Successful HS miler, sick of being weak, gains 40 lbs and never looks back

Dear XF guys:

Have fun with your Arnold physique when you get old.

Love you lots,

redux

http://www.brokencountry.com/webimages/arnold_schwarzenegger_fat.jpg

redux wrote:

Dear XF guys:

Have fun with your Arnold physique when you get old.

Love you lots,

redux

http://www.brokencountry.com/webimages/arnold_schwarzenegger_fat.jpg

Hahaha your skinny dweeb jealousy is so unbecoming:

You honestly think muscle turns into fat or something? He became a busy famous moviestar/governor and obviously decided working out (and his steroids) weren't worth the trouble due to his busy schedule.

These old guys who are still in shape could easily pull more tail than you at a bar.

I was 175lbs in high school and ran a heck of a lot faster than this dude, so I don't really see the success story, here. There are a whole lot of people out there who are both bigger and faster.

bigger and faster wrote:

I was 175lbs in high school and ran a heck of a lot faster than this dude, so I don't really see the success story, here. There are a whole lot of people out there who are both bigger and faster.

I was 275 and ran a 3:30 mile and you and I both have provided the same amount of proof!

To be fair the guy was really underweight (if the numbers given are correct). 6 feet and 123 yields a BMI of 16.7. Under 18.5 is considered underweight, and under 16 is considered "severe thinness".

And with a body fat of 5%, which isn't unheard of for a runner, he probably had very little muscle mass.

I do not think this is a story of a successful HS miler getting tired of running. I think this is a story of a slightly above average HS runner giving up on running to go after body image instead because the latter was easier than running. Looking at his times, he clearly got to the point where the men are separated from the boys. Most HS runners can get to 16:30 5k/4:40 1600. Going beyond that is a real challenge for high school kids. It can especially be challenging for kids who get a growth spurt and end up 6 foot+ before they have filled out. This kid should have stayed with running and done some reasonable strength training. He would have been able to keep dropping his times. Now, he will be stuck in the gym pumping iron while his friends are out enjoying running and racing.

Flagpole wrote:

I find the story there not credible. He says he could barely bench the bar. The bar weighs 45 pounds, so come on.

This is correct. When I was in HS we would do 3 sets of 15 with two 25lb weights on the bar. So 95 lbs total with the 45 lb bar. This is what all our faster guys would do. I ran 4:30s on a regular basis in HS and my teammates were both a little faster and little slower than me that lifted the same for bench. And that was only one exercise of our weight lifting routine that we would would move fast on. So obviously we could lift more than that fresh and only doing one rep as implied by the web site. So I think the kid could could obviously lift more than the bar, even while doing high rep stuff that most distance runners do.

Precious Roy wrote:

I do not think this is a story of a successful HS miler getting tired of running. I think this is a story of a slightly above average HS runner giving up on running to go after body image instead because the latter was easier than running.

You almost had a good point until the last part there. Maintaining a solid physique is tougher than running. The attention to detail both in training and in eating trumps that of running (trust me, I've done both competitively).

Now, if you're talking about running professionally (which you and I both admit this kid never had a chance to do), then you might have a draw. But since you're obviously not, you're just wrong.

"Stuck in the gym pumping iron?"

His friends are gonna be stuck on the roads slogging meaningless miles. It's all about perspective, something most distance runners lack severely.

Jesus christ, the kid was using the common literary device known as "hyperbole" to highlight the improvements he's made. You guys "calling him out" for "lying" are hilariously and absurdly idiotic.

Peter Pumpkin wrote:

I was 275 and ran a 3:30 mile and you and I both have provided the same amount of proof!

You seem to have missed my point. There are lots of runners who are faster than this guy and at least as big as him (whether or not you believe that I am one of them doesn't change this basic fact). If you see a 167lb guy running the 800m at any random college meet, you wouldn't consider him to be huge. There are plenty of sub 2 high schoolers and ~1:50 college runners who are within a couple of pounds either way of this guy.

Given this, I'm not so sure what the big story is.

Idiots everywhere wrote:

You almost had a good point until the last part there. Maintaining a solid physique is tougher than running. The attention to detail both in training and in eating trumps that of running (trust me, I've done both competitively).

You've maintained a solid physique competitively?

coll contest wrote:

Idiots everywhere wrote:

You almost had a good point until the last part there. Maintaining a solid physique is tougher than running. The attention to detail both in training and in eating trumps that of running (trust me, I've done both competitively).

You've maintained a solid physique competitively?

Yes, it's called competitive bodybuilding. Keep up here, slowpoke.

I would just like to chime in and say that bodybuilding (if you're doing it "right") requires a heck of a lot more discipline than running, even if we're talking about professional runners and such. Bodybuilding requires attention to everything you're doing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. None of this "if the furnace is hot enough, anything will burn" garbage that runners use to excuse their ignorance on the topic of nutrition.

Now, I'm not saying the mental health aspects of it are all that wonderful . . . as it is, as runners most of us have an unhealthy obsession with the sport. Now multiply that by 10 and you have what a bodybuilder deals with every day. It requires a lot more planning and attention to detail overall when compared with even the most complicated running schedules.

And no, not all bodybuilders are stupid meatheads, just like not all runners are nerdy dweebs (although both stereotypes exist for a reason). A lot of people (on both sides) seem to lack any working knowledge of how the other group actually works towards and achieves their goals. I will tell you that the kind of all-encompassing dedication required in bodybuilding makes even the most obsessive runner seem tame by comparison.

An article from a body building magazine that slams running and presupposes everyone wants to be a meathead. What a shock. The only thing that's missing is the cartoon of the skinny kid getting sand kicked at him.

Fkkn meatheads, never change.

illinoisphotographer wrote:

IDK, he could have done both. Symmonds is pretty good looking

http://www.homorazzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/nick-symmonds-tattoo.jpg

Yikes, I only just now saw this post. Symmonds looks emaciated in that photo. Nowhere else but in a running community would you see a scrawny guy like Symmonds and think "he looks like he's pretty strong and buff."

If all you can manage on 70 mpw is a 4:43, then you are doing the wrong sport.

I coach a 17 year old boy who is 5'11" and weighs 112. He can easily bench the bar.

Big question though - why did bulking up make this kid's hairline recede?

All you need to know about how he achieved these results is provided in his own quotes:"I believe that proper supplementation was crucial. "i.e. - he took plenty of anabolic steroids and/or HGH

justanothersarcasticguy wrote:

If all you can manage on 70 mpw is a 4:43, then you are doing the wrong sport.

I coach a 17 year old boy who is 5'11" and weighs 112. He can easily bench the bar.

Big question though - why did bulking up make this kid's hairline recede?

Thought it was hilarious that the first ad I was retargeted with when clicking back to Letsrun run after being on bodybuilder is for "Anabolic Perscription" ... "Powerful. Safe."

justanothersarcasticguy wrote:

If all you can manage on 70 mpw is a 4:43, then you are doing the wrong sport.

I coach a 17 year old boy who is 5'11" and weighs 112. He can easily bench the bar.

Big question though - why did bulking up make this kid's hairline recede?

I agree with your call on the mileage and end result. I don't think his hair is receding though...just a different hair cut.