First family, then you notice

RadRx · #1 July 7th, 2004, 01:58 PM

Hey, guys:

I know this may not apply to many of the bigger contributors to the group, but I just had an experience that positively reinforces my 'newbie' gym efforts.

I was out riding my bike, and when I hunched forward to cut drag on a hill I noticed my that my traps were bunched more tightly against the base of my skull. It's been about a year since I rode, so the altered feeling was more pronounced.

There have been some other bodily positions that also have me noticing more of myself than before.

Has anyone else had this type of experience? And did it make you smile to yourself as well?

ethernet_jock · #2 July 7th, 2004, 02:11 PM

TOTALLY!!!!

when I push my push lawnmower now-a-days... I can actually feel my back tighten and stretch my shirt......... something I'd NEVER experienced before.

I bought a 2XL shirt at Sam's Club this weekend... instead of it being loose and baggy like they usually are... it's tight in the shoulders and the buttons near my chest are actually stretched a little.... it seems insane to me. I don't think I'm any bigger, but all the signs are there.

enjoy it my friend... that's why we all do it...

glammaman2000 · #3 July 7th, 2004, 03:31 PM

i know my own strength(although,after heavy arm workouts,i've been known to break toothbrushes,pull handles off of coffee cups i'm washing&twist doorknobs off locked doors)but sometimes i don't know my own width!when you first come back after a layoff;you forget the effect of pumped triceps resting on pumped lats!lots of scraped shoulders!

brent · #4 July 7th, 2004, 06:48 PM

It's hard to follow Glamma's post (pulling the handles off of coffee cups!?!?!?) but I will try. I have bumped my shoulders & scraped my triceps from bumping into things (you really do need to keep on top of your own width) but the main one that has got me lately are my shoulders when I go to wipe my sweat on them. I don't remember them being hard, and having shape, so it always surprises me when I do that.

EJ, You are already stretching XXLs? This confirms my theory that you will be huge very soon!

Take care, Brent.

The Magus · #5 July 8th, 2004, 02:17 AM

I've surprised myself with my reflection, catching me out of the corner of my eye and not recognising myself right away.

But my big thing lately has been my hamstrings. They used to be really flabby, but now they're tightening up, so whenever I touch them (to scratch an itch or whatever) there's this firmness that wasn't there before.

And my arms are starting to finally look bigger to me when they aren't flexed.

ethernet_jock · #6 July 8th, 2004, 06:32 AM

Quote:

EJ, You are already stretching XXLs? This confirms my theory that you will be huge very soon!

As always, you are WAY too nice. Remember... I have a gut doing some of that stretching too. Plus I just have naturally wide shoulders so having added any thickness to them at all, makes a big difference in t-shirt fitting-ness

Anyhow, I won't convince you to stop being nice to me and you won't convince me to appreciate myself any better until I look more like you... so... we're at a draw, I guess you'll just have to beat it outta me. :P

Quote:

pull handles off of coffee cups i'm washing&twist doorknobs off locked doors

dear god.... remind me not to make you angry, please? I wish I had that problem!!!!

Quote:

I have bumped my shoulders & scraped my triceps from bumping into things

I could live with that problem too, definitely.

You guys are too funny.

Leo · #7 July 8th, 2004, 02:40 PM

I had always been an ectomorph...very thin.

The first time I ran down a flight of stairs and my pecs bounced, I laughed out loud! It took me completely by surprise. It was a great feeling to have some "meat" on my body that actually could bounce!

I have also experienced the bumping and scraping into things from increased width... especially the shoulders.

brent · #8 July 8th, 2004, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethernet_jock

As always, you are WAY too nice. Remember... I have a gut doing some of that stretching too. Plus I just have naturally wide shoulders so having added any thickness to them at all, makes a big difference in t-shirt fitting-ness

Ok, so I am hearing that you have a tendancy to gain weight easily, and you have wide shoulders, on a 6'3 frame. I think we can get you to be a monster. It just takes lots of work, and time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethernet_jock

Anyhow, I won't convince you to stop being nice to me and you won't convince me to appreciate myself any better until I look more like you... so... we're at a draw, I guess you'll just have to beat it outta me. :P

I always try to be nice because I like seeing big beefy guys. If I have freinds that get big like that, then that's extra cool! The best way to get friends like that is to encourage a bunch of guys from a pool of the willing (like at this site) and then encourage them to achieve greatness. The best way to encourage someone IMHO is to always be positive (like training a husband, er, I mean dog. Ooops!) Also, I think that to some extent, we resemble our mental images of ourselves. If we think of ourselves as fat & weak, then we will eat, and skip the gym until we resemble that mental image. If you start seeing yourself as I think you can look, then you will naturally start lifting more. I always try to see only the positives when I look in a mirror, I only allow myself to say nice things about myself, and I try to visualize myself looking how I'd like to look. So, sorry, but I think I might have to beat that bad mental image out of your head. It is possible to alter that one faster than your physical image, but don't beat yourself up if it doesn't happen overnight: you spent decades convincing yourself that you are less attractive than you actually are, allow yourself time to change this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethernet_jock

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glammaman2000

pull handles off of coffee cups i'm washing&twist doorknobs off locked doors

dear god.... remind me not to make you angry, please? I wish I had that problem!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethernet_jock

I could live with that problem too, definitely.

So could I, solution: buy you mugs at Dollar Tree .

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethernet_jock

You guys are too funny.

Well, I try to be...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo

The first time I ran down a flight of stairs and my pecs bounced, I laughed out loud! It took me completely by surprise. It was a great feeling to have some "meat" on my body that actually could bounce!

That's so cool the first time. I remember my first time.

sexiscriptor · #9 July 8th, 2004, 05:53 PM

Well, I guess I'm too much of a noob to all this to have any really interesting stories, but there was one time...
I was wearing one of my favorite shirts, this blue and white thinly striped button down longsleeve (i'm not even going to bother with punctuation for that...). It was near the end of the school year so hideously boring, and I pull my arms forward to lay my head down on them, and whaddya know? I tore the seam on one of my shoulders! (those of you who talk to me a lot know about my traps/delts)
Anyway, it may not be as intimidating as coffee mug handles or shoulder scraping or even pec bouncing, but at least I feel good about it.

brent · #10 July 8th, 2004, 06:30 PM

Our Chris ripping shirts in class! *sniff* I'm so proud! I remember the first time I ripped a shirt. I was excited, then I was upset that I lost a good shirt. Well they all need to get replaced sometime...

The Magus · #11 July 9th, 2004, 02:22 AM

Man, all you guys who started off skinny are lucky. All my shirts (unless I bought them in the last year or so) are too big for me, now, so I have a long way to go before I start ripping anything.

There's hope, though, because there's that style in some t-shirts these days to make the sleeves really tight (has anyone else noticed this?), so maybe in a few more months I won't be able to wear those shirts anymore...

RadRx · #12 July 9th, 2004, 04:17 PM

Magus, they make those sleeves tight on purpose? Way to ruin my ego-trip, dude.

I noticed that A&F has a 'muscle' line, but I try not to shop anyplace with a sound sysytem that warrants a cover charge.

Besides, I've been to both extremes. Most of the shirts purchased for the past few years are really loose on my now. I'm debating on donating some of my Hawaiian shirts. They're like fashionable weight denial for big guys, but some of them are way too cool to part with.

As it is, I can barely stretch the truth -- let alone a shirt.

brent · #13 July 9th, 2004, 06:41 PM

What is up with all these skanky old t-shirts? Time for you to throw out the nasty ones, donate the good ones that don't fit (keeping a couple insanely cool hawaiians is allowed), and then go to Target for some nice new ones, at a low price.

The Magus · #14 July 9th, 2004, 07:49 PM

Rad> I think it's a common problem...a lot of my shirts now are tight enough in the shoulders and chest, but then get really billowy where my gut used to be. I'm finding it better to just buy shirts that are a little too tight in the upper torso so that I can get them to fit around the waist. This is a good problem, though.

I have some old shirts that I like, and I see no reason to part with 'em. If some of your shirts have sentimental value, keep them. It's not harming anyone. I usually just "graduate" my old clothes fronm outer wear to "slack-off" wear for around the house or a quick run to the corner store.

Or, my ex is a big fan of taking clothes to be tailored. That's a reasonable solution for nice clothes that don't fit any more.

brent · #15 July 9th, 2004, 08:02 PM

Magus, you have been in the gym, pumping you self up too much. I notice that most guy's t-shirts have loose floppy sleeves. Most people I see can't fill in the sleeves of a small. If you can fill the sleeves of a t-shirt, you should be very thankful. I know I am.

Flexus Lee · #16 July 11th, 2004, 09:04 PM

There is definitely a new and encroaching style of t-shirt where the designers are cutting the sleeves so that they narrow at the ends. It's frustrating for guys that workout because this style seems to have hit the 'trendier' labels, e.g. Industrie in Australia.

I've got two cool t-shirts like that, but they sit funny on me because they are all bunched up at the sleeves, tight across the chest and so baggy at the waist.

I've also noticed tanktop cuts that have smaller armholes, presumably to make thinner guys' lats look beefier.

brent · #17 July 11th, 2004, 10:16 PM

Flexus Lee,

That is a bad trend. I am tired of the arms always being stretched, and the rest of it fitting weird. They should make them fit the rest of us, I mean the sleeves are too big for the little people that don't work out anyways, why can't they just have some extra fabric?

I want to start my own t-shirt brand, called Big. Sizes would be: Big (B), Extra Big (XB), Huge (H), Extra Huge (XH), and F**king Huge (FH). Cool designs, and sleeves that fit your gym-rat lifestyle!

ethernet_jock · #18 July 12th, 2004, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Most people I see can't fill in the sleeves of a small. If you can fill the sleeves of a t-shirt, you should be very thankful. I know I am.

I don't stretch the sleeves of ANY of my shirts except the polo shirts size 2xl and smaller with the elastic arm-bands.... I can't WAIT until I'm stretching the arms on all my shirts....

Damn... that would be so cool.

Quote:

That is a bad trend. I am tired of the arms always being stretched, and the rest of it fitting weird. They should make them fit the rest of us, I mean the sleeves are too big for the little people that don't work out anyways, why can't they just have some extra fabric?

I couldn't agree more how horrible of a trend that is. I have this next-door neighbor who never talks to me... because he thinks himself better... I assume. I've remarked about him before in this system... anyway. He's like 6'2", 185-ish.... nice runner's build... lean and slightly buff (I know this because he walks around in his back yard with his shirt off all the time), shaved head (thinks he's a bad-ass). So anyway, my bitch is that every time I see him wearing a shirt, summer, winter, fall, or spring... it's one of those all-elastic ribbed t-shirts about one size too small for him where the arms are all intentionally made smaller. It highlights his pecs nicely but... from where I stand.... the arms are just kind of there... with the sleeves wrapped tightly around them, they're still un-impressive. SO I guess what I'm getting to, for some reason, is that REALLY annoys me. Since I know that my arms are bigger than his, and I'm fully aware that they aren't big enough to be cocky about.

Argh... frustration...

brent · #19 July 16th, 2004, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethernet_jock

I don't stretch the sleeves of ANY of my shirts except the polo shirts size 2xl and smaller with the elastic arm-bands.... I can't WAIT until I'm stretching the arms on all my shirts....

Damn... that would be so cool.

I'm sure you will very soon. You seem to have good genetics, and you are doing something about it. Stay on this track, and you will have you wife letting out your sleeves!