[quote]heavythrower wrote:
btw, i had my body-fat tested via caliper at my local fitness center, and Prof X guessed me right on via my pic, he said i was around 17% and that is what i was.[/quote]
I spent a few years taking body fat comps. I actually got pretty good at eyeing it on people.
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
haha, you are a BIG fucker in that pic, lol[/quote]
Which is all I have ever stated here. Most people who saw me at that weight seemed to be impressed with it.
Only here did I learn that it was all fat and that I supposedly only gained 40lbs of muscle total.
I was 5’10 and weighed almost 290lbs with no big belly. I personally see that as a win, not a fail.[/quote]
when have i ever said you looked anything less that impressive, i hope that was not directed at me.
[/quote]
It wasn’t.
It was directed at the person claiming I only gained about 40lbs of muscle to look like that.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
btw, i had my body-fat tested via caliper at my local fitness center, and Prof X guessed me right on via my pic, he said i was around 17% and that is what i was.[/quote]
I spent a few years taking body fat comps. I actually got pretty good at eyeing it on people.[/quote]
funny how my bf is distributed, i am lean as hell in my legs shoulders arms and upper back, and flabby as fuck all in the chest and waist.
sort of evened out.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
haha, you are a BIG fucker in that pic, lol[/quote]
Which is all I have ever stated here. Most people who saw me at that weight seemed to be impressed with it.
Only here did I learn that it was all fat and that I supposedly only gained 40lbs of muscle total.
I was 5’10 and weighed almost 290lbs with no big belly. I personally see that as a win, not a fail.[/quote]
when have i ever said you looked anything less that impressive, i hope that was not directed at me.
[/quote]
It wasn’t.
It was directed at the person claiming I only gained about 40lbs of muscle to look like that.[/quote]
edit: never mind, no need to kick a dead horse.
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
btw, i had my body-fat tested via caliper at my local fitness center, and Prof X guessed me right on via my pic, he said i was around 17% and that is what i was.[/quote]
I spent a few years taking body fat comps. I actually got pretty good at eyeing it on people.[/quote]
funny how my bf is distributed, i am lean as hell in my legs shoulders arms and upper back, and flabby as fuck all in the chest and waist.
sort of evened out. [/quote]
I carry fat pretty evenly all over…which is why I could get away with being fatter and still look decent. At 285-290, I was filling out XXXL shirts so no one was seeing that as “FAT”…with a 21" neck.
Everyone stores fat differently but you can usually tell about how much they carry if you can see their upper body and trunk area.
at my biggest, i had a 22" neck, 60" chest, 30" thighs, and 21" arms, but i was very fat. 42" waist at only 5’6". despite those measurements, most here would probably have seen me then and thought “fat”
Question, if someone had a goal of being really big, why would it be seen as a negative to bulk up like I did?
I mean, am I missing all of the people more muscular than that? Is it really believed I would be anywhere near that size without bulking up to some degree?
Just asking.
These limits seem based on flimsy data.
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
at my biggest, i had a 22" neck, 60" chest, 30" thighs, and 21" arms, but i was very fat. 42" waist at only 5’6". despite those measurements, most here would probably have seen me then and thought “fat”[/quote]
I wouldn’t.
I also doubt most of the people I trained with would see you as “just fat”.
You looked swole with a belly…just like I looked swole with a small gut.
People who work that hard to reach anywhere near that size know what it takes to even do that much…which is why I see so few people anywhere near that size lately.
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
at my biggest, i had a 22" neck, 60" chest, 30" thighs, and 21" arms, but i was very fat. 42" waist at only 5’6". despite those measurements, most here would probably have seen me then and thought “fat”[/quote]
Also, those dimensions are fucking crazy.
Anyone who would see that and only see fat is a true idiot in the gym world. For real.
I doubt most of the guys here have a chest over 50"…but yet they see those who push to get way bigger as wasting their time I guess.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]chimera182 wrote:
I understand the water weight thing, I just wasn’t sure where the 22% came from or what it applies to. So in a dead person, “dry” muscle weight makes up 22% of their total body weight? But doesn’t that depend on how much muscle they have to begin with?
I’m just a bit confused about the number, I’m not disputing it as I have no knowledge on the matter.[/quote]
22% is the number given in estimation of how much muscle weight you have is actually just dry muscle proteins.
That means if you have 100lbs of pure muscle mass on you, it would be a very rough estimate to claim about 22% of that number is dry muscle weight. That is why someone saying that you gained “40-50lbs of just muscle” makes no scientific sense. It is just one man’s way of throwing a number at someone’s gains based on nothing.
We go by lean body weight and fat weight to determine body comp. We do NOT go by “dry muscle weight” because no one would know this and in a bodybuilder this amount has been so narrowly studied that it would be pointless to throw a number at it now.
That was the main issue with what Brick was writing before. His numbers are basically completely made up and the names dropped don’t justify it.
Your body is mostly water…this is also why you can’t say that a real lean body mass requires you to be dieted down. Your body is in a transient state being that depleted. It doesn’t mean you have “fake muscles” because your lean body mass is higher after refeeding after a contest.[/quote]
That makes a lot more sense, thanks!
well x, that was not the issue being argued, of course, you can put on a lot of muscle by getting huge, but it is not the only way, and maybe it is not the best way.
myself, i was obsessed the the sport(s) i competed at, appearance was secondary. hell, i went 10 years at least never doing any direct back, pec, arm work. not a singe tricept pushdown or curl, not a single row, etc.
if appearance is your primary goal, maybe getting as fat as i did is not the best way to go.
if one like yourself can carry fat as you said evenly, maybe so, but its not for everybody. thats the crux of the debate as i see it.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
at my biggest, i had a 22" neck, 60" chest, 30" thighs, and 21" arms, but i was very fat. 42" waist at only 5’6". despite those measurements, most here would probably have seen me then and thought “fat”[/quote]
Also, those dimensions are fucking crazy.
Anyone who would see that and only see fat is a true idiot in the gym world. For real.
I doubt most of the guys here have a chest over 50"…but yet they see those who push to get way bigger as wasting their time I guess.[/quote]
my girlfriend at the time said when we were out and about, people would stare at me, but maybe like you said a long time ago , everybody would stare at a 300lb smurf.
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
well x, that was not the issue being argued, of course, you can put on a lot of muscle by getting huge, but it is not the only way, and maybe it is not the best way.
myself, i was obsessed the the sport(s) i competed at, appearance was secondary. hell, i went 10 years at least never doing any direct back, pec, arm work. not a singe tricept pushdown or curl, not a single row, etc.
if appearance is your primary goal, maybe getting as fat as i did is not the best way to go.
if one like yourself can carry fat as you said evenly, maybe so, but its not for everybody. thats the crux of the debate as i see it. [/quote]
It actually is the issue being argued…that maybe these “limits” are believed because of individual training philosophy…which just means why you train the way you do and what you believe.
We agree, maybe you did get too fat.
We agree, maybe I got too fat at points. My point though is, what difference did that make if in the long run it helped build even more muscle and size?
Being nearly 290lbs made squats easier, and even shrugs easier to handle (I am just noting specific exercises I noticed an affect with leverage and balance) and generally allowed me to move and handle more weight, including my own body weight.
I personally think this is why my arms are as big as they are now when I generally don’t see that on most people on this forum.
My long term goal is appearance based. But I also knew a lot of swole guys like you who got that big by doing exactly what you did…and then dieting it off later.
I just don’t see the plethora of really big guys who did it the way you implied and “keeping abs the whole way” if it limited overall gains. In my opinion most of them seem way smaller.
i dont disagree, just in my case it has been very hard for me to lose weight and look “decent”, i am in my 40’s and for the first time i am having strangers come up to me and compliment me on my size and build,
this after years and years of being very self conscious of my appearance, not wanting to take my shirt off at the pool, etc.
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
i dont disagree, just in my case it has been very hard for me to lose weight and look “decent”, i am in my 40’s and for the first time i am having strangers come up to me and compliment me on my size and build,
this after years and years of being very self conscious of my appearance, not wanting to take my shirt off at the pool, etc. [/quote]
That is why I have always said that anyone following that should probably limit bulking up past their mid-30’s.
I don’t plan on being 300lbs again any time soon. I feel it served its purpose.
I just know for a fact I was not “flabby and obese” at 300lbs and that I was able to move more weight easier…which usually means more muscle gains.
I love being leaner now. I like wearing a XXL shirt and looking like I have my little brothers shirt on…but I am fucking glad I do that with an XL-XXL and not a medium!
…and for the record, I went to a pool part recently. Yeah, it feels good feeling comfortable taking my shirt off.
It feels way better knowing I built the serious muscle to make it that much more standout than someone who was way more average and just lean.
I am glad i am a “bigger” guy too, my wife who is a THICK latina likes me big, she likes the fact that when she stands behind me in front of the bathroom mirror i completely block her from view, even now at only 210lbs.
i am also proud of my accomplishments in the sports i competed in, as modest as they were. i have no regrets…
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
I am glad i am a “bigger” guy too, my wife who is a THICK latina likes me big, she likes the fact that when she stands behind me in front of the bathroom mirror i completely block her from view, even now at only 210lbs.
i am also proud of my accomplishments in the sports i competed in, as modest as they were. i have no regrets…[/quote]
Hey, I’ve said it before, but most women seem to be able to tell the difference between big and muscular and “flabby” without all abs being in. Most of the women who like really big guys don’t seem to mind them looking like I did at times. Big difference between that and some 300lbs obese guy eating donuts all day and playing video games.
no doubt.
funny thing, some of my ex girlfriends that i still am friendly with and talk too every now and then, said after they dated me, that they did not want to date “smaller guys” from that point on,
that is, they are now more attracted to BIG guys.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
I am glad i am a “bigger” guy too, my wife who is a THICK latina likes me big, she likes the fact that when she stands behind me in front of the bathroom mirror i completely block her from view, even now at only 210lbs.
i am also proud of my accomplishments in the sports i competed in, as modest as they were. i have no regrets…[/quote]
Hey, I’ve said it before, but most women seem to be able to tell the difference between big and muscular and “flabby” without all abs being in. Most of the women who like really big guys don’t seem to mind them looking like I did at times. Big difference between that and some 300lbs obese guy eating donuts all day and playing video games.[/quote]
People generally have this idea that girls like ripped guys with abs, my girlfriend must be the exception…
She absolutely loathes me lean