CTeen's blog

[CTeen]

Howdy everyone,

been mostly a lurker, but been thinking about starting my own thread and becoming more active in the forums, and today just happened to be a great time to do this. There is much to be covered in the first post...

I'm currently 20 years old, 6' and 190lbs. I'm kinda defined, but no 6-pack. Legs seem to grow faster than the rest of me for some reason (well, other than the stomach).

I started off being a 230lb fat kid when I was 15. I kinda snapped, went on a crazy diet and lost 90lbs, dropping down to 140 (for those who don't want to do the math :P)

I kept exercising, but was so afraid of becoming the fat kid again that I never really put on much weight. I slowly started gaining some weight when I was 18 and got up to about 160lbs.

I started training using the HST method (Hypertrophy Specific Training) and it worked wonders for me. I shot up quickly to my current weight of 190lbs. I take creatine and whey protein, but those are my only supplements (and steroid free, although the idea is tempting!). My current goal is to keep bulking until about 200lbs (or, essentially, one more HST cycle, which would bring me to March) and then lean down a bit. I'm already somewhat uncomfortable with the weight gain I've experienced, so I won't want to get too much fatter.

But anyways, on to today!

My campus gym is closed until next semester starts up again, so I signed up at the local gym in town. Its half-decent, but I don't think I'll be renewing my gym membership once its over. I went in today for my usual workout and everything was doing fine. Upped my squats and SLDL, did some half-decent calf raises and move onto chest. Being the good boy that I am, I warm up doing some dips with no weight. After a few reps, I'm ready to attach the weight belt and add some poundage. I hop off the dip bar and CRACK, BANG, FALL.

I sprained my ankle. I sprained my (EXPLETIVE) ankle while dismounting the dip bar. WTF? I'm currently sitting in my room with a bag of frozen carrots and peas on my chubby ankle and just took a few advil. Jesus hates me.

So, please comment on the whole training experience to date, and feel free to post some cures for sprains!

I'm sure I'll post pics eventually, but I'm not ready yet. There are some older ones around here somewhere, and I'm sure someone would be able to find em.

Take care,

-CTeen

[Aikuchi]

Woot!

First one, signed on the CTeen pep/support squad!

I'm pretty sure the more experienced members (more so than myseld I'm assured) will give you enough constructive commentary than I can dole out in a year.

[glammaman2000]

Believe it or not;you're obviously very sensible&have a good head on your shoulders.NOTE TO EVERYBODY!:the most common time of injury is when PUTTING THE WEIGHTS BACK!!During an exercise,you're thinking about what you're doing.Once it's over;it's"thank god!"&the thinking stops.Wrists,fingers,lower back,etc.Jesus doesn't hate you.If he did;there'd be nails involved.If you think you've strained,bruised or pulled something;KEEP IT MOVING!If you've BROKEN something;it's a completely different feeling&you probably won't be able to move it.Circulation is the key.Once it's swollen,aspirin helps.Keep pumpin'!g.

[BigLittleTim]

Props to you for makeing such profound changes in your physique; you sound like you're one of the guys who actually has the dedication and determination to make a real go of it in bodybuilding.

It's also a great that you're waiting until you have a few really good solid years of smart training under your weight-belt before you start your first cycle of Steroids. Too many guys are starting WAY too young these days, before they've even realized a fraction of what they'd be capable of gaining naturally. It sounds like moral rationalizing from the "old folks" when someone who's in his late 30's, and obviously juicing, tells you to hold off until you're out of college. I didn't start until I was well into my mid twenties, and that has made a huge difference in the size I've been able to gain and maintain.

Don't worry too much about the sprain. You're going to have hundreds of little setbacks like that over the course of your lifting carreer. Just be thankful it's not a rotator cuff injury, or your trapezius, or a bicep tear! (ouch... ouch... and OUCH!) Use the down-time to continue eating well and to allow your body a little rest. Even the biggest of the big take a week off form the gym here and there to aid in long-term recovery. Christmas Week isn't a bad time to take off, if you have to choose a particular week not to get into the gym.

Cheers, and Merry Christmas (or whatever) to all.

BigLittleTim

[garrix]

sounds like you've made some awesome progress so far! good for you! Sounds like you've gotten pretty buff, and im really sorry to hear about the ankle... just be nice to it for a while, make sure not to overwork it, thats the only advice i have.

I know about the campus gym thing, same deal here, too bad its so expensive for a 2 week membership! keep it up man, sounds like your routine is really working for you.

[CTeen]

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

The ankle is doing better; I've done a great job of staying off of it for the past two weeks. It still a little blue in places and I'm not quite walking normally, but I'm hoping to go back to the gym tomorrow. I hate not being able to go.

My goals for this cycle is to gain 10lbs to be a nice, chubby 200lbs. So, by March I should be fatter than I would ever want to be. I'm then going to go on a cutting cycle to drop 10-15lbs (depending on how happy I am after losing the first 10). I'd like to be able to fit into my Stage uniform for the summer without having to buy new clothes. Somehow, I don't think thats going to happen. We'll see.

Heres a question for everyone: I'm wearing size 32 pants, but when I measure my waist its a far cry from 32 inches. When people post their waist sizes, is it their pants size or what?

Thanks again for the encouragement.

[CTeen]

Well, I've been going to the gym all this time. I'm making progress, as I'm not about 192ish. My goal is to gain a pound a week for the next 5 or so weeks. I'm then going to try do lose some of the weight, as I'm already fatter than I've ever wanted to be (again) and can't wait to have a nice trim physique. I'm already getting the diet plan ready so I can hop to it right away. I want to fit into my pants again :P

It seems losing weight will be easier than gaining weight, but in the end the two are equal. Going to the gym is just part of my routine these days; its just something that I 'do'. And I am getting the results to show for it. My arms are now above 14.5, and I'm hoping to get them to at least 15 by the summer (although I'm secretely hoping for 16).

I also think I have big legs, but when I look they don't appear to be that big. My thights measure about 25 inches (a bit more, actually) at their thickest point and my calves are over 19. Is that good?

Anywho, signing off for now.

Take care all,

-CTeen

[CTeen]

First, a correction: the calves are over 16, not 19

Anyways... I've finally reached my fat threshold and have started cutting/dieting down. I started at about 193lbs and I'm still on my first week. I was wondering if anyone had some tips to cutting while preserving LBM? I'm pretty well educated as far as training and nutrition goes, but theres a lot to say for those of you who have actually done it, and done it successfully.

The plan so far:

I'm aiming for a 500-750Kcal deficit per day. I weight train 3X per week, full-body workouts (HST method, repeating my 10s, for those of you who know it). I do low-intensity cardio 3 X per week on my off-days from weight-training, generally just a very fast walk. Eating 2 Protein shakes and 4 small meals a day to get to my energy requirement (estimated at about 2500Kcal/day for the cutting).

I hope to lose 10lbs in 2 months. We'll see how that goes... I'll post stats and pics when its all over, so wish me luck!