Physique or Strength??

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  • sjbtiger
    sjbtiger Posts: 105 Member
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    I have come to realize my goal is physique. I try to kid myself into thinking it is strength, but I'll admit I get a lot more excited about dropping an inch on my waist that upping my lifts. I've hit the point where my newbie gains have stalled, and realizing that I'll probably need to up my calorie intake to up my lifts, I'm mostly okay with staying put and whittling down my bf%. The goal may change when sweater weather returns.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Strong is my goal. I dont' really care too much about how I look. Except, I hate when I'm at the beach, and someone asks if I still go to the gym. I wanna ***** slap them.

    People are saying looks and strength go together and they are wrong. They are different things completely. Also, looks require one to be far more food conscious than I am. I after pure strength, so if I'm a bit pudgy, it's because I need the fat to be strong. If you focus on strength, looks will not follow. If you focus on looks, strength will not follow. They are two different things, and they have different methods of working out as well. A powerlifter can out-lift a body builder, in the same category of lifting, most of the time. Strength doesn't necessarily show. If you want it to show, eat at a deficit. But, then your strength will suffer. If you want strong, you gotta EAT.

    And what about dual sport athletes? You can't be strong and have aesthetics? You can't program a hybrid routine which focuses on a power/strength base and bodybuilding accessory work?

    Pete Rubish
    Jonny Candito
    Ben Seath
    Jesse Norris
    Max Chewning

    And these are just people from YouTube...

    I said, IF STRENGTH IS YOUR GOAL. I didn't talk about anything else. If you want to be strong, that trumps all else, and nothing else matters. Really, really strong guys and gals, usually look a bit fat, because fat is strong. Especially when you are comparing an aesthetic look, or athletic look, versus just being strong. If I want to lift a truck over my head, that's one kind of training. If I want to look like I can lift a truck over my head, that's a different kind of training. I'm not going to get into a big argument about it. I know there are gradients here. There are really strong guys that also look strong. Whatever. I'm saying that for the most part, if you train for strength, you probably wont look strong. But, you will be. If you eat at a deficit, you will be strong, but not as strong as you could be if you didn't. You really have to understand my context. I'm saying IF STRENGTH IS YOUR GOAL, not athleticism, not looks, but pure strength, then you get that result. And, it's a specific type of training to do that. If you want some hybrid of different results, that's a different type of training, and yes, you will be strong, but not as strong as you could be if strength was your ONLY GOAL.

    Who do you think has more capacity to be stronger at 181lbs?

    181 lbs at 20% bodyfat or 181 lbs at 8% bodyfat? I'd say in general, the individual carrying the greater amount of lean mass would not only have the capacity for greater strength, but will look pretty damn good at 181 lbs 8%.
  • BarbellApprentice
    BarbellApprentice Posts: 486 Member
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    Strong is my goal. I dont' really care too much about how I look. Except, I hate when I'm at the beach, and someone asks if I still go to the gym. I wanna ***** slap them.

    People are saying looks and strength go together and they are wrong. They are different things completely. Also, looks require one to be far more food conscious than I am. I after pure strength, so if I'm a bit pudgy, it's because I need the fat to be strong. If you focus on strength, looks will not follow. If you focus on looks, strength will not follow. They are two different things, and they have different methods of working out as well. A powerlifter can out-lift a body builder, in the same category of lifting, most of the time. Strength doesn't necessarily show. If you want it to show, eat at a deficit. But, then your strength will suffer. If you want strong, you gotta EAT.

    And what about dual sport athletes? You can't be strong and have aesthetics? You can't program a hybrid routine which focuses on a power/strength base and bodybuilding accessory work?

    Pete Rubish
    Jonny Candito
    Ben Seath
    Jesse Norris
    Max Chewning

    And these are just people from YouTube...

    Mike O'Hearn
    Jon Andersen
    Stan Efferding
    Dan Green..

    The list could go on and on. More and more crossover these days between physique/BB and strength/PL. Yes, the training emphasis is different, but I don't think it has to be one or the other..
  • iPlatano
    iPlatano Posts: 487 Member
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    Strong is my goal. I dont' really care too much about how I look. Except, I hate when I'm at the beach, and someone asks if I still go to the gym. I wanna ***** slap them.

    People are saying looks and strength go together and they are wrong. They are different things completely. Also, looks require one to be far more food conscious than I am. I after pure strength, so if I'm a bit pudgy, it's because I need the fat to be strong. If you focus on strength, looks will not follow. If you focus on looks, strength will not follow. They are two different things, and they have different methods of working out as well. A powerlifter can out-lift a body builder, in the same category of lifting, most of the time. Strength doesn't necessarily show. If you want it to show, eat at a deficit. But, then your strength will suffer. If you want strong, you gotta EAT.

    And what about dual sport athletes? You can't be strong and have aesthetics? You can't program a hybrid routine which focuses on a power/strength base and bodybuilding accessory work?

    Pete Rubish
    Jonny Candito
    Ben Seath
    Jesse Norris
    Max Chewning

    And these are just people from YouTube...

    I said, IF STRENGTH IS YOUR GOAL. I didn't talk about anything else. If you want to be strong, that trumps all else, and nothing else matters. Really, really strong guys and gals, usually look a bit fat, because fat is strong. Especially when you are comparing an aesthetic look, or athletic look, versus just being strong. If I want to lift a truck over my head, that's one kind of training. If I want to look like I can lift a truck over my head, that's a different kind of training. I'm not going to get into a big argument about it. I know there are gradients here. There are really strong guys that also look strong. Whatever. I'm saying that for the most part, if you train for strength, you probably wont look strong. But, you will be. If you eat at a deficit, you will be strong, but not as strong as you could be if you didn't. You really have to understand my context. I'm saying IF STRENGTH IS YOUR GOAL, not athleticism, not looks, but pure strength, then you get that result. And, it's a specific type of training to do that. If you want some hybrid of different results, that's a different type of training, and yes, you will be strong, but not as strong as you could be if strength was your ONLY GOAL.

    Who do you think has more capacity to be stronger at 181lbs?

    181 lbs at 20% bodyfat or 181 lbs at 8% bodyfat? I'd say in general, the individual carrying the greater amount of lean mass would not only have the capacity for greater strength, but will look pretty damn good at 181 lbs 8%.

    Tell 'em bro. Most power lifters use the "I gotta get fat" as an excuse to eat like animals. You dont need fat to be strong. Lean muscle dominate fat weight.
  • mereditheve
    mereditheve Posts: 142 Member
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    Strong... because it's just so satisfying to be the little lady picking up heavier weights than the big guys. :)
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Fat is really strong. Stronger than lean.

    But, you guys are not getting what I'm saying and keep talking about cross-overs and athletes and body fat. Pure strength is different from all that.

    If raw power lifting isn't a demonstration of strength....then I don't know what is?

    Perhaps your standards for what is considered "strong" are misguided.
  • notamoment
    notamoment Posts: 190 Member
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    Strength, i want to be able to whoop some butt in my jiu jitsu class and being only 5'0 i need all the strength i can get ;)
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
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    A well rounded base for athleticism in terms of speed, strength, mobility, endurance, coordination. Looks don't matter at all, as long as I can fit comfortably in my race suit.

    I've never in my life been concerned with the way I look with my shirt off, or in shorts, or naked. It's something I absolutely could not care less about.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Fat is really strong. Stronger than lean.

    But, you guys are not getting what I'm saying and keep talking about cross-overs and athletes and body fat. Pure strength is different from all that.

    If raw power lifting isn't a demonstration of strength....then I don't know what is?

    Perhaps your standards for what is considered "strong" are misguided.

    Nope. That's what I'm talking about in this case. Youre' making it too complicated. This is why I hate this place sometimes. I wish people would take things a little lighter and stop nit picking every detail. I feel like I have to write a 20 chapter book to fully explain, or else it will be torn apart. Who has time for that?

    Yet multiple people took it the same way...
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    Fat is really strong. Stronger than lean.

    But, you guys are not getting what I'm saying and keep talking about cross-overs and athletes and body fat. Pure strength is different from all that.

    If raw power lifting isn't a demonstration of strength....then I don't know what is?

    Perhaps your standards for what is considered "strong" are misguided.

    Nope. That's what I'm talking about in this case. Youre' making it too complicated. This is why I hate this place sometimes. I wish people would take things a little lighter and stop nit picking every detail. I feel like I have to write a 20 chapter book to fully explain, or else it will be torn apart. Who has time for that?

    You are making zero sense. There are many natural raw powerlifters who are not fat. Strength is more or less about the ability to recruit muscle fibers and the firing sequence. Motor unit recruitment is a trained and learned ability. The more motor units you can recruit, the more muscle fibers you can activate. You don't have to be fat to train or learn motor unit recruitment. Sure some fat guys can be stronger because they have never had to sacrifice strength for leanness, but fat does not mean strength.
  • Hadabetter
    Hadabetter Posts: 942 Member
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    Strength, to help in athletic competitions. But also, at my age (61) I'm trying to slow the inevitable decline.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    Physique or Strength??

    both...but I also don't need to be able to lift like a power lifter nor do I have the time and inclination to obtain the necessary physique for competition or anything like that. I have a life too...
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    My answer is both.

    Physique: Took 1st in women's heavyweight bodybuilding October 5th, 2013.
    Strength: Took 1st in the 82.5kg class at a powerlifting meet March 1st, 2014 (tied a national deadlift record).
  • Humbugsftw
    Humbugsftw Posts: 202 Member
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    Initially for strength. But I found powerlifting too stressful for me, in many ways. Now doing it for physique :)
  • lisalsd1
    lisalsd1 Posts: 1,520 Member
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    When I started strength-training a year ago, my answer would have been physique (mostly).

    Now, my answer is strength (mostly).
  • SemperAnticus1643
    SemperAnticus1643 Posts: 703 Member
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    Strength. I play softball every summer with friends from church and friends. So being the girl that can crank the ball is nice. :) With strength comes the physique. I do have rib tattoos that I wouldn't mind showing off this summer. So it's probably 50/50. I don't believe in doing it for anyone else. The boyfriend has no problem with my size right now but I'm sure he won't mind the size when I'm down to where I want to be.
  • DymonNdaRgh40
    DymonNdaRgh40 Posts: 661 Member
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    Physique for me. Of course strength is a big part of working on the physique but I don't need nor want to lift the heaviest weights.
  • miss_phat_booty
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    being honest... Physique.