[quote]csulli wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Elite is only the beginning IMO[/quote]
I see what you’re saying. It’s still a good goal though, and until I reach it, that’s my goal.[/quote]
Yeah. Speaking of my journey alone.
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Yeah. Speaking of my journey alone.[/quote]
Well I’m glad you have that attitude then, because you’re the kind of person who could probably do some pretty fucking incredible shit in powerlifting.
TROLLING 101:
- Post inflammatory thread to which there is no answer.
- Never reply in thread.
- ???
- Profit!
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
[quote]csulli wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Elite is only the beginning IMO[/quote]
I see what you’re saying. It’s still a good goal though, and until I reach it, that’s my goal.[/quote]
Yeah. Speaking of my journey alone.[/quote]
I really don’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to be the very best. (like no one ever was)
Yolo, correlation is not causation.
[quote]yolo84 wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Elite is only the beginning IMO[/quote]
Out of interest what are your current PBs and what are your ultimate goals?
I know you are very strong and young and have great genetics and application, so you for sure are the kind of guy who can make this sort of statement, and I am honestly just interested (not “calling you out” on it).[/quote]
I’m actually taking a pseudo-hiatus atm due partially to other obligations as well as low resources. Still lifting just very infrequently and bw is down as well. My bests are a 410 bench, 570 or 580 squat (one of the two lol), and a 605 pull @ under 220. Include a 385x1 CG bench, 190x1 Koklov press, 235x1 strict press, 425x1 beltless DOH deficit SLDL (after DLs), a 855x1 beltless Anderson squat and that’s pretty much anything that sticks out in my mind atm. Strength levels are at maximum low right now (technique moreso than brute strength), but I still have big plans for the year once I get back into the swing of things.
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
The “typical of kids who think they know everything about how life works” remark was a tad unnecessary and is a very popular and shallow statement of dissent used by older parties. Life has patterns like everything else. These patterns are transparent and not hidden. I’ve made more costly life mistakes than most people over twice my age. We are all ignorant because our perspectives are more blind than our eyes are. You speak of high school as though it somehow demerits me. I prefer to focus on variables over which I have control. Like I said, I’ve never claimed perfection, immanence, or omniscience.
[/quote]
Fuckin’ A.
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
TROLLING 101:
- Post inflammatory thread to which there is no answer.
- Never reply in thread.
- ???
- Profit![/quote]
truez/10
Michael Phelps is a great example of genetic anomaly. He doesn’t train as hard as a many of his competitors but still does awsome.
I do remember a girl in my grad program who scored 150-200 points lower on her GRE and we both ended up with about the same GPA. There’s a couple reasons for that: A) I was going through a lot of shit the 2 years I was in the program B) Probably more to do with it, she was a damned hard worker. Granted, she was a little brighter than real average (opposed to average at college), but my god she worked hard.
At least I can say that the older I get, the better I get at putting in hard work.
The power of the mind can bypass genetics the experiences of people that overcame the body due to the specific mindset are legion.
The potential of anyone is unlimitted as long as the mind and subconcious are convinced that your goal will happen, which is possible by repeating the goal as fact over and over in your head.
when i started I was 240lbs and couldnt bench press 70lbs and i was 17 years old. If i was weak minded like most people I would of said well this person benched 300 his first day in the gym so he has better genetics then me and will always be better then me without working as hard.
well thats only true within that other persons limits meaning if that geneticly gifted person believes that he has limits then it is possible to beat them, probably the same mindset that the other US guy had this year and why he kicked phelps ass.
I got farther then anyone who was better at me at the time i started even the alleged gentic gods because i know that whatever i decide on doing I will be able to do given enough time and perseverence and pain.
Im even calling out the people that think they suck and lower their expectations because of pre-concieved notions. If i was like them i would of thought maybe in my lifetime ill get to 300lb bench… maybe
if i had adopted that mindset i would not have bench pressed 400lbs after 4 years of lifting drug free
Im not posting this to say that im better then anyone else because every single person has the ability to take whatever it is they want to do farther then anyone has ever done it.
Just look at doug hepburn, a club footed man who won olympic weightlifting multiple times along with many other jaw dropping feats of strength
Genetic potential is limited to mind potential. Mind potential is limitless. Desire and focus can drive a person to accomplish almost anything.
I’m all for “the power of the mind”, but some people here are being unrealistic. The average man is 5’9", 180lbs of coke drinking, shit eating, over worked and undernourished mess. This man probably didn’t participate in athletics past the jv [or bench warmer in varsity] level of highschool. He’s got other obligitions in his life to worry about, but is willing to give pl’ing his all. Considering he’s a somewhat pudgy 5’9", 180, we’ll assume he’s ecto/endo, or skinny fat. Through optimal the optimal training and nutrition that his schedule will allow, and the benefits he can reap from these dictated by his genetics, we’ll assume he’s built himself back up to a lean and stronge[er] 180lbs [And if this sounds small, a muscular 180 at 5’9" is actually pretty jacked, especially by “average” standards]. At this height and weight with average levers, a 300/400/500 total would be outstanding. Anything much past that would put his genetics above average.
[quote]Blackaggar wrote:
Im not posting this to say that im better then anyone else because every single person has the ability to take whatever it is they want to do farther then anyone has ever done it.
[/quote]
I think the most important factor is how much you want it. When I watch videos of Matt Kroc training, it’s the intensity and will he displays that are most impressive to me.
Just a question on the side: how many people here think (or will admit) that they have good/great genetics?
Personally i think mine are a fair bit above average.
gorillavanilla: I’m a newbie to lifting, but I’ve been breeding animals (domestic and exotic) since I was 11 years old. I’ve got to say, genetics matter and genetic limits are real. I’ve observed animals of the same species raised in the same conditions reach drastically different sizes, have drastically different feeding responses, have massively different clutch/litter sizes, etc. If genetics play such a big role in other members of the animal kingdom, I don’t think humans are exempt.
Your genetics dictate your plasticity and the degree to which (and the way in which) you adapt to environments. Humans, as self aware beings, may have a greater degree of plasticity than many other animals, and the ability to choose our environmental stimuli (at least to a large extent) but it isn’t infinite. Otherwise wouldn’t we see 1000 lb raw benches by now?
[quote]mkral55 wrote:
Just a question on the side: how many people here think (or will admit) that they have good/great genetics?
Personally i think mine are a fair bit above average.[/quote]
I don’t think I’m advanced enough to tell. I won’t know what my potential is until I spend a few more years under the bar.
[quote]mkral55 wrote:
Just a question on the side: how many people here think (or will admit) that they have good/great genetics?
Personally i think mine are a fair bit above average.[/quote]
I seem to be quite fast twitch, have a very high work capacity, am naturally lean, and progress pretty fast (when everything is going right, which it often hasn’t in the past unfortunately. I’ve wasted a lot of time.) I have a fairly thick frame and very short femurs. Built to squat 
On the negative side, I’m 5’6 at 19. I’m afraid no matter what I do, WSM is not in my future…
How much of that is genetics and how much is from other factors? I was very active and fast/violent, for lack of a better description, growing up. Plus I always had a lot of outside, manual labor type chores as a kid and I’ve been training about an hour a day since I was 11 with few breaks. (Except I had no idea what I was doing back then and did nothing but pushups and pullups and all that. Got pretty damn good at high rep BW exercises… I really wish I’d had weights back then and had know what I was doing)
Nature or nurture, chicken or egg? Who knows… All I can do is do my best with the hand I’ve been dealt.
[quote]hastalles wrote:
All I can do is do my best with the hand I’ve been dealt.[/quote]
This.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
I’m all for “the power of the mind”, but some people here are being unrealistic. The average man is 5’9", 180lbs of coke drinking, shit eating, over worked and undernourished mess. This man probably didn’t participate in athletics past the jv [or bench warmer in varsity] level of highschool. He’s got other obligitions in his life to worry about, but is willing to give pl’ing his all. Considering he’s a somewhat pudgy 5’9", 180, we’ll assume he’s ecto/endo, or skinny fat. Through optimal the optimal training and nutrition that his schedule will allow, and the benefits he can reap from these dictated by his genetics, we’ll assume he’s built himself back up to a lean and stronge[er] 180lbs [And if this sounds small, a muscular 180 at 5’9" is actually pretty jacked, especially by “average” standards]. At this height and weight with average levers, a 300/400/500 total would be outstanding. Anything much past that would put his genetics above average.[/quote]
This mindset is the key to mediocrity. I was just saying the potential of someone isnt to be judged through a combination of math and assumptions.
Ive never heard a story of someone who stopped at nothing to get what he wanted but then because of his genes wasnt able to complete it.
Ive heard many stories of people giving up and using copouts and this doesnt just apply to training but in anything in life.
There is a major difference between genetically not being able to do something and not wanting to. There are myriads of examples of people missing limbs or senses, having learning disabilities, that stomped even the most gifted even at absurd disadvanteges.
that hypothetical average sized powerlifter you said is able to give his all to lifting? well then that means hes capable of a hell of a lot more then 300/400/500. it depends on what hes willing to do, is he willing to gain 100-150lbs of bodyweight? is he willing to take drugs? is he willing to drive far to train with very strong people to help him?
If he is then his potential is extremely high if hes not then all it shows is that he isnt willing to do whatever it takes, which is ok as long as hes doing whatever it takes via some other faucet in life. I doubt he is though, the loser mentality is very popular nowadays.
[quote]Blackaggar wrote:
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
I’m all for “the power of the mind”, but some people here are being unrealistic. The average man is 5’9", 180lbs of coke drinking, shit eating, over worked and undernourished mess. This man probably didn’t participate in athletics past the jv [or bench warmer in varsity] level of highschool. He’s got other obligitions in his life to worry about, but is willing to give pl’ing his all. Considering he’s a somewhat pudgy 5’9", 180, we’ll assume he’s ecto/endo, or skinny fat. Through optimal the optimal training and nutrition that his schedule will allow, and the benefits he can reap from these dictated by his genetics, we’ll assume he’s built himself back up to a lean and stronge[er] 180lbs [And if this sounds small, a muscular 180 at 5’9" is actually pretty jacked, especially by “average” standards]. At this height and weight with average levers, a 300/400/500 total would be outstanding. Anything much past that would put his genetics above average.[/quote]
This mindset is the key to mediocrity. I was just saying the potential of someone isnt to be judged through a combination of math and assumptions.
Ive never heard a story of someone who stopped at nothing to get what he wanted but then because of his genes wasnt able to complete it.
Ive heard many stories of people giving up and using copouts and this doesnt just apply to training but in anything in life.
There is a major difference between genetically not being able to do something and not wanting to. There are myriads of examples of people missing limbs or senses, having learning disabilities, that stomped even the most gifted even at absurd disadvanteges.
that hypothetical average sized powerlifter you said is able to give his all to lifting? well then that means hes capable of a hell of a lot more then 300/400/500. it depends on what hes willing to do, is he willing to gain 100-150lbs of bodyweight? is he willing to take drugs? is he willing to drive far to train with very strong people to help him?
If he is then his potential is extremely high if hes not then all it shows is that he isnt willing to do whatever it takes, which is ok as long as hes doing whatever it takes via some other faucet in life. I doubt he is though, the loser mentality is very popular nowadays.[/quote]
For some, they want to be a winner at other things than PL. Some people will workout 3x a week 45 minutes each wo so they can be super-dad and be awsome at their career too. Nothing wrong with that, just a matter of priorities.
[quote]yolo84 wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Baring mental retardation, anyone can get a PhD.[/quote]
Complete bullshit.
Easy for you to say when you are barely out of high school and don’t even have a college degree never mind a PhD.
It is ignorant and disrespectful to say this sort of stuff, but is typical of kids who think they know everything about how life works.[/quote]
+1
I’ve known plenty of people that couldn’t get a college degree, much less a fucking PHD…I’m surprised your statement generated that much dissention…
But then again, we also have guys here who think just anybody can total elite…
And what the fuck is “optimal training and nutrition”…is this just some abstract idea we are arguing? Because the amount of people who have “optimal training and nutrition” for their entire weightlifting career is somewhere around 0%