Strong as bull or ripped to shreds

[pseudonym]

Originally Posted by Jaster

Don't get me wrong I'm not fat......... Am I?1

Not so anybody would say it to your face no .... lol J/K bro .

[candyass]

Id go for the strenght any day; hell thats what im doing now.

[maverick]

Gaining strength is certainly more fun. I think its the necessary discipline/restrictions that shys people away from wanting to be ripped. Plus, a 6 pack seems to disappear a lot faster than strength gains.

[Firehawk]

Originally Posted by maverick

Gaining strength is certainly more fun. I think its the necessary discipline/restrictions that shys people away from wanting to be ripped. Plus, a 6 pack seems to disappear a lot faster than strength gains.

Dude,

Hopefully you don't take this the wrong way cause i'm not knocking your accomplishemnts, but for you to stay under 10% bf is WAY easier than for me to stay under 10%. My body just doesn't allow for it without me being absolutely 100% perfect in every which way, and consistently, or Ill put on fat. My body has probably a "normal" metabolism where yours might be naturally faster.

Hell, i duno if my body would even allow me to get down to 6% bf. So, yeah in a way, i'm shy'd away because it would take so much more dedication for me to do it than for you to stay where you are. If i were to have a bad weekend where i took alot of cheat meals over 2-3 days, i'd go from 6% back to 11% just like that. I bet you could get away with it alot easier than i could. Do you get what I"m saying?

The opposite could be siad for me. It's probably way easier for me to put on and maintain lean mass than it is for you because my metabolism is slower than yours.

My take on the responses is that we tend to want what we have/want what we are striving for. Nothing profound about that, though.

[TeenBB]

Big Ripped and Strong :P

[yorkie85]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

for you to stay under 10% bf is WAY easier than for me to stay under 10%. My body just doesn't allow for it without me being absolutely 100% perfect in every which way, and consistently, or Ill put on fat. My body has probably a "normal" metabolism where yours might be naturally faster.

Hell, i duno if my body would even allow me to get down to 6% bf. So, yeah in a way, i'm shy'd away because it would take so much more dedication for me to do it than for you to stay where you are. If i were to have a bad weekend where i took alot of cheat meals over 2-3 days, i'd go from 6% back to 11% just like that. I bet you could get away with it alot easier than i could. Do you get what I"m saying?

The opposite could be siad for me. It's probably way easier for me to put on and maintain lean mass than it is for you because my metabolism is slower than yours.

I don't mean any disrespect, but you'll never get ripped with that attitude. And I accept that some genuinely have no interest in doing so. But you shouldn't use your metabolism as a cop-out excuse if you do have a desire to be leaner. While you might have a slower metabolism than others, weight loss is mostly down to the mental approach. If you were to do cardio with a positive mindset and enjoy healthy food on a routine basis, I'm sure you'd be able to get a low bodyfat level, even if it takes a year or two. And by comparison, as far as cheat meals go, I enjoy a pizza every few weeks, but that's about it.

[rangers97]

Originally Posted by pierini

My take on the responses is that we tend to want what we have/want what we are striving for. Nothing profound about that, though.

very true...it's all about what you need to do at this time. For me, I am married, and while of course I strive to keep looking good for my wife, I don't need to go crazy and worry about having a 6 pack or striated muscles, cause honestly, I don't care what the women think now...well of course I do, who am I kidding, lol , but you know what I mean....

now i love trying to get stronger and stronger...just tonight I had to move a huge entertainment center into my grandparent's apartment with my brother in law, who isn't particularly strong by any means....I was the anchor at the bottom of the stairs and just basically hoisted the thing up the stairs to him, it was great, so it's these things that I love the strength for. It;s nice to basically do whatever you want and not have a problem;

[Firehawk]

Originally Posted by yorkie85

I don't mean any disrespect, but you'll never get ripped with that attitude. And I accept that some genuinely have no interest in doing so. But you shouldn't use your metabolism as a cop-out excuse if you do have a desire to be leaner. While you might have a slower metabolism than others, weight loss is mostly down to the mental approach. If you were to do cardio with a positive mindset and enjoy healthy food on a routine basis, I'm sure you'd be able to get a low bodyfat level, even if it takes a year or two. And by comparison, as far as cheat meals go, I enjoy a pizza every few weeks, but that's about it.

I am not using it as a cop out excuse, but only stating that is IS in FACT way harder for a bigger person to get shredded up and STAY THERE. Bro if you can get down to 5%bf and BULK successfully and end up at 6-7%, then that's a GIFT.

There's people that can stay under 10% all the time and do nothing. Black guy at my work, 8% bf and doesn't work out or doesnt' care about his diet. He eats chips all damn day.

I do want to get leaner, but I knwo that my body will never allow me to stay at 8% without an extraordinary amount of work and that detours me from even wanting it. I'd never be able to enjoy food anymore, tha'ts how much effort it'd take for me to stay there. I mean, sure, i want to be under 20% and think that's not THAT hard to get to but for someone who was once big to get really lean and stay there is significantly harder, and if you call that a "copout excuse" then you dont understand what i'm talking about.

It's always more impressive to see someone that's 250lbs at 10% bf than it is to see someone that's 165 lbs at 10% bf.

[Cort]

Not going to get into a big argument over it, but it is possible to improve your metabolism through weight loss and cardio. I agree, it can be a real *****, but it is possible. That all depends on your goals though, doesn't really matter too much as long as you're maintaining something in a relatively healthy range.

[pseudonym]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

I am not using it as a cop out excuse, but only stating that is IS in FACT way harder for a bigger person to get shredded up and STAY THERE. Bro if you can get down to 5%bf and BULK successfully and end up at 6-7%, then that's a GIFT.

...

I see where you're coming from bro but have gotta disagree somewhat, sure it's harder for a big fella like yourself to become and stay lean but no harder than it is for a skinny fella like me to gain and maintain muscle mass. We've each gotta work our butts off in the exercise department, eat very strictly (though with diamatrically opposed nutritional approaches ) and both maintain that discipline we used in getting where we wanted to be to stay there.

If somebody is not willing to do that, to blame their body-type is a cop-out IMO (this is not to say everyone should desire 6%BF or even 10 but to negate it as a possibility bacause it would take too much work ...). I mean nothing derogatory by 'cop-out' I mean it in the same sense that it's a copout for me to say I do not want to weigh 200lbs because that would take way more work than I am willing to put in.

It's all about the rationale I suppose, I do not want to weigh 200lbs so I will never be working to get there, this comes across as less of a 'cop-out' mentality I suppose than saying I am not going to work toward being 200lbs because it is too hard.

all in the dialogue I suppose.

[armorforsleep]

i picked ripped to shreds

[Firehawk]

Originally Posted by pseudonym

I see where you're coming from bro but have gotta disagree somewhat, sure it's harder for a big fella like yourself to become and stay lean but no harder than it is for a skinny fella like me to gain and maintain muscle mass.

I already said that, you're not reading the previous posts.

[Firehawk]

Originally Posted by Cort

Not going to get into a big argument over it, but it is possible to improve your metabolism through weight loss and cardio. I agree, it can be a real *****, but it is possible. That all depends on your goals though, doesn't really matter too much as long as you're maintaining something in a relatively healthy range.

Well sure you can improve your metabolism, i certainly agree with that. But once those fat cells have been opened, your body remembers and will be quick to fill them back up if you have depleted them through fat loss.

I believe that the body has fat cell memory just like it has muscle memory. Once someone has been 300 lbs they can get back to it far easier than someone that's never been 300 lbs.

If you never been that overweight then youll never comprehend what i'm talking about. Guys on this board that have been overweight, lost a bunch of weight, and gained some back, knoe exactly waht i'm talking about. It'll creep right back in on our bodies if we aren't always 100% conscious of our diet.

Same can be said for smaller guys that try to put on muscle. You ahve to be just as conscious all the time or if you stop, you'll lose what you've gained. Same same just opposite.

[Gearloose]

Originally Posted by Firehawk

Well sure you can improve your metabolism, i certainly agree with that. But once those fat cells have been opened, your body remembers and will be quick to fill them back up if you have depleted them through fat loss.

I believe that the body has fat cell memory just like it has muscle memory. Once someone has been 300 lbs they can get back to it far easier than someone that's never been 300 lbs.

If you never been that overweight then youll never comprehend what i'm talking about. Guys on this board that have been overweight, lost a bunch of weight, and gained some back, knoe exactly waht i'm talking about. It'll creep right back in on our bodies if we aren't always 100% conscious of our diet.

Same can be said for smaller guys that try to put on muscle. You ahve to be just as conscious all the time or if you stop, you'll lose what you've gained. Same same just opposite.

I believe there's some truth to that, Firehawk. I was 264 lb before I started fitness training 14 months ago. I have to watch what I eat every single day to keep it off. I know several people I work with who have went on diets in the last few years and lost a lot of weight. Most did not have sustainable long term dietary plans and regained their weight very rapidly--much faster than they lost it. I also think there is some scientific evidence of a genetic predisposition toward obesity or thinness--your classic ectomorph/endomorph.

There has been a lot of studies of similarities in identical twins separated at birth and raised by different families to help determine nature vs nurture. I wonder if body composition has been looked at in any of those studies? I'm not a twin, but I was adopted and raised by my maternal grandmother and step-grandfather. All the males on his side of the family are rail thin. All the males on my maternal side of the family are obese. I grew up eating the exact same foods as my adopted dad. He stayed thin and I grew fat.