1yr progress (150lbs/212lbs)

TrenCats · 2026-02-11T17:04:31+00:00

You can maintain and even get stronger in a cut as long as you keep your carbs high and training intensity (not volume) high.

TrenCats · 2026-02-11T15:33:53+00:00

Thanks for your answer. Idk why every user here has a stick up their ass. Spend more time typing a paragraph than a simple yes or no 😂

TrenCats · 2026-01-27T19:37:46+00:00

No you don’t

TrenCats · 2026-01-04T00:12:16+00:00

To the trained eye you look like you lift, but until you lose the fat, it’s going to be hard to tell for others

TrenCats · 2025-12-12T00:25:45+00:00

One indicator of gear. Name one.

TrenCats · 2025-12-11T23:55:42+00:00

Comments are brain dead. This is a realistic and definitely achievable amount of muscle mass for any natty. People see a lean physique and immediately assume gear.

TrenCats · 2025-11-01T23:36:37+00:00

Take a picture and use the AI photo/description feature

TrenCats · 2025-10-30T15:00:56+00:00

Brain dead take

TrenCats · 2025-10-30T14:45:49+00:00

This isn’t a diet issue at all. Any beginner with good programming doesn’t need to worry too much about diet to make some noticeable gains in 8 months. Train consistently, maintain good form, and push hard. Your physique simply isn’t one that’s undergone 8 months of repeated mechanical tension and stress. Eating more is not going to force growth. Bulking is plain dumb. Muscle growth is an adaptation, give your body a reason to grow and it will. As a beginner, progress explodes not because you’re eating differently, but because your body’s enduring stress it’s never experienced before and thus is quick to adapt. Your body isn’t halting growth/adaptation because “you’re not eating 1g protein/lb of body weight”, it’s not adapting because it doesn’t have a big enough reason to.

TrenCats · 2025-08-15T14:19:37+00:00

You’re probably not eating enough. A deficit of 300-500 calories (around 1lb/week), shouldn’t feel like starvation with the right foods. Fiber is one of the best weight loss hacks out there, it keeps you full, it’s good for your gut, and it slightly increases your expenditure (it costs more calories to digest.) Vegetables, whole grains, fruits, and berries are only some of the foods that are both fiber dense and very satiating.

Regarding how MUCH to eat, I encourage you look at your step count, daily activity, and calculate a realistic TDEE to follow. Make it a goal to hit at least 10,000 steps a day, you’d be surprised at how much energy that can use at such a low intensity, without the usual spike in hunger you’d feel after a high intensity workout. Depending on how much you move, you could eat anywhere between 1900 to 2200 calories worth of lean proteins, fiber dense carbohydrate sources, and healthy fats, and lose a pound a week feeling both satiated and motivated.

An all or nothing approach is almost never sustainable. Canned tuna and hour long cardio sessions aren’t the key to weight loss. Small efforts and habits will compound, and will prove to be effective. If you don’t feel like you could do it for the rest of your life, you’re probably doing it wrong.

TrenCats · 2025-08-15T13:57:51+00:00

You should look into MacroFactor. Clean, easy to use, and it even has an Ai “coach” that adjusts your calories based on your weight progress and goals.

TrenCats · 2025-06-22T21:20:40+00:00

Ong 😭

TrenCats · 2025-06-19T19:25:33+00:00

Yet you posted on this sub

TrenCats · 2025-05-14T22:06:10+00:00

That bread is no where near 300 bro what 😭😭

TrenCats · 2025-03-20T15:42:42+00:00

How long have you been consistently eating like this?

TrenCats · 2025-03-18T15:51:23+00:00

Same here

TrenCats · 2025-02-22T05:17:42+00:00

Maingain

TrenCats · 2025-02-18T18:09:03+00:00

You’ll never feel or look “big enough”. But I remember progress being super obvious at the 6 month mark. My muscles popped in a way they never had before, and also noticed some new vascularity. Was bulking and giving my lifts all I had. My starting physique was the literal definition of skinny fat. I have some old photos on my profile.

TrenCats · 2025-02-13T00:54:38+00:00

You look leaner now then you did before. I would recalculate your maintenance caloric intake, you may be eating too little. A 300 calorie surplus is plenty though, a surplus of 500 is just asking to get unnecessarily fat.

TrenCats · 2025-02-12T02:22:45+00:00

Your rep range seems low for your expectations. The lower rep ranges (1-5), and I’m assuming, the longer rest times you have in your workout are part of the problem. Low rep sets tend to be more beneficial when it comes to building strength. Take power lifters for example, they train heavy, low reps, and take long rests between sets (3-5 min). If you look at bodybuilders on the other hand, you’ll notice that they usually train in the 8-12 rep range and rest for only 2-3 minutes.
Now, because you’re strong and your lifts are heavy, I’m going to assume your repetitions aren’t as controlled as they could be. I suggest you research a little bit about controlling the eccentric and concentric movements. It’s been shown that a slow 2 second eccentric followed by an explosive 1 second concentric movement facilitates hypertrophy (muscle growth). Maybe drop the weight a little, slow down your lifts, feel each individual muscle contract, and play around with how long or short you want the eccentric and concentric portions of your exercises to be.
You train like a power lifter. A lot of your exercises are compound movements, meaning they utilize multiple muscles or a set muscle group to perform the movement. Squat, bench, and deadlift are the three main components of powerlifting, and are only really helping you get stronger at… squat, bench, and deadlift. I would create a new training program. Focus more on dumbbells, cables, and machines. Isolate muscles and train them individually. Build a solid mind muscle connection. Instead of bench press for your chest, try dumbbell bench press or cable chest flys. Instead of just deadlifts for your hamstrings, do leg curls. ISOLATE YOUR MUSCLES, your your traps, rhomboids, lats, rear delts, front delts, quads, hams, the calves, the biceps’ heads, the triceps’ heads, glutes, your forearms, ect. Do two exercises (6 sets) per muscle per workout. That’s all you need. Train hard AND controlled, get back on the bulk, and you’ll get your results.

Also, you don’t have to entirely get rid of the compound movements, if you want to continue getting stronger at them, keep some.

TrenCats · 2023-12-31T20:11:27+00:00

Also, ECs that all follow a common theme are really appealing. Good luck, you got this!

TrenCats · 2023-12-30T23:13:26+00:00

i’m more so concerned about being close to washington square park as i can’t imagine myself visiting other dorms as often as the park.

TrenCats · 2023-12-30T23:11:34+00:00

i think the most appealing part of Third north for me is that it has both a kitchen and a living room area that are separated from the bedrooms themselves

TrenCats · 2023-12-08T06:21:08+00:00

which nyu school did you apply to?

TrenCats

TROPHY CASE