Greg Newton
01-13-2009, 07:44 PM
Back in the seventies Bradley J. Steiner published a booklet about building the “shapely” physique. In it he made the statement that a bodybuilder could look like a Greek God at 180 pounds, but at 200 pounds, look like a dumpy garbage collector. The point being, you could develop your musculature past what looked good on the natural lines of your body.
I didn’t really get it at the time, because I wanted to be muscular and big. Eventually I became big and bulky. But, no matter how hard and heavy I trained, I did not look like one of the pre-steroid bodybuilders. It did not occur to me that if I knocked a few inches off my waist, my upper body and arms would look bigger. Or, if I streamlined my hips and thighs, not only would I change my dumpy look, but I could actually do athletic things with my body.
The Greek and Roman sculptors developed a standard of art based on the concept of the male athlete: strong neck, wide shoulders, pectorals shaped like a bronze cuirass, narrow waist, prominent abdominals, and muscular thighs built for running and jumping. Arms were muscular, but not big. This was the kind of body they idealized for the battlefield and the Olympic field; a body that could fight, run, climb, or throw.
While none of us have the exact same genetics, in general we fit into two types; either the Apollon or lighter boned aesthetic type or the Herculean or heavier boned massive build. In the pre-steroid bodybuilding era you had the taller, wide shouldered Steve Reeves, and the shorter, barrel-chested John Grimek.
Steve Reeves was around six foot in height and 210 in weight, with a freakishly small waist and long muscles. Grimek on the other hand was 5-8 and 190 with large bones and a compact waist. The wrist of an average male is seven inches in circumference. Grimek’s was eight inches around.
Both these men had exceptional genetics and the like of either has never been seen since. That is something people tend to miss in trying to emulate their training. Steve Reeves trained with tension and cramping with an emphasis on working angles that would cripple the joints of an average person. Grimek on the other hand did 1001 exercises, doing everything from Olympic weightlifting, to the power lifts, and to bodybuilding. Throw gymnastics in as well, and you have an exceptionally gifted athlete.
Charles Atlas had a different look from Steve Reeves or John Grimek; a lithe and yet strong look. Atlas, who at 5-10 and 180 pounds was once described by a sculptor as a perfect blend of Apollo and Hercules. The look Charles Atlas personified, that of the Greek athlete and warrior, is obtainable for most people. It is obtainable because of the training he practiced; calisthenics, self-resistance, and running. These are exercises which don’t overbuild the musculature within the natural lines of the body and actually beautify the human form. They also energize the body and pose much less wear and tear to the joints.
The problem with weights for many people is that because of the up and down pull of gravity the muscles are worked through only one dimension. Depending on a person’s leverage the muscle bellies are not developed uniformly and acquire a knotty or overdeveloped look. Weight trainers get droopy pectorals from bench pressing. They get butt and gut from deep squatting. The legs get too big at the top causing “turnip thighs.” From excessive curling, the biceps muscles cramp and tear when extending them.
The older I get, the less appealing the bodybuilder build has become to me. I much prefer the lithe, athletic build as exemplified by Greek and Roman art, and of course by Charles Atlas. I recently attended a pro wrestling show. A couple of the wrestlers were so obviously on growth drugs they looked like cartoon characters rather than human beings. They were carrying so much muscle mass their mobility was limited. The show was the body; not what they could do with the body.
What I am trying to get across is that to achieve a physique that is above the ordinary you have to pay attention to how you respond to specific exercises and to how you build your musculature with those exercises. If you weigh 200 pounds, there is no guarantee you will look the same as some bodybuilding idol. At an average height and medium bone structure, it is better to weigh a more reasonable 160-180 pounds. An extra twenty pounds of muscle could add weight in places that would destroy your aesthetics. A heavier boned person would have the capacity to carry more muscle mass, but not that much more; perhaps an extra ten to twenty pounds at most. It is also important to point out that extra weight, even if it is muscle, still creates an extra burden on the cardiovascular system and joints.
So, if I still haven’t convinced you that the lithe, athletic look is more impressive, let me give a personal example. I’ve been a heavy 210-217. I was strong in the weight room. People looked at me and saw a big bulky guy who looked shorter than he actually was. Now I weigh 188, but the shoulders are wider and the waist is smaller. The neck is more developed, and the hips and thighs have slimmed down from the round look I had. People turn to look.
I look bigger, because my development is more proportionate. I mentioned this before on the forum, and I apologize for bringing it up again, but at my bodyweight of 188, which is light by pro-wrestling standards I still had people at the aforementioned pro wrestling show asking if I was one of the performers. That is not the kind of attention I got when I was bigger.
Size is not where it is at. Are you striving to be like a Greek statue or are you gaining bulk to hoist cans?
I didn’t really get it at the time, because I wanted to be muscular and big. Eventually I became big and bulky. But, no matter how hard and heavy I trained, I did not look like one of the pre-steroid bodybuilders. It did not occur to me that if I knocked a few inches off my waist, my upper body and arms would look bigger. Or, if I streamlined my hips and thighs, not only would I change my dumpy look, but I could actually do athletic things with my body.
The Greek and Roman sculptors developed a standard of art based on the concept of the male athlete: strong neck, wide shoulders, pectorals shaped like a bronze cuirass, narrow waist, prominent abdominals, and muscular thighs built for running and jumping. Arms were muscular, but not big. This was the kind of body they idealized for the battlefield and the Olympic field; a body that could fight, run, climb, or throw.
While none of us have the exact same genetics, in general we fit into two types; either the Apollon or lighter boned aesthetic type or the Herculean or heavier boned massive build. In the pre-steroid bodybuilding era you had the taller, wide shouldered Steve Reeves, and the shorter, barrel-chested John Grimek.
Steve Reeves was around six foot in height and 210 in weight, with a freakishly small waist and long muscles. Grimek on the other hand was 5-8 and 190 with large bones and a compact waist. The wrist of an average male is seven inches in circumference. Grimek’s was eight inches around.
Both these men had exceptional genetics and the like of either has never been seen since. That is something people tend to miss in trying to emulate their training. Steve Reeves trained with tension and cramping with an emphasis on working angles that would cripple the joints of an average person. Grimek on the other hand did 1001 exercises, doing everything from Olympic weightlifting, to the power lifts, and to bodybuilding. Throw gymnastics in as well, and you have an exceptionally gifted athlete.
Charles Atlas had a different look from Steve Reeves or John Grimek; a lithe and yet strong look. Atlas, who at 5-10 and 180 pounds was once described by a sculptor as a perfect blend of Apollo and Hercules. The look Charles Atlas personified, that of the Greek athlete and warrior, is obtainable for most people. It is obtainable because of the training he practiced; calisthenics, self-resistance, and running. These are exercises which don’t overbuild the musculature within the natural lines of the body and actually beautify the human form. They also energize the body and pose much less wear and tear to the joints.
The problem with weights for many people is that because of the up and down pull of gravity the muscles are worked through only one dimension. Depending on a person’s leverage the muscle bellies are not developed uniformly and acquire a knotty or overdeveloped look. Weight trainers get droopy pectorals from bench pressing. They get butt and gut from deep squatting. The legs get too big at the top causing “turnip thighs.” From excessive curling, the biceps muscles cramp and tear when extending them.
The older I get, the less appealing the bodybuilder build has become to me. I much prefer the lithe, athletic build as exemplified by Greek and Roman art, and of course by Charles Atlas. I recently attended a pro wrestling show. A couple of the wrestlers were so obviously on growth drugs they looked like cartoon characters rather than human beings. They were carrying so much muscle mass their mobility was limited. The show was the body; not what they could do with the body.
What I am trying to get across is that to achieve a physique that is above the ordinary you have to pay attention to how you respond to specific exercises and to how you build your musculature with those exercises. If you weigh 200 pounds, there is no guarantee you will look the same as some bodybuilding idol. At an average height and medium bone structure, it is better to weigh a more reasonable 160-180 pounds. An extra twenty pounds of muscle could add weight in places that would destroy your aesthetics. A heavier boned person would have the capacity to carry more muscle mass, but not that much more; perhaps an extra ten to twenty pounds at most. It is also important to point out that extra weight, even if it is muscle, still creates an extra burden on the cardiovascular system and joints.
So, if I still haven’t convinced you that the lithe, athletic look is more impressive, let me give a personal example. I’ve been a heavy 210-217. I was strong in the weight room. People looked at me and saw a big bulky guy who looked shorter than he actually was. Now I weigh 188, but the shoulders are wider and the waist is smaller. The neck is more developed, and the hips and thighs have slimmed down from the round look I had. People turn to look.
I look bigger, because my development is more proportionate. I mentioned this before on the forum, and I apologize for bringing it up again, but at my bodyweight of 188, which is light by pro-wrestling standards I still had people at the aforementioned pro wrestling show asking if I was one of the performers. That is not the kind of attention I got when I was bigger.
Size is not where it is at. Are you striving to be like a Greek statue or are you gaining bulk to hoist cans?