19 replies to this topic

[ajdos]

A few nights ago I was training at my gym and I was hitting my delts and biceps- I had a pretty good pump going so I pulled off my shirt to my tank top.
A younger fellow about 6'4 maybe 200 lbs in decent shape came up and introduced himself to me- Im a bit anti-social but I introduced myself to him as well. He said "Dude you are my goal and slapped me on the delt." Now Im not big on being touched by another man- but I laughed- not about the slap- but about what he had said. He thinks he wants this but if I could sit down with him for an hour and explain to him the realities of getting bigger- he may have second thoughts.

Adding size to ones frame is a easily attained goal for most- but getting above your genetic potential is a different ball game and takes quite of bit of forcing it on your body.
Lets outline some of the finer points of getting big, and dont get me wrong- there are much larger men out there than me, but genetically some have a much easier time reaching above average largeness on bodybuilding scale.
I am a smaller boned individual and my clavicles have decent width- I tend to have a thicker core and larger hips and legs.
I am 5'11 and currently sitting at 282 with no clothes on.

Now lests start with some basics-

FOOD:

Holy shit- the amount of food that has to be consumed is unreal- just to gain a pound or 2 is about $2-300 in groceries a week- not too mention supplements like gainers and protein powders- add those in your looking at about $400 a week.
Not too mention consuming it- somedays you just get plain sick of eating- and trying to consume clean sources of food that still have enough calories to support muscle growth is a very daunting task- its a high volume of food- digestive aids are just about essential- a colon cleanse is a daily used product to keep the pipes cleaned and help absorb all the food, that combined with a multi enzyme formula and especially some extra bromelain for the protein.
And then the water consumption- pounding all that food down is one thing but then trying to drink enough water to allow your body to remain properly hydrated is another thing- can you say BLOATED.
Visceral distention is something you better get accustomed too if you wanna dog it down properly.
Oh and you think you can get away with eating junk food to catch up on the calories??
WRONG- high fat foods like fried foods and pizza just act like a road block- they end up making it more difficult to keep consuming ALL your meals and many times will cause you to be lazy and bloated and probably miss the last few meals of the day from being so satiated.
Next is the kitchen- my kitchen is a hazmat warzone- the cooking and preparation of foods is a constant revolving door of cooking, cleaning and throwing out trash- every trash day I look at our garbage can and its busting out and my neigbors cans look tame compared to ours- recycling bin is full of empty protein containers- its a mess and a perpetual cleaning job which I am addmitidly slack about - thank god for my wife who keeps my ass in check on it.
Your eating schedule will be dictated by work, errands, and training schedules- get used to it- being literally chained to the fridge and going out to clubs and such is a thing of the past- just not practical if you wanna rest and eat to grow.
Supplements will become a big part of your life- obviously eating that much whole food is a daunting task- protein powders and gainers are a must if you value not popping like a cork.
Joint supplements, multi vitamins, fish oils, digestive aids, fat burners, creatines, NO products, and a myriad of training and recuperative aids will become a pill popping adventure- beware the supplement trap- keep it simple and use only whats necessary.

Oh yes and speaking of joint pains.
TRAINING:
Many guys think that offseason means insane high volume workouts and a lot of them- well I beg to differ.
If you plan on getting bigger and stronger you will be lifting weights that are above and beyond your previous strength levels- this means a lot of wear and tear on joints and tendons- not too mention that if you are allready a sizable guy that your body will take longer to recuperate the fibers you destroy more and more of with each subsequent workout. You will adopt a training methodology that will allow proper recuperation between lifting.
Currently Im training EOD- thats right every 48 hours or so- thats how much longer its taking me to get over the damage Im doing each workout now- if you are lifting heavy and using any modicum of intensity you will quickly see that your body will break down faster and faster- be smart and listen to it- once the aches and pains become a cummalitive grouping it will be hard to do every day tasks- even with recuperation the stress of heavy training will leave you hurting on a daily basis- pain will become your bedfellow- deal with it- its what it takes to drive on.
Injuries will occur- best bet is to try not to get hurt doing things stupidly- and avoiding the big blow out injury that can sideline you for the entire off season.

SOCIAL LIFE:
Yeah right!
Get ready to give that up for the most part- not only will you want to dedicate any free time to rest and recuperation - you will be too damn tired to really socialize- especially when you are needing to eat all the time- not exactly the best in social settings.
Occasionally I go to a couple of my bber friends houses - they understand so its no big deal but- usually the need to be close to the food and couch are a dictating force in your life- bodybuilding is a lifestyle that really is not that integratable with most peoples everyday lifestyles of going out for drinks and such.
Not too mention the looks and strange questions you will have to put up with from J Q Public on a regular basis- I cant go to the gym or Target without being stopped by total strangers and asked silly ignorant questions...they dont know any better but it really doesnt make it any less annoying.
Women usually absolutely hate it- theres the Brad Pitt fight club look and then YOU- too big they will say- yuck, nasty veins, etc...etc...
You are not going to blend in- I have adopted a style of wearing completely oversized clothes to try to hide any semblance of size- I would rather be confused with someone who is just overweight- but its hard to hide at certain weights- get used to strangers asking you dumb shit- it will be part of every day life for a while.

DATING:
Well I got very lucky and met my wife who is completely supportive of my bodybuilding endeavors. But I can tell you she was the first one- most women hated the fact that it detracted from their attention and felt like it competed with them.
Not too mention- most just didnt understand it- a couple did but they were not that into it- going to the gym a couple times a week for maintenance purposes just isnt the same as squatting til your purple- they wanna go out and have a good time- which I can tell you - you will not really feel like doing if you are training and eating hard.
Bottom line is it will be hard to find someone who is understanding and patient enough to put up with your lifestyle- there out there but hard to find- very - and if you are in a relationship- dont be surprised at the strain it can put on it.

GROWING PAINS:
Well you think that you can only hurt from training?? WRONG...your bodyweight increasing week by week puts a lot of stress on support structures in your body- one of the first places you notice this is your feet- my left foot is now flat- the arch has slowly collapsed and internally pronated to the point I have to wear special orthodic inserts- to correct it.
Not only that but my left foot is a full size larger than my right- about 2 years ago I had a size 12 now I have a 14 and a 15...shoes are a bitch to find and buy at those sizes let me tell you.
The problem starts there and has worked its way up my leg into my hip and lower back- all this shit from a foot- and most of it from daily walking and standing only to be exacerbated by heavy lifting.
My shoulders and forearms stay in a perpetual state of soreness and cramp quite often- doing cardio is becoming harder and harder to do - pushing the extra weight around the neighborhood is like hiking up the side of a mountain sometimes- I dont even do calf workouts anymore since they are always sore from cardio.
Your proportions will change as well- get ready to lose the ability to reach all the way across your body e.g pinning yourself in the delt or tricep will be like being constricted by an Anaconda. Tieing your shoes is a real task and putting socks on is really a pain in the ass- I can see in a week or 2 that I will no longer be able to cut my toenails as my distention is now compressed against my upper thigh and impinges my diaphragm- nice sensation of having the wind pushed out slowly and feeling your face about to pop like a fat lady sat on you- ah yes the joys of size- pretty soon Ill need the dog nail trimmer to cut my own nails...oh yes and you will be shitting more from all that eating- get prepared for a lack of range of motion in the wiping department- and you will be spending a pretty penny on some TP.
Bumping into doorways and hitting your shins and stubbing your toes is going to occur with much more frequency now too- I seem to keep a scratch on either forearm from brushing by the corners of doors and things that put a scratch on me- now usually I am not so clumsy- but with a lot more me in the way I tend to not realize that I have less horizontal clearance- my wife calls it clumsiness I call it proportionately impaired.

DRUGS:
Holy Cow I could go on and on- but yes Anabolics, and peptides will become a regular thing and trying to find the best way to integrate them into your life is a real pain in the ass- excuse the pun.
First off- you really dont need as much AAS when consuming that much food- your body is going to be pretty anabolic and there is but so much new protein that can be synthesized each day- look how slow your nails and hair grow- thats protein synthesis in action.
But nonetheless I usually do anywhere from 750 -1000 mg of test and another 600-800 of deca with my weight gain season- I like to run HGH and IGF along with it to help with nutrient partitioning and keeping the joints healing at a bit faster rate while simultaneously keeping bf% down- but it can be even more expensive so I tend to spend less on drugs and more on food which should be the primary anabolic.
But AAS and fat burners will not be the only drugs- BP meds can be a regular part of the bulking proces- thats a lot of wieght and extra bf thats putting pressure on the miles of vascular system that you have- keep this in mind - your BP can be your worst enemy- I try to keep mine around 170/85 at the highest- anything above that is putting a great deal of stress on your heart and kidneys.
Keep your cholesterol in check as well with fish oils and niacin (flush free).
But many times I use other drugs such as the occasional T3, clen, and anti estrogen- its a lot even when scaled down- keep in mind that your health can be compromised if these things are not taken care of properly.
This doesnt even take into account the physical pain from that much pinning- I tend to spread out my injections into a EOD like pattern for more steady blood levels so even with long acting esters I shoot EOD- well depending on the mg of the gear and who made it sometimes you walk around like a huge punching bag full of sore injection sites- no matter how you rotate them its painful- compounded by an allready sore body from heavy lifting and its pain and more pain all day long- its enough to make you feel 20 years older- and god forbid the occasional serum sickness aka test flu- then your looking at a fever and body aches too- all in all you have to be mentally tough and love the life to gut that out on a daily basis.
And get ready for some fucked up breathing- a set of stairs will make Darth Vader sound like a soprano comapared to your heavy breathing - and sleeping - you will want some breathe rights and a air humidifier- or you will suffer shitty sleep and self induced sleep apnea from a larger bodyweight.
Which if you think thats nothing - wait til your driving down the road in the afternoon about to fall asleep at the wheel from sleep debt, and the exhaustion catches up to your training- yeah real fun.

All in all this set of circumstances grows and gets worse and more exaggerated each passing week of weight gain which makes one outlook towards there final goal for the offseason look more and more out of reach and can really fuck up motivation when you feel like its an impossible task- but bbing teaches you to believe in yourself so you keep plugging away and dealing with the day to day realities of it.
Some people will have the genetics to not experience some of this- their bodies can carry more muscle and weight- for the rest of us mere mortals a secondary layer of stress awaits us.
So you still wanna be HYUGE??

OH YEAH I WROTE THIS SHIT. AJ

[Thinkbig]

A FEW EXTRA'S I HAVE HAD TO LEARN TO LOVE/EXCEPT...

SITTING ROOM, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FIT MOST ANYWHERE THERE HAS BEEN A PRE-ASSIGNED/PRE-DESIGNATED AREA MADE FOR ONE PERSON. A GOOD EXAMPLE IS A LOVESEAT OR COUCH, GET USED TO SITTING ON YOUR CUSHION AND AT BEST THE MIDDLE AND HALF OF THE OTHER ONE. BEDS, OH THOSE CAN BE REALLY FUN, WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE TO GO INTO THE FETAL POSITION EVERYNIGHT, BECAUSE THERES JUST NO ROOM FOR YOU TO SPRAWL OUT, EVENN IN A 3,500 KING MATRESS. ALSO, HOPE YOUR GILR IS VERY FORGIVING OF BEING JARED TO DEATH WHEN SHE SLEEPS. I HAVE HAD WOMEN BREAK UP WITH ME CONCERNING THIS.

SHITTING, YEAH AJ COVERED THE FACT THAT YOU WILL BE DOING A WHOLE LOT OF IT, BUT I MEAN THE TASK THAT SHITTING BECOMES, HAVE YOU EVER HAD YOUR ENTIRE LOWER BODY GO COMPLETELY NUMB, TO THE POINT OF NOT BEING ABLE TO FEEL ANYTHING BELOW THE LENGTH OF DROP OF YOUR NUTSAC WHILE ON THE SHITTER? EVER WONDER WHAT IT WOULD FEEL LIKE OT HAVE NO LOWER BODY OR LEGS? LET ME TELL YOU ITS A BITCH WHEN YOUR ON THE POT AND YOUR ENTIRE FUCKING LOWER BODY GOES NUMB, ITS HARDER TO STAND OR WALK THAN YOU THINK WHEN YOU CANNOT FEEL THE GROUND PUSHING BACK UP UNDER YOUR FEET AT ALL.

SPEAKING OF NUMBNESS, EVER SNEEZE AND HAVE THE ENITRE LEFT OR RIGHT SIDE OF YOUR BODY GO NUMB? I MEAN FROM ABOUT THE SHOULDER DOEN TO THE TIPS OF YOUR FINGERS INSTANTLY NUMB AND THEN PAINFUL PINS AND NEEDLES UPON SESSATION.

HAVING YOUR HOUSE SMELL LIKE EITHER AN IHOP OR A FUJI HOUSE, BASED ON WHETHER YOUR COOKING EGGS OR FISH AT THE TIME, PRETTY MUCH CONSTANTLY, EVERYDAY, CAN RUIN FURNITURE AND CARPET WITH SMELLS THAT DO NOT GO AWAY.

SHOPPING FOR FOOD, SOME OF US HAVE OUR OWN UNIQUE WAYS TO PREP, SOME GUYS JUST GO BUY STUFF EVERY FEW DAYS, OR SOME BUY HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS WORTH AT A TIME. EITHER WAY GET USED TO SPENDING ALMOST AS MUCH TIME IN THE LOCAL WAL-MART OR WHATEVER YOUR STORE OF CHOICE IS, AS YOU DO YOUR HOME. OH YEAH AND WAIT UNTIL THE CASHIER REALIZES THAT YOU BUY THE SAME THINGS EVERYDAY THAT SHE SEES YOU, AND ALL THE QUESTIONS IT WILL ELLICIT.

CLOTHES, EVER HAVE TO WEAR A 38 WAIST PANTS WHEN YOU SHOULD BE WEARING A LEGITIMATE 34? EVER SEE HOW THAT LOOKS WHEN THE FUCKING WAIST BAND IS ALL BUNCHED UP AND LOOKS RETARDED ON EVERY JEAN OR KHAKI YOU OWN, BECAUSE YOUR WAIST/HIPS ARE MUCH SMALLER THAN THE CLOTHING INDUSTRY SAYS THEY SHOULD BE COMPOARED TO YOUR LOWER LIMB SIZE. YET THE LEGS STILL BAREELY FIT YOU IN THE ASS/SEAT AREA. EVER BUY THE LOOSEST JEANS THAT YOUR LOCAL EMINEM WANNABE COULD WEAR AND HAVE THEM FIT YOU LIKE VINTAGE FIT SLIM BOOT CUT ABERCROMBIE SHIT ON A FAG. EVER WEAR A BRAND NEW PAIR OF SOCKS TWICE, BEFORE YOU WEAR THEM THIN FROM CARDIO. TRY TO IMAGINE GETTING HOLES IN YOUR SHIRTS UNDER THE ARMPIT AREA FROM YOUR ARMS AND LATS GRINDING TOGETHER AS YOU WALK.

VEHICLES, EVER TRY TO FIT INTO A MID SIZE VEHICLE THAT SAY A FAMILY MEMBER OR GIRLFRIEND OWNS? ITS LIKE TRYING TO STRAP ONE OF THOSE CIRCUS FAT GUYS INTO THE FUCKING TILT-A-WHIRL, NOT HAPPENING. HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO HAVE A MAN LOOK LIKE A MONKEY FUCKING A FOOTBALL IN A FULL SIZE TRUCK?

COMMENTS, AJ TOUCHED ON THIS AS WELL AS WE ALL HAVE BEFORE, BUT GET USED TO THE IDEA OF PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT YOU AND AT YOU, BUT NOT TO YOU. MEANING GET USED TO MOLLY TELLING EMILY HOLY SHIT LOOK AT THAT GUY, I BET HE TAKES STEROIDS, OR HAS A LITTLE DICK, OR GOD THATS NASTY, WITHIN HEARING DISTANCE OF YOU AT THE GAS STATION, MOVIES, RESTAURANTS, ETC.

MAN THERE ARE SO MANY I COULD GO ON AND ON, BUT FOR EVERY PRO YOU CAN THINK OF BEING LARGE AND PHYSICALLY IMPRESSIVE COULD BRING, I CAN NAME ATLEAST TWO CONS THAT MAKE IT NOT SO GREAT.

AT SOME POINT WHEN YOU GET TO A CERTAIN MUSCULAR SIZE AND YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU CEASE TO BE NORMAL IN SEVERAL CAPACITIES, MUCH THE SAME WAY A GUY WITH A BELLY IS NOTHING LIKE AN OBESE PERSON, TWO DIFFERENT BALL GAMES.

[ajdos]

Yes all good points TB- the sneeze thing I fucking hate that- numbness and my tongue gets a feeling like I am licking the top of a 9 volt battery- not too mention hurting your back and abdomen- sneezes are like small injuries waiting to happen- alot of people dont realize with all that size you can generate a ton more force.

[goal200]

There's some old wives tale about your heart skipping a beat when you sneeze or something like that...I would imagine being so big is already making your heart work very heart to pump all that blood to your muscles 24/7 and then you sneeze your whole system goes WHAT THE FUCK!!

[Streetdawg]

Good thread AJ!! pretty well sums it all up! the hurting, eating, sleeping, training, supps/drugs,etc
well done thread bro!

ice & advil are my second best friends most days. sleeping all nite in bed is a thing of the past. I go back and forth from the bed to the recliner in the liv room to prop up & sleep while I am hurting some nites. but you adapt to all this shit and do manage to maintain a fair amount of normalacy in your life somehow. I do as well.I work full time, see my kids, go out with my wife a few times a week, hit the gym 3x a wk, etc. my wife is a saint when it comes to dealing with all my insanity. once I told her I was just ill with this type of training addiction she sorta realized I wasnt in denial that what we do is nuts. LOL

SD

[Darkhrse99]

Ajdos,

Do you have any recent pics of you around?

[ajdos]

Ajdos,

Do you have any recent pics of you around?

Not since Oct- its not a pretty sight right now- but I may post some just to show what its looking like good or bad.

[Darkhrse99]

What's your weight when you have visble abs or in season?

[huge500lb]

great post AJ................and Thinkbig you guys said it all in your post.......

[ajdos]

What's your weight when you have visble abs or in season?

Im 282 and I can still see them decently- not nearly what they were but its decieving when you are distended so bad- but suprisingly I can still see them, even some serratus anterior too.

[Darkhrse99]

You are the man Ajdos! What contest are you doing this year?

[Thinkbig]

AJ KNOWS HIS SHIT.

...BUT WHATS MORE IS NOT ONLY DOES HE KNOW WHAT AND HOW TO DO IT, HE APPLIES IT.

[muerto]

Good fucken read bro and nice addition TB

[ajdos]

You are the man Ajdos! What contest are you doing this year?

Looks like this year I will take off from shows and dedicate to really packing on the size to make a run at Nationals in 2010.

[Ms.Wetback]

You are the man Ajdos! What contest are you doing this year?

Looks like this year I will take off from shows and dedicate to really packing on the size to make a run at Nationals in 2010.

Your right at 282 you are kinda tiny............whats the end goal ???? 300+ lbs ???