*I* think 10-13kg muscle gain in 3 years is good, don't you???

[SteelWeaver]

Last night in the gym, I was powering through my usual shoulders, tris, calves routine - kind of a huge loop - set of heavy shoulders, then a set of light tris, then a set of standing calves to failure, repeat. That way I get through a lot in a short amount of time, my heart rate stays up, and I don't get bored.

So this b**ch stops me in the middle of my routine and starts talking to me, and talking, and talking and talking, and talking. She's the only other female BB in my gym, and she happens to be an expat too. When I first joined there, I thought, Great - another foreign female BB! But the initial impression I got from her was the sense that I was in some way encroaching on her turf or something - I dunno - just a gut feeling the way she looked at me. Relationships between expats are weird here - you'd think they'd be all chummy, but instead they're kind of weirdly suspicious - anyway ..... She spotted me one day - never again - she wrecked my sets - yanked my arms up when I'd barely begun struggling But we've chatted here and there. So she knows I'm doing this comp. in November.

So last night she starts asking me all about my diet and so on - then has the frickin' GALL to tell me a) I'm training too hard, and this is the Japanese way, and it doesn't work, and I should ease up, and
b) I hardly have any muscle, so I shouldn't be competing (!!!!!!!!!!), and I should have more muscle for how long I've been training.

So not only did she stop my workout in it's tracks (eventually I had to just say - look - I HAVE to train now - goodbye), but she pretty much pissed me off badly and kind of wiped out my confidence.

It's true about the Japanese style - women on stage here are ripped, but they don't have much muscle. But I'm not following the Japanese style - I'm not "in" the Japanese BB world - I'm following MY style and Elite style. But I don't have anyone to compare with - I'm the biggest, most developed woman in my gym, but that doesn't mean anything - mostly only some of the men are serious in this gym.

The worst part is she hardly has room to talk - she's fairly biggish, but she must be in the mid to high 20's bf %, and she's doing "light" workouts because she now wants to go for the fitness look - she said she's trained with pro's in the States, and competed there and in Europe, etc etc.

I dunno - I'm upset. She obviously IS experienced, but on the other hand, if she's so experienced, she should KNOW that you don't say shit like that to someone who's 7 weeks out from a comp. AND she didn't even ask where I'd started, so how would she know if I should have more muscle or not? I started at 72kg maybe 24-26% bf 3 years ago, now I'm approx. 78kg @ 14-16% bf. That seems like decent gains to me. Is it not?

And I'm not stupid - I KNOW if you spend almost a year dieting you're gonna slow gains down pretty badly, but dammit, that's just how it turned out this year. Grr

Do you think she's just jealous? Or am I a weeny?

Sorry, very long rant - just upset. Gonna kick her in the butt the next time I see her.

 

[Temple]

So basically what you are saying is that some big fat bitch who would rather stand around and talk the talk rather than walk the walk got to you??? And did she REALLY train with the pros back in the states??? Anyone can make up a line of BS but the proof is in what they do not in what they say they can do.
You're doing just fine, baby!

 

[JJFigure]

IMHO, it sounds like you're doing everything right. It takes years to develop muscle naturally - especially for a woman. I think competing as you're developing helps you figure out how to fine tune your physique and develop the right way. You could have used my approach which was to train for strength for years then at the last minute start competing and have to catch up on several bodyparts to balance them all out. What a waste of time!

Sounds like she was just jealous; too bad you don't have a supportive female fellow competitor at your gym. Just ignore her.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Screw her. Sound's like she's a spoiled little b*itch who is threatened by you because you look awesome and you work your a*ss off and it shows.

You are doing great, you will continue to do great, and you will prove it at the show. Just use her efforts to undermine you by working even harder to shove it right back in her face.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Aw, you ladies are so cool. Thank you. Some days it just seems like, why the hell am I killing myself like this? Most days I'm as high as a kite, and am usually super-self-confident, but I don't have a lot to compare with, so when someone tells you bluntly your progress is crap .... Thank heavens there's elite. At least I get good vibes here.

You're right, spatts. Why did I even give her the time of day? Well, the truth is, I thought I could maybe learn something from her I'm a sucker for ANYTHING/WHERE/WHO I might be able to learn something about BB from. She's a personal trainer there, and I'd seen her pic up of her in comp. ..... Oh well. Who knows WHEN that pic was taken. And, well, then I didn't want to have to be rude about cutting her off - stupid.

I must admit, I've wondered several times why I'm one of the very few people, and apparently the only woman at this gym who breaks a sweat when training - I come out of there dripping. Um, this is normal, right? It has occurred to me that I might be working harder than I should - shit, I dunno - it feels good and seems to be having the right impact, so fuck 'em! I might add, this is supposed to be the cream of BB gyms in Japan - Gold's Gym Japan. Ha ha ha.

What about this though - there's a thread on the training board now - a beginner guy who wants to gain 40lbs in 18 months, and everyone says, sure, no problem. Are women's and men's gains THAT radically different? Is 20-odd lbs in 3 years really any good? I mean, I feel great, I think I look great - I suppose that should be enough for me. But optimising is my motto.

I didn't know anyone could be so mean. I wonder if she was doing it subconsiously???

 

[Sassy69]

One solution: CD player & headphones

 

[JJFigure]

I think 20 lbs. in 3 years is great for a natural woman. For the guy who wants to gain 40 lbs in 18 months - pretty steep odds all those lbs. won't be muscle. Even if he's using AS, he's going to get water and fat weight in addition to muscle. I read these general stats somewhere; the natural male can put on 7-8 lbs. of lean body mass/year; the natural female can put on 3-4 lbs. of lean body mass/year. I don't remember where I read those stats though.