Friday Rant: Its About You,My Friend
February 23rd 2007 10:56
The headline said that I could become a genetic freak in 12 weeks! I think it has something to do with veterinary drugs. It did,however,remind me of the reality of fitness: it comes easier for some people. I don't think there is anything that's more worth remembering if you are going to undertake a fitness program. If you fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others, you will be home wallowing in the easy chair before the barbells hit the floor.
A friend of mine told me that he could tell the geniuses in his computer programming class. They were the one's who got what the teacher was saying the first time he said it. That is really what is happening in the gym on a physical level. There are people at the gym who are perfectly suited for weight training. Bodybuilding magazines are replete with articles for the "hard gainer." The fact is,however, that the pages of these magazines are splashed with people at the other end of the spectrum.
If you are a normal person, you have normal pattern of adaptation to exercise. You probably have a ratio of fast twitch to slow twitch muscle tissue that predisposes you to be an endurance or high intensity exerciser. You probably do not have a configuration of these muscles such that you are going to excel others in performance. All run but one wins the race, as St. Paul said. Standing around you in the weight area at any given time are probably individuals who are gifted enough to do outstanding things.
I'll give you an example. The great Australian bodybuilder Lee Priest once did over 1,000 leg presses with 500 lbs without a rest period. That's in a row! I wonder if my whole life-time,energy, thought life-devoted to equaling this feat would ever yield it. I don't know Priest, but I wonder if even he faces his own genetic limitations when he is standing on the stage at the Olympia bodybuilding contest. I remember so vividly the great Franco Columbo. He was the most athletic of the bodybuilder's of Arnold's era. He had a body of perfection. Yet, when he stood beside the taller Arnold in the Olympia he couldn't really compensate for the six inches of height he didn' have.
You can't turn your body into a genetic freak who can train in any haphazard way and become a wonder. You may be a roly-poly by nature and all the dieting and workouts in the world won't yield the muscle definition the guy on the other side of the rack has when he doesn't even train. You may be one of those "hardgainers"- someone who does everything right and still looks a little puny. Ladies, You may have squatty hips etc and work will not change that. You know. You tried.
If you concentrate on these limitations you will ultimately rob yourself. I am not a bodybuilder. I could never win any prize in any level of physique competition. I,however, was able to build up big arms etc. I continue to train in my fifties. I can tell you that it has been worth it for me. I took up a martial art on my 53 birthday and, while it was a real challenge, I knew that without the years in the weight room there is no way I could have ever done it. Am I any good at it? I don't care. I'm in the game and that much more than I ever would have been if my hobby was model airplanes! Please, Please, remember: its about you, not the guy/gal across the room. You can get better. Your servant, as always.
More horse tablets and I'll be a freak!
If you are a normal person, you have normal pattern of adaptation to exercise. You probably have a ratio of fast twitch to slow twitch muscle tissue that predisposes you to be an endurance or high intensity exerciser. You probably do not have a configuration of these muscles such that you are going to excel others in performance. All run but one wins the race, as St. Paul said. Standing around you in the weight area at any given time are probably individuals who are gifted enough to do outstanding things.
I'll give you an example. The great Australian bodybuilder Lee Priest once did over 1,000 leg presses with 500 lbs without a rest period. That's in a row! I wonder if my whole life-time,energy, thought life-devoted to equaling this feat would ever yield it. I don't know Priest, but I wonder if even he faces his own genetic limitations when he is standing on the stage at the Olympia bodybuilding contest. I remember so vividly the great Franco Columbo. He was the most athletic of the bodybuilder's of Arnold's era. He had a body of perfection. Yet, when he stood beside the taller Arnold in the Olympia he couldn't really compensate for the six inches of height he didn' have.
You can't turn your body into a genetic freak who can train in any haphazard way and become a wonder. You may be a roly-poly by nature and all the dieting and workouts in the world won't yield the muscle definition the guy on the other side of the rack has when he doesn't even train. You may be one of those "hardgainers"- someone who does everything right and still looks a little puny. Ladies, You may have squatty hips etc and work will not change that. You know. You tried.
If you concentrate on these limitations you will ultimately rob yourself. I am not a bodybuilder. I could never win any prize in any level of physique competition. I,however, was able to build up big arms etc. I continue to train in my fifties. I can tell you that it has been worth it for me. I took up a martial art on my 53 birthday and, while it was a real challenge, I knew that without the years in the weight room there is no way I could have ever done it. Am I any good at it? I don't care. I'm in the game and that much more than I ever would have been if my hobby was model airplanes! Please, Please, remember: its about you, not the guy/gal across the room. You can get better. Your servant, as always.
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