Well, I have decided to shift gears and bulk. It's a little scary after losing my fat, but I think it's time. I posted this series of pictures on bodybuilding.com lamenting my pathetic abs and the overwhelming response was to bulk--"you're too skinny, oh my gosh you've lost all your muscle mass, you've overdone the cut,"etc. Top picture is my start and bottom right where I'm at as of now.

So I'm gearing up to bulk and I'll see where that leads me. Hopefully I can post some pictures with progress down the road with the help of the advice on this site.

I dont know if the "bodybuilding" forums are the most 'supportive' group out there. It could be your posture, but you DO look like you have lost some mass since the previous picture. Just keep tabs on your diet to make sure that you are getting enough protien & calories a day to make sure you muscles arent being burned instead of fat. Keep lifting hard too. I'm not sure if its true, but I believe you can keep muscle & lose fat. Keep us updated on your progress!

I've gained a little weight--probably 5 lbs. I'm hoping to gain 5 more by Christmas. Hopefully without sprouting love handles.

lookin' sharp.

How old are you? What does your workout routine and your diet look like?

JMR, I'm "old as the hills" for this forum as they say in Texas. 45 to be exact.

I may take some abuse for this, but I use a bowflex--do chest and triceps on monday, biceps and back on wed, abs and legs on friday. Don't do anything for shoulders as I'm nursing a small rotator cuff tear.
Really don't do cardio much at all as I hate it. Was able to lose my gut mostly with diet and lifting. May have to start cardio the more I try to bulk.

I may take some abuse for this, but I use a bowflex--.

Why? No one should be that rude and crude.

A Bowflex is fine. Some of the younger more "hardcore" guys might give you abuse but I won't. I'm 35 and I've discovered over the years that nearly anything will work. Now as for your age... your test levels are dropping and putting on mass is gonna be a rough uphill climb for you. I know that just getting over 30 caused a significant change in how my body gains mass and fat. It sucks. You're gonna have to watch the carbs. Make sure they're the good kind and try to gain some lbm slowly.
Definitely toss in some cardio. It will inspire your metabolism enabling you to eat more quality food and, despite the opinions of many others, won't hurt your lbm gain at all as long as you don't take up long distance running as a hobby. You also need it for your ticker. You're not a kid anymore. :D One other suggestion. If training hard makes you feel run down then you might want to space your workouts even further apart or consider doing what I'm doing now. Basically I work out every bodypart twice over a 8-9 day cycle. The volume is low each session. That might actually work better for you.

JMR, I'm "old as the hills" for this forum as they say in Texas. 45 to be exact.

I may take some abuse for this, but I use a bowflex--do chest and triceps on monday, biceps and back on wed, abs and legs on friday. Don't do anything for shoulders as I'm nursing a small rotator cuff tear.
Really don't do cardio much at all as I hate it. Was able to lose my gut mostly with diet and lifting. May have to start cardio the more I try to bulk.

Re: Bowflex:
(1) any working out is better than not working out, but
(2) speaking from personal experience, it's really hard to put mass on with a bowflex. I had one and worked like a madman, but couldn't put on mass. You'll notice that it lacks the negitive resistance you get from freeweights (i.e., as the powerbar returns to it's starting position, the resistance is less, unlike free weights, where the resistance remains the same throughout the rep).

I got more mass from a set of dumbells than I did from the bowflex.
I couldn't advise strongly enough: sell the bowflex on ebay, and get freeweights....dumbells and bench, or better yet, a cage. For what you can sell the bowflex for on ebay, you can get either. The same amount of work with freeweights will produce much more significant benefits.

Hope this is helpful.

MGB, I think that at some point I will need to abandon the bowflex or at least mix in some free weights. I am making some progress (slow) now and would like to build a little more base before jumping on the free weight train. I've got a bum shoulder that is slowly getting better and don't want to rock the boat. I think that I'm less likely to reinjure that with the bowflex. I found this interesting article on the web about the bowflex--very positive regarding it's utility:
http://exercisecertification.com/articles/products/bowflex.pdf

You obviously have experience with it and from the look of your pics I'd have to say you know what your talking about and I'd probably be best off taking your advice.

My main problem honestly is getting enough calories in my diet. Eating "clean" and eating alot is difficult for me. I don't have any problem eating a pizza every meal, but eating "good" food every 3
hours and trying to work has been difficult.

I've been able to add a few pounds since my last post. I'm in at 141-2.
Quit cutting at 134 in September. Granted it's very slow progress. Would like to get to 150 by summer.

nice progress from Sept!! :tu:

I've been able to add a few pounds since my last post. I'm in at 141-2.
Quit cutting at 134 in September. Granted it's very slow progress. Would like to get to 150 by summer.


Nice progress. Good pace, too. 2 lbs per month is what I'm looking to do in March.

Keep up the good work.

Brian

nope, pretty much the same muscle you started out with is still there, it just looks a lot smaller without its "insulation". but you're right, time to grow muscle.

thanks for the encouragement. At least two out of three who commented think I'm gaining a little ground.

Good job!

But I think it would be better if you took the pictures in the same position.

Thought I'd throw up a progress picture as the last one was in jan. of '05. Picture on left is from then and one on the right, today. This has got to be the world's slowest bulk. I think I've gained about 5-7 lbs since my last picture. I've never really had abs and still don't but I don't think that they look particularly worse.

I've taken the plunge and joined a gym--bowlfex is gathering dust.
Hired a personal trainer to show me the ropes and keep me from killing myself. I've been at it for 2 months and love it.

After reading John's comments today about bulking, I'm thinking of really
increasing my food intake. Thinking about it thru the rest of winter.:confused: Then cut for spring/summer.

Your gains are obvious, and not much fat gain whatsoever. (maybe even some fat loss?)
have you started doing shoulder exercises yet?

how much are you taking in? Not to sound like a German Frau, but EAAAT! sounds like your caloric intake is too low for your metabolism. You're looking good, and have made great progress since your start. You're doing fine, but if you want to add mass quicker, take a look at your current diet. Keep it up! :tu:

This is the first time I've run across this thread of yours, and it's really inspiring. I'm cutting down and have worried that I'll get too skinny and find it hard to bulk afterwards, but your progress this year has been terrific.

Keep up the good work in 2006! :cool:

Your gains are obvious, and not much fat gain whatsoever. (maybe even some fat loss?)
have you started doing shoulder exercises yet?

wh0, in answer to your question. Yes I've finally started working on shoulders. Had a minor rotater cuff tear which I think has healed--at least not hurting any more, so I've started working on shoulders at lower weight than other body parts. I've got to get them caught up.

how much are you taking in? Not to sound like a German Frau, but EAAAT! sounds like your caloric intake is too low for your metabolism. You're looking good, and have made great progress since your start. You're doing fine, but if you want to add mass quicker, take a look at your current diet. Keep it up! :tu:

I'm embarrased to say I don't have a clue what I'm taking in. I've just never tracked my calories. I eat pretty clean--no sweets hardly. Very little saturated fats and no junk food and eat 5 meals per day. I really don't do much of any cardio to speak of. I think the easiest way to do this will be to just add another meal before bedtime and see what happens.

This is the first time I've run across this thread of yours, and it's really inspiring. I'm cutting down and have worried that I'll get too skinny and find it hard to bulk afterwards, but your progress this year has been terrific.

Keep up the good work in 2006! :cool:

Thanks for the compliment. Makes me feel I'm at least on track, despite it's slow nature.

In regard to cutting, you may get too skinny, particularly if you don't have a lot of muscle mass to start with. I did--got down to 132 lbs. Got alot of those "prisoner of war" comments at the time. I haven't had trouble getting up to where I'm at now--it's a heck of a lot more fun to eat than not. I think in retrospect over the last year I've held myself back for fear of getting fat. John's recent posts have sort of made me think it's time just to eat more and not worry about it.

You might want to consider tracking your caloric intake for a few days at least to see how much you are actually taking in. Calorieking & fitday.com both have a huge database of foods, which makes it real simple to track foods, and goes beyond the calories and tells you how many carbs, protien, fats, ect that you are getting.

I'm embarrased to say I don't have a clue what I'm taking in. I've just never tracked my calories. I eat pretty clean--no sweets hardly. Very little saturated fats and no junk food and eat 5 meals per day. I really don't do much of any cardio to speak of. I think the easiest way to do this will be to just add another meal before bedtime and see what happens.