[Stitch]

YMG, think "exercise regime" rather than "sport", but basically you do a variety of activities across many modes (some lifting for strength (deadlift, squat), some lifting for power (olympic lifts like clean/snatch, etc), some "metabolic intensity"--high intensity sprint-style workouts, some gymnastics, etc). The idea is to exercise your body in lots of different ways for general physical preparedness--you're not specializing in one sport or activity but trying to build a base that would be useful across lots of activities.

The folks who can actually do the front-page workouts at full intensity must be beasts. I can barely do the scaled workouts and most of my friends think I'm in great shape (I at least get "excellent" ratings on my fitness tests for work), but that's probably a statement about the low state of fitness in the US rather than anything else.

[OSL]

Stitch - thanks for your input. I do heavy bench, heavy squats, and heavy deadlifts as my only form of heavy lifting.

My metabolic intensity sport is muay thai - which is a perfect high intensity interval training.

I'd be interested in incorporating more olympic lifts like clean/snatch to get explosive power.

[Basil Ransom]

Eh, I think doing a sport to get the body you want is stupid, and a waste of time. At my boxing gym, there are guys who've been going there for years, who have unappealing physiques - eg, too skinny or potbellied. And I'm not attacking their prowess as a boxer. Also, it's easy to get cause and effect backwards. Guys in rugby aren't big because they play rugby, they play rugby because they're big, and fast.

For an aesthetic physique, strength training, calisthenics and bodybuilding exercises will be the most important. To the extent that a sport does alter your body, you can reproduce the effect much quicker in a gym, or specialized drills, - eg building big legs through biking vs squatting. Anyhow, I'd bet for every sport, it's the training that goes on behind the scenes that has an impact on the players' bodies, not playing the actual sport.

Sports are great for doing cardio that you enjoy, and just rounding yourself out as a person. But for building a physique, they're pretty inefficient.

[Giovonny]

(11-08-2011 08:40 AM)Stitch Wrote:  

think "exercise regime" rather than "sport"

Thats it! And customize that regime to fit the specific needs of your body.

[OGNorCal707]

Do you guys think that there is a limit to how ripped a guy can get due to his genetics/body type? I know a lot of it is customizing your diet and workout routine, as well as getting proper protein in take. I've worked out with personal trainers in the past, so I'm pretty confident in my workout routines, but I just can't seem to add crazy muscle mass like some guys out there, that's why I ask.

Some people just seem to have the right genetics for building muscle or are already naturally muscular and only add to their frame. I don't want to take creatine and/or steroids, and sometimes I wonder if certain guys I see in the gym that are crazy jacked are using any of that stuff.

Currently I've been going to the gym everyday for the past 6 months, I've probably only missed one or two days max of working out, but I have mixed in swimming laps occasionally, while my normal routine is to lift weithts (different muscle groups) every day of the week.

I have certainly gotten a lot stronger, and continue to slowly and steadily improve, but it seems like for my strength level and amount that I can lift, I'm just not seeing the correlating results in pure muscle mass, in other words I'm not "bulking up" on muscle. I get good protein, about 30 grams after a workout in a protein shake and usually have eggs/chicken/turkey/fish early in the day for breakfast/lunch and chicken/steak/seafood for dinner, so I doubt protein is my issue.

Any thoughts on this?

[Gunner]

(11-08-2011 03:12 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  

Do you guys think that there is a limit to how ripped a guy can get due to his genetics/body type? I know a lot of it is customizing your diet and workout routine, as well as getting proper protein in take. I've worked out with personal trainers in the past, so I'm pretty confident in my workout routines, but I just can't seem to add crazy muscle mass like some guys out there, that's why I ask.

Some people just seem to have the right genetics for building muscle or are already naturally muscular and only add to their frame. I don't want to take creatine and/or steroids, and sometimes I wonder if certain guys I see in the gym that are crazy jacked are using any of that stuff.

Currently I've been going to the gym everyday for the past 6 months, I've probably only missed one or two days max of working out, but I have mixed in swimming laps occasionally, while my normal routine is to lift weithts (different muscle groups) every day of the week.

I have certainly gotten a lot stronger, and continue to slowly and steadily improve, but it seems like for my strength level and amount that I can lift, I'm just not seeing the correlating results in pure muscle mass, in other words I'm not "bulking up" on muscle. I get good protein, about 30 grams after a workout in a protein shake and usually have eggs/chicken/turkey/fish early in the day for breakfast/lunch and chicken/steak/seafood for dinner, so I doubt protein is my issue.

Any thoughts on this?

Yes, there's a limit of how much natural muscle you can pack, determined by your race/genetics and stuff like that.

I have a german friend that goes to the gym once every full moon, eats shit and everything and has a great body. I know latinos that train hard and do diet but have an average body.

Just look at the guys that compete and win World's Strongest Man, almost all of them are nordic/viking guys.

[Magnum]

OGNorCal,how big and ripped you can get is definitely controlled by your genetics..You can only take it so far as an average,drug free guy.

The great pysiques you see in the bodybuilding and fitness mags are the genetic cream of the crop and they ALL use bodybuilding drugs.If you see a guy with a massive/ripped pysique capable of winning competitions and he claims to be drug free you know he is totally full of shit.

[gonzoman925]

deleted

[OSL]

Can anyone comment on crossfit?

Specific statistics on the amount of muscle gained and specific stats on amount of fat lost in specific periods of time would be greatly appreciated.

I've been looking for an alternative to the traditional heavy lifting routine.

[WanderingSoul]

Jiu jitsu/grappling is good because not only does it build great cardio, but you are also constantly pushing and pulling against a resisting opponent. I've lost fat and gained quite a bit of muscle, especially in my arms, back and shoulders. Plus I can choke people should I need to lol.

[cool]

(11-08-2011 03:12 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  

Do you guys think that there is a limit to how ripped a guy can get due to his genetics/body type? I know a lot of it is customizing your diet and workout routine, as well as getting proper protein in take. I've worked out with personal trainers in the past, so I'm pretty confident in my workout routines, but I just can't seem to add crazy muscle mass like some guys out there, that's why I ask.

Some people just seem to have the right genetics for building muscle or are already naturally muscular and only add to their frame. I don't want to take creatine and/or steroids, and sometimes I wonder if certain guys I see in the gym that are crazy jacked are using any of that stuff.

Currently I've been going to the gym everyday for the past 6 months, I've probably only missed one or two days max of working out, but I have mixed in swimming laps occasionally, while my normal routine is to lift weithts (different muscle groups) every day of the week.

I have certainly gotten a lot stronger, and continue to slowly and steadily improve, but it seems like for my strength level and amount that I can lift, I'm just not seeing the correlating results in pure muscle mass, in other words I'm not "bulking up" on muscle. I get good protein, about 30 grams after a workout in a protein shake and usually have eggs/chicken/turkey/fish early in the day for breakfast/lunch and chicken/steak/seafood for dinner, so I doubt protein is my issue.

Any thoughts on this?

3 thoughts

1. You're not giving your muscles recovery time. If you're bulking, you should limit workouts to 3-4 times a week. Cut the cardio to a minimum.

2. You're not concentrating on core lifts it seems. For pure strength and bulk, do progressively heavier squat, benchpress, overhead press, and deadlift.

3. You probably don't eat enough.

I started Jim Wendler's 5,3,1 about three months ago and my body is noticeably bigger. I tried wearing my best pair of jeans last night and they're now too tight through the thighs.

I've also read Medhi's 5 x 5 report and have been thinking of switching over because his program progresses faster.

[Craige]

Swimming for me as swimming makes hips, shoulders, arms and back muscles strong.
Swimming improves muscle strength, flexibility and balance and strengthens your heart and lungs.

[Iceinthewater]

I'd say soccer is best to burn fat and have a six pack. your legs can get disporportionately huge tho. soccer was my sport since age 5.

I heard swimming is best for getting a lean, all around physique. I fucking hate swimming tho.

[hydrogonian]

I think that you have to choose a sport that isn't dependent on your style of training to get ripped, but rather that just from participating in the general activity of the sport, its going to shred you.

Examples of sports that may get you ripped if you push yourself and train to the highest standards:

Boxing
Wrestling

I actually had to do a lot of weight room work to get into maximum shape while wrestling. i find that to be true for all wrestlers. So, while exceptionally strenuous and a fantastic sport (the best all around, imo, for men) it can't be said that just by being in the gym, and practicing wrestling for three hours per day, that you will get ripped. You will definitely get in shape, especially cardiovascularly, and in terms of your fat count, but there isn't enough heavy weight stress done in an average wrestling practice to pack on "ripped" amounts of bulk muscle, although you will put on muscle and get stronger. That might change if you have inordinately high testosterone count, but for an average guy, I think this to be the case. I think that the same issues likely exist with boxing.

Examples of Sports that are going to rip you just from basic participation:

Climbing (probably the best all around activity for a guy, with no background in anything, who wants to get ripped.)
Gymnastics

Notice that climbing and gymnastics both emphasize constant muscle contraction, for long periods of time, supporting your own body-weight. I think that long periods of intense muscle contraction are the key to getting both ripped and strong (they aren't always the same).

[Chad Daring]

I think its also worth mentioning you should focus on sports you'd enjoy, rather then those you would do just to get in shape. If there's a 20% difference in max potential body you can attain, but you're 50% more likely go on a regular basis, in the end you'd be better off with a sport that you WANT to be doing.

[BHirsch]

I'm a sprinter and a hurdler. The explosion workouts I do on the track really help build up muscle, and being a hurdler I'm really flexible. Im at 9% body fat and practices just started up again, just doing quick but intense cardio you can easily get big legs and a six pack. The reason sprinters can be so jacked is when it comes down to running, pumping your arms like hammers has as much of an effect on your speed as moving your legs.

[OSL]

For things like healing injuries, a bit of fat loss (5 pounds a month), and lowering your cholesterol and blood pressure, I strongly recommend Bikram Yoga. You'll also meet hot chicks. I was in this Bikram Yoga class in Thailand and was surrounded by a bunch of hot Scandie tourist chicks, popped a boner in my yoga shorts. That was an awkward five minutes.

Sprinting I'm sure has got to be up there in terms of getting people ripped. I wonder if it's a chicken before the egg kind of deal, though? As in, are the people who get into sprinting usually a certain body type?

There is a style of fencing called epee which is generally done by long legged and long armed people. Obviously, doing epee did not make them long legged and long armed.

A lot of people think powerlifters are, by definition, short and squat, whereas it just turns out that people with that frame tend to do well.

However, I can't think of a single sprinter I know who does not have a ripped and strong body - especially legs. There are some girls I know from univ who were sprinters and had outrageously fit and hot legs to die for.

[choichoi]

capoeira combined with weightlifting - i started in Brazil and continued in the stated though i've fallen off in the last couple of years. alot of capoeira masters are friggin jacked and have the agility and coordination of professional gymnasts

[freshcream]

I play soccer and do weightlifting. I've been trying out climbing lately. Will also be trying out swimming eventually. Hopefully this, combined with a protein-heavy diet will help me.

Any thougths?

[STLmatic]

Powerlifting for muscle and strength; basketball for speed, agility and explosiveness. I have always wanted to try MMA type stuff as well.

[Blue!!!]

The Starting Strength program, by Mark Rippetoe that Roosh recommends is the best program I've tried in a decade of lifting on and off. If you want to restart after a lot of time off, it's the tits. I wish I'd know about it when I played Rugby in college; I probably would have had fewer injuries and more A side starts/playing time.

Playing Rugby, with a good lifting program to go along with practice, is probably the most masculine thing you can do.

Cross Fit is more than likely the best program for people who already possess a certain level of functional strength to become raging yolked.

[Hades]

The most elite of all athletes are gymnasts.
That being said crossfit is solid. Some of those guys are so fucking ripped they look like they're wearing exoskeletons.

I play a lot of rugby. The game won't really get you bigger or anything but what I do to condition for it sure does.

[ElJefe]

Guys who get good physiques from sports do a lot of weight-lifting. Only the heavy resistance training and proper eating will combine for muscle hypertrophy. Crossfit in itself is also good for high-intensity workouts and there is a reasonable amount of resistance, but no one who does JUST crossfit gets an "impressive" physique although they'll look in great shape.

So if you are going for aesthetics, bodybuilding/weightlifting and HIIT is the most efficient way to get there.

Rugby players, footballers... they all lift a shit-ton of weights.

[garygroundwork]

Australian Football...those hombres are the leanest, fittest, healthiest mofos around

   

[Roark]

Bodybuilding would be the sport which takes you to your goal of a "Brad Pitt physique" the quickest.