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What is more important to you - being strong or looking strong?

Do you workout to look ripped or to be strong?

  • I'm fat strong and proud! There aren't enough 45's in the world for me!

    Votes: 18 32.1%

  • I work for a ripped look regardless of strength! Max reps and hypertrophy are my game!

    Votes: 38 67.9%
  • Total voters
    56
bblazer

bblazer

Banned
I know you can look strong and be strong, but in reality, most people train for one or the other. Some guys go for the big shredded look while others don't really care about their beach bodies, but are more concerned with how much weight they can move.

If forced into a single description, where do you put yourself?

B-
 
there should be an inbetween option lol mine changes.. right now i just want to get huge and be kinda imitating, i don't need to be shredded. maybe after a while i'll start working on the beach body thing
 
Yeah I would say somewhere in between but I voted for being strong. To me I don't care how you look if you cant throw up some weight in the gym I'm not impressed.
 
i guess i originally started working out to get bigger, not stronger. so i'm voting look strong
 
damn, i work out to be strong not to look strong. Theres nothing worse than seeing a huge guy barely put up some weight. Id hate to be that guy. Id rather look smaller and be able to put up MORE weight

and strength training WILL lead to size gains if you eat. I believe your body was meant to lift "movements" not "isolation" bs, too many guys i know dont do squats or deadlifts or standing presses or weighted dips or pullups or....well you get the idea
 
Way rather have strength than size. My goal is a little different than the option chosen though I want to stay lean for Army fitness but get the most strength out of my bodyweight possibe
 
I try to keep a balance... I like being the smaller wiry bro, who still can outlift some of the huge ones... If I had to pick one over the other, it would be the appearance and low body fat. Think about something: Women are impressed if you lift ridiculous weight, and they like to watch you, but if you're ultra-cut, they feel compelled to explore all those ridges and veins by hand ;) .

Charles
 
Definitely being strong, like a lot of the others have said, nothing looks worse than a big guy who can't put up any real weight!
 
strength...
now i know i am doing a body transformation contest now... but this is just a sidetrack from my other goals atm... also, i would love to see the faces on some of these wanna-be bodybuilders at the gym i go to...
powerlifting has built me some badass legs and a badass back... will be interseting to see how it looks when i shred... i have cut before... but this time im cutting out all the junk i was eating back then, trippling the protein and going for all out shredded...
 
Gosh, I'd have to train biceps again to LOOK STRONG.

Taco-Drol and Nacho-Var help so much with both of these.
 
bblazer said:
Can you add burrito-instrol to make a more efficient stack?

And when did you quit training your bi's? I thought you were going for a really nice peak?

B-
Click to expand...

The options are endless...

I actually do 3 sets of 20 reps of mini band curls once a week. Feel the burn!
 
I like the balance between the two answer too. At my age 50 tho I lean toward looking strong as opposed to totally being strong. Whatever.........
 
I say go with what you have the most fun doing, because at that point it's all about enjoyment. If you have a sport you enjoy kicking ass in, well, then strength, but most of us just enjoy "looking" like we could kick ass in a sport. So it all comes down to what enriches your life the most.
 
I train more to be strong but looking strong would be good too...just not to the point where people aren't sure if I'm female or not. ;)
 
I train for both. 95% of the people involved in my life could care less what I can bench or deadlift, only the few who see you in the gym will even know what you lift.. But i guarantee A LOT more people will care about what you look like. Although I do love hating on guys who look huge but cant put up 225 .
 
needfasp3ed said:
I train for both. 95% of the people involved in my life could care less what I can bench or deadlift, only the few who see you in the gym will even know what you lift.. But i guarantee A LOT more people will care about what you look like. Although I do love hating on guys who look huge but cant put up 225 .
Click to expand...

Just a thought...but when my happiness depends on what other people think about me and my appearance, I need to rethink my mentality and purpose in life.
 
After 30 years of lifting, I look as strong as most anyone my age. But I just love being stronger than the young bucks that think they are bad and just constantly look at themselves. If you lift for strength, your body has no choice but to get bigger.

If I was in the dating scene my viewpoint may be different, but I doubt it. My wife of 25 years loves my size and strength, and that is what matters to me.
 
I'd prefer to both look strong and be strong. If forced with literally only being strong or looking strong, but not actually being strong I would prefer to just be strong.

That said it's pretty easy to be big AND strong if you eat enough AND have average or better genetics. Waaaay too many guys are so concerned with their 6 packs and "looks" that they will never graduate to actually being strong in the first place compared to a strong lifter(ie. weightlifter, powerlifter, strong man etc).

Everyone has varying opinions on what constitutes strong. I do believe that most could come to a reasonable agreement on the subject if they were to lay out a set of lifts that compared to the average sedentary man would prove the lifter to be strong enough as to distance himself considerably enough from the common man to be considered "Strong" in general yet perhaps not particularly strong in several lifting circles opinions.

I'm running on here abit, but there is one thing I can say and that is that strength and size do have a pretty solid relationship provided the person eats an adequate amount of food to drive muscle growth.

I have known maybe a dozen casual bodybuilders(aka lifestyle not competitive) that were very decently sized and built in the range of 205-230lbs in attractive condition and not one of these guys benched any less than 275lbs for 8 reps and the average seemed to be around 315 for reps to have a considerably muscled upper body particularly in the chest, shoulders and triceps.

This is just one particular lift emphasizing a few particular muscles, but this observation has been pretty damn spot on from what I have seen from typical gyms in the past 17 years.

I have not seen one guy that could bench 405 for a decent raw rep in person that was not pretty damn big. Granted, I have seen several guys on youtube in the range of 195-215lbs bench this much, but these guys are typically genetically quite abover average at least in the upperbody. "Most" guys that have gotten strong enough to bench 405 or more raw have developed considerable muscular bulk to press that much weight up.

It's very easy to say oh man 405 is nothing, but only someone significantly above the genetic average would make such a statement. I have known a handful of hardworking powerlifter's over the years that were genetically average and in some cases below average on the bench press(often related to arm length/narrow shoulder girdle) that will never bench that much even in a single ply shirt.

Anyhow enough rambling from me.
 
b fold the truth said:
Just a thought...but when my happiness depends on what other people think about me and my appearance, I need to rethink my mentality and purpose in life.
Click to expand...

Im not pointing fingers at you but even most people that lift for strength are usually comparing themselves to the guy next to them doing the same lift. Soi guess their hapiness depends on other people knowing how strong they are.

I personnally started training to be bigger but now after 2 years i realized that strength is just as important for me and my goals are to lift more weights than the guys around me :chomp:

I wouldnt allow myself to turn fat though even if it would mean getting stronger
 
I'm making a conscious effort to look stronger than I am this year.. dropping 20 lbs and just being more healthy, less stress on my body.. but hey, i'm getting older, the only person i want to impress now is me..
 
b fold the truth said:
Just a thought...but when my happiness depends on what other people think about me and my appearance, I need to rethink my mentality and purpose in life.
Click to expand...

Good point. Although my happiness doesn't depend on what others think of me. I was just making the point that overall people care more about what you look like rather than numbers you can put up in the weight room. But if you're like me you gotta be the alpha male in both categories!! :evil:
 
I cant vote Really limited options there!
I dont lift to be able to lift more than anyone else my size in the gym. Nor do i lift to look like a Spartan.
I lift FOR ME and what i want. I want to be Bigger and stronger. I feel Full inside when i start putting on size. and Feel confident about myself when i add weight to MY exercises.
Screw the Guy in the GYM flexing in the Mirror in between sets. He could bench 450 squat 600 and curl 180 and i wouldn't give a dam. because his power doesn't scare me, impress me nor does it make me feel inadequate.
Just my .2cent.
 
needfasp3ed said:
Good point. Although my happiness doesn't depend on what others think of me. I was just making the point that overall people care more about what you look like rather than numbers you can put up in the weight room. But if you're like me you gotta be the alpha male in both categories!! :evil:
Click to expand...

I understand...and shouldn't have come across as I was pointing fingers at you.

I'm just at that point where I'm tired of trying to look good because that holds back my performance.
 
If performance is the goal and bodyfat % isn't a significant performance effector ie. powerlifting, weightlifting, strongman provided cardio is sufficient then I wouldn't worry about appearance.

I'm at the point that another year of consistent training and compared to your average, medium built gym lifter I'm going to be fucking huge and way stronger. At that point since I don't have any serious competitive plans atm and have an idea just how strong I would like to be while looking like X image I'll probably start slowly leaning out.

For me squatting 500lbs for 5 reps with just a belt to below parallel and benching +350 for 5 reps at like 240lbs decent looking bodyfat% is where I'm aiming for long-term and sustained.
 
I definately have to have both....no two ways about it. Extra lbs of nothing seems to negatively impact my lifting in the gym. FAT, you all know what I mean.
 
Don't get me wrong, I like to lift as heavy as I can, but I want to look strong. It is a big turn-off to see some guy lift a ton of weight who has a giant belly and a swollen head. He might be stong, but he is not sexy.

RD
 
thatbloke said:
exactly, its a great feeling being strong but realisticly i also wanna look it since it shows i put in the hard work

but at the same time it be pretty cool if i was 150 pounds and could snatch 200kg, man would fukers shit there pants wen i pick up a motorbike and throw it at them HAHAHAHAHA

o man, i gotta go watch some dragonballz, those cunts were juicing off there nuts
Click to expand...

This made me lol
 
I'd like to knock off this freaking body fat and cutt up. I see a lot of guys that look like truckers that are hugh and look strong, but I want to have as much size with defintion while having all around strength.
 
I didn't think about it much at the time when I had this pic taken a couple months ago, but I've gotten more WOW factor than I ever do on my cut appearance... I'm holding a Federal SD-10 civil defense siren head on a 10-hp 3 phase motor. I didn't realize it at the time either, that the thing weighs 520-590 lbs (depending on which version of motor it has)! No, honestly I didn't deadlift it; I took it on at hip-height and stood with it for a few seconds. My wrists, knees, ankles and back were sore for a week :cool:

Charles
 
look strong. The compliments and the looks the women give you. Priceless. I will never want to look round with a pot belly . f**k that.
 
I train to be the strongest mofo around. Looking strong is a plus I guess.
 
I think a lot of people would say they'd rather be strong as kind of a reaction to people who look great but aren't stupid strong. Since I don't play sports, have a demanding job, compete, or have a desire to rip someone's head off, I think I'd rather just look strong. But of course both are ideal.
 
Well I believe that if I work out for that beach body I should be big and thats what I prefer. It is awesome that I can lift lots of weight too. With that said I used to work for a Greek man who gave me a job as a personal trainer in HS. He looked overweight (slightly), was going bald, wore sports like goggles for glasses but that motherfucker was strong as an ox. Would I trade that strength for a nice beach body???Prolly not.
 
I have nothing to prove I just wanna look good... girls rarely hit on me when i'm lifting weights compared to when i'm stretching or doing cardio and about 90% want a ripped lean guy over a gorilla juice head with no abs and honestly unless you do physical labour or play certain sports what good is being strong gonna do for you?
 
Ya know I have to admit that I don't look my best right now.

I look like a stocky guy with abit of a gut. Not a beer gut, but like stocky construction dude. Girls don't hit on me.

Sometimes it get's me down, but then I realize I don't lift weights to look good for girls. I life weights to be big and strong. For my personal enjoyment and it's something I learned awhile ago.

I'm not saying all guys that are predominantly concerned with their physical proportions and bodyfat % don't like training for what it is, but if tomorrow every girl stopped giving a fuck what a guy looks like I can guarantee there would be ALOT less guys hitting the gym.


One last thing to consider is that while looking good does attract the opposite sex, if you're only repping 225 on bench or lucky to full squat 315 vs a typical beginning gym member that can rep anywhere from 95-155lbs on the bench first time then you are not that strong.

90% of the guys I see in the gym that look good are only moderately stronger than your untrained guy. Even less difference from a guy that does hard labor for a living. When I wasn't even lifting weights, but working construction I was demonstratably stronger than most gym dudes. Things like stacking 3-100lbs plates and picking them up to the chest.

When guys see me they assume I am strong. Then when I lift even more than they might have guessed it's like that is how it should be.

Who cares if you have a 6 pack and I have a small gut when I can superman your ass with ease or pick up a +300lbs rock easily?

Form is good, but without function it's just pure vanity imo.
 
Being strong. I am all about function. I want to be able to chase my son around the house and do things that most dads my age can't with their children. I like being able to utilize my strength. My size is just a byproduct of my strength training.
 
funny, i have been doing this body transformation, dropping bf and gaining some muscle and getting stronger at the same time... im probably coming close to hitting a wall at how strong i will be at this bf%... but still, you can have both, not easy... but it is possible...
now, why do i prefer the strength? well, i find it very self satisfying to walk up to the big guy/ strong looking guy in the gym and smoke him on the squats or deads...
thats the alpha male in me i guess... i know there are guys out there a lot stronger than me, just trying to mark my territory lol...
 
Once I dieted down and got leaner I suddenly realised how much better everything was once I was lifting to look good rather than just to squat/dead/bench more weight. I still care about strength now just not exclusively
 
Don't get me wrong, and I sincerely am not trying to be a dick, but I just really don't understand these numbers and replies. I honestly am asking the question, why would you want to look strong and not be able to actually be strong? To me its like the squid that buys a BMW s1000rr or 'busa and can't do anything but ride it in a straight line.

Maybe its just my frame of reference. I train to be strong. I want to be the one people come to ask for help lifting or moving things. I want to be competitive with my strength. I don't want to be a showpiece.

Again, I really don't want to offend anyone and if I did I apologize.

B-
 
BBlazer, I think it's an evolution of sorts. When we are younger we all want to look good so we can get the girls. It hides our own unique insecurities for while. We want to be the biggest and best looking. When we start to age we learn more of what is important. We start to get aches, develop our relationships, our lives...our kids. We get a job we settle down in, usually not one (Such as my case) that makes training easy. We learned from our mistakes about training and about life...we just have time to make more mistakes. I realized why I chose powerlifing,...it wasn't to be the strongest, it was just to get away from the narcissism that I was obsessed with when I was young. I wanted to be productive and be able to apply function to all that useless hypertrophy that I had developed. Powerlifting was just the next evolution. Now as a man of 38, I am going to try my first strongman because to be honest, it is that curiosity of pushing my limits and displaying what I have worked hard to do.

I honestly just think it is an evolution of priorities to get to where we are both at.
 
At this point i would be happy to just look strong!

I am 37, started lifting for the first time about one year ago and the last 6 months very consistent using starrs 5x5.

In six months I made the following progress...

Dead... 135 to 315lbs.
Squat...115 to 255
Bench...155 to 225
Military...88 to 173

If you saw me walking down the street you would think I never touched a weight...yes I am bigger but not as big as I expected to be.


Anyways maybe because I am a Eco 6'-4" @ 220lbs...





Posted with my Droid EO Forum App
 
C.K. said:
I have nothing to prove I just wanna look good... girls rarely hit on me when i'm lifting weights compared to when i'm stretching or doing cardio and about 90% want a ripped lean guy over a gorilla juice head with no abs and honestly unless you do physical labour or play certain sports what good is being strong gonna do for you?
Click to expand...
this ^^^^^
for chicks - look strong
for work/competition - be strong
 
Personally, i'd like both but if i had to choose?
Looking strong, i don't like my current look's at the moment and this is what im aiming for, altough to be strong you could get a great chance of looking strong.
 
For me being strong is much important than looking strong.
I am working in gym for last 4 months and I told my gym coach that I want to get strong.
How will you feel if skinny but strong person beat muscular person!!
I have experienced such moments while watching wrestling.
 
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