The Gymnasts' Physiques are Genetic


I remember during the last Olymics there was a lot of talk on here about the the physiques and training of the Olympic gymnasts. Well, I hate to say this, but their physiques are genetic.

They have obscenely long muscle bellies throughout their bodies, an arrangement that is necessary to produce an optimal strength/mass ratio. They don’t have these physiques because they’re gymnasts; they’re gymnasts because they have these physiques.

Let’s do what it takes to minimize their accomplishments.

Deutschland!

belligerent, don’t take these guys seriously.
How on earth does making the assumption, that their looks are mainly a function of their genes, take something away from them?

Yes, I share your opinion, btw.
If you ever meet a gymnast in person, it’s crazy how small they are really. Short guys with short limbs who watch their body fat dilligently. Amazing athlets nontheless, strong fast and agile, probably the best allrounders, but I don’t think copying their training will lead to better size gains then through old school BB.

[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
belligerent, don’t take these guys seriously.
How on earth does making the assumption, that their looks are mainly a function of their genes, take something away from them?

Yes, I share your opinion, btw.
If you ever meet a gymnast in person, it’s crazy how small they are really. Short guys with short limbs who watch their body fat dilligently. Amazing athlets nontheless, strong fast and agile, probably the best allrounders, but I don’t think copying their training will lead to better size gains then through old school BB.[/quote]

The idea of ‘copying their training’ isn’t even an option. Training is their FULL TIME job. CW has mentioned in several articles that the Cirque de Soleil acrobats are SHREDDED – because, even though they may not be lifting huge weights, their muscles are being utilized CONSTANTLY – 6+ hours every day. Same thing with lumberjacks having huge backs, bricklayers having huge forearms, etc.

Sure, they’re extremely gifted athletes. But it’s the combination of extremely intense training and very clean, protein-heavy diets lthat lead to their impressive physiques.

I’ve always been pretty impressed by their bodies all round they’re very strong for their weight.
Ever tried a planche?
I can’t even get up into that position let alone hold it for 60seconds or however long they tend to hold it for.

Yeah right!

Next thing you’ll be telling me basketball players are naturally tall!

[quote]Ruggerlife wrote:
Yeah right!

Next thing you’ll be telling me basketball players are naturally tall![/quote]

They are :stuck_out_tongue: They didn’t work on getting tall. Lol.

look at those guns, all without a single curl.
Impressive, but they should squat more… their upper body and lower body comparison is quite stark.

[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
belligerent, don’t take these guys seriously.
How on earth does making the assumption, that their looks are mainly a function of their genes, take something away from them?

Yes, I share your opinion, btw.
If you ever meet a gymnast in person, it’s crazy how small they are really. Short guys with short limbs who watch their body fat dilligently. Amazing athlets nontheless, strong fast and agile, probably the best allrounders, but I don’t think copying their training will lead to better size gains then through old school BB.[/quote]

If that’s all he said, then that’s fine. But then he said that ‘they’re gymnasts because of their genes’, as if he could do better with a different set of “genes”.

Well the same could be said for every sport, especially football and basketball. Those guys are in their sport, because they’re naturally size XL. Thanks for the insight.

They are genetic freaks, no doubt, perhaps more so than other world class athletes. Their bodies are specialized for gymnastics. It doesn’t minimize their hard work to acknowledge this.

[quote]weib wrote:
look at those guns, all without a single curl.
Impressive, but they should squat more… their upper body and lower body comparison is quite stark.[/quote]

Their upper body strength is lots and lots of back. You think they keep their body + legs perfectly straight and not utilize their lower back/quads/hamstrings/ass/etc?
Their body works as one.

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:
I can’t even get up into that position let alone hold it for 60seconds or however long they tend to hold it for.[/quote]

You mean the required 2 seconds? 60, 2, meh same thing almost I guess. :wink:

[quote]blazindave wrote:
weib wrote:
look at those guns, all without a single curl.
Impressive, but they should squat more… their upper body and lower body comparison is quite stark.

Their upper body strength is lots and lots of back. You think they keep their body + legs perfectly straight and not utilize their lower back/quads/hamstrings/ass/etc?
Their body works as one.

[/quote]

I once read that Christoph Sommer has his gymnasts do weighted one-legged squats and plyometrics for legs. It makes sense, because huge legs would be detrimental for them, but they need lots of leg strenght for the jumps.

[quote]drummerofgod89 wrote:
BruceLeeFan wrote:
I can’t even get up into that position let alone hold it for 60seconds or however long they tend to hold it for.

You mean the required 2 seconds? 60, 2, meh same thing almost I guess. :wink:

[/quote]

It just feels like 60.

So they just woke up with muscles like that? They trained for them, like anyone else. Of course they are gentically gifted, but they still had to work for their physiques.

My wife is a former State champion gymnast. Her ‘career’ was over by time she was 18. She coached and did acrobatic cheerleading in college.

At 5-4 and 34 years old, she’s all of 103 lbs, which she only broke after 2 kids. Without ‘working out’ for nearly a decade, she’s as ripped as just about any ‘figure athlete’-- smaller musculature, but you can see every muscle. Size 0 waist, nice proportions (if I do say so myself).

Is she a genetic freak? Dunno. One side of here family tends to be long and lean, the other, fat. Her sisters are much bigger than her. Her theory is that much stress on her body from about 8 y/o to her teens affected her metabolism/growth.

What’s funny is she’s kind of weak as far as lifting anything or even opening big doors and such, but put her on some rings or a floor mat, and she can flip and throw herself around like nothing.

[quote]SteelyD wrote:
My wife is a former State champion gymnast. Her ‘career’ was over by time she was 18. She coached and did acrobatic cheerleading in college.

At 5-4 and 34 years old, she’s all of 103 lbs, which she only broke after 2 kids. Without ‘working out’ for nearly a decade, she’s as ripped as just about any ‘figure athlete’-- smaller musculature, but you can see every muscle. Size 0 waist, nice proportions (if I do say so myself).

Is she a genetic freak? Dunno. One side of here family tends to be long and lean, the other, fat. Her sisters are much bigger than her. Her theory is that much stress on her body from about 8 y/o to her teens affected her metabolism/growth.

What’s funny is she’s kind of weak as far as lifting anything or even opening big doors and such, but put her on some rings or a floor mat, and she can flip and throw herself around like nothing.[/quote]

Sweet.

-dizzle

[quote]A-Dizz wrote:
SteelyD wrote:
My wife is a former State champion gymnast. Her ‘career’ was over by time she was 18. She coached and did acrobatic cheerleading in college.

At 5-4 and 34 years old, she’s all of 103 lbs, which she only broke after 2 kids. Without ‘working out’ for nearly a decade, she’s as ripped as just about any ‘figure athlete’-- smaller musculature, but you can see every muscle. Size 0 waist, nice proportions (if I do say so myself).

Is she a genetic freak? Dunno. One side of here family tends to be long and lean, the other, fat. Her sisters are much bigger than her. Her theory is that much stress on her body from about 8 y/o to her teens affected her metabolism/growth.

What’s funny is she’s kind of weak as far as lifting anything or even opening big doors and such, but put her on some rings or a floor mat, and she can flip and throw herself around like nothing.

Sweet.

-dizzle[/quote]

This thread is useless without pictures?

[quote]weib wrote:
look at those guns, all without a single curl.
[/quote]
Seriousy, why do you think they never curl?
It’s not forbidden by the rules.

eg german f. hombuechen