Rant for the Smaller Guys

Off Topic
41

[quote]fitfreak wrote:
Since when is being big always due to how you train? And since when does being big mean you know what you are doing or that you have achieved something?

I have had friends who worked out once a week, and not very hard, who looked like bodybuilders. Genetics seems to have something to do with it.

I’m 5’4" and ectomorphic. I don’t ever want to weigh more than 150lbs. Why? Because I’ll look like a bowling ball. Do I want to be muscular? Yes, but not at the expense of looking like a circus freak.

My brother is a pro bodybuilder and he is 5’5". When training for a competition he weighs approximately 185lbs. Guess what his comp weight is…that’s right 137lbs. Why do you think that is? Because he looks like shit unless his body is more proportional and being lighter looks good for him.

I laugh to myself at all the “big” guys in my hardcore gym when I see them stare at me doing pistols ATG or 1 arm pullups. They feel like gods smashing their dumbbells to the floor after a set of incline presses. I weigh 135lbs and don’t have to smash my 80lb dummbells to the floor after a set of incline presses. I can actually control them and place them back on the rack without all the noise.

Being “big” isn’t everybody’s goal and shouldn’t be something to admire unless it was achieved through intelligent training and nutrition. Not every “big” guy in the gym has done something worthy of admiring in order to get that way not to mention some could do anything and achieve that size.

If you’re unable to see anything other than this whole “big” thing when it comes to training, then continue on with your blinders.

I’ll save you the trouble…I know I’m just jealous because I can’t get big, right? Already covered that angle in my post, but thanks anyway.[/quote]

This is me at 5’7" 180lbs. Do I look disproportionate or a circus freak? I dont think I have 40lbs of fat to lose. Your post has to be one of the stupidest posts ever to appear on T-Nation.

Oh and I’m quite sure you have friends who workout once a week and look like bodybuilders…

42

[quote]fitfreak wrote:
Since when is being big always due to how you train? And since when does being big mean you know what you are doing or that you have achieved something?

I have had friends who worked out once a week, and not very hard, who looked like bodybuilders. Genetics seems to have something to do with it.

I’m 5’4" and ectomorphic. I don’t ever want to weigh more than 150lbs. Why? Because I’ll look like a bowling ball. Do I want to be muscular? Yes, but not at the expense of looking like a circus freak.

My brother is a pro bodybuilder and he is 5’5". When training for a competition he weighs approximately 185lbs. Guess what his comp weight is…that’s right 137lbs. Why do you think that is? Because he looks like shit unless his body is more proportional and being lighter looks good for him.

I laugh to myself at all the “big” guys in my hardcore gym when I see them stare at me doing pistols ATG or 1 arm pullups. They feel like gods smashing their dumbbells to the floor after a set of incline presses. I weigh 135lbs and don’t have to smash my 80lb dummbells to the floor after a set of incline presses. I can actually control them and place them back on the rack without all the noise.

Being “big” isn’t everybody’s goal and shouldn’t be something to admire unless it was achieved through intelligent training and nutrition. Not every “big” guy in the gym has done something worthy of admiring in order to get that way not to mention some could do anything and achieve that size.

If you’re unable to see anything other than this whole “big” thing when it comes to training, then continue on with your blinders.

I’ll save you the trouble…I know I’m just jealous because I can’t get big, right? Already covered that angle in my post, but thanks anyway.[/quote]

Short man syndrome.

43

[quote]PGA wrote:

Oh and I’m quite sure you have friends who workout once a week and look like bodybuilders…[/quote]

I am confused as to what some consider the look of a bodybuilder. While genetics are important, I don’t know many people who could look like a bodybuilder while only training once a week. They might be muscular or lean or both but taking that to an extreme with a once a week schedule is unlikely regardless of how good their genetics are.

But hey, everyone always knows someone who knows someone who can do damn near anything, huh?

I know a guy who knows a guy who has never lifted a weight but is as big as Ronnie Coleman. Maybe bigger.

44

[quote]Avoids Roids wrote:
The way that YOU should interpret my post CaLaw, is that my point is that you and your idiotic posts about the over (under) 200 pound club make you about the dumbest and least respected poster on this whole forum. Your constant sarcasm and blatant attempts at belittling and criticizing many people who ask legitimate questions are rather tiresome. You don’t make contributions. Your comments are typically meant to harrass and show us how unhappy you are in life. Why don’t you reinvent yourself as a worthwhile addition to the human race instead of just providing fodder for those that support the position that some sperm should never be taught to swim. Does that make my point any clearer to you now little man? Take it like a MAN for once in your life and just go away. However, I am sure that the little boy in you will have you coming back with some inane comments that just make you look even more foolish to everyone here. What a waste of what could have been a good mind and worthwhile contributor![/quote]

So you’re not going to give me e-props?

Seriously, dude, I’ve read your posts. All you can do is parrot whatever article you’ve read on this very site. That’s all a lot of guys can do. In fact, I can think of about six posters who have their own thoughts.

So if I’m pissing off a bunch of people who have no personal success to base their posts on, then I can live with that.

45

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
“Not everybody can be BIG and TALL but everybody can be BIG.”

Stop being in such a hurry to insult people.[/quote]

That was his point? Sort of banal, isn’t it?

If a person needs three paragraphs to make a non-debateable point, then he is deserving of whatever insults flow to him.

46

[quote]Professor X wrote:
PGA wrote:

Oh and I’m quite sure you have friends who workout once a week and look like bodybuilders…

I am confused as to what some consider the look of a bodybuilder. While genetics are important, I don’t know many people who could look like a bodybuilder while only training once a week. They might be muscular or lean or both but taking that to an extreme with a once a week schedule is unlikely regardless of how good their genetics are.

But hey, everyone always knows someone who knows someone who can do damn near anything, huh?

I know a guy who knows a guy who has never lifted a weight but is as big as Ronnie Coleman. Maybe bigger.[/quote]

Or how like everyone has a friend who has a friend who can bench 700 and never lifts.

47

[quote]John S. wrote:
Professor X wrote:
PGA wrote:

Oh and I’m quite sure you have friends who workout once a week and look like bodybuilders…

I am confused as to what some consider the look of a bodybuilder. While genetics are important, I don’t know many people who could look like a bodybuilder while only training once a week. They might be muscular or lean or both but taking that to an extreme with a once a week schedule is unlikely regardless of how good their genetics are.

But hey, everyone always knows someone who knows someone who can do damn near anything, huh?

I know a guy who knows a guy who has never lifted a weight but is as big as Ronnie Coleman. Maybe bigger.

Or how like everyone has a friend who has a friend who can bench 700 and never lifts.[/quote]
Yes, They are called Samoans/;-)…

48

I’m not a big guy at 5’8" 175. At the gym where I work out there are about 3 guys and 1 girl that I know have competed on an amateur level and all of them are monsters compared to me…they are also all the nicest people in the gym, you couldn’t ask for a better environment when they are around. They notice when us “little guys” improve a bit and always offer encouragement.

And, there’s a couple of douchebags, some of which are my size and some are bigger. Size doesn’t constitute personality.

Personally I only notice/care about the bad ones when they interrupt my own workout with their antics.

But I would take a 100 “meatheads” over the invasion of the Abercrombie and Fitch model boys that we had the other night.

49

[quote]Professor X wrote:
TornadoTommy wrote:
Wow! A 405 bench @ 253 lbs.! Is that a record?

Gee, considering most bodybuilders go for reps and not one rep maxes, what is your point? I won’t even list the weight I work with, but if I ever do, you can bet I am NOT discussing how much I can only do one time but how much I can do SEVERAL REPS WITH. That means your remark is pretty damn baseless. Most guys who regularly put up 405lbs on a weekly baseless for several reps usually have quite a bit of size on them. [/quote]

A legit 405 bench is impressive at any weight in my opinion. It is far easier to deadlift 600 at 250 then it is to bench 405, and I think most guys who have been there will agree with me. (And a legit 600 squat blows both of them out of the water.)

50

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Why do so many of you want recognition for for mediocrity? Anyone can be average.[/quote]

'cause a lot of them are less than average :wink:

easy, isn’t?

51

[quote]TornadoTommy wrote:
Wow! A 405 bench @ 253 lbs.! Is that a record?[/quote]

Maybe you work out at some bizarro gym, but I would guess I could count on my fingers and toes the number of guys I have seen at the local Golds who bench 405 or over. Most college football teams only have 15-20 guys who can do it (granted it’s been a while since I researched that).

52

405 pounds is a lot of weight for anybody to bench. However, I have always considered that when a person can bench double his bodyweight, whatever it is, he has reached a pinnacle that few can ever reach. I have come within 10% in years past but never reached it and, as I am now on the ‘other’ side of ageing’s bell curve, doubt I ever will.

53

[quote]LAMF wrote:
Professor X wrote:

There seem to be many of you who turn your nose up at guys who you should probably be following some of the advice from. I guess it makes some feel better to believe that getting that large happened by accident and that you couldn’t possibly learn something from someone unless they were quoting some internet article.

I never approached lifting like that. If someone was larger than me, I shut the fuck up and watched them. Sometimes I asked them for advice. Even though all of that advice shouldn’t be followed, that type of attitude is probably why I am one of those big guys now. It is really stupid that some guys here seem to think they know more than everyone else even though they are dwarfed by so many others in the gym.

OP, this is some of the best advice you will get. I have found that keeping your mouth shut and watching and learning from people whom have achieved more than yourself in whatever your goals, will get you much farther than reading all the mags/articles/newsletters/books whatever.

Try to learn something from every guy who’s bigger than you. You don’t have become his disciple-fan-boy-deluxe, but if a guy is bigger than you he probably has something in his knowledge base that you can glean from.

Almost all of my knowledge base comes from RL guys whom are/where ( some have passed away ) bigger than me. They don’t know the brand names of this or that, allot of them don’t give a fuck about T-Nation, or Flex, or whatever, but they can train. I haven’t used everything from everyone but I know I am so much better off for having the humility to learn from much more advanced lifters, at a very early age.

Body Building does not begin and end, on this forum any more than it does so in a mag, or a book.

PS; OP, good work on your strict form, that has it’s place.

PPS; OP, Stop giving a fuck what people think. I train variations on the Dumbbell Press that most people think are bogus…You know what fuck 'em, I get results.

PPPS; Oh yeah and Peter North has a small dick.

[/quote]
Good post. In response to the whiner: I’m 54 and up until a 6mo or so did my own thing. I took a year off for an injury but at a clean 50 or 51yrs old, I was pretty strong for a guy who went to the gym 4 days a wk, and worked hard for a half hour. No talking, just lifting. More about being in shape so I didn’t have to take crap from someone 15 yrs younger not looking good in the mirror.

At 5’9" 200, I benched around 250, declined 300, had a strong back, but bottom line, I did same workout all the time. I just lifted to be strong. Now I ask a lot of questions. I’ve learned more in the last six mo and have had less injuries by finding out that you always didn’t have to lift heavy, it’s ok to do more reps and I do things I never did before.

Bottom line, jerkoffs come in all sizes. You sound like the jerkoff for complaining he has a gallon jug of water. BIG FUCKIN DEAL. And a belt he can’t fit in his bag. Wow. Was he dressed OK? I mean come on, he probably spends more time thinking about what he is going to do at the gym than time you actually do at the gym.

Keep the focus on yourself dude. I mind my own business but If I need to know something, I ask the guy who looks like he knows the answer. I think I would be asking him and not you. I don’t think it would be a good idea to tell him you think he should have a smaller belt and use the water fountain. LOL.

54

[quote]Avoids Roids wrote:
405 pounds is a lot of weight for anybody to bench. However, I have always considered that when a person can bench double his bodyweight, whatever it is, he has reached a pinnacle that few can ever reach. I have come within 10% in years past but never reached it and, as I am now on the ‘other’ side of ageing’s bell curve, doubt I ever will.[/quote]

I personally think that “relative strength” had to have been started by some very short skinny guy pissed off that no one was paying attention to his one arm pull ups in the gym. No one really cares about “relative strength” if you are still “absolutely weaker” unless this is true powerlifting competition with weight classes.

Some weights lifted are impressive regardless of how much you weigh. It isn’t like someone weighing 260lbs who puts up 405lbs for 8 reps should be ignored or degraded since most people aren’t lifting that much at all. I find it pretty retarded that anyone like the OP would look at someone who weighed 250lbs and claim that his 405lbs bench press for reps is somehow unimpressive. But then, people like that will always remain smaller. They are too busy trying to receive credit for minimal action instead of doing what it takes to be equal with the big boys.

So far in this thread, rail thin guys and midgets have tried to act as if getting that big and that strong just happens to some people. Beliefs like that are why I don’t even tell people in person where I started at. They want to believe I always had some size on me. I guess that makes them feel better than thinking I worked hard for it.

55

[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
“Not everybody can be BIG and TALL but everybody can be BIG.”

Stop being in such a hurry to insult people.

That was his point? Sort of banal, isn’t it?

If a person needs three paragraphs to make a non-debateable point, then he is deserving of whatever insults flow to him.
[/quote]

It was his point and then you made the same one.

Sort of banal isn’t it?

56

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
It was his point and then you made the same one.

Sort of banal isn’t it?[/quote]

Absolutely!

57

[quote]keaster wrote:
CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Yet another little guy who obsesses over the big guys. You guys in the “under 200 club” need to get over it.

Be happy with meeting your own goals, and stop worrying about what everyone else is doing.

Sour grapes??[/quote]

Yes, it’s a classic case of sour graps. There are so many little guys who were never able to get big. So they find every way imaginable to degrade big guys. There are three primary ways of doing this:

  1. All big guys are fat.
  2. Girls don’t like big guys. They like guys who look like me/Brad Pitt.
  3. I have more “pound for pound”/relative strength.

I have yet to meet a little guy who, deep down, didn’t really want to get more muscular. Indeed, one T-Mag contributor, after failing in his quest to get big, finally adopted “arguments” 1 & 2. As someone who has followed this site for years, it’s pretty amusing to see sour grapes in action. (Most of the time I have to infer that a poster is suffering from sour grapeitis.)

Listen, I will never move on the mat as quickly as someone who is shorter and weighs less than I do. But I don’t go around degrading guys who, because of their smaller size, are able to move like lightening. If anything, I give them propers for their speed.

Once a person meets his own goals, he doesn’t look for false measurements to make him feel superior to others.

58

[quote]BigRagoo wrote:
gojira wrote:
BigRagoo wrote:
tom63 wrote:
but at least you still can use your Super Jr. Weenie hut membership.

Ahahaha, first time I’ve seen a Spongebob reference.

First time I’ve seen someone admit recognizing one.

Come on Gojira, I have a three year old son that loves the show. Give me a little break.

Oh, ok I admit I often watch with him too.[/quote]

Well then, I guess I can admit that I TIVO “The Tick”…and “Robot Chicken” (my fav).

59

[quote]gojira wrote:
BigRagoo wrote:
gojira wrote:
BigRagoo wrote:
tom63 wrote:
but at least you still can use your Super Jr. Weenie hut membership.

Ahahaha, first time I’ve seen a Spongebob reference.

First time I’ve seen someone admit recognizing one.

Come on Gojira, I have a three year old son that loves the show. Give me a little break.

Oh, ok I admit I often watch with him too.

Well then, I guess I can admit that I TIVO “The Tick”…and “Robot Chicken” (my fav).

[/quote]

Robot Chicken is f’ing hilarious.

60

[quote]gojira wrote:
Well then, I guess I can admit that I TIVO “The Tick”…and “Robot Chicken” (my fav).

[/quote]

Don’t be afraid…I regularly watch Rocko’s Modern Life!