Tiggs

When i was 15 i did about 4 years of heavy weights, took some steroids...normal stuff. Got big but because i am tall i never looked HUGE....although my chest on a 5ft 8 bloke would have been quite something!

Anyway, my "aim" was to be Arnold big......Lee Haney was the man at the time and that was my goal- i dont mean i want to actualy compete but i figured i'd aim huge and stop when i was happy.

Now i have started again after 10 years off......this time my goal is "fitness model" big.......no way near HUGE and i cant quite see why i ever wanted to be huge in the first place.

Last night i was at TGI Fridays (cheat meal day ) with wife and another couple.....bodybuilder walk past- not a monster but pretty big (seemed that he thought he should bring his lat spread for a day out? Anyways...both girls thought he looked grim and as he walked through the place he did look a bit freaky.

Just wondered what motivates blokes past 25 to take themselves to freaky big? (unless its for gain elsewhere- job, competition...whatever)

T

Spoon

To be able to wear those hideous balloon pants and a vest 24/7 I guess.

Tiggs

opps....meant to be a seperate post!

GaryScoobNCBR

lol

Apart from people that do it for competition I cant see why they would want to do it.

Im of the "id rather be agile and strong" brigade.

I personally dont like steroids but i know its the only way to get BIG without it taking 10 years.

TelBoy

Good question. I only ever did it myself for a couple of years, but purely for competition. These days, there's no point.

I think lots of freaky big guys just get addicted to the attention it draws, the admiration it brings in the gym, the fact they think it attracts more women, the satisfaction of being stronger than average, the knowledge that bouncers/big blokes view them with awe/respect - a whole range of psychological effects going on usually.

Personally, apart from technical admiration for what they've achieved, i think it looks silly, especially if it's only been achieved and is only sustainable with drugs. There's too many other things to enjoy except for staying big for big's sake, in my opinion...

milo

shock factor

ScoobyDoo555

A few years ago, I did the whole gym thing purely out of a lack of self-esteem (funny how years later I can see it all quite clearly!!)

I started to get quite big - but only for my height (only about 5'8). I went from 13stone of fat to 13 stone of muscle and still a bit of a stomach (I could feel the rock hard guys under the "layer" )

Got *really* into it, and then one day, stopped.

Then came 2 kids, new job, new location etc.

Now 5yrs later, I'm 14 stone. Still got the size - quite broad shoulders and big arms, and can still lift around what I could before. However, there is that additonal 1 stone of "excess"

I'm trying (albeit not very hard) to shift it but, the motivation isn't there anymore. In other words, I'm pretty happy with my life. I will lose the stomach, but as and when, as I play racket sports, and still enjoy weights

Dan

lightning101

Its because men can't get away with wearing make up.

dexter

This probably sounds horrendous to someone who is training hard, and takes it really seriously.................but you grow out of it. (pardon the pun)

I`m really not trying to belittle anyone, as, many years ago, I was well into it, although I never took steroids or anything like that (but each to their own, eh ?)

But, as you get older, it becomes far less of a priority; so much to the point that, in later life, not only do you think "Why did I bother ?", but you also start to feel that it looks false, and OTT.

I think most people have a certain amount of respect for someone that can apply the necessary dedication to look after themselves like that, in the way that bodybuilding takes, but I also now feel that the majority prefer the more athletic physique, rather than one that is false.

Just my tuppeny`s-worth of course.

Tiggs

hence my original question about ppl over 25....i can understand 17-21 (i was one of them) but for an adult who has 20+ years of experience its an interesting choice.

EXSCOOBY

hmm
it all depends on how you look at it
im 6 foot 3 and 18st
at the moment im clean and have been for about 7 months
some guys lift much heavier weights than others
personally
i lift 5 times a week and even with the amounts of protein i consume im getting close to the over training syndrome
im 34 and although im resisting going back on gear for a while i appreciate people who lift heavy and need the steroids to enable recovery from extensive muscualr stress
its a question of extremes

Tiggs

but how negative would the effect be to you if you just added in extra days off instead of taking steroids? at 34, what are the benifits to you of taking it further?
not that you should/shouldnt....just wondering why you would?

mart360

I think your first para. says it all!!

coming from mr puritanically perfect, i,m surprised. you used artifical means to do what you couldnt do naturally!!!


:



LOL

Mart

EXSCOOBY

ive reached a plateau
to progress furthur id need gear
simple as that really
im training with professional bodybuilders and although im strong, to hang with them ie lift 400 pound presses i need to use gear
its not for everyone but i need to shock my system

Tiggs

thats my point.......it was daft but i was young, just wonder about those that dont "grow out of it"

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Always amazed me what some do to themselves, some guys at the Gym I went to a few years ago lifted amazing weight and seemed to be in every day and were indeed monsters, they did tend to be in proportion, i.e. big top half ,trim waist and powerful legs, there were however those who only trained their top halves or just focused on what they could see in a mirror so the front half was big with a comparatively weedy back.

There was one guy who never did legs and I saw the bugger sans his regulation baggies and very and the effect was not dissimilar to the Bulldog from the Tom and Jerry cartoons, i.e. huge top and tiny bottom half, truly ridiculous, all that effort and expense to look really odd.

Then there are those that manage the proportion and ruin it by having some kind of stragly mullet going on, shave it off ffs.

Or the women that went in, one girl used to go in and looked quite fit, bit on the beefy side (from training) but not bad at all, the over time she went huuuge (for a 5 ft girl) and her chin went square, her hair went rank and she went all spotty, I am no expert but I suspect this coincided with her starting with the 'Vitamin S'

I was never tempted by the gear, saw it changing hands and was tentatively asked my opinions but declined.

I always reckon that the most impressive guy in the gym is the one that turns up, does his stuff, gets on with it, doesnt grunt like a pig, doesnt fanny about with all the paraphenalia (apart from essentials), doesnt wear baggies/vests and trains for strength rather than freakish muscles, i.e. the ones that dont look that much (compared to the monsters) but its obvious they are very strong and fit. A minumum ammount of looking in mirrors helps as well. I also cant be doing with grown Supposedly straight men scrutinizing each others Lats, Traps, Glutes etc etc (earlier comments notwithstanding)

Anyway, Proffessional Bodybuilders, whats so proffesional about covering yourself in cuprinol, putting Speedos on and strutting up and down a stage, sorry but its just a bit weird and 99.99% of ladies agree, its a bit like modding cars, knowing when to stop before it looks like a dogs dinner.

I am going to do away with the whole Bodybuilding thing with the machine I have invented, basically it works on the same principle as a Breville sandwich toaster, you lie in a man shaped dish (covered in butter) and get someone to close the lid and it sears lines into your flesh, instead of a shell pattern like a Breville does to bread and cheese it gives you that cut up appearance with all the lines in the right places.

SwishOvBolton

my uncle was a great example , he was into competitions and started out because he was skinny at school and i mean skinny , but the time he`d hit 23 - he was in competitions and was huge ,

but he told me now he stopped , when he hit a certain size , he was so addicted to lifting weights it was like a form of crack , he wanted bigger bigger bigeer bigger bigger and just couldnt stop , he always thought it was not enough , till he eventually did have to stop through some problems ,

hes now 40 and started again 2 yr ago but was already big , well had the muscle still there without the bulk ,
but now hes more intoooo running to take excess weight off , and looks now like the peter andre ,(gay to say i know) but 6 pack , definition in all his body parts (for 40 anyway)
still always on sunbed 2 ,

SPEN555

That must be a real drag looking like Peter Andre!!

Nexuas

I am quite happy being a 9 stone rake handle...

SwishOvBolton

i just couldnt think of anyone else that was well known with a toned body ,


(ahhhhhhhhhhh this sounds Gay) im not replying no more hahah

turboman786

Didnt Peter Andre have implants in his abs to make them prominent?......

Tiggs

i doubt that very much.

A&E

I think most women probably feel the same way - we all like a bit of meat on a man, but there is more to life than a perfect (or over done) body.

SPEN555

Over done?

This isn't a cooking thread BTW!

A&E

ha ha. over done as in too big/has an unattractive body due to excess bulging muscle poking out of too tight t-shirt lol

CC

Nothing normal at taking steroids in your teens. Taking them yes, but taking them so young is rarely seen i my gym and is idiotic imo.

Why get so big? As you suggest, for competition and/or job. I'm not a 'monster' but find my size has helped me in my job.

What other reasons? Why drive such a fast car when you could drive a merely nippy one? Why not get so big? Personal preference I say. Those who mock are entitled to their opinion. I don't see why people become obese (unless for medical reasons).

suprabeast

i think if you go to the gym and you do allot of lifting its very easy to always just want to be a bit bigger....


if you treat the gym as a challenge every time you go then you are continually looking for improvement. So thats why i think people just get bigger and bigger.

Tiggs

should clarify...i did drugs in my later years of training...not at 14

The car analogy is a good one........but only if you compare a Ferrari/TVR etc to a fitness model body.....once you get to BIG bodybuilders you are talking about a drag racer.....the fastest there is but a bit daft unless you compete- you wouldnt pick up a date in one!

super_si

Ive put on **** loads recently ill be honest ive had more lasses in the past 12 weeks then 4 years did have a gf tho!

Trouble is with size comes alot of trouble! everytime i go out!

strength orientated training but obviously size n leaness comes with it

Si

turboman786

So very true......as they say, its usually swimmers who drown.....