For the record nobody who could ever log into these forums could possibly despise the modern psycho babbling self esteem concept more than I do and the idea behind this thread was not in any way to encourage that.
Actually it wasn’t to encourage anything really, but only my being honest that had I begun training at the same age I did in the internet era I could imagine myself falling at least to some degree for some period of time into some of the same traps that some of the people we see here have.
Any take that sees that as promoting sugar coated treatment of idiocy or lameness has missed the point entirely.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
For the record nobody who could ever log into these forums could possibly despise the modern psycho babbling self esteem concept more than I do and the idea behind this thread was not in any way to encourage that.
Actually it wasn’t to encourage anything really, but only my being honest that had I begun training at the same age I did in the internet era I could imagine myself falling at least to some degree for some period of time into some of the same traps that some of the people we see here have.
Any take that sees that as promoting sugar coated treatment of idiocy or lameness has missed the point entirely.
[/quote]
I doubt anyone was accusing you of that. Threads go into tangents all of the time though.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
For the record nobody who could ever log into these forums could possibly despise the modern psycho babbling self esteem concept more than I do and the idea behind this thread was not in any way to encourage that.
Actually it wasn’t to encourage anything really, but only my being honest that had I begun training at the same age I did in the internet era I could imagine myself falling at least to some degree for some period of time into some of the same traps that some of the people we see here have.
Any take that sees that as promoting sugar coated treatment of idiocy or lameness has missed the point entirely.
I doubt anyone was accusing you of that. Threads go into tangents all of the time though.[/quote]
Fair enough, just being sure. I have found myself recently getting really short and irritated with some of these guys even though I haven’t reflected it in my posts. I’m thinking “what the hell is wrong with this bonehead, I never would’ve gotten myself caught up in all this minutia”. Ya know what?
When I look back honestly I just may have. Trying to keep a human perspective, that’s all. That doesn’t mean they don’t (or I wouldn’t have needed) need a swift kick in the ass.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
…I never would’ve gotten myself caught up in all this minutia". Ya know what? When I look back honestly I just may have.[/quote]
I wouldn’t have. I accepted early on that I was pursuing something that many thought was strange. Bodybuilding is actually more well known now than it was when I first started. The only difference is that there was much much less focus on steroids in the media so it was understood that it took hard work and not some injections to make significant progress (even though no one was in the dark about many of the pros using anabolics…no one thought that was all it took).
Now, every newbie seems to think the smallest gains are actually a great way to progress and that anyone with arms over 16" must be on drugs.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
…I never would’ve gotten myself caught up in all this minutia". Ya know what? When I look back honestly I just may have.
I wouldn’t have. I accepted early on that I was pursuing something that many thought was strange. Bodybuilding is actually more well known now than it was when I first started. The only difference is that there was much much less focus on steroids in the media so it was understood that it took hard work and not some injections to make significant progress (even though no one was in the dark about many of the pros using anabolics…no one thought that was all it took). Now, every newbie seems to think the smallest gains are actually a great way to progress and that anyone with arms over 16" must be on drugs.[/quote]
I’m thinking if 4/5/08 was my first day training, but I was the same person now that I was when I actually first started. It’s weird because when I got back into it and over a decade had gone by the first couple months of furious reading showed me that practically nothing had been learned that would make any difference to any training decision that I was likely to make.
I went back to absolute basics, just about gave up all the detailed studying and realized I already knew everything I’d probably ever really need. That’s not to say I don’t read or am beyond picking up something new, but 95% of what I do now stems from what I learned 15 years ago.
You already know I totally agree about the effect of media exposure and steroids has had. There is absolutely no doubt that huge chunks of the population believe that very significant gains are only possible with enhancement so why bother. Conversely anybody who is significantly larger that they aware a couple years ago MUST be enhanced.
My next door neighbor’s mother asked him if I was using steroids because she hadn’t seen me in a long time. I do look 1000 times better than I did last time she saw me, but I just laughed when he told me. I DO NOT look like I use to anybody with a clue.
EDIT: Let me clarify further that what I’m talking about is getting caught up in overanalysis. Once I had goals at all large was the only thing I entertained. I hope I didn’t give the impression that I would ever have had some hollywood pretty boy image as a goal.
I once shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die…oh, wait. Not that kind of confession?
k-then
The good Professor says that when he became interested in bodybuilding, he knew he was getting into something many folks just would not understand (please excuse the paraphrase, Prof).
That sentiment rings very true with me.
I read the books (Arnold & Franco) and somehow put together some weighted things to lift…but it was lifting in a real gym with real weightlifters…wow!
Now THAT’S I was lookng to do.
And when I was finally able to talk my Pop into droppping me off at the big YMCA one Saturday…good-ness! That was really something.
I had no idea what I was doing…I just started copying what I saw the ‘big guys’ doing. And after a few weeks…wouldn’t ya know it? Some of those ‘big dudes’ actually took a minute to show me a thing or two.
How cool did I feel?
Pretty darn cool, I’ll tell ya.
I didn’t ask a single question.
I just did exactly what they told me to do -exactly the way they told me to do it.
Shoot, sometimes they’d have to tell me to stop…I would just keep doing whatever it was they had just taught me to do. Kinda funny to think about now.
I don’t know what I would be like if I started training today -and I’m glad I don’t need to find out. But I really don’t think I’d be different. At least I would hope not.
I would never post a photo of myself when I was starting out. I would’ve been embarrassed! Bodybuilding is about peak physical achievement. And the fact that people with no muscle to speak of are posting theirs speaks only of the fact that they are simply not serious about training at all, and that their presence on the forum must stem from some voyeuristic kink(lat. Attentionwhorismus Grandiousus).
[quote]Majin wrote:
I would never post a photo of myself when I was starting out. I would’ve been embarrassed! Bodybuilding is about peak physical achievement. And the fact that people with no muscle to speak of are posting theirs speaks only of the fact that they are simply not serious about training at all, and that their presence on the forum must stem from some voyeuristic kink(lat. Attentionwhorismus Grandiousus).[/quote]
It is also a symptom of that previously discussed self esteem concept that has been pushed on kids that were born after 1985. We knew we weren’t good enough yet. They seem to think they are already a success and it is us who can’t see it yet.
People like that won’t ever make much progress. What motivated me to work harder was the belief that I had a long way to go. That is still my motivation.
It is like those people who peak in high school but when you see them just 5 years after graduation, they are no longer as “hawt” as they thought they were and everything is downhill from there. I’m glad I peaked late. I am also glad I never saw myself as being at my destination already.
[quote]toddthebod wrote:
Dirty_Bulk wrote:
When I was 15 and first started lifting, I did full body workouts every day for a whole summer.
What, was there a copy of Muscle Revolution lying around? ;)[/quote]
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was in some muscle magazine, saying that light workouts of the same muscle groups on back to back days could yield greater gains. If that wasn’t stupid enough, my 15 year old mind took that as, ‘working out as hard and often as you can is the way to go!’
Me and my buddy would walk to the gym on summer mornings, do pyramid and drop sets of bench and every possible machine, 5 sets of 25 on leg press and calves and squat as much as we could whenever we could, without a belt. Then we would walk to casper’s hot dogs to get our PWO protein. We were retarded. Moderation and ‘less is more’ means nothing to a 15 year old brain. I thought that people who rested their muscle groups were undedicated pussies.
[quote]Tex Ag wrote:
The current business model of criticism is to 1) say something good, i.e. praise, 2) give critique, 3) say something good, i.e. praise
So if you see a kid hurting himself squatting, instead of say “You form is horrible” you now must do something like this. “You are making a great effort, look just like Ryan Reynolds. You spine is supposed to be in your skin. But you are making it your own, work it.”
See the difference?
Sugar coating is empty calories.[/quote]
“Hey man, squats are a good exercise but they can be dangerous if you do them wrong. You really need to keep your head up and back straight. Keep your form right and you’ll eventually be able to go heavier.”