OcUK Health Seekers: Post your progress pics

[Steedie]

Nitram, looking immense mate, very impressive

Some serious definition going on and good mass!

Only thing I'd say, and I hope you take this the right way as I'm in the same boat, do you do much for your calf work? Just compared to your big thighs they look a little behind. I find the same thing with mine, they don't respond at all well

 

[nitram100]

Nitram, looking immense mate, very impressive

Some serious definition going on and good mass!

Only thing I'd say, and I hope you take this the right way as I'm in the same boat, do you do much for your calf work? Just compared to your big thighs they look a little behind. I find the same thing with mine, they don't respond at all well

Nah it's cool mate, I think every bodybuilder knows that no matter what you do with your calves, unless the genetics are there you are going to have a hard time getting them big.

My older bro has HUGE calves yet has never trained them in his life. I train them a lot with direct and indirect work and they have grown a bit, but I find the best thing for calves if you struggle with size is to get them lean, some of the most impressive calves I've seen are not even that big just very, very lean and vascular.

I don't take pics of calves often but these are a few I have. My only redeeming factor with my calves is they get vascular which looks pretty cool xD

 

[BennyC]

V.impressive Nitram

 

[PAz]

Awesome condition there mate

Do you compete?

 

[Freefaller]

Cheers mate, yeh I'm glad I stayed natural, I get accused of juicing from time to time which annoys me, I think it's because I have a small bodybuilder shape as I am short and stocky. The temptation to cycle was definitely there in the beginning I will admit!

All of the guys I trained with in the beginning have all turned to steroids and even GH, a few of them are huge now and a few look like ****.

My goals now are to continue bulking for another 2 weeks and get to 12.6 stone and then begin my cut for the summer, where I want to be leaner than last year and with about 3-4 lbs of extra muscle.

I have other goals like 200kg Deadlift, 160kg Squat etc which is a way off right now lol but getting there!

Also, nice lifts you have there mate!

It's the only way - you can achieve all your goals naturally. I started this lifting game quite late, but although I'm interested in the "dark side" it's a text book interest rather than a practical one.

You're a short chap but that means you can look a lot stockier, 12st+ at your height is good going IMO.

I don't have the dedication to be as lean as you - I've been so used to being a bit "bigger" that whilst I do like having the definition, I think psychologically it pains me too much to lose too much weight! It's weird isn't it?

 

[nitram100]

Awesome condition there mate

Do you compete?

Cheers mate Not really interested in competing to be honest, I wouldn't have the guts! I have immense respect for people who do though.

Freefaller, I know what you mean about losing size when cutting, I can't stand it! It messes with my head so much, constantly convincing myself that I'm going too catabolic etc and that I should increase calories or shouldn't I? Will I reach my deficit today? Argghh! lol

I do love being a bit bigger and the shirts fit a bit better

 

[KizZ]

Damn, those are the fruits of hard work and dedication right there! I'm inspired and motivated.

 

[Vegeta]

Wow amazing nitram. What's it like going from under 10stone to 12 stone +? Do you find it hard eating enough food and almost force feeding? My main problems my diet I find it really hard to eat enough and some days I just give up as I feel sick.

 

[nitram100]

Wow amazing nitram. What's it like going from under 10stone to 12 stone +? Do you find it hard eating enough food and almost force feeding? My main problems my diet I find it really hard to eat enough and some days I just give up as I feel sick.

Thanks man

To be honest I don't think my calorie intake has drastically increased from when I was under ten stone, it's just that the food I am eating is so much better.

To be honest I never feel like i'm force feeding myself, I train so much that my metabolism is constantly ticking over begging for more food, I sometimes can't get enough food lol.

I've just eaten 200g of chicken breast and 30g(uncooked) of brown rice and I still want to eat a banana or something

After cutting and bulking so many times I've come to the conclusion that my metabolism is quite balanced ie. I work hard to get lean and work hard to get bulked, I don't find either very easy if you know what I mean.

My diet at the moment, it can vary a bit when a day gets busy, but generally this is what it looks like. For cutting I just lower the carbs and up the fats a bit. Protein is always around 230g or more.

6am - 10 egg whites, 2 scoops of whey, 60g of Oats in skimmed milk
9am - 300g cottage cheese, 50g cashew nuts
12pm - 200g chicken breast, brocolli
3pm - 200g chicken breast, some carbs like pasta or rice
6pm - Mackeral, 300g cottage cheese and 3 rice cakes
9pm - egg whites, 150g cottage cheese and tablespoon of natural peanut butter (slows down digestion of protein, perfect for bed time)

I take a lot of cottage cheese because it casein based protein so is absorbed a lot slower than say chicken or tuna and it's cheap as chips )

 

[Vegeta]

God that 6am meal seems a lot don't think I could fit that in.

I'm guessing you get the 300G tescos cottage cheese stuff? Yeah it's good stuff

 

[nitram100]

The egg whites are nothing really once you remove the yolk, I also have the whey shake in water and eat the oats cold.

Don't think I could handle the whey in milk and the oats cooked! I'd be bloated lol.

 

[Cristian]

Very lean but still looking big and proportionate, congratulations for all the hard work!
Why not consider competing? the tough dieting and discipline doesn't seem a problem at all.

 

[Gamefreak501]

Nitram100 - quick question - the diet you eat, did you have that from the start, or did you have to work your way up to it?

I might have to *borrow* that diet of yours (and give up alcohol!) as well as changing my gym workout from 3 days to more days.

 

['Wes]

Alcohol doesn't have to be given up, nor does things like cheat days. They still work as long as you moderate what you're eating and don't get carried away.

I would imagine he had to make adjustments to his portions as he got bigger and leaner as everyone has to do to accommodate to your physique.

 

[nitram100]

Nitram100 - quick question - the diet you eat, did you have that from the start, or did you have to work your way up to it?

I might have to *borrow* that diet of yours (and give up alcohol!) as well as changing my gym workout from 3 days to more days.

Hey man, I've been fairly strict from the beginning but the diet I am on now I've been using for about 2 years now.

In the beginning there wasn't any cottage cheese and not as much egg whites, It was just chicken, tuna, pasta and oats. Over the years I've learned the benefits of good fats, casein protein, timing my meals etc like post workout, post post workout, using simple sugars like dextrose in my whey to cause an insulin spike post workout to increase the uptake speed of the protein as you want it in your body asap.

As Wes says you don't have to give up alcohol or cheat meals, I've only avoided alcohol because it has absolutely no beneficial nutrients, just empty calories whereas if you eat a mcdonalds you might get about 20g of protein, which is something at least!

Remember that there is no such thing as bad food, just a bad diet. Meaning aslong as your diet is spot on, you can have the odd cheat or drink and it won't really affect you.

 

[Freefaller]

There are also many different ways of using diets to manage your progress - if everyone starts with a basic diet and get themselves to a base level - then you can experiment with carb cycling, intermitent fasting etc... However before you do that, you need to get yourself to a good basic diet, good sleep patterns and of course good training.

 

[ben90]

Well done Nitram, your pysique is the ideal body for most bodybuilders! If you wanted to comptete I don't doubt you would do very well, something to look forward to in the future perhaps

 

['Wes]

There are also many different ways of using diets to manage your progress - if everyone starts with a basic diet and get themselves to a base level - then you can experiment with carb cycling, intermitent fasting etc... However before you do that, you need to get yourself to a good basic diet, good sleep patterns and of course good training.

I can't emphasise this enough.

 

[Gamefreak501]

Dear All,

Thank you for your help - very useful information - my base diet is going to involve oats/5x egg whites; following by a second meal of oats+banana; third meal of salmon/tuna with mixed veg; fourth meal is turkey/chicken/beef and pasta; fifth meal will be protein and banana and last meal will be cottage cheese and a slice of toast with peanut butter.

It's going to be a good base to start from (hopefully) and I'll increase my protein intake if necessary whilst measuring my progress with a chart.

I'll post some pics when I start seeing results, I'm too ashamed at this time!

 

[Steedie]

Don't be ashamed mate, all of us had to start from the beginning. None of us were born with big muscles, except Freefaller who was born with 20" arms and 30" legs.

So many people I try to get to join up say "Oh I don't want to as I'll look small" or "I'll only be lifting tiny weights compared to everyone else", well we all were there at some point and it's amazing how much progress you'll make and how quickly in the beginning

Get some pics up and it will just be even more impressive when you post your first progress pictures with good results