How Buff Can Men Get Naturally

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MrMan
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How Buff Can Men Get Naturally

Post by MrMan »

When I was young, I thought that if a man really worked out hard all the time, he could look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, or maybe a little less like that. I also heard a man could get 'cut' by not eating carbs.

But in my 20's, a little while before I got married, I started consistently working out in a gym. I lived on a property a couple of doors down from a hotel that had a gym, and during the monetary crisis, they were selling gym memberships. They didn't have free weights, We'd put a big leather bag of my friend who I shared a house with's free weights on my luggage cart and go over there and work out. Their machines were good, but we wanted some free weights too.

I remember maxing out the machines. There was one guy who did look like a body builder there who was a Bible college professor. He couldn't lift the maximum level on the bench-press type machine (where you sit to use it.)

But the thing is, I was strong and fit. I was never totally cut because I didn't cut carbs. But I didn't look like a giant body builder, even if I had maxxed out some of the machines (or at least one.) I didn't look like a giant muscular guy.

I haven't thought about it much, but finding out about this liver king guy, then right on the tails of that, hearing that he used steroids, I started looking up He-Man looking men-- Lou Ferrigno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan, and Dwayne Johnson used steroids.

Is there anyone who doesn't use steroids who has gotten to that level of muscularness?

I looked up Hugh Jackman. He never got to He-Man level, but he got bigger and bigger, lean with lots of muscle, more and more in the Wolverine movies. I read he was doing a comeback as Wolverine for a Deadpool sequel, and he apologized to all the vegetarians and told the chickens he was coming for them. I heard he ate chicken and broccoli and worked out twice a day. I would imagine he did arm day in the gym twice in the same day, rested arms and did legs twice in the same day the next... and ate chicken constantly. That's his life, to get as buff as he did for Wolverine movies. He's in his 50's, a bit older than I am. I wonder how big he can get at his age.

I know some of it is genes, but I am thinking Wolverine-level muscularness is probably about as much as a man typically can achieve without taking stereoids, and with a lot of work. The Greek and Roman statue look is the extreme end for most of us. Mike Tyson was muscular when he was young. So was Muhammad Ali, but especially in the case of Clay/Ali, he wasn't totally cut like a body builder would be.

I'm sure there are women who go for the 'cut' body builder type, but I read a web page that women prefer a leaner look to the He-Man look. I have also heard women express a bit of disgust at bulging body builder veins. Most of them probably respond more to a lean and muscular Greek statue, Wolverine, etc. type look than a Hulk Hogan or Arnold Schwarzenegger type build. It would be interesting to know if women are more attracted to a normal amount of body fat, just enough for abs to be visible, as compared to a very lean totally cut look.

So what do you think? Is Greek statue or Hugh Jackman in the Wolverine role pretty much the limit a typical man could achieve without steroids if he works out like crazy?
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Lucas88
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Re: How Buff Can Men Get Naturally

Post by Lucas88 »

All of those guys who are jacked like Lou Ferrigno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan and Dwayne Johnson well into their 50s are on the gear. Everybody knows that it becomes more difficult to pack on or even maintain muscle mass after about the age of 35 but some of those guys keep getting bigger. Dwayne Johnson for example is much more jacked today than he was when he was in the WWF. But they don't talk about their steroid use and even deny it because there is so much stigma attached to it.

Some guys have better genetics for muscle building than others. A guy with a naturally large frame plus good genetics for muscle building can become quite buff naturally through good diet and consistent training. So you can still encounter big buff guys who are natty even amidst the current steroid epidemic. However, genetics can only take you so far. In order to reach the elite Mister Olympia levels of buffness and definition even genetically gifted men require modern chemistry. There's a reason why steroid use is rife throughout bodybuilding, pro wrestling and any other area of activity that requires a buff physique.

As you get older, recovery after training becomes more difficult. If the actor who you mentioned works out twice a day in his 50s, he's not just eating chicken and broccoli. He will definitely be taking steroids since not only do they promote extremely quick muscle growth but also drastically reduce recovery time.

Bodybuilders who train for mass aren't always functionally strong or agile. That might explain why you were able to lift more weight on the machines despite not being as buff as that bodybuilder friend of yours was. I experienced something similar with jacked-up roidhead bodybuilders at MMA and Jiujitsu. Every now and then a huge bodybuilder would come to the gym thinking that he was going to crush some smaller guys but when I grappled with them their strength wasn't functional for grappling and often they didn't feel that strong at all. They would just tire out really quickly and then I would just dominate them and tap them out. There are different types of strength. The kind of strength that bodybuilders have (i.e., lifting weights for hypertrophy) isn't the same as the more stable and explosive strength that powerlifters have. Nor is it the same as the kind of strength that many other power athletes or grapplers possess. The bodybuilder physique is typically the least functional.

Yes, most girls aren't into the bodybuilder physique. They tend to prefer the athletic and muscular but not unnaturally jacked types of physiques. Many bodybuilders in the modern age of the sport have ugly bloated physiques.
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Cornfed
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Re: How Buff Can Men Get Naturally

Post by Cornfed »

Generally if you are natural you get the choice of being big and dadbodish or slim and muscular and looking basically normal in winter clothes. It is not generally possible to be both huge and have no fat.
MrMan
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Re: How Buff Can Men Get Naturally

Post by MrMan »

Lucas88 wrote:
January 22nd, 2023, 4:36 pm
As you get older, recovery after training becomes more difficult. If the actor who you mentioned works out twice a day in his 50s, he's not just eating chicken and broccoli. He will definitely be taking steroids since not only do they promote extremely quick muscle growth but also drastically reduce recovery time.
Jackman was probably making these films in his 30's and 40's. I'm not sure the exact years, just guessing based on my recollection and comparing to my own age. He was thin and muscular, but not Mr. Olympia huge. Supposedly he worked out twice a day and age chicken and brocolli for months. If he's already pretty fit, maybe he can bulk up to be Wolverine, but I wonder if he'll be a kind of skinny Wolverine since he's so old, if he doesn't use steroids, or if they can give him a yellow spandex shirt with padding-- the ol' Hanz and Franz suit.
Bodybuilders who train for mass aren't always functionally strong or agile. That might explain why you were able to lift more weight on the machines despite not being as buff as that bodybuilder friend of yours was. I experienced something similar with jacked-up roidhead bodybuilders at MMA and Jiujitsu. Every now and then a huge bodybuilder would come to the gym thinking that he was going to crush some smaller guys but when I grappled with them their strength wasn't functional for grappling and often they didn't feel that strong at all. They would just tire out really quickly and then I would just dominate them and tap them out. There are different types of strength. The kind of strength that bodybuilders have (i.e., lifting weights for hypertrophy) isn't the same as the more stable and explosive strength that powerlifters have. Nor is it the same as the kind of strength that many other power athletes or grapplers possess. The bodybuilder physique is typically the least functional.
A friend I was working out with, who also maxed out the machine, had been a high school wrestling champ, and he said a lot of body builder muscle was 'fluff', from lots of fast heavy reps. I forget the name of the method, but he taught me strength training where you start at the minimum weight, do 7 reps, then max out and keep stepping down weight one level at a time and do as many reps as you can until you can no longer lift it when its just the bar. Then we'd do free weights at different angles to round the muscles out so we wouldn't be strong lifting a piece of furniture then find that if we turned our arm a certain way we got injured.
Yes, most girls aren't into the bodybuilder physique. They tend to prefer the athletic and muscular but not unnaturally jacked types of physiques. Many bodybuilders in the modern age of the sport have ugly bloated physiques.
I've heard more negative comments about the body builder physique than positive comments. Especially big veins popping out and such.
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Cornfed
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Re: How Buff Can Men Get Naturally

Post by Cornfed »

If you have nothing better to do, you could look up the various "natty or not" YouTube vids to get a feel for the topic.
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