Turning Cocky

To all natural and enhanced athletes:

Have you ever found that being bigger and stronger than 95% of your peers has turned you into an asshole, or at least more cocky than usual?

CS

No, because I’m not an insecure douche bag

The only time i’ve ever noticed this is with young guys who are relativly new and were usually pretty self assured to begin with. They aren’t even to the point that they are stronger than others yet but they have a few muscles and some abs and think they are the greatest thing that walked the earth. Complete with their tapout t-shirts these guys are the ultimate badasses.

Anyone who has much merit to begin isn’t going to all of a sudden transform their personality into an asshole. They realize the amount of dedication someone puts into something to be truly good at it and respect others for whatever their trade of interest is.

How old are you OP?

Is it cocky or being over confident?

He is in high school.

[quote]behexen wrote:
The only time i’ve ever noticed this is with young guys who are relativly new and were usually pretty self assured to begin with. They aren’t even to the point that they are stronger than others yet but they have a few muscles and some abs and think they are the greatest thing that walked the earth. Complete with their tapout t-shirts these guys are the ultimate badasses.

Anyone who has much merit to begin isn’t going to all of a sudden transform their personality into an asshole. They realize the amount of dedication someone puts into something to be truly good at it and respect others for whatever their trade of interest is.

How old are you OP?[/quote]

Yeah, this is basically me. However, I don’t wear tapout and don’t have abs. I think it’s like you said: being a beginner. Hell, I hit a new PR every workout, and it’s probably the biggest driving force behind my sudden onslaught of overconfidence.

I may think I’m strong, but there’s always somebody stronger, bigger and faster than I am. That’s what kind of brings me back down to earth; knowing that there’s somebody better. I aim to be the best at what I do (and as of yet, I don’t really know what that is or what it will be).

I’m the only one in my group of friends that seriously lifts, so that’s possibly another reason why I am the way I am.

If it helps in anyway, here’s my stats.

16 y/o
5’7"
185 lbs
Squat: 385
Bench: 275
Deadlift: 425

So, am I an overconfident douche? It seems as though I am.

CS

i’ll post. honestly i think the bigger and stronger you get, the more you just don’t care about things like that. i think you lose that chip on your shoulder and you become less douchy. it seems the biggest and strongest people at powerlifting meets are some of the nicest and least douchy people i’ve ever met, and they are always helping other people out or willing to just shoot the shit with anyone. don’t get me wrong, there are exceptions to this and it’s nice knowing i’m stronger than 99.9% of people, but anymore i don’t have to point that out, people point that out for me. i went from having to tell people that i lifted weights to people telling me i’m looking huge or people assuming i’m a weightlifter. in that process i feel like i lost that chip on my shoulder that i kinda had when i was 145lbs. now i’m about 205lbs and shooting for an 1800lb raw(with knee wraps) total at 198lbs in november.

I was 6 foot and about 180lbs in high school and was no good at sports because I was a nerd.

But since I was pretty much the size of the football players or a bit bigger I’d slam them up against the lockers and shake them down and use their lunch money to buy Star Trek novels.

This was back in the 80s, so when The Next Generation started there was now a new Trek novel every month instead of bi-monthly.

The coach had a meeting because I’d had to up my number of beatings to account for my new expenditures and the principal had a chat with me because our team lost an important game because so many guys on the team were out with Trek-related injuries.

Good times.

[quote]Nards wrote:
I was 6 foot and about 180lbs in high school and was no good at sports because I was a nerd.

But since I was pretty much the size of the football players or a bit bigger I’d slam them up against the lockers and shake them down and use their lunch money to buy Star Trek novels.

This was back in the 80s, so when The Next Generation started there was now a new Trek novel every month instead of bi-monthly.

The coach had a meeting because I’d had to up my number of beatings to account for my new expenditures and the principal had a chat with me because our team lost an important game because so many guys on the team were out with Trek-related injuries.

Good times.[/quote]

Laughing out loud. Dude, that’s hilarious.

I’m quite overconfident, but not really related to working out. Sometimes it becomes arrogance, but it’s not arrogance in the sense of “I’m better than you” thoughts or feelings, but rather, “I can do everything right” or stuff like that.

[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
To all natural and enhanced athletes:

Have you ever found that being bigger and stronger than 95% of your peers has turned you into an asshole, or at least more cocky than usual?

CS[/quote]

No, cause I am not an asshole.

Getting more power makes assholes into more powerful assholes.

[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
To all natural and enhanced athletes:

Have you ever found that being bigger and stronger than 95% of your peers has turned you into an asshole, or at least more cocky than usual?

CS[/quote]

Absolutely not. The bigger, stronger and faster I have become the more relaxed, confident and focused I am.
I see that you are short, therefore your sense of “having to be an asshole” is completely normal for you people. It’s like a terrier and a bull-mastiff, terriers never shut up barking & causing trouble, bull-mastiff doesn’t have to because he knows he can tear you apart if he wants to.

I tend to find power enables placidity.

That being said, it can go the other way, ie, if you’ve always really wanted to act cocky, having more muscle & strength may well at least temporarily make you more prone to cockiness/aggrssion etc.

You’ll probably outgrow it…lots of scrawny young dudes start out with a mentality of: If I was six inches taller & sixty pounds more muscular, I’d act like a power-crazed-emperor…who would even dare try & stop me!!!

Funny thing is though, one thing many big dudes have in common is how laid back they are, it just takes some longer than others to make the transition between being overly enamored with your own awesome & becoming quietly confident.

I don’t however believe cockiness is something that always needs to be stamped out though, as long as it’s not coaxing you into stupid confrontations & obnoxious behaviour…roll with I say!!

I’ve always been somewhat of an asshole.
Lifting hasn’t changed me as much as old age/maturity.

If you are stronger than 95% of your friends, maybe you need stronger friends.

[quote]Edevus wrote:
I’m quite overconfident, but not really related to working out. Sometimes it becomes arrogance, but it’s not arrogance in the sense of “I’m better than you” thoughts or feelings, but rather, “I can do everything right” or stuff like that.

[/quote]

x2 but the self belief/attitude does not just manifest in the weight room and I can’t really say that it was developed. I was a “head strong” kid and have become a self assured adult.

Nothing wrong with being cocky. Just don’t shit on others.

[quote]SkyzykS wrote:
If you are stronger than 95% of your friends, maybe you need stronger friends.
[/quote]
yeah, especially if our only friends are mom, dad, and uncle willy.

this thread is gold. gold, I tell ya!