3yrs + 60lbs

[HP1055]

________________________________________

[raven79]

OH WOW! I can't even believe that this is the same guy. If this is you HP, you are a beefy stud!

[vlad]

Wow amazing growth in 3 years. Your arms are huge and hot, and you are a very handsome dude.

[GTlifter]

Good work, HP. I saw you asked questions earlier on the forum and then disappeared on us, guess you were just working hard and making progress keep up the good work man.

[BigSteve6ft3]

Awesome work, HP!

This is one of the best before/after transformations I've seen seen on here. It's great to see your hard work and dedication pay off so impressively. Congratulations, big guy. Keep it up!

[bigmag2]

more pics!! pretty please

[HP1055]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, and especially Steve for being there over the years for advice, stories, experiences, and an ear to rant on.

I'll post again when I have something equally impressive, I start bulking this week as the colder weather comes in.

[vlad]

Gotta agree with Steve, the more I look at those pics, the more impressive it is. I'd be quite flustered if I saw you in person! And only 19! Wow. Your dorm mate is lucky!

[HP1055]

________________________________________

[GTlifter]

Nice thick legs man, thank you for not ignoring them. I see too many young guys do that and your shoulders have alot more room. I'm actually posting tonight and will be doing the same after winter bulking.

It is just good to see young lifters do the right thing, I'm young too but just I was in your shoes and I can't help but hope you even out do me big guy

[vlad]

Awesome!! What did you do to achieve such great results? You went from skinny to beefy in 3 years...must have taken a lot of hard work!

And I echo what GT said, good for working your legs up. They look great.

[wbjason]

Thats awesome dude! Damn thats the kind of progress I'd like to make... from 190 to 220 is what I'm aiming for over the next year or two.

[rippedspongebob]

This thread is just beginning, and you are so young.. but this is one of my all-time most motivational transformations and posts I have seen. I love your thick beefyness... please, if you are willing to tell us more about your transformation and lifestyle, what you have done over the years in terms of nutrition and workouts and motivation, it all helps. Plus it's hot, but mostly (this is selfish) I want to make progress like yours. Those huge quads and beefy arms and thick delts... damn!

[BigSteve6ft3]

Legs look great, HP! I've been wondering what they looked like ever since you mentioned to me that you've recently been squatting 395 for six reps (hope you don't mind me sharing that). You're not only looking good, you're getting impressively strong.

You're not posing to show them off in that pic, but it looks like you've got some pretty massive pecs under that brown t-shirt, too. Once again, great work! (and aw, come on ... gives us a few more pics!)

I wish I could be your age again and be as far along as you are. When I was 19, at 6'3" and about 180, I still looked pretty much like your 'before' picture, and you could have so kicked my ass, dude.

[GTlifter]

Are you following more of a powerlifter or bodybuilder routine? Nice leg strength from BigSteve. I know at 19 I was only squatting 2 plates barely you will make us all look small. LOL.

Here's to the big squatters

[anpuZA]

I couldn't see anything on the first post, don't know if it's been removed?
Anyway, how blue are your eyes? I mean they look really blue in that last pic.

[HP1055]

I'm not exactly sure how to quote everyone in one message so I'll just try and respond to all in one. I apologize for it being such a long response, I didn't want to leave anyone hanging. It won't hurt my feelings if you don't read the whole thing.

Even though we are in the company of the internet, I'm just going to be honest. I pretty much eat everything. I guess the best thing I have done for myself is listen to the way my body responds to my actions. I agree with most articles I have read that say, "Everyone is different" or "everyone responds differently."

I have found that my metabolism is very high - it runs in my family. I'm also a very high energy, type-a person, which contributes to the high metabolism. I do not do any cardio, which I am sure is bad for me in some way or another. My college is big and hilly and I do a lot of walking in general. I've just never had a moment where I thought, "Well, it looks like I've put on too much fat." I really have to eat hard for my gains, which leads me to my next point...

I have about 6 meals a day, if the day goes as planned. Every three hours I will eat at least 1k calories. Meat is the staple to my diet, usually a pound of beef a day (I guess it's true, you are what you eat). Again, just going to be honest here - hamburger helper is my absolute favorite meal. Beef and noodles, usually around 1.6k calories when prepared. Delicious. Feeds four, or one bodybuilder.

For weight gainer shakes, I make my own. Weight gain powders (in my opinion) are too expensive, clumpy, etc. I've just never had any good luck. So...

4 cups milk
4 tablespoons peanut butter
2 bananas
2 cups whole rolled oats (blend before everything else, otherwise you might as well grab a spoon and dig in)
4 scoops of Optimum Nutrition whey protein powder (Red tub, Optimum is just my personal choice, I would recommend any basic whey)

This makes exactly 2 full blender bottles worth of shakes. I use an actual blender to make it all happen. Using a calorie counter from DailyBurn this comes out to about 1544 calories, and 119.5g protein. I like to get most of my protein from meals and have a shake with my meal before bed.

As for my lifting routine. I have a 5 day split of 45-50min lifting sessions. I have three sets per lift (8, 6, 4 reps). If I get to my fourth rep and feel as if I can do another, I increase the weight. I typically run 10 reps of half my starting weight as a warm-up.

Monday: Off
Tuesday: Back/Abs
Wednesday: Chest
Thursday: Off
Friday: Delts/Traps
Saturday: Legs
Sunday: Biceps/Triceps/Forearms

I do legs on Saturday because I know that I will be getting more sleep on the weekend than any other day, and legs are the most taxing day for me. Again, this is from my experience and can vary for everyone. Also, leg day is fun and so are Saturdays.

Every 6 weeks I drop some lifts, and substitute them with new ones. I eventually stop getting sore and sense a need to change it up.

When it comes to supplements, I am strictly protein and creatine. I use the Optimum Nutrition tasteless creatine (which is truly tasteless and goes into my shakes). I will often take melatonin before bed to calm me down and get me to sleep.

As for motivation. I have the unfair advantage of loving the gym. I usually have to motivate myself to stay true to my rest days. That being said, I have had moments where I thought to myself, "This isn't going the way I want it to. What is all of this about? Who am I kidding, trying to change myself into something so different than what I've been my whole life?" To counter these thoughts, I have to remind myself that if it were easy, everyone would be doing it and it wouldn't be special. I usually store away all of my anger throughout the day and release it on the weights.

I've had a lot of people challenge me throughout the years, not just in my lifting but in many dynamics. I find that the biggest thing you can do for yourself is to channel negative energy into something positive, rather than taking it out on other people. I guess it's a more articulate way of saying, "haters gonna hate." And it keeps me nice.

anpuZA, I'm not sure what's going on with the first post... I can still see it. Are there usually problems with imageshack on this forum? I hope not. And my eyes are fairly blue. Too bad they're surrounded by black circles! I swear I get at least 8 hours a night.

This was a terribly long winded response, I apologize. I hope I answered everyone's questions. Feel free to shoot me a reply/message and I'll do my best to get back as quick as possible!

- Mike

[GTlifter]

Mike that was great, keep up the good work, the only thing I would said for you as you keep going the diet is great. I'm not exactly a hard gainer but I had to come up from smaller than you, so you just have to eat that is the key to any type of growth. I usually stray from cardio myself here and there try to do at least 10 to 20 mins three times a week even while bulking it makes a big difference I tell you. Just doing that i dropped 10 lbs but the difference in vascularity is night and day.

You have a great grasp of the basics and definitely pay it forward. Help those that may need it, one of the biggest things I preach. None of us really do this alone.

[vlad]

Great response, and another great example of how if you want to have a big, dramatic change in how big you are, it takes a lot of time, hard work, and dedication, all of which you have. And also TONS OF FOOD!! Wow, that's a lot of food. Kind of gives me an idea of what I'd really have to do to break past 195lb.

Very impressive, thanks for sharing...and I look forward to spring when we get to see more progress pics!

[Cobaltous]

Wow! Very impressive gains. You look great! Keep up the hard work!

[SteepMike81]

Hold me please...

[HP1055]

________________________________________

[raven79]

You have stunning biceps HP! Those things look like they are pushing 20". Oh, and you are a cutie too!

[Ohme123]

You are gorgeous! Total dreamboat. (:

[HP1055]

Thank you for the feedback, my lifts are going up each week so I hope to have something more noteworthy by the end of winter break.

[GTlifter]

Originally Posted by HP1055

Thank you for the feedback, my lifts are going up each week so I hope to have something more noteworthy by the end of winter break.

Keep up the hard work man doing great

[BigSteve6ft3]

Looking good, Mike. Looking big. It's not just the biceps, which are huge, but you've got some nice big delts and a great sweep of lats there, too. You should show us a back shot.

Keep up the good work!

[HP1055]

________________________________________

[GTlifter]

Originally Posted by HP1055

Thanks! Not really sure how to pose for back, so I just did it relaxed. Hope this is alright.

It's called the rear lat spread, a visual picture will help you best. Hand positioning is up to you personally and whichever way shows off more back for you.

I also do the frontal version to check and see if the view from the front is as good.

[HP1055]

Hi all, I promised an update in the spring and here it is. I'm at 225 now. I don't notice much of a difference since my last update, but I promised.

...Not sure where my other photos went so here's a recap

150 (16)


210 (19)


225 (20)


Thanks for hanging in there with me, I hope to have something more impressive by the end of summer, sorry to disappoint.

[LucidDreamer]

damn, your arms look bigger and so does your confidence

[brutus]

Originally Posted by HP1055

Thanks for hanging in there with me, I hope to have something more impressive by the end of summer, sorry to disappoint.

Disappoint?!? I agree with the last comment, there is a definite difference. It's hard for you to see because we are all our own worst critics. As you get bigger, the easy gains won't be there, but you are still visibly progressing. Keep up the very good work!

[vlad]

Your arms and shoulders (and face) look unbelievably great in this new pic. Awesome work!

[GTlifter]

You look great to me man keep up the hard work and that rate of growth you will be bigger than me at 24.

[garrix]

Getting big dude!! wow. What are your goals? You're pushing me to eat more today after back. Gotta get in line with whatever you're doing

[monstermusclebe]

Keep it up, man. You are getting hot. A few years more and you will sizzle with how big and muscular you are.

[HP1055]

Thank you all for the kind words, I'll post a few more photos over the weekend.

[Rarity]

You do look purdee nice thurr. You are also 4 years within my age range, so I will not feel weird about locking you in my basement. Like, if you were 22? EEEEEEEESH, talk about 2awkward2handle since I'm a stickler for age ranges.

. . .

I mean. . .

Looking good, buff guy.

[theunknown]

Whatever it is you're doing, keep at it. That's very encouraging, seeing your progress.

[HP1055]

Sorry for poor quality, all I have is a computer for a camera.