Frustrating Conversation with Body builder

M

Maria777

Cathlete
Please tell me I am not the only one?

I was talking to my friend's husband who is a body builder.

He believes that the ONLY way to build lean body muscle mass is by lifting heavy weights in the manner body builders do.

He thinks that its ridiculous how people can even think that working out like with medicine balls and the big fitness ball, pressing up the body against the wall and balancing lifting one leg up, and stuff like that, would even work or do anything to their bodies.

Now, I was getting a bit frustated with him. I didn't tell him what my routines were, so he didn't know he was talking to one of those people. SO, I did tell me that he is from a different generation than the ones out there now and that there are other things that people like to focus on: not just getting huge and bulky. x(

He finally got up and left, not upset but kinda just gave up on me.

Has any of you encountered this?

I don't want to put all body builders in the same frame of mind as this person, because everyone is different.

So, I just want to know what you all think.

Thanks

Maria
 
some just swear by their way and they think its the only way. it might have been the mind frame then, but nowadays with research, everybody is learning what works for them. and there is more to bodybuilding and lifting then just size. some do it for strength, some just endurance, and as studies show just overall health for prevenetive bone loss.

i just don't want to argue with them b/c they are stubborn and they aren't going to listen to us anymore then we listen to them LOL!!! and for his comment about getting lean, getting lean has more to do with FOOD then exercise really. he should know that, most bodybuilders radically redo their diets before shows so they drop bodyfat without losing muscle DUH!!! he contridicted himself anyway so not even worth thinking about it LOL.


kassia

http://www.picturetrail.com/ldy_solana

"And do what thee wilt as long as ye harm none"

http://images.meez.com/user03/06/01/04/060104_10010099873.gif
 
Hello Maria,

My experience with one that I have met (and I have seen them on T.V. as well) is that they tend to have a different mentality to myself. Body builders are 'obsessed' (I say that figuratively) with getting bigger. They work to get a certain body shape and size rather than focusing on health and fitness, even though they will say what they do is healthy.

The one guy I did meet once who used to weight train alot was a 'meat head'. He wasn't as knowledgeable as I expected, used to take steriods and trained for 3 hours in the gym almost every day. He was influenced by the men he trained with. He would NEVER think that a woman can know as much about weight training as he does.

It's just a different mentality and it's like that with most people. Some of my girlfriends think weight training will make them look muscular and masculine. They won't even consider it, even though they can see I am so much slimmer than they are. It's weird how people can be so narrow minded.

Yen
 
Thank you! I feel much better.

And yes, it is true about them wanting to be sooo big and bulky! He was putting down this young man that was built but not huge and said that "how can he teach anyone when he doesn't look that he has worked out with heavy weights a day in his life." Poor fellow! I hope he didn't get him an inferiority complex. :(

I told my husband as well and he wasn't very happy about it. My husband supports big time my workout routines with Cathe and he himself was working out some of her videos, like Slow and Heavey, Boot Camp and Upper/Lower Pyramid. Now he is into P90X and wants me to do this with him for 90 days. We'll see. He supported me when I started with Cathe and I wills support him with his P90X.

However, he gives the highest praises to Cathe and her crew. He just wished that she had guys in her workouts so that he could know a bit better how often to stop and much more weight he should use. I know that it is up to us and how good we feel about the weight, but he would like a little guidance in that area. But overall, he gives Cathe a HUGE THUMPS UP!!!
 
I would like to ask this pin-head how he would explain folks in the military and how they get their lean muscle mass! It ain't from lifting heavy weights! I wonder how long your "friend" would last in a military boot camp!
 
I actually have the opposite problem. While I don't consider myself a body builder in the traditional sense (I'm not looking to win any competitions & let's face it, w/o the juice I'm really not gonna put on a lot of size), I do try to lift as heavy as I can go, & I really push myself w/weights.

On the other hand, I do quite a bit of exercising at home with stability balls, med balls, some circuit & core training, etc. So I think I can look objectively at both sides of the coin.

With the onset of the functional fitness I've taken a lot of criticism at my gym--from one trainer in particular--about my heavy weight routine. This guy is constantly trying to change my routine. Everything I do is wrong & nothing I do is right.

We had a conversation last week during which I mentioned something Arnold had written in Muscle & Fitness & this trainer went berserk, something about how Arnold didn't have a degree in exercise physiology, that he did steroids when he competed (hello--didn't everyone in the '70s? And, for that matter, pretty much everyone who competes in "Mr. Olympia" type competitions still does), & how Arnold had a heart attack.

I have to admit this really bugged me. I have 2 degrees in political science but I don't think it means I know more about politics than, say, James Carville, who I think has a degree in journalism. There's something to be said for the school of life. This trainer has a pretty wimpy body, while Arnold looks d*mn good for his age--in fact, better than this 32 YO brat. Sure, Arnold's made some mistakes in his life, but he's learned from them, & I can't believe any trainer worth his salt would dismiss the knowledge someone has gained from being involved in the fitness industry for almost 40 years just b/c he doesn't have a degree.

OK, now I'll jump off my soapbox. I think the point I was trying to make with all that ranting is that you can integrate both heavy weightlifting & functional fitness into a routine that can give optimum results. As far as the meathead goes, just ignore him--he's the one who loses b/c he's missing out on a lot of techniques that could improve his routine & make it more effective. ;-)
 
thank you for all your support!

Oh, and I forgot to mentioned that he said that he HATES cardio!!! Well, no wonder he puts down the cardio alternatives. :p

I won't bother talking to him anymore about this stuff, unless he brings it up.

And, hey, "cakebaker", by your username I guess you love making cakes?

I do too. I am hooked into Fitness as much as I am in cake decorating. Its in my signature!

I've been doing cakes and decorating for about 5 years. How about you? Sorry, drifting from main subject! :D
 
Cake making

Hello Maria,

Well what do you know? I decided this weekend that I would take up a new hobby making cakes. All this weight training gives me an appetite for sweet food, any food. I thought if I make my own cakes they will be better for me than shop bought ones, and I have something to occupy my time during the weekends (I don't go out much).

Any recipes you could reccommend? I made my first cake today, a low calorie lemon and almond cake. It was alright but it was a little over baked and I didn't drain the lemon of water before adding it to the mixture, so it came out a little soggy in the middle. Here is the recipe if you are interested:

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/C/cook-yourself-thin/lemon-almond-cake.html

It was pretty simple using little ingredients.

I love the new programme on the T.V. right now where they show you how to cook the things you love but in a healthy way.


Yen
 
RE: Cake making

>Hello Maria,
>
>Well what do you know? I decided this weekend that I would
>take up a new hobby making cakes. All this weight training
>gives me an appetite for sweet food, any food. I thought if I
>make my own cakes they will be better for me than shop bought
>ones, and I have something to occupy my time during the
>weekends (I don't go out much).
>
>Any recipes you could reccommend? I made my first cake today,
>a low calorie lemon and almond cake. It was alright but it was
>a little over baked and I didn't drain the lemon of water
>before adding it to the mixture, so it came out a little soggy
>in the middle. Here is the recipe if you are interested:
>
>http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/C/cook-yourself-thin/lemon-almond-cake.html
>
>It was pretty simple using little ingredients.
>
>I love the new programme on the T.V. right now where they show
>you how to cook the things you love but in a healthy way.
>
>
>Yen
>
>

Hello, Yen! Cake decorating sure keeps me busy sometimes and its fun. I watch The FoodNetwork channel a LOT, especially when they have the Challenges on Cake Decorating.

I have some recipes I can share with you, but they are mainly from scratch. I have a basic one that is pretty simple to start with, so I can send it to you if you want. I can also share some cake mixes that are modified to make them more firm and to hold the weight of icings like Fondant. These recipes are mainly for other people that I make cakes for.

For myself, I make low fat cakes as well, mainly from SouthBeach Diet. I think that I have a recipe somewhere for a white cake. I haven't done it yet, because it calls for Wheat Pastry Flour and you can only get it thru the company that makes, King Arthur Flour. I need to go online but haven't done it yet.

However, I do have a chocolate cake recipe that its not bad at all and it calls for regular wheat flour.
 
RE: Cake making

Maria,

Please share. Can I have the one that is basic and the chocolate one? I don't have a lot of equipment at the moment and I don't want to buy lots of ingredients either. And definitely no fancy ingredients that you can't buy from the local supermarket. I want to start slowly.

I don't plan to go into cake decorations yet, but give me time. At the moment I intend to make them to eat so I don't need to make them look nice - a bit like Cathe workout for home use so I don't need to dress up :).

Thank you.

Yen
 
I have a friend who is a gymnast and she looks phenomenal. Granted she does watch her diet so her body fat percentage is low (she does NOT have an eating disorder either), but her muscle mass, strength and definition is to die for! We've had many talks about her workouts and she does NO weights. ALL of her workouts are focused on exercises that use your own body weight, ie. she does "push ups" from a hand stand position balancing herself against the wall. Now no way in heck I can do that, but she started when she was young and increased her strength as well. So it doesnt take heavy weight training to get results!
 
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