[quote]heavythrower wrote:
when at diablo barbell many thought i did too much, and i often was there early and left late.
when i convince somebody to train with me, (these are NOT newbs btw) usually they drop out before i am finished, or vomit, and if they make it trough to the end they almost never come back for number 2.
and yes, i know i am by no means impressive by any standard. point i am trying to make is there is a reason there are so many people who “go to the gym” regularly but are very very average or below average in appearance and performance. [/quote]
Is that a challenge heavy?
[quote]jp_dubya wrote:
When others label your training as hard core, it is probably a better indicator than a self label. [/quote]
^This. When you’ve got a full time job, a family to support, time to spend with the kids, work and social commitments, and you still find time to get your training in, week after week, year after year, actually making progress… to me, that’s worthy of the term.
[quote]jp_dubya wrote:
When others label your training as hard core, it is probably a better indicator than a self label. [/quote]
^This. When you’ve got a full time job, a family to support, time to spend with the kids, work and social commitments, and you still find time to get your training in, week after week, year after year, actually making progress… to me, that’s worthy of the term.
No doubt.
S
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This is a good post. Another thing I think of as “hardcore” is someone who would make a major life decision to fit around how much they want to train. Just as an example, I at one point seriously considered going into a career path that would have made far less money and been less interesting overall so that I would always have the free time to train.
In the end, that was honestly a bridge too far, and I decided that my long-term training goals would have to, at times, take a backseat to a demanding career. But I’m sure some people go the other way. That’s hardcore, if perhaps misguided (but who am I to say).
[quote]jp_dubya wrote:
When others label your training as hard core, it is probably a better indicator than a self label. [/quote]
^This. When you’ve got a full time job, a family to support, time to spend with the kids, work and social commitments, and you still find time to get your training in, week after week, year after year, actually making progress… to me, that’s worthy of the term.
No doubt.
S
[/quote]
I agree with the long-term consistency aspect. My fist child was born when I was 20. I worked two jobs and went to school at night to finish undergrad. We had more kids. Our 4th child was born two weeks after I started law school. Now I work full time, teach part time, and find time for my wife and 5 kids.
There were times I could only get in the gym two days a week. Sometimes I had to skip sessions or cut them short. Sometimes I had no gym so I worked with a barbell, plates, and a couple of sawhorses in my basement. Sometimes I had to train in that basement at 10:00 or 11:00 pm after homework is done and the kids are asleep.
Now I’m fortunate to be able to work out over lunch 4-5 days a week. But I look back at those years with a certain amount of satisfaction knowing that no matter what the circumstances were, I have always done what I can.
I lift because I love it, and it keeps me mentally & emotionally balanced. Looking pretty or getting stronger is probably not enough motivation if I hated to train.
not showing off ones beach muscles, safe in the knowledge that the traps/glutes combo trumps them [/quote]
Can’t agree with this one. I am probably in tank tops more than anyone. I also won’t be showing off my GLUTES too much aside from what they can see through my pants.[/quote]
The funny thing to me about the term “beach muscles” is that people can see just about every muscle when you’re at the beach, except maybe the glutes and thighs if you wear super loose board shorts.[/quote]
LOL.
I honestly don’t care if someone thinks I am “showing off” at this point. There are so few really built people walking around lately, I’m not about to hide it.
Not to mention, hiding it at my size looks stupid anyway.
I won’t go shirtless to church, but you can bet there will be many “accidental losses of shirt” this summer. Those things get slippery when wet.[/quote]
I “show off” as often as I can, if “showing off” means not being ashamed to take my shirt off when it’s nice outside.
If u mad it cuz u jelly bro. LOLZ[/quote]
I’m sorry, I dont speak text, or street or whatever the hell that was.
[quote]bluebrasil wrote:
true, its not an accurate term. round these parts the only muscles you see at the beach are on the face and the hands, except for the two days a year we laughingly call “summer”
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lol, he’s not lying. It is pretty funny when you see guys taking their shirts off when it’s like 12 degrees C outside.
Scotland sucks[/quote]
12 degrees C? that must have been on one the “Summer” days
[quote]Professor X wrote:
LOL. Scotland is the anti-Houston.[/quote]
Are you in Houston? I am up in Kingwood. Just joined this site mostly for the martial arts forum. I check out some of the lifting forums as well here since I still lift pretty heavy.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Anyone can talk about how hard they train. Words are just words. The truth is, the guys who actually push as hard as what we are talking about in this forum would likely be seen as marginally insane in a regular gym filled with soccer moms and overly fat accountants on exercise bikes.
They get up and hit the gym when other people are sleeping…and they go hard when other people would have taken a day off.
Knowing that “hardcore” is more about action than words spoken, is it even possible to put that level of commitment into words?
I’ve seen your videos on here, I believe you don’t know the meaning of push.
What describes “hardcore”…and why is it seen as a bad thing lately?[/quote]
Every fat guy who thinks dieting is “wasting progress”…the people talking down to you on the internet because they’re only important in their own mind…and the many people here who think someone shouldn’t take the time or exercise the discipline to maintain moderate levels of bodyfat and would rather make up a new goal and keep calling it “bodybuilding” because they don’t have what it takes between the ears to be both lean and muscular.
[quote]Stronghold wrote:
Every fat guy who thinks dieting is “wasting progress”…the people talking down to you on the internet because they’re only important in their own mind…and the many people here who think someone shouldn’t take the time or exercise the discipline to maintain moderate levels of bodyfat and would rather make up a new goal and keep calling it “bodybuilding” because they don’t have what it takes between the ears to be both lean and muscular.[/quote]
[quote]Stronghold wrote:
Every fat guy who thinks dieting is “wasting progress”…the people talking down to you on the internet because they’re only important in their own mind…and the many people here who think someone shouldn’t take the time or exercise the discipline to maintain moderate levels of bodyfat and would rather make up a new goal and keep calling it “bodybuilding” because they don’t have what it takes between the ears to be both lean and muscular.[/quote]
I hope you dont drag that into too many different threads. Kinda random to infest this one as well.
[quote]Stronghold wrote:
Every fat guy who thinks dieting is “wasting progress”…the people talking down to you on the internet because they’re only important in their own mind…and the many people here who think someone shouldn’t take the time or exercise the discipline to maintain moderate levels of bodyfat and would rather make up a new goal and keep calling it “bodybuilding” because they don’t have what it takes between the ears to be both lean and muscular.[/quote]
I hope you dont drag that into too many different threads. Kinda random to infest this one as well.[/quote]
I didn’t bring it up. In case you missed it:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Every skinny newb who thinks anything over 190lbs is “too big”…the people looking at you strangely in the gym because you look like you actually use the place…and the many people here who think someone shouldn’t push to hit higher levels of body weight for a goal because they think smaller and leaner is better than pushing to an absolute limit.
[quote]Stronghold wrote:
Every fat guy who thinks dieting is “wasting progress”…the people talking down to you on the internet because they’re only important in their own mind…and the many people here who think someone shouldn’t take the time or exercise the discipline to maintain moderate levels of bodyfat and would rather make up a new goal and keep calling it “bodybuilding” because they don’t have what it takes between the ears to be both lean and muscular.[/quote]
I hope you dont drag that into too many different threads. Kinda random to infest this one as well.[/quote]
I didn’t bring it up. In case you missed it:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Every skinny newb who thinks anything over 190lbs is “too big”…the people looking at you strangely in the gym because you look like you actually use the place…and the many people here who think someone shouldn’t push to hit higher levels of body weight for a goal because they think smaller and leaner is better than pushing to an absolute limit.
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I chuckled when I read your initial quote, but seeing it in contest with X’s, it really does give a better framing.
Personally, even though I like to think that I’m all about business when I’m training, I’d never look down in any manner on anyone who is genuinely trying to the best of their knowledge or ability to make progress towards their goals. Every day I get to hear the progress updates from a co-worker is is seriously overweight. In the past few months, she’s shed an amount that you might laugh at, but for her, it’s a huge accomplishment. I not only give her tons of support and praise her efforts, but I hold back from ‘correcting’ what she’s doing. At this stage, the fact that she’s doing anything with this regularity, while working 9-5, taking care of a kid, and who knows what else,… that’s hardcore.
After reading Weightlifting Snobbery by John Berardi, one won’t feel so hardcore anymore because they lift and eat provided they let the information sink in.
With the responsibilities of life now, I’m about going to the gym to get a good workout in and leaving. I used to think (prior to 27 years old) I was better than the lifters immortal foe–“NORMAL PEOPLE”–because I give an honest effort in the gym. Now I no longer think that–partially because I work and socialize in settings where most people don’t care about my hobby or maybe even what my body looks like because they have some serious concerns (kids, a home, job performance, bills, caring for relatives) or just want to have some damn fun in the little time they have to do so.
The “fat accountant” on an exercise bike might be working at a Big Four or spending nearly all his waking hours running his own firm to make enough money to provide for his wife and send his kids to college or private schools and while he can admire a big strong guy working out in the gym, the admiration stops when he leaves the gym.
This is a hobby and a lifestyle or profession for some, such as personal trainers, nutritionists, strength coaches, and exercise physiologists. It can even be considered a luxury in some cases.
I like the terms “physique conscious”, “health conscious”, or “dedicated”.
Hardcore to me: law enforcement, firefighters, EMT workers, soldiers, brain and heart surgeons, steel workers, miners, farmers, or anyone saving lives and/or risking their own lives to help others or really have to toil on a daily basis to make ends meet.
