The Flame-Free Confession Thread

I feel your pain. Strength on a specific lift can be limited by technique/skill, efficiency of your CNS, tendon insertion points, etc. Most of that is out of your control. If we could all got stronger every year then we’d see a lot more 1000lb lifts.

The reality is there is a limit. In regards to physique CT has touched on this recently. Perhaps we all have a ceiling for the ability to pack on muscle. Through different training we can shift that muscle mass to different areas of our body to change our physique, but we can’t keep adding mass forever.

On the flip side, if we don’t continue the pursuit then we fall apart–weaker, fatter, and all the side effects that go with it. I’ll keep pushing forward even if it means I just keep from going backwards. My goal is to be the same at 40, then 50, and so on. That would be impressive.

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I often hear people say “Don’t compare yourself to _________, he’s on steroids.” That just annoys the fuck outta me. It seems to me like some weak ass way of justifying your lack of results. Obviously understand that there are physiological differences but…

This explains it better than any way I could’ve possibly phrased it.

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Back in '02 or '03 when I found this site I was looking for steroid info since I was already rather advanced physique wise. I bought some supps but found most of the articles absurd. CT’s forum, Bill Roberts and Professor X were the reasons I kept reading this site. When I stopped training for nearly a decade, I still stayed to read Professor X’s posts.

As said, I did not read his posts for his views on training since I was already advanced(although what he wrote was more or less what I had learned from accomplished lifters I knew back then.), but rather, his thoughts and the though process behind what he wrote even when he was wrong. I might not have accomplished some things in certain areas of my life without doing this. I’m not joking.

Unfortunately, he pissed a lot of people off and if you read his posts from 2012 onwards, you will know why. Multiple flame wars ensued. I set up this account and first posted here to defend him but at that time, communicating online other than through email with formal business language was new to me and I sucked at it.

Some of the guys, mostly veterans on this site, had perfectly valid reasons for engaging him and were justified in their opinions even if I don’t agree with them. However, there were a lot of little fucks who, finding courage in numbers, came out from nowhere just to throw sucker punches or be the “hero” who shouts the loudest against the common “bad guy” and gain points by siding with whom they perceived to be the dominant posters and shit like that. Typical group behavior which was the complete opposite of what attracted me to this site in the first place when it’s tagline was still “Dangerously Hardcore”. They are all gone now and most have never contributed anything remotely useful to this forum.

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Ironically enough, there were posters who only ever seemed to post to complain about how prof x was ruining discussions on training, and once prof was gone, said posters also seemed to vanish. There wasn’t this sudden rush of fresh topics to fill the vacuum that prof x left behind like many of these complainers seemed to have suggested. I thought for sure THEY would contribute the most to our utopia.

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For confessions

The term “non competitive powerlifter/bodybuilder” causes me to have aneurysms.

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I use the term “recreational lifter” so I guess I’m in the clear haha.

I dont eat nearly enough protein daily. I also commit carbicide too frequently. I also sound like foghorn leghorn when I ejaculate

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All the other ones I can agree with, but this one I’m curious about. When you say 21s are you referring to doing a set with 7 full reps, 7 top half ROM reps, and 7 bottom half reps? I’ve used this as a finisher on barbell curls and it is an exceptional way to completely destroy your bis at the end of a workout

I was referring to people who do 21’s with lots of exercises or every bicep movement they do. 21’s as a finisher is alright.

Classy way to teach and help a young kid just starting out and looking for guidance.

S

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When you approach me in the gym and ask me what’s the best way to put on mass and I tell you to “GO HEAVY”, I do not mean “DO STARTING STRENGTH”!!! And no, I do not sell, nor am I going to tell you where to buy steroids.

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I love full body workouts. If I just work the upper body or the lower body, I feel like I missed something.

My upper body somehow is “primed” to lift after doing some snatches, cleans, or squats first.

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Starting out I never thought that I would enjoy reading about other people’s accomplishments in their training logs…but I confess that I now do, and it is quite motivating.

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I think many people are super-kinky to the point of irrationality when it comes to recommending certain tried & tested routines (especially starting strength & 5/3/1 etc)…what I think really matters is the solid, underlying principles which guided the creation of a work-out, NOT whether or not 4 million people have followed a particular system & found it to be super-groovy! It’s a lot like fashion really.

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Personally, I recommend those for a few reasons

1 - Generally the person asking is very new or just not experienced enough to design their own stuff, and I have wasted so much time working with these people to have them simply quit 2 weeks later or not follow the advise anyway. So now… Just tell em to do 5/3/1 and come back in a year with more questions and they have proven they are willing to stick with lifting, and stick to a plan.

2 - They generally are pretty good programs. Obviously not perfect for everyone in every scenario, but 5/3/1 can be modified to fit almost anyone with a small amount of tweaking so it lends itself well to building a program on top of. Any program will eventually need individualization of course, but you cant go too wrong with keeping those core lifts in the program.

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I feel final need to come clean:

I have made the best aesthetic and “noticeable” in clothing gains on the following program

Day A
Ring dips (add weight occasionally or super high rep BW days)
Inverted rows on rings (narrow grip-elevate feet and add weight via vest)
Triceps (high rep pushdowns) or Lat raises (high rep)/Face pulls

Day B
Goblet Squat - (I pause at the bottom of each rep for a 5 second count, do half with heels elevated) 200 reps goal
Pull up/Chins - switch grip each workout, really work to feel back not arms on pullups ,reverse on chins
Curls or Abs (switch each work out and go for hard contraction)

I do 100 slow calve raises 5 times a week

I do above Mon-Fri and rest on weekend

I am active outdoors on weekends and walk 30 minutes in morning and 30 minutes at lunch. I am 46 and have a great home gym so to confess further:

I train in whatever I want,
barefoot
drink coffee while I workout
I listen to C2C radio or something similar and get in zone and just crank solid reps for 45 minutes

People in my office park see me walking and ask what I am doing and if I have hired a trainer or changed my diet. Never got that slogging thru my previous workouts.

Workout makes no sense on paper but its been working for months.

I feel better

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There is no such thing as the magic rep and set scheme… only thing that matters is what ever you do helps promotes some form of progression.

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If you go by the SAID principle, you could theoretically find a set and rep scheme that allows you to make progress, but get WORSE at what you want to train for.

The Law of Accommodation says every time you use the same set/rep combination, you decrease your body’s response to the stimulus.

Using 1 set/rep scheme could be like eating ever increasing amounts of arsenic with a kryptonite spoon!

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agree…

figured I’d add this here too

Oh and powerlifting is an easy sport, flame free eh?

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