what I meant by "bad genetics" is that I am an ecto with endomorphic tendencies. I gain muscle very slowly but put on fat very fast. I can lose muscle very easily but have a hard time losing fat.
Join the club.
Grinch, for you to carry the same level of muscle mass as a typical drug-free champion you'd max out at
roughly 197 @ 10% b.f. That's an estimate based on a lot of drug-free champs over a lot of years.
People with ectomorphic bone structures typically have a hard time reaching that maximum, so you're finding yourself about 6 lbs short of that mark after 10 years of training. I'd say a big
congratulations are in order! Scaled for height and bone structure, you've reached 97% of the muscle mass that the best in the game have (this is a very common plateau point for ectomorphs).
Now you have a choice of busting your ass in search of those last few pounds that are theoretically attainable (at least by a person with good genetics), or you can perfect what you have now.
After over 15 years I find myself in the same situation as you -- right to the pound ...but I'm going after those last 5 pounds.
In either case, you've probably developed over 30 lbs of muscle more than when you started and increased your lean body mass by close to 25%. You're an example of a drug-free success story.
