Powerlifting

[bucky]

Strength gains are always accompanied by aesthetics, but in a different way that’s not fake and gay.

Not true though. Look at elite powerlifters or just think of the strongest guys you've known. Hardly the type of physique most women consider ideal. More often than not in real life the strongest guys are pretty fat.

One of the great tragedies of spending years turning yourself into a human forklift is the guys who do it under the delusion that women care.

 

[Diadem]

I've been getting complements from women lately regarding my physique, and all I train is the 3-5 rep range.

 

[get2choppaaa]

Not true though. Look at elite powerlifters or just think of the strongest guys you've known. Hardly the type of physique most women consider ideal. More often than not in real life the strongest guys are pretty fat.

One of the great tragedies of spending years turning yourself into a human forklift is the guys who do it under the delusion that women care.

Firstly, i agree that women really don't care what you look like compared to the same way men do. That being said, being obese isn't gonna get you any female attraction, but a huge chest and traps and arms is more attractive to s majority of women biologically compared to a string bean body shape.

I agree you're likely to get more attention from dudes than the ladies, but some women like big burly guys, others are into dudes who need to eat a cheeseburger or they'll get blown over in a wind storm

Secondly, there are lots of very aesthetically handsome powerlifters. It's all about weight class. The super heavy weights are all carrying lots of mass and fat, but at the 242s and 220s you've got some very aesthetically handsome dudes... So again diet is the key here.
Look up a young Eddie Coan, Dan Green, Konstantine Konstantinovos, Chuck Volgelpohl all had abs at weights from 200-275... Stan Efferding holds records in powerlifting and is a pro-bodybuilder...

 

[FrancisK]

I've been getting complements from women lately regarding my physique, and all I train is the 3-5 rep range.

If a woman is into you or they care about you they will tell you that you look good if you had a horn sticking out of your forehead. Not to say you don't look good but that's a terrible indicator.

 

[bucky]

Firstly, i agree that women really don't care what you look like compared to the same way men do. That being said, being obese isn't gonna get you any female attraction, but a huge chest and traps and arms is more attractive to s majority of women biologically compared to a string bean body shape.

I agree you're likely to get more attention from dudes than the ladies, but some women like big burly guys, others are into dudes who need to eat a cheeseburger or they'll get blown over in a wind storm

Secondly, there are lots of very aesthetically handsome powerlifters. It's all about weight class. The super heavy weights are all carrying lots of mass and fat, but at the 242s and 220s you've got some very aesthetically handsome dudes... So again diet is the key here.
Look up a young Eddie Coan, Dan Green, Konstantine Konstantinovos, Chuck Volgelpohl all had abs at weights from 200-275... Stan Efferding holds records in powerlifting and is a pro-bodybuilder...

True, I wasn't thinking about weight classes, more about the guys you see when you google "world record squat." I was trying to say that in general being captain upperbody is better for attracting women than focusing on pushing your PRs up as high as possible. Women don't care about how much you can lift, but more muscle and less body fat is always good.

 

[Hannibal]

I started getting compliments from women when I abandoned all other lifts for three months and focused solely on overhead press and arm curls. I have yet to meet a woman who cared about how much I could deadlift or squat.

All the guys I know who get interest from women for their physiques (who do not use exogenous hormones) have two things in common, every day is arm day and they get aggressively lean.

I know maybe one or two outliers, one guy in particular benched 335 the first time he performed the lift and he has the skeletal frame of a neanderthal. Last I heard he's repping 405 without a dedicated program. The dude looks like a live action version of duke nukem.

 

[get2choppaaa]

I started getting compliments from women when I abandoned all other lifts for three months and focused solely on overhead press and arm curls. I have yet to meet a woman who cared about how much I could deadlift or squat.

All the guys I know who get interest from women for their physiques (who do not use exogenous hormones) have two things in common, every day is arm day and they get aggressively lean.

I know maybe one or two outliers, one guy in particular benched 335 the first time he performed the lift and he has the skeletal frame of a neanderthal. Last I heard he's repping 405 without a dedicated program. The dude looks like a live action version of duke nukem.

So since 70% of your arm is triceps, and the biggest prime mover in a bench press is not the chest, but actually the triceps.... it would stand to reason that a lot of bench press work would build both the chest and the triceps. However, eventually you will need specific small joint exercises to further develop hypertrophy.

Regarding the Squat and Dead... Yep, chicken legs are a thing. A lot of young lady's don't care. But some do care if you have a nice posterior this is accomplished by squatting and deadlifting.... When I focused on the heavy compound movements, and added 2 isolation/small joint exercises into the end of the work out I got major growth compared to just a delt/trap/arm specialization/bro split. Assuming no exogenous hormones, Skwaating and deadlifting are going to cause the greatest metabolic demand and raise testosterone more than doing 100 bicep curls. This will magnify your single joint exercises and their effect on your muscle growth.

For most people the law of 72 hours is required... and for most people, they do TOO much junk volume. After an initial period of specialization, you cant do bis/tris/ for 4 days a week with expecting progress. Even high frequency programs like Fortitude Training, which is a lower volume, higher intensity approach hits the total body 3 times over the course of 4 training days a week. That's a purely bodybuilding oriented program. Once you accomodate to the specialization routine, going back to something like an upper / lower split 2 x a week is the sweet spot for most folks in regard to both hypertrophy and strenght. Small special work outs through out the week can add to that. For instance, doing 100 close grip pushups 3x a week on off days will build tendon strength and hypertrophy, or doing sled drags a couple times a week on "off" days will help with recovery and hypertrophy also.

I dont know very many folks who bench press 405 and up that have small arms/pecs/shoulders. or who deadlift 600 lbs who have small traps. Lots of folks just dont have the desire to put in the effort to get really strong...which I can appreciate, but total tonnage is the overall driver of hypertrophy, and that is more easily accomplished with the 60-90% intensity range.

 

[RexImperator]

Skwaating and deadlifting are going to cause the greatest metabolic demand and raise testosterone more than doing 100 bicep curls.

I think this is a bro myth, but what I think really happens is that those multi-joint compound lifts are working and strengthening all kind of small supporting muscles almost nobody knows the name of. This core strength then allows you to get bigger/stronger more easily when you do the isolation work.

 

[get2choppaaa]

I think this is a bro myth, but what I think really happens is that those multi-joint compound lifts are working and strengthening all kind of small supporting muscles almost nobody knows the name of. This core strength then allows you to get bigger/stronger more easily when you do the isolation work.

Negative Ghostrider... not bro-science. This has been established by Soviet sports scientists but also many studies recently in the US.

The more muscle mass you engage, the greater the hormonal response via Testosterone, IGF-1, Insulin, and also Enhanced Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption.

The acute hormonal response to free weight and machine weight resistance exercise - PubMed

Resistance exercise can acutely increase the concentrations of circulating neuroendocrine factors, but the effect of mode on this response is not established. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of resistance exercise selection on the acute hormonal response using similar...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

free weights provide greater hormonal response than machines ( Compound vs isolation)

Hormonal responses and adaptations to resistance exercise and training - PubMed

Resistance exercise has been shown to elicit a significant acute hormonal response. It appears that this acute response is more critical to tissue growth and remodelling than chronic changes in resting hormonal concentrations, as many studies have not shown a significant change during resistance...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Anabolic hormones elevated during 15-30 minutes of post-resistance exercise providing an adequate stimulus is present. Protocols high in volume, moderate to high in intensity, using short rest intervals and stressing a large muscle mass, tend to produce the greatest acute hormonal elevations.

You have it backwards, the small isolation movements strengthen your weaknesses in a given range of motion. Allowing you to increase the total weight used in compound exercises that then result in greater muscle mass stimulation.

Example: you cant lock out the bench press at 4 inches accross the chest. (mini max)

So you would do Pin presses with a pin set at the sticking point or JM presses or Close Grips for supplemental work. You the build the supplemental exercises with additonal exercises to strenghten their mini-maxes. For instance you would do Tricep Extensions or push downs to build the triceps further in the stretched state. As the accessory movement gets stronger, the new "mini - max" or sticking point increases. Now you can put more weight on the bar and work to a new sticking point... say this time its off the chest... so now you do Fly's/cambered bar benches/paused benches to build the chest, ect...

 

[MichaelWitcoff]

For what it’s worth I squat 235 for reps and can deadlift more than 300, yet my legs continue to look as if I have never heard of leg day. Especially the calves, despite being able to calf raise a 265 pound barbell for reps. Genetics and skeleton really do make a difference.

 

[get2choppaaa]

For what it’s worth I squat 235 for reps and can deadlift more than 300, yet my legs continue to look as if I have never heard of leg day. Especially the calves, despite being able to calf raise a 265 pound barbell for reps. Genetics and skeleton really do make a difference.

Diet is the thing here for muscle growth, and will drive your numbers/recovery.

I dont know how tall you are, but being taller say 6' and 185 is going to make it harder to fill out than if you are a meatball like me at 5'6'' and 225. Also, not to be rude, but If you are tall I wouldnt expect a 235 for reps squat or a 300lb deadlift to necessarily mean much as far as having big legs.

Are you tracking macros and1gram of protien per lb of bodyweight? You'll need to gain weight to grow legs. If you ate for recovery with roughly a 500kcal surplus per day... with a consistent training plan you'll grow muscle no problem.

Go on the gallon of milk a day diet if you need the KCALS. It WORKS.

 

[MichaelWitcoff]

Diet is the thing here for muscle growth, and will drive your numbers/recovery.

I dont know how tall you are, but being taller say 6' and 185 is going to make it harder to fill out than if you are a meatball like me at 5'6'' and 225. Also, not to be rude, but If you are tall I wouldnt expect a 235 for reps squat or a 300lb deadlift to necessarily mean much as far as having big legs.

Are you tracking macros and1gram of protien per lb of bodyweight? You'll need to gain weight to grow legs. If you ate for recovery with roughly a 500kcal surplus per day... with a consistent training plan you'll grow muscle no problem.

Go on the gallon of milk a day diet if you need the KCALS. It WORKS.

I am tracking yes. I’m actually bulking at the moment and have gained about 9 pounds, currently 6 feet tall and 167lbs.

 

[Alexander_English]

I started getting compliments from women when I abandoned all other lifts for three months and focused solely on overhead press and arm curls. I have yet to meet a woman who cared about how much I could deadlift or squat.

Glad to hear you're having success training only upper body. I did that for a while myself.

Heavy compound exercises like deadlift and squat increase testosterone which makes you happier, more focused, and mentally tougher among many other benefits.

Whether you're trying to attract women or not those exercises are the foundation of weight training in my opinion, because they build your overall strength. But I believe as a side effect it will attract women too, if that's what you're after, because of the boost to your testosterone.

 

[Don Quixote]

I'm about three weeks after recovering from covid, and my muscles fill with lactic acid like crazy even after one rep of a squat. It's absolutely insane. I'm not one to get lactic acid build up or DOMS, and I've been lifting continuously throughout the past week or two so it should be gone by now. But I will literally do one rep and barely be able to walk. It is bizarre. And on bench my muscles will literally start shaking to lift up a light weight compared to what I'm used to. So the virus really did a number on either my muscles or my central nervous system, I have no idea. I'm not really knowledgeable on lactic acid pathways lol. Couldn't find anyone reporting this symptom either. Muscle weakness, yes. But not what I describe.

 

[get2choppaaa]

I'm about three weeks after recovering from covid, and my muscles fill with lactic acid like crazy even after one rep of a squat. It's absolutely insane. I'm not one to get lactic acid build up or DOMS, and I've been lifting continuously throughout the past week or two so it should be gone by now. But I will literally do one rep and barely be able to walk. It is bizarre. And on bench my muscles will literally start shaking to lift up a light weight compared to what I'm used to. So the virus really did a number on either my muscles or my central nervous system, I have no idea. I'm not really knowledgeable on lactic acid pathways lol. Couldn't find anyone reporting this symptom either. Muscle weakness, yes. But not what I describe.

It's possible you just got so deconditioned
and possibly your ATP reserves so depleted that your CNS and body is not ready for a legit heavy squat/bench ect

I had a really bad flu 2 years ago and my first 2 or 3 work outs were so pathetic i was using roughly 60 percent of the weigh. 2 weeks later and I was back.

Not comparing our experiences, and what you describe sounds pretty severe. Let's see how you are in a week

 

[Don Quixote]

It's possible you just got so deconditioned
and possibly your ATP reserves so depleted that your CNS and body is not ready for a legit heavy squat/bench ect

I had a really bad flu 2 years ago and my first 2 or 3 work outs were so pathetic i was using roughly 60 percent of the weigh. 2 weeks later and I was back.

Not comparing our experiences, and what you describe sounds pretty severe. Let's see how you are in a week

I don't think it's merely being de-conditioned. Come to think of it, when I first got fever during the first few days of the illness, my legs were in excruciating pain, to the point where I couldn't even sleep it was so bad. It wasn't like typical flu myalgia pain, it was like a searing deep pain. At first I thought it was muscle but then I questioned whether it was perhaps nerve pain? No clue. But it's weird because it was focused mostly on my legs. And the lactic acid flush feeling is also mostly targeting the legs. I think it's going to improve slowly on its own but I wish I knew what was causing it.

 

[CSFurious]

I am tracking yes. I’m actually bulking at the moment and have gained about 9 pounds, currently 6 feet tall and 167lbs.

You need to eat more.

 

[MichaelWitcoff]

My maintenance keeps going up faster than I think it should. I ate 2,600 calories yesterday and lost a pound somehow.

 

[get2choppaaa]

My maintenance keeps going up faster than I think it should. I ate 2,600 calories yesterday and lost a pound somehow.

This is a good problem to have. I bet 1 week at 2750 and you'll correct course. That's like an extra 1/2 cup of cooked white rice so should be pretty easy to throw in there.

 

[Diadem]

I’m thinking of signing up for a powerlifting meet in January. It would be a first. Anyone here participated in one before? If so, do you have any advice?