Also, my apologies for my ignorance before. It was immature and uncalled for. Im not here to pile on
[quote]cally wrote:
Ok, is there a weight at which you decide “ok I’ve reached where I want to be in terms of muscularity, now its time to really polish it and bring out the seperation of the muscle groups”?[/quote]
Yes.
In your opinion, what would that be?
[quote]cally wrote:
In your opinion, what would that be?[/quote]
It isn’t about the specific number weight but in general, this is about where I was when I started dropping more body fat [photo]38711[/photo].
I liked my shoulders, my traps, my chest, my legs and everything else.
That took a very long time to build like that…and since losing fat is that easy to me as seen in those pics, why worry about gaining some extra body fat if I can drop it in a month or two to look decent in clothes?
I dont know why you would worry, I wasnt even asking about your worries. What body parts arent up to par in your opinion?
The “personal training” threads are pretty much the only reason I bother to check this section of the site nowadays.
I don’t think anyone with any degree of sense consider there to be any sort of “race” between the various posters involved in the coaching process, as I’m pretty sure most of us here are able to grasp the concept of genetics, effort, motivation, etc… you know, things a PT can’t control over the web. No one is going to belittle the knowledge of zraw, stronghold, jskrabac or rds821349234702734, or lord the success of one over the other, so long as none of them do bizarrely stupid shit with their “clients” that clearly flushes their protocol(s) down the shitter.
The value of the threads, to me at least, isn’t necessarily found in how quickly these guys can help each poster reach their goals (to a point), but more so in the way the gears turn in their heads when designing the programs. You know, how they form an initial assessment based on lifestyle/training history and turn a basic template into an all-encompassing program customized to the collective idiosyncrasies of each individual.
People following along are certainly welcome to copy/paste the templates into their own training, but being able to see inside the head of each coach, following the critical thinking, strategy and rationale (stronghold has been great with this, I believe) that goes into turning each goal into a reality is very kewl stuff. Particularly with the fairly eclectic mix of folks we get to follow.
Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with offering advice piecemeal as the opportunities present themselves; most here, I think, are capable of tuning in to the various threads across the forum, gleaning what they can and building that base themselves… but there’s a lot to be said for simply following an A → B → C ----> Z transformation all in one place.
I think that’s what people would like to see most, particularly given the fact that your position on certain aspects of lifting differs from that of the other coaches. It would just help to paint a little more of the bigger picture, not to see who can do what faster and use it as bragging rights.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]Smashingweights wrote:
I agree with IronMan. You would be crazy at 12%
I think he mentioned 12% because 10-12% seems to be generally accepted as impressively lean without getting into the relm of contest conditioning where muscle loss would become a potential issue. I am not him so I cannot answer for him but that is my interpretation of why he specifically mentioned 12%
[/quote]
I think I got about there here.
[photo]38710[/photo]
[/quote]
Are you saying this pic you’re at 12%, out that you’re impressively lean here?
[quote]cally wrote:
I dont know why you would worry, I wasnt even asking about your worries. What body parts arent up to par in your opinion?[/quote]
I didn’t say YOU would worry. I am simply following the lone of reasoning of many here lately. It seemed to be implied that I was “delusional” about how much muscle I was carrying…when I seem to be carrying the same amount I think I am carrying.
They saw one picture of me after a big dinner and assumed that I looked like I didn’t lift.
While all of these issues may be minor, I am simply posting these to show that yeah, I have dieted before even though it was nowhere near contest condition nor was that the goal.
It is also an effort to get some people to understand that of your gal is to build more muscle than most, you may have to do some extreme things to reach that goal unless you plan to rely a whole lot more on steroid use the whole way.
^ Opened up a new box to specifically respond to something X wrote, but think I posted the quoteless one. Oopsies.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Are you saying this pic you’re at 12%, out that you’re impressively lean here?[/quote]
No. I don’t know exactly what body fat percentage I am.
As far as “impressively lean”…no, I think I am “impressively built” though in that condition and for weighing 250lbs.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]cally wrote:
I dont know why you would worry, I wasnt even asking about your worries. What body parts arent up to par in your opinion?[/quote]
I didn’t say YOU would worry. I am simply following the lone of reasoning of many here lately. It seemed to be implied that I was “delusional” about how much muscle I was carrying…when I seem to be carrying the same amount I think I am carrying.
They saw one picture of me after a big dinner and assumed that I looked like I didn’t lift.
While all of these issues may be minor, I am simply posting these to show that yeah, I have dieted before even though it was nowhere near contest condition nor was that the goal.
It is also an effort to get some people to understand that of your gal is to build more muscle than most, you may have to do some extreme things to reach that goal unless you plan to rely a whole lot more on steroid use the whole way.[/quote]
You said why should I (as in YOU) should worry. I said I (as in ME) dont know why you should worry. I think you misunderstood what was written. I never said you were delusional, you do have plenty of muscle. More than most indeed. Either way, I agree extreme outcomes take extreme measures. Anyway, what is your main focus right now? Bringing up any particular parts, strength, conditioning?
[quote]cally wrote:
You said why should I (as in YOU) should worry. I said I (as in ME) dont know why you should worry. I think you misunderstood what was written. I never said you were delusional, you do have plenty of muscle. More than most indeed. Either way, I agree extreme outcomes take extreme measures. Anyway, what is your main focus right now? Bringing up any particular parts, strength, conditioning?
[/quote]
I am working on a little more size right now and will diet again more heavily in summer.
I just want to avoid adding a lot of body fat over the next couple of months.
I am working on getting my shoulders back to where they were and more.
Sounds good. Youre wide already. What are you doing for bring up shoulders?
[quote]cally wrote:
Sounds good. Youre wide already. What are you doing for bring up shoulders?[/quote]
More laterals and more high incline presses.
it took me over a year to get my shoulders strength back to where it was before the accident…so they are really starting to pop out again now like they did in those pics and my strength is finally back.
I haven’t weighed myself in months though and since I’m not trying to drop weight right now, I am not sure how much I have gained or lost in total weight.
Shoulders are trained at least twice a week now. I am back to using more weight added onto the whole stack for machine laterals.
I tore my triceps so I am limited in some movements so it is mostly machines right now.
Not sure if you have tried them, but those meadows laterals have worked wonders for myself and others.
[quote]anonym wrote:
The “personal training” threads are pretty much the only reason I bother to check this section of the site nowadays.
I don’t think anyone with any degree of sense consider there to be any sort of “race” between the various posters involved in the coaching process, as I’m pretty sure most of us here are able to grasp the concept of genetics, effort, motivation, etc… you know, things a PT can’t control over the web. No one is going to belittle the knowledge of zraw, stronghold, jskrabac or rds821349234702734, or lord the success of one over the other, so long as none of them do bizarrely stupid shit with their “clients” that clearly flushes their protocol(s) down the shitter.
The value of the threads, to me at least, isn’t necessarily found in how quickly these guys can help each poster reach their goals (to a point), but more so in the way the gears turn in their heads when designing the programs. You know, how they form an initial assessment based on lifestyle/training history and turn a basic template into an all-encompassing program customized to the collective idiosyncrasies of each individual.
People following along are certainly welcome to copy/paste the templates into their own training, but being able to see inside the head of each coach, following the critical thinking, strategy and rationale (stronghold has been great with this, I believe) that goes into turning each goal into a reality is very kewl stuff. Particularly with the fairly eclectic mix of folks we get to follow.
Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with offering advice piecemeal as the opportunities present themselves; most here, I think, are capable of tuning in to the various threads across the forum, gleaning what they can and building that base themselves… but there’s a lot to be said for simply following an A → B → C ----> Z transformation all in one place.
I think that’s what people would like to see most, particularly given the fact that your position on certain aspects of lifting differs from that of the other coaches. It would just help to paint a little more of the bigger picture, not to see who can do what faster and use it as bragging rights.[/quote]
It takes personal direct training to really get to know someone’s strengths and weaknesses and in what way they can progress the most.
I am doubtful of anyone claiming to do this well completely obver the internet.
My goal is to help people think better about how to help themselves, not to literally take their hand and spoon feed them for months over a computer screen.
I can learn more about someone in 10 seconds in the gym than I can in 2 years over the internet.
[quote]cally wrote:
Not sure if you have tried them, but those meadows laterals have worked wonders for myself and others. [/quote]
I already know what works for my shoulders though. That’s why they look like that.
Before my injury, I was doing side laterals with 65lbs.
was just trying to be helpful. Will move on in that case.
[quote]cally wrote:
was just trying to be helpful. Will move on in that case.[/quote]
It isn’t that someone doesn’t appreciate help. It is that I just wrote about injuries and my development would imply that shoulder development isn’t exactly a weak area for me.
Good luck then