Q: The after photo of you when you used X-Reps [in your early 40s] is impressive. You look massive. Hard to believe you’re a hardgainer ecto type. Do you really think you’re a true ectomorph? From that photo, I’d say no.
A: That after photo shocked even me. It’s a testament to Michael Neveux’s ability to light a subject and make him or her look exceptional. He’s a true physique-photography master.
I weighed less that 190 in that photo at a height of 5’10 1/2”. I was 42 years old and in probably my best condition ever, before or since—no steroids, no Photoshop.
Interesting that I weigh the same now, but I’m not nearly as ripped or muscular. Probably just older, saggy skin hiding my muscle and rippedness.
For reference, when I began training at age 15, I hated stepping on the scale. That’s because it mocked me incessantly as the dial settled at 125 pounds on a good day. Here’s that shot of me you’re tired of seeing.
It was taken after six months of training, weighing in the low 120s. The 15 on the cake is my birthday age, not the amount I could bench press…
About six years later at my first and only contest in my early 20s, I weighed less than 170 pounds in ripped shape. I’m an ectomorph with maybe a big toe in the mesomorph pool.
I say that because the friend I started training with in high school was completely submerged in the ecto pool….
Bill was just a little shorter than me but weighed in at 85 pounds at age 15. Even now at age 63 he’s a rail and can pile in the calories without adding much fat. After college he switched to mountain biking and climbing rather than bodybuilding—because he’s smarter and less obsessive than I am.
I chose to plow on and attempt to figure out this muscle-building stuff. I knew there had to be a way to go from emaciated zero to built superhero—at least that was my hope.
My latest condition at age 62 is a testament to what I’ve discovered over the years through interviews with many legendary bodybuilders and talking with researchers, scientists, and damn smart people who wrote for Iron Man magazine, where I was editor for 27 years.
Being able to produce those results at my age with 35-minute workouts three days a week in a sparse home gym—no barbells, cables or machines—is somewhat gratifying. (For my exact workouts and exercises, see the new ebook.)
But I’m still learning and experimenting in the gym with an open mind…
And as I continue to acknowledge, I owe a lot of my latest muscle-building success to Doug Brignole, 2019 AAU Drug-Free Mr. Universe, who steered me in a new direction with his biomechanically correct “ideal” exercises. I highly recommend his book The Physics of Resistance Exercise.
Emaciated zero to superhero? Not quite. More like skinny twit to muscly fit—and I’m fine with that.
New: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best add-on moves for ultimate mass, complete 35-minute workouts, exercise start/finish photos, and details on building muscle fast and efficiently in Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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