Anyone else into Bodybuilding / Weightlifting?

I'm very big into weightlifting/power lifting. I'm not much into body building since I just don't have the genetics for it. But I'm light and can lift a crap load of weaight.

I weigh between 175 and 180lbs.

Bench press = 300lbs
Squat = 430lbs
Deadlift = 400lbs

My biceps are now larger than my neck too. (rofl)
 
Max. I've seen people work out with 300 though. The guys are usually near or in excess of weighing 300lbs themselves though.

To me, huge guys that weigh 250 or more that lift lots of weight isn't that impressive. I mean, take a guy that weighs 300lbs. Say he has a 1 rep max of 400lbs. That's not that impressive. Thats only 100lbs over his body weight. I can do 280lbs on bench probably 6 times. Thats 100lbs over my body weight.

When I was in the military, I competed for the Army powerlifting team. At my lightest and strongest, I weighed 148lbs, and I benched 300lbs. Thats more than twice my bodyweight. That would be like a 300lb guy benching 600lbs. In other words, it's not that likely.

Whats really impressive is that we used to work out with guys from the UT Austin powerlifting team on their off season. There was one guy that weight 125lbs, and he squated 475lbs. Now that's amazing.
 
True. It 's very impressive. Their's this kid at my gym who weighs around, well maybe 160 lbs. He bench-presses like 50 lbs more than I and about 15 lbs more on biceps. He's skinny but very strong. He just will never devellop that thick and chiselled body he's actually looking for.

As the weights go up, well.....he just stays the same! And that's okay.

Personally, I'm looking for strenght, but mostly size. I've been working really hard on the pecs and arms. My legs are naturally big and strong. If I work 'em too much, I'll look deproportionned! (boom01)
 
maple_leaf said:
He's skinny but very strong. He just will never devellop that thick and chiselled body he's actually looking for.
One thing I've learned over the years is that guys that have a lot of size like me, want to be more thin and cut. And guys that are thin and cut, usually want more size like me. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.:D I wish I could have the metabolism to be more cut, but thats life (genetics). I do enjoy being big though. Don't get me wrong, I don't look like those guys on world's strongest man competition, I'm not fat at all. But I just don't have the chisseled abs either.

I use creatine regularly. I stay on it for usually 2 months at a time, and off for 2 weeks. Creatine is very cheap for what it does, and it has no side effects as long as you drink plenty of water. As for protein, that is one of the most important things. Most people think it will make you gain weight, but totally not true. If you do gain weight, it will be muscle weight only which takes time. Even women should take extra protein if they lift weights. The protein that you don't use, will simply be passed out of your body. Protein never gets stored as fat. The only thing that can be stored as fat, other than fat, are carbohydrates.

I use soy protein only. Whey protein is better, but I'm alergic to it. When I take it, I get a horrible cramp in my esophogous (sp?). It feels like I swallowed a baseball and it is stuck at the top of my stomach. So I tried soy and the problem went away.

Also, have you ever tried 1AD from Ergopharm? All I'll say is that it is simply amazing. You gain more strength with it than size. But if you take plenty of protein with it, you will naturally gain size from lifting heavier and heavier weights.
 
Last edited:
That's true. I know some bigger guys who'd love to switch with me. I, myself, used to be bigger / a bit fatter before. I used to weigh around 192 lbs. Now I'm 168 lbs and it's mostly muscle mass.

I speeded up my metabolism following a very strict high protein / low carbs diet a year ago. I did that for 3 months. Fat went away in no-time! Now I keep my proteins high, keep a moderate carb intake and eat 5 or 6 meals a day....small ones that is. Way better than 3 big ones. THAT'S what sped up my metabolism.

For protein supply, I use Muscletech's Nitro-Tech powder. It's incredible, gives good results and doesn't taste like s***.
 
That's some good protein. Expensive too. I tried the low carb diet about 6 years ago before it was so popular. It's kinda funny how everyone who is on it thinks it this new wonderful discovery.(rofl) Anyway, I did lose a lot of weight, that's when I got down to 148lbs. I could actually see my abs.:D But I got very weak from not having much carbs in me. The diet that most people are on today is high carbs compared to what I was on. I was down to only 15 grams of carbs a day. All I ate was chicken breast, tuna, and vegetables. It sucked.

One thing I'll never give up for any diet is my Hooters wings. I need those about once a month.:D
 
Ben, I'm not sure how you consider yourself a big guy if you weigh 175-180 lbs, how tall are you? All in all 300 lbs at your weight is pretty impressive, I weigh about the same and put up 235, which I used to think was pretty good until you came along.
 
15 grams of carbs a day!!!!! :eek: Holy crap!!! No wonder you started feeling week!

I don't go too low on my carbs anymore (but I do watch 'em closely) because of that. You get leaner but you lose power. A good a balance between both is the best. Then again, everyone's different on that level.

I still eat alot of chicken breasts and tuna though.

big_ben said:
That's some good protein. Expensive too. I tried the low carb diet about 6 years ago before it was so popular. It's kinda funny how everyone who is on it thinks it this new wonderful discovery.(rofl) Anyway, I did lose a lot of weight, that's when I got down to 148lbs. I could actually see my abs.:D But I got very weak from not having much carbs in me. The diet that most people are on today is high carbs compared to what I was on. I was down to only 15 grams of carbs a day. All I ate was chicken breast, tuna, and vegetables. It sucked.

One thing I'll never give up for any diet is my Hooters wings. I need those about once a month.:D
 
M=SP^2 said:
Ben, I'm not sure how you consider yourself a big guy if you weigh 175-180 lbs, how tall are you? All in all 300 lbs at your weight is pretty impressive, I weigh about the same and put up 235, which I used to think was pretty good until you came along.
I guess I think of "big" as muscle size compared to body size. I'm only 5'5", so technically I'm just a lil' guy. I got the nick name "Big Ben" from friends in the Army. Since I had such large arms and chest compared to my small size. So jokingly they called me big ben. I think my biceps are at about 18" to 18.5". My legs are really starting to grow though. I'm thinking of trying to get back into competitive powerlifting again. I competed in one at UTA last year just for fun and won overall. And I didn't squat much then. I think I did about 350 then for one rep. Now I workout with 365 for 10 reps. My sled weight has shot up recently. I'm doing 720lbs 10 times now. I'm aiming for 1000lbs 4 to 6 times by the end of this year.(shocked) I never really did legs since highschool. In the Army, I only competed in bench and nothing else. But now I'm hooked on legs. I thought it would hurt when I got into the heavier weight. But it really doesn't. It actually feels pretty comfortable.(dunno)
 
Holy freakin' crap!! (omg) You ARE big for your size. I haven't measured in a while but I'm probable around 17 for biceps and I'm 5'9''.

big_ben said:
mybiceps are at about 18" to 18.5". My legs are really starting to grow though. I'm thinking of trying to get back into competitive powerlifting again. I competed in one at UTA last year just for fun and won overall. And I didn't squat much then. I think I did about 350 then for one rep. Now I workout with 365 for 10 reps. My sled weight has shot up recently. I'm doing 720lbs 10 times now. I'm aiming for 1000lbs 4 to 6 times by the end of this year.
 
Last edited:
iwas into it since i was 14.i guess i cant help it...my uncle was a pro body builder and competed with the like of arnold s, and lou f...stopped when i took ROTC advance..over there (Philippines)..if you have a big body your office uses you as a punching bag..haha..then went back again on my college days..then stop and back again when i got here in the US..took it for some time and stop again..want to come back but too busy with things...good thing is iI know how my body react to weight training so i know how to make em big..AND no suppliments for me...just water and multi vitamins..HEY im asian with a body of a caucasian so i guess that helps..hehe..6ft tall..not an asian height..lol
 
Back