Physique Clinic discussion for Barti

Training Bodybuilding
553

[quote]Bartl wrote:
MikeTheBear wrote:
Bartl wrote:
Shugs, I need you to examine my brain for me.

I am enjoying my endurance training more that lifting right now. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

I mean, running, swimming, biking…it is all so much fun that I actually look forward to those days more than the weight days (sorry Thibs).

This is an easy one: you basically have a whole new body now, and you’re seeing what you can do with it. You’ve been “strong fat guy” for a long time, athletic yes, but somewhat limited by 55 or more pounds of baggage. That 55 pound anchor is gone now, and the rest of the active world is opening up to you.

You’ve always been an athlete, even as a fat guy you were active, but now there are a lot more things out there you can excel at. You’re being rewarded (the new sports are fun and exciting and you’re doing well at them already) so you want to repeat them.

The gym will always be your base, I’m sure, as it’ll enhance the other stuff, but I see you getting into all kinds of things you haven’t tried yet. Maybe rock climbing will be next, who knows?! Now that’s an activity that rewards the newly non-fat guy!

Wow, this is like deja vu. I went through this same thing when I started doing triathlons. It’s actually cool to be able to do two things that everyone thinks are complete polar opposites - endurance and weights. I firmly believe that weight training will improve your performance in endurance events, especially the bike and swim. But don’t ever mention this on a triahtlon forum.

I actually volunteered to be a moderator for a strength training subforum on a triathlon forum. We had to form a separate subforum so we could go somewhere safe and discuss strength training because the debates as to whether strength training improves performance got so ugly. You’ll find that you may eventually go through phases where you prefer endurance over weights and vice versa.

For instance, right now I’m doing more weights and less endurance stuff. Power cleans and deadlifts seem “new” again. Once the whether warms up here (I live in Colorado) I’ll get the bike out and hit the road to train for a 63 mile mountain bike race in July. Enjoy having these diverse interests. Done right, the two will complement and enhance each other. You can be strong and have good endurance. You will never be bored with training.

You have no idea how weird it is. My friend who is training for his half ironman won’t even talk to me about strength training. Its not that he training for a super long race, he just won’t entertain the idea that you can be strong and be good at endurance sports. Plus, he doesn’t want to get “big”. lol.

I’m with you though, I firmly believe that strength training can help with endurance training, especially the Olympic lifts.

[/quote]

Right. Most high-level triathletes today do strength training of some sort. Most high-level endurance athletes generally. There are a myriad of performance benefits even for endurance folks. Your friend is limiting himself.

554

[quote]DirtyRobot wrote:
Bartl,

Holy shit, man. I honestly can’t think of a way for your transformation to get any more impressive. I admit that I didn’t have a ton of faith in you at the very beginning of the clinic, but sweet Jesus you completely proved me wrong.

Well done, sir.

[/quote]

Thanks bud. I find it funny all the people that didn’t give me much of a chance in the beginning. I bet it had a lot with my picture.

555

[quote]dday wrote:
Damn bro! Drugs, booze, smokes and fat all kicked this year! One hell of a good start for the year. You’re truly an insperation to so many different groups of people. Keep going stong, you’re almost there! [/quote]

You forgot that I got laid off too. So yes, I’ve been busy. I can’t even imagine what the second half of the year has in store.

556

[quote]MaximusB wrote:
Man,

After reading that last bit about your past, I am glad you got away from the blow.  Besides the possible damage to your body, the legal consequences could be disastrous.  Believe me when I tell u I know.  I had some very personal losses from dope, 2.5 yrs worth of my freedom, so it makes me happy to see u get away from that shit.

On another note, from your background, you sound alot like me. Former NCAA division 1 football player and big man myself. For u to bench 225 for 28 reps as a freshman is insane. Basically, you are a strong ass mo-fo. My question is now, do you ever have this feeling of smallness?

I mean, you have no whittled yourself into a lean mean 200 which is a quantum leap from what you are used to. I ask because I see alot of similarities with your background, and I am doing my own PC if u follow me. Any thoughts bro?

Massimo[/quote]

I don’t have any feeling of smallness, I actually still believe that I am fat. I mean, my clothes don’t fit, I can start to see an outline of abs and people don’t recognize me. Still, I look at myself in the mirror and see a fat kid. I look down and see a big ole belly and can still find major flaws in my body.

I don’t know if I will ever get over that because I’m so used to seeing a fat kid, that I don’t quite see the skinny kid yet.

I want to feel small though. I don’t like the big feeling.

557

[quote]jsbrook wrote:
Bartl wrote:
MikeTheBear wrote:
Bartl wrote:
Shugs, I need you to examine my brain for me.

I am enjoying my endurance training more that lifting right now. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

I mean, running, swimming, biking…it is all so much fun that I actually look forward to those days more than the weight days (sorry Thibs).

This is an easy one: you basically have a whole new body now, and you’re seeing what you can do with it. You’ve been “strong fat guy” for a long time, athletic yes, but somewhat limited by 55 or more pounds of baggage. That 55 pound anchor is gone now, and the rest of the active world is opening up to you.

You’ve always been an athlete, even as a fat guy you were active, but now there are a lot more things out there you can excel at. You’re being rewarded (the new sports are fun and exciting and you’re doing well at them already) so you want to repeat them.

The gym will always be your base, I’m sure, as it’ll enhance the other stuff, but I see you getting into all kinds of things you haven’t tried yet. Maybe rock climbing will be next, who knows?! Now that’s an activity that rewards the newly non-fat guy!

Wow, this is like deja vu. I went through this same thing when I started doing triathlons. It’s actually cool to be able to do two things that everyone thinks are complete polar opposites - endurance and weights. I firmly believe that weight training will improve your performance in endurance events, especially the bike and swim. But don’t ever mention this on a triahtlon forum.

I actually volunteered to be a moderator for a strength training subforum on a triathlon forum. We had to form a separate subforum so we could go somewhere safe and discuss strength training because the debates as to whether strength training improves performance got so ugly. You’ll find that you may eventually go through phases where you prefer endurance over weights and vice versa.

For instance, right now I’m doing more weights and less endurance stuff. Power cleans and deadlifts seem “new” again. Once the whether warms up here (I live in Colorado) I’ll get the bike out and hit the road to train for a 63 mile mountain bike race in July. Enjoy having these diverse interests. Done right, the two will complement and enhance each other. You can be strong and have good endurance. You will never be bored with training.

You have no idea how weird it is. My friend who is training for his half ironman won’t even talk to me about strength training. Its not that he training for a super long race, he just won’t entertain the idea that you can be strong and be good at endurance sports. Plus, he doesn’t want to get “big”. lol.

I’m with you though, I firmly believe that strength training can help with endurance training, especially the Olympic lifts.

Right. Most high-level triathletes today do strength training of some sort. Most high-level endurance athletes generally. There are a myriad of performance benefits even for endurance folks. Your friend is limiting himself.[/quote]

I try to tell him that but he just gets mad because he didn’t think of it first and won’t talk about. So I don’t even bring it up anymore.

558

[quote]james20809 wrote:
Thankyou Bartl, your an inspiration.[/quote]

You’re welcome.

559

[quote]OctoberGirl wrote:
Bartl,

Thanks for sharing.

[/quote]

No problem. Thats what Shugs told us to do in the beginning, talk about our lives and what is going on in them.

Hopefully someone, somewhere will read what I have to say and decide to make a change in their life as well.

560

Hi Bartl, you’ve been irked at me since I PMed you about your thread.

I am so happy for your progress.
Thank you for reaching out to others.

Celeste

561

I hear you on that, I know hearing this wont make much difference, but you arent fat anymore. I can understand that you still see yourself that way, but you just arent. Strange how our view of ourselves may not change even though our bodies do. Shugs, got any input on this?

562

[quote]OctoberGirl wrote:

Hi Bartl, you’ve been irked at me since I PMed you about your thread.

I am so happy for your progress.
Thank you for reaching out to others.

Celeste

[/quote]

Irked? I remember you showed me the way to the this thread, that I didn’t even know was there. I’m not irked at you at all. I love your participation in all the threads, but mostly mine. :wink:

563

[quote]MaximusB wrote:
I hear you on that, I know hearing this wont make much difference, but you arent fat anymore. I can understand that you still see yourself that way, but you just arent. Strange how our view of ourselves may not change even though our bodies do. Shugs, got any input on this?[/quote]

It is definitely a mind fuck that’s for sure.

564

[quote]Bartl wrote:
OctoberGirl wrote:

Hi Bartl, you’ve been irked at me since I PMed you about your thread.

I am so happy for your progress.
Thank you for reaching out to others.

Celeste

rked? I remember you showed me the way to the this thread, that I didn’t even know was there. I’m not irked at you at all. I love your participation in all the threads, but mostly mine. ;)[/quote]

Bart… good job fella.

565

[quote]MaximusB wrote:
I hear you on that, I know hearing this wont make much difference, but you arent fat anymore. I can understand that you still see yourself that way, but you just arent. Strange how our view of ourselves may not change even though our bodies do. Shugs, got any input on this?[/quote]

It takes time. Sometimes a lot of time.

Example: When I was fat (most of my life) I got into a habit of crossing my arm over my fat-rolled belly when sitting. I STILL catch myself doing this sometimes, trying to “hide” a big gut that hasn’t been there in more than a decade.

566

[quote]Chris Shugart wrote:
MaximusB wrote:
I hear you on that, I know hearing this wont make much difference, but you arent fat anymore. I can understand that you still see yourself that way, but you just arent. Strange how our view of ourselves may not change even though our bodies do. Shugs, got any input on this?

It takes time. Sometimes a lot of time.

Example: When I was fat (most of my life) I got into a habit of crossing my arm over my fat-rolled belly when sitting. I STILL catch myself doing this sometimes, trying to “hide” a big gut that hasn’t been there in more than a decade.

[/quote]

I do that same thing all the time. The other thing I still find myself doing is tugging out at the middle front part of my shirt to make sure it isn’t sticking to my body. I used to do that to try and hide my belly under my shirts, but now I want the shape fitting shirts!

567

Shit and I thought I was the only one. Damn Dunlap Syndrome.

568

[quote]Bartl wrote:
MaximusB wrote:
Man,

After reading that last bit about your past, I am glad you got away from the blow.  Besides the possible damage to your body, the legal consequences could be disastrous.  Believe me when I tell u I know.  I had some very personal losses from dope, 2.5 yrs worth of my freedom, so it makes me happy to see u get away from that shit.

On another note, from your background, you sound alot like me. Former NCAA division 1 football player and big man myself. For u to bench 225 for 28 reps as a freshman is insane. Basically, you are a strong ass mo-fo. My question is now, do you ever have this feeling of smallness?

I mean, you have no whittled yourself into a lean mean 200 which is a quantum leap from what you are used to. I ask because I see alot of similarities with your background, and I am doing my own PC if u follow me. Any thoughts bro?

Massimo

I don’t have any feeling of smallness, I actually still believe that I am fat. I mean, my clothes don’t fit, I can start to see an outline of abs and people don’t recognize me. Still, I look at myself in the mirror and see a fat kid. I look down and see a big ole belly and can still find major flaws in my body.

I don’t know if I will ever get over that because I’m so used to seeing a fat kid, that I don’t quite see the skinny kid yet.

I want to feel small though. I don’t like the big feeling.[/quote]

When my waist hit the 32 inch range that feeling of being a fat ass went away even though I couldn’t see my abs. Keep working at it and you’ll be there.

569

Hey Bartl!

Since you talked about the pit in your last post (a friend of mine is a big metal head) and I was just wondering if you’ve ever been part of a wall of death?

570

One tip for your next set of pictures…

LOSE THE BEARD! Everything else about your transformation looks awesome, but the beard looks like shit and hides your newly refined jawline. If you like them, maybe try a foo-manchu…those look really cool on bald guys.

571

Bartl, I just read about the circumstances you were dealing with prior to your Physique Clinic. Congratulations on your re-birth. You have a powerful story, and you should be very proud. Following what you have accomplished, you can accomplish anything.

572

Thats what I’m talking about