And People Say Bodybuilders Are Weak : An Anecdote

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5/16/19

I’ve run into this guy off and on for years, nearly every gym I’ve stepped foot in in New England, the grocery store, etc.

High level bodybuilder, never got the pro card though.

Hilariously he’s working at pf.
The opposite of what is expected based on commercials.

(He even told me he hadn’t expected to get the call for the interview.)

About 6’3″ I’ve seen him at as high as something like a lean 330lbs. Big ass French-Canadian.

At pf he’d reminisce to me about what he’d done, as some injuries in the last few years have been hard on him.

•750 deadlift
•750 squat (narrow footing, fairly high bar)
•600 for reps squat (wide stance)
•315x~42 bench to looks of “what the hell”
•Incline 455×7 by his own admission being stronger on incline than flat
•DB row 5×300 each side strict
•Power Curl 4×225 to mess with a guy

Generally worked as a contractor of some sort. He’d told me at one point under 30 he was a roofing laborer at about 300lbs. The roofing at his size impresses me, it’s quite comical to picture, as even I’m comical as a mover at 6′ 255lbs.

(It’s like this : you’ve got a bunch of humans on crew, then the gorilla steps out of the work truck to the astonishment of the customer.

Like the scene in the 70s longest yard when burt goes “what is that” as a big guard steps out of the vehicle.)

However I think most of his time in the trades was spent doing tile floors.

Honest opinion?

High level bodybuilders show far more impressive #s than powerlifters on the whole. Same can be said of weightlifters.

I’ve noticed heavy lifting makes it wicked easy to grow. Heavy demands calories. High reps can go very heavy once you’re big, strong, and feel like pushing.

-J