Go to a local NPC show. Check out the competition. Compare yourself to that. Then enter that contest with full intentions of winning it and see how you do. Talk to the judges afterward to hear their opinion on your physique/potential.
You aren’t too old by any means. You are not judged on your age when you step on stage.
So if you want to be a competitive bodybuilder, train like one, eat like one and get on stage. Use the amount of drugs youre comfortable with. You will learn more from being around other people in the industry than you will from this forum. [/quote]
The only thing I would change in what you wrote, is noting that this guy hasn’t even been training for two straight years. It used to be a given that unless you were already built, it would take around 3-5 years to even assess someone’s potential unless they were a true freak like Vic Richards from the start.
[quote]Alffi wrote:
I get kind of uncomfortable about this whole “the best won the genetic lottery” thing, as far as pure size is concerned. Thing is, bodybuilding is not even that popular. If it is, it is still mostly recreational. Jamaican sprinters and other true genetic freaks (fast twitch types) are, more often than not, doing something far removed from bodybuilding.
Think about the seven foot tall men with big frames…like that Mr. India or whoever he was, of whom there is a picture standing next to Dorian Yates. Dorian said he felt like a kid. I don’t think the indian giant gave up any width to a prime Dorian either. Yeah. He may not be as ‘aesthetic’ as a balls out dedicated 5’8 guy of average frame size to the eyes of the judge but there is no saying that the naturally smaller man is somehow built to be big and the genetic freak. He just wants something very hard and is lucky to have the appeal. As far as pure size is concerned, the touted, famous cream of the crop is likely the tip of the iceberg.[/quote]
You need to put your thoughts together better. What are you even trying to say?[/quote]
What I THINK he’s trying to say (apologize if I put words in your mouth). Is that Bodybuilding is considered an eccentricity that few adhere to. In North America there are a few that practice it at a competitive level, but in comparison to hockey, soccer or sprinting etc its no where near as popular.
This gap becomes that much larger in other countries like Jamaica. So to say that it requires near perfect genetics (top 0.1 percent as was stated). Implies that ONLY and ALL of the “perfectly” genetically people choose to participate in this sport of bodybuilding.
When the reality is that many likely gravitate to more popular sports with more prestige and train in a different way. While this untapped potential is winning Stanley Cups a person with more drive to lift and less genetic potential is winning Mr Olympia’s.
Am I right Alffie? I think it’s a fair argument, either way. Though clearly for any athlete at this level genetic potential is still a HUGE determinant.
[quote]Standard Donkey wrote:
wasn’t markus ruhl around 120 pounds at age 19 and 5’10? (obviously before he began training)[/quote]
What does that have to do with anything? I was 150lbs. I gained rapidly though once I started eating enough and training right.
Genetics do NOT just refer to how you look WITHOUT training. They also refer to how quickly you adapt to training. Both Lou Ferrigno and Flex Wheeler were skinny teenagers.
[quote]Standard Donkey wrote:
wasn’t markus ruhl around 120 pounds at age 19 and 5’10? (obviously before he began training)[/quote]
What does that have to do with anything? I was 150lbs. I gained rapidly though once I started eating enough and training right.
Genetics do NOT just refer to how you look WITHOUT training. They also refer to how quickly you adapt to training. Both Lou Ferrigno and Flex Wheeler were skinny teenagers. [/quote]
I completely agree, however I thought it was worth noting what a humble beginning (arguably) one of the largest bodybuilders in history had. To think how tiny his bone structure must have been.
I would think that the same genetics that could make someone capable of being 340 pounds in the off-season and possessing a pair of the largest shoulders in the world would cause the individual to be slightly naturally larger than 5’10 120 at the age of 19.
[quote]Standard Donkey wrote:
wasn’t markus ruhl around 120 pounds at age 19 and 5’10? (obviously before he began training)[/quote]
What does that have to do with anything? I was 150lbs. I gained rapidly though once I started eating enough and training right.
Genetics do NOT just refer to how you look WITHOUT training. They also refer to how quickly you adapt to training. Both Lou Ferrigno and Flex Wheeler were skinny teenagers. [/quote]
I completely agree, however I thought it was worth noting what a humble beginning (arguably) one of the largest bodybuilders in history had. To think how tiny his bone structure must have been.
I would think that the same genetics that could make someone capable of being 340 pounds in the off-season and possessing a pair of the largest shoulders in the world would cause the individual to be slightly naturally larger than 5’10 120 at the age of 19.[/quote]
Your bones can increase in density and quite possibly circumference if enough load is placed on the attached tendons. I get what you are saying, but his bone structure was obviously able to support the gains he made so perhaps your perception is what is wrong. I had worked UP to that 150lbs in high school. I was 85lbs as a high school freshman.
Food and training make a hell of a lot of difference and if the genetics aren’t there to support that size, no one would ever get that big in the first place.
Steroids can’t possibly cause someone to suddenly be able to support massive muscles that they just aren’t built for and it took him YEARS to make that kind of progress which is more than enough time for his body to adapt.
Blame his lack of eating for his small size, not some “genetic ceiling” as far as the size of his bones based on a picture that is over 20 years old.
There’s so much more to it than just “do you look good after a few years lifting.” Basically it’s not even a question worth asking because you won’t know until you try, because shit you don’t even know about in human physiology plays into the genetic lottery. How well do you respond to food, how well do you recover from how much volume, are you fast or slow twitch dominant, if you’re slow twitch dominant are your fibers prone to remodification, how is your natural levels of test/estrogen/receptors for androgens, which leads to how well you may respond to steroids when the time comes to use. Then there’s other things like, are your muscles pretty enough to win contests or will you just be an ugly mass? You honestly can’t know most of this shit until you try. Should you quit everything else in life to do it? No, absolutely not, but should you let someone on this forum saying “clearly not you” deter you from putting forth effort? That should be pretty rhetorical.
[quote]red04 wrote:
There’s so much more to it than just “do you look good after a few years lifting.” Basically it’s not even a question worth asking because you won’t know until you try, because shit you don’t even know about in human physiology plays into the genetic lottery. How well do you respond to food, how well do you recover from how much volume, are you fast or slow twitch dominant, if you’re slow twitch dominant are your fibers prone to remodification, how is your natural levels of test/estrogen/receptors for androgens, which leads to how well you may respond to steroids when the time comes to use. Then there’s other things like, are your muscles pretty enough to win contests or will you just be an ugly mass? You honestly can’t know most of this shit until you try. Should you quit everything else in life to do it? No, absolutely not, but should you let someone on this forum saying “clearly not you” deter you from putting forth effort? That should be pretty rhetorical.[/quote]
Which is why the main point is, no one is going to know where they stand until they out SOME YEARS into this. The OP hasn’t even been training for two whole years straight and is ALREADY acting like he is about to use steroids…as if all of those pro’s were average looking guys before they started competing.
That is effectively why we went into the tangent about how developed many of these guys were before doing anything like that.
These newbs see “steroids” in the media and assume THAT is what is keeping them from being big…and not the fact that they can’t even stick with this for more than 6 months or the fact that they can’t even bring themselves to east 6 times a day.
Go to a local NPC show. Check out the competition. Compare yourself to that. Then enter that contest with full intentions of winning it and see how you do. Talk to the judges afterward to hear their opinion on your physique/potential.
You aren’t too old by any means. You are not judged on your age when you step on stage.
So if you want to be a competitive bodybuilder, train like one, eat like one and get on stage. Use the amount of drugs youre comfortable with. You will learn more from being around other people in the industry than you will from this forum. [/quote]
The only thing I would change in what you wrote, is noting that this guy hasn’t even been training for two straight years. It used to be a given that unless you were already built, it would take around 3-5 years to even assess someone’s potential unless they were a true freak like Vic Richards from the start.
[/quote]
Oh I agree. When I said “enter a contest with the intention of winning” I tried to imply that he should train to get to a level that compares to others competing at the same show.
[quote]Standard Donkey wrote:
wasn’t markus ruhl around 120 pounds at age 19 and 5’10? (obviously before he began training)[/quote]
What does that have to do with anything? I was 150lbs. I gained rapidly though once I started eating enough and training right.
Genetics do NOT just refer to how you look WITHOUT training. They also refer to how quickly you adapt to training. Both Lou Ferrigno and Flex Wheeler were skinny teenagers. [/quote]
I completely agree, however I thought it was worth noting what a humble beginning (arguably) one of the largest bodybuilders in history had. To think how tiny his bone structure must have been.
I would think that the same genetics that could make someone capable of being 340 pounds in the off-season and possessing a pair of the largest shoulders in the world would cause the individual to be slightly naturally larger than 5’10 120 at the age of 19.[/quote]
I have no idea if his starting stats are true, but if they are that means he TRIPLED his bodyweight. That’s insane.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Blame his lack of eating for his small size, not some “genetic ceiling” as far as the size of his bones based on a picture that is over 20 years old.[/quote]
Agreed. If I had thought that my limitations were due to genetics and not food, I would still be hovering around 120lbs.
ok heres the deal. im a 3rd year univesity student in keniesiology. im not an ill-informed “newbie” i work at a gym, am fully certified to personal trainer (which i do not at the moment.) body building for me has taken shape only in the past year and a half and am trying to gage where i might be in a couple years. on a side note, my good friend won the BC’s over all, earning his pro card (british columbia, canada) so im around serious lifters who know thier shit.
i was wondering if people here new where some of the pros were when they were younger, which a couple of you did so thank you. a question i have, lee priest at the age of 16 looks incredible. its shocking how personally some of you took this post. i have no intentions of competing soon. i plan to bulk to 210-220 cut fully, see where im at and than decide if i want to stand on stage. i know steroids dont “make” a bodybuilder but you have to be ignorant not to know they can drmatically change a physique.
all the shit about “if you have to ask than you dont have it” is rediculous. you dont know me, never met me never seen me train, so your telling me from a question i ask on then internet you can determine i have no ginetic abilities to bodybuild? truly all i wanted to know was where some famous professionals were at a younger age. dont tell me you never thought " i wonder what coleman looked like at 19?" or any other pro for that matter.
this is the first real comment i have submitted and already there have been a few arguments on this thread. fucking rediculous how snobby some of you guys are, i hope you dont take everything as personally as you take a internent forum question.
[quote]mikedefran wrote:
basically trying to figure out where some of the pros were at the age of 20 with their physique. and when they felt they maxed their natural potential and started “juicin”. you hear about diet, training, sleep but never about the steroids.[/quote]
That’s because diet, training, and sleep are the things that make a pro. There’s no secret drug or steroid cycle that will put the work in for you.[/quote]
this is true and yet a rediculous statement. if you took ANY ifbb pro and took out steroids from thier bodybuilding career, garnteed they wouldnt be where they are now. for example jeff willet. in a video he talked about how he competed when he was younger and he stopped growing when a lolt of the pros around him kept getting bigger. im NOT saying steroids are the most important thing but they are important. if they didnt matter than why did arnold start at age 16? why not wait till he reached full “natural potential” these are questions i wanted to know. im not some kid thinking of juicin cause im im patient with natural gain. im FULLY content with putting in the hard work necssary to build a truly impressive natural physique. all in all i think its truly ignorant to think that a pro bodybuilder could be where he is without the aid of steroids. jay cutler and i quote said “i take sterooids to give me that edge, and i have that edge” dont miss hear me, im not against steroids at ALL. i have a respect for them and understand what they do. my question was really about when did some of the pros start? becuase it definitely DOES matter just as much as training, diet, and sleep.