Posing In The Gym...?

Off Topic
41

[quote]jimmybango wrote:
I appreciate all the comments…

As far as looking narcissistic, it is no surprise to me that the “average gym goer” would get that impression. It’s funny because many of the people who felt that way, had a completely different impression when they actually talked to me. They realized I’m not a “meathead” who’s full of himself and trying to show off.

Dude I get the same thing all the time and in addition to being 6 “4” 280 I also have my own personal training business and we all know the stigmas associated with PT’s. What those same people dont know is that I have two BA’s and my Masters and work full time managing multi million dollar projects. My point is people are going to think one way anyway and if they dont take the time to know you before they judge then fuck em. You should not care what the avarage Joe says, if you were trying to be average you would not compete and continously try to improve your physique.

Alot of people like to mock people who say they “compete”. Alot of guys talk the talk but never actually step on stage.

Block that out Bango. Regardless of what level you compete, the fact is you compete and you are driven. These people that talk but not walk dont have the balls to do what it takes to get in that kinda shape. But in fact secretly they would give up their left nut to look as good as you. So train hard and good luck on your next show.

AA

42

I know what you are saying X and I agree with you but I think you know those people that Bango is talking about. These are people that say they could easily compete but then always have some bs reason as to why they don’t.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
jimmybango wrote:

Alot of people like to mock people who say they “compete”. Alot of guys talk the talk but never actually step on stage. I’m not that guy.

No, people mock those who don’t even look like they lift but think that simply because they “competed” that this sets them above any other bodybuilder, even those much bigger than they are. [/quote]

43

[quote]Amsterdam Animal wrote:
I know what you are saying X and I agree with you but I think you know those people that Bango is talking about. These are people that say they could easily compete but then always have some bs reason as to why they don’t.

Professor X wrote:
jimmybango wrote:

Alot of people like to mock people who say they “compete”. Alot of guys talk the talk but never actually step on stage. I’m not that guy.

No, people mock those who don’t even look like they lift but think that simply because they “competed” that this sets them above any other bodybuilder, even those much bigger than they are.

[/quote]

I actually don’t know many people like that. Most people respect someone who has put the time in, built an impressive physique and dieted down. People do not respect skinny dudes who think that simply because they competed that this earns them some kind of status. We just posted some pics from one “competition” last week that was filled with “shouldn’t haves”.

44

[quote]vroom wrote:
Do NOT tell this guy to pose in the locker room.

The atmosphere in there is bad enough without some numnuts in his underwear flexing and posing while everybody is trying to change.

If you don’t want to look like a chump and need to practice posing, maybe wait until after your entire workout and then find a spot that is well out of the way – then practice your actual routine.

This would look like you are practicing your routine, instead of enjoying the look of your muscles in their pumped state like any other egotistical meathead.

This is all giving the benefit of the doubt with respect to competitive level.[/quote]

Exactly. If you must do, do it in the gym. That is what the mirrors are for.

Just be prepared because people will make fun of you.

45

[quote]gojira wrote:
It’s kinda like someone singing at work: it makes you a little uncomfortable, but you really don’t mind too much if the person has a good voice. However, there are a lot of folks out there that think they can sing that cannot. In those cases you just think it’s too bad that someone doesn’t have the balls to tell them the truth.

[/quote]

Sorry Gojira, I couldn’t follow what you are saying.

Nice avatar.

46

Interesting, I thought that was a common thing since that seems to be how it is at the 2-3 gyms I frequent often. There are only a few that compete at those gyms (then again they are not real hardcore gyms to begin with) and a whole bunch that hate on them and claim they could do the same if they chose to do so.

I have been to quite a few local shows and I can attest to seeing some “shouldn’t haves”.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Amsterdam Animal wrote:
I know what you are saying X and I agree with you but I think you know those people that Bango is talking about. These are people that say they could easily compete but then always have some bs reason as to why they don’t.

Professor X wrote:
jimmybango wrote:

Alot of people like to mock people who say they “compete”. Alot of guys talk the talk but never actually step on stage. I’m not that guy.

No, people mock those who don’t even look like they lift but think that simply because they “competed” that this sets them above any other bodybuilder, even those much bigger than they are.

I actually don’t know many people like that. Most people respect someone who has put the time in, built an impressive physique and dieted down. People do not respect skinny dudes who think that simply because they competed that this earns them some kind of status. We just posted some pics from one “competition” last week that was filled with “shouldn’t haves”.[/quote]

47

Professor X…

Contestant #2
My guy can kick your lady’s ass.

|/ 3Toes

48

[quote]The3toedSloth wrote:
Professor X…

Contestant #2
My guy can kick your lady’s ass.

|/ 3Toes[/quote]

I call synthol!

49

My view on the original question.

Posing in the gym is like spandex: It’s a privilege, not a right.

50

I gotta chime in as well on the posing in the locker room shit!

Listen I can live with a competitive Bodybuilder posing on the gym floor it has been happening for years but between the old dude drying his nutsack at the sink and the guy who whears florescent bike shorts sitting on the benches in the locker room completely nude carring on a conversation with his buddy nude harry fat guy! You in your french cut posing trunks going through the motions would just be to much!!!

Please do not pose in the locker room!

Feel free to pose on the gym floor if you look like you are a bodybuilder 9Not Giligan)

Just do not step in front of anyone to do it.

P.S. Did anyone else notice how guys who don’t squat and only do the obligatory 3x10 on the leg extension have turned to the ungodly pulling up of the shorts leg and hitting a nonexisting quad shot in the mirror? I don’t know who started this shit but it has become an ever increasing bad trend.

51

I think it definetly depends on the gym and the guy posing. In most commercial gyms, people train simply for the purpose of looking better to the opposite sex, so to them a serious looking bodybuilder only took this to an extreme. They have no way of understanding what the person is trying to do and likely thinks that they are an egotistical asshole. I do on occasion throw up a couple poses when the gym is empty.

Last summer, I trained at Steel Gym in NYC, a place where the average lifter looks like the biggest guy at your hometown gym. It is not uncommon to see guys strip off their sweats and shirts and start posing in grapesmugglers when they have a competition coming up. If anything, I would feel more self conscious posing here due to the size difference between me and many of the other lifters.

That being said, I hate it when some skinny tool lifts up his shirt when I know that they have no serious work ethic or goals beyond getting laid.

-MAtt

52

[quote]Professor X wrote:
jimmybango wrote:

Alot of people like to mock people who say they “compete”. Alot of guys talk the talk but never actually step on stage. I’m not that guy.

No, people mock those who don’t even look like they lift but think that simply because they “competed” that this sets them above any other bodybuilder, even those much bigger than they are. [/quote]

If you’re insinuating that I’m a skinny kid who just competes to say I compete and that I’m better than the next guy, you’re dead wrong. My very first show 4 years ago I looked like I didn’t belong. I got embarassed even though I had worked my ass off. But since then I’ve continued to work my ass off and as a result currently I’m 5’8 195 and around 8% and I’ve come a long way. All the posing practice has paid off as well, and I certainly belong.

I have never once believed that I am better than anyone else in the gym, just because I compete. Everyone has there own goals, and to me, if you’re in the gym trying to reach those goals, then you have my respect.

I just have a problem with the big dudes that walk around that think they’re bad asses just because they’re bigger than me, or anyone else for that matter. Some of them look at me hitting poses and think, ‘Shit, look at this clown. He ain’t shit compared to me…I’m a bad mutha (shut yo mouth)’

If a guy doesn’t want to compete, then don’t, there aren’t many guys who do. But the big dudes who walk around and think they’re better than the guy who has the fuckin balls to get on stage, just because they’re alot bigger than he is…that’s pretty fuckin weak.

Bango

53

[quote]Bodyguard wrote:
I gotta chime in as well on the posing in the locker room shit!

Listen I can live with a competitive Bodybuilder posing on the gym floor it has been happening for years but between the old dude drying his nutsack at the sink and the guy who whears florescent bike shorts sitting on the benches in the locker room completely nude carring on a conversation with his buddy nude harry fat guy! You in your french cut posing trunks going through the motions would just be to much!!!

Please do not pose in the locker room!

Feel free to pose on the gym floor if you look like you are a bodybuilder 9Not Giligan)

Just do not step in front of anyone to do it.

P.S. Did anyone else notice how guys who don’t squat and only do the obligatory 3x10 on the leg extension have turned to the ungodly pulling up of the shorts leg and hitting a nonexisting quad shot in the mirror? I don’t know who started this shit but it has become an ever increasing bad trend.[/quote]

Haha…yeah I never pose in the locker room b/c that would draw all kinds of attention and that’s not what I’m after. I get enough eyes watching me on the gym floor. Also, I pose on the gym floor b/c it’s during, or immediately following a training session. If I wait until I’m in the locker room, I might as well just wait until I get home and pose there (which I do quite often).

54

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
vroom wrote:
Do NOT tell this guy to pose in the locker room.

The atmosphere in there is bad enough without some numnuts in his underwear flexing and posing while everybody is trying to change.

If you don’t want to look like a chump and need to practice posing, maybe wait until after your entire workout and then find a spot that is well out of the way – then practice your actual routine.

This would look like you are practicing your routine, instead of enjoying the look of your muscles in their pumped state like any other egotistical meathead.

This is all giving the benefit of the doubt with respect to competitive level.

Exactly. If you must do, do it in the gym. That is what the mirrors are for.

Just be prepared because people will make fun of you.

[/quote]

Yeah, I’m so used to it now that I know alot of people are watching me, and at first I felt pretty self-conscious about it. Not to mention when I first started a few years ago I had no clue how to do the poses correctly, nor did I have much muscle to show in those poses.

But now I’m pretty polished in my posing and it’s just second nature. I don’t mind people making fun of me. Shit, I might even make fun of me if I saw me doing some back double biceps in the corner…

55

[quote]Matgic wrote:
I think it definetly depends on the gym and the guy posing. In most commercial gyms, people train simply for the purpose of looking better to the opposite sex, so to them a serious looking bodybuilder only took this to an extreme. They have no way of understanding what the person is trying to do and likely thinks that they are an egotistical asshole. I do on occasion throw up a couple poses when the gym is empty.

Last summer, I trained at Steel Gym in NYC, a place where the average lifter looks like the biggest guy at your hometown gym. It is not uncommon to see guys strip off their sweats and shirts and start posing in grapesmugglers when they have a competition coming up. If anything, I would feel more self conscious posing here due to the size difference between me and many of the other lifters.

That being said, I hate it when some skinny tool lifts up his shirt when I know that they have no serious work ethic or goals beyond getting laid.

-MAtt[/quote]

Yeah, I’m a student at the University of Memphis so I train there most of the time. So it’s mostly a student crowd and I know some of these dudes look at me and get a kick out of it. But I don’t care…

56

I have my own time-honed opinions on competitive bodybuilding which I won’t get into, but I do think that, even if you WERE someone who looks like you should be competing, the posing part of it should just be done in private. It just looks really . . . silly to me. But that’s just me.

However, to ease the concerns of many here, knowing your height and weight would help a lot in illustrating whether or not you’re in the “shouldn’t have” camp . . . .

57

[quote]jimmybango wrote:
If you’re insinuating that I’m a skinny kid who just competes to say I compete and that I’m better than the next guy, you’re dead wrong.
[/quote]

I wasn’t insinuating anything. I don’t know you. Until I do know you, I will continue to generalize because there have been a couple of guys rushing to compete on this board lately who need to put in a few more years before they do.

58

[quote]NorskGoddess wrote:
Hm… you ask specifically for the “ladies” perspective on this one, so I have to assume that you’re looking to impress women, or insecure that any potential gym hook-up might be thwarted. In that line of thinking, I can assure you that MOST women who saw you doing this would:
a. be impressed (if you’re in good shape)
b. be totally repulsed by your egotism.

… simulataneously. Though we can appreciate a piece of artwork hanging on a wall for its beauty, we’re not going to take it home and sleep with it at night. Especially if we think that the piece of artwork finds itself more beautiful than it finds us.

Ok, bad analogy, but hopefully you get my point. Self absorbed men make bad lovers and worse dates.

So, to answer your question – if I saw you doing this in the gym, I would be totally turned off. Sorry! I know it’s all about your “pump” – but you ask for the female persective… which leads me to think that MAYBE its not just about how you view yourself, but how others view you. Which makes it even worse.

[/quote]

That’s some great insight there. First, let me assure you that I am not self-absorbed. At the same time, I understand how it must look from a female’s perspective.

I do not pose to try and impress any females I may be interested in. In fact, I’ve always adopted the philosophy that you listed in B above…they’re probably turned off by it. So yes, I do wonder, ‘Hey, there’s a girl who I’d like to talk to. Should I hold off on the posing today so as not to scare her away immediately?’ :wink:

There have been many times when I’ve talked to women in the gym, and even asked alot of them out, my last two girlfriends I met at the gym. I like to meet women at the gym, and I’m not naive. So if I spot an attractive woman who I’d like to approach at some time in the near future, I usually tone down, or cut out the posing. I mean I love to compete, but I ain’t Mr. O so not posing for a session or two won’t make a difference. But, if it’s just a bunch of ugly dudes talking about getting smashed over the weekend…then I let the lats fly

Thank you for the female perspective, it’s much appreciated.

Bango

59

[quote]Damici wrote:
I have my own time-honed opinions on competitive bodybuilding which I won’t get into, but I do think that, even if you WERE someone who looks like you should be competing, the posing part of it should just be done in private. It just looks really . . . silly to me. But that’s just me.

However, to ease the concerns of many here, knowing your height and weight would help a lot in illustrating whether or not you’re in the “shouldn’t have” camp . . . .[/quote]

5’8 195 around 8% bf or so

60

[quote]Matgic wrote:

“they have no serious work ethic or goals beyond getting laid”

-MAtt[/quote]

Not sure what the problem with this is?

|/ 3Toes