Here are a few shots of my friend and business partner, who is Japanese:
He actually knows Hidetada, not quite enough to call him his buddy, but he’s trained with him a few time and receives advice from him from time to time. He’s won the few shows he’s been in, taken 2nd and then 1st place against AMERICAN bodybuilders in Okinawa the last two years.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]Nards wrote:
Well it would certainly be harder to find big guys here as there are so many ectomorphs.
Though I have seen so many great sets of well-rounded shoulders here on guys in the gym that don’t ever seem to do much.[/quote]
That’s lifestyle related.
I was an “ectomorph” also.
I guess it was temporary.[/quote]
I think there’s a little more to it here. I mean there’s got to be something just in the way people is Asia respond to carbs.
But like Cortes said too, as I’m sure he’s seen it, is they way many train in the gym. I think that is due a lot to culture and class. My gym (it’s a World Gym) costs about $60US a month, and going to the gym is still a bit of a status thing, so the kind of people you get going to the gym here are guys that never had to walk to school sort of thing growing up.
I mean you look around your gym back in the US and sure there may be a lawyer or a doctor working out next to you, but there could easily be a construction worker or any other type of manual laborer lifting beside you. That will not happen at my gym. My gym is almost all guys doing something they can do standing up in front of the rack so they don’t have to walk far sort of thing.
There’s one guy at one of the branches that I admire. He does 225 front squat. I can’t do that and it doesn’t make me jealous at all. I love him for it and it reaffirms my faith.
[quote]Nards wrote:
Though I have seen so many great sets of well-rounded shoulders here on guys in the gym that don’t ever seem to do much.[/quote]
Anime jerkathons will do that.
[quote]Cortes wrote:
Good thing nobody ever told him Asians can’t get big. He makes me look like white Urkel. (^_^)[/quote]
That’s impressive.
He’s completely dedicated to becoming “the freakiest bodybuilder in Japan,” (his words). I have never in my life met someone as singleminded about the sport (or any goal) as he is about bodybuilding. I wish I had before pictures of him. He used to be a wimp and get picked on in school. I doubt anything like that ever happens anymore.
I used to get picked on in elementary school but that stopped pretty quick.
I went to junior high.
[quote]Nards wrote:
There’s one guy at one of the branches that I admire. He does 225 front squat. I can’t do that and it doesn’t make me jealous at all. I love him for it and it reaffirms my faith.
[/quote]
No offense, but when you say 225 front squat it’s in killograms… right?
No, pounds.
Is it sad that that’s the best thing I’ve seen in Taiwan, or that I can’t do it?
Or both?
[quote]Nards wrote:
No, pounds.
Is it sad that that’s the best thing I’ve seen in Taiwan, or that I can’t do it?
Or both?[/quote]
Both if either considers themselves serious at weight lifting at all.
Pfffft.
Nice try.
But anyway, well then I guess you see what I’m talking about at my gym here. I thought the guy doing 225 front squat was a good guy.
Nah, I am not someone who deserves to judge with my old puny 235-245 front squat max that I have no idea if I can hit or not right now.
Well that’s better.
That’s why I usually don’t like to go into numbers here because I don’t like the judgement that comes after…like being told told I’m not serious about weight lifting. X doesn’t know my reasons.
never mind
[quote]Nards wrote:
Well that’s better.
That’s why I usually don’t like to go into numbers here because I don’t like the judgement that comes after…like being told told I’m not serious about weight lifting. X doesn’t know my reasons.[/quote]
Don’t worry Nards, I bet you could do 350 on the Hammer Strength front squat machine. 
can you do a lunge nards?
jk jk jk
I’d love to see a Nards/Yang training video
get tha shit get thaa shiit
Great progress man.
There are a lot of pages so I don’t know if you decided on cutting or bulking yet.
Although you’re looking soft, I don’t feel you are too fat or so soft that you absolutely need to cut and I think another 5-15lbs won’t be bad either assuming you don’t try and gain it in like 2 months.
But you could go either way I know if you cut you’d be looking tight.
I say keep bulking!
Hey PX.
Have you read up on a science or anything about holding your weight for a while making sure it is easier to keep muscle when you cut?
Or is this just something you feel from your experience from bulking and cutting?
Just wondering because, it sounds like it would make sense and I know you’ve mentioned it a lot.
[quote]Nards wrote:
That’s why I usually don’t like to go into numbers here because I don’t like the judgement that comes after…like being told told I’m not serious about weight lifting. [/quote]
You provide pics, honest assessments of your strength, and abundant LOLs.
This puts you in the top percentile of T-Nation members as far as I’m concerned.
[quote]cwill1973 wrote:
[quote]Nards wrote:
Well that’s better.
That’s why I usually don’t like to go into numbers here because I don’t like the judgement that comes after…like being told told I’m not serious about weight lifting. X doesn’t know my reasons.[/quote]
Don’t worry Nards, I bet you could do 350 on the Hammer Strength front squat machine.
[/quote]
Ha! Niiiice!
And thank you too PimpBott5000.
I mean we were talking front squats right? 225 isn’t good enough? 225 shows a guy that’s not serious about lifting? Let me say again that wasn’t me but a guy at my gym doing that. A gym where most guys do shrugs with the 30lb DBS because it’s the least amount of movement you have to do to consider something still an exercise.
Of course my back squats go higher than that (no chance of me mentioning that weight…500 for 20 wouldn’t even be good enough I’ll wager).