The Flame-Free Confession Thread

Yes and yes. Substantial effects. Although my first entire year of lurking was literally just reading every article that was put out and @Alpha’s log. I don’t know why I found that but I was obsessed and checked pretty much every day if it has been updated. It pushed my idea of what was possible.
Next thing, I started to check out some of the sub forums (I can’t say why, but a lot of time has passed between checking articles and this one log before I looked at anything else).
I then joined by asking a question myself. I can’t remember what it was but I think @T3hPwnisher answered. He was well respected in the forums and the only thing I remember about this is that someone asked him if he wrote a book about training already. By that time I didn’t know if that was a joke or not but I was honored that this guy who seemed to be an expert would answer.
Not surprisingly, I checked out his log. That was a pretty mind blowing inside as well (and still is, haha).

This is in short how I remember joining Tnation. I have learned a ton about lifting and more importantly attitude towards training. I have learned a ton and I don’t know if I would have ever competed in strongman without Tnation. I am thankful for all the advice that has been given to me, all the inside that people have shared with me and all the kicks up my butt that I have received when I was on the wrong path.

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I remember that post! I was excited to see someone else with some interest in strongman. Means a lot that you considered my response so significant. I got help along the way in my own training, and have tried to pay it forward as much as I can.

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I would do 1,000 hours of community service if it meant I could hit individuals who intentionally misled people with unqualified controversial blanket statements.

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I lurked for a while but pretty sure it didn’t impact my lifting. I train alone and it was good to get a sense of what others were doing. I jumped on board to start a training log mostly to keep myself accountable and also to have some banter with like minded (sometimes) people. I don’t know that many folks outside of the forums who really care for lifting and want to talk about it. Being around here for a while did make me appreciate how little most people really know about this weight training business and how everyone (most anyway) is always looking for the next best program or quickest results or magic pill.

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As someone who has been a career writer for a decade I assure you that these people exist in every industry, as I’m sure you suspect. I was one of them for a while!

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Just a breakdown on how much these “alternative remedies” have cost me in the last FIVE years:

$8,000

Grandmother suddenly developed jaundice. Took her to the hospital. Doctors suspected liver cancer and warded her. Did all sorts of tests. Finally she told us she was consuming a herb called Brotowali(I think you may have heard of it), which has been shown to elevate liver enzymes in a small percentage of people. False scare. Could have just ceased taking it and supplemented with liver supplements.

$30,000

Bone infection in leg which caused fluid buildup, finally resulting in the need for an operation to scrape the bone. A simple course of antibiotics when the pain started would have solved the problem, according to doctors. But no, she went for fucking accupuncture and Chinese herbal prescriptions instead. Till today, she refuses to tell me which TCM clinic she visited because “they had good intentions”. The bastards “treated” her for months.

Why didn’t we detect the problem earlier? Because she’s an old school Chinese woman. They are like fucking Jedi when it comes to pain tolerance. She won’t tell anyone about any pain she’s suffering or let us notice any discomfort until it gets unbearable. I couldn’t even get her to the GP because of the traditional family hierachy we follow and had to bring the GP to her. She’s the kind of people those charlatans prey on.

$7,000-8,000

Relative in China takes schizophrenic son to TCM practitioner. The fucker says he has “head wind(tou feng)”. Does accupuncture and puts his fucking head under a HEAT LAMP for half an hour each session. The kid, 22yrs at the time, decides he’s feeling better after a couple of sessions and goes off his meds. Then he leaves home and starts wandering the streets.

I have to fly over and pay a bunch of guys to abduct him on a busy street and take him to the mental hospital, which is a miserable shithole an hour’s drive from the city. Then I have to pay for his hospitalization and token bribes to doctors and selected nurses for better treatment(yes, this is the norm when healthcare is socialized and doctors are being paid peanuts).

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I was lifting for about four years when I became a big fan of John Meadows. I started reading up on his website, and quickly stumbled across a bunch of hyperlinks to articles he had written for T-Nation.
…and then I lurked and read stuff on here for a year and a half anonymously before I became a member and started posting. I learned a lot of little stuff that ended up snowballing into big stuff.

For example, I learned what a natural bodybuilder actually looks like – @The_Mighty_Stu or @robstein or @BrickHead. Instead of continuing to force-feed myself (which I had been doing for the past four years in the name of size), it lead to me dropping 30 pounds (that I didn’t even know I had on my frame). Not only did I look better…I felt better and I was able to perform better. It re-jump-started my metabolism; it helped me learn how my body handles food and stress, etc. And because I could see my muscles more clearly in the mirror, I was actually able to assess imbalances and weak areas. This lead to better/specific gym goals and results. I could continue in this vein…It snowballed.

There are a lot of examples like that (embracing pain/pushing past it, mind-muscle connection, intensity) that snowballed.

Lurking didn’t teach me the basics or get me started. Lurking took me to the next level.

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I know the anabolic window is tight, but shesshhh

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@dt79

I would like to read a full account of the last one. That could make an interesting book on its own.

How does hiring street thugs to abduct but not harm your schizophrenic relative go? That must be one hell of a conversation. I wouldn’t even know where to find the organized crime in my city (Italian resteraunts?) let alone hire them. Cool.

Also, I’d like to read about the interactions with the mental hospital.

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Holistic medicine is complete bullshit. The new gimmick is “natural” tooth whitening with charcoal. People are using charcoal to brush their teeth. I tell all of them to stop and that they are doing irreversible harm to their teeth. Most ignore me then complain of sensitivity at their next visit. I guess listening to your dentist instead of some instagram whore that didn’t complete high school isn’t en vogue,

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Shit man, and I thought dealing with the whole ‘de-tox’ thing was bad.

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Check this thread out, I think you’ll love it:

I lurked for around 10 years. I’ve been on Bodybuilding dot com and was on OG member of supplement reviews around 15-16. Acted kind of like an asshole (luckily not all the time because I didn’t have internet at home only at friends houses or the school) and was too intimidated to come here and do that with all the original dudes here. I did learn a shit ton though. Wish I would have learned more about slow progression earlier though tbh. Would have saved a lot of overreaching and injuries.

Starving can cure HIV? Have you heard of Africa?

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Lol, my thoughts exactly.

Here’s what happened.

I go to the hospital to meet his doctor. I request that they send people to apprehend him but he says that won’t be possible unless a police report is made and he is likely to cause harm to another person. But he says he knows a guy who can help me out.

So he takes me to a security guard and the security guard introduces me to 2 of his friends.

Later in the evening, I find the kid on the street and take him for dinner. Then I call the security guard and tell him the location. Outside the restaurant, I see the security guard. He motions to me to keep on walking. Further up in front is one of his friends. As we approach his friend, the security guard tackles the kid from behind and his friend rushes up to us and restrains him with a straight jacket. Then they pull him to the side of the road where the 3rd guy is waiting in a mini van. They toss him in, I get in and we drive to the mental hospital.

It’s not hard to find these guys in a 2nd tier city in China. For example, someone you know is probably going to know someone who does something like that as a sideline or professionally. There is rampant corruption and crime going on and the Rule of Law, though extremely strict, is rarely enforced because systemic corruption. That’s what you get with lots of government control. The ones who are supposed to enforce the law are paid peanuts so they make an extra buck taking a bribe for letting you break it. If you wanna know who to bribe at higher levels, get a lawyer who has worked in the public sector before.

You mean the bribes to doctors? It’s very common and sort of an unspoken rule. I just go up to him and give him the cash in a “red packet(hongbao)” and tell him it’s a small gift to thank him and request that he treats the patient well. The fucker will get it and just take your money without hesitation.

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was that the floating head guy?

No, that dimwit was on ketamine lol. Besides, people in China don’t know about the floating head folkkore.

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I confess that I have become sour enough online that I refuse to answer questions from anyone that uses a meme in their question.

If someone asks a question about “skwatz”, “gainz”, “getting thicc”, etc, I basically assume that person is far too ironic to care to get real advice.

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I think the “should I bulk or cut?” threads are more annoying. I’ll never contribute to another of those.

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