Let’s start with all of my upper body muscles. Why, no matter how much strength and endurance I have at any given time, do I always look like a combination of a strung-out junkie and a pasty computer tech in my torso and arms?
Let’s move specifically to my back. Why must you give out before I’m done working my arms pecs and abs? I don’t want to have a well-defined back, I want muscles up front!
Now, it’s my abs’ turn. Actually, I have no problem with them, since unlike the rest of my non-leg muscles, when I have them in shape I can feel that they’re there somewhere: they’re just not visible below the tiny yet irradicable layer of fat. Why must the gut be the last to go? I don’t wanna go below 185 (at 6’1"), cause I get tired and listless below that, but even at that level I still have a gut.
Which brings me to the legs. Now, I don’t mind my calves: you can actually see them, and it only took 5 years of running 25 miles a week to do it :rolleyes: No. Remember when I said the gut fat is the last to go? That implies the rest of the body is the first to go, fatwise, and that includes my quads. For I’ve discovered in the last 5 pounds I’ve shed, that my quads are still tiny enough not to see, but large enough that the new found lack of fat means that trying to sleep in a position other than my back is like sleeping on a rock!
Make up your mind already? Are you with me or against me?
If you’re interested in losing gut fat while building your upper body I’d suggest switching from running to swimming. It worked fairly well for me, plus I didn’t stink like wet goat after my workout which was the main reason I couldn’t get used to running regularly.
Speaking as a rather large person-6’, 255-with a healthy amount of muscle, I obviously can’t identify with you. However, I can give you a couple tips in regards to building muscle.
First of all, you’re probably not eating enough. You sound like one of those lucky few with an incredible metabolism(I’m jealous!). You need to eat big to get big, as they say. Next, you need to concentrate on exercises that will put on bulk instead of define what muscle you do have. THat means heavy weight with low reps. The combo of heavy weight and low reps will build muscles and strength which it sounds like your goal is. Look around on the net and there are many resources for you to look at.
I’d like to join your rant, but my rant is connective tissue related. Why must my tendons and ligaments fuck with me when trying to get into fucking shape? I’ve recently taken up running after a decade of not exercising. My muscles have bounced right back to their former selves, but my knees and ankles are giving me such grief! My doctor(Mom!), looked at the swelling in my left knee and has sidelined me until next week and I’m kind of depressed about it.
I know I’m a big guy and not made for running, but give me a teeny tiny little break wouldja? Fucking tendons! Fucking ligaments!
Sorry. Good luck with your workouts, and feel free to E-mail me if you need a few good resources.
I want to second what ultrafilter said. If you don’t want to work on every muscle group in your body, you won’t get big. Especially a big one like the back. Sorry.
Plus you only set yourself up for injury by working ont he chest but not the back. Chest and back muscles are complimentary and should be worked equally to maximize strength and prevent injury.
Not to mention people with a chest but no back look as silly as people with a huge upperbody and chicken legs.
I second the eating part. Eat more, dammit. Seriously. Keep a calorie log if you have to–if you’re not gaining mass at x calories, try x+200 calories per day the next week.
And don’t do just any heavy weight/low rep exercise–focus on the compound movements only. You won’t get big doing leg extensions, curls and butterflies. If you must do them, do them at the end of the workout.
Deadlifts, squats, benches, chinups, dips (the last two weighted if you find sets of 5-8 are too easy). Oddly enough, I find I’ve started to develop upper body size a lot faster after I started adding in the squats and deadlifts.
Hm. Just to contribute to the OP, though…my shoulders annoy me. Way too weak compared to where I want them to be. Just about every other body part I have I don’t really hit plateaus; my shoulders plateau once a month. I constantly have to cycle back my weight and then increase it back to a smidgeon above what I was doing before.