What have you learned in the last year?

[hawkmoon]

The "manosphere" is a Huge collection of people. That documentary just used the people he wanted to make it look bad and trash the entire "community". I like Justin Waller and Myron. The rest of those guys I've never listened to a single word of theirs But yeh there are always grifters in any "community". That doesn't mean all or even most are.

I have felt this way long before the documentary. 95% I have seen are grifters and frauds.

 

[AllLoadedUp]

I have felt this way long before the documentary. 95% I have seen are grifters and frauds.

We don't listen to the same people then. You do realize that the media says Joe Rogan and Theo Von are part of the "manosphere"? That is hilarious. They're not. The media is clueless. As are most people about it. Not saying you are.

 

[hawkmoon]

We don't listen to the same people then. You do realize that the media says Joe Rogan and Theo Von are part of the "manosphere"? That is hilarious. They're not. The media is clueless. As are most people about it. Not saying you are.

Fair point — media overuses “manosphere” and lumps in Rogan/Theo Von unfairly. I don't listen to any of them. Rogan I followed 12+ years ago when he was sane.

The ones you mention push heavy “women are hypergamous/enemy” framing and rely a lot on courses, coaching, and keeping guys angry/frustrated for revenue.
Some basic advice is okay, but the overall model feels more like resentment-fueled content than genuine role models.
Survivorship bias is real too. Plenty of successful men don’t sell that worldview.

Agree to disagree.

 

[Mufasa123]

I have felt this way long before the documentary. 95% I have seen are grifters and frauds.

It's hard to sell change and consistent work over time (discipline). Way easier is a pill.

What used to irk me the most was the fitness industry taking advantage of and ripping off the people who didn't have knowledge, yet were truly ready to commit to change and discipline. Fucked those people.

Planet Fitness is another issue - maximize the people that don't show up often, are unsuccessful yet keep their hope alive and payments low so they don't quit. Most gyms charges similarly for all members but what constrains revenue and membership is floor space. A dedicated person shows up every day and takes up space (hence lunk alarms and nice general but poor equipment for serious lifters). The most profitable members pay but never show up (no resource hit if they aren't there). And if those fuckers do show up, give them pizza and donuts. Keep them unsuccessful and discourage the again so they go back home and don't cancel again.

 

[AllLoadedUp]

Fair point — media overuses “manosphere” and lumps in Rogan/Theo Von unfairly. I don't listen to any of them. Rogan I followed 12+ years ago when he was sane.

The ones you mention push heavy “women are hypergamous/enemy” framing and rely a lot on courses, coaching, and keeping guys angry/frustrated for revenue.
Some basic advice is okay, but the overall model feels more like resentment-fueled content than genuine role models.
Survivorship bias is real too. Plenty of successful men don’t sell that worldview.

Agree to disagree.

I don't wanna get in a big discussion on here. But. You don't believe Hypergamy is real? Not sure what you mean by "enemy". Hypergamy has absolutely nothing to do with "enemy" or even right or wrong. It is neither good or bad. It is simple reality.

 

[hawkmoon]

I don't wanna get in a big discussion on here. But. You don't believe Hypergamy is real? Not sure what you mean by "enemy". Hypergamy has absolutely nothing to do with "enemy" or even right or wrong. It is neither good or bad. It is simple reality.

You wouldn't have posted that if you really didn't want any discussion

I agree that basic hypergamy exists, to an extent, both men and women tend to prefer higher-value partners. No argument there.
What I don’t like is the heavier framing from Waller and Myron: women’s ‘true nature’ is to be submissive and supportive to a male leader (as Waller explicitly says), combined with constant ‘stay high value or she’ll upgrade’ warnings.
It turns relationships into a strict hierarchical transaction instead of a balanced partnership.

Anyway, this is a bodybuilding forum. Let’s keep it about training, food, and PEDs. That's more fun.

 

[sir_robin14]

I think the last year has brought out a lot of these new influencer types, and it will only get worse. What I learned is:

find what works for your body and stop listening to all these influencers and want-to-be fitness gurus on social media whose opinion changes like the wind on what the newest fad supplement, cycle, or training split is

Bodybuilding isn’t a one size fits all sport. What works for some people doesn’t work for others, and visa versa. This is applicable to training and gear mainly, but also applicable in some instances to diet as well. As you progress and Find what works for your body, everything should become more intuitive.

Some people respond well to high volume, some respond well to low volume. Some like high frequency, some like low frequency. Some people may respond well to deca, tren, eq, high test, etc (not necessarily all together at once), others may have terrible sides to those compounds or dosages.

People have built impressive physiques with every kind of all programming you can think of. Response rates are very individualized. Bodybuilding is more of a time and consistency game. Sure there’s plenty of ways to optimize and constantly improve your programming but there really isn’t any magic secret

Related to this point, it’s very frustrating to see people cite studies saying “X number of sets is the key to maximizing muscle growth” or something. if you look at the study results it’s always a scatter plot with huge individual variance. Like you said I think social media influencers want to sell people on the idea that they’ve figured out the single best approach that’s going to work for everyone so they can push cookie cutter training programs.

 

[Papabigbiceps]

I have learned that no matter what you do, some people will actively try and ruin you. I learned that sometimes being really good at your job threatens management. I learned that there a signs when management starts to feel threatenes by you, and that when those signs show up you should document everything with emails, and C.C. your personal email to have back-ups/proof. I learned to sometimes these things show you how unhappy you were anyway.

I learned that most people in the professional working world don't have the discipline to stick to a diet or stick to a training regement, and would rather tear you down so that they don't feel as shitty about themselves. I learned how envious people can be because some people have the "look" even without gear.

I learned how much the rest of the pathetic population looks at us like we're absolutely crazy because we LOVE training and can take ourselves into deep waters to get a look that 99.99% of the world could never hope to achieve.

I learned that when you truly don't care about the opinions of others, the others double down their efforts to hurt you.

 

[gauge22-v2]

I have learned that no matter what you do, some people will actively try and ruin you. I learned that sometimes being really good at your job threatens management. I learned that there a signs when management starts to feel threatenes by you, and that when those signs show up you should document everything with emails, and C.C. your personal email to have back-ups/proof. I learned to sometimes these things show you how unhappy you were anyway.

I learned that most people in the professional working world don't have the discipline to stick to a diet or stick to a training regement, and would rather tear you down so that they don't feel as shitty about themselves. I learned how envious people can be because some people have the "look" even without gear.

I learned how much the rest of the pathetic population looks at us like we're absolutely crazy because we LOVE training and can take ourselves into deep waters to get a look that 99.99% of the world could never hope to achieve.

I learned that when you truly don't care about the opinions of others, the others double down their efforts to hurt you.

This is absolutely true. I started a new position in December, after my last company was acquired.

I am the head finance guy. My boss is a CEO with a CPA. The basic accounting function in this company is dog shit, truly despicable for its size.

I have spent all my time since starting getting them cleaned up, more efficient etc.

I brought up numerous things to my controller and the CEO that needed "improvement".

I received my performance review, done by the CEO, and it was scathing. It was also obviously done using AI/LLM...this despite him preaching how important personal connections and communication is...lol.

The review focused on wow I am not performing up to expectations of a head finance guy, which is due to the completely dog shit that I inherited. The "dog shit" manifested under the oversight of the CEO and it is obvious he has taken great offense.

I guess he did not like me implying that his "baby is ugly as fuck" (obviously I did not use those terms).

I have a follow up with his review. I plan on telling him to just fire me as I will not lower my standards.

 

[Mufasa123]

Related to this point, it’s very frustrating to see people cite studies saying “X number of sets is the key to maximizing muscle growth” or something. if you look at the study results it’s always a scatter plot with huge individual variance. Like you said I think social media influencers want to sell people on the idea that they’ve figured out the single best approach that’s going to work for everyone so they can push cookie cutter training programs.

One other big factor for a well trained individual - what did your training look like recently or past 6 to 8 months for example.

Really want to see lower rep strength phase (not 1rm but just increasing load systematically on bar however you can) with moderate to lower volume shine? Spend 6 months training higher volume 10-15 reps.

Want to see 12-15 rep programs shine? Spend 6 months training sets of 5 and pushing up strength or weights used on bar.

All assumes diet is handled correctly otherwise you eliminate or heavily mitigate gain.

All of the above is a factor in these studies that gets heavily overlooked or almost always not even considered. I'd argue the right training modality for an individual's goal provided at the RIGHT TIME is absolutely key and might be the most important factor after he has diet and lifestyle under control. Yet it never ever is even mentioned in these simplistic studies or even discussions.

 

[qbkilla]

Related to this point, it’s very frustrating to see people cite studies saying “X number of sets is the key to maximizing muscle growth” or something. if you look at the study results it’s always a scatter plot with huge individual variance. Like you said I think social media influencers want to sell people on the idea that they’ve figured out the single best approach that’s going to work for everyone so they can push cookie cutter training programs.

Then you have the leading researcher, brad scholfield, conducting studies to failure. Brad scholfield trained with John and demonstrated he either doesn't know what failure is, or he doesn't have the fortitude to achieve it. On a lat pull down for God's sake. I think jp was the one that said these studies are garbage. What an insult to garbage lol.

 

[qbkilla]

I learned that most people in the professional working world don't have the discipline to stick to a diet or stick to a training regement, and would rather tear you down so that they don't feel as shitty about themselves. I learned how envious people can be because some people have the "look" even without gear.

I would add to this and say most gym goers and AAS users. Not so much the part about training...but more so discipline when it comes to fork put downs, tracking calories, and struggling to not give into cravings.

 

[sir_robin14]

I would add to this and say most gym goers and AAS users. Not so much the part about training...but more so discipline when it comes to fork put downs, tracking calories, and struggling to not give into cravings.

On the one hand I firmly believe that people should have a right to make their own choices. On the other hand it pisses me off to not end how many beet red dudes on way too much gear I see at the gym. These guys don’t track anything, don’t get bloodwork, and have no clue what blood pressure even is.

 

[sir_robin14]

Then you have the leading researcher, brad scholfield, conducting studies to failure. Brad scholfield trained with John and demonstrated he either doesn't know what failure is, or he doesn't have the fortitude to achieve it. On a lat pull down for God's sake. I think jp was the one that said these studies are garbage. What an insult to garbage lol.

most of the time I’m also wondering - why do we need a study on this? So much time wasted on questions like “how many sets do I need per week” or “how many rest days should I be taking”. If these people spent half as much time just trying things out as they did asking pointless questions they would have a BETTER answer. I could not care less if a study says that 20 or 30 sets per week is causing better muscle growth. Im going to stick to around 6 either way because it’s what I enjoy and I’m happy with my progress. If that changes then maybe it’s worth asking those questions but I think consistency over time will get you much further than chasing shiny objects.

 

[SouthernMuscle]

On the one hand I firmly believe that people should have a right to make their own choices. On the other hand it pisses me off to not end how many beet red dudes on way too much gear I see at the gym. These guys don’t track anything, don’t get bloodwork, and have no clue what blood pressure even is.

Why does that piss you off, that strangers aren’t tracking their blood pressure

 

[sir_robin14]

Why does that piss you off, that strangers aren’t tracking their blood pressure

Because I don’t believe responsible steroid use is inherently that unhealthy compared to most other scheduled and controlled substances. Granted, there is less enforcement against steroids but the public perception is still pretty negative.

 

[SouthernMuscle]

Because I don’t believe responsible steroid use is inherently that unhealthy compared to most other scheduled and controlled substances. Granted, there is less enforcement against steroids but the public perception is still pretty negative.

So your premise is that if everyone were a model steroid user then public perception would be favorable and then……

 

[SAVAGEPMHNP]

1. You can gain a lot of size with much less gear than you think

2. Technique/form/mind-muscle connection > lifting heavy weights.

 

[sir_robin14]

So your premise is that if everyone were a model steroid user then public perception would be favorable and then……

Well firstly, I never said that and I specified that it’s really none of my business. Secondly, the “and then” is that testosterone might not be viewed as a dangerous “drug” and some poor hypogonadal dudes and their doctors might not be so afraid of a little TRT.

 

[qbkilla]

On the one hand I firmly believe that people should have a right to make their own choices. On the other hand it pisses me off to not end how many beet red dudes on way too much gear I see at the gym. These guys don’t track anything, don’t get bloodwork, and have no clue what blood pressure even is.

They are all over the place. There was a time in my youth I thought this was badass..loading up on gear, pushing the food and scale saying fuck it...get big or die trying. Now that im in my 40s....im glad injury derailed my pursuit of being massive. More than happy being lean, athletic, healthy. I respect anyone's goals and creating the body they want but anyone on gear saying tracking calories or dieting is "too hard" or "too much work" im going to disagree. You have the time to research, buy, inject PED but don't bother to eat clean or be precise with diet? I don't get it.