I was not maintaining bulky muscles, quite the opposite, but in my ballerina days I ws purely muscle and bones. It felt hungry. Really, really hungry. All the time. Like, totally exhausted but can’t fall asleep because I’m so hungry. Hunger pangs (stomach pain) were just a day-to-day constant.
It was also wonderful though. Gravity had no power over me. I could jump a six-foot fence with my newspaper delivery bag slung over my shoulder. I could vault anything I coud reach with my fingertips. I could beat anybody in a push-up contest. I could do pushups in a handstand position. That part I miss.
I’m 6’ 2" and dropped down to about 150lb for my first Ironman, I did things a little different for my second and stayed above 155lb. Personally I think it felt awesome. There were a lot of times that I was exhausted, and times when I couldn’t eat enough to feel full. And I’m sure there is a bit of manorexia in there with it.
There are a lot of days you want to skip workouts, or binge eat a lot of crap. In general, that’s part of the discipline that makes the process rewarding.
those are contest photos which require the person really work on their electrolytes and fluid intake. nobody can sustain that and off season those lifters are far less ripped.
I have known people who due to genetics could maintain bf around 4-7%year round and still be muscular. they said they got injured more easily in physical contact sports due to no fat cushioning the bones.
“at my lowest weight/highest fitness I would sink in the pool”
Wow, great. i go an 1/8 ton and I’ll sink in a pool. We will all sink in pools without air in our lungs; y converso, with air in our lungs we all float.
Tom Platz said in a seminar that, for bodybuilders, when you look your best, you feel your worst. I think your personal trainer was correct when it comes to bodybuilding competitive shape - it is not sustainable. You have to go on a zero carbohydrate diet and get all your energy from digesting proteins.
Rather like the_diego, when I was training five days a week in judo, I was as close to ripped as I have ever been. I was muscular and I had abs. But it was not exactly intentional - I was training a lot (and walking everywhere - I didn’t have a car).
That was thirty five years ago. I don’t have a pot belly or love handles, but I don’t have a six-pack either.
I was never anywhere near “ripped” but after getting pretty fat during the time I was married I lost a lot of weight once I was divorced. IMHO my ideal weght would be around 160 and I was right around there for a couple years. The main thing I remember was feeling my “butt bones”. Sitting on the floor or on hard chairs started getting more uncomfortable as I lost weight.
Chimps sink if they can’t swim. I sank and could walk on the bottom across the pool when I weighed 140, lungs full of air. At 180, I float on my back all day.
It is impossible to ignore the facial expression.
I have a friend who is a competitve bodybuilder. When he is slimming down to competion weight he becomes a total asshole. Moody, irritable and nasty. Lack of carbs and steroids.