T Nation

The 'Big Man' Stance

Bodybuilding
#1

Hey, I’ve recently been noticing, how a lot of guys try to look and walk tough by holding themselves in a certain posture, presumably to make themselves look bigger and tougher. I’ve actually been guilty of doing it myself for quite a few years. I’ll try to describe it, and see if you know what I’m talking about:

They hold their shoulders up, and stick their arms out to their sides, bend them at the elbows and turn their palms facing backwards. Have any of y’all noticed guys who stand or walk around like this?

It’s kind of like the picture above, but the hands are held out to the side, not in front of the body. Also, instead of being a temporary pose, it’s a constant habit. A lot of guys do it, and it gives them that burly-looking ‘tough ape’ walk.

#2

[quote]JohnnyBlaze wrote:
Hey, I’ve recently been noticing, how a lot of guys try to look and walk tough by holding themselves in a certain posture, presumably to make themselves look bigger and tougher. I’ve actually been guilty of doing it myself for quite a few years. I’ll try to describe it, and see if you know what I’m talking about:

They hold their shoulders up, and stick their arms out to their sides, bend them at the elbows and turn their palms facing backwards. Have any of y’all noticed guys who stand or walk around like this?

It’s kind of like the picture below, but the hands are held out to the side, not in front of the body. Also, instead of being a temporary pose, it’s a constant habit. A lot of guys do it, and it gives them that burly-looking ‘tough ape’ walk.
[/quote]

That is called imaginary lat syndrome and seems to be performed mostly by skinny people who are much smaller than they seem to think they are. If your chest measurement is over 52", then I could see a legit reason to stand or walk like that to some degree. If you wear a size 46 suit jacket, then you are simply being a jackass and someone somewhere is laughing at you.

#3

[quote]Professor X wrote:

That is called imaginary lat syndrome and seems to be performed mostly by skinny people who are much smaller than they seem to think they are. If your chest measurement is over 52", then I could see a legit reason to stand or walk like that to some degree. If you wear a size 46 suit jacket, then you are simply being a jackass and someone somewhere is laughing at you.[/quote]

Yup. Around the univerity weightroom ILS seems to affect all the skinny punks who don’t like touching heavy things. It’s kind of like a cobra spreading it’s hood when its scared.

#4

LMAO! That’s a hilarious analogy, but so true. The thing is, I never noticed myself subconsciously doing it until at work one day, after filling up the company car with petrol, I walked out of the service station and some cheeky bastard walked out behind me, mocking my walk by exaggerating my movements. It made me realize how ridiculous I looked.

So now I am trying to correct that and re-learn my movements, instead of trying to mimick the mannerisms of bigger men. Let my shoulders relax, keep my palms facing the sides of my body as they naturally should (instead of being anteriorly rotated; facing backwards), and try not to walk with my legs spread too wide like I’ve got balls bigger than what they really are.

I’ve been such a jackass! And now I see other guys doing the same thing I used to do. The anterior palm rotation actually seems to be a widespread habit among working class Aussie men.

#5

Congratulations, you’ve spotted ‘Wheelbarrow Guy’.

He always walks around like he’s pushing an imaginary wheelbarrow.

He works out at my gym, too.

#6

They look like they’re holding huge suitcases under their arms…“Drop the suitcases!”

#7

Used to see guys do this all the time when I was in the service - 150lbs and all!

That being said, Gary Strydom is a big dude, not sure he has ILS…

#8

Doesn’t this happen all the time in nature. Like the prairie chicken that puffs out it’s feathers in the mating season to look bigger and stronger and more desirable to the chicks (literally).

D

#9

It’s the Angry Chicken stance from an obscure form of Kung Foo.

Look out for these guys. That stance is a sure sign of a straight up killer.

#10

Part of walking with your palms facing in can be a sign of a muscle imbalance (possibly).

I think the walking-tough look can also be deeply embedded in our genes.

If I’m feeling especially confident for some reason, I notice I walk with a different posture and with my head tilted upward a little, and I tend to smile more and my eyes are open a little wider.

Body language can sometimes be difficult to control, and is a very good way to communicate without speaking.

#11

i walk with exagerrated good posture, but not on purpose. i just happen to think i’m King Shit, so my arms swing like crazy, my hips wag, and my head is always up

my friends tell me i “walk like a slut”

-Brian

#12

I am new to T-Nation and have recently bulked from 154lbs to 190lbs over the past 9 months, mainly using 5 rep training. More recently my family have commented on the way i walk, with my arms flaring out from the sides as some people tend to walk pretending to be big. I am not, but my lats have grown so much that my arms just rest like that pushed out from the lats.

I’m thinking of cutting down on lat-pulldowns so i won’t walk around like a freak. It might also be an indicator that close grip underhand pulldowns are quite effective too. My parents think i put on that posture and i hope it doesn’t look that way to other people. But i want to be strong and big so should i really care what people think?

#13

I read that Bush had been coached to walk like that to seem more “impressive”

#14

I find that on leg days I waddle instead of walking normal. My legs are killing me and i just drag them along by swaying my body. Must look like im trying to look big, but it just hurts.

#15

“I’m standing here, standing in my big boy stance. Hurry up and give me the microphone before I bust in my pants…”

#16

[quote]big balls wrote:
I am new to T-Nation and have recently bulked from 154lbs to 190lbs over the past 9 months, mainly using 5 rep training. More recently my family have commented on the way i walk, with my arms flaring out from the sides as some people tend to walk pretending to be big. I am not, but my lats have grown so much that my arms just rest like that pushed out from the lats.

I’m thinking of cutting down on lat-pulldowns so i won’t walk around like a freak. It might also be an indicator that close grip underhand pulldowns are quite effective too. My parents think i put on that posture and i hope it doesn’t look that way to other people. But i want to be strong and big so should i really care what people think?[/quote]

Frenchy Please…(I;m a french fucker too so I can say that). There is no way you are so big you worry about the way you walk yet.

You WILL naturally tend to walk more like a bulldog…not to seem big, but your body simply cannot move with the same exact symetical movements with 40 lbs of new muscle.

#17

[quote]BIGRAGOO wrote:
“I’m standing here, standing in my big boy stance. Hurry up and give me the microphone before I bust in my pants…”[/quote]

Onyx – Slam

#18

I used to think my back & triceps were too big to allow me to hold my arms properly, but it turned out to be a postural shoulder problem :smiley: - ah well.

I refer to the walk as the pigeon walk - chest out, head up, arms out and head bobbing forwards and backwards in time with the step.

I remember when I used to work doors you would get guys that would square up to you and stick their chest out and their chins up/out too. If that’s an evolutionary trait it’s a stupid one because they were alot easier to drop with a swift upper-cut that way.

#19

[quote]malonetd wrote:
BIGRAGOO wrote:
“I’m standing here, standing in my big boy stance. Hurry up and give me the microphone before I bust in my pants…”

Onyx – Slam[/quote]

That’s the first thing that popped into my head after reading the title of the thread.

#20

[quote]malonetd wrote:
BIGRAGOO wrote:
“I’m standing here, standing in my big boy stance. Hurry up and give me the microphone before I bust in my pants…”

Onyx – Slam[/quote]

Oh, and “Let the BOYS be BOYS!!!”