Progress: Typical NERD to something more

[lawlz]

For most of my life (which hasn't been that long, I am only 19 years old), I struggled with being overweight and I went through the stigma associated with it. I was physically and emotionally bullied, teased, made fun of, laughed at, and so forth. At my worst, I was 5'8, 195lbs at 24% bodyfat as a Sophomore in High School (~16 years old). Around this time, my first girlfriend cheated on me and if not having low self-esteem/confidence wasn't already enough, seeing her with this new guy everyday sent me into deep, severe depression filled with suicidal thoughts (ashamed to admit this). After a couple months of this, I decided it was time for a change.

I have made MANY mistakes in my training. From crash dieting from 195 to 155 in 3 months with a a horrible 1k calorie diet to a stupid "bulk" back from 155 back to 188 with a horrible diet where my calories were way too high for my metabolism, I've been on both ends of the full dummy spectrum. However, I am starting to take my training and dieting seriously, and I have seen results.

This is just the beginning.

Before:

Now:

 

[TheELF]

Nice.....how long did that take???
how many hours a day/days a week???
Where you at a gym?

 

[highland145]

Send the after pics to the cheating GF.

Good job.

 

[lawlz]

Nice.....how long did that take???
how many hours a day/days a week???
Where you at a gym?

I've been training for about 3 years. I could have done a lot better but as I stated in my OP, I spent 2 years with a horrible diet and only recently (5-6 months ago) did I start following a proper diet.

In terms of my training routine, I lifted 3-4 days a week for about an hour each session.

 

[repoman0]

Nice! What sort of routine?

 

[lawlz]

Mainly strength routines. When I first started I was 195lbs and I could only bench 45lbs x 3, squat 65lbs x 3, and deadlift 75 lbs x 3. I wasn't going to make any muscle gains lifting girl weights forever so I focused on strength for a long time. Currently, I am on a cut so I am on a more bodybuilding style routine to keep me fresh as I don't want to risk injury as my bodyfat percentage is lower and leaves me more prone to that type of stuff.

 

[shortylickens]

The classical nerd is skinny, the modern nerd is fat. I dont know which one qualifies as typical. But good job sir!

 

[Kaido]

Epic win, nice job, keep it up!

 

[blackdogdeek]

Awesome job, OP. Keep up the good work.

Let us know how your high school reunion goes

 

[Pantlegz]

Damn nice transformation. Are you just focusing on aesthetics?

 

[lawlz]

At the moment, yes. However, I have powerlifter roots and plan on coming back to it once I get to around 4-5% bodyfat. Although I do plan on going back to strength training, I am going to focus more on "powerbuilding" with a proper diet rather than just stuff my face full of calories in order to get strong without any regards to body composition.

 

[mple]

Strong lurk. Definitely look lean enough for a slow bulk. No need to keep cutting imo

 

[TallBill]

Congrats man. I was much older when I started lifting and it really makes a person feel more confident and just better overall. What are your goals these days?

 

[Pantlegz]

At the moment, yes. However, I have powerlifter roots and plan on coming back to it once I get to around 4-5% bodyfat. Although I do plan on going back to strength training, I am going to focus more on "powerbuilding" with a proper diet rather than just stuff my face full of calories in order to get strong without any regards to body composition.

I'm sure you're aware of this, but maintaining bodyfat that low is going to be a pain in the ass, if it's even possible. IF would be the best way to maintain at that level but it would have a serious impact on your powerlifting goals.

 

[alkemyst]

Good work

 

[lawlz]

I'm sure you're aware of this, but maintaining bodyfat that low is going to be a pain in the ass, if it's even possible. IF would be the best way to maintain at that level but it would have a serious impact on your powerlifting goals.

Thanks for chiming in. Yes, I am aware of this and that is the reason why I stated before that at the moment, I am not on a powerlifting/strength routine and am on a bodybuilding oriented routine to keep myself fresh and injury free while I cut.

There are no physical benefits or reasons to continue my cut. I am just doing this to prove to myself that I can. Also, I am under the guidance of a well-known powerlifting coach and he would like to see me around 4-5% before we move onto what he calls "Phase 2", which is a lean mass where I will also switch back to a powerlifting/strength routine.

Currently, I am in Phase 1 which is a cut that seeks to jack up my metabolism in preparation for Phase 2, where I will be eating a massive amount of calories (4-6K) which staying under 10% bodyfat. It sounds bonky but my trainer is known to use unconventional methods that WORK.

At the moment, I am eating on average 3000 calories at 153 pounds and still losing weight, which is a good sign that my metabolism is jacked up.

 

[RearAdmiral]

Wow you look great man. Great work!

 

[alkemyst]

Thanks for chiming in. Yes, I am aware of this and that is the reason why I stated before that at the moment, I am not on a powerlifting/strength routine and am on a bodybuilding oriented routine to keep myself fresh and injury free while I cut.

There are no physical benefits or reasons to continue my cut. I am just doing this to prove to myself that I can. Also, I am under the guidance of a well-known powerlifting coach and he would like to see me around 4-5% before we move onto what he calls "Phase 2", which is a lean mass where I will also switch back to a powerlifting/strength routine.

Currently, I am in Phase 1 which is a cut that seeks to jack up my metabolism in preparation for Phase 2, where I will be eating a massive amount of calories (4-6K) which staying under 10% bodyfat. It sounds bonky but my trainer is known to use unconventional methods that WORK.

At the moment, I am eating on average 3000 calories at 153 pounds and still losing weight, which is a good sign that my metabolism is jacked up.

power lifting <> bodybuilding...only a bodybuilder would want to be that lean. As a power lifting its going to be hard to not lose some strength getting to that level.

 

[tedrodai]

At the moment, I am eating on average 3000 calories at 153 pounds and still losing weight, which is a good sign that my metabolism is jacked up.

That's probably more of a sign of your daily activity than your resting metabolism having changed significantly. In phase 2, you're going to start training more, am I right? You'll eat more for maintenance, be doing resistance training, and stick with a structured diet, which is how you'll eat that much and still stay at low bf %.

But good job! Great transformation. Be sure to stick with it!

 

[lawlz]

power lifting <> bodybuilding...only a bodybuilder would want to be that lean. As a power lifting its going to be hard to not lose some strength getting to that level.

I understand that. Like I previously acknowledged, there is no physical benefit for me to get that lean besides for aesthetics. In my case, I am only doing it to prove to myself that I can. Have I lost some strength? Yes. Was I aware that it was going to fall off eventually? Yes. As it stands I am not training like a powerlifter so I am not concerned with where my squat, bench, and deadlift are at the moment. When I enter Phase 2 and put calories back into my diet I will shift gears.

That's probably more of a sign of your daily activity than your resting metabolism having changed significantly. In phase 2, you're going to start training more, am I right? You'll eat more for maintenance, be doing resistance training, and stick with a structured diet, which is how you'll eat that much and still stay at low bf %.

But good job! Great transformation. Be sure to stick with it!

Daily activity has actually been very sedentary, believe it or not. I am a student and mainly just sit in desks either taking notes or studying all day. The only physical activity I have is an hour of lifting weights 5x a week, which really doesn't burn any calories. My trainer has used a variety of dieting methods that required precision and accuracy to get my metabolism to where it is right now. In fact, I just downed 10,000 calories on a cheat day during Xmas. Not bad for a 150lb'er. Back on the grind until I'm 4-5% bodyfat though! Final stretch.

 

[repoman0]

Where are your lifts at out of curiosity / where were they at their max? For comparison purposes

I've got about 12-15 pounds and 2 inches on you, and have been training for a little over a year. Put on 30+ pounds in that time period too (still pretty lean), and am finally pretty happy with where my lifts are for my weight - 1rm of 255/175/315 for squat/bench/deadlift. I'm putting more attention into power clean and snatch lately.

Anyway. What are you doing for diet? I'd like to get down a few % body fat, but also maintain my weight.. what a pain in the ass!

 

[alkemyst]

I understand that. Like I previously acknowledged, there is no physical benefit for me to get that lean besides for aesthetics. In my case, I am only doing it to prove to myself that I can. Have I lost some strength? Yes. Was I aware that it was going to fall off eventually? Yes. As it stands I am not training like a powerlifter so I am not concerned with where my squat, bench, and deadlift are at the moment. When I enter Phase 2 and put calories back into my diet I will shift gears.

Gotcha. I missed that. Hitting a BF % best is like any PR.

 

[darkxshade]

What's your typical workout like now?

 

[exdeath]

Mad props man.

 

[lawlz]

Where are your lifts at out of curiosity / where were they at their max? For comparison purposes

I've got about 12-15 pounds and 2 inches on you, and have been training for a little over a year. Put on 30+ pounds in that time period too (still pretty lean), and am finally pretty happy with where my lifts are for my weight - 1rm of 255/175/315 for squat/bench/deadlift. I'm putting more attention into power clean and snatch lately.

Anyway. What are you doing for diet? I'd like to get down a few % body fat, but also maintain my weight.. what a pain in the ass!

Before I started cutting, I was about 188@22-24% bodyfat with a 1015lbs total (365/230/415 squat; bench; deadlift). As it stands, I am 153.8lbs@7-8% bodyfat. I have no idea where my total is as I haven't lifted heavy in forever but about 2 weeks ago (~154.5lbs), I squatted 225x3x10 then 225x1x13 afterwards and deadlifted 275x1, 315x1, and then 365x1 for easy singles after deadlifting 245x4x10. I have lost some strength for sure but keep in mind that between my 1015 total and now, I took a year off from lifting to try out other things in college (rowing, martial arts, etc.) where I did not lift at all.