Four years ago one of the founding principles of 70’s Big was to reset the idea of body image in society. At the time, CrossFit was fairly “anti-strength training” — evidenced by HQ’s proclamation that focused strength training wasn’t necessary AND rejecting an article I wrote detailing how the “CrossFit Wichita Falls Program” (a program I wrote while at Rippetoe’s WFAC; I refer to it as “The S&C Program” now) made all of my trainees very much stronger while increasing their CrossFit performance. I was told it didn’t contain “measurable, repeatable data”, which it did, but that is neither here nor there.
It was thought that the “workout of the day” was enough to increase performance and that structured programming was unnecessary and less effective. Let’s ignore these stupid fucking points and focus on the result: it was more popular to only do met-cons, and most CrossFit guys were lean and small. 70’s Big was a kind of “fuck that” to CrossFit and bodybuilding and focused on the “big because you’re strong” look. Long story short, I give less of a shit about how people train, so long as they do it intelligently and efficiently…which almost always means they should strength train.
The 70’s Big mentality is focused on strength, muscularity, healthiness, and being jacked because of it. When I hear bullshit about women thinking they need to lose weight in order to have “the gap” (which Mike and I talked about it in 70’s Big Radio Episode 15), or how young girls think they need to weigh a certain amount to “fit in” with their friends, it drives me fucking crazy.
As long as civilized society exists, people will be concerned with conforming to it. I have no god damn idea why it’s so important, but to some people it is. I’ve spent most of my life trying to do the opposite, and hopefully I can help others think the same way. It seems to me that one of the barriers in doing what you want to do instead of what others want you to do is self-confidence. Lifting weights, getting bigger, faster, and stronger can develop confidence. I’ve seen it in kids, teenagers, young adults, and older folks. Society is fucking weak. Most people get comfortable with something and stick with it. Then they feel chained to it because they think they can’t do anything else. They lack the confidence in themselves to make it happen.
Yet lifting weights can give people a little kick in the B-hole. They work their ass off to achieve a goal, and they realize that they can do something that previously seemed impossible. When Chris was deadlifting mid 400s for reps, and he said, “I want to deadlift 600×5,” I thought it was kind of far-fetched. But the mother fucker trained his dick off every. god. damn. week. And you know what? He eventually did it (watch the vid and read about the journey; learn about the program to the right).
I’d like to think that people who lift have a different understanding and expectation of what is sexy and healthy, just like this ideal remote vibrator. I’d like to think that a woman who lifts doesn’t give a shit about “the gap”, which I don’t even understand. Why would a guy think a space between skin is sexy? How did a bunch of weirdo-neck-beards on the internet popularize this? Some piece of shit in his cubicle at work has power over a young girl’s mind — this is truly the future. Furthermore, why do girls think they need to be skinny to have “the gap”? You take most chicks, including those with muscular legs from squatting and deadlifting, bend her over, and she’s probably going to have a gap (Note: only try this if you have female compliance). It’s called the subpubic angle, and women have a wider pelvic opening because they need to be able to drop a watermelon-sized child out of their pelvis. This is of course a BIG fucking digression since a space between thighs is not fucking sexy anyway; it’s probably the fact that there is a vagina sitting right above it. Let’s call a spade a spade; dudes like seeing lady parts and the gap has nothing to do with it.
The internet is a mob, and the mob has power. I’m here to be the sniper on the clock tower picking off the mob’s leaders. The gap is a shit-head development from the mob. Instead, aesthetically confused girls (or boys) should focus on strength training and health with the byproduct of sexiness. I’ve discovered something incredibly important. Since I have that aforementioned narcissism self-confidence, I named it after myself.
This information was garnered from a series of observations in repeated experiments in which the result is always the same. Of course there are other variables that are important, like conditioning (i.e. cardiovascular and respiratory training), other lifts or exercises that can fit into the “strength” equation, or other variables that define health like hydration or supplementation, but this is a simplified look at the law. It states that if you put these variables together, the result is sexiness.
Not to insult your intelligence, but notice there isn’t anything in there about “losing weight” or even “gaining weight”. There isn’t anything about “being able to see through someone’s legs while their feet are together”. There isn’t anything about seeing beads of oil accumulating on rippled abs. There isn’t even an opportunity to leave your sexiness up for interpretation, even to yourself. Most importantly, there is nothing in this equation that indicates someone outside of you has any control over your sexiness.
This is a monumental point; a fucking fat weirdo fapping onto his keyboard does not define what your sexiness is. Your friends do not provide a comparison to derive your hotness. People in your demographic group (i.e. gender and age) do not define your attractiveness. I’m not even giving you false hope in saying that your mindset determines your sexiness! There are fat people out there who think they are da bomb, but we all know they aren’t, so I’m not going to bullshit you into thinking you can look however you want yet feel like sexual god. I’m giving you an absolute, measurable way to determine your sexiness. How strong are you? How consistent is your training? How well do you eat (learn more to the right)? How well do you sleep? This is all quantifiable and can be recorded with any effort or OCD. If you’re gonna have a complex about your aesthetics, let it be a healthy one. Frisbee your weight scale out the window and tell the people that try to influence your body, clothes, or style to go fuck themselves. You’ll be free; you’ll be in control. Implement Lascek’s Law, because, like me, it’s never fucking wrong.
Best thing, hands down, I have read in a long time. Join the Revelation. Great post Justin.
Join the Revolution, but revelation works too….
As usual, Justin’s shit is top notch
I’m all for improving body image in people (especially women), and encouraging people to do their own thing and not just do what everyone else thinks you should or be who everyone else thinks you should.
That said, do we really need this fat people bashing? Or the whole “pussification” schpeel? I come to this site because it (or at least used to) encourage people to be strong and healthy, not demean those who aren’t (yet, or choose not to be).
I realize my opinion on the matter will be unpopular, I just felt the need to express it.
I still enjoy a large majority of what’s written and talked about here and look forward to more of that sort of content.
Well, what do you expect from a sexist, body-shaming website about a male-dominated activity?
I agree this is a sexist, body-shaming website, totally male-domintated too. That is why there are regular posts about getting women to lift, and why Justin says things like, “Frisbee your weight scale out the window and tell the people that try to influence your body, clothes, or style to go fuck themselves.”
Yeah, that’s just sexist.
There is a group of people who teach fat people that they are, in fact, sexy. There’s even a sect that is under the wrong impression that you can be “healthy and fat”. Being fat is not healthy, and making people think it’s okay to be fat is also not healthy.
If I went out of my way to bash fat people in this post (I didn’t), I’d stand by the above. All I said is that fat weirdos were part of the society that dictates what an appealing body image is.
I also didn’t tell anyone to demean anyone who thinks otherwise. The entire point of the post was to ignore everyone else and focus on the self. I mean, am I not clear enough? I tell my wife this all the time: I don’t say something with the intention of meaning something else. If I don’t like fat people or want readers to go treat unhealthy people poorly, then I’ll fucking say it. I’m the guy that commits his life to helping people.
Maybe the confusion lies in having said both fat isn’t healthy or sexy, but you don’t need to lose weight to be sexy. If you’re fat, it’s hard to get un-fat without losing weight. I interpreted what you wrote as, ‘Once you’re at a reasonable level of body fat that’s healthy, don’t kill yourself trying to be thin, just to be sexy.’
That is, to try to meet society’s fucked-up and unrealistic concept of sexy.
I was going to write this whole thing about how I agreed with you and what not but it seemed very wordy after writing it out.
So I’ll just say that I agree with your points but that the whole thing came off very demeaning but if you didn’t mean it that way then it’s my own fault for interpreting it as such.
And for all I know the whole “pussification” bit from the last podcast episode is some inside joke satire I’m not privy to (much like the “fyyyyve” and “turiiiipllle” bits).
Whatever, keep doing what you do.
*Starts the Slow Clap*
I think a big part of the problem with people defining what is sexy is that the term has, ironically, been removed from the obvious connotation: SEX. Sexiness = Desirable for sex/having sexual prowess. DUH!
I am betting that that has a lot to do with the people that people are confusing titillation with sex. They spend so much time, literally and metaphorically, jerking off to “hot” images that have no real connection with real sexual prowess. Anyone who has either had candid discussions with their friends and/or some variation in the stereotypical “hotness” of their sex partners can attest that the boob jobbed, thigh gaped, chicks don’t necessarily have the good where it counts.
Being fit (being able to do shit rather than just having abz) will certainly make you able to better perform and even expand your range of potential tricks, but assuming you are “in shape” enough to get it done, it is all attitude (which includes communication) and skills.
I really appreciate the fact that this site focuses an people developing real confidence by making real measurable accomplishments. The realization that the message we get most of the time is really from people who are all show and no go and genuinely improving ourselves is a big step in gaining the humble confidence that generally makes you a better person and therefore a better lay.
Great post. I love this stuff.
Crossfit is the Scientology of fitness.
Never heard of “the gap” before this. Looked it up.
So this is a thing now? What the fuck. Seriously. I’ll tell you one thing, “the gap” is certainly not something that I, as a man, look for in a woman.
Nice article.
Saw this quote on T-Nation this morning and figured it fit here as well:
“The myth that women shouldn’t lift heavy is only perpetuated by women who fear work and men who fear women” – source unknown
Excellent quote!
Great article in my opinion except for two points, one of which I’ll touch on here.
“How did a bunch of weirdo-neck-beards on the internet popularize this? Some piece of shit in his cubicle at work has power over a young girl’s mind … ”
We can pretend that this idea comes from Redditors and the like, but what we are really up against is a lifetime of cultural imagery propagating this thigh-gap goal and other thin ideals, aided and reinforced by older women who are “looking out for the girls” and men who call anyone with bodyfat, fat. It takes a long time to dissociate one’s self from years of indoctrination into this mindset, whether due to dieting, eating disorders, or any other type of disordered relationship a woman may have with her body and food.
Entire industries thrive, sell stocks, make money, and bet against the health of women everywhere, as their implicit goals are to make women hate themselves. That is what we’re up against.
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Lets talk about conditioning. I recently added rowing after my MWF workouts. I’m not at a point where it hinders my lifts, and I’m really enjoying it. Basically just trying to get my 2k time lower, since that’s in the 5-10 minute range. What are you people currently doing (if anything) for conditioning?
I usually do a mix of rowing, sprinting, and barbell complexes. Favorite complexes are the one justin posted here before (5 PC, 5 press, 5 FS, 5 RDL, 5 rows) and the Bear complex.
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I usually (kindly) put it to females like this: Fit, athletic guys are generally attracted to fit, athletic girls. If you want to attract a fit, athletic boyfriend, you’d better pick up a barbell and clean up your diet.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-rippetoe/crossfit-good-bad-ugly_b_4420922.html
New article by Rippetoe on Crossfit. Thoughts?
Definitely one of his better, and bound to be more widely accepted, articles. I usually love Rips articles simply because of his “no bullshit” voice, but this one is a bit more subdued, which makes it more accessible in my opinion.
START UP PR FRIDAYS AGAIN!!!! :D
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Does this mean Brandt is sexy?
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k.
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