Quote:
Originally Posted by Lefort
I mean I'm not going to argue with you but I'm not on anything. In my mid 20's I tried a couple things and realized pretty quickly that the recovery back to natural/sustainable state is incredibly harsh for me specifically and that I wouldn't want to have to go through it again. Its been years since anything's been in my system. For reference, I've been 25lbs heavier with lower bodyfat than I am now. It's possible I look better than my numbers indicate? I'm 5'10" just under 200lbs and probably as high as 12-14% BF. This is pretty reasonable/achievable if you set a horizon of 10 years of training very seriously, spending a lot of time learning how to train and diet efficiently, and basically never taking any extended time off of training/diet.
When I talk about hitting a ceiling with regards to what I can achieve with a sustainable/reasonable lifestyle, I'm mostly alluding to the fact that I'm pretty close to the upper end of my natural capacity. I've considered running something just to hit some sort of physical peak such that I could look back at the photos when I'm older and think it was a cool achievement but ultimately I'm scared of what I'd have to go through for my body and mind to get back to normal. It's also a pretty slippery slope to say "I'll just do this one cycle this one time".
As for the acne, I don't really have any? I have a huge keloid scar in the middle of my chest and a lot of skin blemishes/freckles if that's what you're referring to.
If you want to discuss more we can, I'm pretty open about this stuff. I understand your reasoning and you seem pretty knowledgable. In fact I'd probably think the same if I saw myself walking around the gym. But I think it's a little offside to straight up insist I must be on something. It would be different if I was 240lbs and vasular and it was super obvious, then I could see it being frustrating for you. But I'm not even 200lbs.
I appreciate the honesty. If you haven't taken any steroids in years, and youre still able to maintain that kind of muscle mass, that is very impressive. You should be entering natural bodybuilding competitions and winning.
Im sorry you felt it was offside that Id call you out, but Im 28, and have been lifting since I was 16 and Ive never seen someone that looks like you that wasnt at least taking something like anavar to maintain the mass. I think anyone that has been lifting for awhile would think that, and Im sure your friends and randoms ask you all the time.
And to be clear, if I saw you walking around the gym at 240lbs and super vascular, I wouldnt be frustrated - Id think it was very impressive considering youre 5'10. We both know you dont just take steroids and wake up looking like a monster, I dont care what youre on, if youre 5'10 240lbs and under 10% BF, you are working your ass off, in and out of the gym.
I was talking about the people that look up to you (in the poker community or not) maybe feeling defeated because they are working as hard as they can and just not catching up because theyre not aware that they need to be on chemicals to keep up that kind of mass with a low BF%. I was lied to by people I looked up to for many years when I was younger. I used to spend all my money at GNC wasting it on ****ty supplements, working as hard as I could in the gym, and just not catching these guys. Then when I entered my freshman year of university, somebody was finally honest with me and showed me what I had to do to put on and maintain that kind of mass. Today Im 6'2 275lbs, but Im like 20% BF right now (that will be going down in the next few months).
Sincerely,
A fellow intellectual meathead