This back is not the back of someone who spent 12 years “lifting weights” only to find themselves still only weighing 160lbs.
This back is not the back of some guy who calls himself an intermediate…but then follows that with, “how can I get big?”.
However, there seem to be some who don’t understand the difference between a genetically gifted individual and someone’s simple hard work.
The term Genetics simply refers to how well someone progresses based on the training and nutrition they follow AND/OR how much muscle they can gain overall setting them apart.
This does not mean that really big lifters were born that way.
This does not mean that someone skinny can’t get as big as the pros.
There are many pros who started off skinny before they started eating enough.
HOWEVER, one thing nearly all of them share is that once they finally got everything in line as far as eating enough and lifting regularly, they are the types who progress faster than most.
This is why it is generally held that if you have been training hard for 3-5 years and no one is calling you out based on how big you are (and I am NOT simply talking about some sedentary jackass calling you big because they haven’t seen 15" arms before)…then you likely do not have the genetics for this.
To add to this, Daryl Gee is a self proclaimed hard gainer:
[quote]
“I’m a hard gainer,” Daryl Gee told me right before today’s second workout in the Training Lab. It’s true. In his first three years of training, Daryl only gained three pounds of muscle, going from 135 to 138 pounds.
But you wouldn’t know that today. After all, his upper arm is probably bigger than your head.[/quote]
[quote]jahall wrote:
To add to this, Daryl Gee is a self proclaimed hard gainer:
[quote]
“I’m a hard gainer,” Daryl Gee told me right before today’s second workout in the Training Lab. It’s true. In his first three years of training, Daryl only gained three pounds of muscle, going from 135 to 138 pounds.
But you wouldn’t know that today. After all, his upper arm is probably bigger than your head.[/quote][/quote]
I would NOT consider him a hard gainer.
That would be like me saying I’m one simply because I was 150lbs freshman year of colege and barely 98lbs freshman year of high school.
Hardgainers, REAL ones, don’t ever get that fucking big.
I would blame his diet above all else because body weight isn’t magic. If you sit at near the same body weight for years, YOU ARE SIMPLY NOT EATING ENOUGH.
[quote]jahall wrote:
To add to this, Daryl Gee is a self proclaimed hard gainer:
[quote]
“I’m a hard gainer,” Daryl Gee told me right before today’s second workout in the Training Lab. It’s true. In his first three years of training, Daryl only gained three pounds of muscle, going from 135 to 138 pounds.
But you wouldn’t know that today. After all, his upper arm is probably bigger than your head.[/quote][/quote]
I would NOT consider him a hard gainer.
That would be like me saying I’m one simply because I was 150lbs freshman year of colege and barely 98lbs freshman year of high school.
Hardgainers, REAL ones, don’t ever get that fucking big.
I would blame his diet above all else because body weight isn’t magic. If you sit at near the same body weight for years, YOU ARE SIMPLY NOT EATING ENOUGH.[/quote]
I entered college at 154 and high school at 97 pounds (I remember those numbers from physicals). That’s funny. How many years are you from 150? I’d like to know how long I have to stay on the same weight track with you.
And I know I suck at it. That’s why I got into powerlifting. I think powerlifting is a little more forgiving.
[quote]jahall wrote:
To add to this, Daryl Gee is a self proclaimed hard gainer:
[quote]
“I’m a hard gainer,” Daryl Gee told me right before today’s second workout in the Training Lab. It’s true. In his first three years of training, Daryl only gained three pounds of muscle, going from 135 to 138 pounds.
But you wouldn’t know that today. After all, his upper arm is probably bigger than your head.[/quote][/quote]
I would NOT consider him a hard gainer.
That would be like me saying I’m one simply because I was 150lbs freshman year of colege and barely 98lbs freshman year of high school.
Hardgainers, REAL ones, don’t ever get that fucking big.
I would blame his diet above all else because body weight isn’t magic. If you sit at near the same body weight for years, YOU ARE SIMPLY NOT EATING ENOUGH.[/quote]
I entered college at 154 and high school at 97 pounds (I remember those numbers from physicals). That’s funny. How many years are you from 150? I’d like to know how long I have to stay on the same weight track with you.
And I know I suck at it. That’s why I got into powerlifting. I think powerlifting is a little more forgiving.[/quote]
I was around 200lbs by my second year. I still have the stretch marks to prove it.
Once I realized how important food was, I grew…more than the people I had previously looked up to.
I know this is the BB forum, but I’m going to talk pl’ing for a second. I have a terrible build for power-lifting. I have long arms, long legs, poor recovery abilities, and fragile joints. But I keep on doing it because I love it and I keep progressing despite my shortcomings. Just because you don’t have the best god-given gifts for something doesn’t mean you can’t pour your heart into it and progress. On that note, I need to go the gym and squat and then drink a protein shake and a couple or so glasses of milk. Peace.
[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
I know this is the BB forum, but I’m going to talk pl’ing for a second. I have a terrible build for power-lifting. I have long arms, long legs, poor recovery abilities, and fragile joints. But I keep on doing it because I love it and I keep progressing despite my shortcomings. Just because you don’t have the best god-given gifts for something doesn’t mean you can’t pour your heart into it and progress. On that note, I need to go the gym and squat and then drink a protein shake and a couple or so glasses of milk. Peace.[/quote]
I think the big difference is that in PL you’re not a laughing stock, even if you suck terribly.
In BBing, if you aren’t developed and advanced, you look like a moron.
someone who starts off with a good program that stresses all muscle groups, eats big, lifts to fight off imbalances(rotator cuff, hamstring, rear delt work etc.) and realizes he’s still a beginner and doesn’t know much will do better than someone who’s working even harder but only does bench and curls.
but both will do better than someone who was born with better genetics, because he won’t work smart or hard.
sure, in high school he might be the kid with the big bench, but in a few years, the scrawny kids he used to pick on will be much bigger than him.
someone whose big(cutler level BIG!) has to work smart, work hard and have good genetics.
someone who big(but not cutler level big) usually has 2 of these characteristics. (works hard and smart, shitty genetics/work hard, good genetics, but is horrible at programming/obsesses over programming to the point where he doesn’t train that hard, but still has good genetics etc.)
I think a lot of people who have good potential and good genetics are pretty big even if they don’t lift. Usually big hands, tall, large skeletal structure. They may even dwarf someone who has been lifting for a while just on their large skeletal structure and natural musculature.
Genetics are something cool to talk about if you use them as something empowering and not as an excuse to take away from your personal drive and dedication to anything. In the hood I have never heard someone have a single conversation about anything regarding genetics at all. It has always been about how big you look and if you do look big how many push-ups, chins and pull-ups can you do.
I really never paid attention to it myself because all I had to look at as something I might grow up to look like or surpass was my brother. Not until when my nephews became young men did I notice what all our common strengths were and it was huge legs and calves, thinner waist and in my case bigger arms. Seriously I don’t even think people in my family squat anything outside of body weight and we have pretty big quads (28 inches being the smallest).
I’m kind of the off one out for having big arms and still being weak in my books so I am quite aware of my own genetics of what things I got for free and from seeing that I now know what things I need to work at. It’s great to be able to know where you excel at but not if you are going to use it as a hindrance to where you can get to. DNA is just a living tape recorder that you can blast through with hard work and bring it to a higher level or you can let it go to work for you while you sit on your ass and it does that best it can to survive for you.
I’m more into the living life and busting my ass towards goals so in most cases I say F genetics. Make it work for you or don’t be concerned with it if all you can concentrate on is the negative aspects.
There is one thing I well state as a fact. You can never do things perfectly enough to max out your genetic potential. There are always things you can do in training/diet to make yourself better. EVERYONE can always make progress. Period. Thinking that you have ever gotten as developed as you possibly can is retarded.
I think the terms “bad genetics/good genetics” are overused as an excuse.
I though myself to have shitty genetics, I had 147 pounds before I started training seriously, that’s almost an ideal weight for a girl. Add a few years of dieting, supplementing,( now 167 ) then one year of decent weight training and more eating, and bam, I’m 220-223 and I think I could grow more since I have lagging muscle groups. I’m not saying I have good genetics, but I think all people should do is check how much they’re eating, start supplementing smart, and know how to kick intensity into their training. If they don’t grow after a year or two of this, then they can claim to have bad genetics. I actually had friends who ate like anorexic girls, used all the expensive supplements their money could buy (MuscleT), and fell victim to CrossFit and ended up looking worse, and when I see them they say I use roids.
Sure, there are people with good genetics, someone who trains arms once a week and grows them 23 inch , but I haven’t meet any.
Comparing genetics is a very difficult endeavor because we always use things like great, good, bad to describe it and things get lost in the individuals perspective on what those mean. Dorian Yates might have “bad” genetics compared to Ronnie Coleman… but he’s still got elite level genes.
There is so many factors in bodybuilding that fall under the umbrella term genetics… you’ve got(really quickly)
Maximum muscular size
Rate of muscular gains
muscle insertions
“roundness”
developing evenly
leanness set point
how you distribute body fat
bone structure
then you can get into the ability to dry out evenly(no spots that hold out last minute), drug response(and that’s a whole big topic), ability to train for years without injury etc etc
None of the guys that we have ever heard of bodybuilding wise have what I consider bad genetics… if you win a national level show in America that pretty much guarantee that you are gifted in at least several of the above categories. The guys in the magazines are USUALLY the result of a perfect storm… they have the ability to fill out their frames evenly with few weak points, they have the drive to bust their ass in the gym for a decade or more(some less, most it’s not that easy), and have the same drive with the food… of course AAS is a factor as well in pushing them to their level but that’s not what separates the elite from the ordinary. A natural Kai Greene still dwarfs 95% of the guys on all of these boards who blast to high heavens.
Everyone can make significant change to their physique, but PX is correct that if you aren’t one of the bigger boys in your area after years of getting everything right getting to the top tier of the sport is not happening.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
There is one thing I well state as a fact. You can never do things perfectly enough to max out your genetic potential. There are always things you can do in training/diet to make yourself better. EVERYONE can always make progress. Period. Thinking that you have ever gotten as developed as you possibly can is retarded.[/quote]
That is a very great point. Just in my way of think I could look at the generation prior to me in my family. None of them worked out ever so how would I be able to tell what my genetics would leave me looking like? lol. I’m sure there are a ton of people who cry and complain about something they have never seen done prior to them in their family either. There is always room to grow and you can never have enough just like Jello. Well I’m not sure about the Jello part. I think the more training and exposure you get in whatever field you choose to work at gives you better and newer goals as you get further along. It’s like being enlightened or obtaining a new level in a RPG. Now you have a little bit more to work with and now you can work on even bigger things in life or in lifting.
