#11
Post
by CheekiBreekiFitness » Fri Dec 30, 2022 6:07 am
Interesting topic. Here's my broscience (all opinion, all anecdotes, no citation needed, 100% true):
- I agree that getting big "first" is a good approach if you want to be strong in the long run, because muscles move weight. And once you are very muscular you'll stay that way forever if you keep eating and training. It is much better than first trying to get strong having very little muscle, then plateauing, then trying to become more muscular. If you look at what actual good coaches (like Sheiko) do when training beginners, they do a lot of reps, a lot of different exercises, not a lot of "specific work" (no single @8 on the comp squat with a belt). This is much more intelligent than doing something like "beginner programs" found on the internet where you do nothing but specific work, every 2 days, until you stall or you break yourself or you stall while breaking yourself.
- Now I also think that this phase where you get big "first" is actually very long, in the sense that it is probably the first 10 years of lifting and that's assuming you are constantly bulking and cutting and training your ass off and you never got a major injury. The rate at which you gain muscle is very very slow, but bulk for 10 years and you'll be pretty damn muscular, because all of the microscopic gains adds up. Also if you start young, the first years of lifting will be the most "anabolic" so it would be a waste not to take advantage of them.
- people tend to be delusional about the amount of muscle and fat they gain
- bulking is necessary, but it is not necessary to become a fat, de-conditionned Michelin man with high blood pressure
- I know literally 0 individuals who became remotely big or strong by "maingaining" (what a stupid expression) for 20 years.
- calories enables you to train harder which makes you stronger (no shit !). But calories have to be earned: the whole goal of eating big is to do much more volume than you could have done if eating less. This is why dreamer bulks coupled with minimalistic training do not work: you eat big but you train small, and the only gains are on your waistline. When bulking you should be maximalistic.
- I think that food quality matters a lot: eating big will enable you to train hard, but most of your calories should come from meat, eggs, veggies, potatoes, rice, bread etc. You're not going to become a monster on a diet centered around ice-cream and pop-tarts. I know that the egg heads who are "doing the science" will tell you otherwise but whatever.