.
Show day was nerve racking for me. I finally felt like I was in a place to not only do extremely well, but possibly get my pro card. The only issue was, that the guy who got first in my class during the Chicago show while I got last, was also competing. To add on to it, he was also competing in Classic as well. In the end everything worked out in my favor. I was not only a men's physique pro, but a classic bodybuilding pro as well. I had set out to accomplish something that three years earlier I never thought would have ever been possible. I did go on to compete at my first pro show a couple weeks later and got 3rd and 2nd in my classes, but I think that's for a different thread.
I wish I could add all my spreadsheets and routine, but in respect for my coach I had to omit the details. If you have questions though feel free to ask and I'll try to answer the best I can.
Shameless IG tag - https://www.instagram.com/thatfit_it_guy/
I've been wanting to write this up for quite some time now. Not only to show people the progress I've personally made, but to hopefully inspire others that they can make a positive change in their lifestyle through bodybuilding. I'll post as many pictures and data as I have, but it might be sparce when I go over my beginning stages.
So where do I begin? I was a solid 6ft 138lbs at the age of 23. My lifestyle consisted of going to work and coming home to play video games (I bet that sounds familiar to a lot of people). I was always really skinny growing up and told my metabolism must be super high. When I would eat, I would always down huge quantities without batting an eye.
So what changed?
My buddy was home from college for the summer. Throughout our lives he was always just as skinny as I was, but a bit shorter than me. When I finally saw him after over a year of being gone, he had blown up, but not in a bad way. He had put on a solid 20lbs of muscle and looked jacked in my eyes. I was amazed at the progress he made. He insisted I start coming to the gym with him, so I did.
Beginner Total
Bench - 45lbs Deadlift - 95lbs Squat - 95lbs
Summer of 2013 is where I truly started my journey in bodybuilding. I had zero idea where to even begin, but luckily my buddy helped guide me through my beginner stages. We both started following "Arnold's Blueprint to Mass" https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/arnold-schwarzenegger-blueprint-trainer-main.html. Every workout was a struggle in the beginning. I was weak, my body constantly ached, and I was always hungry. Progress seemed to come quick at the start. I remember hitting the milestone of 150lbs after a year and feeling stoked at how huge I was. This was with zero diet change, besides maybe adding in a protein shake after my workout. From here is where my progress started to stall. My lifts started not progressing and my bodyweight wasn't moving. I had become so obsessed with that scale moving up that I knew what I needed to do, eat.
So I started eating more, a lot more. This consisted of anything I could get my hands on, mostly junk food. The extra calories started to do their work and my bodyweight and lifts started going up again. After another year, I think sometime in 2015, I had reached a weight of 180lbs. I sat at this weight for almost a year, doing nothing but trying to progress my lifts. I was finally happy with bodyweight for the first time in my life.
Intermediate Total
Bench - 185 Deadlift - 360lbs Squat - 270lbs
During this time, my girlfriend had also gotten into bodybuilding. She had become almost as obsessed with the gym as I was over a short period of time. Then one day she had brought up competitive bodybuilding in conversation because her friend had just competed and spoke highly of her coach. I mostly shrugged it off at first and thought I could never compete with other bodybuilders, I'm just not big enough. Over the course of the next week or so, she insisted we go at least speak with the coach and see if it's something that might interest us, and I hesitantly agreed. So we met with my now current coach. He agreed I was too small to compete, but said I had potential to do well if I put on a lot of size. I was inspired by the words of encouragement that I could someday compete with other bodybuilders, so I hired him about December 2015.
Immediately he gave me macros to track. This was a first for me, as I never even tracked calories before. We started off low and worked up to where I finally started putting on weight. I always thought I used to eat a lot, but this was a real eye opener, I wasn't eating shit. Every meal made me so uncomfortably full at the time, that it would take me up to an hour just to finish a Tupperware full of food. But I continued eating and my bodyweight and lifts started skyrocketing.
Beginner Bulk Macros
C - 550 F- 100 P-220
My first plan with my coach was a progressive overload power-building routine. It was a five week routine that consisted of percentage work based off my one rep max. The start of the cycle for example would be 77.5% on deadlift for 3x7. The final week would be 85% for 3x3 with the last set being an AMRAP. We would base progress off this AMRAP and estimate a new 1 rep max based off this. We added in some basic hypertrophy work after my compounds, but the focus remained on the big three. Over the course of the next year I managed to put on another 30lbs and was sitting at the heaviest I'd ever been, 210lbs.
Intermediate Coach Total
Bench - 240lbs Deadlift - 405lbs Squat -315lbs
It was finally time to start prepping for the show I had put all this weight on for. My coach immediately started me up on two days of cardio doing wingates for 4 sets, nothing crazy. My macros moved downward and so did my weight. I really didn't start to have any hunger issues until five weeks in and that's also when my lifts started to feel heavier. This continued to trend downward until I reached show-day at 172lbs Spring of 2017.
Current macros by show day.
C - 128 F - 28 P - 225
Cardio - 9 sets of wingates, 3 days a week
My first show had gone well. I won my class and narrowly lost the overall. I was ecstatic and couldn't wait for my next show in Chicago. Our plan was to maintain our current bodyweight heading into the next show two weeks later. This show went a bit differently though. I got last in my class and was pretty disheartened. The competition was much higher and I really felt underclassed. I didn't feel I looked any different from my first show, so it really put a damper on my mindset. I knew what I had to do though. Just like every other bodybuilder wants, I had to get bigger and I had to get leaner.
We started my second bulking phase after a reversing for a couple weeks. This time we opted for a less agressive apporach on the diet.
C - 480 F-90 P - 200
Over the course of that year I managed to get some pretty decent totals on all my lifts.
Bench - 285 Deadlift - 505lbs Squat - 375lbs
We didn't change much in terms of my routine besides adding a bit more hypertrophy volume. We stayed on this path until March of 2018. At this point, I was sitting at about 205lbs, but looked and felt much leaner even though I was only 5lbs lighter than my previous bulk.
At this time, we began my prep for my 2018 season. This time we withheld cardio and opted for a more aggressive approach on cutting macros. we held this strategy until about week 10 where we added in treadmill sprints. The macros below are the numbers I stayed at from week 10 all the way until week 25. We continued this until my first show in September at the NGA P4P Undefeated Championships. Our peak week strategy was a simple front load. We depleted the week before, loaded on Monday and Tuesday, and maintained until a slight load up Friday. We didn't adjust our water, but did do some mild sodium manipulation. It was also during peak week that I decided to also register for the Classic Bodybuilding class as well. I had one week to try and perfect my posing and get some kind of routine down.
C-148 F-48 P-220
3 Days of Cardio - Stairstepper Sprints, 20 min incline walk, treadmill sprints.
Show day was nerve racking for me. I finally felt like I was in a place to not only do extremely well, but possibly get my pro card. The only issue was, that the guy who got first in my class during the Chicago show while I got last, was also competing. To add on to it, he was also competing in Classic as well. In the end everything worked out in my favor. I was not only a men's physique pro, but a classic bodybuilding pro as well. I had set out to accomplish something that three years earlier I never thought would have ever been possible. I did go on to compete at my first pro show a couple weeks later and got 3rd and 2nd in my classes, but I think that's for a different thread.
I wish I could add all my spreadsheets and routine, but in respect for my coach I had to omit the details. If you have questions though feel free to ask and I'll try to answer the best I can.
Shameless IG tag - https://www.instagram.com/thatfit_it_guy/