My latest on Mike Matthews website

[Tiedemies]

I knew I did the right thing adding shrugs into my program. Had to do something about the upper body seeing as still can't properly bench more than 160lbs. (Though I now do those for sets of 15, up from 8)

Shrugs helped me clean more even with my crappy technique. It's all in the trapzZz. And the last 15 of my 45lbs gained has finally started showing.

We have this word "sikaniska" in Finnish, literally hog-neck, for guys with huge trapzz. The connotation is something highly masculine, to the point of being a bit silly.

[Bigbrother24]

Big strong people mostly just look fat to regular people. The key to having normal people think you look strong is having disproportionately large arms in comparison to the rest of your relatively small body.

And defined abs. Sorry, we who enjoy eating food may not like it, but the reality is that abs / leanness are the main factor that make a guy appear "muscular" to the average person. Which is why Mike Matthews stays lean all year round.

I think it depends honestly if a guy is sufficiently strong for his size I have noticed can actually look like they lift in a t-shirt or just normal shirt meanwhile he will not get as many looks topless meanwhile the abs guy with 14 inch defined arms will look nicer topless however unless he wears an XS t-shirt he will just look like a skinny kid.

Mind you this is judging from a lifters point of view, average people consider guys that do only push-ups and have low bfat to be ripped.

[crookedfinger]

I did read the article. And I support its message. I'm just saying... I've been deadlifting for a decade and have good trap/hip/back development, but last summer when I cut down to a bodyweight everyone on this site would call "skinny" and ridiculous is the first time random people commented on me looking "muscular." I.e., I looked more "muscular" at 165 lbs than at 190.

I know your bias is toward strength and that you find the obsession with abs and biceps to be silly, and I don't really disagree but for the young guys looking to turn heads at the beach there is more to it than eating big and adding weight to the bar. Perhaps that's an obvious point but it was NOT obvious to me for many years. For example, I abjured direct ab training for a long time because it was boring and i figured my abs were strong from squats and deadlifts but if you want a defined 6-pack, the non-genetically gifted among us need to train for it.

This is funny.

5'11" @ 180 I looked skinny and "cut" and according to my wife, "scrawny" also known as weak.

At 235, men fear me, women are in awe of me, children love me and I am repeatedly told how strong I must be. (I am kidding). But the reality is no one, no one, doubts my strength dispite my belly.

I walked into a crossfit box yesterday to train because I am traveling. There were a lot of skinny athletic fuckers there, but it was clear the guy that has 50 pounds on them all squatting and doing weighted chins in the back corner was creating quite a stir.

[BlackCoffee]

Our comrade Feigenbro is returning to powerlifting and has turned into a giant slob

Instagram

[nykid]

This is funny.

5'11" @ 180 I looked skinny and "cut" and according to my wife, "scrawny" also known as weak.

At 235, men fear me, women are in awe of me, children love me and I am repeatedly told how strong I must be. (I am kidding). But the reality is no one, no one, doubts my strength dispite my belly.

I walked into a crossfit box yesterday to train because I am traveling. There were a lot of skinny athletic fuckers there, but it was clear the guy that has 50 pounds on them all squatting and doing weighted chins in the back corner was creating quite a stir.

I believe you. The question is whether you're trying to impress other men i.e. lifters in a gym or look good to the average woman.

In the age of Tinder and Ryan Gosling, abs arms and leanness > your deadlift numbers, when it comes to an impressive physique. Yes, this is a tangent from the article -- whose point is "do deadlifts," and I'm pretty sure everyone on this forum already does -- but when Rip dismisses ab and arm training as unimportant, some impressionable young kids like me listen to him and then regret it later.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Tell us what you know about what women like, kid.

[Bigbrother24]

Tell us what you know about what women like, kid.

Although this is going on a bit of tangent but the guy is partially right, if you want to pick a girl up for casual sex if you are using tinder (a phone hook up app) or on beach you're more likely to have them talk to you if you have some ab, low bfat and some muscle rather than a guy that does 300/400/500 however has 20% bfat . However those two are not the only places to meet women and unless you are socially retarded you wouldn't be able to take off your shirt at clubs, your workplace, supermarket wherever the fuck you meet women nowadays. Also limiting your entire training for some casual pussy is beyond my scope of understanding but maybe some guys are more thirsty than me.

[brkriete]

I believe you. The question is whether you're trying to impress other men i.e. lifters in a gym or look good to the average woman.

Why do you care about the average woman?

I'm only interested in the opinions of above-average people.

[crookedfinger]

I believe you. The question is whether you're trying to impress other men i.e. lifters in a gym or look good to the average woman.

I'm trying to be fucking strong. Train long enough, add weight to the bar and eat decently well. Do this for 10 years and the rest will take care of itself.

The rest is silly bullshit.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Trust me on this gentlemen. After you have been and stayed married to the same woman for a couple of decades or more and gotten over 50, your attempts to impress other men or look good to the gym bunnies diminishes. It's called the maturation process.