I was following pretty well through the article until it brought up Sadik, Cory, and Marc. Are people who compete professionally in bodybuilding and the like really spornosexual? (God I hate that word) These aren't some people who are getting "cut for summer" or something equally as ridiculous. They train daily, take plenty of chemicals, and eat less than satisfying meals because they enjoy the sport, is that now reason enough to be some sort of advanced form of metrosexual? I like what kleinbl00 said You train. You work out. You certainly don't "pump iron" It just feels wrong grouping athletes in with people who do it just for vanity sake. I laugh though, still no mention of powerlifters anywhere. Apparently our cut up shins, fat bodies, calloused hands, and bad eating habits aren't attractive. Fine, we'll just stay in our part of the gym then.You lift.
Well, as we all know, dehydration (as OftenBen mentioned) is great for strength. Debate "functional" all you want; whoever that guy is, he can jerk a knot in Hugh Jackman and everybody (including Hugh) knows it. I've worked with plenty of super-ripped guys; they'll freely admit they're much weaker than if they actually had any glycogen reserves to speak of. Meanwhile I had a lifter buddy of mine help me move a few years back; despite regional competitions, nine hours a week in the gym and six inches and 30 lbs on me, dude had a hard time helping me move my couch.
I would say that "functional training" sounds nice but is really about frantic activity that gets you sweating. Mark Rippetoe, author of the seminal strength training book Starting Strength, wrote in an article "CrossFit and Functional Training": Neither of these physical characteristics can be developed through methods that employ the constant variation of stress stimuli, because neither strength nor skill can develop under infrequent exposure to the stresses that cause the adaptation. Like learning to play the piano, their acquisition must be accumulated in a logical, methodical manner. Not all exercise systems are equally proficient at developing strength and skill. As it turns out, strength training with barbells combined with practice of the sports skill is the best way to develop both. Now that seems reasonable enough, right? You get both stronger and better at your sport over time, by training for strength and practicing your skills. So why are the two biggest players in the fitness industry telling you otherwise? [CrossFit and "functional training"] and goes on to say For the same reasons, a skilled wobble board squat with a light barbell may look impressive on the internet, but it cannot translate to a skilled field performance in an actual sport, unless the sport is wobble-board squatting with light weights.Strength, as you already know, is the ability to exert force on physical objects. Skill is the learned ability to carry out a task within a definable framework of time and energy.
A tennis swing does not apply to baseball, or even to racquetball. A softball pitch does not prepare you for a baseball pitch. These things are obvious to anyone who has played them.
You mean dehydration is good for looking strong/ripped? Having to do a water cut with 2 hour weigh-ins is the bane of my powerlifting existence. It's hard to rehydrate enough before squats start and not be bloated. But that said trying to walk around always looking your best is going to be fucking tough. Not having glycogen to run off of like you said is going to hinder any sort of strength you have but damn you'll probably look good doing it. I think this is where a pretty good distinction between instagrammer and athlete can come in. Look at Sadik right now. He's big, puffy, definitely not looking his best but he's showing there is a process to get to where he is going. (The new classic physique division) Now the guy in the article if he wants to get stronger and keep the same body composition its going to take a long time. Not having a calorie surplus makes it near impossible. And if you want them to help move a couch they'll be so drained they won't be any better help than a normal person. Hopefully my point came across there between the vanity instagrammers and athletes who can seem similar. But that is Zydrunas Savickas one of the better strongmen around right now next to Brian Shaw and Hafthor Bjornsson (The Mountain in GoT). I lift with a strongman at my gym and it is so much fun when I do some of their workouts. If you need someone to help you move they're the ones, if they can lift a few hundred pound atlas stone, they can lift an armchair for you!
Girlfriend's sister decided she was going to the gym to get strong. She did; chick could do more pull-ups than her dad and could squat like a Marine. But she also got heavy because she needed the reserves to actually move the metal. She spent probably 2 years like that and gained maybe 4 dress sizes. Then she decided that she'd wandered a bit outside the normal dating parameters of young adult females and started focusing on being trim. Six months later she was a lithe little thing and got a lot more dates... but she couldn't lift a fraction of what she'd been training at. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish my tamale.
Not to get too far off topic but it is a bit of a shame that was the case with your girlfriend's sister. If she wanted to be big and strong, fuck it. Who is anyone to judge. It's been awesome to see powerlifting getting more popular with women and having more women compete! But I digress, tamales sound great for lunch today.
Not off topic at all. The whole discussion is about shifting norms and ideals for socialization. She was uncomfortable deviating from the recognized social norm for young women, but not until she'd experienced life beyond the curve. Should those social norms begin favoring female strength, more young women will walk her path.