I worry sometimes that I'm too full of bluster. All hot air and swearing. That maybe there is no kernel of truth or moment of oneness with me within any of my blogs. This is compounded sometimes when I read something that is brief, eloquent and exceptionally well written.
The man responsible for me feeling all self conscious and naked is Mark Rippetoe. If you've known me for any length of time I've probably directed you to his message board or said "that's not what Rip says". He is a strength and conditioning coach, Beyond that he is eloquent and writes exceptionally well, veering from the succinct to the verbose, the touching to the offensive and always related to barbell training and the truths that it yields. He is as close to any that I might call a hero. For a while my stated goal was for him to cordially call me a "silly bastard". Maybe someday.
The passage in question arose when a person posted a video of bodybuilder routine on Rip's message board. As is custom, all the strength devotees jumped on the chance to ridicule bodybuilding and beat their more manly chests. One comment read thusly
I have tangled with Coach Rippetoe on the concept of hypertrophy in the past. Good times. I argue that pursuing hypertrophy (becoming stronger and looking bigger, better, more masculine and more muscular in the process) is laudable while bodybuilding per se (wearing silk panties and lubing your body) is just plain gay. Coach tends to automatically equate a desire to improve one's physical appearance and performance through barbell training with bodybuilding.
I barbell train to get stronger, be healthier and look better. Rippetoe trains (and advocates) barbell training to get stronger and be healthier. To Coach, looking better is only a douchebag's errand.
Understanding another person is a rare thing and so it was necessary for Rip to clarify his position, this is the comment that reminded me of the esteem I hold him in - I appreciate the kind words as always, but please don't mischaracterize my position. I understand that appearance is an integral part of most people's motivations when they begin training. It certainly was mine, and only a fool denies a desire to be perceived more favorably by other humans, as well as oneself. This serves as motivation for beginning to train, and once a person achieves a modicum of improvement in strength and physique, a normally adjusted individual moves beyond the aesthetic as the primary motivator and becomes interested in the various aspects of performance. My position is that when the aesthetic-improvement aspects of training are retained as the primary fascination with it, to the extent that a person wants to show everybody else what he looks like so badly that he enters a "competition" venue designed specifically for this purpose -- or prepares himself for this purpose whether he enters the physique show or not -- then he has become a fucking weirdo. The oil, brown paint, silky underthings, bizarre stage behavior, and questionable juxtapositions with one's fellow weirdos onstage are merely the trappings of such weirdness.
Such behavior is tolerated well when displayed by women, since our culture seems to appreciate such things. And the defenders of the IFBB/NPC may therefore claim that they are the leaders in the transformation of society, the fellows who are at the forefront of the push to objectify both sexes. Fine with me, boys. But it has been my experience that men who so desperately wish to be thought of as being muscular/defined/massive/Herculean that it becomes the sole focus of training, that it carries over into dietary practices that effectively isolate them from normal social interaction with family and friends, and that it finally leads them up on stage in their oil, paint, and underwear to show other men their muscles, are fundamentally different than I am. Better or worse is something we may disagree on.
I'll accept it's cheap to write a blog based largely on something someone else said far better than you could have. Not a great advertising strategy either but Fuck it. I really enjoyed that. Other idiots wrote a lot of stupid shit.
http://strengthmill.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6481
Bodybuilding shows are weird, but I know some and they are nice guys so my own views have yet to crystalise.
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