I’m not worried about saturated fat or cholesterol, I’m training hard, so I fuel the animal.
Mainstream diet advice just saw me starve myself at 14, while doing massive cardio from fat to skinny fat.
Fat bodies that put in work physically, they don’t stay fat bodies, they become muscled up meatheads.
That strength work is how you dodge cutting down into skinny fat territory.
I didn’t know a thing at 14 other than I was sick of being fat.
I changed it.
There was no guidance teaching me to lift weights, I figured it all out as I went along.
At 14 I thought only calisthenics were “functional”, used that as an excuse to not lift weights, all the while being not so good at those calisthenics past pushups.
After a bit over a year weighing in the 170s I started pouring olive oil into milk as it was something I realized had to get me closer to 200lbs.
A massive nightly calorie influx, OZs of olive oil.
It’s funny to look back and think that after entering high school at 212 that a year later I thought it impossible to be heavier than 175, let alone 200+.
With what I know now I wouldn’t have pushed to lose scale weight, I’d have just ate better while training strength and sprints like a madman.
Somatotypes change with effort.
You want to be big…are you eating 5000+ calories yet?
Something I recently put my finger on is this ; many guys get a big surge of man strength around 21 years old.
I felt it, I observed it in my lifting partner four years younger than me, now I’m observing it again in one six years my junior.
The more and better you trained before that makes it even more impressive a leap.
Base building!
You need a program?
Train your full body, then go do a million reps for every body part.
I’d already done a minimal amount of my hspu, band resisted pushups, and diamond pushup triset that I’ve been doing daily.
I had just finished my third set of mantra pushups (which has been my PT pushups for awhile – 3 mantra sets), when my buddy walked in.
A buddy walking in often means a minimal session for me becomes something different.
We got to talking, he wanted to do some weighted calisthenics. I was just going to do weighted pushups with him, I’m always game for them, but as a favor I grabbed my dip belt from my car so he could do weighted dips and chins.
I coached/coaxed him into some good PRs, dips 8xbw+90, weighted pushups 7xbw+100, how I coach/coax is another post coming up soon. For context ; today he was 150lbs, though that’s on the down fluctuation usually walking around at 160. He’s damn close to bw+bw sets for 10+ reps.
Today 9/18/20 got me a lot of write up able content.
•strength from high reps
•adding work to weaker muscle groups, (triceps & shoulders, as my chest is seriously developed)
•shoulder health (my shoulders feel better having done those super controlled heavy reps)
•coaching/coaxing PRs from another
•fairly heavy resistance bands building strength – westside has something here
So for me the weighted pushups :
1st set – 6 reps, the first two at 2p/90lbs, then either the next two at 2p25, and the last two at 2p, or it was the last 4 at 2p25.
It felt shockingly easy.
I had jotted down PRs in the movement, realized this was basically a PR set, and that I should go break a PR at 3p/+135lb which had been a 1rm 6-9 months back.
2nd set – 5x3p PR
This was my 1rm 6-9 months back when I first started weighted pushups, and I left 1-3 reps in the tank. What I’ve done for push strength this year is working very well. 4p/180lbs felt in the bag.
3rd set – 1x4p PR
Now the hspu, band resisted pushup, and diamond pushup triset has added horsepower here. I’ve only done plate loaded 4x including today, and the first session in December. The triset is building raw hp, and I’ve only been doing them having started daily this month.
Then the idea strikes…I just did a rep with 4p, and I have a 150lb human (while not a girl) available at present as weight. I figure I’m good for one rep at a minimum, if it’s plural reps, I’ll post the video.
Get desk staff to film the idea.
Vid Link Spot – video unavailable, filmed but unavailable.
4th set – 2 reps with a 150lb guy standing on my mid/lower back
He stood lower than I wanted, still human live weight pushups ← s plural, as I did two reps with him as weight.
A little while later
5th set – 1 rep
I did another rep, just a single this time with him higher up on my upper back off camera to confirm I’d get the reps with him standing around my scapula/high on the upper back. He still stood about an inch lower than I’d wanted him to.
Him standing lower was harder on my core, him higher up shifted it from core stability more towards resistance on the chest.
Having someone standing on your back requires your form be dialed in, perfect. I went wicked slow not cause I couldn’t stabilize him…
I’ve stabilized more in plates, but because I could feel him shaking! I didn’t want him to fall off.
What an awesome Friday night session!
We’ll be doing these more often.
I have the idea to mix band and plate during the same reps.
It’d be sweat to bulgarian style live weight standing pushups.
Surprisingly I took video with a guy for low reps before I took video of a girl for high reps on back standing pushups. 5xbw+3p means I’m good for double digit reps with a couple different chicks I know, the question is when and which one will I run into first.
Calisthenics built. These things move up fast…Ape strong.
Years ago on the tnation forums I read a post where the op talked about having squatted 600lbs at 198 in a powerlifting meet, and ran a sub 60:00 10 mile run on the same day, likely official in a race. Busy day.
That’s a cool mix of abilities.
Recently two men, an Adam Klink and a Fergus Crawley, have squatted 500lbs and run a sub 5:00 mile on the same day.
Pretty cool abilities, a good show of true human potential. I remember my high school’s linebacker pulling off a 5:15 mile at probably 5’10” 190lbs. If he wasn’t a bench bro I probably could’ve witnessed this in high school. It’s definitely doable for more.
Fergus made a video :
There’s Alex Viada who was talked about much a few years back, and I’m sure there’s at least a handful of dudes in the military, and probably a bunch of college level and higher athletes who could do these things. For example I’d put money on a top tier college wrestler having the 5:00 & 500.
From Robert Heinlein’s “Stranger In A Strange Land” :
Jubal found Mike stripped down and the ship’s surgeon looking baffled. “Doctor,” Nelson said, almost angrily, “I saw this patient only ten days ago. Tell me where he got those muscles?”
“Why, he sent in a coupon from the back cover of Rut: The Magazine for He-Men. You know, the ad that tells how a ninety-pound weakling can-“
(- Heinlein’s a little harsh on the ad.)
“Doctor, please!”
“Why don’t you ask him?” Jubal suggested.
Nelson did so. “I thinked them,” Mike answered.
“That’s right,” Jubal agreed. “He ‘thinked’ ’em. When I got him, just over a week ago, he was a mess, slight, flabby, and pale. Looked as if he had been raised in a cave-which I gather he was, more or less. So I told him he had to grow strong. So he did.”
“Exercises?” Nelson said doubtfully.
“Nothing systematic. Swimming, when and as he wished.”
“A week of swimming won’t make a man look as if he had been sweating over barbells for years!” Nelson frowned. “I am aware that Mike has voluntary control over the so-called ‘involuntary’ muscles, But that is not entirely without precedent. This, on the other hand, requires one to assume that-“
“Doctor,” Jubal said gently, “why don’t you just admit that you don’t grok it and save the wear and tear?”
Meditate (until you grok) on thinking yourself muscular.
The main character isn’t the only one in the book who does.
Since first having read the book as a teen, the quoted passage, and what possibility it implies has stuck with me.
I’ve internalized belief that I can think myself fit. This passage caused a big philosophical dawning in me of my true physical potential. Human potential as designed by God is ∞, greatness is within your grasp. Think only of high possibility! We are capable of far more than science currently knows.
The skinny fat, even when they get in plenty of calories, don’t eat right.
As far as I’ve observed EVERY skinny fat kid I’ve known ate extraordinarily low protein, and near wholly processed foods with lots of soda.
The skinny fat diet, is amazingly comprised of nothing nutritious nor real.
This makes for strangeness in an oftentimes high metabolic rate body.
The skinny fat dude is likely to be drinking high c instead of fruit juice, bringing with him a box of ring ding bullshit as lunch, and staunchly refuses to eat good things.
The kid I most have in mind as I type this, was effectively vegetarian in the worst of ways, only not vegan by a tad (like 8oz a week) of skim milk on his count chocula or some sugary shit cereal every morning.
I never saw him drink water – soda constantly, and a gatorade once or twice.
A lot of heavier guys naturally have some strength to them as their bodies are anabolic, building muscle off of the food they eat alone.
Eating a lot of meat, cheese, drinking milk, and hitting high calories daily makes it impossible to not be big and strong.
There are plenty dudes out there who eat BIG, train once or twice a week, and are the strongest dude you’ll ever know.
(Who I have most in mind here is a kid who had a teen american, though possibly world, record bench.)
Coincidentally the plan that makes anyone relatively big and strong without fail is to train hard a couple times a week, and eat dirty bulk style seven days a week.
You eat enough and of the right stuff, and you are anabolic. You feel it.
I’ll use the last 24 hours –
•1lb kielbasa and a chocolate bar
•corn tortillas & 8oz cheese
•leftover nachos & a bowl of ice cream
Basically I ate meat, dairy, and corn. I had run out of milk, didn’t hit the store, but drank a lot of water – hydration, another overlooked factor.
I sense corn is the best grain source, better stomached than wheat.
When you eat well, high calories, of good nutritious foods you are anabolic.
The skinny fat often has the calories, but not the nutrition – yes, even compared to a big fat kid.
The fat kid is often strong via calories and carrying his own mass.
The skinny fat is missing both those factors. No food, no size.
My lazy form of leg PT is to hold a modified warrior pose.
In the hold I don’t do the upper body by the book, instead varying the position of my arms, sometimes in active use, sometimes just down at my side.
Many write off yoga stuff as useless, which is wrong.
A lot of yoga stuff can be used well. Where warrior pose shines most greatly is in use amongst the hefty, amongst the obese.
No matter how pound for pound weak someone is, they can stand briefly in warrior pose.
By the time they’re at 1:30+ each leg forward, and consciously feeling the muscles work, they are good to go for harder leg training.
(Yes, you can put the work in different muscles.)
The issue with many trainers having fat clients do wall sits is that they’re never pushing the leg static long enough, and they’re allowing less load on the legs by allowing hands to press against thighs.
Leg static hold exercises have an incredible effect overall…but you can’t do them for mamby pamby short lengths.
You’ve gotta do the holds long enough that the legs shake.
The obese video game player could easily do a warrior pose hold with controller in hand. This is how I was picturing this being done at first.
Not only is it a solid first step, but it’s enough for building strong legs, and a manner in which to lose weight.
I highly recommend training leg static holds regardless of who you are.
They and walks are my #1 and #2 staples for rebuilding the obese from the ground up. And these will work for everyone.
I’m often asked how to get bigger.
I’ll give solid advice, and frankly since it’s usually ignored by the asker (askee?) I don’t expect them to actually make progress.
During the corona lockdown one kid actually implemented the advice I’d given him, ran with it, and when the gym reopened shook my hand with a thank you. I was racking my brain, then remembered that I’d given him advice fully six months prior.
When a kid approaches you on the gym floor for advice, and the advice will always boil down to “train with effort, eat more” ; it’s like 99% of humanity on the spot becomes lactose intolerant!
There’s something weird in the air when all these guys are pickier eaters than girls, and can’t find it in themselves to shovel down nutritious calories.
Gluttony is consider a sin.
Why? Because overeating is enjoyable, it’s not hard to go too far with it!
You’d think in a land with huge obesity statistics some of that eating ability would transfer by osmosis or something to younger gym going dudes from nothing more than close contact in the wild with the people of walmart.
It’s a fairly open secret that getting big is big calories and enough nutrition.
I’ve met a lot of lean athletic teenage athletes who fell hard for the mainstream stock advice and are eating clean, while not putting on any size.
Every teenager I’ve seen get big eats fairly dirty.
Even higher level bodybuilders who eat clean mostly, their cheat meals are something to behold creating equal parts wonder, fear, and excitement over the coming tip amongst the staff at brazilian steakhouses and sushi places everywhere if I’m remembering correctly the norm amongst bodybuilder taste buds.
You eat a lot and you’re going to build muscle.
You eat like a bird and you’re gonna stay lean forever – run with the premise that no lean bulking has ever happened.
Eat up.
You want to grow big?
Become anabolic – try eating.
