Pics of Matt C.

[alexxx]

New pictures as of today (cold).

How can I get rid of that acne on my back?    I have had it since the age of 18 and starting today I'm washing my back with a loofah rather than just washing the top of my back with soap and letting it drip down as somebody recommended.  Does anyone have a more efficient solution?  I think it looks gross and I don't want any permanent skin damage due to acne.

I am 180 right now and starting Gaspari SIZEON and SuperPump250 and hoping to get back to 200 in the same condition I'm in now with that and muscle memory.  My bench today was 225 for 12 after doing 135 for 20 and 185 for 15.

Whatever you do for shoulders, do the exact same thing for every other bodypart, kid.

[Knives]

alexxx is right, though your arms and quads look pretty huge too

maybe you should try cutting soon, you'll look even better with a smaller waist and more defintion

[240 is Back]

If you want advice... and I'm no whateva, and no expert, but... my 2 cents

train your abs more.   they're a gimme if you train them.  your lats and shoulders are great, very very great.  But calves don't match upper arms for symmetry.  Chest isn't as good as back. 

You seem like you really like the shoulder press and pulldowns.  What about the mass builders - the deadlifts, squat?  You have great bodyPARTS but lack the overall THICKness - the COMPLETEness. 

You look great tho - ten times better than the average american and better than I do.  But IMO you need to work on balance and thickness.  maybe make legs day ONE and chest day TWO in your routine.  that way, if the week falls apart, you always get those weaker areas first.  good luck bro.

[Herc]

I wouldnt be concerned with trying to get to any certain body wieght.  Just focus on gaining muscle and having a low body fat.  I always judge my workouts by how much im lifting and not a goal body wieght.  Right now im 160 but am lifting the same wieght as when I was 190 so I know I havnt lost muscle mass or at least ive gained it all back without getting fat again.  If you are trying to get to a muscle mass that you once had it is true that it has memory so it doesnt take much to get back.  It also doesnt take "bulking up" or some crazy high calorie diet that will make you fat.  Just eat good foods like fish, chicken, ect.. and dont eat any junk or bad sugar like coke and you should be able to put solid muscle on.  Twenty lbs of solid muscle is a huge amount if your natural.  At one point I got down to 153 and was lean and since ive brought my bench up 40lbs squats around 50lbs and the rest of my lifts a comparable amount and ive only gained 7lbs of muscle.  You would probably have to bring your bench and squats up like 100lbs to gain 20lbs of solid muscle. I actually try to stay as light as possible and keep all my strenth so I actually dont like it when I gaiin a few lbs but thats just me. 

[amc1980]

Monster clogs!!!

[davidpaul]

looking solid, how tall are you matt? 

[BEAST 8692]

as pointed out numerous times, your delts are overpowering everything, even your back. not a bad muscle group to be overpowering. being the narcissistic mofo that you are  i am sure you're accutely aware of the importance of wide delts in terms of appearance.

however, if you're looking to get after the pecs, you need to learn how to keep the delts from taking on the load during your chest workouts.

my advice to you is to forget about which exercise does what for your chest and concentrate on 1 exercise that allows the use of heavy weights (to you) and puts you in a position where you can comprehensively hit the pecs.

i'll use the bench press for illustration seeing as you seem to like it so much + the fact that it is a good exercise IF done correctly.

take an empty bar and put it on the supports. lie back on the bench and put your feet firmly on the ground creating a good arch (yes, stay with me) and the feet well back so you have a good foundation from the base.

now here's the part where you deactivate the delts somewhat and activate the pecs:

retract the shoulders right back and down the bench towards your feet while spreading the lats. get it, got it, good. DON'T LET THE SHOULDERS LEAVE THIS POSITION AT ALL DURING THE SET.

practise with the empty bar, slowly contracting the pecs as you lockout the bar. you should be really tight during the set and NEVER hunch the shoulders at the top, which you shouldn't IF you are keeping those shoulders retracted back into the lats for the entire movement. when you look down the bench towards your feet end (which you should be and with your chin down) your chest should be pushed right out in bold relief.

2nd most important point: forget about how much weight your lifting and stop using power to blast the weight up, it'll be making your delts an offer they can't refuse and they will gladly take over from the pecs without you even being concious of it. move the weight slowly with lighter weights so you get a feel for using the pecs to squeeze together as you lock out the rep.

3rd most important point: forget about rom. you will probably be surprised how short the movement actually is if you're doingit as stated, but that's because you won't be rotating the shoulders and surging them forward at the end of the movement.

anyway, i know i sound like a wanker giving out 'advices', but just try it one time seriously and you will understand what i'm talking about. you'll get much better stimulation in the pecs.

[Hedgehog]

Here's my take on things lately Matt:

You will never be a great bodybuilder.

But you already have a very good physique, and you can make it better.

But why not focus on making it at strong as possible?

So I say fcuk "bringing up the chest".

Do heavy benchpresses like you always do, find a really good layout (I posted one on the PL board BTW ), and then train supplemental for the rest of the body.

And make a serious effort to get 405 lbs in the benchpress before next fall.

You got the genetics for it fo' sho'.

-Hedge

[Faust]

Hmmm...

My advice: shave, get a haircut, a tan, and lose the slippers 


Seriously, if i were you i'd drop all direct shoulder work.
Also, from now on i'd concentrate maybe on doing "pumping" work with light weights for your chest. (maybe db presses and flys, cable/machine work,...)  I doubt you work your chest effectively, your shoulders probably do all the work , so try to get "in touch" with your pecs. 
Give special care to calves/forearms and keep working the back and legs hard.
Don't bulk too fast. No use for a natural to go up in weight quickly. It's not a sprint bro, we're in it for the long run.

I think now you have what you could call "a good base". Now if you can give a little more balance and flow to your physique it would look good (at a lower bf level).

[Knives]

I wouldnt be concerned with trying to get to any certain body wieght.  Just focus on gaining muscle and having a low body fat.  I always judge my workouts by how much im lifting and not a goal body wieght.  Right now im 160 but am lifting the same wieght as when I was 190 so I know I havnt lost muscle mass or at least ive gained it all back without getting fat again.  If you are trying to get to a muscle mass that you once had it is true that it has memory so it doesnt take much to get back.  It also doesnt take "bulking up" or some crazy high calorie diet that will make you fat.  Just eat good foods like fish, chicken, ect.. and dont eat any junk or bad sugar like coke and you should be able to put solid muscle on.  Twenty lbs of solid muscle is a huge amount if your natural.  At one point I got down to 153 and was lean and since ive brought my bench up 40lbs squats around 50lbs and the rest of my lifts a comparable amount and ive only gained 7lbs of muscle.  You would probably have to bring your bench and squats up like 100lbs to gain 20lbs of solid muscle. I actually try to stay as light as possible and keep all my strenth so I actually dont like it when I gaiin a few lbs but thats just me. 

I agree completely.  I recently lost about 20 lbs, and I was afraid I was losing all my muscle, but it was really fat, and I had more fat than I thought.  I think when some people bulk up really high, and get to say 15% bodyfat, they get to thinking they're much bigger than they are, since they're not fat, but they weigh a lot.  As they say "use the mirror as your scale."

[Bluto]

heres my advice

post less spam on getbig and spend more time on the training q & a board

[BEAST 8692]

looking good man. 

chest is my weak point too, my shoulders are very strong and want to take over during almost all pressing movements. 

decline dumbell presses are slightly better because you get more range of motion and you can bring the weights in like an arc motion instead of a straight line. 

good luck and keep us updated.

this was my point above.

rom is a load of shit and, if you're using heavy weights, can be downright dangerous.

think about this for a second. watch the pro bbers train bench (incl etc) on youtube. how much rom do they use. how about cutler, seen how much rom he uses? ronnie? bloody hell, branch

i think sometimes people miss the the most important point and that is to set up so you are focusing the tension on the target muscles.

if rom was important, yoga masters would be the strongest people on the planet and barbell exercises would be redundant. think franco columbu in pumping iron doing bench. his chest was so thick and his arms so short that the bar hit his chest in about 8 inches, yet he probably had the thickest pecs of all time.
 

[pobrecito]

Matt, what the hell happened to you  You look like you've lost 10lbs of muscle 

[flexingtonsteele]

looks like ur shoulders overpower ur chest during chest training.

I would try more higher incline bench press. Some wider grip flat bench, lowering the weight and really work on expanding the ribcage and pulling ur scaps back when u bench. That will minimize your shoulder involvement.

Also just keep on doing whatever ur doing because u look pretty good.

[Bluto]

Matt, what the hell happened to you  You look like you've lost 10lbs of muscle 

he decided to follow the adonis principles 

[CQ]

How can I get rid of that acne on my back?    I have had it since the age of 18 and starting today I'm washing my back with a loofah rather than just washing the top of my back with soap and letting it drip down as somebody recommended.  Does anyone have a more efficient solution?  I think it looks gross and I don't want any permanent skin damage due to acne.

Acne on the back should be almost be treated like facial acne. The same way one would use specific creams/ointments etc. on the face one should on the back. Try showering immediately after workouts [not giving the sweat a chance to clog pores further], don't use "soap"..use a specific anti-acne wash on the area, then apply a treatment cream after twice a day [difficult to apply yes but thats what the gf is for]. Try a benzoyl peroxide based cream. Also I wouldn't say a loofah is best as it may further aggravate the inflammations.

[EL Mariachi]

Acne on the back should be almost be treated like facial acne. The same way one would use specific creams/ointments etc. on the face one should on the back. Try showering immediately after workouts [not giving the sweat a chance to clog pores further], don't use "soap"..use a specific anti-acne wash on the area, then apply a treatment cream after twice a day [difficult to apply yes but thats what the gf is for]. Try a benzoyl peroxide based cream. Also I wouldn't say a loofah is best as it may further aggravate the inflammations.

you definetely know a few things about back acne. matt do you shower every day? 

[CQ]

you definetely know a few things about back acne.

I would hope so, I am a trained esthetician 

[EL Mariachi]

I would hope so, I am a trained esthetician 

i have some kind of lotion, if you put it at nights at your zit, it dries out and the next day your zit is gone. i wish i had that when i was in highskool, but the truth is the girls didnt minda few bigass zits at my face back then, they like me too much. not that im anythink special, i just keep it real.

i do have some acne on my back, its a good thing that you guys discussed this cause im gonna use the lotion for my back, you better watch your back cq.

[CQ]

you better watch your back cq.

Why?

There is nothing wrong with my back, I was merely giving my professional opinion as Matt asked

[EL Mariachi]

Why?

There is nothing wrong with my back, I was merely giving my professional opinion as Matt asked

cq you better talk to that guy camel jockey, he s been asking me weird questions like''why are you bothering cq''

[Tombo]

hit up the t-bars and barbell rows! lookin big up top and in the legs otherwise

[BEAST 8692]

umm...if you think rom is not important then why don't you do all of your exercises doing only 1 inch of movement and tell us how it goes?

rom is important, the problem is that most exercises dont allow the resistance to get stronger as the muscle contracts, therefore your limiting factor is the bottom position.  a limited rom can allow you to use heavier weights and possibly get some more growth, but for the fastest results, a full rom is better, and of course varying resistance. 

yep, good point.

i've thought a lot about that and the only conclusion i can make is that with certain exercises the increased rom allows for extra muscular involvement eg. deep squats allow the glutes and hamstrings to assist more with the movement and thus create a greater muscular involvement and potential.

however, bench press (and it's derivatives) only differ in rotation of the shoulder joint with increased rom and imo there is a case of diminishing results combined with potential injury ie the shoulders/tris/pecs are not going to benefit with increased rom at the expense of progressively heavier weights and there is an greater potential potentiatal for injury which is most certainly hazardous to progressive resistance.

[Matt C]

Here is a picture.  I am probably 180 now, if that.  I want to hit 200+ again.

[Ursus]

looking great matt. never realised how well you look

been away form this section for ages and ages