My name is Brian. I’m 36 years old at the time of writing this (born in 82). I’ve been weight lifting for 20 years. Some of my greatest passions have always been weightlifting, bodybuilding and nutrition. I have been learning and applying my knowledge for a long time now and I have been through many ups and downs during my own bodybuilding/ fitness journey. I decided to create PumpSomeIron.com to share some of my experiences and knowledge with you.
Follow me/Pump Some Iron on Instagram for updates: https://www.instagram.com/pump.some.iron/
I started weight lifting when I was 16. At first it was at school but before long, I had some equipment at home too. From there in continued. Fast forward 10 years and I was in great shape. I was young, lean and muscular. I got married when I was 25 and was 180 lbs. I’m 6 foot tall. At this point I had a gym membership and was consistently working out several times per week.
From there, my life changed a lot. I bought a house, got promotions at work and had kids. I kept lifting through all of this, but my nutrition was basically unchecked for a long time. I always made sure to eat enough protein, but I never counted anything else. I was eating and drinking without much regard for what it was doing to me. As a result, I gained and gained weight.
With the weight gain came strength gains, which I didn’t mind. I actually used this as an excuse. I said to myself, “yeah, I’m fat but I’m big and strong as a horse.” I kept getting stronger, bigger, …. and fatter. When I finally decided to make a change, I was 280 lbs. I had literally gained 100 lbs in the past 9 years. I was a big strong fat guy. I did’t look too bad with a shirt on, but when the shirt came off it was pretty bad.
I was already training (lifting weights). I knew how to diet, count calories and count macros. I knew what to do. I just had to do it.
This is me in August of 2016 at 280 lbs.
This is when everything changed for the better. I decided to stop drinking completely and started dieting. I decided to take my training more seriously and built a gym in my garage. I started with a squat rack, adjustable bench, and about 800 lbs of weight.
This is also about the time I discovered intermittent fasting. I coupled IF with a high protein, medium carb and medium fat diet and started losing.
Click on this link to read an article I wrote about intermittent fasting.
I wanted to keep as much of my strength and muscle as possible, so I trained hard and heavy. I also took my dieting slowly. I didn’t do anything drastic and I always made sure to eat enough protein. (For me, this is 300 grams per day)
Two years later (summer of 2018) I had lost 75 lbs. I was 205lbs and looked and felt great. Through all this I maintained most of my strength. My squat is actually better now than when I was 280.
With my weight loss goal accomplished, I have spent the past year trying to improve my physique. In the fall of 2018 I decided to slow bulk to up to 225. I slowly gained 20 lbs through the fall and winter. At the end of winter, I felt fat and was ready to start cutting.
Click on this link to check out an article I wrote on slow bulking.
I dieted back down to 205, where I was a year earlier, but now have less fat and more muscle than I did before.
This is me now, in the summer of 2019, 3 years from the above pictures. At 36 (almost 37) I am in the best shape of my life. I have never looked or felt better.
From here I will continue to improve. I feel like my upper body is better developed than my lower body so I will be focusing on bringing up my legs.
The slow bulk and cut seemed to work well for me this year, so I will likely continue to follow this pattern.
Thank you for reading my story. Please read some articles on Pump Some Iron and let me know what you think in the comments sections.
2020 Update
Still at it. I’m about 210lbs right now and still making improvements.
Left was 2016 and 280lbs. Right is October 2020 and 210 lbs.
