John Stone's Picture Gallery and Video Archive

[sleeper]

Hey John,

That's some pretty amazing work. I remember finding your site in July and didn't think you could keep making such visible changes. Its pretty inspiring man.

Quick question. You frequently say you go up in weights in a lot of your workouts. I'm wondering what your usual weight increment is? See, at my gym they only increment by 5 pounds at the least (in most cases) so I find myself going up in weight about every few weeks or so.

Steve

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by kulminati

I was wondering why you stopped the Max-OT plan? I was reading the pdf file, read the first 15 pages and it seems like it is a good plan...so just wondering why you stopped using it.

MAX-OT is a good plan, but when it comes to weight training it's important to try new training methods. That's the only way to discover what works best for you.

While I added mass using MAX-OT, the low reps and very heavy weights are more of a strength training program than a mass gaining program. This year hypertrophy was my #1 goal, and not necessarily huge strength gains.

Originally Posted by sparks

Hey John, Everyone posts about how you have motivated them or how you keep them motivated. Would you care to comment on how seeing all the remarks that come in every night after you post your workout info motivate you, if in fact they do.

I'm no different than anyone else, so yes - I find encouragement and positive comments VERY motivating. It's always nice to be complemented by your peers, and many people have helped me with constructive criticism and helpful training ideas.

Originally Posted by sparks

I was particularly curious if you feel a need or a responsibility to all of the patrons of your site to continue on as hard as you do or if you do it all out of internal desire. In other words are there times when you feel like cheating, or blowing off the diet and you end up saying to yourself "I can't do that, my fellow JSFers expect more of me than that."

That's a good question. I admit that knowing I "must" post my pictures each month (and that thousands of people will see those pictures) is always in the back of my mind, but that definitely is not the driving force behind what I do. If I took this site down tomorrow I wouldn't change a thing as far as my workouts and diet are concerned. I love what I do; while it's not always easy and it requires a great deal of discipline and dedication, I've never been happier in my life.

Having said that, I realize that a lot of people have been inspired by my progress, and I do feel a sort of responsibility to those people. But I wouldn't characterize that feeling as "pressure" to continue. What I mean by that is I never think to myself, "Oh, I want to quit doing this but I can't!" If I wanted to stop, I could easily do so and leave the site running. What I've already done is "in the books" and will never change.

Originally Posted by sleeper

You frequently say you go up in weights in a lot of your workouts. I'm wondering what your usual weight increment is?

On most lifts I go up 5 pounds once I'm able to do 4 sets of 12 with perfect form. For lateral raises I use my plate mates to go up in 2.5 pound increments. For big lifts like deads and leg presses, I usually bump up the load 10 pounds at a time, sometimes even 20 pounds.


Nice batch of questions! Thanks for the comments, everyone.

[kulminati]

Originally Posted by John Stone

MAX-OT is a good plan, but when it comes to weight training it's important to try new training methods. That's the only way to discover what works best for you.

While I added mass using MAX-OT, the low reps and very heavy weights are more of a strength training program than a mass gaining program. This year hypertrophy was my #1 goal, and not necessarily huge strength gains.

So would you recommend a beginner such as me who's looking to lose weight and get ripped like you are in this picture to use this program? If not then what would you recommend? I REALLY want that body that you have in that pic !! (Im 5'9...165 lbs)

Thanks
~Kulminati

[gravityhomer]

Originally Posted by kulminati

So would you recommend a beginner such as me who's looking to lose weight and get ripped like you are in this picture to use this program? If not then what would you recommend? I REALLY want that body that you have in that pic !! (Im 5'9...165 lbs)

Thanks
~Kulminati

Kulminati, any weight lifting routines will not lead to you getting ripped. It is the food you eat that is way more important. You should focus on that part and choose a weight lifting routine that fits your needs. But you may know this. I just don't want you thinking that what John tells you to do will lead you to being ripped. You need a really clean diet.

[John Stone]

kulminati, GH is right - there's a lot more to it than picking a weight training program.

MAX-OT is a good program, but it's generaly not recommended for people who are new to weight training. Because you use very heavy weights and work each set to failure, the chance for injury is increased if you don't know what you are doing. I'd read the stickies in the beginner's section if I were you. Do some research and figure out what sounds intriguing to you.

Of course diet is critical. SwoleCat's SUP2 and SGX plans are excellent if you are looking for customized bulking/cutting programs. I'd just finished the SGX cutting program the day the picture of me that you posted above was taken.

[karatetricker]

Originally Posted by John Stone

I miss having delts and arms on separate nights. I feel like by the time I get to my arms I'm already really exhausted from my delts workout. I know my delts need the most work, so they always come first. I don't want to move back to a 5-day split while I'm cutting, so I'm just going to have to force myself to adapt.

First of all, you look great! Seriously, your definition is really showing through and you look fuggin huge!

Secondly, then why do delts/bis/tris all on one day? About 6 months ago I tried that for a new split after I got the idea from seeing your split and I absolutely HATED it. You lift 4 days/week, and if I recall, you do just chest/abs on one of the days. Why not move biceps to after chest and either end with abs or move abs to an off day. If you don't like that, then why not move tris to after back and traps to after chest (my current split, I happen to LOVE). There are several more options here, but I think you get the idea.

[kulminati]

K thanks a lot GH and John. I will do some research about what type of diet suits me better. I'll post it pretty soon along with my planned workout plan, so hopefully u guys can critique it.

[erictuley]

Hey John,

I have searched and searched... but can't seem to find the answer. What sustained hear rate are you trying to keep while you are on your daily fastes LISS? Sorry ... I just could not find the answer.
Thanks. Eric

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by karatetricker

First of all, you look great! Seriously, your definition is really showing through and you look fuggin huge!

Secondly, then why do delts/bis/tris all on one day? About 6 months ago I tried that for a new split after I got the idea from seeing your split and I absolutely HATED it. You lift 4 days/week, and if I recall, you do just chest/abs on one of the days. Why not move biceps to after chest and either end with abs or move abs to an off day. If you don't like that, then why not move tris to after back and traps to after chest (my current split, I happen to LOVE). There are several more options here, but I think you get the idea.

I thought about doing something like that, but I really love supersetting my biceps and triceps and don't want to split them apart. I might at some point, but for now I'm going to stick with my current split.

Thanks for the props!

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by erictuley

What sustained hear rate are you trying to keep while you are on your daily fastes LISS?

About 137 BPM (my max is 192).

[The Abdominal Snowman]

Originally Posted by John Stone

I thought about doing something like that, but I really love supersetting my biceps and triceps and don't want to split them apart. I might at some point, but for now I'm going to stick with my current split.

I've started doing bi-tri supersets after reading your positive experiences and I totally LOVE them!

[John Stone]

My thumb is kinda purplish-black, and its pretty swollen, especially just below my thumb at the fleshy part of my palm. I don't know if it's broken or not (the story, if you missed it, is here), but it's very stiff and it hurts if I move it or put pressure on it.

Tonight was chest & abs. Last week I rotated to my all dumbbell chest workout, and I was afraid that my thumb was going to be a problem with that workout. I was right: I grabbed a couple of 50-pound dumbbells just to test things out and, even with that light warm-up load, I could tell that if the weight shifted even a little in my grip my thumb would have been powerless to stop it from falling on my head. I know I'm hard-headed, but I don't think my skull could take it.

I decided to play it safe and do all Smith Machine chest exercises. That worked very well, and I wound up having an AWESOME workout! I'm very happy that I was able to work around this injury today. I was already beating myself up about my bone-headed hammer mistake, and if I'd had to miss tonight's workout I would have been very upset.

A couple of pictures tonight. First a side-chest shot. I'm starting to lean up pretty good, but there's still a little bit of fat in my chest. You can't really tell unless I'm flexing my arm, like I am in this shot.

The other picture is a front shot. I'm flexing to show my cuts. I like this one, so I made it my new avatar (I was tired of the old one anyway).

[smalltex]

The new black and white pic is just incredible. You're massive.

[TarSeal]

The shot you chose for your avatar is great. Strongest and toughest you've looked. No wonder everyone is so civil around here!

[George]

After the hundreds of pictures you've posted of yourself, I can honestly say that the new black and white one completely threw me off guard and impressed me.

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by smalltex

The new black and white pic is just incredible. You're massive.

Originally Posted by Travis

The shot you chose for your avatar is great. Strongest and toughest you've looked. No wonder everyone is so civil around here!

Originally Posted by George

After the hundreds of pictures you've posted of yourself, I can honestly say that the new black and white one completely threw me off guard and impressed me.

Holy crap! OK, from now on everything I post is going to be in black and white.

Thank you guys very much.

You know what's funny? I feel like I'm not as big as I was when I finshed bulking. Wait, of course I'm not - I'm almost 20 pounds lighter - but that's not the way I meant it. What I mean is, I don't feel like I'm all that big--period. I think my brain has adapted to my current size and when I look at myself in the mirror I think I look kinda small. I want more size. I don't have a bulky build, so I think it takes more muscle for me to start getting that "too big" look than it does for some. I guess I'm just saying that my next bulk may not be my last bulk after all....

[gravityhomer]

You look like a hulking mass. in a good way. People will probably think you have always been this big. You should carry around a picture of you, Jan 03, and Jun 03, and introduce them to people as your brothers, seriously you have to do this.

[chicanerous]

Originally Posted by John Stone

You know what's funny? I feel like I'm not as big as I was when I finshed bulking. Wait, of course I'm not - I'm almost 20 pounds lighter - but that's not the way I meant it. What I mean is, I don't feel like I'm all that big--period. I think my brain has adapted to my current size and when I look at myself in the mirror I think I look kinda small. I want more size. I don't have a bulky build, so I think it takes more muscle for me to start getting that "too big" look than it does for some. I guess I'm just saying that my next bulk may not be my last bulk after all....

I'm not even big and my brain does this. It's a source of constant disappointment and discontent with myself, which is one reason I tend to value strength over aesthetics. For this reason, it's also a source of motivation to continue to do better. It's a weird game.

[airforcePTL]

Originally Posted by chicanerous

I'm not even big and my brain does this. It's a source of constant disappointment and discontent with myself, which is one reason I tend to value strength over aesthetics. For this reason, it's also a source of motivation to continue to do better. It's a weird game.

yeah it seems that i play that game every day all day. i look at myself in the mirror, start cursing, and continue what i was doing beforehand lol. it's almost a routine now but hey, it motivates me to keep pushin'. if i was content with the way i looked, i wouldn't be on this forum

[Nico]

John, the new av is tight. You do look huge-few people would believe it's possible what you've done in just three years two months and a week.