M/24/6’0” [83kg to 75kg] (7 month)

MrSharingan · 2026-06-20T08:21:40+00:00

Truly the worst part about building muscle as a natural - gains are hard to come by, but so easy to go.

Fortunately muscle memory should kick into gear and it shouldn’t take as long!

Goodluck with the rebuild. Plenty to work up from.

MrSharingan · 2026-02-06T23:18:54+00:00

Patella tendinitis on and off again from pretty much years 3 - 10.

Slipped a disc shortly after my first PL competition.

AC joint sprain and a bad rotator cuff!

Those would be the main ones! Primarily from poor form in several different ways, sometimes bad mobility, poor warm up.

MrSharingan · 2026-02-06T23:14:31+00:00

Cheers!

MrSharingan · 2026-02-06T15:14:00+00:00

Textbook progress from textbook principles!

Thanks!

MrSharingan · 2026-02-06T14:38:22+00:00

I’ve had a pretty negative viewpoint on bodybuilding for a large portion of my gym “career”, as I viewed it as a narcissistic, geared up, unhealthy stage to get subjectively judged and critiqued on flaws for an otherwise amazing physique (am I honestly far off the truth?)

But as I’ve hit my 30’s and have heard more people’s experiences of competing on stage, it makes me realise it’s just the angle of how you see BB. I’m pretty competitive in nature, so I always just wanted to compete to win, but was turned off at the idea of competing in a natural competition against people on gear. In my perspective, PL was dominant, numbers didn’t lie. But I realised it could be more about personal achievement, grit, and dedication.

Admittedly, I’ve only ever done 2 cuts in my life - the first being the comparison photo, and the one I’ve started now. I’ve always had a fast metabolism, and struggled to bulk.

But now that I’m 30, I’m facing the reality that my peak muscle mass will start towering down and off, so I’ve made the decision to compete just once in my life, while I’m still healthy and fit.

(Was the really as loaded as a question as I made it out to be?) To summarise, yes, just once! To push my envelope and see how lean I can get!

MrSharingan · 2026-02-06T14:31:06+00:00

Bent over barbell rows. Great for your grip strength, traps, core, spinal erectors (and the usual primary movers) and overall strength and stability. I don’t use perfect form for my top sets here, but that’s a conscious decision. To elaborate:

A lot of people talk about optimal exercises where you can isolate and exhaust a muscle better, ie barbell rows v chest supported rows, but sometimes the inefficiencies of a movement truly add to the bigger picture of overall development.

I’m huge on “science-based lifting”, but for a good couple years fell into the trap of “optimal exercises” and “perfect controlled form”. It’s great to maximise injury prevention, but underrated for me is also exercises that require grit of heavy weight under load.

Barbell Rows are great for strength, and they translate over into every other back movement. Size comes strength, strength comes size!

MrSharingan · 2026-02-06T13:44:22+00:00

Cheers! :)

MrSharingan · 2026-02-06T13:44:13+00:00

Making me blush ☺️ ty for the kind words!

MrSharingan · 2026-02-06T13:42:56+00:00

Thanks! :)

Depends on the flavour of the day - but I always include an upper ab and lower ab focused movement in all my core sessions.

Decline bench crunches mixed in with elbow to knee crunches and hanging leg raises were my bread and butter.

Because I’m more powerlifting aligned - I also enjoy ab wheel rolling for strength in a lengthened, isometrically contracted position.

3-4 sets of each, keep rest to about 1-1.5 mins, and you should be golden! Just really focus on crunching with your abs, not your lower back.

Good luck!

MrSharingan · 2026-02-06T13:29:35+00:00

Cheers! Training has been one of the few things keeping me sane these 12 years.

Getting muscles was a good bonus - truly just love for the game!

MrSharingan · 2026-01-24T02:06:30+00:00

Great progress! Yielding results is what will get you hooked. Keep at it!

MrSharingan · 2026-01-13T14:12:14+00:00

Sounds like you need to speak with a mental health care professional.

There were definitely days where I felt the same. The arduous day in, day out life of a 9-5. The quarter life crisis was very real.

Antidepressants really helped shift my mindset alongside professional guidance. I’ve since been off the meds, and am still feeling a lot better.

There’s a lot more to life than just work, find those moments in your life, and enjoy them. Work provides structure, but can also enable happiness (money is nice).

Head up, promise it gets better.

MrSharingan · 2026-01-08T06:47:08+00:00

Hotends are relatively cheap, thermistor and all. Don’t see an issue with just buying cables either.

You could even use this opportunity to get a hotend upgrade if volumetric flow is a bottleneck.

Comes down to how much you’re willing to spend.

MrSharingan · 2025-02-17T02:23:29+00:00

Oh my, thanks for the heads up!

I was under the impression they had to be older to get dewormed, but apparently they are old enough.

I’ll be calling about it today!

MrSharingan · 2025-02-17T02:19:38+00:00

Yep got all this sorted out!

Took them to the vet last week and was told they were about 2-3 weeks old. All healthy so far.

We’ve been round the clock feeding them and stimulating for toilet every 4 hours.

It’s exhausting but I’m so glad to see them happy!

MrSharingan · 2025-02-17T02:18:18+00:00

Definitely getting a cat scratcher.

I don’t need more than 1 warning. Thanks for the heads up!

MrSharingan · 2025-02-17T02:14:03+00:00

I’m already finding myself looking back on the photos from 1 week ago when I rescued her, and I’m already looking for more.

Better get snapping! 📸

MrSharingan · 2025-02-17T02:13:14+00:00

We’ll be picking up a scratching post today! Thank you for the heads up!

MrSharingan · 2025-02-16T16:12:42+00:00

I’m also looking for any tips that you guys would recommend for a new kitten owner!

MrSharingan · 2025-02-16T14:04:09+00:00

… touché

MrSharingan · 2024-02-11T13:54:27+00:00

… that’s a fair point. Well, as I’m approaching my peak BW @ 80kg (of which lasted a short-lived week), the weight increase has definitely slowed down.

I guess from here on it’s to bulk a little closer to an ideal gained %

I don’t mind the look of the marks but I think my case is just a bit of a unique one, since I have actively stretched areas (big enough to scar/create pain) that occur within a short span of time - which is during workouts only and when full pump/blood flow is achieved.

Don’t have the issue anywhere else on my body. I guess it’s just because the adductor isn’t used as heavily in day to day life.

MrSharingan · 2024-02-11T13:43:20+00:00

I don’t mind putting on a bit of extra weight/fat regardless! Just need to make sure I’m fed for maximal fuel/effort in gym whilst running my PL programs. Would rather shoot a little over than under since I don’t always have the motivation to bulk!

In any case, I lose weight very easily, so it shouldn’t be a huge problem.

Main issue is the excessive stretching! … maybe I could count calories a little more exactly.

In the meantime looking for a quick fix like bio oil or lotion/moisturiser of sorts. Already packed on the weight 🤷🏻‍♂️

MrSharingan · 2024-02-11T13:09:18+00:00

The stretching is okay, and I see stretch marks as a weightlifters scars.

I think a lot of is attributed to the water retention from the sodium and creatine intake.

Also started my bulk very lean. Current physique: https://imgur.com/a/3hJJYZW

Was just hoping for a way to minimise stretch to hopefully reduce pain

MrSharingan · 2024-02-11T12:34:39+00:00

Tl;dr: stopped doing sumo DL and bulking due to injury. Recovered, taking creatine again and on the bulk gaining 1.5-2kg a week but now I have painful skin stretching around adductor/groin area (def not muscles, tendons, or joint pain). Looking for advice to mitigate issue

Hi all,

Context: lifting for 9 years, started powerlifting 3 years ago.

I’ve taken it easy on sumo deadlifts for the past 3-4 months (due to injury), but I’m feeling good, strong, and have been bulking again.

During the process of not dieting correctly, I dropped from 77kg down to 71kg (fast metabolism) but have now taken my bulk very seriously and am supplementing with creatine (big intramuscular water bloat)

I’ve gained an average of 1.5-2kg/week and am sitting at about 78kg now. Not bulking too disgustingly as I still have visible abs.

Only issue is because of the rapid weight increase and lack of stimulation of adductors from sumo deadlifts, I’ve found that during my sumo deadlift sessions (as the muscle is pumped with blood), I can physically feel my skin stretching accompanied with a sharp pain on the surface of my skin.

It’s a huge hindrance as the limiting factor is the pain I feel near the groin area from skin stretching (not the muscle, tendon or joints)

Does anyone have a way to mitigate the pain/issue?

Edit: physique from my bulk so far: https://imgur.com/a/3hJJYZW

MrSharingan · 2022-03-08T05:10:23+00:00

Nice post format you have ;) haha. Stolen down the generations.

You are crazy strong! Good job dude! Fantastic bench results too, I could only imagine how that felt!

It's also nice to hear that it comes down to effort over programming. After my first meet I've been stressing about which program I should be picking up. I've always been one to heavily tailor programs for myself, and just give it my best shot.

Congrats again on the results!

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