Bodybuilding Limbo

One day you wake up and take a particularly critical look in the mirror. You think your midsection is becoming reminiscent of a lumpy bag of potatoes rather than a chiseled piece of granite. You are only 3-4 months into your gaining phase, and you are getting uneasy about the amount of fat you have put on.

Beach season is several months away and you’re already having anxiety attacks about having to take your shirt off in public. Then that oh-so-familiar thought creeps back into your head “maybe I should start cutting”.  So, you pace back over to that mirror, grab a suprailiac fold of fat and declare your diet starts tomorrow! Undoubtedly, while gorging yourself on a bucket of ice cream, topped with bacon and shredded cheese because apparently, pure-unabashed gluttony is a prerequisite before starting a new diet these days.

                Why is this a thing?

Approximately 53 hours later, you take another critical look in the mirror. You think your sleeves look a little more loose than usual. In fact, you put on your favorite muscle tee and start to wonder if you mistook your shirt for an 8 person camping tent. That anxiety sets in again. “Look at how scrawny your arms are, you skinny frat-boy douche.” “You might as well relegate yourself to permanently wearing long sleeve shirts under short sleeve shirts.” So, you pace back over to the mirror, flex your perceived eleventeen inch arms and declare you’re going to start gaining again tomorrow!

Fashion that says you're insecure about the size of your arms without saying a word.

Repeat this process a few times and you have what is known as bodybuilding limbo. You don’t allow for enough time to make substantial progress and create new set points in terms of muscular development or leanness, before changing your goal. You’re forever stuck in a cruel loop of not being muscular enough or not being lean enough.

Have the mental fortitude to stick with your goal even when you start feeling the softness coming on, or the sleeves start getting looser. You will be rewarded with new body set points that allow you to diet while retaining more muscle, or gain muscle while accumulating less fat.

Too many people spend precious hours in the gym trying to improve their body composition only to end up looking the same year after year. Don’t be a victim of bodybuilding limbo. Remain steadfast in your goals. Get muscular. Get lean. Look good naked……..and in Massenomics apparel.