First Tatt and Working out

Nekro Man

Hi Guys

i'm new to tatt's so if any of this sounds stupid, forgive me

I'm planning on getting a Biomech piece over my heart in a couple of months and I'm excited about it

but i plan on hitting the gym seriously in the next few months, not exactly Bulking up, but getting some tone

my question is if I get this piece on my chest and i start to tone up my pecs, will it stretch badly?

thanks in advance

Nekro

Diceicle

you shouldnt have to worry about stretching as its not like you'll be going from stick figure to beefcake in record time. The only issue may be the tenderness of the area, the possibility of your tat getting damaged due to excessive strain and movement of that area and sweat getting into the "wound" while healing. While the tat is healing it would probably be best to avoid or tone down excercises such as bench presses and chest flys etc.

Nekro Man

i might just stick to cardio while it's healing in that case.

i dont plan on beefing up at all tbh, just want a bit of tone on the auld bod, that and fitness are my goals, i dont want to be taking Whey or anything

Diceicle

Yeah cardio would be grand just as long as you dont strain the area while its healing, really the worst that would probably happen would be you'd knock a barbell off it or, due to the excessive strain on the area, the ink wouldn't take properly and the tattoo would be patchy. Just regarding the whey, its just protein, casein is another form you could take, protein takes more energy to break down which means the body works harder which means it burns more fat which gets you toned quicker............but thats another forum......:P

Nekro Man

Diceicle wrote: »

but thats another forum......:P

:rolleyes: haha only reason i brought it up was cause a mate of mine's on it and he's quite bulked up

I'll prob tone the gym back quite a lot when i get it, stupid question but approx healing time? when can i go back to a full routine?

Diceicle

Its different for everyone but generally around the 6 week mark. Get yourself a tube of Bepanthen too, you can pick it up in Boots in the baby section, its for nappy rash but is good for keeping your tattoo moist.

Nekro Man

and cover it with cling film if i'm not mistaken?

can you recommend a good biomech artist? i've heard good things about rob in snakebite

Diceicle

Yeah cling film is the way to go but you dont need to keep it covered the whole time, just for a few hours really and maybe when in bed so you dont ruin the bed-clothes.

As for an artist, I'm not sure Rob has done much Biomech, but I might be wrong. Pawel ( http://www.myspace.com/skincitytattoodublin ) does some nice bio style. I can't think of anyone else in Ireland or Dublin to recommend right now.

Basically there's 2 Bio styles......Biomech, like what HR Giger designs but I dont think his art transfers well into tattoo as its hard to replicate the tones he creates and Bio-organic, like what Guy Aitchison does www.hyperspacestudios.com .

Decide on what type of style you want, then go to an artist that has a stunning portfolio with heaps of awesome looking biomech / bio-organic pieces. Just because an artist has done some good tattoos doesnt mean they're good at all styles of tattoo.

Keep yourself open to the possibility of travelling to England / France or attending a convention to get the best tattoo you can. If you pick your studio based on the fact that the artists ok and its a short bus ride away then its a surefire way of getting a mediocre tattoo. Hope thats of help.

Nekro Man

yeah thats fantastic really appreciate the advice

what i have in mind is a circuit board underneath my skin with components that reflect aspects of my life, so not really organic more i'm an android covered in human flesh if that makes sense?

Diceicle

Cool, best thing to do is get all your resources and inspiration together, print them out and bring them to an artist to sketch something out. As I wouldn't necessarily class a circuit board tattoo as Biomech (though it probably is in some sense) you want to try and get someone who is good at photo-realistic tattoo.

Have a look at this by Dan Hazelton: http://www.danhazelton.com/t23.html
Its not biomech but it shows a good way of organically integrating a tattoo.

Nekro Man

it's not a direct circuit board, i want the skin to look torn away and the board will be underneath

i have a rough sketch done out in Photoshop so i'll bring that in when i have the funds together

Jimmy Bottlehead

Like the other posters said, unless you're seriously bulking up you'll be fine. Couple things though:

There's no such thing as 'tone', unless it's used in an audio context. What you mean is getting more muscular while dropping bodyfat.
Whey is indeed just a protein - think of it as a chicken fillet, or a can of tuna, in liquid form.
I was back in the gym after about two weeks I think, keep it moist (not too much though), and clean, and it'll be grand.

If you need advice regarding fitness, hit up the Fitness forum here on Boards. Dispels many of the stupid myths people have regarding fitness.

Best of luck!

Nekro Man

more excellent advice thanks for the post

yeah i've just heard tone thrown around a lot so i assumed it was the right phrase, but yeah i do mean more muscle definition and less body fat