If trained muscles are not flexed...
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yirara
Posts: 9,398 Member
It's probably a very stupid question...
Anyway, you do strength training for quite a while and when you flex your muscles you look really great. If you don't you still look like before. If you sit down your thighs still turn into pancake dough. And even if I show off my visible biceps, someone feeling them will just squash them and tell me there's nothing there.
So basically, is strength training only to look great for those moments one flexes muscles and are pointless (for vanity reasons) otherwise? How, if there's no increased strength within the muscles at rest do they help prevent osteoporosis?
I'm not asking for now as I only fairly recently started again. In the past when I was lifting heavy and doing bodyweight exercises this is the result I had after a year.
Anyway, you do strength training for quite a while and when you flex your muscles you look really great. If you don't you still look like before. If you sit down your thighs still turn into pancake dough. And even if I show off my visible biceps, someone feeling them will just squash them and tell me there's nothing there.
So basically, is strength training only to look great for those moments one flexes muscles and are pointless (for vanity reasons) otherwise? How, if there's no increased strength within the muscles at rest do they help prevent osteoporosis?
I'm not asking for now as I only fairly recently started again. In the past when I was lifting heavy and doing bodyweight exercises this is the result I had after a year.
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Replies
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It really depends on the body composition what the results are. You can definitely tell when a man or woman works out and is fairly lean even when they are relaxed. The upper body is more triangular for both men and women, and you can definitely see the shoulder girdle is much different between those who train and those who don't.
However, the more bodyfat you have the more these results can be obscured. Also, if you aren't training enough for a good amount of hypertrophy it won't be as apparent when your muscles are relaxed.4 -
For me, I do strength training to improve my ability in my other fitness interests (circus and acrobatics). You need to be strong to lift yourself up onto a trapeze or aerial hoop and lift up other people to do tricks, so strength training is helpful and functional in that respect.
Re your query about osteoporosis, resistance training increases bone density which is a completely seperate body part than muscles This is probably one of the most valuable thing about strength training as having strong bones when you are older correlates to a longer life expectancy/quality of life.
The aesthetically pleasing nature of well developed and defined muscles is just a bonus after these two things.5 -
Wheelhouse15 wrote: »It really depends on the body composition what the results are. You can definitely tell when a man or woman works out and is fairly lean even when they are relaxed. The upper body is more triangular for both men and women, and you can definitely see the shoulder girdle is much different between those who train and those who don't.
However, the more bodyfat you have the more these results can be obscured. Also, if you aren't training enough for a good amount of hypertrophy it won't be as apparent when your muscles are relaxed.
yes, that's really is what I was wondering. My weight was on the lower range of normal and you could certainly see a 4-pack (I carry my weight on thighs and bum), but once I stopped flexing there were just bones sticking out, a bulging stomach and basically just a normal body.1 -
TiisTitanium wrote: »For me, I do strength training to improve my ability in my other fitness interests (circus and acrobatics). You need to be strong to lift yourself up onto a trapeze or aerial hoop and lift up other people to do tricks, so strength training is helpful and functional in that respect.
Re your query about osteoporosis, resistance training increases bone density which is a completely seperate body part than muscles This is probably one of the most valuable thing about strength training as having strong bones when you are older correlates to a longer life expectancy/quality of life.
The aesthetically pleasing nature of well developed and defined muscles is just a bonus after these two things.
I might be wrong, but I thought bone density increases due to stronger muscles, basically the bones increasing mass due to the muscles 'pulling' more on them.2 -
TiisTitanium wrote: »For me, I do strength training to improve my ability in my other fitness interests (circus and acrobatics). You need to be strong to lift yourself up onto a trapeze or aerial hoop and lift up other people to do tricks, so strength training is helpful and functional in that respect.
Re your query about osteoporosis, resistance training increases bone density which is a completely seperate body part than muscles This is probably one of the most valuable thing about strength training as having strong bones when you are older correlates to a longer life expectancy/quality of life.
The aesthetically pleasing nature of well developed and defined muscles is just a bonus after these two things.
I might be wrong, but I thought bone density increases due to stronger muscles, basically the bones increasing mass due to the muscles 'pulling' more on them.
Bone density increases based on the demands of the stress employed. Tendons pulling on the bones actually cause the bumps we see at the attachment points over time, for instance the bump on the base of your skull where the spine opens is not present in newborns but develops due to the tendons pulling and deforming the bone over time.
Weight training, as well as other forms of exercise, causes stress on the bones and increases their density.2 -
That is not what I have been taught.
This article explains it far better than I
https://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com/perspectives/strength-training-stronger-bones/
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TiisTitanium wrote: »That is not what I have been taught.
This article explains it far better than I
https://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com/perspectives/strength-training-stronger-bones/
Thank you!1 -
If you can squish a 'visible bicep' isn't that because there's fat covering it?4
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I think it all depends on body composition. I actually have the strange phenomenon where my stomach looks better unflexed. You can see abs when I am at rest, but if I contract my stomach, the loose skin from multiple pregnancies obscures everything.
Yes, thighs will still spread when you sit. I'm not sure how muscles are able to be squished when flexed however unless you just don't have the strength to hold the flex under pressure.
Strength training for bone density in my opinion is WAY more important than aesthetics (although, who doesn't want to look good). Even if there were no aesthetic benefits, I would still strength train for my bones, mobility, balance and strength so that I can live a long, independent, active life.3 -
TavistockToad wrote: »If you can squish a 'visible bicep' isn't that because there's fat covering it?
Hardly at a bmi of 19.x. It's most likely a case of too little strength. I guess my muscles become visible very easily, but actual strength gain is really, really slow, especially on the upper body.1 -
Strength and musculature typically coincide, but not always. Strength is the ability to contract a muscle forcefully. The more muscle you have, generally the more force you can generate. However, a lot of strength gains can be made before muscle mass increases, as you basically train the muscle you have to fire more effectively and more forcefully. If your bicep is easily squished, you either have fat covering it, very little muscle, and not much strength to keep the muscle tensed when pressed upon.1
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TavistockToad wrote: »If you can squish a 'visible bicep' isn't that because there's fat covering it?
Hardly at a bmi of 19.x. It's most likely a case of too little strength. I guess my muscles become visible very easily, but actual strength gain is really, really slow, especially on the upper body.
Hmm, if you mention strength, do you lift weights? have you noticed you can lift heaver over time? I still got plenty of fat covering my muscles but I certainly went from 8 pound dumbells to 13 pound ones, so I know I got more strength.0 -
Katzedernacht wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »If you can squish a 'visible bicep' isn't that because there's fat covering it?
Hardly at a bmi of 19.x. It's most likely a case of too little strength. I guess my muscles become visible very easily, but actual strength gain is really, really slow, especially on the upper body.
Hmm, if you mention strength, do you lift weights? have you noticed you can lift heaver over time? I still got plenty of fat covering my muscles but I certainly went from 8 pound dumbells to 13 pound ones, so I know I got more strength.
Back at that time I was able to deadlift 80kg (the max I could load in that gym). That was back then. However, my strength gains were super slow and I still could not do pushups, and pullups looked like laundry hanging to dry. Nothing happened at all.
So basically I just started out again about a month ago. My muscles do become more visible if I flex them. And yep, my uppermost abs are visible again as well, but I guess the same will happen again: gaining something to flex, but poor strength gains. And this time I can only do bodyweight.0 -
the other factor i've noticed is you might think your muscles don't show without a hard flex, but ime they do - when you move. i've had it happen over and over where i'll stand still and stare at myself in the mirror and see nothing, and then when i give up and go to turn away . . . LEGS.
so it doens't take a hard flex. just the normal activity of moving around shows them off. i sometimes think the rest of the world sees a lot more of my muscles than i ever do.7 -
I definitely look more fit (than before) even unflexed. My upper body especially. My shoulders and triceps are more defined. Flexed, I look very muscular. Unflexed, I look fit.
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Relaxed muscles are more squishy than flexed muscles (even though they're less squishy than fat). If they weren't, they wouldn't function. Maybe your expectations need adjusting?
Extreme leanness reveals muscles better at any point of muscularity than having more overlying fat. Healthy women at a healthy weight have some overlying fat, and its distribution seems to be more whole-body than in men. Some women (like some men) tend to more readily develop visible muscle size - presumably significantly genetics. Fat distribution (i.e., location) is also at least partly genetic.
Vanity-wise, at minimum, having relatively more muscle at any given weight should result in being smaller (more compact) at that weight. Most people would consider that an appearance improvement. (I lost a couple of jeans sizes at a constant class 1 obese weight by becoming more athletic. Still fat, but smaller, stronger, and healthier.) This is a sloooooow process. Two sizes was a multi-year thing (might be faster if not so much overlying fat). At BMI 20, my arms, even relaxed, showed some definition. At BMI 22, they looked much less so. Muscle and strength about the same, in both cases.
If you're not getting stronger, that argues for a new program. But in a year, for a woman, 6 pounds of muscle would be a good result, and that's not huge volume when distributed over one's whole body.
If, at any strength, when you've been increasing strength, your friends pinch your muscles and tell you there's nothing there, that argues for getting more helpful and supportive friends. 8 -
I look like fit and like I work out even when I'm not flexed and I'm relaxed. Of course I look different flexed...but nobody flexes all of the time. I can generally tell when someone trains whether they're relaxed or flexed.2
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cwolfman13 wrote: »I look like fit and like I work out even when I'm not flexed and I'm relaxed. Of course I look different flexed...but nobody flexes all of the time. I can generally tell when someone trains whether they're relaxed or flexed.
Maybe you should tell the guys at my gym who walk around with their lifting belts always on and cinched up and with chronic ILS (Invisible Last Syndrome)
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It's probably a very stupid question...
Anyway, you do strength training for quite a while and when you flex your muscles you look really great. If you don't you still look like before. If you sit down your thighs still turn into pancake dough. And even if I show off my visible biceps, someone feeling them will just squash them and tell me there's nothing there.
So basically, is strength training only to look great for those moments one flexes muscles and are pointless (for vanity reasons) otherwise? How, if there's no increased strength within the muscles at rest do they help prevent osteoporosis?
I'm not asking for now as I only fairly recently started again. In the past when I was lifting heavy and doing bodyweight exercises this is the result I had after a year.
Your question is not stupid. I learned a lot from this thread. Thanks for asking.3 -
PetiteHabanero wrote: »It's probably a very stupid question...
Anyway, you do strength training for quite a while and when you flex your muscles you look really great. If you don't you still look like before. If you sit down your thighs still turn into pancake dough. And even if I show off my visible biceps, someone feeling them will just squash them and tell me there's nothing there.
So basically, is strength training only to look great for those moments one flexes muscles and are pointless (for vanity reasons) otherwise? How, if there's no increased strength within the muscles at rest do they help prevent osteoporosis?
I'm not asking for now as I only fairly recently started again. In the past when I was lifting heavy and doing bodyweight exercises this is the result I had after a year.
Your question is not stupid. I learned a lot from this thread. Thanks for asking.
You're welcome
I'm learning a lot as well. 2
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