Training towards gymnastic type physique (goal pics included)

[VAF]

Hi everyone,

I was hoping that some of you may be able to help me train towards a specific physique type. My ideal body is long, lean, muscular, and flexible. I have been doing traditional body building exercises for almost 2 years now after around 8 years of lifting for sports. I just finished my first cycle and I weigh 218 pounds at 5' 11". I fear that I may be on the wrong path. I am attaching several pictures of my goal physique (MMA fighter Benson Henderson)

Cut day above (take with a grain of salt)

To demonstrate excellent proportionate legs

The hallmarks of this physique, in my opinion, and what I'm trying to imitate are:

-Wide shoulders
-incredibly thin waist
-"full" looking muscles even though they lack absolute mass
-perfectly even pectoral muscles
-incredibly low bf%
-gymnastic type athleticism (flexible and capable of doing advanced bodyweight exercises)

I am gaining mass and parts of my physique are actually getting large, but I feel as though I lack the "full" look that Ben has. I dont know if this is because my bf is in the mid to upper teens or if its because I am not training correctly. For my physique, I have massive outer pecs but am lacking sorely inner, upper, lower despite my best efforts to do weak point training.

My muscles are already bigger than the pictured man, but that look he has is eluding me and I'm afraid I'll just turn into a bigger and bigger version of myself as opposed to moving towards my goal.

I have been focusing a lot on squats and have put good mass on what were tiny legs but I also fear that my genetically small waist is now beginning to thicken and I desperately want to avoid that.

I currently do a 3 day split repeated twice a week. My reps are all to 10 and I fail on my last set ideally. Legs///pecs,delts,tri///back,bi,abs

Do you have any advice of training that would produce a body like Ben Henderson's?

Thank you.

 

[Georgia]

We need to see honest pics of you as you are right now and can help you on what to focus on and what to go heavy on.

It would help. You can cancel out your face. Just to show us where you are right now physique-wise and to get our female members hot and bothered

 

[VAF]

This picture especially demonstrates that his muscles are full and even but not big. This is exactly what I want. My outer pecs dwarf his but when I do that pose other parts of my pecs are almost flat to the rib cage. I don't know if that means I need lots more mass or if I'm just training incorrectly. I've been focusing on incline bench press and cable crossovers lately.

 

[VAF]

We need to see honest pics of you as you are right now and can help you on what to focus on and what to go heavy on.

It would help. You can cancel out your face. Just to show us where you are right now physique-wise and to get our female members hot and bothered

Thanks

on the way

edit: should be here in under 5 minutes.

 

[VAF]

How do you insert an image from your hard drive?

 

[VAF]

Did this work?

edit: awesome, left my double chin unerased in last pic to show how skinny guy fat I am. This is me up 48 pounds from 21 months ago.

 

[hard2gain]

Looks like it's time to start cutting! I'm not into that look but if thats what you want then you're gonna have to get to some low BF. He's a fighter so to look like him your gonna have to do a lot of cardio and core work. Then diet like a motherfucker. If you set your mind do it, it won't be a problem.

 

[VAF]

Looks like it's time to start cutting! I'm not into that look but if thats what you want then you're gonna have to get to some low BF. He's a fighter so to look like him your gonna have to do a lot of cardio and core work. Then diet like a motherfucker. If you set your mind do it, it won't be a problem.

Cutting wont be a problem at all. I have a really fast metab and I really have to force myself to eat as much as I do. What I'm mainly concerned about is that muscle "fullness" and development that he has.

 

[denizen]

If you want to look like a fighter, then train like a fighter. Find a local MMA gym and start there.

 

[DaHurt]

Honestly OP you can't fairly compare your muscle fullness and structure to his at this time...you have way too much body fat. I would maintain your current bodybuilding routine and really increase the cardio and focus on your diet - which you didn't mention, what is like?

 

[VAF]

What especially bothers me from an aesthetic stand point is demonstrated in the first picture. From a straight on view my pectoral muscles are non existent. I attribute this to a lack of inner and lower pecs to "frame" the area but if there are any other reasons that jump out please let me know.

 

[Georgia]

You could def. look like that if you cut your BF down. You have the muscle you just need to lose the fat hiding it

 

[VAF]

Honestly OP you can't fairly compare your muscle fullness and structure to his at this time...you have way too much body fat. I would maintain your current bodybuilding routine and really increase the cardio and focus on your diet - which you didn't mention, what is like?

I am a really hard gainer so I try to eat as much as possible. I eat every 2-3 hours and use weight gainer shakes. My staples are chicken parms and ground beef that I cook on weekends.

 

[VAF]

If you want to look like a fighter, then train like a fighter. Find a local MMA gym and start there.

I dabble in MMA fundamentals (jiu jitsu + kickboxing) but its clear most guys at the gyms lack good muscle mass. I want to build myself into a complete athlete and I think that takes a balance of training that I would not get at a martial arts gym alone.

 

[VAF]

You could def. look like that if you cut your BF down. You have the muscle you just need to lose the fat hiding it

2 questions to you:

1.) How, if at all possible, would you recommend I tailor my training to have my pectoral development match Bendo's.

2.) I am on my first week of clomid/nolva, if I attempt to cut fat after my 4 week post cycle therapy (pct) will I end up losing more muscle than normal due to my natural chemicals being off?

edit: heading to gym now, I will be checking this thread tonight. Thanks for all the help so far.

 

[Georgia]

To look like a fighter you don't have to literally go train like one lol. Get with 3J in the diet section and he will hook you up with the food, eating schedule, w/e you need to get your BF down and looking like that. Just keep on training hard!

 

[VAF]

If anyone is still with me, here is another example of the physique I am chasing albeit on a much bigger person. This is taken from a bodybuilding.com profile.

I'm still wondering if there are exercises I need to stay away from in order to achieve this look and if the standard 8-12 rep scheme would still apply if anyone has any thoughts on the matter.

 

[wutangnomo1]

Firstly, genetics play a huge factor in your overall "look" so if your pecs are not even then you're stuck with that.

Ben Henderson is a MMA fighter, he's not overly muscular he's just lean. If you've done MMA training (which you mention you have done some), a lot of the exercises require explosiveness and conditioning... and lots of repetition. It's typically lower weight high rep actions, plyometric type along with static constant resistance. This builds and develops your muscles in a way weight training does not.

Your thread title is a little off because gymnasts do not look like Ben Henderson. Gymnasts have a much stockier and way more musclar physique.

You want to stay away from low reps heavy weight. Stick to lighter weight higher reps, with some drop sets. Deadlifts tend to thicken the mid-section so you may want to avoid that.

 

[VAF]

Firstly, genetics play a huge factor in your overall "look" so if your pecs are not even then you're stuck with that.

Ben Henderson is a MMA fighter, he's not overly muscular he's just lean. If you've done MMA training (which you mention you have done some), a lot of the exercises require explosiveness and conditioning... and lots of repetition. It's typically lower weight high rep actions, plyometric type along with static constant resistance. This builds and develops your muscles in a way weight training does not.

Your thread title is a little off because gymnasts do not look like Ben Henderson. Gymnasts have a much stockier and way more musclar physique.

You want to stay away from low reps heavy weight. Stick to lighter weight higher reps, with some drop sets. Deadlifts tend to thicken the mid-section so you may want to avoid that.

Thanks a lot. "Gymnastic" physique was the best I could come up with. My biggest hangup thus far is that no one has been able to tell me how lower weight, higher rep exercises aesthetically change your muscles.

 

[wutangnomo1]

Thanks a lot. "Gymnastic" physique was the best I could come up with. My biggest hangup thus far is that no one has been able to tell me how lower weight, higher rep exercises aesthetically change your muscles.

The physiques you have pictured are not muscular. They have some muscle mass but are lean more than anything else. You need to diet diet diet.

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter what kind of exercises you do or what weight/rep scheme, it's all in your diet. So you can lift the heaviest or lightest weight but if your diet stinks you ain't going nowhere.

Assuming your diet is spot on, if you do heavier weight/lower reps you will end up building a lot of muscle mass with full muscle bellies. Ben Henderson does not have full muscle bellies, he has lean muscle but is nothing overly muscular. Heavier weight/lower reps increases muscular hypertrophy = bigger muscles.

If you want a look like Ben Henderson, consider taking up swimming (not long-distance but short power bursts of 100-200 meter swims).