First year workout progress

[jack01z28]

One year ago I was a really scrawny, 5'9, 130lbs 19 year old who hadn't seen a gym in his life. I began bulking, lifting each bodypart once a week etc... I was lifting girly weight and I felt like I had no business being in a gym.

Today, I look around the gym and I think i'm stronger than most guys my size in there. My lifts aren't great, but some include 90lbs db bench press, 255lbs chest press machine (i've never used this machine i was just trying to max it out last week), 70lbs db shoulder press, 100lbs db rows, 190lbs wide-grip lat pulldown. All good form, 4-8 reps. Are these good for the first year?

But here's the problem. I bulked from march 2002 until feb 5th 2003 when I was 167lbs @ 22% bf. I know I didn't bulk as clean as I should have. Then, I was on a strict keto + cardio diet from then until last week, when I was 154 @ 15% bf. I took a week off the diet for spring break. I didn't pig out, but the past 2 days i've been 151 @ 17% bf. WTF! 127lbs of lbm. That is pathetic. These were taken on my tanita scale before I goto bed. I'm sure the scale is slightly inaccurate, but can it be that far off? The only thing I changed from last week to this was I upped my water intake from 1 liter a day to 6 a day. My lifts haven't gone down at all. I see guys on the board at a lean 180, 190 and I wonder what their secret is.

I think my body looks pretty good compared to what I started out as but apparently I can't seem to put on very much lean mass. Was I just cursed with a bad body at birth or what? I do have very small bones and joints. I only have a 31" waist and 14 1/4" (cold) upper arm, but I have fat in my chest and a lot of fat in my stomach that just won't go away. I'm still trying to get rid of this gut and I'll probably have to get to a measly 140lbs before it's gone. I don't really know what I'm asking here but this is starting to frustrate me, specifically the fact that I weigh so little and I still have noticable fat on me, and I'm just seeing if I'm on the right track.

[coneytt]

This is from a guy that always wanted to be like you... (small that is) I came from 235 to 158. I have large bones and i gain and lose weight really easy. My advise to you is now that you have made some gains, take it for what it's worth and cut. Then start all over again with a more healthier diet. I say this cause maybe you hit a platue seeing you came from 130 to 155. So that is just my reccomendation. I only been in the serious lifting game for about 4 1/2 months, but i been training for 2 years. I have body fat also that is around 17% I am in a toss up between cutting and bulking. (long story) Cutting will be better as far as looks goes, but bulking will be better seeing i am still growing and haven't hit a platue yet.

to sum this up, i say cutt, see how it works out and then bulk again. If you got up to 155 once, believe me you can do it again.

peace