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

Wrong. Here is an excerpt from Lyle MacDonald. If you know the strength and bodybuilding world, you know that he makes the average letsrun.com troll look socially well-adjusted, but you also know that he knows his stuff better than all the supplement whores like the T-Nation writers.

This is completely ridiculous. It annoys me that people who think adding muscle makes them a badass. It isn't our fault he was a bitch in high school. Get real

Strange Times wrote:

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

The fact that letsrunners think it takes steroids/HGH to go from super scrawny to what the kid is now (which is "slightly above average musculature") is freaking hilarious. Wow. And you guys like to think of yourselves as educated?

Broken Knees wrote:

This is completely ridiculous. It annoys me that people who think adding muscle makes them a badass. It isn't our fault he was a bitch in high school. Get real

No more ridiculous than kids on Letsrun thinking running 90 mpw makes them badass.

Broken Knees wrote:

This is completely ridiculous. It annoys me that people who think adding muscle makes them a badass. It isn't our fault he was a bitch in high school. Get real

^^ this. Clearly the kid didn't eat properly most runners are not that skinny. No protein, running 70 miles a week, and only running 4:43? Are you kidding me? Most decent high schoolers could run that time on 30 mpw and not look emaciated. Good for him though for finding something he likes.

OMG, you are a tool. Anyone who has ever lifted weights without steroids knows 5-10lbs of muscle a year is a good year.

There's no way that guy is 123 pounds in the before picture, not to mention the laughable 5% body fat claim. If you're going to lie in the very beginning of your story, why should people believe anything else you say? And he's not 7% body fat at the end, either.

justanothersarcasticguy wrote:

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

If you enjoy what you are doing you are never doing the wrong sport.

Dennis Reynolds wrote:

If you enjoy what you are doing you are never doing the wrong sport.

I like this. We could all do well to remember this.

I think you are confused with losing weight... .5 to 2 lbs a weight loss is the goal. If a guy could gain .5 lbs of muscle a week, that's 26 lbs a year, and guys who have been bodybuilding for 10 years would have 260 lbs of muscle, all this without steriods. Get a grip. You are an idiot.

A couple of things here:

1. If you go to McDonalds, Burger King, etc. You can order a cheeseburger without the meat. That is something they do for vegetarian customers, so he is probably referring to that. That is probably also why he was made fun of by his friends, since they heard him order it that way. I recall that it was a big thing among the girls in my High School for a while; they all ate those things all the time. Now they have all kinds of options for vegetarians, but that wasn't the case even like 5 years ago.

2. Kid is kind of odd looking so he isn't getting tail at a bar regardless of his body.

3. Most girls I know prefer a thin, toned man to a meathead, but I hang out with self-respecting women, not strippers at dance clubs. Maybe I wouldn't be able to bang as many trashy whores from the dance club scene. I am fine with that. You can keep your shaved bodies and TapOut/affliction shirts.

4. No way this kid is 6 feet tall at 160-something looking like that. He is 5'8" at most.

I played soccer in college and still have the same build now, even though I run more often than play soccer. I hit the weight room 1 or 2 times a week and look fine. You people need to understand that with bodies, there is a law of diminishing marginal returns... You get to a point where you look like a clown. Think Pumpy (http://hotchickswithdouchebags.com/2009/03/26/the-immortal-pumpy/)

A gain of 18 1/4 pounds of lean muscle mass is the most that's ever recorded over a year.

whatever, dude... wrote:

I think you are confused with losing weight... .5 to 2 lbs a weight loss is the goal.

If a guy could gain .5 lbs of muscle a week, that's 26 lbs a year, and guys who have been bodybuilding for 10 years would have 260 lbs of muscle, all this without steriods. Get a grip. You are an idiot.

Actually the 0.5-1lb/week (2lb/week is a big generous) is the usual idea for most beginners/novices/intermediates. Obviously the gains will slow down as you build muscle. So you're actually incorrect, although obviously as you progress more it becomes more difficult to add weight (which is why guys who have stalled out after many years sometimes resort to steroids).

I fail to see where the connection to Crossfit is.

This guy has worked hard in the weight room but there isn't much overlap with crossfit.

truther wrote:

A gain of 18 1/4 pounds of lean muscle mass is the most that's ever recorded over a year.

No.

I hope you realize that like 60-90% of that 1 lb per week is in increases in body fat and water not lean muscle. The body can only put on so much muscle in a short period of time. Muscles take time to adapt to new stress loads. The protein turnover rate in muscles is on the order of several months. The best estimates suggest you can't add more than an ounce a day even under optimal training regimes. That would put you at less than a half pound a week. Science shows that you can't add more than 20-22 pounds of lean muscle a year.

Hiya Folks wrote:

whatever, dude... wrote:

I think you are confused with losing weight... .5 to 2 lbs a weight loss is the goal.

If a guy could gain .5 lbs of muscle a week, that's 26 lbs a year, and guys who have been bodybuilding for 10 years would have 260 lbs of muscle, all this without steriods. Get a grip. You are an idiot.

Actually the 0.5-1lb/week (2lb/week is a big generous) is the usual idea for most beginners/novices/intermediates. Obviously the gains will slow down as you build muscle. So you're actually incorrect, although obviously as you progress more it becomes more difficult to add weight (which is why guys who have stalled out after many years sometimes resort to steroids).

Strange Times wrote:

I hope you realize that like 60-90% of that 1 lb per week is in increases in body fat and water not lean muscle.

Science doesn't explain everything.

That guy used to be 5% BF and is at 7% BF now. So 90% of his gains are real muscle. But nice try for making up facts.

No facts are made up. In fact I bet you could find the same facts on any reputable body building website. The guy is lying about what he did. The before pictures aren't accurate and his initial weight/body fat and his final weight/body fat are wrong. Science limits the rate at which you can gain muscle. If someone claims they gained more than 20-22 pounds in one year - they are most likely lying.

Xfitguy_the_real_one_1 wrote:

Strange Times wrote:

I hope you realize that like 60-90% of that 1 lb per week is in increases in body fat and water not lean muscle.

Science doesn't explain everything.

That guy used to be 5% BF and is at 7% BF now. So 90% of his gains are real muscle. But nice try for making up facts.

If you think that before picture is 5% bf, you dumb.