[quote]craze9 wrote:
This is definitely a phenomenon, and is definitely silly to a LARGE degree, but I will say… as someone who started lifting as the internet-program was coming into vogue, I understand what goes into it. Honestly I feel it myself sometimes – the “sour grapes” of thinking another guy got big via drugs or genetics rather than hard work or smart training.
I mean, if I go to the “hardcore” gym near me, there are a bunch of big guys clearly on steroids, but they are moving SERIOUS WEIGHT and TRAINING HARD. Some are competitive lifters, others not, but they all have my respect.
If I’m in a commercial gym however and I see a big dude hanging out on the leg extension machine, who squats and deadlifts less than me while weighing 50+ lbs more-- sometimes even bench less than me, amazingly enough – then sorry I don’t have respect. In those cases I have to conclude their muscle mass is primarily a product of either gear or genetics. There was a guy like this at my gym today – impressive physique, I was jealous, but based on his lifting I would have to bet on steroids, and then obviously the physique becomes less impressive, relatively-speaking.
There is another bodybuilder at my gym (who I like, and am friendly with), I assume he’s natural, and he’s carrying quite a lot of muscle mass, but is really quite weak on the big lifts. Like, he benches 260 or something while weighing 215. I’m honestly curious how this happens. He says he trained using primarily dumbbells at first so is relatively new to the bench press, but still. How’d he build all that muscle at such a relatively low strength level if not for a pretty significant genetic propensity toward muscle gain?
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Obviously some guys can just move furniture and do some push ups and have physiques the average gym rat can only dream of.
But there are other factors that can explain what you’ve observed.
Maybe the first guy in your example was doing pre-exhaust. Did you observe his entire workout? Have you seen him train on more than one occasion? I’ve learned to refrain from judging anyone at the gym from just a snapshot (unless the guy is doing something blatantly stupid).
I belong to national chain and one of the perks is I can go to numerous locations. At one gym, I saw a SCARY big guy (it’s not often I stop in my tracks and mutter “holy fucking shit”). He was just repping out: tricep pushdowns, concentration curls, etc. using high reps and light weight (which does have their place). It was obvious to any non-neophyte he was having a volume/pump session. Sure enough, the next time I saw him, he was moving serious poundage.
Also, many bodybuilders (the more mature ones in my observation) really don’t give a rat’s ass about weight. Their MMC and ability to contract the targeted muscle is so much better than the average gym rat that they can get more outta less - with the added bonus of sparing their joints, tendons, ligaments.
Some people just have a faster twitch makeup. Conversely, some have a slower twitch make up and learned, by trial and error, that lighter weight with good form/mmc gives them a better response for hypertrophy.
And then there’s things like recruitment. Some people not only have more fast twitch fibers, they can also recruit those fibers more efficiently. I’m not going to write a paper on maximum recruitment work but suffice it to say, it is trainable to a degree. Some bodybuilders, interested primarily in how they look, don’t lift this way and they certainly don’t do any other exercises that can increase recruitment abilities.
Let’s not forget technique. Moving big weight requires perfect or near perfect practice. And there’s a certain ‘smoke and mirrors’ going on. I’ll explain that part. A powerlifting squat (wide stance/low bar) can be dramatically different than a bodybuilding squat. Same with the bench (wide grip/back arched to place the torso in a slight decline position and bring the chest closer to the bar). I’m not by any means saying a guy with a 600+ pound powerlifting squat is weak but the technique he used to get that lift used a different method compared to a bodybuilder trying to maximize hypertrophy. Same with a guy whose goal is to bench a 1-rep max vs a guy who wants to isolate his pecs.
You said yourself the bodybuilder you’re friendly with cut his teeth on dumbbell work. Maybe he just hasn’t learned to barbell bench for maximum weight. Maybe he doesn’t know how or purposely is NOT using things like leg drive/arched back/engaging lats/gripping the fuck outta the bar (or any other cues top benchers use). Maybe, as long as he’s staying healthy and getting the proper workload and stimulating the targeted muscles for his respective goal, having 4 plates and change on the bar isn’t a priority for him.
I know what you’re saying though. People with superior genetics absolutely have an advantage and they simply don’t have to work as hard. I’ve made my peace with it, which is why I treat this as not just a physical endeavor but also an intellectual one. Now that my Coach (who still knows more about injury prevention than anyone I’ve met) has amicably kicked me out of the nest, I’ve been creating and experimenting with my own programs and I love the challenge.
