On the question of whether this is setting lower expectations than should be the case for young natural lifters on their way up:
Let’s say you have say 100 randomly selected (but for all being serious about bodybuilding) young guys at early levels of weight lifting with height and girths for wrists (once thickened from weight training) and ankles same or less than for example Steve Reeves who expect that without using steroids they will surpass him in bicep, forearm, chest, and calf measurement.
It is IMO fair to say that not merely the vast majority, but either virtually all or actually all of them if thinking this are wrong in their expectation.
There may be a quite small number that exceed Reeves in a specific thing or two, though.
Anyone who wants to pretend the opposite, to pretend something such as that half these guys COULD if they JUST TRY HARD ENOUGH and eat big enough and so forth exceed Reeves without steroids in these measurements while in lean condition, is welcome to do so.
Whether such persons, if there are any, are in a fantasy world or not is something each of us can decide for ourselves.
It seems to me on having given this more thought that the above is true as well for individuals having differing height, wrist (again corrected for how wrist may be thickened from weight training) and ankle size than Reeves:
that of any modestly large group of randomly selected young men not using steroids the vast majority will not exceed the forearm, bicep, chest, and calf sizes given by Mr Butt’s calculator.
However as for the maximum muscular bodyweight figure given by that specific calculator – and we learn above that Mr Butt has different formulas for individuals not of the bodytype of someone with small hips and waist relative to the rest of the body –
I do think many can exceed it, even if falling substantially short on even arms, chest, and calves all at the same time, and most certainly if matching the calculator on all of them.
The reason being that a more typically-proportioned hip and waist structure than is assumed by that specific calculator can add substantial weight.
Additionally the greater thigh mass that I’m convinced to be an entirely reasonable expectation for many to develop will push up the potental total bodyweight from the calculator’s value.
On that last detail, I did not include the calculated thigh value as being something that most young guys would be in error if they actually expect to exceed naturally. The reason for this likely is that the natural bodybuilders the calculator is based on simply were not trying for thigh size such as they could almost undoubtedly have achieved had they wished.
The figures for forearm, bicep, chest, and calf do indeed represent excellent achievement for a natural in lean condition: the thigh value does not, these days.
As for goal setting: I don’t think anyone would reasonably expect that the intent of Mr Butt’s work or how very many people would apply it would be that if say someone has already attained 17" arms and the calculator figures 18" as a natural maximum given his more-fixed measuremens,
that he is going to assume he can never beat that, that if he has an image of 19" in his mind he is being a fool, etc. I don’t think that is what this is about.
But on the other hand, if someone has yet to beat or much beat say the 15" mark, and the calculator gives 18" as a natural maximum, what problem is there here? Should he, while still at or below 15", be disdainful of achieving anything under 20" or 22", figures he has read in the bb’ing magazines?
Is there a problem with, at this stage, his instead deciding from guidance from Mr Butt’s calculator that 18" is a believable target that is achievable for some and may potentially be for him and would represent a fine accomplishment? Rather than basing his thinking on figures from the bb’ing magazines?
The big problem, to me, with the “conceive it, believe it, achieve it” mantra is that when you “conceive and believe” something that is purely silly in the individual case –
let’s say, believing you can fly by flapping your arms or believing, for 99-plus percent of individuals, that you can be as muscular in lean condition as Ronnie Coleman without using steroids, or for that matter with – that does not cause it to be achieved.
Better to conceive and believe in something that is rational.
And then if you get close to exceeding it, great… now start conceiving of going beyond to a truly great level. However, complaining that Walter Mitty’s dreams are being shattered because a calculator figures a maximum of 18" arms given his other dimensions and he dreams of 24" in lean condition without drugs, seems to me a bogus complaint against the calculator.
The more unrealistic thing is the fantasy, not the work in looking at what has in fact been achieved by some exceptional people as it relates to more fixed dimensions.
