Okay, see you Thursday.

I've a question. I'm honestly curious and wondering what pushes "this" mentality. I'm not embarrassed to say that I do occasionally train for a bit of looks. That's why I occasionally do bench press once a month or so.

It's not to have a big tetek, it's merely to have a balanced physique.

My question is, why does a man train for looks? It just doesn't make sense to me, for males are often attracted to performance and speed and the gizmodos. IF we can have all three, better still. If not, one of the three is fine.

Why are there males that daringly say "I train for looks, not to be strong"
What is the catalyst to that mentality?

@pizzaboy, Perhaps to feel good also? One of my main concerns to look bigger than my ecto before was to look better and in truth feel better.

My size is giving me more confidence now compared to my skinny old bones form. I couldn't approach to women easily before, but that was until I met my gf.

Quite obviously to impress the chicks of course! if you have a good physique, it just stands out from the competition from the other guys trying to impress the chicks lol... After all even if you could bench press 100 kg how are you going to impress her without coming across as a show off?

I understand what you're saying. Clearly.

If the question is inversed, and I'm questioned of why I'm uninterested in looking good, I'd say that;

1. I've achieved the physique that I'm comfortable with
2. An unassuming physique that performs unexpectedly satisfies me more than looking phenomenal but can't run a 4 second 40
3. Me don't quite like excess bulk and excess hypertrophy.

But why aren't you guys interested in getting both? Stronger and look better?

"If they could, they would but since they cant, they rant"
-Dave Tate

Hmmmm...

We men have evolved over the centuries, our needs have gone way beyond limit.

Remember on what we talked over dinner last weekend? " I dont eat rice but i eat spaghetti " People these day are making it hard for themselves to accept facts over bullshit.

Now back to your debate.. I personally train to get strong so that I could one day pin down a huge ******* etc. Oh yes, for an example having a six pack doesnt make you strong person. Thats what makes powerlifters, bodybuilders, weightlifters, athletes different. Its all based on goals and stuff. The problem with people these days, they are getting real smart ( in a sarcastic manner ) . I once had a conversation with a friend..

Shane : Why do you love benching till 12 reps? Why dont you stick to 5-6 reps for a start?

Person A : I want muscles, I dont want strength.

I am not flaming any bodybuilders based on the 2-3 lines above. I understand the principles of hypertrophy , muscle fiber development etc. What I`m trying to say, these days there are too many fitness mags, fitness books which is 90% bullshit. Credits to those really good authors like Berardi and stuff but still we humans are made all different. Shit might work for you but not me. Kirks, i personally know you man, I know your goals, it aint bodybuilding, same here. All I want is some agility , strength etc. Building a chiseled physique is not what I seek. As long as I understand the principles of whatever I am doing, I believe its fine.

Wrapping this up, I would say the phrase " I train for looks, not to be strong ". Its a phrase which we couldnt help these days, oh yes, i recalled remember a forumer saying this " I dont want muscle, I want toned body " . Join a Beginners` Body Step class. Period




Peace and Happiness to all .

im an aesthetic guy, i like to look at beautiful and sexy things, and i also want to become one.
strength is for my male ego, to protect those who important to me.
im an ex-sprinter, i'm sure still can do 100m at 12-13s at least.

i never met guys who train solely for looks only, usually, look and strength.

oh ya, BBer is not slow, Kevin Levrone once dashed 40 yards with Dwain Chambers, and he's not bad at all

Chow

*sits and munches popcorn*

Rly, dont do it for wimmins. That's just like saying the girls have to spend 2 hours to shower, dress up and makeup to look good, to make bf happy. Please.

Nono, don't get me wrong.

Many a time, there are SO many people who actually DO say that they want to get muscular but not strong. Put aside professional bodybuilders. Note I didn't take Ronnie Coleman as an example? That guy is muscular and strong.

I am referring to the general majority of people. There are so many that say that they just want to look good and muscular without being strong which is something I don't comprehend.

Now understand, that I am in total awareness that different people have different goals, but I'd like to phantom the thoughts of a aesthetics inclined person. It's not to beat down someone or talk bad about them, if I wanted to do that I'd start a flame thread.

This topic is a can of worms, so I'm treading carefully.

EDIT: Seriously......SERIOUSLY, don't train for other's eyes. Train for yourself.

This post has been edited by pizzaboy: Jul 8 2008, 05:57 PM

I train only for strength and power,how defined my muscles look has the second position!

Why??

Because i like having the power!

Maybe they consider strength as a side effect of getting muscular? On the flip side, why do most of us need to get that strong? It's not like we're going to need to lift a car off an old lady/young kid on a daily basis.

On my end, i train to be able to do new things with my body. Be it a new gymnastics flip or a new bboy move or a martial arts/capoeira trick, or just to outlast the other guy in a capo game. I do like the side candy i get in the form of strength and aesthetic gains.

Why do people need to pack on so much muscle? or why do people have to be so toned? same thing. If its your passion go for it

Yea I have the same idea as you do . I train for look and strength . Having both is the best .
For some reason I am so proud of the strength of my leg that enable me to jump high thus perform better in my favourite sports . Thats my ego
Indirectly from gaining look , we will gain strength as well

Those who say that they're only training for looks and not for strength are full of shit. (I'm referring to everyday Joes here, bodybuilders are a different story - and by bodybuilders I mean those who compete, if you don't compete, you're not a bodybuilder end of story).

The relationship between Strength and Hypertrophy can be explained using a very simple example. Imagine an empty bottle that can hold 500ml of water. The bottle represents strength, and the water represents the amount of muscle you can add on (hypertrophy). You can fill up your bottle with water, but only to a certain limit. Increase the size of your bottle to 1500ml, and you can fill up more water.

Basically, increasing maximal strength allows you to put on more muscle. Strength is the basis of everything. Powerlifters always complain that they put on too much muscle the moment they get on a bodybuilding program. If you only train for looks and not for strength, here's something for you to think about.

Imagine 2 people, A and B with the exact same strength levels. They both have a max squat of 100kg. A decides to use a 'bodybuilding' program for 8 weeks, staying in 8-12 reps at 60-70% of his 1RM. This means he will be squatting 60-70kg for 8-12 reps.

B decides to get on a program to increase his strength for 4 weeks, using 3-5 reps at about 85-90% of his 1RM. This means he will be squatting 85-90kg for 3-5 reps. After 4 weeks, his new squat max is 120kg. Now he decides to get on a bodybuilding program just like A used. This time he will be squatting between 72-84kg for 8-12 reps.

After 8 weeks of training, who will get better results? Just think about it.

Strength is not the side effect of getting muscular, it is the other way around. There's a reason why programs such as 5x5 work so well even for advanced lifters.

As for those who claim that our daily lives do not demand much strength, you can't be more wrong.

Being strong makes daily life easier. How many people have you seen hurt their back when they pick u something light off the floor? If you can deadlift 200kg, picking up something from the floor should be easy for you.

Lifts such as squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses all strengthen the core muscles. Strong core muscles mean less likelihood of suffering from things such as back pain. Those of you who work in an office, take a look at those around 30-40 years old, I bet you most of them are suffering from some niggling injuries and pain. Being strong simply reduces the likelihood of geting injured. Many people have been injured simply by doing everyday stuff. Sure you might not have to lift up cars, or pick up heavy objects day in day out. I've seen people injure themselves by reaching up the shelve to take something, picking up something from the floor or even walking up the stairs simply because they are weak.

Those of you who have or will have kids, being strong makes you less likely to injure yourself when you carry them around, or chase them around the house. Besides, you kid might even call you superman.

The point is, get strong and everything will take care of itself

Once again, wow what exactly do you do?

Yep what do you do in your lifts? How much do you weigh in btw desvaro?

Another thing of why I train for strength is because when I'm growing older, I'd like to still be able to carry my wife or girlfriend or whatever they call it in 50 years time. To not have stuff like knee injuries because my upper body's too heavy and my legs are chicken feet. Ya know, to be able to be 50 years old and still hitting the iron hard. (Bumper plates in my case)

Oh just an update on the American weightlifting program. I did day 2 yesterday and nearly killed myself. The entire progression's in my blog on my signature, and right now my lower back is really aching like a monster. And I'm getting up at 3AM to mix some milk and whey just cuz I'm so hungry. Apparently my 10RM isn't 130KG

This post has been edited by pizzaboy: Jul 9 2008, 11:14 AM

Overall, i still prefer the best answer thus far.

Train for yourself, not for others.

@pizzaboy, i see ur goal is on track. At least the best part in life is our determination on not wanting to be weak. To be able to be healthy and strong and still go on with our irons.

Sad part, I still can't lift my gf. And she's more muscular than me.

Thats very bad!


I can lift both girlfriends.....................................at the same time!

Hehe, back in track on strength brag.

I'm currently lifting to improve for football, hoping to make it big soon My current priority is to increase strength and put on some weight (I'm 6 feet 2 and 67kg, hoping to reach 80kg by the end of the year). I've been watched by some of the best coaches in the country, and they all say the same thing - I need to improve my strength.

As a football player, that means that whatever weight I put on it has to be functional weight, weight that will help me sprint faster, weight that will help me hold off defenders, you get what I mean.

Currently I'm on an 4 week program. It goes like this:

Workout A: Hang Clean Pull 5x5 Deadlift 5x5 Incline Bench Press 5x5 Bent Over Barbell Row 5x5

Workout B: Hang Clean Pull 5x5 Deadlift 5x5 Barbell Press 5x5 Pullup 5x5

I go to the gym 3 times a week so I alternate between Workout A and Workout B every time I go to the gym. I also add in things like single leg work, 1 leg back extension, shrugs and also some shoulder injury prevention work (I've had a torn rotator cuff before).

After 4 weeks my plan is to reduce from 5 reps to 3 reps, meaning I'll use much heavier weights, and probably increase the sets to 7 sets. So basically these 8 weeks my plan is to increase my strength on those lifts as much as possible.

You might be asking why no squats? Well before this I was ignoring the deadlift, and I did only front squats, and it was a big mistake. My quadriceps became stronger than my hamstrings, making me more prone to suffering hamstring strains.

My strength is nothing to shout about, currently I think my 1RM for deadlift will be around 80-85kg.

Pizzaboy you are an olympic lifter right? Just curious, do all of the olympic lifters you train with have a very high vertical jump? Above 30 inches?

This post has been edited by Desvaro: Jul 9 2008, 02:08 PM