[quote]Professor X wrote:
fjolnirg wrote:
Just a quick one since I’m pressed for time.
What most skinny guys who look at themselves are obsessing about is fat percentage. What they should be thinking of instead is muscle percentage. Not lean mass, since your brain, intestines and liver isn’t a changable parameter (for non GH using individuals). Muscle mass… That’s what you need to be concerned with. If you are 200lbs and 20% fat, you DO NOT have 160lbs of muscle.
I can’t begin to fathom the difference between someone who is 5’10" 136lbs and 13-16% fat or someone who is 5’10" 236lbs and 13-16% fat. The body doesnt operate well without a certain amount of fat, and besides, to look all cut up, you need to have some muscle for anything to be seen. If the muscle mass is missing, you won’t look muscular, simple as that.
Worth noting… when the skinny bastards start to gain muscle by eating enough it is possible for them to gain little to no body fat (or even decrease the percentage if body fat in lbs stays the same and they gain weight).
This is however no excuse for them to stuff their face with fast foods. They should eat a lot, but healthier choices.
Who’s with me in trying to point this out to the poor fellows? Prof X?
I feel you wasted your time with this post. The reason I feel that way is because people believe what they want to believe. The loudest people on this forum AGAINST anyone bulking up (which is nothing more than the concentration on size and strength alone to build a solid base) are also the ones who have never shown a picture of themselves or their own physical progress. From their stats, they are also all under 200lbs. Results should speak for themselves. This would be painfully obvious to those truly trying their best to make significant progress from year to year.
It does come down to personal preference, however, I know I would rather take the 3-5 years to reach a level that these guys afraid of any and all fat gain won’t ever reach in a life time. I’ve been on this board for a long time, long enough to see the progress people actually make over years. The ones who go ahead and make strength and size their main focus for a good deal of time are the ones who now look VERY different from just 3 years ago. The ones afraid of every ounce of body fat are not making anywhere near that kind of progress…if they are making much progress at all.
To someone out to achieve something important to them, that should be all the proof needed. The rest are people I would probably avoid if I saw them in the gym for fear of their lack of interest and motivation rubbing off on me.[/quote]
I agree that anyone truly into bodybuilding and who wants the above average, beyond 200 pound physique, and above average strength, should follow the ‘bulk’ of advice of Prof X. His guidance and advice for that is sound. The recent article by Thibs which sparked so much controversy was directed at people who have already attained this to a degree.
However, just like X pointed out some of the loudest on the board who decry anyone cutting there are a ton of guys who scream bulk, bulk,
bulk, and talk like experts, and as X pointed about the non bulk crowd out, if you look at their pics or stats they aren’t anywhere near the level they are giving advice on how to get to.
How many guys do you see hop on the bulk train and are quit to ridicule, but they haven’t broken the 200 pound barrier or their max bench is 250. I just like to see continuity from both sides and once a person has shown they have learned how to do it then they can dispense advice on getting there.
There are many members of this site who aren’t into that degree of bodybuilding or even if they want that type of build aren’t going to commit to the level of dedication to get there. They will be happy to attain a decent level of shape beyond the couch potato masses and maintain that. They will cherry pick the training advice and education here that suits their needs or that they are willing to follow.
Should we brow beat everyone into one camp of thought or trust people to use their heads when reading the training info and learn like we all have by then applying the info in practice and seeing what works for them.
D
