John Stone's Picture Gallery and Video Archive

[dejavued]

Originally Posted by John Stone

One thing I've discovered about having a beard is it's very polarizing--people either love it or hate it. Doesn't seem to be much middle ground.

I'm very glad that I grew the beard for my bulk. Yeah, it puts a few years on me for sure... but when it comes to lifting heavy weights it has provided a psychological boost that I can't fully explain.

My face is too damn pretty to cover up year round (), so I'll probably shave the beard sometime after the completion of my bulk. But I think that I'll probably grow my beard out during my winter mass gaining programs from here on out.

well i'm no fan of all that is manly.... but even i'm liking the beard. i think saving it for bulking season is a great idea. i can't imagine a beard being too comfortable in the florida summa heat.

dec photos are . quads and traps are gettin beefy!! enjoy this final month!!

[Shamie]

John,
This is just a suggestion for your new sponsor. I am assuming the photo is of you in the before and after photo. You are looking too good in the before photo. Most people, except bodybuilders wouldn't notice a big improvement between the 2 photo's. He should show an earlier photo. As I said, just a suggestion.

[Sea2Sea]

I have an Idea, why dont you include the beard in the cut program. for every 3% of body fat you lose, shave off a portion, go to a Gote and mustach, next 3 % go to just a Mustach and when you lose the last % of your goal shave it all off. Just a thought to keep the phycolgical aspect to facial hair going !

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by dejavued

well i'm no fan of all that is manly.... but even i'm liking the beard. i think saving it for bulking season is a great idea. i can't imagine a beard being too comfortable in the florida summa heat.

You got that right.

Originally Posted by dejavued

dec photos are . quads and traps are gettin beefy!! enjoy this final month!!

Thank you very much, Deja!

Originally Posted by Shamie

John,
This is just a suggestion for your new sponsor. I am assuming the photo is of you in the before and after photo. You are looking too good in the before photo. Most people, except bodybuilders wouldn't notice a big improvement between the 2 photo's. He should show an earlier photo. As I said, just a suggestion.

I appreciate the suggestion, but that would be misleading, as earlier photos did not involve Aram's services. The two photos used in the banner ad represent my six month cut from 19% to 6% body fat that Aram worked with me on.

I agree that the difference is hard to make out with such a small set of photos. Perhaps that can be changed at some point to something else.

Originally Posted by sgilchrist

I have an Idea, why dont you include the beard in the cut program. for every 3% of body fat you lose, shave off a portion, go to a Gote and mustach, next 3 % go to just a Mustach and when you lose the last % of your goal shave it all off. Just a thought to keep the phycolgical aspect to facial hair going !

I might shave it into a goatee just to see how it looks, but I will never--and I mean NEVER--wear just a mustache. You can quote me on that.

[Big_D]

Hamstrings are what I noticed first, damn nice work. Your traps seem to have a lot of mass, just not on the upper portion. I bet you know that already though

[volleyball]

The December photos are awesome, and the beard just takes it to another level. Frankly, I think you should keep it through the cut, shaving only for the final pics at 6% bodyfat. It's a misconception that a beard is "too hot" for the summer months ; all that sweat gets trapped and thus cools you off!

Last winter I approached Grizzly Adams territory before finally caving in to my wife's demands and shaving back to a goatee. I've got too much white mixed in with the black, so I look positively ancient with a beard. But I'm rockin' it again this winter in solidarity! (Might even add a pic to the appropriate thread downstairs here soon! )

Anyway, let me just add to the fanfare by saying your bulk is coming along fantastically. Keep it up!

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by Big_D

Hamstrings are what I noticed first, damn nice work.

Thanks, Dave! Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the hamstring improvement in this morning's pictures. I have a feeling that next month's pictures, however, are going put today's hamstrings to shame...

...your comment segues nicely into the leg workout I just did, so I might as well post the workout now (I'll go into more detail in tomorrow's update). I came up with this workout this afternoon, and it is the leg workout I'll be doing for the remaining 4 weeks of my bulk. I can't do BSQs right now, but I assure you all that this workout kills. I can barely walk right now....

- 1x25/1x20/2x10-12/2x4-6/1x2 (1RM weight, to failure) - Vertical leg press, weight increased on each set
- 3x8-10 - Stiff leg deadlifts
- 3xFailure/Failure/Failure - DB Bulgarian split squats (triple drop sets)
- 3xFailure/3xFailure - Leg extensions/Lying leg curls (supersets)

Think Bulgarians are hard? Try pre-exhausting and then doing triple drop sets with just 1 minute of rest. I felt like putting a gun in my mouth after the first drop set.

Originally Posted by Big_D

Your traps seem to have a lot of mass, just not on the upper portion. I bet you know that already though

That's what's so frustrating. They really do have some meat to them, just no height. It's genetics. Of course one of my favorite things to say is "Screw genetics". Well, actually I don't use the word "screw", but I try to keep what I say in my public journal rated PG.

Originally Posted by volleyball

The December photos are awesome, and the beard just takes it to another level. Frankly, I think you should keep it through the cut, shaving only for the final pics at 6% bodyfat. It's a misconception that a beard is "too hot" for the summer months ; all that sweat gets trapped and thus cools you off!

That's a new one on me. So a beard is actually a cleverly disguised organic cooling device! Is there no end to a beard's awesomeness?

Originally Posted by volleyball

Last winter I approached Grizzly Adams territory before finally caving in to my wife's demands and shaving back to a goatee. I've got too much white mixed in with the black, so I look positively ancient with a beard. But I'm rockin' it again this winter in solidarity! (Might even add a pic to the appropriate thread downstairs here soon! )

You better. Almost everone else in that thead has wimped out.

Originally Posted by volleyball

Anyway, let me just add to the fanfare by saying your bulk is coming along fantastically. Keep it up!

You know it!

[MAD180]

John the new bulk pictures for December are damn impressive. Quads are looking beefed up!

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by MAD180

John the new bulk pictures for December are damn impressive. Quads are looking beefed up!

Thank you very much, Mad.

[John Stone]

Solid workout today. It went on a bit longer than I would have liked, but it was pretty high volume. I'll post the workout in tomorrow's update.

One picture tonight, a triceps progress photo. 18.25" here:

[k3vb0]

Originally Posted by John Stone

k, let's just get this out of the way right off the bat. Here's my annual 100% NON-POSED () Thanksgiving tricep picture.

Holy crap! Your forearms look as big as your biceps did in your Feb 4 2004 photo. That's amazing progress for this bulk and mind blowing for the past 5 years.

[optheta]

John have you ever thought about competing in a Body Building Competition?

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by k3vb0

Holy crap! Your forearms look as big as your biceps did in your Feb 4 2004 photo. That's amazing progress for this bulk and mind blowing for the past 5 years.

That's not far from the truth. In August 2004 my upper arms were just 13.75", and right now my forearms are just shy of 13.75".

Thanks for the complement!

Originally Posted by optheta

John have you ever thought about competing in a Body Building Competition?

I get asked that a lot, but I'm afraid the answer is that I have absolutely zero interest in participating in competitive bodybuilding.

[Ectomorphic]

Someday I want to have arms that are a foot and a half around like John Stone's.

But really, I like that picture because it looks like a pretty good anatomy picture. Maybe it's just my imagination, but it looks like you can easily see all three individual parts to the muscle, and you can definitely see where they connect to the lower arm. It's really neat.

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by Ectomorphic

But really, I like that picture because it looks like a pretty good anatomy picture. Maybe it's just my imagination, but it looks like you can easily see all three individual parts to the muscle

You can definitely see the lateral, long and medial heads in that picture. Even though I don't store a lot of fat in my arms when bulking, by the time I'm done cutting my triceps will look considerably more defined and "etched in".

[Ectomorphic]

People don't like decline? Heathens. It's an awesome exercise.

[mastover]

Well, trust me when i say that it is very rare to find a guy with John's stats, who also happens to be completely natural, that owns a pair of 18+ inch arms. That is truly impressive and makes me look like a complete whuss. LOL

[John Stone]

Originally Posted by mastover

Well, trust me when i say that it is very rare to find a guy with John's stats, who also happens to be completely natural, that owns a pair of 18+ inch arms.

So there's no confusion, I'd like to point out that last night's 18.25" arm shot was taken post-workout while I had a nice tricep pump going. My arms are presently just shy of 17.5" cold/unpumped.

The biggest my arms have been cold/unpumped was 18.25", but that was at 236 pounds and 19% body fat.

Originally Posted by mastover

That is truly impressive and makes me look like a complete whuss. LOL

Please. You're stronger than I am at ~60 pounds less body weight. You couldn't look like a wuss even if you wore a pink dress and a flowery bonnet while lifting.

[mastover]

Originally Posted by John Stone

You couldn't look like a wuss even if you wore a pink dress and a flowery bonnet while lifting.

Hey John, have you been spying on me at the gym again?

[Tigs33]

Goddamit! smile for heaven's sake!

Seriously though John, looking very impressive! Really looking forward to seeing the photo's after the cut.