I have wondered if, from a purely cardiovascular standpoint, bodybuilding is just obesity with extra steps. Being big for the sake of being big can’t be good for your heart after a couple decades in the game. The life expectancy and health complications after age 40 can’t be that different between a big bodybuilder and a fat man.
Muscular strength is associated with lots of good health outcomes but actual competition bodybuilders who use roids and do bulk and cut cycles are always dropping dead in their 40s and 50s.
Obesity has always been defined, until recently as BMI over 30.
Almost all bodybuilders and celebrities like Rogan and the Rock, are obese, and here is no evidence that the excess mass is not harmful to health and longevity if it is muscle, it may be worse due to the metabolic and resource demands of muscle.
So I'd just add gymnastics + HIIT (assuming you've got a place where you can actually do men's gymnastics). Gymnastics already includes plyo/explosive/rotation/jumps.
Look at the low bf% of male gymnasts, they retain year-round. Whilst working out constantly near their strength limits. A bodybuilder cutting, could not perform at that level. And would have immense trouble staying there. Yet the gymnasts don't seem to be stressed out by their low bf%. On the contrary, they need it to perform their moves.
Their flexibility implies, that their fascia are aligned, which gives them better energy-> force translation and probably also helps with recovery, which then helps manage their stress level.
Yeah, it’s a lot of effort and dedication, I guess you just have to love it to stick with it. Interesting the chart you showed that shows lbs gained over 1- 4 years. I’m in the UK so convert to kg, but I think it’s underestimated how much just 1.3kg or 5lbs can change your figure if that is pure additional muscle.
You suggest you stop after getting 80% of results with 20% effort. But what if some people want to try reach their full potential? For them remaining 80% of effort makes sense and there is no waste of time in it.
I began reading this ready to make a snarky comment. This was spot on. I think most of us enter bodybuilding as teenagers and, as we mature, shift towards application over aesthetics. Its not what your body looks like but what it can do is sadly something VERY missing in fitness spaces online
I love strength training and have pursued it naturally off and on for 25 years. And I agree with your premise. 90% of my gains came in one absurdly dedicated period in only 7 months where I went from 155lbs to 193lbs. Once you’ve achieved this you can maintain that size with one session a week. Keep your diet in check so you don’t get fat, and then use all of that free time to pursue other things.
The problem with the 7 month explosion was that it came 10-13 years after I first went in to a weight room. So I fumbled around under eating, not having a program, and not squatting with enough intensity to achieve those gains. I could take a dedicated newbie from 0-100 in 2 years, and perhaps only one.
I will say a grueling 1-1.5 hr training session is awesome for your mental heath though.
I don't know if it was a waste of time if you learned what like / don't and what does / doesn't suit the results you're seeking. 2-3 years is a minimum investment for anything worthwhile, likely an "intermediate" level. Though "I did X for 10 days" or 30 days sells on titles and thumbnails all over YouTube and Substack. That 3-5 year period is where decisions have to be made (in anything), the noob gains are over, the "juice is explicitly NOT worth the squeeze", the returns WILL be diminishing; and that is why the goal you're pursuing is valuable :D
I hate people at the gym who are in really good shape. What are you doing here? You're done.
- Jim Gaffigan
Love it
Sorry bruh. Hes right. Do shit that matters for your life. Not just the mirror.
its still necessary to maintain it
I have wondered if, from a purely cardiovascular standpoint, bodybuilding is just obesity with extra steps. Being big for the sake of being big can’t be good for your heart after a couple decades in the game. The life expectancy and health complications after age 40 can’t be that different between a big bodybuilder and a fat man.
Muscular strength is associated with lots of good health outcomes but actual competition bodybuilders who use roids and do bulk and cut cycles are always dropping dead in their 40s and 50s.
Obesity has always been defined, until recently as BMI over 30.
Almost all bodybuilders and celebrities like Rogan and the Rock, are obese, and here is no evidence that the excess mass is not harmful to health and longevity if it is muscle, it may be worse due to the metabolic and resource demands of muscle.
This is missing flexibility/mobility.
So I'd just add gymnastics + HIIT (assuming you've got a place where you can actually do men's gymnastics). Gymnastics already includes plyo/explosive/rotation/jumps.
Look at the low bf% of male gymnasts, they retain year-round. Whilst working out constantly near their strength limits. A bodybuilder cutting, could not perform at that level. And would have immense trouble staying there. Yet the gymnasts don't seem to be stressed out by their low bf%. On the contrary, they need it to perform their moves.
Their flexibility implies, that their fascia are aligned, which gives them better energy-> force translation and probably also helps with recovery, which then helps manage their stress level.
Yeah, it’s a lot of effort and dedication, I guess you just have to love it to stick with it. Interesting the chart you showed that shows lbs gained over 1- 4 years. I’m in the UK so convert to kg, but I think it’s underestimated how much just 1.3kg or 5lbs can change your figure if that is pure additional muscle.
Did you hear about Pareto Principle?
You suggest you stop after getting 80% of results with 20% effort. But what if some people want to try reach their full potential? For them remaining 80% of effort makes sense and there is no waste of time in it.
Maybe your thoughts aren’t worth putting to paper.
Using your numbers your saying 2-3lbs of muscle per year, that is absolutely worth it.
Waste of time period. It is pathetic vanity at best, and awful for your health.
I began reading this ready to make a snarky comment. This was spot on. I think most of us enter bodybuilding as teenagers and, as we mature, shift towards application over aesthetics. Its not what your body looks like but what it can do is sadly something VERY missing in fitness spaces online
He is telling it straight.
Don't forget to just go for a walk. With a rucksack if you must.
I love strength training and have pursued it naturally off and on for 25 years. And I agree with your premise. 90% of my gains came in one absurdly dedicated period in only 7 months where I went from 155lbs to 193lbs. Once you’ve achieved this you can maintain that size with one session a week. Keep your diet in check so you don’t get fat, and then use all of that free time to pursue other things.
The problem with the 7 month explosion was that it came 10-13 years after I first went in to a weight room. So I fumbled around under eating, not having a program, and not squatting with enough intensity to achieve those gains. I could take a dedicated newbie from 0-100 in 2 years, and perhaps only one.
I will say a grueling 1-1.5 hr training session is awesome for your mental heath though.
Dyel
I don't know if 2-3 years is a "waste" if you learned you didn't like it or it didn't produce the results you wanted -- and what else did instead.
That's like an intermediate investment to anything, though "I did X for 10 days" or
I don't know if it was a waste of time if you learned what like / don't and what does / doesn't suit the results you're seeking. 2-3 years is a minimum investment for anything worthwhile, likely an "intermediate" level. Though "I did X for 10 days" or 30 days sells on titles and thumbnails all over YouTube and Substack. That 3-5 year period is where decisions have to be made (in anything), the noob gains are over, the "juice is explicitly NOT worth the squeeze", the returns WILL be diminishing; and that is why the goal you're pursuing is valuable :D
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns