[quote]MassiveGuns wrote:
[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
Bodyweight gain is going to coincide with most appearance-based goals. The majority of the time, a lifter will have to gain weight (at least temporarily) in order to end up looking better, whatever “looking better” means to them.
If that 6’2" 170-pound guy wants to end up looking like Vin Diesel, I’d make it clear that he’s really looking to add 40+ pounds in the long-term. That’s definitely an eye-opening surprise to most newbs. If he wanted to end up looking like Jason Statham or some random slightly-smaller dude, he might end up in the lean 170-180 range, after being closer to 190-200 for a while…[/quote]
This was a good post.
Are you saying that a trainer may have to go through some period where they do not look ideal in order to reach their end goal?
[/quote][/quote]
Okay…
To be clear, when I wrote that, I also quoted and was replying to a comment you had posted:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
I am just making it clear that yes, working on gaining body weight should be a goal in itself along with making sure most of it is muscle.[/quote]
I definitely agree that the end goal is, overall, more important than the middle steps it takes to get there. It’s why basic goalsetting involves making a long-term goal, then working backwards to determine the short and mid-term goals/steps needed to get there.
But I disagree with your statement “working on gaining bodyweight should be a goal in itself”. It’s inaccurate to say that gaining bodyweight should be the goal. The goal should be the goal, and that’s most often going to involve gaining bodyweight (presuming the long-term goal involves being more muscular).
This could be us misunderstanding/miscommunicating again, but stating “gaining bodyweight should be a goal in itself” could easily be misunderstood as “if the number on the scale is going up, you’re doing good.” Instead, I’d say it’s important to treat several methods of progress-tracking fairly equal (depending on the individual lifter’s exact goal): tracking measurements/tape measuring, what the scale says, what the mirror shows/how clothes fit, and performance in the gym. The combination of those will help keep someone on track better than overfocusing on any one of them.[/quote]
I can definitely see the merits of both of the approaches to bodybuilding that seem to be the polar opposites of the spectrum in these threads. The way I see it is this… There are not many people that get involved in bodybuilding and strength sports without having the goal of gaining muscle. Regardless of sport, not many people end staying in the same weight category that they start off in.
If we can all agree that gaining muscle is the end goal, then most people want to know what the best approach is to do that. We all want to get where we’re going as fast as possible. It is common sense that if you want to gain muscle, then you need to eat. It’s pretty simple really. It makes no sense to shortchange yourself muscle gains because your self image is so fragile you can’t handle carrying a bit of excess body fat. When you’re done you can diet it off, and if you’re lazy like me you can even drug it off.
Once you’ve exhausted your newbie gains, you need to fight for every single pound. You literally have to force your body to grow. Who gives a flying fuck about minute differences in insulin sensitivity. Insulin is considered to be one of the most anabolic hormones in your body. Read that again if you didn’t already know that. You need to jack up your insulin to shuttle all that nutritious protein you (hopefully) shovel into your mouth into your muscles so they can grow. That the reason that sumo wrestlers, despite the fact they are not renown for their use of aas carry the most muscle mass of any group of athletes. All they do it sit around eating high gi meals like rice all day long. They literally give their body no choice but to grow. Now I’m not saying we all need to go sumo, but there’s a lesson to be learned there. I don’t know personally anyone who got fucking huge without getting a bit fat. That’s not to say they don’t exist, but they are far and away in the minority. I see no harm in saying “ok, I’m not going to look my best for the next year but I’m going to do whatever it takes to mass the fuck up”. Yeah it’s unhealthy, but fuck it so what, it’s temporary and will make you a shitload more progress than if you didn’t do it.[/quote]
Oh and I missed out the point about goals. I’ve never seen anyone add one hundred pounds to bench squat and dead, and not gain a ton of muscle. Most people would get where they want to go that much faster if they set two goals and pursued them with almost religious laser like focus.
1)add one hundred pounds to the big three
2)eat like a horse till 1) is reached
The rest are insignificant, especially obsessing over tape measures and an inane fascination with the mirror.