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Deleted member 10185
Kraken
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- OP
- #51
You'll never look bulky as a natural, with the right program, in 3 years, you can get a similar physique to the youtubers Omar Isuf and Scott Herman:
To gain muscle you need to:
1) Focus on getting as strong as possible on the 6 main compound movements (weighted chin up, overhead press, barbell row, bench press, squat and deadlift), of course you program it correctly with only 3-4 of those exercises per workout, but with a 3 sets of 5 reps volume, you can do the squat, the bench press and the overhead press 3 times per week without overtraining. As a natural, you need a high frequency, low volume approach focused mainly on those compound movements if you want to make good progress. You can add in accessory lifts at the end but they are not as important (barbell curls, tricep extension, weighted crunches, weighted planks, side raises, and so on)
2) You must also eat enough to gain muscle, for that you must maintain a body fat percentage that is between 15 and 20% body fat which is the body fat used by hockey players because it gives you the best performance, the lower your body fat is, the leaner your face will be but your performance in the gym will suffer which will make you gain muscle much more slowly. To know your body fat, it's very simple, you can see it in the mirror, being skinny fat (skinny but with a bit of a beer belly) would mean you are between 15 and 20% body fat (depending on the size of your belly) and you have little to no muscle mass. Most guys who are at that point wonder whether they should cut or bulk, but they should do neither, they should maintain their weight. If you are really skinny, you should bulk otherwise you won't recover from your workouts. And if you're fat, you must cut because otherwise it's not healthy and your testosterone levels will be lower after 20% body fat.
3) You must also sleep enough (at least 8 hours every night) to recover from your workouts
4) You need to be consistent with your training, no matter what happens, don't skip days, always do your workouts even if you feel lazy or tired after work, the more days you skip, the slower your progress will be. My biggest mistake since I started in 2016 was that I wasn't consistent (and on top of that I wasn't eating enough for many years).
5) You need to use a good training program focus on gaining strength since strength gain is directly connected to muscle growth as a natural lifter. For novice programs I recommend Jason Blaha's Novice Program 2.0:
And for the intermediate program, I recommend Madcow's 5x5: https://stronglifts.com/madcow-5x5/
The intermediate strength standards are:
a 135 lb (61.24 kg) overhead press
a 200 lb (90.72 kg) barbell row
a 225 lb (102.06 kg) bench press
a 315 lb (142.89 kg) squat
a 405 lb (183.71 kg) deadlift
The advanced strength standards are:
a 100 lb (45.36 kg) weighted chin up
a 200 lb (90.72 kg) overhead press
a 275 lb (124.74 kg) barbell row
a 315 lb (142.89 kg) bench press
a 405 lb (183.71 kg) squat
a 500 lb (226.8 kg) deadlift
It should take you only 6-12 months of training to get to the intermediate level, and 3 years in total at most to reach the advanced level.
Since everybody is different and not everyone has the same genetics, you may be a bit above or a bit below those numbers but they are a good way to measure your progress.
Going from beginner to intermediate should make you pack on 20-24 lbs of muscle, and going from intermediate to advanced should make you pack on 16-18 lbs of muscle again, so in total you should be able to gain 36-42 lbs of muscle in 3 years which is a lot of muscle mass, if you neglect your legs, you'll only gain half of that amount, so you shouldn't neglect them.
At the intermediate level, you'll look great with a shirt off but with a shirt on you may look decent or you may not look like you even lift.
At the advanced level, you'll look amazing with a shirt off and with a shirt on everyone will be able to tell that you lift, you'll be huge.
Thank you for info. I personally dont wanna be that bulky. Its just overkill. Not even women like too bulky guys. They prefer Lean body with some muscles. I have started weight lifting in home with dumbells. .. Im still struggling to eat 120 kg of protein per day..