I’ve read the discussion on this thread about this, but I guess until you see a photo showing it, it doesn’t really compute. I would of assumed a 10lb difference between the two photos. Clearly, I have no idea. ha
Ugh, I don’t want to admit to myself I’d be under 200lbs.
Ah, the two-bills obsession. If people only knew that some of the best naturals in the world compete at 160 to 170 at 5’8" to 5’10". Brian Whitacre, 5’9", and Alberto Nunez, 5’10" I think, both compete at 160!
I’ve long since come to terms with the fact that on my frame, even with my (admittedly pretty moderate) drug use, I will never walk around at a shredded two hundo.
Quite liberating really when you finally become comfortable with an awesome looking 180-190…
(having said that my next cut’ll probably end up being like 20lbs more than I expected and I’ll weigh like 165 or something depressing like that…)
I can totally believe that. I mean it’s crazy, but I believe it.
Check out the difference in his legs, and the vasularity in his abs. Also, when you factor in water depletion like Rob said, it becomes pretty believable.
My brain was given a serious reality check when Cordova confided in me that he actually weighed 154 lbs for his Universe win. Think about that. I’ve stood next to Jim before, and while I don’t think I was a slouch at my best, I can tell you that most people screaming online about how big they are would not look that impressive (I don’t just mean in terms of definition, I mean overall size) next to him.
Heck, I was just chatting with Brick the other day, and I think one of the first times he saw me in person, I was giving a Nutrition Talk at Gaglione Strength. so we’re talking mostly powerlifters here, not BBers. And he commented on being surprised at how big I was in person. Now, before anything thinks I’m tooting my own horn, far from it, I’m just trying to point out that dismissing someone who weighs 200 lbs or less with no other criteria (200 lbs of solid muscle is pretty damn big!), is just ridiculous.
S
What is everyone’s opinion on the FFMI idea?
The golden >26 premise? @tuttle
That’s the one. I can see some issues with it, but it seems generally reasonable.
It is. When shredded, 5 to 7% body fat, most men will even have a normal BMI reading, albeit with a lot more muscle than a regular non-BB person with the same BMI. I don’t know what my FFMI is but my current BMI is 25 and change, a tad above normal weight. As stated repeatedly, most people have no clue what a decent, let alone, elite natural BBer’s stats are.
There is an FFMI calculator around if you google it, I came up with a couple of numbers, but just like when you tell people your bench, you ought to go with the safe number. The low-end number I found was 24.1, which I am comfortable with, but I kinda resolved to myself that I would wait to get to the point where I could walk on stage at 170 shredded before I would compete again. I think I finally have gotten control of my body weight so I may be able to get there relatively soon.
I’ve never heard of this. Can you expand?
Uh, you can’t blindly stick to a number. I aim for 170 but if I’m a bit more and in shape, then it doesn’t matter. 170 is our hunch. Judges don’t jump on a stage with a scale.
The premise that anyone with an FFMI > 26 is juiced.
What do you mean by comfortable with? Just like with weight, judges don’t calculate your FFMI.
Just google FFMI - it’s a way to determine if someone is juicing.
I don’t like the FFMI too much. I think it comes down to 3 things. the video of Dave Tate talking about juicing, where he talks about seeing some monsters confiding in him that they’re thinking about finally doing a cycle. That and the combination of my biochemistry training, how difficult it is to even satisfactorily control a single experiment within strict tolerances.
Finally, I just don’t like to put limits in my mind or on myself. And I find that people who do often create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I realize we are not talking about a hard empirical rule, but a rule of thumb. I know that. It just doesn’t sit well with me.
I get all that, it may perhaps be a number I am comfortable with, the natural pro in our gym who I talk to about this with thinks that I would look “very impressive” if I was to get lean at my weight now. But I don’t wanna look that way, I wanna be the best. The guy who is the best in the federation I plan to compete in is 5’6" and 175 (I guess you could say he says so) but my impression from what others have said, is that he looks like a tank in person, so that is what I have to go up against.
I don’t mean to be sarcastic here, rather what I ask here is more so exhortational. What are ya gonna do, wait and wait? Wait til what? I personally am not at my best. I believe I have a few more pounds LBM to gain and I plan on doing that. But I’m doing a show anyway. If everyone waited til their best package ever, then hardly anyone under 25 years would ever get onstage. And the only way to become the best BBer one can be is to compete. Hence why I get kind of sad that I am first competing at 37 and ducked around with training that was really inappropriate for BB.
And uh, if that guy competes shredded at 5’6" and 175, he IS a tank! I would find a 5’6" natty shredded at 175 suspicious actually. Stu competed at 170 to 176 at 5’8" and he was freaking huge!
