Unpopular Opinion: I feel muscles are overrated.

[patb]

Lol reminds me a douchebag that had status at school, I recall a day where he was in the garden with a small crowd around him and said something like "our team played like crap, Im really pissed off for those d1ckheads" and somehow the girls around found such concept really enlightning.

Something I've come to understand but my "sperg" brain will never really accept is that people judge words by the status of the speaker and little else. There is some feedback -- saying something taboo can damage your status -- but almost nobody actually cares about ideas or substance per se.

 

[Mike32ct]

Something I've come to understand but my "sperg" brain will never really accept is that people judge words by the status of the speaker and little else. There is some feedback -- saying something taboo can damage your status -- but almost nobody actually cares about ideas or substance per se.

“It’s not what you say. It’s who says it.”

I’ll stop there. I’m preaching to the choir.

 

[Murk]

People think that the only ones on steroids are ones who are big and jacked, you'll be surprised how many people and young ones are on PEDs in the gym but don't look like bodybuilders.

I always say, if it was that easy to be like those guys naturally, all of us will have those physiques.

They are not a bunch of random guys, they are models/strippers, the top % in leanness/aesthetics. I have friends with bodies like that who gym 3/4 times a week naturally, sometimes they go weeks without gym, they eat small portions of proper food. They are always watching what they eat and have active lives (outdoor work). The reason we don't all look like that is that it's a massive sacrifice to maintain low body fat naturally.

Over Christmas I put on 9lbs and felt like ****, eating chocolate, carbs, alcohol, fast food with friends, no working out. I went on a 48 hour fast, hitting gym all week, back to no carb, lost 7lbs already. It's all diet man. I am going to touch 8% BF as a personal goal, take some pics for OLD, then chill at 15% maximum. It's hard work if you love food.

 

[Slowhandluke]

They are not a bunch of random guys, they are models/strippers, the top % in leanness/aesthetics. I have friends with bodies like that who gym 3/4 times a week naturally, sometimes they go weeks without gym, they eat small portions of proper food. They are always watching what they eat and have active lives (outdoor work). The reason we don't all look like that is that it's a massive sacrifice to maintain low body fat naturally.

Over Christmas I put on 9lbs and felt like ****, eating chocolate, carbs, alcohol, fast food with friends, no working out. I went on a 48 hour fast, hitting gym all week, back to no carb, lost 7lbs already. It's all diet man. I am going to touch 8% BF as a personal goal, take some pics for OLD, then chill at 15% maximum. It's hard work if you love food.

You sound like a girl... I believe you have reached the point where you care too much about your body...

 

[Snag87]

You can over do anything, including muscles. The only way you get super-jacked is if you spend a lot of time in the gym. If you are doing that, then you are giving something up. You have to be fit (i.e. not fat, sloppy, or skinny), anything more than that is over kill. SO yeah... I agree with the OP list and order. Spend three days a week for about an hour doing weight training and that is really all you need.

You'd be astonished how many men would be overweight/obese with that training regimen.

 

[Snag87]

Muscles are overrated both in regards to attracting women and more importantly overall health.

 

[nicksaiz65]

They are not a bunch of random guys, they are models/strippers, the top % in leanness/aesthetics. I have friends with bodies like that who gym 3/4 times a week naturally, sometimes they go weeks without gym, they eat small portions of proper food. They are always watching what they eat and have active lives (outdoor work). The reason we don't all look like that is that it's a massive sacrifice to maintain low body fat naturally.

Over Christmas I put on 9lbs and felt like ****, eating chocolate, carbs, alcohol, fast food with friends, no working out. I went on a 48 hour fast, hitting gym all week, back to no carb, lost 7lbs already. It's all diet man. I am going to touch 8% BF as a personal goal, take some pics for OLD, then chill at 15% maximum. It's hard work if you love food.

I like the way you diet handling those cheat days… we have pretty similar dieting philosophies tbh.

I hate it when dieticians say “oh, if you have a bad day or bad couple of days just get back on your normal diet and you’ll be fine.” Those cheat days are devastating and can completely stall your progress if you let them. Imo you have to compensate for them, Extended Fasting being the best way to do that. When I started doing that to eliminate any cheats I finally smashed my plateau. 48-72 hours is my extended fasting sweet spot, though I do aim to do a 100 hour fast. OMAD on the days that I do eat.

I used to think that “naturally lean/skinny” people were dieting perfectly and hitting their macros 100% of the time. But now, I don’t think they are, that’s another fitness industry myth. No one is hitting their diet 100% of the time. Skinny people indulge too, but the difference is they eat nothing or barely anything before and/or the event to compensate. So when you average out their weekly/monthly calories, they are still in a deficit and thus remain thin. I think a lot of “naturally lean” people are doing this instinctively. I have no clue why more bodybuilders/influencers don’t talk more about this, I think it’s critical to weight loss to have this skill.

So overall I think the best strategy for indulgences like that, expected or not, is to just compensate for it, usually through fasting.

Also, I’m not a Keto guy personally(I’m CICO + IF) but I am aware that Keto and extended fasting go really well together. The reason being that you’re already in Ketosis so it’s not as hard for your body to jump into an extended fast at all.

 

[nicksaiz65]

Why don't you do both? Bro, the average guy in this forum, no matter the amount of steroids he uses will never be a huge guy, cause genetics won't allow it. You think if you spent a lot of time in the gym, and with even steroid you look like Rony Coleman? The super jacked guys you see in bodybuilding shows are the top 0.1% of population, stop coping with "I don't wanna get jacked and have too much muscles" You'll never will anyways.


if we lack in height we have to make it up somewhere else


I am energetic, fun guy, but short, you can't have it all, get over it. If you're trying to get sympathy from members about not working out and feel good about yourself, this is not a "yOu Go GiRl" group, hit the gym and start practicing social skills.


Every time there is a thread about gyms, you seem angry or jaded, who hurt you? a gymbro stole your gf?


I'm 33 and my test levels were low, I started on TRT last year, best fvcking thing ever happened to me, do it man, this is the fountain of youth.


Give this man a cookie, he gets it.


LOL who told you that man? What is the same who said apple cider makes you lose weight?


Testosterone is derivative of cholesterol, that's why when people do super low fat diets their hormones go out of wack and they lose libido.


This is bvll$hit, guys in here will never be "super jacked" no one in here has the genetic potential even with steroids to be that guy, all the guys you see on instagram are the top 0.1%

Sean Nalewanyj has great information

 

[Snag87]

3 times a week - 60 to 90 minutes

Do you use steroids?

 

[Bandolero]

Yes I am Natural.

I'm not sure about competing.
I really don't like the look of a bodybuilder and the sacrifices that come with it .

I would rather have less size and a better gas tank for Muay Thai and boxing but my body is holding on to muscles ,even if I don't workout regularly.

 

[Murk]

I like the way you diet handling those cheat days… we have pretty similar dieting philosophies tbh.

I hate it when dieticians say “oh, if you have a bad day or bad couple of days just get back on your normal diet and you’ll be fine.” Those cheat days are devastating and can completely stall your progress if you let them. Imo you have to compensate for them, Extended Fasting being the best way to do that. When I started doing that to eliminate any cheats I finally smashed my plateau. 48-72 hours is my extended fasting sweet spot, though I do aim to do a 100 hour fast. OMAD on the days that I do eat.

I used to think that “naturally lean/skinny” people were dieting perfectly and hitting their macros 100% of the time. But now, I don’t think they are, that’s another fitness industry myth. No one is hitting their diet 100% of the time. Skinny people indulge too, but the difference is they eat nothing or barely anything before and/or the event to compensate. So when you average out their weekly/monthly calories, they are still in a deficit and thus remain thin. I think a lot of “naturally lean” people are doing this instinctively. I have no clue why more bodybuilders/influencers don’t talk more about this, I think it’s critical to weight loss to have this skill.

So overall I think the best strategy for indulgences like that, expected or not, is to just compensate for it, usually through fasting.

Also, I’m not a Keto guy personally(I’m CICO + IF) but I am aware that Keto and extended fasting go really well together. The reason being that you’re already in Ketosis so it’s not as hard for your body to jump into an extended fast at all.

Yeah 72h fasts are the way to go, way more benefits than 48, but 48 has way more benefits than 24h.

All the lean people I know automatically eat smaller amounts and less carbs/sugar. Only when I started doing it myself and seeing results I was like damn, this is all it takes huh.

Fasting/keto helps my mental health and allows me to work long periods focused, really fires up my brain. I also manage stress a lot better and problem solve/find solutions quickest. Although that could also be because I’ve stopped drinking and smoking. Fasting also allowed me to destroy my cravings for carbs/alcohol/drugs.

You sound like a girl... I believe you have reached the point where you care too much about your body...

No I enjoy making myself as healthy as possible. At 33 I’m not getting any younger and I want to be in peak condition, I abused my body with substances for years.

 

[Murk]

Here's a song that explains what you have just said:

What an absolute banger

 

[RangerMIke]

You'd be astonished how many men would be overweight/obese with that training regimen.

No one is overweight because of working out. They are overweight because they eat and drink too much. Or have a bad diet of junk food and garbage.

The most successful diet book anyone could ever write would be one page and contain the sentence "Stop eating too much cr@p."

I know people who look great and all they do is practice yoga every other day. They look great because they eat well.

 

[LTG71]

Correct, BUT no doubt they'd notice his confidence, his swag, the raw masculine energy he emanates from looking as he does and the abundance of testosterone he gains from his workouts.

Never underestimate a man's energy, it trumps height, status, even looks imo.

And when he does take off his shirt? Lord have mercy!!!

Y’all missed the most important comments in this whole discussion, the ones from the woman.

Being physically fit builds confidence and women are attracted to that energy. Sure, there is a minority that like super jacked guys, but the majority wouldn’t mind a guy with a little muscle.

Working on everything on the list is good, but remove height. Not much you can do about height, work with what you were born with. Zach Efron is 5’ 8” and pretty jacked by average standards. If he were built like Johan Hill, the ladies wouldn’t even notice him.

Like some have already said, it also depends on genetics. I laugh when ppl I know say they don’t want to lift weights because they don’t want to “get big.” B!tch please! Nobody is going to look like Dwayne Johnson going to the gym 3 days a week.

Do it for yourself. Builds testosterone, discipline and confidence which creates positive energy. Abs start in the kitchen so stop eating crap foods.

 

[Barrister]

No one is overweight because of working out. They are overweight because they eat and drink too much. Or have a bad diet of junk food and garbage.

The most successful diet book anyone could ever write would be one page and contain the sentence "Stop eating too much cr@p."

I know people who look great and all they do is practice yoga every other day. They look great because they eat well.

It took me awhile to realize just this. Being in good shape (re: thin/lean) comes down to probably 90% diet and only 10% exercise. Not the reverse. Back in college I was exercising both aerobically and anaerobically like a machine but was eating and drinking way too much. So while I had more muscle than ever before I wouldn't say I looked as good as I even do now even though I lift a fraction of what I was then. I would go a step farther and say it comes down to eating very little to remain lean.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

Do you have any? If not...how would you know?

 

[EyeBRollin]

There is one guy that looks like a freaking rooster, upper body like a pro-body builder and the legs of a chicken. I see this guy work out all the time, and you would think by looking at him that he does no leg work... that would be wrong... I see him lifting with his legs all the time... he has strong @ss legs, but his legs just do not have the lower body mass so that his body is proportional.

That’s because he uses gear. Steroids super juice the shoulders and traps. The upper body becomes wildly disproportionate to the lower body. A lifetime natural athlete will never look like that.

 

[Divorced w 3]

Do you have any? If not...how would you know?

This should end the conversation. Anyone with experience pre and post being fit with muscular definition (especially with noticeable shoulder to torso ratio) wouldn't seriously argue against this point.

 

[jimwho]

Fasting/keto helps my mental health and allows me to work long periods focused, really fires up my brain. I also manage stress a lot better and problem solve/find solutions quickest. Although that could also be because I’ve stopped drinking and smoking. Fasting also allowed me to destroy my cravings for carbs/alcohol/drugs.

This is exactly me also. I dig not cooking so often, and the clean-up. I notice people overeating during the day now.

If you eat very little to stay lean, unless you are genetically gifted going to the gym once per week, will not be good, because there is not a stimulus for the body to retain the muscle, the body wants to retain fat, not muscles, therefore eating that low will make you lose a ton of muscle.

I can verify. Now I have Dumbbells all over the place and a cheesy-bench in the living room. I use no system, just
Keep muscles constantly on the go. This is a good thread.

 

[Barrister]

Its a combo of diet, exercise and rest. Hitting the muscle groups at least 1 time per week is good, best is 2 times. But you need to rest well for them to recover.

If you eat very little to stay lean, unless you are genetically gifted going to the gym once per week, will not be good, because there is not a stimulus for the body to retain the muscle, the body wants to retain fat, not muscles, therefore eating that low will make you lose a ton of muscle.

You want to stay lean: hit the gym hard 3 x week and eat in a caloric deficit or at maintenance

You wanna build muscle: hit the gym hard 3 x week and eat in a caloric surplus.

My workout/diet regime has been fairly consistent for a number of years now but I workout either running or lifting 6 days a week. I am always lean and toned and the women always are complimentary. I am definitely not nearly as muscular as I was back in my college/law school days, but the interesting thing is the women don't care at all. I have been through more women in the past 4 years than in the rest of my adult life combined. Hence my original post in this thread that women care very little about how big your muscles are if you simply maintain good physique.