Trainer Image: Poll

Off Topic
41

[quote]FightingScott wrote:
W@LRUS!1 wrote:
FightingScott wrote:
Jesse (Marunde) probably isn’t as versatile of an athlete as someone who has a body like that men’s health model’s.

So Jesse Marunde, who has proven himself as a top notch versatile strength athlete, is no match for a skinny model that poses for pictures?

BRILLIANT! You sir are an intellectual powerhouse.

P.S. it’s easy to loose muscle, but you have to work your ass off to gain it.

Loose muscle? Brilliant! It is quite easy to obtain loose muscles! Everyone should be stretching more than they do now adays. I’ve even heard some suggest that muscles should be stretched after exercise for the same amount of time they’re contracted during exercise.

I don’t think you really “get” what I mean when I say versatile. Jesse isn’t going to be finishing any triathalons any time soon.

It’s also possibel that the lean guy only looks like he might have some endurance just because he looks lean and doesn’t really posess any athletic ability.

But having a body that’s come from doing 800 pound deadlifts and strength training only isn’t as appealing to me as having a body that’s developed from a combination of weights and endurance training. [/quote]

Jesse Marunde was born in Glennallan, Alaska on Sept. 14th, 1979. At age 9, Jesse began commercial fishing in the Bering Sea. After 14 years of pulling nets, Jesse developed world-class hand strength.

At age 18 he officially closed the #3 Captains of Crush Gripper. In high school, Jesse excelled in football, wrestling, arm wrestling, powerlifting and track and field.

At the Washington State high school powerlifting championships, he placed 2nd with a squat of 500lbs, bench press of 295lbs and a deadlift of 540lbs in the 220lb class.

After receiving a football scholarship to Montana State University to play tight end, Jesse began competing in Olympic weightlifting. At age 19, Jesse became a father to Dawson Blue Marunde and in the same year he placed 3rd in the heavyweight class at the Jr. Nationals with a snatch of 242lbs and a clean and jerk of 308lbs.

With the guidance of his strength coaches Brett Tudsbury and Steve Gough, Jesse increased his lifts to a 330lb snatch and a 407lb clean and jerk to win the Washington State weightlifting championships in the year 2001.

With aspirations of becoming the strongest man in the world, Jesse left the football field and began competing in the sport of Strongman. Within one year, Jesse became the youngest American, at age 22, to ever qualify for the World’s Strongest Man contest on ESPN.

In September of 2005 Jesse placed 2nd in the Met-RX World’s Strongest Man competition in Chungdu, China.

In his 3rd showing at the ESPN televised event It was his first time making it to the finals and his first time on the podium. Jesse is more determined than ever to pursue greater strength, technique and endurance in an attempt to finally win the title of World’s Strongest Man.

hmmmmmmm sounds like a pretty versatile athelete to me, notice the track & field.

so some skinny model with a little bit of muscle mass is a better athlete than one of the top 10 strongman in the world if not top 5, played D-1 football, and was succesfull in the state level at olympic lifting and powerlifting?

I just can’t understand where your logic is coming from. Jesse Marunde is a very bad example to use for why big strong guys arn’t verstile athletes

42

Funny the mentality, I see alot of people say “Big” but since when does big translate into knowledge. Mike Boyle is one of the most knowledgable people on here, but he isn’t “big”, hell, he looks like he hardly trains (no offence to Mike)!

43

[quote]intenseone wrote:
Funny the mentality, I see alot of people say “Big” but since when does big translate into knowledge. Mike Boyle is one of the most knowledgable people on here, but he isn’t “big”, hell, he looks like he hardly trains (no offence to Mike)![/quote]

Using the same reasoning, “ripped” doesn’t equate to knowledge either. I have known a handful of exceptionally lean people, and they didn’t know shit about training or proper diet. Only what they’ve read in magazines.

Hmmm, maybe that was the OP’s reason for asking the question…

44

[quote]KO421 wrote:
so some skinny model with a little bit of muscle mass is a better athlete than one of the top 10 strongman in the world if not top 5, played D-1 football, and was succesfull in the state level at olympic lifting and powerlifting?

I just can’t understand where your logic is coming from. Jesse Marunde is a very bad example to use for why big strong guys arn’t verstile athletes[/quote]

That is the general sentiment on this site and is getting pretty old. It seems every skinny newbie truly believes that the smaller you are, the more “functional/versatile” you are with a greater ability to be “insert MMA fighter here”.

As far as this topic, I know when I worked as a personal trainer, I often got clients while simply shopping at the grocery store…because I looked the part. I am usually pretty taken back when people ask me for advice even though it happens often.

It is just the fact that I remember being the person asking the questions. I would never have walked up to some guy who was simply very defined for advice on how to lift. While it takes will power to diet, it is no where near the difficult feat of training consistently for several years without fail and forcing your body to gain a shit load of muscle mass by pushing hard in the kitchen and the gym day in and day out.

45

[quote]FightingScott wrote:
Loose muscle? Brilliant!
[/quote]

Your reply centers around me making a typo.

Congratulations, jog well done.

Versatile to you means being able to finish a triathlon?

By the way, you spelled triathlon incorrectly.

Oh, and how the fuck do you know Jesse couldn’t finish a triathlon? Sure, he’s not going to be able to finish the IRONMAN super triathon, but I bet he’d easily be able to finish one of those local yokal shorter versions.

More typo’s on your part. Normally I wouldn’t point this out, but since you harped on me making one, I thought I’d return the favor.

You’re also correct here…looking lean does not correlate to being athletic or having competitive endurance levels.

[quote]
But having a body that’s come from doing 800 pound deadlifts and strength training only isn’t as appealing to me as having a body that’s developed from a combination of weights and endurance training. [/quote]

Actually, strongman training incorporates a higher degree of endurance training than any other type of strength training.

If you had used a top level powerlifter, like Andy Bolton, as your example of only being good at lifting heavy weights I might have agreed with you. But Jesse happens to be a top level strongmen and very versatile athlete.

46

[quote]intenseone wrote:
Funny the mentality, I see alot of people say “Big” but since when does big translate into knowledge. Mike Boyle is one of the most knowledgable people on here, but he isn’t “big”, hell, he looks like he hardly trains (no offence to Mike)![/quote]

Most of the big guys I have EVER known in the gym since I first started training have been very valuable as far as knowledge when it comes to being strong and building muscle. In fact, I would say it is rare to find someone who is such a complete moron that you couldn’t learn anything from them despite them looking ridiculously huge.

As we see on this site, you don’t even have to train regularly to be able to quote authors and trainers so you can SOUND like you know what you are talking about. If you think that is necessary to actually KNOW what you are talking about, you are quite misguided.

If you believe that huge guy in the corner with arms bigger than your legs, the one who can’t quote one word from an author but has put the time in for decades, is someone you can’t learn from…you will likely never make much progress yourself.

But hey, at least you can fool other people on the internet as long as they can’t see you.

47

[quote]intenseone wrote:
Funny the mentality, I see alot of people say “Big” but since when does big translate into knowledge. Mike Boyle is one of the most knowledgable people on here, but he isn’t “big”, hell, he looks like he hardly trains (no offence to Mike)![/quote]

It all boils down to what someone wants to achieve.

No one goes to Mike Boyle that’s interested in benching 500 lbs without a bench shirt. Why, because that’s not where Boyle’s expertise lies. I wouldn’t go to a ear, nose, throat specialist to have eye surgery. I also wouldn’t go to Mike Boyle to learn to be a competitive powerlifter.

If I was interested in competing in a bodybuilding contest I’d contact Christian Thibaudeau. Mike Boyle would never even be considered.

And to answer your question. If I wanted to get BIG, I wouldn’t go to Mike Boyle for answers. I’d go to someone that specializes in getting BIG.

48

Weightlifting is a hilarious world because of the extent to which most trainees’ knowledge exceeds their achievements. Many people “know” everything; only a few people can squat 400lb+.

I train at home now, but I trained in a gym for my first year of training. I was 150lb and didn’t have a clue what to do, so I thought I’d ask someone for help. Instinctively, I ignored all the Men’s Health type physiques and chose the biggest guy in the gym, who must have been 220-30lb at 5’10". Turned out he was also the strongest…and the most knowledgeable…and the most helpful.

By contrast, I once had a Men’s Health type trainer approach me whilst I was deadlifting 420lbx5 and said ‘deadlifts don’t need that much weight’, whatever that meant.

49

[quote]W@LRUS!1 wrote:
intenseone wrote:
Funny the mentality, I see alot of people say “Big” but since when does big translate into knowledge. Mike Boyle is one of the most knowledgable people on here, but he isn’t “big”, hell, he looks like he hardly trains (no offence to Mike)!

I it all boils down to what someone wants to achieve.

No one goes to Mike Boyle that’s interested in benching 500 lbs without a bench shirt. Why, because that’s not where Boyle’s expertise lies. I wouldn’t go to a ear, nose, throat specialist to have eye surgery. I also wouldn’t go to Mike Boyle to learn to to be a competitive powerlifter.

If I was interested in competing in a bodybuilding contest I’d contact Christian Thibaudeau. Mike Boyle would never even be considered.

And to answer your question. If I wanted to get BIG, I wouldn’t go to Mike Boyle for answers. I’d go to someone that specializes in getting BIG.[/quote]

Even this implies that you have to go to a “specialist” to learn something in a given area. If you don’t think Boyle knows how to get “big”, what are you thinking? You believe a discussion about gaining muscle with the man would end with you not gaining anything from the discussion? Why do people think this way?

50

[quote]W@LRUS!1 wrote:
intenseone wrote:
Funny the mentality, I see alot of people say “Big” but since when does big translate into knowledge. Mike Boyle is one of the most knowledgable people on here, but he isn’t “big”, hell, he looks like he hardly trains (no offence to Mike)!

It all boils down to what someone wants to achieve.

No one goes to Mike Boyle that’s interested in benching 500 lbs without a bench shirt. Why, because that’s not where Boyle’s expertise lies. I wouldn’t go to a ear, nose, throat specialist to have eye surgery. I also wouldn’t go to Mike Boyle to learn to be a competitive powerlifter.

If I was interested in competing in a bodybuilding contest I’d contact Christian Thibaudeau. Mike Boyle would never even be considered.

And to answer your question. If I wanted to get BIG, I wouldn’t go to Mike Boyle for answers. I’d go to someone that specializes in getting BIG.[/quote]

You do realize that I was asking about visual cues only right?

51

[quote]Professor X wrote:

Even this implies that you have to go to a “specialist” to learn something in a given area. If you don’t think Boyle knows how to get “big”, what are you thinking? You believe a discussion about gaining muscle with the man would end with you not gaining anything from the discussion? Why do people think this way? [/quote]

Ya know? That is so true. You see it all the time. So much in fact that it defies comprehension.

There is so much cross-over in weight training that I cannot believe there’s any discussion to the opposite.

What a slap in the face it is to assume that Boyle couldn’t help with powerlifting or bodybuilding. The same can be said for any other expert in thier chosen profession.

Look at Rick Johnson in Moto X. Now he races C.O.R.R. trucks and wins. Or Travis Pastrana and his Rally racing.
Hell, Dave Tate trained for and competed in bodybuilding. Ya think he just might know some stuff about something in addition to powerlifting?

52

Well, i should think you want the guy or gal who knew his or her stuff. And as someone said, depends on what your in the gym for. If you’re in there for muscular endurance and strength, combined with a loss of body fat, with, improved cardiovascular fitness and with flexibility, then you want someone who knows about all these aspects of fitness.

Mostly a personal trainer should not only talk the talk but walk the walk. But don’t exclude a person simply because he or she doesn’t meet your perceptive biases. There maybe all kinds of reasons they don’t meet them, but it doesn’t follow that they can’t get you to the place you want to be.

53

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Even this implies that you have to go to a “specialist” to learn something in a given area.
[/quote]

In my mind, a big ass muscular dude IS a specialist in how to get big.

I would sooner get advice on how to get big from a well muscled 270 lbs guy than from a skinny guy that ‘knows’ how to get big because he read how in a book.

You don’t have to go to a specialist for knowledge, but you’d be better off going to a specialist for knowledge.

Unless he’s done it, he doesn’t really know what it takes. All he knows is what he’s read about in a book.

Would you rather have eye surgery done on you by a guys who’s only read about it or a guy that actually performed the operation a thousand times?

[quote]
You believe a discussion about gaining muscle with the man would end with you not gaining anything from the discussion? [/quote]

Yes, I doubt Boyle could teach me much I don’t already know about gaining muscle. So in that sense, I doubt I would gain much of anything. At best I might gain a decent tip or two.

I know this pisses off many of the ‘book smarts’ above all else crowd. I could care less.

Hey, if I was interested in knowing more about injury prevention or mobility training I’d jump at the chance to pick Mike Boyle’s brain. But when it comes to getting a stronger squat, bench, or deadlift Mike Boyle wouldn’t be the guy that I’d get in contact with.

54

[quote]derek wrote:
You do realize that I was asking about visual cues only right?
[/quote]

I gave you my reply based on visual queues already on the previous page.

I’ll repost it:

55

[quote]silee wrote:
Well, i should think you want the guy or gal who knew his or her stuff. And as someone said, depends on what your in the gym for. If you’re in there for muscular endurance and strength, combined with a loss of body fat, with, improved cardiovascular fitness and with flexibility, then you want someone who knows about all these aspects of fitness.

Mostly a personal trainer should not only talk the talk but walk the walk. But don’t exclude a person simply because he or she doesn’t meet your perceptive biases. There maybe all kinds of reasons they don’t meet them, but it doesn’t follow that they can’t get you to the place you want to be.[/quote]

Again, I was asking about appearance ONLY. No, in a perfect world you’d sit and have a conversation with the trainer but I was specifically asking if you had looks alone as your first impression, the skinny, ripped guy or the more massive, well built guy.

Please stop making this into something that was not in my original post.

56

[quote]W@LRUS!1 wrote:
derek wrote:
You do realize that I was asking about visual cues only right?

I gave you my reply based on visual queues already on the previous page.

I’ll repost it:

[/quote]

No need to repost anything. I was not referring to that response. I was responding to the responses that keep popping up that have little to do with my original question but thanks anyway.

57

[quote]derek wrote:
There is so much cross-over in weight training that I cannot believe there’s any discussion to the opposite.

What a slap in the face it is to assume that Boyle couldn’t help with powerlifting or bodybuilding. The same can be said for any other expert in thier chosen profession.[/quote]

I boils down to this:

If you were preparing for a bodybuilding contest who would you hire…Mike Boyle or someone who’s successfully prep’d numerous people for a bodybuilding comp?

If you were preparing for a powerlifting competition who would you hire…Mike Boyle or someone who’s successfully prep’d numerous people for a powerlifting comp?

58

[quote]W@LRUS!1 wrote:
derek wrote:
There is so much cross-over in weight training that I cannot believe there’s any discussion to the opposite.

What a slap in the face it is to assume that Boyle couldn’t help with powerlifting or bodybuilding. The same can be said for any other expert in thier chosen profession.

I boils down to this:

If you were preparing for a bodybuilding contest who would you hire…Mike Boyle or someone who’s successfully prep’d numerous people for a bodybuilding comp?

If you were preparing for a powerlifting competition who would you hire…Mike Boyle or someone who’s successfully prep’d numerous people for a powerlifting comp?[/quote]

That’s all fine and well, but most of the people replying in this thread, or even on this board, will never compete in anything.

That means worrying about what highly trained specialist they should go to when they are passing right by the 260lbs freak in the corner who has worked his ass off for several years (especially since most of the people should be concentrating on the basics and not how many calculations they can use to come up with their daily food intake down to the nanogram) makes little sense.

I think most of us agree that it is a little retarded how the fitness industry has become as a whole. The average personal trainer in most gyms barely looks like they lift. I’ve seen ONE guy at the Gold’s gym I do cardio at who looks like he really lifts weights and that is a first in quite a few years.

I get the feeling like several newbies who hang on every word from authors would walk right past guys who have put the time in because they are under the impression that they just accidentally got huge or that building that much muscle means they are ignorant and “muscleheaded”.

I would guess that is why it is scarce now to actually see several people who have achieved much in the gym.

59

[quote]Professor X wrote:
<<< Even this implies that you have to go to a “specialist” to learn something in a given area. If you don’t think Boyle knows how to get “big”, what are you thinking? You believe a discussion about gaining muscle with the man would end with you not gaining anything from the discussion? Why do people think this way? [/quote]

THIS is where the most productive mindset lies in my opinion and not just with weight training. I never EVER enter any conversation or personal research of any kind with the foregone pre-conclusion that I cannot learn anything.

I have gotten actually substantive ideas from watching youtube clips of guys doing exercises absolutely wrong. My 11 year old daughter has made off the cuff comments that resulted in a couple of great home equipment mods.

Tiribulus say: He who presumptuously limits his sources of potentially useful ideas is a fool and relative ignorance will he his lifelong companion.

60

[quote]Professor X wrote:
<<< That’s all fine and well, but most of the people replying in this thread, or even in this board, will never compete in anything.

[/quote]

Most people haven’t the first flickering clue what the hell very hard, consistent work means. It’s a whole lot easier to read a lot than it is to work like a frickin animal on an unstoppable quest to reach your goals.

Sometimes I wanna grab somma these guys by the scruff of their neck, pull them away from the damn computer and say “see that? that’s a barbell. Put some weight on it that’s really hard to lift and keep it moving until it hurts”.