When others notice ...

[bulkybud]

I was in a brewpub tonight grabbing a quick dinner and beer by myself and the owner was out working the room.
When he came to my table he introduced himself, shook hands, and then did a quick 'most-muscular' pose and told me to keep up the hard work, it looked good.

[bulkybud]

Today in the gym I was asked if I was taking steroids, which I truthfully answered no. This guy then made a joke about me passing a blood test.

While I like the compliment, it kind of disappointed me. I've been back training for a few months, doing the big 3- proper sleep, proper nutrition, and keeping track of workout progress (every workout has goals- more weight or more reps) and I've gained about 6 lbs. I know I've made muscle gains because I'm lifting more weight and I assume it shows, at least a little and clothes are starting to get tight.

But what appalls me is how many people immediately equate muscle growth with steroids. It can't just be that I'm doing it right- I must be on drugs.

Don't get me wrong, I have no objection to intelligent and well-managed steroid use. I'm just amazed how many people think that is only way you can grow muscle.

[reborndragon]

bulkybud, I recently had that accusation as well, and I had mixed feelings for the exact same reasons. It's a compliment and an insult at the same time, and it doesn't help that it came from a super thin guy that only does cardio with absolutely no resistance training and wonders why he doesn't see gains.

But I digress, my own recent "when others notice" experience:

Walked into a Gamestop where I used to work and one of my former co-workers made a joke about me having evolved into a form with a chest and biceps (long standing joke based on the fact that I absolutely hate Pokemon). And then when he found out I was there to buy a controller he immediately asked if I crushed the last one by accident with my bare hands.

[sparkymcsparks]

Happens to me all the time. This week I was maxing out the rope tricep push down machine and a guy waiting for it said "who said steroids were bad?". I told him I'm not on steroids and he threw his hands up defensively and says he never meant that I was lol.

Yesterday another bodybuilder who's bigger than me in my opinion came up to me and said I was getting huge an what was I eating? I told him eggs (cuz I eat between 6 and 12 eggs a day) and he laughed and said "Russian Pharmaceutical eggs?". Then after my workout I had my shirt off in the locker room and he sees me and as he passed said "eggs huh?" Sarcastically.

It actually makes my day. I find it the best compliment to be accused of taking steroids but confidently being able to say I never have haha.

[stronguns]

My nephews football coach actually reported him to the principal for the possibility he was taking steroids. Granted the kid gained 30 pounds in 8 months. The same coach that reported him was the one that told him to bulk up in the first place. He wanted him to tryout for a linebacker position. So the kid worked out like a mad man, eating tons of protein and good healthy food. When he wasn't lifting in our home gym he was at school lifting with the team. After all this the coach goes and reports him thinking he couldn't possibly have done this without drugs. It's not that unusual for a 17 year old kid to gain a lot of weight and muscle in a short period of time. It really irked us that the coach would think the kid had used steroids. We made a visit to the school to clear up the matter. We had a meeting with the coach and principal. The coach apologized.

[Mdlftr]

Originally Posted by stronguns

My nephews football coach actually reported him to the principal for the possibility he was taking steroids. Granted the kid gained 30 pounds in 8 months. The same coach that reported him was the one that told him to bulk up in the first place. He wanted him to tryout for a linebacker position. So the kid worked out like a mad man, eating tons of protein and good healthy food. When he wasn't lifting in our home gym he was at school lifting with the team. After all this the coach goes and reports him thinking he couldn't possibly have done this without drugs. It's not that unusual for a 17 year old kid to gain a lot of weight and muscle in a short period of time. It really irked us that the coach would think the kid had used steroids. We made a visit to the school to clear up the matter. We had a meeting with the coach and principal coming away with an apology from the coach. I couldn't help but think they probably figured I use steroids too, but don't give a crap about their opinions.

...So your nephew DOESN'T use steroids, but you do?

Or they just probably THINK you use steroids but you don't?

Come again?

[Curiosity]

Originally Posted by Mdlftr

...So your nephew DOESN'T use steroids, but you do?

Or they just probably THINK you use steroids but you don't?

Come again?

tl;dr:

Coach says "Get bigger."

Nephew gets bigger without steroids.

Coach says "No way you did that without steroids. I'm reporting you."

Stronguns goes to help clear it up, coach apologizes.

Everyone thinks it's impossible to get big without steroids.

Stronguns says "Haters gonna hate."

[bulkybud]

Sorry, I seemed to have moved this thread off of it's original purpose. Have started a new thread for those who want to continue this discussion.

bulkybud

[stronguns]

Originally Posted by Mdlftr

...So your nephew DOESN'T use steroids, but you do?

Or they just probably THINK you use steroids but you don't?

Come again?

Deleted the part that confused you. Going back to lurking.

[Stoneman]

Originally Posted by sparkymcsparks

Happens to me all the time. This week I was maxing out the rope tricep push down machine and a guy waiting for it said "who said steroids were bad?". I told him I'm not on steroids and he threw his hands up defensively and says he never meant that I was lol.

Yesterday another bodybuilder who's bigger than me in my opinion came up to me and said I was getting huge an what was I eating? I told him eggs (cuz I eat between 6 and 12 eggs a day) and he laughed and said "Russian Pharmaceutical eggs?". Then after my workout I had my shirt off in the locker room and he sees me and as he passed said "eggs huh?" Sarcastically.

It actually makes my day. I find it the best compliment to be accused of taking steroids but confidently being able to say I never have haha.

Pix, dammit, pix.

[sparkymcsparks]

I had flexing vids up before. Maybe I'll post an update sometime.

[stronguns]

Eating lunch with friends today. Out of the blue one of them looks at me and says, "I am a big, strong guy, yet when I am around you I feel so damn small and weak." And he goes back to eating his lunch. I wasn't sure what to say. He was right. Couldn't argue with him, so I went back to eating my lunch too.

[Jim USA]

We had a flu shot clinic in the lobby of my office building. Guy after guy sat down and pulled their sleeve up as high as possible for the shot. Skinny arms, tattooed arms, fat arms, but all just arms. I sit down and my sleeve is pretty tight and I have trouble getting it as high as the pharmacist wants it. Mine is not just an arm. It is made up of a deltoid, triceps and biceps. He tells me several times to relax. I am relaxed. If you are in shape at all, you don’t have to flex to have visible muscle.

[bulkybud]

I was helping my friend's family get ready for Halloween, and they had about 6 pumpkins to clean out and carve.
I told him that I would clean out the pumpkins for his kids to carve. I said I wanted a heavy-duty spoon and he handed me one and I handed it back saying I would bend it, I needed something heavier.
He said, "With forearms like that, I bet you will."
6 cleaned out pumpkins later, there was some discussion on the practical benefits of weight training.

[stronguns]

Friends invited me to go horseback riding with them over the weekend. Went to the riding stables to get our horses. Lady takes one look at me and the size of my legs and says, PLEASE do not squeeze the horse so hard you hurt him. I've had guys here before who had muscular legs who couldn't resist testing their strength on the poor animal. Your legs are even more powerful looking than theirs were. So please be careful you don't hurt the horse.

Until she said that, the thought had never entered my mind. And besides I am an animal lover and would never do anything like that.

By the way, it's 2 days after and my legs are killing me!

[Centaurian]

Originally Posted by stronguns

Friends invited me to go horseback riding with them over the weekend. Went to the riding stables to get our horses. Lady takes one look at me and the size of my legs and says, PLEASE do not squeeze the horse so hard you hurt him. I've had guys here before who had muscular legs who couldn't resist testing their strength on the poor animal. Your legs are even more powerful looking than theirs were. So please be careful you don't hurt the horse.

Until she said that, the thought had never entered my mind. And besides I am an animal lover and would never do anything like that.

By the way, it's 2 days after and my legs are killing me!

No real experiences for me yet for people reacting to me since I'm not huge, but just had to comment on the horseback riding post. Just started taking lessons this semester. Have to use all sorts of muscles I never thought I had haha. Hope you feel less sore soon!

[gomez]

I am sure the horse was happy you did not use your strength on him.
Lol

[Mdlftr]

Originally Posted by stronguns

Friends invited me to go horseback riding with them over the weekend. Went to the riding stables to get our horses. Lady takes one look at me and the size of my legs and says, PLEASE do not squeeze the horse so hard you hurt him. I've had guys here before who had muscular legs who couldn't resist testing their strength on the poor animal. Your legs are even more powerful looking than theirs were. So please be careful you don't hurt the horse.

Until she said that, the thought had never entered my mind. And besides I am an animal lover and would never do anything like that.

By the way, it's 2 days after and my legs are killing me!

Hmmm. Horse squeezes....When you can't find that leg machine!

[musclstud]

Lately, some of my female friends have been randomly squeezing my arms and commenting on how much bigger they are. A bit embarassing, but nice to know my change it noticed. Now if only I could get some guy to do that instead, haha

[bulkybud]

Was at the movies chatting with a couple as we came out of the theater and this fellow asked me if I lifted weights.
On the way to the car my friend said, "Looking at you, that was a stupid question."
I told her that it was way better than "Do you still lift weights?"

[hulkoutlvr]

Musclstud, I will GLADLY volunteer to be the guy who randomly squeezes your arms! As arpeejay says, PIX dammit, PIX!

[bulkybud]

I was resting between sets on preacher curls today and a friend came up and said, "You know, your arms aren't supposed to be bigger than your legs."
I looked at my arms and then up at him and said, "I know. I'll be working legs on Sunday."
He smiled and said, "Good attitude."

bulkybud

[bulkybud]

I was at a glass-making class learning how to make lampwork beads and the teacher was helping me and she tried reaching in from the left and then tried from the right side, and said, "You're too big!"

Always wanted to be too big.

bulkybud

[musclstud]

I had to buy a suit yesterday and I as I was trying out jackets, the salesperson was having difficulty finding one wide enough to fit me (I'm short, so that adds to the problem). She kept saying "All that muscles is a problem. You are too big. It will be harder in the future if you get bigger"

[bulkybud]

Originally Posted by musclstud

She kept saying "All that muscles is a problem. You are too big. It will be harder in the future if you get bigger"

So you're going to stop working out, right?
You might get bigger!

bulkybud

[arpeejay]

http://www.facebook.com/arpeejay

[musclstud]

Originally Posted by bulkybud

So you're going to stop working out, right?
You might get bigger!

bulkybud

Of course not! I hope that was a joke, haha. I plan on getting even bigger! Worse comes to worse, I'll have to get a fully tailored suit in the future. Won't let something like that stop me from achieving TRUE size.

Originally Posted by arpeejay

How tall are you?

Buying suits off the rack is problematic even for guys like me (5'10 1/2, 215 lbs.) I'm by no means huge but when the "drop" (the difference between your chest and waist size) is 10 inches or more conventional suits get to be very tricky. You either have to look for separates (a challenge in their own right) or sometimes you can get away with a *longer* cut. I'm medium height but a time or two I've bought a "tall" because it was roomier through the chest and didn't bunch up over my pecs; naturally, sleeves needed a significant amount of taking in but it worked out in the end.

Eventually, of course, you'll have to give up and go to a tailor!

xoxo

Richard

I'm 5'4 tall, so have to buy suits "Short." Becomes very strange with having a wide chest/back and short height.

[arpeejay]

http://www.facebook.com/arpeejay

[musclstud]

Originally Posted by arpeejay

It may be that regular jackets may work better for you, given the likely size of your torso and arms. Check it out sometime!

xoxo

Richard

They are too long. Tried it out as well. Just got a short and did the best I could.

[bulkybud]

Originally Posted by musclstud

Of course not! I hope that was a joke, haha. I plan on getting even bigger!

It was certainly a joke.
In spite of what I have heard from others, I don't think I can ever look at myself in the mirror and conclude I'm 'too big.'

bulkybud

[musclstud]

Originally Posted by bulkybud

It was certainly a joke.
In spite of what I have heard from others, I don't think I can ever look at myself in the mirror and conclude I'm 'too big.'

bulkybud

Part of it is, I'm just at the cusp of big in my own opinion! Have't hit it yet. I am JUST starting to have issues like the suit one, so I aim to have more, haha

[helliot]

Originally Posted by musclstud

I'm 5'4 tall, so have to buy suits "Short." Becomes very strange with having a wide chest/back and short height.

Nothing hotter than a short, wide man. Just saying.

[bulkybud]

Well, here's testing the waters...

Today I posted on social media that I helped a neighbor who was locked out of her house by just making her stubborn existing key work. I mentioned we thought of trying to open a window and a friend from a non-profit group I'm part of chimed in and said, "He could never fit through a window. Have you seen his muscles?"

Wow!

bulkybud

[reborndragon]

A local organization posted a newsletter that had a collage of photos, including one of me and two close friends that was taken over a year ago. One of us (the one female that was in the photo) saw it first and messaged us both saying "this picture seems like I'm in the twilight zone, since both of you went and sprouted muscles since this picture was taken." Needless to say that was a serious ego boost.

[CreatineBoy]

Six Weeks from my last massage...... my regular masseur tells me I physically tired him out after a Deep Tissue Massage! I looked at him and he was drenched in sweat from head to toe.

I usually go every two weeks but some how I got busy until now. He told be my arms and shoulders had grown substantially that his hands literally could not reach around my bis & tris. Likewise he said it was like holding bowling balls in his palm as he tried to work on my shoulders.

I sat-up from the massage table, looked at his handsome face and said "I promise NOT the grow too fast before our next session". He responded with "No...you can grow as big as you want...just don't surprise me with your size"

I walked out with a huge grin and boner.

[expandingMUSCLE]

The soundtrack to Vampyros Lesbos is available on amazon. Classic stuff!

[bulkybud]

Today at the gym, one of the regulars came up and said, "You've been throwing a lot of weight around today."

While it wouldn't be much for some of the guys here, I was lifting heavy for the morning gym crowd- 275 lb. bench (3 sets of 6- a new personal best!), 310 lb. on the Hammer Strength Chest Press, and 60 lb. dumbbell flies.

He added, "You are going to need a whole new wardrobe."

I told him I would survive in sweats and t-shirts for a while.

bulkybud.

[bulkybud]

Today in the gym, a friend was trying to describe another guy and said, "He was a big guy like you."

When I hear that, the 155 lb high school senior I was does a fist pump and goes, "Yes!"

Background story: in high school gym class we had to line up alphabetically in 'squads' to have attendance taken and I ended up behind the high school hulk, a football player who lived in the weight room. I often got my name called to check if I was absent and had to lean out around this behemoth and wave to show I was there.

bulkybud

[dallasmsl]

Loved it the other day when during my workout three different people asked me if I was getting ready to compete - one so much as went on to tell me how my legs have really grown and now I was so symmetrical. Yes, my head expanded as did my smile. In my own head, though, I know I have a long way to go!

[bulkybud]

In the gym today, a fellow I didn't know came up to me and said, "You've got some arms!"
We chatted a moment, introduced ourselves, and went on with our workouts.

Comments like that always get me motivated to train harder.

bulkybud