Brainfog:
**Warning** The Mark Rippetoe in me is coming out in the following text.
Today I saw a man strap on a weight belt to do sets of five on a Hack Squat Machine. My first question: What the hell is the point of using anything that has the word "machine" in its name? Secondly, why didn't you just give me that $30 you wasted on that gimmicky piece of equipment that you feel is necessary because you see all the other nimrods in the gym wearing one. Heres a clue, it is essentially an accessory to your wardrobe until you are lifting enough weight that warrants a belt, and even then, its not required. You are not going to get results you desire, you are just wasting the precious time that you had to painfully bribe yourself, with a Klondike bar, to devote, to getting in "shape" (I will leave the type of shape up to you). For all I can see, the majority of gym patrons have really strong vocal chords, they don't own a single shirt with sleeves, sweating is frowned upon and any lift that allows you to lie or sit down is the focus of their routine. Don't ask me how much I can bench, I don't know, I do performance based lifts, I press 160. Before I get out of hand and sound like I hate the world (I don't hate the world, just society), I will finish with this. Bodybuilding is for aesthetics, power lifting if for strength, weightlifting is for explosiveness. Find a clever medium between power and weight lifting. Bodybuilding is for novice's or people who want stare at themselves in the mirror. Strength comes from old school techniques, not new school technology.
WOD
Deadlift
1x5 225
1x4 275
1x3 315
1x2 365
1x1 405
1x1 440 (PR)
On the deadlift I did not fully open my hips at the end of the lift. My body was erect, I would say 96% fully locked out. I was holding the bar with the fingertips of my left hand and fear I was going to drop the weight. It took all of my cunning to get this weight up! But I am glad I did.
Met-Con
Very drained for this so it was a very poor performance, the deads took a lot out of me.
3 rounds
30 GHD sit ups
25 hip extensions
8:12
Going to have to defend (natural) serious bodybuilders. Maybe they're more egotistical than society as a whole, I don't know. But to be able to be that strict and dedicated as far as nutrition and training goes? Once I started reading more about natural bodybuilding, as I increasingly got into fitness myself, I respected and admired their efforts. I think people who aren't bodybuilders who automatically go with bodybuilding routines are people who've done little to no research or haven't defined their goals.
ReplyDeleteFair enough. There is a small percentage who thrive on their own vanity and bodybuild intelligently, strict and correct. I have no problem with them. I am speaking to the overwhelming majority of "globo-gym" patrons. With that being said, whatever motivates you to be consistent is important. Overall, personally, fitness has given me a sense of satisfaction that I cannot get from anywhere else. As long as one is always improving (naturally), that is all I can ask for.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna have to give a shout out to hating on even the Ronnie Coleman's. Dude's are strict, dedicated, and push it. But their goal isn't to be superhuman. It's just to look superhuman. Their will is dedicated to sculpting a facade. I think this is an ok byproduct of training, but it's not a respectable main goal. In training the will should explore the will.
ReplyDeleteEssentially you're saying you don't fully respect bodybuilders, or their goals specifically, because they don't strive to be strong and care only about their physique, correct?
ReplyDeleteI view the body sculpting like art: using physical training (and excessive fake tanning and oiling) to develop the final product instead of a brush or charcoal. The goal is about presentation, nothing more. Maybe I'm biased because art was what fueled me once, but I do not see how this goal is any less respectable than simply getting strong especially considering the effort that goes into doing it naturally. Is it because BB is associated with egotism? Is wanting to get stronger and looking down on others who don't train the same any less egotistical? What exactly makes on goal more respectable than another in this case? Neither serve any particular selfless, altruistic purposes...
It all depends on goals of the individual. I know for a fact that becoming as big and bulky as BB strive to be forces them to sacrifice any performance related activities, many flexibility related movements and many other things that smaller humans can do. They essentially are limited like obese people are. They are certainly not doing it for their health because they are endangering themselves with the amount of strain they put on their bodies, not to mention those on steroids. I was twice the size I am now, once. Which I realize is not very big, but my arms would fall asleep when I laid down, I was slow and not agile, I was in my own way and I didn't perform any better at the sports I played. I don't think art is a good argument because a beautiful snatch or kip is just as artistic as a pose and it takes more coordination and functionality. I personally feel that BB devolves ones ability and the point of MY life is accomplish athletic goals, which cant be done through BB.
ReplyDeleteI think you misunderstood my art analogy, or maybe I chose a lousy analogy.
ReplyDeleteGoing back to my first comment I distinguished between BBers who actually compete and people who just copy their routines in the gym because they haven't done any research into what training suits them best. Two different goals. People who kip, while it can be an impressive feat of coordination, don't do it to be judged by a panel on how developed their muscles are, or even to be judged on form (aside from chin over the bar or CTB when it's called for). They do it as part of an exercise - finishing that exercise and training to improve their performance IS their goal. For a competing BBer, their primary goals concern presentation (thus the art analogy), not about getting a PR on a workout. Olympic lifting would be a better comparison, but again the goals of a BBer and an Oly lifter are different. Oly lifters are not being judged on aesthetics, at least not in the way a BBer is.
Everything else you said regarding what BB-type training does to a body I agree with, but they (BBers) are really no different than anyone else who puts themself on display so to speak. Dancers come to mind, like Ballet dancers. In fact, there's one bellydancer I really enjoy watching who is known for her Turkish Drop. It's a move where you start from a standing position, basically do a backbend (I think traditionally there's a spin before the bend), and then drop to the floor in that position (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/3761621040_5ed1c0125c.jpg). This particular dancer does this move very slowly where it's traditionally done fairly fast. Beautiful, but I'm sure her body is taking a beating from performing it among other moves.
Bottom line of my comments: different goals require different training methods but I don't see how one goal is any better than another because they're just so different in this case. And yes, for your specific goals it would be idiotic to adopt the training methods of someone who trains primarily for aesthetic reasons.
I should clarify that I'm thinking primarily of figure competitors/women BBers, more than male BBers since I know more about women than men in this case.
ReplyDeleteI totally feel you and agree with your points. Through reading the comments I have come to realize that sacrificing performance is the problem I have. Ballet, belly dancing, oly lifting all require finctional movements. Show me a BBer that can do a backbend or a ple-ay (spelling is way off, I just wrote it how it sounds) or even extend their arms over their head to full lockout! Their only goal is to LOOK a certain way, not to become functional with a motivating factor of being scene. I see a dancer and not only am I impressed with their physical beauty but by their performance as well. I think: it took a ton of hard work to LOOK that good and especially to FUNCTION that well. I look at a bodybuilder and I think, what can this guy/girl do other then pose? Eat everything in my refrigerator? I am not scared of them because they surely cant catch me. I think that BBers are just posers. From my experience, it is easy to get big and bulky, all it takes is the right supplements, consistent slow, low intensity training, food and recovery. It is much more brutal process to become an excellent performer.
ReplyDeleteOk, so first, Maiko I wasn't trying to bash your comment. You def make a good point about body builders having a complex goal. And your posts are really well-written, with nice examples. I understand that the goal is like art with the medium of flesh. I think the misunderstanding is about how to compare goals. I wasn't saying that one goal is objectively more valuable than the other. To me, JMo's outlined goals sound more appealing. Functionality SEEMS like it should matter more. But to bodybuilders the sculpting aspect is more important. I have many reasons for preferring functionality (and I think JMeezy summarizes them nicely). But I think the argument shouldn't be about this.
ReplyDeleteThe point about which GOAL is more important is not the point I was trying to make originally. My point was that the mental aspect of bodybuilding seems non-complex and incomplete. Yes, they are scheduling everything, weighing foods---a lot of mental effort goes into this total preparation. However, the basic format of their training is regimentation and then reward (physical results--taking a look at themselves and saying, ahh I've arrived). I think that there's a different kind of training, where the value doesn't come at the end but during the process--where you discover something about your will during training--a present sense of taking a grip on your whole person--not a future sense of satisfaction.
The anology is painting a picture of a huge wave and surfing one. In the case of surfing there's a different kind of mental aspect, one where you have to be completely involved, whole (un-fragmented) mentally to surf the wave. Your whole person HAS to be there in order to perform the task. The analogy is a bit faulty because I do think there's a zen to painting as well. The whole process should be the target of painting, not just the outcome. But hopefully, you can see what I mean. A body builder isn't concerned with the process-as-art. He/she is craving the final result. To say that there is a zen to BB seems like it's too ideal, it gives them too much credit. If you just watch a BB they are constantly fixated on IMAGE. That is their target. I think performance training can go wrong like this too, where the process isn't appreciated (E.g. the person strives only for PRs and doesn't search for anything else within training). But I think my point is that training that demands everything from you allows for a special kind of mental phenomenon--activation of the will; control of emotional states; cutting out mental slack; and maybe even the chance to not be egotistical(not to place the highes value in reflecting on the final product).
What a lovely response Vadim, thanks for taking your time to write that, I am a better person having read it.
ReplyDeleteyo, thanks to both of yous guys! i feel like there's some serious analysis on this page
ReplyDeleteWhoa! I didn't think anyone was bashing my comments so there's no need to apologize!! This has been fun, at least for me. With that said I think your response is a good one, and probably a good way to finish this marathon commenting :)
ReplyDeletethank you. yeah man that was rather long. we shoulda added some pie charts, spread sheets, and animal studies to make it sound legit ;)
ReplyDelete