Enough With the Bodybuilding Blogs

Professor_X · March 11, 2008, 4:22pm

[quote]Mod Jump’n Jack wrote:
Professor X wrote:
More important than that, we lost a regular member over it.

Newb might have gotten on my nerves at times, but he was a contributor and actually did lift weights…unlike some others around here.

[b]To put an end to this “telephone game”, Uber N3wb has not been banned at all.

His last login was on March 1, several days before the recent Poliquin articles were published.

Let’s get this thread back on track now, discussing bodybuilding logs.

Thanks.[/b][/quote]

Thank you for the information.

Professor_X · March 11, 2008, 4:25pm

[quote]Joe D. wrote:
Well that killed the conspiracy! I do remember him logging in with a new login rather than his usual UberNewb one…

Anyhoo, his log (the guy who shall remain nameless) was the only one I ever bothered to read, as he actually had a goal and seemingly trained for it.

As for the rest of them, they do seem to clutter up the forum a bit, especially as everyone already has the feature available to them. Maybe create a logs forum or something if people are keen to post them in public?[/quote]

OR we can continue to tell people how stupid it is to start a log thread when you already have a blog. Unless someone is either training for a competition or is so advanced that they need specialized help in a certain area, most of these people don’t need to inform the entire world every single time they go to the gym.

If anything, I would think this much “blogging” as a beginner will hold BACK progress.

Scott_M · March 11, 2008, 4:58pm

Professor you have a PM

Zap_Branigan · March 11, 2008, 9:15am

My main problem with them is they clutter up the forum and push other discussions off the front page. A log only forum would be great.

sen_say · March 11, 2008, 5:21pm

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
A log only forum would be great.[/quote]

Yes.

Zap_Branigan · March 11, 2008, 5:28pm

[quote]sen say wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
A log only forum would be great.

Yes.[/quote]

Just keep your log in your black underoos.

simon_hecubus · March 11, 2008, 1:29pm

[quote]Professor X wrote:
…OR we can continue to tell people how stupid it is to start a log thread when you already have a blog. Unless someone is either training for a competition or is so advanced that they need specialized help in a certain area, most of these people don’t need to inform the entire world every single time they go to the gym.

If anything, I would think this much “blogging” as a beginner will hold BACK progress.[/quote]

Exactly. True newbs need to KISS. They don’t need to be bombarded with input.

Many who start these blogs must be looking for a pat on the back or something.

It’s probably just another symptom of Gen-MySpace where many believe that every bit of minutia from of their day-to-day is simply fascinating and must be shared with all.

Old man grumble over.

Scott_M · March 11, 2008, 5:43pm

[quote]simon-hecubus wrote:

If anything, I would think this much “blogging” as a beginner will hold BACK progress.

Exactly. True newbs need to KISS. They don’t need to be bombarded with input.

[/quote]

This is a problem I was/probably still will run into with Tsnod(hope he doesn’t mind me using him as an example). I had to debrainwash him from normal thinking of endless cardio is good, eat less and less to lose fat etc and onto a frequent protein eating lifting machine. After a week or so he was set with a general template of his diet to be tweaked as necessary and a beginners strength plan.

Problem was as soon as his log started up he got input from 20 other sources with all different kinds of advice(some who should not give advice at all) and this confused him greatly. Why aren’t you eating carbs here, what’s with this, what’s with that… and he doesn’t have the answers and goes scrambling trying to redo everything. Had we not had MANY talks about things over and over again he’d likely still be standing still and frustrated with his progress. I honestly had to tell him “Fuck them, stick with the plan” to keep him on track. Guess what? By NOT being pulled 1000 different ways he’s made noticeable progress since he’s started. This isn’t a pat on the back to me, he just needed to follow any sound advice consistently and he’d get there.

If he started that log and there was no one to take him aside and help him out he would be a mess right now. I feel like there are dozens of people just like him who are spinning their wheels trying to make everyone happy who has a thought on their plans.

Matt · March 11, 2008, 1:55pm

[quote]Scott M wrote:
Problem was as soon as his log started up he got input from 20 other sources with all different kinds of advice(some who should not give advice at all) and this confused him greatly. [/quote]

I find this to be a big problem with the Internet in general. I try to tell my training partners to only look at porn and no training sites.

Jetric9 · March 11, 2008, 6:01pm

I agree that the blogs are clogging up too much of the Bodybuilding forums. I would also like that there be a section dedicated to only blogs. I don’t see that happening because that might be like another section of the Beginners forum.

In other words, do you think every T-member will be reading each log, trying to correct each members mistakes, if that is truly the reason beginners start a log; for members to correct their mistakes and lead them to the right path? I don’t mind giving out help or sharing a tip that I know might help someone out.

Schwarzfahrer · March 11, 2008, 6:08pm

[quote] Matt wrote:
Scott M wrote:
Problem was as soon as his log started up he got input from 20 other sources with all different kinds of advice(some who should not give advice at all) and this confused him greatly.

I find this to be a big problem with the Internet in general. I try to tell my training partners to only look at porn and no training sites.[/quote]

!
I’m so gonna quote you over and over.

Professor_X · March 11, 2008, 6:10pm

[quote]Jetric9 wrote:
I agree that the blogs are clogging up too much of the Bodybuilding forums. I would also like that there be a section dedicated to only blogs. I don’t see that happening because that might be like another section of the Beginners forum.

In other words, do you think every T-member will be reading each log, trying to correct each members mistakes, if that is truly the reason beginners start a log; for members to correct their mistakes and lead them to the right path? I don’t mind giving out help or sharing a tip that I know might help someone out. [/quote]

Most of the people giving advice in those blogs seem to be other beginners. That isn’t helping anyone.

Jetric9 · March 11, 2008, 2:16pm

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Jetric9 wrote:
I agree that the blogs are clogging up too much of the Bodybuilding forums. I would also like that there be a section dedicated to only blogs. I don’t see that happening because that might be like another section of the Beginners forum.

In other words, do you think every T-member will be reading each log, trying to correct each members mistakes, if that is truly the reason beginners start a log; for members to correct their mistakes and lead them to the right path? I don’t mind giving out help or sharing a tip that I know might help someone out.

Most of the people giving advice in those blogs seem to be other beginners. That isn’t helping anyone.[/quote]

I agree. That is why I really don’t read those blogs. I might scroll through the log and if I see a recognized member posting, then I’ll stop by since I know that person is contributing something useful and it might help me out.

OctoberGirl · March 11, 2008, 10:16am

I may start a blog as a thread in the future. But I don’t know if it would be an actual blog but a “Here is my week in review” What do you think of this program, kind of thing.

Is it that you folks don’t like the day to day, every day, ad infinitum aspect of the blogs?

Professor_X · March 11, 2008, 6:29pm

[quote]OctoberGirl wrote:

Is it that you folks don’t like the day to day, every day, ad infinitum aspect of the blogs?

[/quote]

It is because no one needs guidance 24 hours a day and no one’s physiology is so predictable that extreme specifics will actually help you.

If some newb writes, “[quote]hi guys, I went to Wendy’s today and wanted to know if that will hurt my progress[/quote]”

and he gets several responses from other newbs saying, “[quote]That’s HORRIBLE!! You should eat chicken breasts and oatmeal so unrefined that it comes in bales! Gawd, if I ate a burger my super ripped abs would go into hibernation on my 128lbs frame![/quote]”, this will not exactly help him reach his goals.

It does no one any good to get 5,000 different responses to a simple problem, especially if most of them are coming from people who have made no significant progress of their own.

OctoberGirl · March 11, 2008, 6:34pm

[quote]Professor X wrote:
OctoberGirl wrote:

Is it that you folks don’t like the day to day, every day, ad infinitum aspect of the blogs?

It is because no one needs guidance 24 hours a day and no one’s physiology is so predictable that extreme specifics will actually help you.

If some newb writes, “hi guys, I went to Wendy’s today and wanted to know if that will hurt my progress”

and he gets several responses from other newbs saying, “That’s HORRIBLE!! You should eat chicken breasts and oatmeal so unrefined that it comes in bales! Gawd, if I ate a burger my super ripped abs would go into hibernation on my 128lbs frame!”, this will not exactly help him reach his goals.

It does no one any good to get 5,000 different responses to a simple problem, especially if most of them are coming from people who have made no significant progress of their own.[/quote]

So am I getting it right in that it is the blogs are more confusing than helpful for the true newbie, and for others it is just their way to get a hand-holding and a hand-job?

Maybe a Blog forum would be good though. For those of you who will give good advice and don’t mind reading blogs, you can check the forum.

Maybe also a way to distinguish a daily blog from a program review.

CrewPierce · March 11, 2008, 6:39pm

Prof. X,
If they aren’t blogging how can you tell to shut up and eat the damn hamburger? Chances are these people are getting advice from other 120lb kids who don’t know anymore than they do.

Even if they get 20 responses of bad advice and only 1 response with good advice, maybe they’ll pick up on that 1.

These people need a voice of reason and without starting their threads they may never know just how far from their goals their current program has them headed.

Professor_X · March 11, 2008, 6:58pm

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
Prof. X,
If they aren’t blogging how can you tell to shut up and eat the damn hamburger? Chances are these people are getting advice from other 120lb kids who don’t know anymore than they do.

Even if they get 20 responses of bad advice and only 1 response with good advice, maybe they’ll pick up on that 1.

These people need a voice of reason and without starting their threads they may never know just how far from their goals their current program has them headed.[/quote]

That’s why they should be reading way more than simply asking questions…and I don’t necessarily mean any articles either. Getting started in this is BASIC. It always has been. More relies on the lifter than relies on some specialized program. How do you get turned around from “eat more to gain weight, lift heavy and be consistent”?

Since when do most beginners need to do much more than that? I mean, of course, those who have a chance in hell of actually making some progress to begin with.

sen_say · March 11, 2008, 7:08pm

Things I hate about logs:

They have the same posts day after day after day. These posts consist of telling us (A) what they ate and (B)what they did for their workout. These breakout kinda like this:

(A) March 1st,