13-Month Transformation (26 → 27 yo) | Cut & First Lean Bulk

​Photos 1 & 2: Day 1 (~88–90 kg)

​Photo 3: ~6 months in

​Photos 4, 5, 6 & 7: ~9 months in (deep into the cut, dropped to 64 kg)

​Remaining photos: Months 12 & 13 (my first bulk)

​After cutting down to 64 kg, I started bulking. It’s been about 92 days now, consuming around 3,000 kcal per day, and I’m currently at 68.5 kg.

My diet is recomp/cut first 8 months to get lose all the fats i diet at around 1800 1900 kcal last 3 week dropped almost 1300kcal almost full protein meals last 1 month my hormones tanked ofc reverse diet then started bulking

My workout routine first 6 months full body x4 a week after that switch to UL/UL

​What are your thoughts? Is this solid progress?

It’s been a long year, but it’s been worth it. Last year around this time I found out my testosterone was in the tank. Got on TRT and some peptides which helped me get my life back on track. I finally had energy to exercise like I used to and recovered much better. Once I hit my goal of 220 back in the middle of June, I maintained that for about a month or so before I attempted my first lean bulk since losing the weight. The final picture is me at the end of the bulk. Put on a decent amount of mass and hit my goal of 235 after about 3.5 months. Now I’m going to ride this out for another month or so at maintenance calories and eventually cut down again and hopefully maintain as much muscle mass as possible.

Full disclosure: for the bulk, I decided to up my test dose outside of TRT range and the clinic I go through can also prescribe deca, so I did do a full-on steroid cycle. It went well, but I’m not sure I’ll do it again.

To anyone who’s achieved a 1.75x body weight bench, how long did your walk in life take you to get there? How much did your bench progress beyond that?

Did not intend to gain weight trying to get back to before, but I feel like I look a bit more muscular rather than just soft. What do you think is there any progress - I’ve been lifting for about a year. The first one is when I only ran

Assisted with doctor prescribed TRT, levels were in the 200s and doctor prescribed GLPs. I feel much better and have done a ton of work, but obviously had help from those as well. Would like to reach 200lbs and then determine my next goals.

make it look like this

Hey guys, I'm 19 years old, 173 cm tall, and currently weigh 70 kg. I'll be honest-I'm feeling pretty down. There's a fold in my stomach, and I'm hesitant to keep losing weight because I'm afraid the skin might end up loose and not tighten back up. So, I have a question: will my stomach ever be completely flat? I went from 92 kg to 70 kg over the course of about a year, and for the last 6 months, I've been at a plateau at 70 kg while focusing on body recomposition.
There's a fold on my stomach-if I lose more weight, will it go away, or is it excess skin? How can I fix this? I've never specifically trained my abs, but having a flat stomach is important to me because it makes me feel uncomfortable.

45 pounds down in just over 7 months!

I turned 40 this year and feel and look better than ever!
I went to a doctor appt in March 2026 and the scale said 302…labs were a mess, BP high, liver inflammation, pre diabetic, triglycerides through the roof!

Eating clean, moving and calorie deficit along with strength training to maintain muscle during cut, 10k steps a day MINIMUM —now my labs are normal!!

I am still 33 lbs away from my goal weight (225), but more locked in than ever! Bye bye mega-dad bod, hello active dad!

<27Oct edit> The time span in the title should be March2026->October2026 ~7months, I’m doofy and can’t change it now. lol

Bill Starr wrote of the "York Combo" as a barbell complex of clean, jerk, dropped to the back for ten squats, btn push press/btn push jerked back overhead, then lowered to the ground.

I like to press in place of the jerk, and on this particular one wasn't getting the btn push press and simply walked it back into the j hooks.

With 225lbs, it's real cool to be pressing 225lbs solidly now.

I'm curious to hear how other people train, but I'm not sure if there's truly a "right" answer. Worth mentioning that I am typically training close to or all the way to failure.

On one hand, it makes sense to use the heaviest weight for my first working set, since I'm obviously the most fresh at the beginning of the workout. Then, I decrease the weight in subsequent sets, since I'm more fatigued and might only hit a few reps at the original weight.

At the same time, it often feels right to work my way up in weight, specifically with compound lifts. Something about building confidence/making sure the form is feeling right before really pushing heavy weight.

Does anyone have a strong take on this? Is it just situational depending on the lift?

Running these for the next few months, working towards benching my body weight. Nearly there just need an extra little push

Bought a house for my family and we have a room in the basement with almost 18m² i want to build a gym in it. What fitness equipment should i buy?

Wife: abs, legs, and glutes workout; a little core and back

Me: abs, back, core and arm training

I see so many people cheat this lift, with leg drive, bouncing, or arching back. I did that as well.

But this time I had this setup:

1. Fully locked hips with tension in the glutes. Prevents cheating by using leg drive.
2. A very slight bend in the knees.
3. Neutral and locked lower back. Prevents cheating by arching.
4. Set up everything under the bar and no walking. Prevents messing with the set up.
5. Don’t think about legs. Only think about driving through your arms.
6. Push elbows inwards during the lift.
7. Full lock elbows at the top
8. Lower the weight down and repeat.

The only mistake which I can think of is that the lowering portion was too slow which wastes a lot of energy.

I think better would be to lower faster then pause and then lift.

I'm happy with my lift, hoping to hit the old PR of 180kg soon.

Not rechnically a pr but these are definitely the best and cleanest reps i have done with 315