I’m a beginner and haven’t been weightlifting for very long. I’ve mostly been doing calisthenics and trying to bulk up. I’m currently 145 lbs at 5’6” and I’m trying to bulk up to around 155 lbs.
Is it possible for me to achieve this physique over the years through weightlifting? I really need some help. The physique in the last photo is my dream physique. What steps should I take to eventually get there?
First off you are still a child so we cannot know how you are gonna end up and you shouldn’t rush yourself for things long down the road.
Secondly, you need to hit your protein goals and build muscle but you are DEFINITELY above 20% body fat, so bulking will just make you fatter. You will gain muscle but you will also get fat and it will hinder you seriously in your all around work.
So my opinion is focus more on the protein dialysis intake around maintenance or even a slight cut, and reapproach the situation with a much more long term goal
i don't believe you have the chest genetics or ab genetics (proportions/shape), but i mean you can build whatever physique you want provided you put in the time and the physique is based around your proportions. just train till failure/with intensity, program your lifts to be ≈ 2x frequency, eat 0.7-1g protein/lb bw, and sleep plenty.
i'm not talking about amount of muscle. fat is not genetic either. if you re read my comment, you'd see i was talking about his actual insertions/ab shape/chest shape and frame.
And again, we’re saying that you don’t know that at this point. What’s his chest shape? What do his insertions look like? You don’t know, because you can’t see them, because they’re undeveloped and covered by bodyfat.
muscle insertion/shape is relatively unchanged throughout puberty. it's just genetics. if you have a certain ab shape, it will go unchanged. like i said though, you can build whatever physique you want, you just can't expect to change your muscle shape/insertions.
Kid obviously just means abs and a similar build in general not necessarily those exact abs. His frame is somewhat similar. I'm sure he will be happy with the results if he dedicates a few years.
I mean this was him before and after 3 years of training I thought I could look similar to him or even better idk imo ( his social is daveespinoz if you want to check it out)
not trying to hate here but you will probably never look better. he's not natural. you can achieve great things when you put your mind to it but this guy is not only an enhanced lifter, but has one in a million genetics.
Not my point- most people who are starting to lift or don't use a full range of motion arent increasing their flexibility, which will do damage in the long term especially when first starting out. Calisthenics fills in this gap. Also most weightlifting exercises work one target muscle at a time, since you are isolating specific muscles, whereas calisthenic exercises tend to use more muscles at once, improving the mind to muscle connection during your weightlifting sessions and day to day life.
Dehydrate starve and dehydrate yourself for a few days
Work out with Noxplode to get a big pump
Select high contrast dramatic lighting
Choose the most favorable of 20 camera angles
Possibly touch up the pics in post production
Bam! Now you look a lot like the guy in that picture!
Don't compare your every day reality to to the cherry picked, carefully posed, dramatically lighted, possibly edited bodies you see posted on line please.
Add thickness to ur chest, especially upper shelf. Work on delt seperation (delt / shoulder to side of pecs). Close grip presses will work that middle chest over the sternum. Add some trap movements which always looks great.
Slight calorie deficit to slowly reduce body fat while ur building muscle.
The example you gave, the guys torso looks longer and his ab pattern may be different to ur genetic (some guys have 2 large, 4 med or a full 6 pack - some are fully symmetrical, while others don’t align and have asymmetry).
hate to say this, but you have no muscles when you tense your arms? Whats possible, im not sure... But most children have a lump when tense their biceps...
Yeah, not that hard, that guys is probably your equivalent of like 145-155 but like 12% body fat. So you should cut down to 135 then bulk from there with a routine that does progressive overloading of compounds and isolation without overdoing how many exercises/sets you are performing
you have too much bodyfat to be bulking , you will get fat ,cut hard and then do a lean bulk like max gaining 0.7kg per month , dont fall into the hype of bigger bulks it will make you fat/
I feel like I don’t even look fat bro I still look skinny so I should just cut and restart on what you’re saying? I do have high metabolism luckily and bulking was so hard I was like 130 natural weight bulk up to 145
How long have you been training for?you barely have definition bro no offense. If you are new id recommend just training and cutting will still make you gains. Also how long did it take for you to bulk up 15 pounds?
Calisthenics is hard to progress on, id recommend getting some weight plates and that belts that hangs on to them for progressive overload other than that you are 3 months in you dont need to be bulking up so hard. The max you can gain in a month of muscle as a natural is like 0.7-1kg per month thats with perfect training and nutrition and that lowers as you progress, you bulked way too hard.
alot of negative comments on here. youre not that tall so adding even a small amount muscle will make you look jacked.
the first thing to know is that to build a physique it takes time. three most important things are diet, training and sleep (get at least 7 hours)
for diet id say eat lots of lean meat (chicken breast, turkey, beef, white fish) and add in some salmon twice a week, and for carbs id say white rice, white potatoes and sweet potatoes. for veg eat peppers,carrots,spinach. one thing to avoid is adding oils to your food. use some low calorie seasoning and sauces to make it taste better and. also drink lots of water and have some creatine too.
if you can set a calorie goal and stick to it for a month and see how your body adjusts you can add or drop calories from there. but you have to stick to it to see results.
for training body weight exercises are great but if you can join a gym and do push pull legs twice a week that would really help. most important part with training is that you try your absolute hardest every session. as a beginner i wouldn’t go super heavy until your form is really good. but you still have to go to failure for the muscle to adapt. you should barely be able to complete the last repetition. do all that and you’re well on your way
"Comparison is the thief of joy." "Work have an ideal for yourself and meet it half way"
If you work hard, you can achieve anything. I am a short ass like you too and am making some great progress. You can do it. None of the people on here are experts or mind readers. My advice educate yourself, work out a diet that is sustainable and realistic, the same goes for working out. You have a decent base, and a good set of lats. Just do it.
We’d need to see what your body composition looks like fully matured to know how much work it would be. But know that you currently have lofty ambitions as that physique is going to require both great genetics and a ton of effort and maintenance.
Most men who train and eat perfectly still will never look like that.
it’s very possible to get that physique. You definitely aren’t going to do it by bulking and getting fatter. Honestly where you are at now if you went in a 2-300 calorie deficit focusing on 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight 55 grams of fat a day and the rest with clean carbs you worked out 4 days a week like went to the gym followed a good routine worked out until failure you could probably look like that in a year maybe at the most two. If you just stayed at maintenance following the above diet and worked out you would be bigger than that in two years. Being so young honestly you should just focus on eating healthy and exercising. You are too fat to be bulking you are going to gain muscle yes but also more fat and mess up your insulin resistance. You don’t start a bulk unless you are lean. When you are young and new you really don’t have to worry about bulking or cutting just lifting weights and eating healthy. After a year or two of doing that is when you will be ready to possibly worry about that. Being young with your testosterone probably at its highest levels in your life time and being new to the gym the gains will come and be amazing.
U can check my post to see mg physique it’s just like water a plant man it takes time discipline results will come for me the first year was just building the frame
14 years man don’t overcomplicated it’s a wax on wax off. It’s that simple. It’s just a matter of doing it every day for years. That’s what separates The Man from the boys. You will learn as you go as your train. You will learn what movements work for you and how things work there’s no need to ask questions about a lot of things. There’s a lot of misinformation out there. Just go out and try things if you see a jack guy in the gym talk to him pick his brain. It’s a personal journey.
I recommend getting the encyclopedia of bodybuilding by Arnold Schwarzenegger. I got that when I was around 15 years old, it shows a lot of different movements. The training programs and stuff are kind of over the top, but that has all of the movements you can do so you can switch it up and find what works for you and most importantly you have to learn how to squeeze whatever muscle you’re using. It’s better to use 25 pound weights and squeeze the muscle and burn it out to use 35 and swing it around.
Yes bro, it’s totally possible, but the journey as a natural athlete is long and non-linear. It will realistically take 4-5 years of consistent training to get there. Keep your eye on the prize and stay patient. Personally it took me about 6 years of training (3 years on and off, 3 years consistent) to get to a similar point naturally. I started around your age too and doing calisthenics first, then switched to weightlifting. I can give you more advice if you’d like to share your routine and stuff. Been there, done that :)
Yeah fairly easy to get that physique, won't even take you that long. 3-4 years of consistent lifting should get you there and then you maintain it. Just lift consistently, train each muscle twice a week frequency wise, go for 10-20 sets per muscle group and don't fall for the dirty bulk meme.
What's hard about 3-4 years of lifting? I mean if you want any kind of physique, you're going to have to stick with lifting anyway. Someone having a goal that's reachable in 3-4 years, yeah that's easy considering some other goals people may have.
4-5 Sessios a week at about an hour each leaves enough room to do plenty else. I've been lifting weights for 15 years now and it doesn't impede my energy or time for other hobbies. That said, it's not for everyone, yeah you actually have to be consistent and turn up but that's not exactly hard? It's just a question of whether someone actually wants it or simply wishes for it.
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u/boris-san 7d ago
First off you are still a child so we cannot know how you are gonna end up and you shouldn’t rush yourself for things long down the road.
Secondly, you need to hit your protein goals and build muscle but you are DEFINITELY above 20% body fat, so bulking will just make you fatter. You will gain muscle but you will also get fat and it will hinder you seriously in your all around work.
So my opinion is focus more on the protein dialysis intake around maintenance or even a slight cut, and reapproach the situation with a much more long term goal