The Future of Testosterone Nation?

Off Topic
1

Over the past three to five years I have seen this website go to shit. I believe this should be put down to a number of reasons:

  1. A lack of quality articles from some of the classic authors such as Waterbury, Poliquin, Berardi and the great Ian King! These guys produced some of the greatest article in the history of T Nation. Why is it they no longer produce any articles??? Which leads to my next point.

  2. A lack of respect to the opinions/ideas of the authors of articles. I couldn’t believe it when I read the thread where Waterbury was treated like shit. This guy produced some great articles and offered a lot of advice on the forums. What was said about him was disgraceful. The same goes for what was said about Poliquin.

  3. The attitude of SOME senior members. One of the main reasons the message boards are full of shit is because some of the senior members are of the opinion what they say goes. Prof X always complains about the amount of shit spoken on the boards yet speak just as much shit himself.

If you don’t have anything productive to say and only get on the boards to argue with anyone and everyone then there’s no point in complaining. Two of the hardest trainers to contribute to the threads, Alpha and Caveman were helpful and respectful and didn’t need to talk the shit which is spoken by some.

  1. The idea that unless you post a picture then you’re a fucken nobody. Not everyone needs to be slapped on the back and told how huge they are by a group of fifteen year olds. Posting pictures for advice of what to work on = good. Posting pictures so pindicks can tell you how great you are = shit!

It wasn’t long ago when I read a comment from someone who had under 10 posts and was a member for about a month. He replied to a comment from a beginner with “No pictures and four posts. Who gives a fuck what you think!” This said it all about where this site is heading.

It would be a shame to see what was once a great site and full of great advice to go to shit.

2

…

3

[quote]dday wrote:
…[/quote]

Seriously. I love threads like this.

4

To comment about the pic/video thing:

I like to know who I may or may not be taking advice from. If some kid reads 200 articles but looks like dankid, I’m not going to listen to him. But if some dude reads 600 articles and looks like skip, and has tried what he is trying to teach, then I’m going to listen to him. Ya dig? I don’t post pictures so kids can rub one out too them. i do it for accountability and the fact that people know that I have actually stepped foot in a gym and am not just parroting what some author said.

There are plenty of boards with 170lbs guru’s who have less muscle mass than my aunt that hate on this site and its membership, I’m sure you would be welcome there. Just bring your pubmed subscription, elitist attitude and lack of progress. If you have made progress be sure not to post a picture or they will assume you have take PED’s. Anyone that actually looks like they lift must be on drugs.

5

beansie hates Dankid … that’s what I’ve gotten out of the last 2 posts of his I’ve read and it’s only 8 o’clock … isn’t it tax season? wtf are you doing posting? you have work to do!

6

[quote]polo77j wrote:
beansie hates Dankid … that’s what I’ve gotten out of the last 2 posts of his I’ve read and it’s only 8 o’clock … isn’t it tax season? wtf are you doing posting? you have work to do![/quote]

LOL!

It is only 8am, When you work till 12-1am you can go in for 9:30 or so.

EDIT: which means I’m posting this while getting my stew on as Duck likes to call it.

7

[quote]bundy wrote:
Over the past three to five years I have seen this website go to shit. I believe this should be put down to a number of reasons:

  1. A lack of quality articles from some of the classic authors such as Waterbury, Poliquin, Berardi and the great Ian King! These guys produced some of the greatest article in the history of T Nation. Why is it they no longer produce any articles??? Which leads to my next point.[/quote]

When you start paying for article then you have to right to complain about it … I write Time Magazine probably once a month complaining about some of the quality of the their articles but I pay for the magazine. I read my neighbors Wall Street Journal every weekend and don’t write it because I get it for free. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth is all I’m saying.

[quote]
2) A lack of respect to the opinions/ideas of the authors of articles. I couldn’t believe it when I read the thread where Waterbury was treated like shit. This guy produced some great articles and offered a lot of advice on the forums. What was said about him was disgraceful. The same goes for what was said about Poliquin.[/quote]

Some people have opinions, some differ from those of the authors. There are a lot of knowledgable and experienced guys here … I’m sure the authors understand that not everyone likes their work. Just like I don’t like your work.

[quote]
3) The attitude of SOME senior members. One of the main reasons the message boards are full of shit is because some of the senior members are of the opinion what they say goes. Prof X always complains about the amount of shit spoken on the boards yet speak just as much shit himself. If you don’t have anything productive to say and only get on the boards to argue with anyone and everyone then there’s no point in complaining. Two of the hardest trainers to contribute to the threads, Alpha and Caveman were helpful and respectful and didn’t need to talk the shit which is spoken by some.[/quote]

So go call up Alpha and Caveman and have a pow-wow …

[quote]
4) The idea that unless you post a picture then you’re a fucken nobody. Not everyone needs to be slapped on the back and told how huge they are by a group of fifteen year olds. Posting pictures for advice of what to work on = good. Posting pictures so pindicks can tell you how great you are = shit! It wasn’t long ago when I read a comment from someone who had under 10 posts and was a member for about a month. He replied to a comment from a beginner with “No pictures and four posts. Who gives a fuck what you think!” This said it all about where this site is heading.

It would be a shame to see what was once a great site and full of great advice to go to shit. [/quote]

Beansie adressed this topic quite well, but I tend to agree with you on this one. I understand this mindset in the off topic forums (SAMA/GAL) but it can be counter-prodcutive in the others.

8

Just use the ignore function for posters you don’t like.

Sure there are some arrogant shits on here…meh.

9

Members come in waves here iv noticed, a big tidal wave of members join, a whole lotta shit is thrown around and eventually the members who are serious and dont talk shit to others constantly, normally hang around, the good members normally get sieved through that is what seperates here and BB.com.

I have read this site for a number of years without joining, I have seen a well respected member get a tattoo of the T-Nation logo on his back and profess his love for the site while somebody told him how stupid he was being and that the site will be gone someday and he will be left with an embarrassment of a tattoo!

Neither of those people post now. This site will most probably carry on going after this generation of posters stop posting!

T-Nation isnt real life man, relax!

I think the message boards have picked up lately thanks to members like Steely D and as for the articles they are still good, I would like to see a interview with Matt Kroc! coughshintcoughs

10

[quote]bundy wrote:
Over the past three to five years I have seen this website go to shit.

It would be a shame to see what was once a great site and full of great advice to go to shit. [/quote]

You’re having a problem with the “Diarrhea, Diarrhea!” thread, aren’t you?

11

[quote]bundy wrote:
Over the past three to five years I have seen this website go to shit. I believe this should be put down to a number of reasons:

  1. A lack of quality articles from some of the classic authors such as Waterbury, Poliquin, Berardi and the great Ian King! These guys produced some of the greatest article in the history of T Nation. Why is it they no longer produce any articles??? Which leads to my next point.

  2. A lack of respect to the opinions/ideas of the authors of articles. I couldn’t believe it when I read the thread where Waterbury was treated like shit. This guy produced some great articles and offered a lot of advice on the forums. What was said about him was disgraceful. The same goes for what was said about Poliquin.

  3. The attitude of SOME senior members. One of the main reasons the message boards are full of shit is because some of the senior members are of the opinion what they say goes. Prof X always complains about the amount of shit spoken on the boards yet speak just as much shit himself.

If you don’t have anything productive to say and only get on the boards to argue with anyone and everyone then there’s no point in complaining. Two of the hardest trainers to contribute to the threads, Alpha and Caveman were helpful and respectful and didn’t need to talk the shit which is spoken by some.

  1. The idea that unless you post a picture then you’re a fucken nobody. Not everyone needs to be slapped on the back and told how huge they are by a group of fifteen year olds. Posting pictures for advice of what to work on = good. Posting pictures so pindicks can tell you how great you are = shit!

It wasn’t long ago when I read a comment from someone who had under 10 posts and was a member for about a month. He replied to a comment from a beginner with “No pictures and four posts. Who gives a fuck what you think!” This said it all about where this site is heading.

It would be a shame to see what was once a great site and full of great advice to go to shit. [/quote]

12

I think looking back at anything will always color things in a better light. I started reading this site waaay back in '01 or so, and hardly ever posted at the time, but was just very happy to get articles addressing things I truly wanted information on, and being able to watch (lurk) others intelligently (most of the time) discuss their own experiences.

Were it not for this site, I would never have learned what is now the most basic understanding I have of training and nutrition (Many thanks to Berardi, Poliquin - Thibs popped in a bit later -lol). Unlike most of the muscle mags you can pick up on the newstands, T-Nation doesn’t have to turn out 200-300 pages every month with crap dressed up as a ‘new’ article.

Seriously, how many times do you pick up a Weider mag to read the exact same issue address in the exact same way (but with new pictures)? Sure, not every article that we get on here is going to be great, I don’t think anyone could guarantee that (and we’d get a hell of a lot less stuff to read), but I’d like to think that whatever TC approves, he genuinely thinks that SOME of the T-folk reading will find useful.

The lack of respect some authors seem to get, I feel has a lot to do with the general attitude that people on the internet bring to the table these days. There is always a feeling of unaccountability, and it’s very easy to either rip someone’s theories without much to support your claim, or even just cite someone else’s theories in contrast, albeit not always in the most intelligently-seeking-discussion manner (sadly some people just like it when they can find faults in others).

When I had the chance to meet and train with Christian, the subject of Chad came up. Chad hadn’t been receiving a lot of love on the forums at the time, and you know what,… Christian was respectful as all hell of his theories. That’s the mark of a gentleman. He didn’t need to prove his theories over Chads, he just needs to prove his theories… period.

It’s the fact that we have different coaches and trainers putting their ideas out there for us that we are able to try them out and find what will work for us (no need to bitch and whine about what didn’t,… at least not in such a nasty manner as seems to have been the case this last year or so).

In regard to the attitude of some senior members being a little harsh on the younger ones,… well, there’s a lot of information available at your fingertips on this site, and to get the same questions, or even arguments from someone who has practically no real amount of experience, yet is adamant in their convictions might bother some people. Not everyone has the patience of a saint.

To be honest, while like to think I have a long fuse, and certainly try damn hard to assist anyone with questions at my gym on a daily basis, even I’ve snapped at the same ass who has asked me repeatedly 2 questions over and over and over for the last year, yet refuses to even listen to the reasoning behind my answers.

The picture in profile thing,… well, it’s really easy for someone to sing the praises of some super new program or supplement that caused them to just ‘blow up’,… but if blowing up means going from 140 lbs to 145 lbs, while also starting to eat better, chances are it’s not the reason behind your sudden hugeness.

I think if everyone was able to step back a bit,… if the younger folks realized that some of the seasoned vets have already made the mistakes that you’re making, and that they’re not always trying to be dicks, merely trying to be helpful, we’d have less bitching. Of course if Professor X switched to Decaf, we’d have less heads getting bitten off too (luv ya PX -lol)

S

13

I think it’s a mistake to assume that professionals stop writing articles for websites on account of critical posts on forums.

I think this for two reasons:

  1. As I don’t read bb’ing forums in general, I see extremely little of it, but I’m aware that there has to be at least 10 tons of crap out there about me, rife with misinterpetations of quotes and so forth. Does this stop me? Do I even care about it? No.

While others don’t have to have the same psychology on this that I do, it at least indicates it’s possible, and for example having met John Berardi, I can’t imagine him going into a fret over bogus criticism.

  1. As we are speaking of professionals, this general field is how they make their living. They’re unlikely to make what seems to them to be an unproductive decisions (turning down a job they would otherwise want to do) on account of an expectation that some guys somewhere in the country are going to whine about what they wrote.

Lastly, using Dr Berardi as an example again:

Checking his website for the full list of his articles over the years ( http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/index.htm ) one sees that for the last few years his article production has been low to non-existent for anybody. He is busy with other things.

14

“bundy
Level 0”

15

“vir
level 0”

What’s your point Vir? Cuz the guy’s a level 0 he shouldn’t have an opinion? Pot meet kettle…

16

[quote]polo77j wrote:
“vir
level 0”

What’s your point Vir? Cuz the guy’s a level 0 he shouldn’t have an opinion? Pot meet kettle…[/quote]

Everyone’s free to have an opinion, I just don’t see why this guy is getting so annoyed about a website/company he has never even bought from - unless he gets his Biotest stuff from another supplier. Although I suppose he is entitled to have his say about the forum members. I wouldn’t complain about articles that I have never put any money towards, that’s all.

RE: my level - I’ll be buying eventually when I have the money, FWIW. But anyway the point is I just found it strange that bundy has been here for 6 years and never bought anything but still felt like ranting about the quality of the articles. There’s lots of great stuff in the archives anyway!

17

The one thing is T-Nation has a lot of funny people. The kind of funny you can only get with sports and/or military guys. it’s hard to explain, but I find lots of the guys here very funny. And it’s not about all crude humor or fart jokes or “Family Guy” level stuff. It’s hard to explain.

But the bad side of that is that too many people try to hard to be funny all the time, making new threads become mine fields where people may fear to post lest they be ripped apart by one gut then 3 others gang up or at least make it bad by agreeing with the first guy to try to be funny.

I’ve seen threads about a certain thing go in a certain direction one time because some people made snide comments, then two weeks later a thread on the same basic topic will go in another direction just because it was able to get started without being derailed by a smart-ass.
I mean a guy could come on and ask how much protein he needs, the second post is “Have you tried foam rolling?” ,then quite a few people after that will not take the guy seriously at all, with all kinds of jokes and pics of Pikachu throwing up and Captain Picard putting his hand in front of his face.

Next week the same thing comes up from someone else then there’s 15 to 20 good responses.

18

[quote]Nards wrote:
The one thing is T-Nation has a lot of funny people. The kind of funny you can only get with sports and/or military guys. it’s hard to explain, but I find lots of the guys here very funny. And it’s not about all crude humor or fart jokes or “Family Guy” level stuff. It’s hard to explain.

But the bad side of that is that too many people try to hard to be funny all the time, making new threads become mine fields where people may fear to post lest they be ripped apart by one gut then 3 others gang up or at least make it bad by agreeing with the first guy to try to be funny.

I’ve seen threads about a certain thing go in a certain direction one time because some people made snide comments, then two weeks later a thread on the same basic topic will go in another direction just because it was able to get started without being derailed by a smart-ass.
I mean a guy could come on and ask how much protein he needs, the second post is “Have you tried foam rolling?” ,then quite a few people after that will not take the guy seriously at all, with all kinds of jokes and pics of Pikachu throwing up and Captain Picard putting his hand in front of his face.

Next week the same thing comes up from someone else then there’s 15 to 20 good responses.[/quote]

And 2 weeks before the “protein q” the exact same thread shows up. And 2 weeks before that. And 2 weeks before that. Granted the information changes slightly as new ‘discoveries’ are made. But rarely do you see a completely novel topic get derailed by jackasses. Its always the shit that gets repeated constantly. And its natural to notice the trainwreck threads more than the helpful ones simply because theyre funnier.

19

Since being on this site and following all the advice others have given me. The articles from the past few years have really helped. I think this site is one of the best resources out there. Also the members it attracts are some of the the most top notch people. This site has taken me from being in a “health club spinning my wheels @ 185lbs” to a more hardcore area of training @ 215lbs. I am fairly lean.

I don’t need to boast about it. I feel no need to brag or prove myself to get street credit. I know what I know and I learned from TC’s site and members on it. If it was not for them I don’t think I could say this.

Where you have forums on the internet you will always have haters. Its just a fact. Some people live to see public people FAIL. So they can get ten seconds of fame knocking someone else down.

There will always be keyboardjocks that have trouble lifting a coffee mug handing out advice they read in some rare article.

Just like anything in life. Look at who and where your info comes from. Everyone is essentially anonymous on here. Take everything you read with a grain of salt.

Last but not least. Lighten up. Its just words on a computer somewhere. Its your reaction those words that are important. Will those words get you all frustrated and fired up posting more posts? Or will you shrug off the crap and get back to what matters most? REST, FOOD, TRAIN and the rest is just gravy.

20

[quote]Nards wrote:

I’ve seen threads about a certain thing go in a certain direction one time because some people made snide comments, then two weeks later a thread on the same basic topic will go in another direction just because it was able to get started without being derailed by a smart-ass.
I mean a guy could come on and ask how much protein he needs, the second post is “Have you tried foam rolling?” ,then quite a few people after that will not take the guy seriously at all, with all kinds of jokes and pics of Pikachu throwing up and Captain Picard putting his hand in front of his face.

Next week the same thing comes up from someone else then there’s 15 to 20 good responses.[/quote]

I agree, but sometimes the smartass response comes from the type of question asked, the person asking, if it’s an '09, or if it may be a troll.