What inspired you to get big...

[ethernet_jock]

Originally Posted by claygrant

And EJ, I laughed when you said your head gets cut off in a mirror. I don't ever have that problem!

Dude - it so true!! and shower heads at motels & hotels too!! I swear the world is anti-tall-person biased. Just like countertops in kitchens everywhere - I wish they'd make them like 6" higher so that I don't find myself leaning over quite so badly to do everything. Argh...

[orange_bean]

Reading some of this has really gotten my memory going. I recently came out of the closet, and people ask things like, "When did you realize you were gay?" And my response is that I've sort of always known, even before I knew about sex, and I'll tell you what - my prepubescent fascination with well-muscled men is one of the things that leads me to believe it.

I'd say a bit before middle school I had one of those big punching balloons, the kind with a rubber band on them that you hold and use to sort of dribble the thing in the air. A few nights, I put the deflated balloon into my pajamas and slowly inflated it, imagining it was my bulging muscles. Sadly, I overinflated it one night and it popped, right inside my PJs. I also would dash off from my family at the grocery store to check out the Muscle & Fitness magazines. To this day I wonder what my parents thought about that...

So, I've always been quite thin. At about age 16 I had grown to 5'11", and weighed 135 lbs. I stayed that way until about six months ago, close to my 24th birthday. Almost exactly one year ago I started lifting because I was tired of being so scrawny, and after the first few months I had gained about 12 lbs. I haven't put on much more since that initial spurt, but it has certainly made a visible difference. I do feel a lot better about myself and I'm much more confident showing off what I've got, skinny though I may still be.

I don't think I'll ever be very huge, nor do I want to be. But I think I'd be happy if I could put on another 10-15 lbs of muscle. It's slow-going, and I have the problem that my workout partner has a much easier time packing on muscle. He's about 6'1", 172 lbs, with really big arms (I'm a bit envious). He has more fat on him than I do, but he looks much bigger when wearing a shirt - I tend to disappear under the clothes, only showing muscle in a wifebeater or shirtless.

I work out in a small employee gym in my office building, and one day after working out I went back up to the office to get something and some of my coworkers saw me for the first time in one of the a-shirts I workout in, and they were astonished that I looked so big (I was pumped, too). I got many compliments and comments like, "I wish I had time to workout so I could look that great." It felt really good.

So now I'm almost 25, 5'11", 147 lbs, been working out for a year - I don't know what my potential is. I have two brothers: my older brother started almost skinny as me and now he's 29, 6', 225 lbs, and my younger brother just started lifting, too, and he's 21, about 6'1" 170 lbs or so. Maybe I got some of the right genes, too, we'll see.

---Chris

[Wynfrith]

Originally Posted by ethernet_jock

Dude - it so true!! and shower heads at motels & hotels too!! I swear the world is anti-tall-person biased. Just like countertops in kitchens everywhere - I wish they'd make them like 6" higher so that I don't find myself leaning over quite so badly to do everything. Argh...

I have to go with you on that. I'm 6'3.

You forgot rental cars you have to drive with the sunroof open...

[claygrant]

Originally Posted by orange_bean

So now I'm almost 25, 5'11", 147 lbs, been working out for a year - I don't know what my potential is.

hey orange bean, thanks for the thoughtful post. Keep at it and you'll probably surprise yourself. Your older brother at 225 lbs sounds formidable, does he lift weights? If so, you might explode in a few years' time like he did. I daresay none of us know what our potentials are, so we're on a mission to find out!

[orange_bean]

Originally Posted by claygrant

Your older brother at 225 lbs sounds formidable, does he lift weights? If so, you might explode in a few years' time like he did.

Yeah, he lifts weights, and he isn't entirely muscle, he's a very big boy (as my mom likes to say). He went into the navy when he was younger and drank a lot of beer, and I know he eats a ton of food, both of which I think contributed to him bulking up. I wish I could tell you what his body fat percentage is.

I think that's my biggest hurdle at this point - I have trouble eating all the food I need to keep my calorie intake high. I literally cannot eat when I'm not hungry - it makes me physically ill. My brother doesn't seem to have that problem. I find I need more discipline in order to eat than to get to the gym.

---Chris

[ethernet_jock]

[homer simpson voice]
mmmm fooooooood....

mmmmmmmm beeeeeeeeerrr....
[/homer simpson voice]

Is that why I'm 6'4" and 250 and don't feel very muscular?

hehehe...

I love food. Hang in there Orange - I personally think it's better to be lean, defined, and very built. I just saw a guy at Olive Garden last night - very interesting character.... It was a cold night, about 35 deg. F so everyone was arriving at the restaurant in jackets and pants and long sleeve shirts, etc... So I'm sitting at a table with family and about 2 tables away this young couple sits down. The guy is about 5'6" and maybe all of 130... he looks pretty small and frail under that thick leather jacket and baggy pants but he's got a shaved head and that whole "Ima look like a tough guy so nobody has to see what a wimp I am" look - shaved head and trimmed facial hair - the whole bit. I continue to study him, however, because he has a fairly confident walk and I'm interesting in seeing what he has to be confident about. Well.... it didn't take long to find out.

He sits down and removes his leather jacket to reveal a VERY ripped (albeit not huge) body inside a TIGHT muscle shirt! Damn.... I swear he spent the whole night intentionally flexing his triceps and biceps for his girlfriend across the table, the peaks and striations visible from even a distance and even when relaxed you could see a SHARP horseshoe shape to his triceps. Even though I was seated at an odd angle to him I could CLEARLY see his tightly defined pecs pressing through the front of his shirt and delts that raised an angle against his neck no matter how relaxed he sat. He wasn't huge, in fact I would estimate his biceps at only 14.5-15" but he was still an incredible work and CLEARLY had invested a great deal of time into his body. Genetics were on his side for fat % and he definitely knew how to take advantage of it. Pity about all the tattoos - I think he had a major case of little man syndrome - always trying to look tougher and meaner to foster some impression of intimmidation towards larger guys like me. It didn't matter, his cute girlfriend never took her eyes off of him for even a moment, he was DEFINITELY getting some action tonight!

----

anyhow - my point was (and an aptly timed true story experience) that if that's your body type - go with it!!! Don't try to be something you aren't, work hard on what you are. I'll never be that lean ripped guy with a 6-pack no matter how badly I'd like to be, so I'm going to do my best to be a big-ass bear with huge muscles and maybe just the slightest little chub because that's what I've been given to work with and that's what I'll be proud of some day. Go with it!!!

[orange_bean]

Originally Posted by ethernet_jock

...anyhow - my point was (and an aptly timed true story experience) that if that's your body type - go with it!!!

Thanks for the support - that's sort of the direction I'm trying to take. I've accepted the fact that I can probably realistically aim for the swimmer's build, so that's what I'm doing. If I make it that far I'll be very happy!

---Chris

[claygrant]

Originally Posted by ethernet_jock

I just saw a guy at Olive Garden last night - very interesting character....
----

so I'm going to do my best to be a big-ass bear with huge muscles and maybe just the slightest little chub because that's what I've been given to work with and that's what I'll be proud of some day.

lol.. i haven't been to the Olive Garden in a while, but I feel like going now.

"big-ass bear with huge muscles" is an apt name, yeah

[ethernet_jock]

LOL - silly Clay.

Actually they have some pretty hot waiters. But actually - you know who consistantly has the most muscular waiters of all the local restaurant chains in Colorado?

Old Chicago!! Seriously... am I the only person who's ever noticed this?

[brent]

Originally Posted by ethernet_jock

...
I just saw a guy at Olive Garden last night
...

Yuck, the Olive Pit! I used to work there, and in many other restaurants in high school, and that place is the only one that disgusted me to the point of not being able to return 14 years later! As for you interesting character, I love those dudes with Napoleon syndrome, and I have no idea why. As for hot waiters, I'm going to switch business types, and say the hottest guys I've consistently found are the clerks at Trader Joe's. That goes for both OR, and NV.

[ottomun6]

Originally Posted by Wynfrith

I have to go with you on that. I'm 6'3.

You forgot rental cars you have to drive with the sunroof open...

See EJ?, its part of the master plan to irritate you big guys.
It was brought up at the short guy's meeting last month that we may begin lowering ceilings a few inches at a time, (but you didn't hear it from me )

Getting back to the "Inspiration to get big question", I think the comic book ads did it for me. Weider had all of those exercise equipment and supplements with Dave Draper, Arnold, Chuck Sipes, etc. I especially remember seeing an ad with Chuck holding a supplement and his pecs were so big that it looked like he could easily stuff a bottle under his pecs. I'm sure there were other things that got me charged up too, but I think the main reason for me was to keep up with my workout partner at the time. He was skinny as I was.

[brent]

I can definitely understand about car-roofs: I like to have my seat nearly straight-up (good driving posture) and I can't do that in my husband's Chevy, because the ceiling is so low in that car. Since I'm under 6 foot, I can see how other people would have a real problem!