Authors who Don't Look like They've Stepped in the Gym

Training Bodybuilding
81

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Tiznut wrote:

In short people listen to so much negative crap from people who don’t have their best interest in mind that they limit themselves…

When I was curling 85lbs dumbbells, I remember posting that I could on that website you just talked about. Back then I got several posts about how that isn’t possible and that no one can do that much without tons of steroids. I didn’t even know lifting that much was THAT spectacular to some people.

If you surround yourself with people more focused on what you supposedly can’t do, you WILL fail.

This explains why there may be 4 people on this WHOLE site who actively post that would make someone say, “holy shit” based off of their development alone.[/quote]

That number will be 5 someday if I have anything to say about it.

82

Exactly what I liked best about my old gym, I had met the owner and not only was he massive but you could see every vein in his arm.

83

I agree.

The one time I ever wrote an article referring to a specific training/drug program I put up before and after pics of the subject. With a blue dot over his face, yes, but still pics. (And before and after measurements and 1RM’s for various lifts.)

I do also expect it’s a fact that a lot of trainers that are successful writers really don’t have great success stories to show you. Good cases most likely, but not ones that match up to the reputations they create for themselves in print.

However, on the flip side: First, such pics can be deceptive. A T-mag reader some number of years back sent in before and after pics of himself with only about a 5 minute difference between them. So there was no actual change in physique development, but he was able to look so much better in the “after” pics. And second, individual variability so much exceeds variability between any remotely decent training routines. For example, from what video I’ve seen of Arnold training as a teenager, his training technique was crap back then. But his physique at 19 was shocking.

That said, still, anyone touting having trained hundreds or thousands of people should have among them examples of those with naturally better potential in the first place and visually very impressive results. Individual variability should largely average out – comparing trainer to trainer – when having many trainees particularly when all the trainers in question are supposedly training, among or principally among their clientele, the elite in the first place.

Lastly, I think the reason that for various Famous Trainers it’s stunningly hard to name successful bodybuilders or powerlifters they’ve trained is not one of secrecy. No one seems ashamed or seems compelled to hide for example that say Charles Glass trained them. I expect the reason that various Famous Trainers have no or next to no successful bodybuilders or powerlifters that one can name that attribute any of their success to them is that, well, there aren’t any.

84

To take it a step further, are there any coaches who went from rail thin to super swole?

85

If I recall correctly saw a picture of CT in his early days where he was quite skinny in a football costume.

Also if you do a search for ‘hollywood muscle’ theres an article where Berardi has pictures of him going from a typical skinny kid to looking awesome in a bodybuilding show.

86

[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
To take it a step further, are there any coaches who went from rail thin to super swole?[/quote]

Super swole? No.

“big” though… CT and Poliquin.

87

While I disagree with a lot of what the late Arthur Jones (the inventor of Nautilus machines and probably the original HIT guru) wrote, there’s one line of his I recall from years ago that I think is very true.

“If you hate the way your teeth look and you desire perfectly straight, white teeth - do you look for a guy with really nice teeth and ask if you can copy what he does, or do you go see a dentist?”

There’s really no substitute for expertise and advanced knowledge from working in the trenches - not just with yourself but with various clients from multiple walks of life. Being an effective trainer is really about a lot more than just looking the part, or even about being personally successful with your own lifting.

Alwyn Cosgrove made a great point in an interview when he said that there have been times in his life when he looked like a world-class Taekwondo champion and more recent times when he looked like a chemotherapy patient…and there is no question at which stage he had far more training knowledge to share.

He also made another, rather different point. Say you’re a regular guy who has struggled with obesity for most of your life. Would you be better off with a lean and muscular trainer who specializes in working with bodybuilders or competitive athletes and who has himself always been athletic and in superior shape? Or would you have more to learn from a trainer who has helped a lot of very overweight people successfully transform their physiques and who, while he weighs let’s say a solid but hardly ripped 200 pounds, actually managed to personally lose and keep off about 100 pounds of extra fat that he had carried around for years?

The bottom line is that you can’t judge a book by its cover. At least take the time to read the dust jacket or a few reviews.

88

[quote]PF_88 wrote:
Greg Glassman, founder of crossfit, the one in the middle.

http://www.crossfitcharlotte.com/photos/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=699&g2_serialNumber=2

[/quote]

Funny… I’m wearing that exact same shirt at the moment.

89

[quote]Protoculture wrote:
I know this thread is unproductive, but I can’t get over the number of authors claiming to be fitness experts but don’t look like they’ve ever stepped in a gym.

…

I’m talking about authors in their 20’s to 40’s in good health. How could you write about increasing muscle size and losing fat when they themselves look like recreational tennis players?
…[/quote]

Names please?
someone already gave a list of many authors who look jacked like they know their stuff,
just curious which authors you had in mind? who look like tennis players

90

[quote]Ruged wrote:
Protoculture wrote:
I know this thread is unproductive, but I can’t get over the number of authors claiming to be fitness experts but don’t look like they’ve ever stepped in a gym.

…

I’m talking about authors in their 20’s to 40’s in good health. How could you write about increasing muscle size and losing fat when they themselves look like recreational tennis players?
…

Names please?
someone already gave a list of many authors who look jacked like they know their stuff,
just curious which authors you had in mind? who look like tennis players
[/quote]

Mike Boyle comes to mind, though not sure how old he is. That being said, if he was willing to coach me on something like squats, I’m pretty sure I’d learn a thing or two.

91

[quote]MODOK wrote:
Is this where the conversation was today? I kept wondering where everyone was in the other threads.

The biggest issue with this on this website is there are all these non-BB writers on a bodybuilding website. The vets know who are the real physique specialists, but the newbs read the other guys, get confused by their fancy marketing, and think that they are going to build huge guys as well. They aren’t. There are only a tiny handful of bb authors on this website. The rest should be passed over if you are a BODYBUILDER.[/quote]

Precisely. If any kid is here looking to put on some real size but is following guys who have literally stated they hate bodybuilding, they are setting themselves up for failure. Shugart is afraid of almost any weight gain due to growing up as a fat kid (which is why his past articles have included scare tactics about loose skin as if anyone here is trying to become obese). CW hates bodybuilding yet makes articles that seem to be geared towards that end to those just reading titles.

CT has a good head on his shoulders and much expertise when it comes to getting people to reach their potential. Most newbs should avoid most of these articles to begin with. They will simply confuse themselves due to bullshit terminology like “functional training” or the yet to be proven yet somehow branded as fact “sarcoplasmic hypertrophy”.

92

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
PF_88 wrote:
Greg Glassman, founder of crossfit, the one in the middle.

http://www.crossfitcharlotte.com/photos/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=699&g2_serialNumber=2

Funny… I’m wearing that exact same shirt at the moment.[/quote]

I’ll bet it looks a lot better on you CT…lol…

93

Hmmmm…“sarcoplasmic hypertrophy”. In 1000+ pages of my Anatomy/Physiology textbook, this is not mentioned even once.

However, Wikipedia defines it as follows: “During sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle cell increases with no accompanying increase in muscular strength.”

So, take that for what you will…

94

[quote]
Mike Boyle comes to mind, though not sure how old he is. That being said, if he was willing to coach me on something like squats, I’m pretty sure I’d learn a thing or two.[/quote]

Whoa hombre, you better check yo’self before you wreck yo’self.

I’ve talked to a lot of big-league trainers in my time, and one of the questions I always throw in his ‘as a coach, who do you admire?’

The answer is always Mike Boyle.

Hell, just yesterday, Cosgrove went off at length at how good Boyle is. Even Charles Poliquin, who doesn’t dole out compliments easily, has the utmost respect for Mike Boyle.

He may not be your go-to-guy for contest prep or rapid physique transformations, but in terms of competency as an athletic trainer? No one comes with higher praise.

Another who you may not have heard of is Al Vermeil. Coached the Chicago Bulls to multiple rings, then switched to football and coached the 49ers. Some guys on that Bulls dream-team apparently threatened to leave if Vermeil ever left. He’s that good.

Maybe we should get him on here?

95

[quote]MODOK wrote:
Is this where the conversation was today? I kept wondering where everyone was in the other threads.

The biggest issue with this on this website is there are all these non-BB writers on a bodybuilding website. The vets know who are the real physique specialists, but the newbs read the other guys, get confused by their fancy marketing, and think that they are going to build huge guys as well. They aren’t. There are only a tiny handful of bb authors on this website. The rest should be passed over if you are a BODYBUILDER.[/quote]

I agree with what you are saying in principal, but I think you are being a little short-sighted.

So if Cressey writes a piece about keeping your shoulders healthy, a bodybuilder should ignore it?

If Boyle has an article about maintaining a healthy and strong lower back, bodybuilders should skip it?

If Tate or De Franco put up a piece about deloading weeks and managing fatigue, bodybuilders won’t find that useful?

I agree that there are true bodybuilding experts like CT, but I just don’t agree that everything is as mutually exclusive as your post is suggesting. While the goals may be different, its still weights, sets, reps, and effort.

96

[quote]MODOK wrote:
SkyNett wrote:
Hmmmm…“sarcoplasmic hypertrophy”. In 1000+ pages of my Anatomy/Physiology textbook, this is not mentioned even once.

However, Wikipedia defines it as follows: “During sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle cell increases with no accompanying increase in muscular strength.”

So, take that for what you will…

Dude, sarcoplasmic and myofibrillic aren’t science terms…they are street gangs, like the greasers and socs. You are either in one, or your a victim of one. I’m myofibrillic baby. Sarcoplasmics are all pussys.[/quote]

Damn - I’ve been rooting for the wrong side all this time!!!

97

[quote]MODOK wrote:
Bryan Krahn wrote:
MODOK wrote:

No, I’m not being short sighted. There is a deficiency of physique specialists on this bodybuilding site. They know things that people who train folks soley for athletics, powerlifting, etc have NO clue about. If you are training an athlete for sport, you don’t give a SHIT how big your upper arm is, whether your gastroc is proportional with your soleus, or whether you’ve got good serratus development.

Its very specific stuff with bodybuilding, and gaining athletic advantage from weight training is not even obliquely related to developing a large, balanced, aesthetically-pleasing body. They are absolutely completely different.

This bodybuilding website has been over-run by too many who don’t even know what a stage is. From what I hear, the pendulum is (hopefully) about to swing back to the other side.[/quote]

I see. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the I, Bodybuilder project. From what I know, it is going to be unlike anything bodybuilding media has ever seen.

I just take issue with the notion that bodybuilders should ignore any non-bodybuilder authors. I know several bodybuilders who could barely do lateral raises without screeching pain, much less perform an overhead press. After Cressey’s shoulder saver series and a few sessions of ART, they are cranking up the military press poundages.

But certainly a balance of content would likely be ideal.

98

[quote]Bryan Krahn wrote:
MODOK wrote:
Bryan Krahn wrote:
MODOK wrote:

No, I’m not being short sighted. There is a deficiency of physique specialists on this bodybuilding site. They know things that people who train folks soley for athletics, powerlifting, etc have NO clue about. If you are training an athlete for sport, you don’t give a SHIT how big your upper arm is, whether your gastroc is proportional with your soleus, or whether you’ve got good serratus development.

Its very specific stuff with bodybuilding, and gaining athletic advantage from weight training is not even obliquely related to developing a large, balanced, aesthetically-pleasing body. They are absolutely completely different.

This bodybuilding website has been over-run by too many who don’t even know what a stage is. From what I hear, the pendulum is (hopefully) about to swing back to the other side.

I see. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the I, Bodybuilder project. From what I know, it is going to be unlike anything bodybuilding media has ever seen.

I just take issue with the notion that bodybuilders should ignore any non-bodybuilder authors. I know several bodybuilders who could barely do lateral raises without screeching pain, much less perform an overhead press. After Cressey’s shoulder saver series and a few sessions of ART, they are cranking up the military press poundages.

But certainly a balance of content would likely be ideal.

[/quote]

You know, if an author, who is a specialist in injury rehab/prevention/whatever writes a shoulder-saver article, it’s not like we ignore him or react in a negative way.

It’s more about guys who have no clue about bodybuilding writing articles about it with all their usual catch-phrases about not training arms and how bad the smith machine is and whatever.

As long as each author sticks to his area of expertise and doesn’t pretend to be the person who is about to revolutionize bodybuilding and that all the people who got somewhere in that “sport” are a bunch of morons with heart-failure imminent, no one is likely going to complain.

I was going to mention how practically no one on here has a goddamn clue about how bodybuilders actually train (well, we’ve been trying hard to remedy that in the forum at least), yet they got the most ridiculous ideas from certain articles about pro-routines, drug-usage and whatnot… But I suppose I bodybuilder may help fix that little issue.

99

[quote]SkyNett wrote:
Hmmmm…“sarcoplasmic hypertrophy”. In 1000+ pages of my Anatomy/Physiology textbook, this is not mentioned even once.

However, Wikipedia defines it as follows: “During sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle cell increases with no accompanying increase in muscular strength.”

So, take that for what you will… [/quote]

Wikipedia…the trusted source of…random info that anyone can log on and type.

It is funny that as my muscles have gotten bigger, they also got stronger. I guess my “sarcoplasm” isn’t working right. I would LOVE to simply add 2-3 inches of “sarcoplasm” to my biceps. I wouldn’t even need to lift

100

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
<<< Oscar is a monster… 6’2’’ 350lbs off-season, 300 in contest shape. I’m meeting with him monday I’ll take some pics.[/quote]

Please do.