When others notice ...

[Jim USA]

Earlier, there was a thread on "When others notice your muscle growth ..."

I am interested in hearing more of your stories.

How humble should we be? 1) A lady in line at the grocery store was staring at my arms one day when I wore a muscle shirt and I mean staring. It was embarrassing. 2) I was standing in a doorway at my parents' house when my sister tried to pass and bumped into me. She looked so suprised and squeezed my pecs saying, "Omigod, your muscles are so hard!" 3) Over and over again, old friends look at me and say, "Have you been working out?"

Us formerly skinny guys find this rather strange. What do you say??

[UKBeefy]

I find that "have you been working out" question very odd from people - most of them know you go to the gym....so what did they think you went there for?

If people said "oh your gym work is paying off" or "you've been putting in extra effort at the gym" it would make more sense.

[nolanspice]

OK, not really band camp but it happened a couple of weeks ago at my doctor's office. I had pneumonia at the beginning of the year and had to go back for a follow up appointment to get my clean bill of health. Two instances while there occurred.

1) The nurse couldn't get the blood pressure cuff around my bicep. She asked me to stop flexing. I told her I wasn't. Her eyes widened. "You have humungous arms!" She then proceeded to punch them. Not sure what that was about...

2) I've noticed recently that doctors don't ask you to take off your shirts anymore. They just ask you to roll them up. Well, my doctor (cute and gay) asked me to take off my top. Surprised, I asked why. "Your back has got a lot of surface area and rolling up the shirt and tank top will get in the way." While disrobing, I was expecting bad 70s porn music to come blaring through the phone's speaker.

[hulkmuscle]

One very cute cruise story: we get in the elevator on formal night, in our tuxes. Little old guy gets in the elevator with us. Mid-80's. More hair in his ears than on top of his head, but very personable.

He takes one look at us and says "you look like the guys who could break little guys like me in half."

"Nah," I chuckle back.

Not missing a beat, he replies "you should try it sometime, you might like it."

And with that, the doors open, and he walks out.

[glammaman2000]

Do you know where I can get a"bad porn music of the'70's"CD?

[glassbear]

believe it or not...i do know where you can get 'bad porn music from the '70s' In fact I can finf you one better...

I have a friend that is a DJ that specializes in
"bad FRENCH porn from the '70s"

[glammaman2000]

I happen to speak bad french porn FLUENTLY!"....unhhh,Unnnh,UNNNH,DIEU!,FUCQUE!!!!.. ."

[grtpiped]

Hi guys, first time poster here. I think I'm going to really like this board! I have to say, I love getting noticed too. There are times when people at work will say things, and times out in public when I see eyeballs lingering on my chest or arms. I friggin love it. THere was this one time at Banana Republic, when I was in line at the register. The woman working the register noticed my left peak when I was 3 or 4 people back in line, and I just completely soaked up seeing her eyes go to it whenever she could look away from the register or the customer she was dealing with. I had on one of those polo shirt type pullovers, and it was just snug enough to show off without being clearly arrogant.
I've gained 12-15 quality lbs since then, and what can I say - every time I see male or female eyeballs linger, and they almost always do it in a way that sort of tries to hide that they're looking - anyway every time I see that, it just convinces me all the more I am getting BIG and built. The one thing that hasn't happened yet is me getting asked to flex - either out in public or in the lockerroom. Man, first time THAT happens - I dunno, I am going to enjoy it

[loopyrhino2001]

As some of you know, I'm a little guy, and the very definition of "hard gainer"... But somehow I managed to gain about 5 lb since the summer (not a lot I know... some of you gain that much in a week ). I didn't think it was noticeable at all, but over the holidays, a few of my parents' friends who only see me a few times a year remarked that it looked like I'd gained weight (though one of them said it was most obvious in my *face* heh). Actually at one point I overheard the "adults" saying "[Ron] looks good" and my dad telling them, "well he's been working out".

I'm still a long way from even my modest goal of putting on enough muscle to no longer be mistaken for a skeleton but those small compliments were a nice confidence boost.

[hulkmuscle]

Ron, yeah you might be a hardgainer (as was I starting out) but despite all your misgivings, you keep doing the work, and I think you keep surprising yourself. When I started working with you, I was lucky if I got you working out once a month, much less twice a week. Now, a couple years later, you can say you've gone from point A to point B, and you're still pluggin away, bigger and stronger. Even the dreaded overhead tricep pushouts. ;-)

Think beyond your "modest" goals, and I think you'll surprise yourself even further (I'm still jealous of your perfect arm symmetry...lookit that avatar!)

I'm very proud of you.

[Minotaur]

Last year I saw relatives for the first time in years. My aunt looked at me and told me I got tubby but a cousin motioned to me and made a flexing gesture and said "You powerlift? you look good". THAT made me feel good.

[omelissokomos]

Waytago, Ron. Stories like that are great to hear, and I'm sure we'll be hearing more of it in the future.

[Kestrel]

Originally Posted by loopyrhino2001

I'm still a long way from even my modest goal of putting on enough muscle to no longer be mistaken for a skeleton but those small compliments were a nice confidence boost.

I know you you feel; one of my nicknames is "lean," of all things. But I kind of like it that way. The lithe panther wildness. I never want to get huge... just enough, yeah? Best of luck!

[nolanspice]

OK, still no band camp but another blurb.

Two weeks ago, I wrote here about going to the doctor's office (scroll up). Well, I went back for a follow-up and to have a second (of 3) Hep B shot. This time I got a new nurse. I had a sweater on and he'd asked me to remove the arm from the sleeve that I had had the previous shot in. While I was maneuvering, he had his back to me and was focused on prepping the needle. When he turned around, his eyes registered shock while his body remained calm. Swabbing my shoulder with alcohol, he asked, "Are you a bodybuilder?"

For a moment, I didn't know how to answer that. So with stunned shock and a crookedly shy smile, I said "Yeah, I guess I am."

Without missing a beat, he replied, "Good, then this shouldn't hurt a bit," as he jammed the needle into my arm.

I was buzzing for a while after being called a "bodybuilder." So psyched!

[ottomun6]

Ok, something must be in the water out here!
I've got 4 co-workers trying to get close to me. I am still trying to be tackful, but its getting to the point that I might have to be blunt.
Then later this week, I go to the store and have a (married w/kids) guy pop up behind me twice after I accidently glanced over at him. I would have thought it was all a coincidence but the last time he was standing right behind me without the wife and kids for a few minutes while I was reading a magazine. I figured I'd better get the hell out of there before he tried to start a Brokeback Mountain scene and find myself caught between him, his wife and kids!

[hulkmuscle]

I had a full weekend this past week. In addition to the Ronnie Coleman sighting cited elsewhere in this forum, while I was doing shrugs, trying out my new Versa Grip workout gloves, a goodlooking guy in his late-40's, wearing a black baseball cap and tank approached me with a quizzical look on his face.

"Greg?" he asked.

It was a guy I had met on AOL maybe eight years ago, in my 160 lb days. We used to talk bodybuilding, working out and being gay since he had decided to come out late in life. He was now very happy with his partner whom I also met.

He had recognized my face.

He told me I was looking really big (of course, I said I never feel big enough), and that I look much better in person. I thanked him, and said maybe we would see he and his partner out later that night.

Big world? Small world? Guess it depends on the day.

[Chansey]

well...

At a pool party over the summer: a friend asks, "Hey, do you work out?"

At work last year (Im in college so I just work at a store): a female co-worker remarks "Hey I would stick to extra large shirts if I were you. I dont want to be distracted by your buff body"

My grandparents: "You just keep getting healthier each time I see you!"

My college suite mate: "Geez, I never would have thought you would be so ripped" (after he saw me with my shirt off)

Theres some more comments too. One of my college suitemates is really into lifting, but he still has a good deal of body fat on him. He constantly asks me how he could lose weight.

Im not even big -- I am 5'11 and weigh 155 lbs. But since I have very little body fat, I guess it makes me look lean/muscular? I dont know... its awkward getting compliments. I just brush them off, and usually my face turns red.

[dallasmsl]

I was in Florida once on vacation and training at this gym when I noticed someone looking at me. He finally got the nerve to come up to me and ask me, "are you from Dallas?" I said, "Yes, I am." He continued, "You're Dallasmsl, aren't you?" I was floored and answered, "Yes." He said, "You look a lot better in person than you do in your pictures." I was dumbfounded but thankful to him for saying such nice things.

And, no....nothing further developed as I am already spoken for. But it was nice to get a compliment just the same!

[Max Mann]

Last Friday had decent weather, so I wore a dress tee shirt for casual day that I hadn't worn in a few months. It was tight to start, but with my developing body it was even tighter. I wanted to see if I'd get any reaction from any of my coworkers. It took a few hours, but at one point I'm standing next to my supervisor's desk, and after he looks up he says to everyone in our row of desks, "Look how buff Mark's getting." Ah, such beautiful words!

I can't wait for spring to begin so I can wear my tighter shirts and get more reactions from other friends. And when summer rolls around, shirtlessness will be the rule! I hope to have more pics for you next month so you can see for yourselves.

[michael1]

I was at the dentist a week ago... when i sat just normal on the chair the dentists helper asked if i was training, cause my traps were clearly visible through my polo shirt and my back was wide

[muscleboyil]

I've been getting all sorts of comments lately...

A manager at work likes to make frequent comments and grabs at my arms. "Dude, your guns are growing. Trying to show em off?" I was wearing a black polo that I thought was actually kinda loose at the time.

I was getting a backrub from a close family member, and he was in awe at the unexpected muscle mass on my back. "Have you measured your chest lately? I think you need to graduate to larger sized shirts." Shortly after I did measure my chest... it's up 2 inches from December.

[dallasmsl]

I have a straight roommate who has an AWESOME body. He's extremely lean but very built and very vascular. He's only about two inches taller than I am. Friday night, an old family friend from out of town came to spend the night in one of my guest bedrooms. She got to meet 'John'. It was all cordial and such. John, not his real name but I am trying to spare him further embarrassement, trains hard daily at the gym. His 'problem' is that he always wears clothes that are FAR too big for him. For some odd/strange reason, he doesn't want people, even girls, noticing how built he is!!! Now, I'm only 5'5" and 175 so that is MY biggest fear...that people won't notice that I work out. For 'John' it's just the opposite!

In the morning, she and I went to breakfast. During the conversation, she asked, "Why doesn't 'John' workout?" I almost died laughing. I later told 'John' about it and he laughed too. He wasn't upset at all and said he just doesn't want to stand out in a crowd. GEEEEEZE! I'd give my left nut to stand out in a crowd!!!

[vlad]

I find that most of the guys who are really buff on my campus tend to hide their built bodies too. well, some of them...others sure as hell don't, especially this one freshman who is an absolute S-T-U-D. t-shirts that are really tight around the chest and cover maybe half of his enormous biceps, big shoulders, etc. maybe 6'0'' 240 lb linebacker. but now I'm getting off topic =)

[dallasmsl]

sounds like a GOOD topic to me!

[vlad]

I just can't believe this guy is a freshman. every time I see him, it feels like someone knocked the wind out of me. Same thing about the fullback for the football team, ~220lb. and 5'9'' (my height). he lived across from me last year in the dorms and I got to see him coming out of the shower somewhat often. biggest shoulders I've ever seen on a kid, tree-trunk thighs, and beefy pecs. I do love my football players. too bad none of them are psych majors...got no hot guys in my classes >(

[muscleboyil]

Back story: I work for an entertainment group that is casting superheroes for public events. Our casting is turning up slim, and the higher ups notice that Ive been muscling up, so guess who's going to be in costume?

Today, I got the once over on the arms and chest at work from a manager. He was gushing about how good im looking and saying "dang, are you juicing?" I'd say "no, you'd be able to tell if I was... this is good diet and lifting for 2 months." Then he went on to describe guys that he has seen juiced up "you know, they look like really rockin' muscular guys to start, then all of a sudden they look like someone hooked em up to a bicycle pump and just blew them up! They'd look like you to start and then in a couple months theyre all expanded like theyve been overpumped with something..."

Needless to say the guy is a looker... a former workout type (put on some muscles back in the day) that has since blown up in the fat dept. mega-time. I think he's living his youth again vicariously through me. HAH!

[brent]

Congratulations!!! Dressing up as a super-hero sounds like a lot of fun. It's really cool that you're actually encouraged where you work to work-out. It sounds like a great job.

[hulkmuscle]

Yeah, I'm with Brent, I think it's great when people not just compliment but encourage you to keep at it. I wish there was more of that among the non-workout types we encounter.

[hoosierlifter]

Tuesday night I came out of the weight room and this 21 y/o guy made a comment about my arms. Long story short, he kept talking about size of my triceps and how big I am. Made my day. He called himself skinny at 6' 185# of rock solid muscle. lol.

[Minotaur]

My company has installed a fitness center in our new facility. It's mostly machines except for a barbell, a few plates and dumbells that go up to a whopping 60 lbs. OK, OK, it's great for the average office worker of Joe Couchpotato. The upshot... my boss and good friend said "well, remember it's not for serious weightlifters... not for powerlifters" as he looked directly at and motioned to me.

At the chiro's office as I was getting muscle stim pads and a heat wrap around my arm (bicipital tendonitis again) the wrap wouldn't close and kept coming undone. The doc said "now, if I can only get this to stay around this Python". If I don't get my ass back in the gym, I'm going to have Garter Snakes instead of Pythons!

It's good to be big.

[glammaman2000]

My buddy&I have really been hammering away in the gym(2hr.workouts,5days per wk.)For more than a year;I've been concentrating on weak points(thighs&delts)&not much else.Just recently,I've been allowing some more upper body work(chest&arms).A regular member who had been out of town said he could really see the difference;that we were both noticeably bigger.GREAT!Today he asked us where he could score some'roids!!This is the frustration of training natural!It's HARD to get bigger,&if you succeed;people just think it's'roids,anyway!At least it gave my buddy a boost(I have to talk him out of the temptation to juice regularly)

[dallasmsl]

I think that's a fantastic compliment!

[bignbuiltyalie]

I'm not sure if this is a compliment or not but this girl I know told me today that a friend of hers likened me to a lovable Vin Diesel. I wasn't sure how to take it because I'm not the biggest fan but I decided to take it as a muscle compliment.

[arpeejay]

Oh, yeah, Yalie, that IS a compliment -- believe me! :-)

All the best...

Richard

[omelissokomos]

Yay, I can finally post something here.

Not twenty minutes ago an acquaintance of mine didn't recognize me walking down the corridor because, according to him, I've gotten so thin. For a guy who was once described as "Winnie the Pooh", I was pretty happy about that. Now if I can work my up from "teddy bear" to "musclecub"...

And in the gym, I've been asked a couple of times how many years I've been working out, and I tell 'em it's only been months so far. Not much of a compliment, but I'll take it. Hehe...

[tylerdigug]

So after a long recovery from a banged up hip, I've been really trying to stay on an active streak - lifting, kayaking, biking. I took a work buddy out kayaking on Friday and after we got back he turns to me and says that if he did this as much as I do, his arms would be as big as mine. Totally caught me offguard so I just didn't say anything.
Yesterday, I had a bbq at my place and lots of friends from different points in my life came. One of them was a fellow rugby teammate from college. I always looked up to him because he played the same position I did except on the A-side while I was on the B-side. After many beers, he says that when I got to the team, he got nervous enough to start looking for a new position because my legs were so strong and I was so fast. Again, totally unexpected and I was shocked. But it made me feel pretty damn good!

[Juggarnaut]

Hey all- I do not get to post as much as i would like to - but love the site and all the great stuff here!

last Friday we got to wear jeans and t-shirt becuse we were having the office redone - I wore a really tight t-sirt that said "welcome to the gun show "on it (LOL) - every one just thought it was the greatest thing and all said man you can definently wear that shirt

today I went to a restaurant and the the dude ringing me up was asking me if i lifted and that i took really huge - great thing was i was feeling small today -lol what an ego booster!

anyway - great place to talk about this stuff and not be thought of as odd becuse i like my body

all you guys rock - keep GROWING

Jug

[hulkmuscle]

Originally Posted by Juggarnaut

I wore a really tight t-sirt that said "welcome to the gun show "

I got the same one....Walmart right?

I haven't had a chance to wear it yet, but when I saw it, I knew I had to get it.

:-)

[Juggarnaut]

Originally Posted by hulkmuscle

I got the same one....Walmart right?

I haven't had a chance to wear it yet, but when I saw it, I knew I had to get it.

:-)

Yes got it at walmart - now everyone calls me GUNS at work -LOL

Wera it man - People will get a kick out of it- plus great ego booster for sure

)

[loopyrhino2001]

A few weekends ago I worked at a volunteer event with a team of people from my company (we painted classrooms in an inner-city school). We all wore identical short-sleeve t-shirts. Out of the blue, on the bus ride heading to the event after-party, one of my co-workers asked me if I've been working out, and even squeezed my upper arm! I think I'm still the scrawniest person I know, but that was nice to hear.

But this?

I wore a really tight t-sirt that said "welcome to the gun show "

It'll be a while before I can wear something like that without looking ridiculous!