Bodybuilding.

[TT350]

Sorry guys, one more time

 

Last night was my debut on stage at UKBFF Men's Physique! Sad to say I didn't qualify.

 

Don't worry about it mate. You did awesome and carved a physique 99% of the population would kill to have.

 

Also if that's your missus stood with you in a few of the pictures then I wouldn't worry about anything - you've already won in life!!

[TT350]

I admire the dedication of bodybuilders but I couldn't do it. I don't see the point in bulking/dieting - it's just too much for me.

 

As for me, I have 15 years of rugby playing, 6 years of coaching, 9 years of strength and conditioning coaching experience and several diplomas in nutrition and kinesiology. I love this ****!

 

I focus mainly on functional strength, though I do a few amateur strongman competitions too. I don't play rugby any more as I dislocated my shoulder several times and it is too weak and hurts too much. In fact I stopped when I hit my early 30s as it was too much for my body. I still offer some coaching (for strength/performance).

 

But basically I don't do bicep curls, and am a bit of a stickler for form, and good body movement, mobility, and getting the most of out of your body, minimise injuries and fixing poor movement patterns. As long as I can squat and deadlift, that's all I care about I eat well, I don't drink alcohol really, and don't enjoy fast food or processed foods/breads/sugars. Yet I still put away around 4000 cals a day which is about right. When I used to be bigger (I miss it sometimes) I used to hit at least 5k a day - oh how I miss my rugby days!

 

I have done a few posts in the past - can't find them now though, but happy to help if I can.

 

I have a few friends that compete at all sorts of different levels (tested and untested), whilst I'm a natural trainer, and wouldn't touch any "special sauce", I appreciate why some people do and when they do and work hard they get good results. What I can't stand is people that pretend to be natural when they're not - there's nothing wrong with being on gear, just admit it!

 

Good to see so many people here interested in health and fitness, I wouldn't consider bodybuilding to be that health centered as you do tax your body a lot but it is still a aspirational thing to do. There is an underlying narcissistic aspect, but we all have a bit of that within reason.

 

Keep it up, and well done to Chirag on his first comp and good luck for the next one!

 

Bodybuilders are narccistic nutters. The whole thing boils down to "I look better than you and I sold my soul to prove it"

 

I couldn't do if either. Maybe I didn't title the thread properly.

 

I'm a weightlifter with the purpose of looking better progressively and feeling happier about myself.

 

Having big strong muscles is beneficial to health. Stronger bones, joints and tendons (given use of proper form). Less bodyfat and higher metabolic rate.

 

I think a lot of smaller guys look at bigger guys and say "Can't be healthy that. He's bulky and slow. I bet he's really unfit" but that doesn't have to be true.

 

I see a lot of local team football/rugby players who are very obviously overweight and unfit. Because they believe their involvement in the sport once a week automatically means they're athletic.

 

For me, lofting weights with the aim of getting bigger gives me structure and goals rather than just randomly exercising. It's good for focus and character with regards to defining goals and seeing it through.

 

It's horses for courses in this world. It'd be boring of we were all the same.

 

Crossfit can kiss my big ass though lol.

 

https://www.t-nation.com/training/crossfit-the-good-bad-and-the-ugly

[chirag1988]

It's true, bodybuilding isn't necessarily good for your health as you're putting your body through scenarios it would never normally go through and can be quite detrimental. It's the price you pay for trying to achieve a carved physique. For me, I was the skinny little kid in school so this is a massive achievement for me, but truth be told this is the only time I'd do it. If I don't qualify for the British on Sunday then I'll starting dialling it down to a maintenance level.

 

I have a beautiful wife to be and my family who've supported me through this process and after it's done it's time for me to give back to them

[Ogman]

 

I can't be bothered with all you ultra fit and lean endurance types lol

 

I want to be so big I have to walk sideways through a doorway. Or just smash through it

 

Yeah Chirag stop carpet bombing us with your undies shots

 

As long as you don't start turning green all the time

[Ogman]

It's true, bodybuilding isn't necessarily good for your health as you're putting your body through scenarios it would never normally go through and can be quite detrimental. It's the price you pay for trying to achieve a carved physique. For me, I was the skinny little kid in school so this is a massive achievement for me, but truth be told this is the only time I'd do it. If I don't qualify for the British on Sunday then I'll starting dialling it down to a maintenance level.

 

I have a beautiful wife to be and my family who've supported me through this process and after it's done it's time for me to give back to them

 

Congrats mate - you come on leaps and bounds from those first progress pics you shown us. All the best for finals on Sunday, certainly inspired me to try that little harder

[TT350]

 

I can't be bothered with all you ultra fit and lean endurance types lol

 

I want to be so big I have to walk sideways through a doorway. Or just smash through it

 

Yeah Chirag stop carpet bombing us with your undies shots

 

As long as you don't start turning green all the time

 

I'm green right now after seeing Chirags wife to be. Lol.

 

No. Joking aside well done Chirag. You seem like a top lad and deserve all the good life gives you.

 

If anything I'll turn purpley red from high blood pressure

[chirag1988]

It's true, bodybuilding isn't necessarily good for your health as you're putting your body through scenarios it would never normally go through and can be quite detrimental. It's the price you pay for trying to achieve a carved physique. For me, I was the skinny little kid in school so this is a massive achievement for me, but truth be told this is the only time I'd do it. If I don't qualify for the British on Sunday then I'll starting dialling it down to a maintenance level.

 

I have a beautiful wife to be and my family who've supported me through this process and after it's done it's time for me to give back to them

 

Congrats mate - you come on leaps and bounds from those first progress pics you shown us. All the best for finals on Sunday, certainly inspired me to try that little harder

 

I can't be bothered with all you ultra fit and lean endurance types lol

 

I want to be so big I have to walk sideways through a doorway. Or just smash through it

 

Yeah Chirag stop carpet bombing us with your undies shots

 

As long as you don't start turning green all the time

 

I'm green right now after seeing Chirags wife to be. Lol.

 

No. Joking aside well done Chirag. You seem like a top lad and deserve all the good life gives you.

 

If anything I'll turn purpley red from high blood pressure

 

Thanks for the words of support guys! It's nice to be able to speak to like minded people about this kind of stuff. Most of the time when you try to talk to someone about it they look at you like you're just a "meathead"

[TT350]

It's true, bodybuilding isn't necessarily good for your health as you're putting your body through scenarios it would never normally go through and can be quite detrimental. It's the price you pay for trying to achieve a carved physique. For me, I was the skinny little kid in school so this is a massive achievement for me, but truth be told this is the only time I'd do it. If I don't qualify for the British on Sunday then I'll starting dialling it down to a maintenance level.

 

I have a beautiful wife to be and my family who've supported me through this process and after it's done it's time for me to give back to them

 

Congrats mate - you come on leaps and bounds from those first progress pics you shown us. All the best for finals on Sunday, certainly inspired me to try that little harder

 

I can't be bothered with all you ultra fit and lean endurance types lol

 

I want to be so big I have to walk sideways through a doorway. Or just smash through it

 

Yeah Chirag stop carpet bombing us with your undies shots

 

As long as you don't start turning green all the time

 

I'm green right now after seeing Chirags wife to be. Lol.

 

No. Joking aside well done Chirag. You seem like a top lad and deserve all the good life gives you.

 

If anything I'll turn purpley red from high blood pressure

 

Thanks for the words of support guys! It's nice to be able to speak to like minded people about this kind of stuff. Most of the time when you try to talk to someone about it they look at you like you're just a "meathead"

 

For most people anything other than a bit of light exercise once a week is completely absurd and a waste of time.

[Rock_Steady]

Anyone ever had a code brown on the bench press trying to impress your mates? I nearly did, but just let out a draft that'd sweep the beard off your face.

[JackQ]

If any of you are interested in bodybuilding specifically I recommend watching the latest dorian yates episode on London real which came out Sunday. He tells it exactly how it is to be a bodybuilder pros and cons talks about drug use etc . Worth a watch anyway.

My best stats were 211lbs with abs at 5ft11 and abit moving towards strong man now though never had the intentions to compete in bodybuilding so didn't see the point in keeping up with the strict diet now I just eat what I want and lift heavy things much more fun ðŸ‘

[Flex]

This thread should be renamed to Chirag's progress thread

Fair play to the guy he's worked hard, I'm sure I met him at japfest last year (when we all stuck down some narrow farm track) and I'm pretty sure he didn't look like that then. You certainly won't find me posting photos of myself in gym gear on here.....no matter how great I look lol

 

Did he have is top off at japfest?

[Kraziekatz1]

Haha....might have done, can't quite remember. Not very good with faces, or names, (or sat nav's it seems)......just thought I recognized the car!

[TT350]

Haha....might have done, can't quite remember. Not very good with faces, or names, (or sat nav's it seems)......just thought I recognized the car!

 

You'd know if it was Chirag with his porn star undies.

[wmr1980]

I admire the dedication of bodybuilders but I couldn't do it. I don't see the point in bulking/dieting - it's just too much for me.

 

As for me, I have 15 years of rugby playing, 6 years of coaching, 9 years of strength and conditioning coaching experience and several diplomas in nutrition and kinesiology. I love this ****!

 

I focus mainly on functional strength, though I do a few amateur strongman competitions too. I don't play rugby any more as I dislocated my shoulder several times and it is too weak and hurts too much. In fact I stopped when I hit my early 30s as it was too much for my body. I still offer some coaching (for strength/performance).

 

But basically I don't do bicep curls, and am a bit of a stickler for form, and good body movement, mobility, and getting the most of out of your body, minimise injuries and fixing poor movement patterns. As long as I can squat and deadlift, that's all I care about I eat well, I don't drink alcohol really, and don't enjoy fast food or processed foods/breads/sugars. Yet I still put away around 4000 cals a day which is about right. When I used to be bigger (I miss it sometimes) I used to hit at least 5k a day - oh how I miss my rugby days!

 

I have done a few posts in the past - can't find them now though, but happy to help if I can.

 

I have a few friends that compete at all sorts of different levels (tested and untested), whilst I'm a natural trainer, and wouldn't touch any "special sauce", I appreciate why some people do and when they do and work hard they get good results. What I can't stand is people that pretend to be natural when they're not - there's nothing wrong with being on gear, just admit it!

 

Good to see so many people here interested in health and fitness, I wouldn't consider bodybuilding to be that health centered as you do tax your body a lot but it is still a aspirational thing to do. There is an underlying narcissistic aspect, but we all have a bit of that within reason.

 

Keep it up, and well done to Chirag on his first comp and good luck for the next one!

 

Bodybuilders are narccistic nutters. The whole thing boils down to "I look better than you and I sold my soul to prove it"

 

I couldn't do if either. Maybe I didn't title the thread properly.

 

I'm a weightlifter with the purpose of looking better progressively and feeling happier about myself.

 

Having big strong muscles is beneficial to health. Stronger bones, joints and tendons (given use of proper form). Less bodyfat and higher metabolic rate.

 

I think a lot of smaller guys look at bigger guys and say "Can't be healthy that. He's bulky and slow. I bet he's really unfit" but that doesn't have to be true.

 

I see a lot of local team football/rugby players who are very obviously overweight and unfit. Because they believe their involvement in the sport once a week automatically means they're athletic.

 

For me, lofting weights with the aim of getting bigger gives me structure and goals rather than just randomly exercising. It's good for focus and character with regards to defining goals and seeing it through.

 

It's horses for courses in this world. It'd be boring of we were all the same.

 

Crossfit can kiss my big ass though lol.

 

https://www.t-nation...ad-and-the-ugly

 

Crossfit is like the scientology of weight lifting.

 

You don't have to be that big to be strong - I know a lot of people who are silly strong yet don't weigh a lot (i.e. sub 100kg).

 

I agree, if by moving your body around you end up looking better as a side effect then it's all good! I personally don't care if I'm uber lean - I'm more keen on my wilks score, I want to get it to be over 400, not much to go.

 

I kinda like keeping my speed and flexibility too despite being a "bigger" guy - explosive power is key for me.

 

Do any of you compete in powerlifting or strongman?

[wmr1980]

Anyone ever had a code brown on the bench press trying to impress your mates? I nearly did, but just let out a draft that'd sweep the beard off your face.

 

No... but nearly doing squats. And during a strongman comp deadlifting a car I pretty much threw up halfway through!

[TT350]

I passed out doing squats. Luckily was on smith machine and had guards at the bottom.

[wmr1980]

Squats on a smith??? :(

[TT350]

Squats on a smith??? :(

 

Yep. Was a bloody good job and all. I wouldn't like to have 220kg land on me

[wmr1980]

Just bail out. There are no benefits of using a smith, in fact they will hinder you more than not.

 

Unless you don't have a lifting platform you don't even need catchers. Just bail. It is actually important to learn how to bail on a squat. Especially when it comes to doing progressive overload work you need to know how to bail as part of that exercise. I'd never get under the bar unless I knew how to bail. When I've trained my students/clients one of the first thing I do before ramping up the weight and after their technique is sound is to get them to learn how to bail.

 

We're lucky at our gym that we have 4 squat racks all of which are proper lifting platforms designed to have weights dropped on them, with bumper plates.

 

I'd never train in a gym which has a smith

[-Bradders-]

Smiths are pants, i can squat 160-180 on a smith machine, but struggle to do 110 without one. also will do you go my gym lol? i have same set up! 4 racks designed with platforms to slam ya weights!

[TT350]

I never bail. Do or DIE! Lol.

 

I was just trying to go for it heavy. I actually do hack squats usually because of my bad knee.

Edited September 15, 2015 by TT350

[S7nny]

I disagree with just bailing and dropping the weights. If you can't control your weights on the way down, then don't pick them up in the first place.

[wmr1980]

Well that's where you're wrong or at least misinformed.

 

When you teach people to lift either Olympic lifting or powerlifting one of the first things you do as a coach is teach how to bail.

 

You can be controlled and get a nice deep squat with no knee collapse, no lumbar flexion, good neutral spine, good hip mobility and good posterior chain activation but not get out of the hole (proper deep squat non or this partial squat nonsense). If you can't you need to bail. It is safer to bail than to try and compromise your form.

 

That said if you haven't been taught how to bail using catchers placed below parallel is good enough. the problem with catchers is they can get in the way of your ROM.

Edited September 16, 2015 by wmr1980

[TT350]

I think the smith machine has its place. If you train alone especially.

 

If you're overloading your muscles enough are they going to say "I'm not growing. You've used a smith machine".

 

If you're getting stronger and keep adding weight, what's the problem.

 

Ego thing I think. "I can ride my bike WITHOUT stabilisers now"

 

Sure you won't be involving stabilisation muscles but it can be effective. You're still hitting the target muscles and if using progressive overload what choice do they have but to grow?

 

I really don't like the sound of "bailing out" on a squat.

Edited September 16, 2015 by TT350

[S7nny]

Well that's where you're wrong or at least misinformed.

 

When you teach people to lift either Olympic lifting or powerlifting one of the first things you do as a coach is teach how to bail.

 

You can be controlled and get a nice deep squat with no knee collapse, no lumbar flexion, good neutral spine, good hip mobility and good posterior chain activation but not get out of the hole (proper deep squat non or this partial squat nonsense). If you can't you need to bail. It is safer to bail than to try and compromise your form.

 

That said if you haven't been taught how to bail using catchers placed below parallel is good enough. the problem with catchers is they can get in the way of your ROM.

 

I don't coach people to fail. If they aren't ready, then I won't push them into it.