My latest on Mike Matthews website

[Mark Rippetoe]

Want to Look Strong? Then You Want to Deadlift (and Here's Why) | Muscle For Life

[BlackCoffee]

Traps are handy at the beach.

[ChessGuy]

Great article, coach!!

[Kregna]

Mark why are you looking at men in knickers?

This might be a good way of appealing to my bro friends

[zinedine kilbane]

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.

[nykid]

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.

[Mark Rippetoe]

You didn't read the article. Don't post about things you have not read, i.e. rise above the Internet Comments Lifestyle

[nykid]

You didn't read the article. Don't post about things you have not read, i.e. rise above the Internet Comments Lifestyle

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.

[Tzal]

Great article, coach. I read somewhere between 2/3 to 75% of the muscle mass in your upper body is in your back. Is there any truth to that, or is it just broscience?

[Mark Rippetoe]

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.

Sure, kid. Just walk around NYC without your shirt and see how many people are impressed with your muscularity.