Hard Work!!! (Must read!!!) page

[Ripped]

Hi folks,
I want to tell a story. I was in the gym yesterday and overheard a few fellows talking about drugs and how the one guy wanted it. He complained his legs were too weak and that he couldn't even squat 300 lbs. The other guy was a regular sized guy (to me), but based on the conversation I some how suspected he was a user as well.

Now I know I'm not a freaky strong guy or anything, but for a guy like me with a small frame, I think the numbers I've hit in my lifts over the years are rather respectable when compared to your average gym goer. I looked at those guys and I told them that they don't need drugs to get strong.

I mean, I realize that nobody is going to be in the NFL, a world class powerlifter, or an IFBB pro bodybuilder, to give a few examples, while being 100% natural. But you mean to tell me that these guys, average gym goers, couldn't get half way descent bodies and numbers without using drugs?

The thought of that really pissed me off!!! Why not just work HARD instead? You have to go to the gym anyways. If you're going to go there for as little as 2-3 hours per week, you're already there and you're time is already spent, so why not make it useful and put in some hard work? I don't understand what's the matter with kids these days.

That's just about all I have to say. Barbells, simple routines, and hard work always worked for me. The same thing goes for diet. Put in the hard work and the muscles will come. Cut the calories and the fat will come off.

It's as simple as that just the way its always have. You don't need super fancy gym equipment, to make rocket science out of your routine or diet, you don't need supplements, and you don't need drugs.

Those kids made me mad. And it makes me want to work harder so that I can be strong just like I have been for years, from working hard.

Peace!!!

[Gorbag]

The thought of that really pissed me off!!! Why not just work HARD instead? You have to go to the gym anyways. If you're going to go there for as little as 2-3 hours per week, you're already there and you're time is already spent, so why not make it useful and put in some hard work? I don't understand what's the matter with kids these days.

That's just about all I have to say. Barbells, simple routines, and hard work always worked for me. The same thing goes for diet. Put in the hard work and the muscles will come. Cut the calories and the fat will come off.

It's as simple as that just the way its always have. You don't need super fancy gym equipment, to make rocket science out of your routine or diet, you don't need supplements, and you don't need drugs.

Those kids made me mad. And it makes me want to work harder so that I can be strong just like I have been for years, from working hard.

Peace!!!

I agree, but most people won't listen anyway! Instead they will nitpick and obsess about all those periferic details that really don't matter, or matter very little. People are pretty good in finding all kind of excuses to avoid doing what is really important for real progress in training and/or dieting. Drugs or magic pills will do them no favour at all...

[Dirlot]

Short cuts to get strong, short cuts to loose weight...all part of the CW madness.

[ecole66]

Just to add to this, why do people spend an hour of their time in the gym doing freak'in bicep curls? I workout around 10am and there are usually only a a couple of guys in the wight room. Monday(New Years Eve) the place was packed but the power rack was empty of course. I swear every person in there was doing some kind of curl, tricep extension, lat raises. Not one person had more than 100 pounds on a bar. Those exercises have their place but to spend that much time on them is crazy. I did squats, press and a little assistance work and was out of there while most guys were still curling away.

[EagleRiverDee]

So many people just want a "magic bullet" now. They want that magic diet pill, that magic muscle workout, the magic way to get 6 pack abs. Tell them to eat clean and exercise and they just roll their eyes. That's too hard.

I see people that would rather have gastric bypass surgery or take drugs with side effects to the heart than just eat clean and exercise. It's baffling. And sad.

[OneDeltaTenTango]

There is an herbal supplement that I just heard about. It melts away fat. You take one and you get a one pack. Take six and, you guessed it....

....having said this, my biggest issue is not supplement envy, or fuckarounditis. It is just lack of full on follow through and consistent application over the course of months. It is a lack of doing the hard work. Got a big job, got a young kid, so I cut myself some slack. I know what to do.....hard work, progressive over time....i just need to do it! That is what a new year is for, right?

[Ghâshûl]

I love my gym! I was in at 9am on New Years Eve, there were six people there total. Me and my two friends, a guy and a girl, all doing deadlifts. They also did bench press. Then there were three seniors (60+) doing barbell cleans and snatches

[Kharnath]

The thought of that really pissed me off!!!

I know exactly what Louis Simmons would say: "Your morals are your morals, not mine. Who am I to judge you? And who are you to judge me?" Also, their drug abuse has absolutely zero impact on your life. Why do you even care?

So many people just want a "magic bullet" now. They want that magic diet pill, that magic muscle workout, the magic way to get 6 pack abs. Tell them to eat clean and exercise and they just roll their eyes. That's too hard.

Newsflash: You can exercise, eat according to your goals AND take steroids. I believe that's what most steroid abusers do.

[Philosopher Dan]

Short cuts to get strong, short cuts to loose weight...all part of the CW madness.

Reminds me of a line from the Lord of the Rings: "Short cuts lead to long delays!"

I wonder how many people end up doing more harm than good with such things (probably most), so that they take even longer to get to where they wanted to go - if they ever get there at all!

[Philosopher Dan]

I think our colleague's outrage is understandable. There is a certain virtue to the work it takes to mold one's body into the image one has for it. Things like steroids seem to bypass that. But those who take them might reap the praise for effort they didn't put in, and that is irksome to those who did.

I also think Prof. Kharnath has a point, though. The fact that others take a short cut to achieve whatever they achieve has nothing to do with the worthiness of our own achievements. Unless we are in competition with such people, and that competition stipulated that such substances not be used - for example, in a natural bodybuilding competition, or a power lifting competition which bans PED's - then what they do and what we do are separate things.

This doesn't mean taking steroids is praiseworthy. A thing can lack virtue, but not necessarily be the subject of moral condemnation - particularly when that thing doesn't affect others. We might feel that the person who takes steroids to get stronger achieves an inauthentic strength. And if friends come to us for advice, we would not likely tell them to take a bunch of steroids! In the end, though, I think it's more of an aesthetic condemnation.

That being said, we might make an exception for someone trying to test the limits of human strength, or human muscular growth potential, or something like that. Again, we might not find such an activity praiseworthy. And someone struggling to squat 300 lbs probably isn't really engaged in that activity. But as an activity for its own sake, I've often felt that there was something different about that than there is in an ordinary gym-goer looking for a short cut.