T-Nation Veterans & Bodybuilding

Off Topic
21

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
CrewPierce wrote:
I’m willing to mentor someone in the correct lifts and such, but you can’t mentor someone into being hardcore.

Plus mentoring is done in the gym, not on the internet. You can teach someone on the internet, but without someone pushing them in the gym it’s worthless information.

I’ve helped out a few chaps here who have later referred to me as their ‘mentor’ so whilst I do agree with you for the most part, certain subjects such as PEDs and nutrition can be comprehensively tackled over teh interwebz.

Bushy[/quote]

I fully agree with you Bushi. I should have clearified that I meant lifting and being hardcore with your focus in the gym.

By focus I mean someone like Shugs can motivate someone to get their ass in the gym, however only a mentor could get them to focus their anger on the weights and not starring at the cardio bunnies (provided they need that help).

For me I think the most I have been a mentor is with someone’s focus in the gym. All too often I see someone doing the correct exercises but they aren’t focusing all of their mind on it. They may be looking around the gym during the lift, messing with their iPods, or just not pushing themselves with enough intensity.

22

[quote]Qaash wrote:
Now the question then would be, why do those individuals stay here? Within two pages they know that they won’t get the answer they want, at least not by anyone who has something worthwhile to say.[/quote]

Everyone wants the magic pill.

I think part of the problem is that it is actually pretty tough to get ripped with a bit of muscle. Well, pretty tough for average people unaccustomed to working hard.

Maybe google is to blame, I don’t know. This site shows up on searches for a wide variety of topics. As Biotest grows, it is bringing in more and more people who are just trying to get to a basic fitness level. Some of them want some Oprah-style hand-holding.

I do not know why some people insist on going into threads and denigrating the goals of people who want to put on lots of muscle. I think maybe you and Tiribulus are right; the term “Bodybuilding” is equivocal in every day speech, so people think that they should be in that forum if they lift weights. Strength-sports is very specialized.

But I do not spend lots of time in that forum, so I don’t want to comment too much outside of my knowledge. Perhaps, going along with Tiribulus’ thread, the “Bodybuilding” forum should be renamed “Getting Huge,” and the Beginner’s forum should be renamed “General Weightlifting.”

23

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Yet we keep getting jackasses who clearly aren’t even into bodybuilding running into the bodybuilding forum and not only ignoring the focus of the forum, but degrading bodybuilding itself. That’s retarded. It also isn’t happening in any other forum from what I can tell. No one is running into the Strength forum and telling people strength training is stupid.

Why the fuck is that?[/quote]

Because we would beat their asses! You guys wouldn’t make it down the stairs without stopping to catch your breath.

Honestly I think part of the problem is that several authors here constantly mock Ronnie Coleman and some of the other mass monsters out there. How is this “bodybuilding’s think tank” if it’s always dissing or ignoring bodybuilding?

This was brought up in another thread, but there is rarely ever an article on bodybuilding – not a how-to or program article, but an article on bodybuilding itself. There’s nothing on the contest and competitions, or the lifestyle, or even actual bodybuilders. I understand that there is a level of catering that must be done to attract new customers and readers, but it’s almost like this site doesn’t even acknowledge that there are people out there that want to build muscle and compete at an elite level.

24

[quote]Professor X wrote:

This site is going to become BB.com part Deaux. It is only a matter of time. [/quote]

I was never in BB.com forums but do frequent the site…is whats happening here now something that happened there?

25

[quote]nephorm wrote:
Qaash wrote:
Now the question then would be, why do those individuals stay here? Within two pages they know that they won’t get the answer they want, at least not by anyone who has something worthwhile to say.

Everyone wants the magic pill.

I think part of the problem is that it is actually pretty tough to get ripped with a bit of muscle. Well, pretty tough for average people unaccustomed to working hard.

Maybe google is to blame, I don’t know. This site shows up on searches for a wide variety of topics. As Biotest grows, it is bringing in more and more people who are just trying to get to a basic fitness level. Some of them want some Oprah-style hand-holding.

I do not know why some people insist on going into threads and denigrating the goals of people who want to put on lots of muscle. I think maybe you and Tiribulus are right; the term “Bodybuilding” is equivocal in every day speech, so people think that they should be in that forum if they lift weights. Strength-sports is very specialized.

But I do not spend lots of time in that forum, so I don’t want to comment too much outside of my knowledge. Perhaps, going along with Tiribulus’ thread, the “Bodybuilding” forum should be renamed “Getting Huge,” and the Beginner’s forum should be renamed “General Weightlifting.” [/quote]

Seems logical…I know I definitely did not make a distinction and oddly enough that’s how I found T-Nation, through Google…I don’t even remember what I was searching for.

26

[quote]malonetd wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Yet we keep getting jackasses who clearly aren’t even into bodybuilding running into the bodybuilding forum and not only ignoring the focus of the forum, but degrading bodybuilding itself. That’s retarded. It also isn’t happening in any other forum from what I can tell. No one is running into the Strength forum and telling people strength training is stupid.

Why the fuck is that?

Because we would beat their asses! You guys wouldn’t make it down the stairs without stopping to catch your breath.

Honestly I think part of the problem is that several authors here constantly mock Ronnie Coleman and some of the other mass monsters out there. How is this “bodybuilding’s think tank” if it’s always dissing or ignoring bodybuilding?

This was brought up in another thread, but there is rarely ever an article on bodybuilding – not a how-to or program article, but an article on bodybuilding itself. There’s almost never articles on contests and competitions, or the lifestyle, or even actual competitive bodybuilders. I understand that there is a level of catering that must be done to attract new customers and readers, but it’s almost like this site doesn’t even acknowledge that there are people out there that want to build muscle and compete at an elite level.[/quote]

Ignoring Amendment I of the New Testosterone? I do agree, the majority of contributors are athletic coaches who have expressed a disdain for the “mainstream” bodybuilding culture.

28

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
For me I think the most I have been a mentor is with someone’s focus in the gym. All too often I see someone doing the correct exercises but they aren’t focusing all of their mind on it. They may be looking around the gym during the lift, messing with their iPods, or just not pushing themselves with enough intensity.[/quote]

You hit the nail on the head. This is EXACTLY what the majority of people’s problems are. They do many of the right exercises, but they don’t do them properly. They think that performing the movement half-heartedly is going to make them HYOOGE.

Overall, people nowadays lack the mental focus to control their muscles during the workout and do them properly. This is because weight training (not bodybuilding) has become mainstream, almost like a fad. The thing is, the people that stay dedicated eventually separate themselves from the fad-lifters.

29

I wish we could go back to having a “Dog Pound” area, in which only vetted members could post. Maybe that would allow things to remain more focused.

30

[quote]Qaash wrote:

Ignoring Amendment I of the New Testosterone? I do agree, the majority of contributors are athletic coaches who have expressed a disdain for the “mainstream” bodybuilding culture.[/quote]

That would mean this site is to blame for being hypocritical about what its intentions are. If we can’t trust TC on his word as far as the direction of this site, what are we supposed to believe?

31

[quote]Qaash wrote:
Hey crew, congrats on your record and yeah, I remember mr. huge 21" thighs. Now the article above I mention, states the goals of the site…has that goal been betrayed?[/quote]

Thank you for the congrats!

As far as has the site betrayed the goals? No I don’t think Biotest or their writers have gone against what they stand for.

I believe that they can’t really control in the influx of dumbasses onto the site. We can’t blame Biotest for the mass amounts of 14 year olds on the site thinking they are swole at 150 pounds.

I do however think they have toned down their articles compared to the ones in the past. It seems TC has remained the controversial writer that we all love, but I believe other writers have lost some of their bite. I’m not sure if this is a mandate coming through the chain to them or not though.

Again I think this can still be blamed on the demographic. I mean if talking about steroids and using a caustic tone in your writing is going to drive off 99.99% of the people can we really expect them to do that?

A website isn’t going to survive with only 200 of us on it. I dunno it’s like being caught between a rock and a hard place so it’s hard to answer.

32

T-Nation also promised to deal squarely with steroids. When was the last article on steroids published? Cy Willson’s last article was in 2006.

It used to be bodybuilders looked healthy. Then drugs got out and everyone wants to look athletic and be able to fight. So that’s what people’s goals are. T-Nation’s trying to get more into the swing of things MM2k started by going with the ‘more athletic’ bodybuilding, but it’s started to wane.

‘Bodybuilding’ isn’t cool. When people think of ‘Bodybuilding’ they think of steroids, single digit HDL numbers, and a ton of useless sarcoplasm. Granted, that’s only what it is at the top level… but it’s what people see most often.

So how do you make money in a business that’s no longer en vogue? You sponsor GSP, the spike racing team, Gina Allotti and Jelena Abbou (who are models in addition to fitness competitors). You get your product in markets that are much bigger, and ‘strength and sports’ performance and enhancement are bigger than bodybuilding.

I’m assuming, don’t ask me to back that up.

I like Biotest. I have no problem with them making money, or getting closer to the mainstream, bringing in more newbies and in the process running off some veterans.

That said, I LIKE the veterans- DH was the man, Coach Colucci knows his stuff, and I often wonder what happened to Vegita (oh the epic threads…).

So… Plus ca change.

33

[quote]malonetd wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Yet we keep getting jackasses who clearly aren’t even into bodybuilding running into the bodybuilding forum and not only ignoring the focus of the forum, but degrading bodybuilding itself. That’s retarded. It also isn’t happening in any other forum from what I can tell. No one is running into the Strength forum and telling people strength training is stupid.

Why the fuck is that?

Because we would beat their asses! You guys wouldn’t make it down the stairs without stopping to catch your breath.

Honestly I think part of the problem is that several authors here constantly mock Ronnie Coleman and some of the other mass monsters out there. How is this “bodybuilding’s think tank” if it’s always dissing or ignoring bodybuilding?

This was brought up in another thread, but there is rarely ever an article on bodybuilding – not a how-to or program article, but an article on bodybuilding itself. There’s nothing on the contest and competitions, or the lifestyle, or even actual bodybuilders. I understand that there is a level of catering that must be done to attract new customers and readers, but it’s almost like this site doesn’t even acknowledge that there are people out there that want to build muscle and compete at an elite level.[/quote]

I didn’t run articles about competitions or even bodybuilders (only on rare occasion) even when I ran MM2K.

This has always been my philosophy.

I never wanted to be the People Magazine of bodybuilding.

34

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
As far as has the site betrayed the goals? No I don’t think Biotest or their writers have gone against what they stand for.[/quote]

I agree, I don’t think the site is abandoning their roots. I came to this place around March 2006 (this is a new name, my old one didn’t work) and since then, I’ve only noticed a slight bit of change, relatively speaking when compared to the change from the early 2000s to now.

But, I don’t mind a few of the changes. I like the athletic articles and stuff like that. I don’t want the information or the content on this site to get watered down by any stretch of the imagination, but I don’t mind articles that have to do with things aside from straight bodybuilding.

What really bothers me is that there’s an influx of “newbies” that have bombarded the site and have made a mess of things. They seem to neglect the articles on this site and go straight to the forums for help (not necessarily a HORRIBLE thing), but most, if not all, of their questions can be answered by a simple 5-10 minute reading session.

35

The problem Quash is that Bodybuilding unlike other sports has an actual literal meaning.

Bodybuilding in english terms means building of the body. People take this to mean what they want. Such as building the body towards being an athlete. Building a beach body, building a model body.

Many of the net browsers do not realize that bodybuilding is also a sport. In the sport of bodybuilding building muscle plays a much bigger role then most of these every day people’s goals.

Unfortunately, many of the authors focus more on athletes and deformed old cripples who need hip balance every day. This would be good if the “supposed purpose of this site was mens health”, but thats not the case. So now we have aproximately 0 “bodybuilding”(sport) only authors, and a ton of get sexy and dunk in 4 hours a week authors. Of course the forums general view is going to turn from bodybuilding to whatever you call this now.

36

[quote]Qaash wrote:
malonetd wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Yet we keep getting jackasses who clearly aren’t even into bodybuilding running into the bodybuilding forum and not only ignoring the focus of the forum, but degrading bodybuilding itself. That’s retarded. It also isn’t happening in any other forum from what I can tell. No one is running into the Strength forum and telling people strength training is stupid.

Why the fuck is that?

Because we would beat their asses! You guys wouldn’t make it down the stairs without stopping to catch your breath.

Honestly I think part of the problem is that several authors here constantly mock Ronnie Coleman and some of the other mass monsters out there. How is this “bodybuilding’s think tank” if it’s always dissing or ignoring bodybuilding?

This was brought up in another thread, but there is rarely ever an article on bodybuilding – not a how-to or program article, but an article on bodybuilding itself. There’s almost never articles on contests and competitions, or the lifestyle, or even actual competitive bodybuilders. I understand that there is a level of catering that must be done to attract new customers and readers, but it’s almost like this site doesn’t even acknowledge that there are people out there that want to build muscle and compete at an elite level.

Ignoring Amendment I of the New Testosterone? I do agree, the majority of contributors are athletic coaches who have expressed a disdain for the “mainstream” bodybuilding culture.[/quote]

If a new writer shows up on my Internet doorstep and he wants to do nothing but write traditional bodybuilding articles, he’d be welcomed with open arms.

But really, isn’t just about every article I run about bodybuilding in one way or another? I don’t care who it was written by, I’m almost always able to apply something I read in a contributor’s article to my own weight training, regardless of whether it had something to with traditional bodybuilding or not.

37

[quote]TC wrote:
Qaash wrote:
malonetd wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Yet we keep getting jackasses who clearly aren’t even into bodybuilding running into the bodybuilding forum and not only ignoring the focus of the forum, but degrading bodybuilding itself. That’s retarded. It also isn’t happening in any other forum from what I can tell. No one is running into the Strength forum and telling people strength training is stupid.

Why the fuck is that?

Because we would beat their asses! You guys wouldn’t make it down the stairs without stopping to catch your breath.

Honestly I think part of the problem is that several authors here constantly mock Ronnie Coleman and some of the other mass monsters out there. How is this “bodybuilding’s think tank” if it’s always dissing or ignoring bodybuilding?

This was brought up in another thread, but there is rarely ever an article on bodybuilding – not a how-to or program article, but an article on bodybuilding itself. There’s almost never articles on contests and competitions, or the lifestyle, or even actual competitive bodybuilders. I understand that there is a level of catering that must be done to attract new customers and readers, but it’s almost like this site doesn’t even acknowledge that there are people out there that want to build muscle and compete at an elite level.

Ignoring Amendment I of the New Testosterone? I do agree, the majority of contributors are athletic coaches who have expressed a disdain for the “mainstream” bodybuilding culture.

If a new writer shows up on my Internet doorstep and he wants to do nothing but write traditional bodybuilding articles, he’d be welcomed with open arms.

But really, isn’t just about every article I run about bodybuilding in one way or another? I don’t care who it was written by, I’m almost always able to apply something I read in a contributor’s article to my own weight training, regardless of whether it had something to with traditional bodybuilding or not.

[/quote]

The issue is the forums. I only read articles mostly if someone has a question about one. There is so much garbage running through the forums lately, it can only lead to one outcome, the distancing of regular posters who actually train harder than the average grandma.

I wish that weren’t so. I’ve been here a long time and used to really like this place.

38

[quote]CrewPierce wrote:
Qaash wrote:
Hey crew, congrats on your record and yeah, I remember mr. huge 21" thighs. Now the article above I mention, states the goals of the site…has that goal been betrayed?

Thank you for the congrats!

As far as has the site betrayed the goals? No I don’t think Biotest or their writers have gone against what they stand for.

I believe that they can’t really control in the influx of dumbasses onto the site. We can’t blame Biotest for the mass amounts of 14 year olds on the site thinking they are swole at 150 pounds.

I do however think they have toned down their articles compared to the ones in the past. It seems TC has remained the controversial writer that we all love, but I believe other writers have lost some of their bite. I’m not sure if this is a mandate coming through the chain to them or not though.

Again I think this can still be blamed on the demographic. I mean if talking about steroids and using a caustic tone in your writing is going to drive off 99.99% of the people can we really expect them to do that?

A website isn’t going to survive with only 200 of us on it. I dunno it’s like being caught between a rock and a hard place so it’s hard to answer.[/quote]

If somebody writes me an intelligent article about steroids, I swear I’ll run it.

Ask Bushy, I asked him to write me some.

Nobody will bite.

39

TC,
How about some affirmative action for bodybuilding writers. So we can appease the bodybuilders on the site?

40

[quote]Padilla7921 wrote:

What really bothers me is that there’s an influx of “newbies” that have bombarded the site and have made a mess of things. They seem to neglect the articles on this site and go straight to the forums for help (not necessarily a HORRIBLE thing), but most, if not all, of their questions can be answered by a simple 5-10 minute reading session.[/quote]

I find that many of the newbies have done nothing but read articles and then think that they know everything. They offer advice with after only a few months of lifting consistently. Some are arrogant enough to think their opinions are fact.

Bunch of sophomoric pussies.