Why Don't You Push Harder?

Training Bodybuilding
241

[quote]CrushKillDestroy wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]CrushKillDestroy wrote:
I didn’t read the whole 6 pages.
You’re stroking your own ego by pointing out how badly other people are doing with a question. That’s called ‘tacitly’ implying they’re not doing as well. Its clear you’re big, accomplished and knowledgable - therefore the question is clearly even more a put-on.
You know the answer mate, it’s pretty friggin simple - being big for most people takes consistency and hard work, and most people aren’t prepared to put that in.
[/quote]

Bullshit. We just had a whole thread in Get A Life about colleges and the trend showing many more students than ever before are taking classes later in the day and lessening their overall class load. According to your own logic just displayed, any one of us who questioned why that is, is simply stroking our egos for asking.

Yes, this is a bodybuilding forum, as displayed by the words “bodybuilding” above that button when you hit it. How odd is the question of why so few actually have that as a goal if they post here?

You see, that is what this forum is supposed to be about…not a bunch of guys getting butt hurt because someone actually asked why their achievement in this pursuit is so limited.

This thread has been read over 4,000 times in less than one day all because I asked that question…so now the question is, why is so much emotion tied up and why are so many so defensive (enough to attract people who NEVER POST HERE) the moment someone questions where the muscle is?

Some of you spend thousands on supplements, spends several days a week in the gym…to NOT stand out?

Really?

Dude, to you and anyone else, I do not care if you think I am arrogant, if you think I have the biggest ego ever or any of that. My goal is to see more and more people make progress. That has been my goal since day one because being around people who strive for more causes everyone to do better.

However, clearly some of you don’t want this…and prefer to turn every single post I ever make into some opportunity to put me in my place.

Guess what, my place is just fine…and you don’t have the ability to put me in it.[/quote]

Bahaha that’s classic mate! You’ve got an answer for everything eh? Even the things I didn’t say or mean!
Why are you here? You don’t seem to enjoy it.

You know why I posted and answered your question? Because you asked an inflamatory trolling QUESTION.
You’re stroking your ego because if you don’t already know the answer then you’re clearly an idiot. Now I know you’re not in fact an idiot, so… logical conclusion? If your goal was to inspire people and see them progress then you’ve failed epically.

Stop twisting EVERY SINGLE person’s words that you don’t agree with to make them appear the stupid, wrong or arrogant ones.
Oh, and I have one thousand times less posts than you because i’m busy out having a life and pushing my training, rather than berating people for being normal stupid humans.
[/quote]

I asked an inflammatory “trolling” question? I asked a question that sparked a 10 page discussion that now has some pretty good posts in it. If you call that “failing”, please point me to the thread you have started that anyone gave a shit about.

I don’t give a shit if you think that asking why people are so bad at this is “inflammatory”. i know if I was spending as much as some of these people on supplements every single month, it wouldn’t be to half ass my way through a training session.

I would like to see a bodybuilding forum filled with more people who stand out…and lo and behold, we have accomplished that to some degree over the last few years…mostly by getting the non-interested half assers to stop posting so much.

Ever heard of “combat pyramids”?

I mean, honestly, it is like being attacked by The Smurfs every time I mention something related to actually working hard and building yourself up past “I just bought a membership” level.

We get it, some of you love to fit in…to walk into a store and have no one notice anything different about you.

Too bad that isn’t bodybuilding.

Yeah…I failed at this. It’s a good thing no one noticed this thread.

242

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:

That’s what happens when you’re a professional athlete and have access to the best surgeons, best physical therapists, best training facilities and staffs.[/quote]

That’s why I waited over 3 months to find a surgeon who works on pro athletes. I got the surgeon part right. It’s the other stuff that makes a huge difference. I was never aware of the drug aspect of it. That’s interesting.[/quote]

Well Im clearly just speculating. I mean obviously SOME pro athletes use drugs to recover, but theres no way I KNMOW that Perkins did. But I also believe that ALL pro athletes are using GH or peptides, so yeah [/quote]

I would be inclined to agree with you.

243

awesome

[quote]jak3_dude wrote:

Don’t know if the whole injury thing got resolved, but I think this is relevant[/quote]

244

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]actionboy wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]actionboy wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
I think this was all covered in the epic thread “Are people here not trying very hard”.

What we all learned-

eating a whole chocolate cake and freakishly huge wrists were the keys to become swole. [/quote]

ahaha best thread ever.

but on a more serious note, is this thread looking to highlight those who have made good progress or collect everyones excuses into one handy thread?[/quote]

Do you remember that thread about body sizes and how most here would label themselves as “works out” or less? I am just asking why so few ever seem to go beyond that.

In doing so, this has caused more than one poster to only focus on me.[/quote]

i absolutely remember that thread, its a sad state of affairs and it made me wonder why so many people on this board post so much advice. its just my opinion that instead of asking people why they suck so bad, id rather hear about what spurs you bigger guys on. i read enough excuses on this board, I want to hear what it is that makes people like you and MM hit the gym so hard. what inspires you. I feel like that would help me more than hearing 150lbers tell you why they do everything in life half assed.
[/quote]

I can understand that, but I posed the question that way for a reason…and the initial responses I got were exactly what I expected.

The moment guys like that get confronted with what you just wrote, the response is to deflect and get pissed at the guy who mentioned it.[/quote]

I guess it’s all about what type of person you are. I’m not big at all (202lbs and 6ft2 atm), and I don’t know if I have it takes to reach ProfX or MM size, but I just started training again and trying to eat as much as I possibly can. Aiming for 5-6000kcal a day and squatting, deadliftning, benching etc. It’s only been going on for a month now since I started back up. To get to my point… I got inspired by the original post and not offended. I was like: “F*** yea, why DON’T I push even harder than I already do.”

So yea… it depends on what kinda person you are I suppose and how you look at life and what you wanna achieve.

245

It doesn’t even really matter what the “intentions” were behind starting a thread like this. It’s actually a great question that we should all ask ourselves (I know I did) at some time or another. If we did, we might actually figure out why we aren’t progressing the way we want, and make some changes for the better. After all, isn’t that what the BBT forum is for?

Casey

246

[quote]chillain wrote:

[quote]123watson wrote:
I was watching a video of a bodybuilder who said there should be anger that you can call on, or a place you go when the weights get heavy.[/quote]

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Good post…and I was waiting for someone to put the words like this.

That bodybuilder you watched is right…but that doesn’t just apply to bodybuilding. It applies to everything in life. If your plan is stand out, you have to have that “fire”, that ferocity, that anger, or whatever to call on to push you through. if you don’t have it, I doubt you will last long at this to make much progress at all.

That doesn’t mean walk around pissed off all of the time, but there has to be something pushing you, something you need to prove in order to make progress at points where most others would quit.

That’s the difference between the ones who actually do this long term and those who make no progress for years on end.[/quote]

For anyone who lost track, this was the main point

Note that “everything in life” part too

[/quote]

Truthfully, I wonder how hard these people really work in other aspects of their life if they choose the gym as the place to not give any interest.

I am not talking about just having a job, but how many are really stand out players. I know angry chicken works his ass off…and that may be why he is one of the ones who found that “fight” in them again to push even though he says he lost it before.

But what about these guys who spent half the thread bitching about my ego? Any guys here you would want speaking to a class filled with 9th graders for inspiration?

247

X, what does a normal day of work look like for you? I just want to know how someone with a respectable job has time to post here at all hours of the day. And yes I know what your occupation is since you mention it frequently.

248

[quote]sufiandy wrote:
X, what does a normal day of work look like for you? I just want to know how someone with a respectable job has time to post here at all hours of the day. And yes I know what your occupation is since you mention it frequently.[/quote]

I just had a whole office filled with patients. My roughest hours are early morning because that is when most of the extractions are scheduled. By this time (close to 2pm), things are usually winding down and I get off at 4. Lately, I rarely log in after 4pm…but apparently this still means I am on line at all times?

I am at work by 8:30am. I have my own office. I have no problem posting while patients are filling out medical info, or while my assistant is setting up the room.

I also type faster than the average person.

Does this bother you?

249

Look some of you are not going to be bodybuilders no matter how much progress you make, because you don’t give bodybuilding your all. PX is trying to do that, so when people try to say they’re working hard he can always tell you, you have more work to do.

250

@Kanada… it’s the drive that will get you the results. A physique is a result of that drive… it’s also that drive that makes you prioritize and balance out time for your goals.

251

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]sufiandy wrote:
X, what does a normal day of work look like for you? I just want to know how someone with a respectable job has time to post here at all hours of the day. And yes I know what your occupation is since you mention it frequently.[/quote]

I just had a whole office filled with patients. My roughest hours are early morning because that is when most of the extractions are scheduled. By this time (close to 2pm), things are usually winding down and I get off at 4. Lately, I rarely log in after 4pm…but apparently this still means I am on line at all times?

I am at work by 8:30am. I have my own office. I have no problem posting while patients are filling out medical info, or while my assistant is setting up the room.

I also type faster than the average person.

Does this bother you?[/quote]

LOL It bothers me you fucking dentist since I have never once, in my entire life, by any dentist, been seen on time. And the one time I was ten minutes late, due to an unpredictable 40 mile commute through LA/Orange County traffic, they said sorry we can’t see you we’re closed now. I guarantee if I had been there on time I still would have been sitting there past the time they told me this. Now I know they’re really just wanking off back there with personal stuff. And I bet the hygienist had something she wanted to do after work and just used my ten minutes late as an excuse to split asap.

252

[quote]on edge wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]sufiandy wrote:
X, what does a normal day of work look like for you? I just want to know how someone with a respectable job has time to post here at all hours of the day. And yes I know what your occupation is since you mention it frequently.[/quote]

I just had a whole office filled with patients. My roughest hours are early morning because that is when most of the extractions are scheduled. By this time (close to 2pm), things are usually winding down and I get off at 4. Lately, I rarely log in after 4pm…but apparently this still means I am on line at all times?

I am at work by 8:30am. I have my own office. I have no problem posting while patients are filling out medical info, or while my assistant is setting up the room.

I also type faster than the average person.

Does this bother you?[/quote]

LOL It bothers me you fucking dentist since I have never once, in my entire life, by any dentist, been seen on time. And the one time I was ten minutes late, due to an unpredictable 40 mile commute through LA/Orange County traffic, they said sorry we can’t see you we’re closed now. I guarantee if I had been there on time I still would have been sitting there past the time they told me this. Now I know they’re really just wanking off back there with personal stuff. And I bet the hygienist had something she wanted to do after work and just used my ten minutes late as an excuse to split asap.[/quote]

LOL!

253

[quote]Professor X wrote:
I also type faster than the average person.

Does this bother you?[/quote]

Only the fact you might be able to type faster than me.

254

As nice as anybody thinks it would be this forum will NEVER be full of people serious about bodybuilding who want to get ‘fucking huge’ and stand out. Why? because its an open forum ON THE INTERNET! The internet is pretty much entirely based on not taking anything seriously! No OPEN forum on any subject will be exclusively filled with people serious about that subject. There will always be people who take a passing interest in it, people fairly serious but not looking to be an expert in it and then there will always always be trolls. The best that can be expected from this forum is for there to be a select group who do to it very seriously which I think is pretty much the case at the moment. As much as they may frustrate you , bemuse you, or invoke your pity the ‘average’ will probably forever be the bulk of this site. And hey im sure Biotest dont mind people spending thousands on their products whether theyre getting big or not right!

As for why people dont push harder I think alot of it is perspective. We only need to look at the ‘lets define it’ thread to see the disparity between the general publics view of big and the ‘bodybuilders’ view of big. For example im 220lb at 6ft. Now in my circle of friends and in general with people i meet im definately big some would say huge. Aparently a woman in the gym told my collegue im getting too big it looks weird now. Does that make me Holy Shit?? lol ridiculous isnt it! But now if someone who enjoys training reaches a point where pretty much everyone in they encounter in life thinks theyre big already, the motivation to push harder can wane. Its only when you surround yourself with BIG DUDES that your perspective changes again and you want to push harder. But what if your gym has no BIG DUDES? What if you’ve never even seen a BIG DUDE? Then you might not bother pushing harder anymore. In your own little world you’ve made it! YOU are the BIG DUDE!

Now before anyone starts throwing a hissy fit this IS NOT my view. I’m merely highlighting a reason why SOME (for those lacking basic comprehension skills some means not all, a section of but not the entirety) people may chose not to push their hardest once they reach a certain level of devepment.

So when it comes down to it the reason some people arent pushin harder is because its SO EASY to be above average compared to the general public! ‘But T-Nation isnt meant to be the general public!’ I hear you cry. Isnt it?

255

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:

[quote]jak3_dude wrote:

Don’t know if the whole injury thing got resolved, but I think this is relevant[/quote]

Holy shit, that vid gave me the goosebumps and made my eyes water. Fucking AWESOME!!!
No excuses, man! No excuses!

Thanks for posting Jak. Made my day!
[/quote]

Glad you guys enjoyed it. It’s even more inspirational to know that at his body weight he could make it to the Olympics with those lifts. He might not medal, but how many people can say they’ve been to the Olympics? Depends on whether USAW will send him or not I guess.

256

[quote]Seblime wrote:
As nice as anybody thinks it would be this forum will NEVER be full of people serious about bodybuilding who want to get ‘fucking huge’ and stand out. Why? because its an open forum ON THE INTERNET! The internet is pretty much entirely based on not taking anything seriously! No OPEN forum on any subject will be exclusively filled with people serious about that subject. There will always be people who take a passing interest in it, people fairly serious but not looking to be an expert in it and then there will always always be trolls. The best that can be expected from this forum is for there to be a select group who do to it very seriously which I think is pretty much the case at the moment. As much as they may frustrate you , bemuse you, or invoke your pity the ‘average’ will probably forever be the bulk of this site. And hey im sure Biotest dont mind people spending thousands on their products whether theyre getting big or not right!

As for why people dont push harder I think alot of it is perspective. We only need to look at the ‘lets define it’ thread to see the disparity between the general publics view of big and the ‘bodybuilders’ view of big. For example im 220lb at 6ft. Now in my circle of friends and in general with people i meet im definately big some would say huge. Aparently a woman in the gym told my collegue im getting too big it looks weird now. Does that make me Holy Shit?? lol ridiculous isnt it! But now if someone who enjoys training reaches a point where pretty much everyone in they encounter in life thinks theyre big already, the motivation to push harder can wane. Its only when you surround yourself with BIG DUDES that your perspective changes again and you want to push harder. But what if your gym has no BIG DUDES? What if you’ve never even seen a BIG DUDE? Then you might not bother pushing harder anymore. In your own little world you’ve made it! YOU are the BIG DUDE!

Now before anyone starts throwing a hissy fit this IS NOT my view. I’m merely highlighting a reason why SOME (for those lacking basic comprehension skills some means not all, a section of but not the entirety) people may chose not to push their hardest once they reach a certain level of devepment.

So when it comes down to it the reason some people arent pushin harder is because its SO EASY to be above average compared to the general public! ‘But T-Nation isnt meant to be the general public!’ I hear you cry. Isnt it?[/quote]

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

Seblime nailed it perfectly. It basically boils down to the fact that this is an OPEN INTERNET FORUM more than it’s a BODYBUILDING FORUM (apparently it’s necessary for bodybuilding forum to always be typed in all caps). Joe Schmoe googles some different weightlifting terms and winds up at this site. He then wants to ask a question and clicks on bodybuilding most likely because it’s just the first forum.

Does this actually surprise anyone? Go to www.airlinepilotforums.com and see who’s there. Would it surprise you to know that most of the people on that site aren’t airline pilots?

If someone’s really disturbed or troubled by the fact that most on this site aren’t huge, I pose this question: why are you taking the internet so seriously?

257

I skimmed through most of the pages and responses, but I want to drop in on this…

X,

I don’t know if this has been mentioned or not, I know some similar stuff has been posted already. But I think Marauder Meat is definitely onto something earlier in this thread. Why don’t you push harder? I wanted to really think about it before I write something.

What I have come up with is this…because not everyone is hard wired the way we are. This is more about the individual than anything else. Why do some people damn near kill themselves with training, nutrition, and dedication when others find it to be annoying? This mindset is in our DNA. Fuck it, I would even call it the Alpha gene.

Not that it should refer to dominating over another, but over one’s own self. This whole thing starts and ends with the self. I am the master over my own destiny, I accept nothing short of victory, I know that I willingly put myself through pain, downright fucking agony, yet love every bit of it. I know that a heavy leg day will make me walk funny for a good 2 days, and I will probably fall onto a chair or toilet seat when trying to sit down, but I would not want it any other way.

It is the soul of a man that you are making stronger, more so than his body. It is the ability to give yourself your own gut-check when needed, accept it and use it. It is knowing that everyone on this planet goes through tough shit, physical or mental, yet fight through it BECAUSE we are better. I have always been very self motivated, which allowed me to add 130 lbs of meat to my frame during my 4 high school years.

I believe that we are limited by our own thinking, more than that of others, which is why when someone tells me there is something I can’t do, I literally want to fight them. I don’t want anything to do with such people, on any level, fucking go away. I will not be fucking denied, not ever. Results might be scrutinized, and I willingly accept that. But you keep moving forward because as long as I am breathing, I am screaming. The older we get, the more we lose. But with weights, the feeling of "I own this squat rack mother fucker, you

That which gets your ass out of bed in the morning early as fuck, to make protein shakes, go lift, do cardio or whatever, is one of the few things life cannot take away. The intangible that makes an athlete coachable. You either got it or you don’t.

Perhaps a better question is, if you don’t have “it” why don’t you get “it”? If you have “it”, why don’t you seek more of “it”? “It” being the intrinsic motivation.

As far as people getting upset about your style of writing, they simply do not want the real truth, and I mean the REAL truth. I like it, I would not want it any other way, because what they fail to see is that your intentions are to help them. Some people need their hand held, others need it crushed.

258

^^ Excellent post

259

Ditto^^^

260

It doesn’t require a long poetic explanation. Some people have different goals. Some people are pussies.

I myself have different athletic goals than pure bodybuilding (although muscular size is certainly a big factor for me). But then again, I usually only post on topics that I know a lot about. That’s why I’m not often seen in the bodybuilding section, but I don’t really think about it too much.

And to answer the original question… I’ve never been asked wtf I’ve been eating, but I have been accused of being on steroids and been referred to as a “physical specimen,” all in the realm of D1 college athletics so that might count.