Yesterday’s polls will, at the very least, make good conversation material. I don’t necessarily know if the polls are a good indicator of the entire readership on 70’s Big, but they are at least a glimpse. We have to make a lot of assumptions in order to generalize; did I word the questions properly (probably not), did you interpret them correctly (unlikely), did you answer them truthfully (erroneous), and if the sample size is indicative of the entire readership (who knows?).
In any case, there are some telling results.
70’s Big Is A Sausage Party
I blame this on all of you. I try to reach out to females, really, I do. I do it at the gym too, but the truth is, there aren’t going to be a lot of girls coming into the WFAC, and not a lot of girls are going to accidentally coming across 70’s Big either.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t prefer sausage parties. It’s not a homophobic thing, it’s just that I’d prefer to have some gals hanging out too. This means that you, the guy who is more likely to be reading this, must chat to your girlfriend, your wife, your lady friends, your cleaning lady — whatever — about strength training. My main goal isn’t to get more females reading the site; I just want more of them to get stronger. Everyone likes progress, and this means more strong. It also means a nice lookin’ butt, and this is a win-win for everyone. So, either you have to talk to them about strength training, or send them to someone who can teach them, because letting anyone grow up thinking that 30 minutes on the elliptical is going to yield sexiness and longevity is gonna be bad news bears for everyone.
We Are Mostly Young People
I consider someone in their thirties young. They think they are old. I don’t really think thirty-something is old, because I sure as hell am not going to think my life is nearing its end when I’m thirty. My friend Scott in Washington state is in his forties, and he is probably the most enthusiastic guy on a quest to 70’s Bigdom. In any case, a lot of us are young. We have the potential to influence a generation of popular culture that has taught the country that emaciated is not only okay, but what is desirable. And this is what we’re up against, my friends.
Gant just sent me a picture of someone in the airport, a poor guy wearing skinny jeans. Gant was most displeased with this display of societal influence (except he said something about a person like that should get gender reassignment therapy), and I’m upset that a guy thinks that being obscenely skinny is okay. I’m not saying that everyone is going to weigh 225, but men don’t weigh 150 pounds. Period.
But 70’s Big Readers Need To Grow
Half of the dudes who voted on their weight are less than 200 pounds. It’s not like people who read 70’s Big are all 5’6″ or shorter, so this needs to be addressed. I want you all stronger. If you are going to really achieve some potential in strength, you will need to gain some muscular bodyweight. Jeez, you guys who are less than 200 pounds seem like you’re mad at me for wanting to help you get strong.
Adult Males > 200 lbs.
Someone Did Something Wrong
Either you guys didn’t know how to train until recently, or your training sucked. If you have been training for at least one year, and you weigh less than 200 pounds, then something is fucked (females, the few of you are excluded from this comment). Get your muscular bodyweight up, and then address your bodyfat if you want. But if you’re one of these guys running around the internet claiming that gaining a little bit of fat with a lot of muscle is bad, then you’re just as much a goober as the stooges that say you should never wear a belt. Do a proper program while eating like we tell you and you will grow into a muscular behemoth.
Most Of You Are At Least Sorta Serious
The majority of voters have a tangible training log. This is good. The internet won’t always be available, especially when the zombie outbreak occurs. The few of you that don’t have a training log aren’t training, you’re fucking around. Decide if you want to get stronger. Decide if you want to be muscular. Females, decide if you want to get stronger. Decide if you want a nice butt. Barbell training and food can give it to you.
48 thoughts on “And the results are in…”
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If you had’ve asked: how long have you been training for strength….
Training implies that you have been working towards increased performance, not just strength. Most people are just “exercising”.
–A.C.
Poll results were nothing unexpected, I wouldn’t think. Anyway, today I think I found my place to train here in Austin, and it even had a couple 70sbig type females in it. Jacob is happy. Now to figure out a USAPL event in TX and compete again. Anyone planning on competing in the Spring, TX event on July 10th? It’s a bit far, and Houston sucks, but…
Either I haven’t been paying attention or you haven’t been around the site in a while. Good to have you back.
I have some guys going to the Texas State, and that is on April 17th. They may want to do the July 10th one, but I’m not sure yet.
–Justin
I wish you had left off on the poll for one more week, then I could have checked the 200 – 215 lbs. option… 5 lbs. shy for chrissakes!
The good news is that so far the weight gain is 30 lbs. in 7 weeks (since I stumbled upon this incomparable jewel via a link on Beastskills), and it’s still piling on with relative ease!
The polls are still up. I just figured it’d be a fun little thing to observe on a Monday.
–Justin
Working at a commercial gym sucks.
All the metro-males asking to be weighed every night, scared of gaining.
Last night i refused to weigh people who weren’t trying to gain weight! Didn’t go down all that well, but Jesus had his critics too.
I wish eating in Israel was as cheap as it is in the U.S. wouldn’t take me more than 2 months to gain 5kg and be an adult male.
problem is:
meat costs too much
milk costs more than it should
beef costs more than it should
we don’t have 1$ McDoubles and stuff.
:\!
Are there any perks to living there, at least?
–Justin
Hey justin,
Not to be a nag but are you going to finish the preparing for your first meet article?
I have some experienced powerlifters that are working on a powerlifting article, and yes, I will finish the weightlifting one. Are you solely interested in the day of the meet, or are you also interested in tapering your training for it? Both will be included anyway. When is your meet?
–Justin
I am sitting in class right now and we are having a discussion about LOSING weight. The entire class is deluded into thinking that drinking skim milk instead of whole, eating salad instead of a one pound burger and running instead of lifting heavy weights is better for you. Oh what is a guy to do?
Justin,
What is the 70’s big stance on taking time off? Just take a couple of days off when you feel like it? 8 weeks on 1 week off?
I don’t really know what “when you feel like it” means, but it is appropriate to take time off. Sometimes time off can’t be helped (sickness, injury, traveling, school/work, family, or other life things), so it may be good to just wait for that. However, if you physically need it, especially from a systemic/hormonal perspective, then it will probably do some good. I don’t expect most lifters to know what that means until they are an intermediate. I had to be talked into taking a week off after my meet by Dr. Kilgore, but physiologically it made sense.
–Justin
Jordan,
3 days on, 1 day off x Infinity.
Haha.
Yes, programmed rest. It’s the way to go.
And for gods’ sakes, this is a joke for those of you who don’t get it.
–Justin
I have a real log and an internet log. Am I full-blown serious now?
Also, how do you convince the women that squatting won’t either a.) turn her into she-hulk or b.) cause her joints to blow out like an old tire. People, both the guys and gals, are always so worried about squatting and deadlift that they never do it. They would rather settle into their 3-man bench team.
Basic physiology and mechanics. I suppose I could tell you Thursday.
–Justin
So… I suppose I was Correct in thinking as a 17 year old Male living in the Uk and going to a shit broke council estate ‘fitness centre’ i was in the minority :(
Interesting results. Guess its back to drinking Milk.
For the guys that are trying to convince the women in their lives to lift heavier, one approach that doesn’t work is making fun of them for being cardio bunnies. I would advise convincing them to try it for at least a month and go from there. Use terms like PR and get them a notebook to reinforce their accomplishments – worked for me. :-) – Are the use of emoticons ok for 70s big?
I got into liftng through my brother. I was frustrated with the lack of results from 45 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes for resistance training so I gave him a month to whip me into shape. A year later, my DL 5 RM is 220 and my 5 RM back squat is 215 and my ass is looking pretty nice – ok TMI but I worked hard for it. It’s quite empowering being able to lift as heavy as the guys at the gym. One added bonus to lifting heavy, I have an excuse to eat 2500 calories in a day and not feel guilty.
To clarify, I don’t think you should make fun of your lady either.
–Justin
Justin,
Happy to be apart of 70sBig and not 90sSmall.
What is your stance on high-bar vs. low bar squatting. Can someone be 70sBig and high-bar?
A novice would benefit more from the low bar position because it includes more muscle mass to get stronger.
–Justin
Justin, AC and felllow 70sBig peeps…
I competed in Nor-Cal Crossfit Sectionals this past weekend. Before the first event, (800m run then Max reps attempts at 115lbs OHS against a 6:00 clock) the filming crew from Crossfit headquarters came up to interview me. (I was ofcourse intimidating figure, 5’10” 210, and a Leonidas style beard). He asked about my outfit…wearing red, head-to-toe…shoes, knee high socks, shorts, shirt and beanie. After a few questions, he finally asked about the beard…I told him it was all about 70sBig and Paleo bulking. He of course started laughing because he had heard of 70sBig. The competition went great, although I didnt win, or place high enough to advance to Regionals I really enjoyed the physical and mental aspects. Having spectators and other competitors cheering you on is really amazing. I look forward to competing in more crossfit and powerlifting events in the future.
Nice, Scott. Good luck to you.
–Justin
@Jacob
I just looked and the USAPL meet in Spring on July 10th is actually at my gym. Its a pretty good ways from the “Houston” that sucks. I was thinking about competing, but not sure if I’ll be able to make enough progress between now and then. I was making good gains, but then missed several workouts over the last couple weeks (cuz I’m a pussy) and could barely squat 365 for 5 yesterday at 240# (was doing 410 sets across previously). I’ll try a reset and see what comes of it, the entry deadline is June 26 so I have some time to feel things out. Let me know, if I’m not competing I’ll be there rockin the 70sBig shirt for sure.
I felt this was worth posting:
Death of the Metrosexual, rise of the Retrosexual, by Brett McKay, author of the website “The Art of Manliness”
okay, with the weight tally, you did incriminate all 6 women who visit the site… I would be startled to see any woman 200+ unless she were…um… oversized…
Maybe a future poll could ask stuff like percentage of body weight squatted. Let’s face it, I won’t ever be able to squat 500lbs without some synthetic aides, but I forget that for being a chick, my weights aren’t terrible.
Jan. 2010
BW: 125lbs
Squat PR: 3x5x195lbs
Press: 3x5x85lbs
Clean: 1x2x131.4lbs
And that was after doing SS for three months… til I sprained my hallux…. then 4 weeks later, fell 5-7 feet during a camping trip and sprained my ankle. However, I am going to be a little ignorant and claim that SS saved me from breaking anything. The x-ray tech’s eyes almost popped out when he saw no skeletal damage and heard how far I fell. :)))
I hope to resume lifting later in the spring, I finally heal properly.
And I don’t want you to weigh 200 or squat 500, you goober. Keep us posted on your progress — your numbers are nice!
–Justin
@ Jacob
Hey dude….good to see you back on site. The move to Texas went well I hope. Good luck and keep in touch.
In my experience women love weightlifting… they just don’t know it. Yes, you will initially encounter reluctance from the new chick who just wants to lose weight. But please be patient with your femmes. Weightlifting feels good!!! When women experience that for themselves they will chase it. I’ve seen it time and time again. The girls who were the most put off by squatting, lifting, and pressing now come in to our gym and that’s all they want to do. It’s a beautiful thing.
awesome poll justin wish i would have known about the wfac when i was stationed at sheppard back in 01. can any one help me find some oly coaches on the westside of phx by chance?
No online training logs. Every other site out there has this. If you want to promote folks maintaining a hard copy log, you know, that actually requires writing by hand(!), then I would think an online log here would be against such. I like this as an informational site with reasonably good commentary. Keep fighting the good fight and maybe post, or let people submit some images of what a good training log looks like on paper.
Good idea. There are examples in Practical Programming, but I suppose we could do it anyway.
–Justin
Jacob,
You are alive, you had me worried (no homo). I was about to text you. I thought you might be dead, or even worse, 90s small! I used your lay off to catch back up with you. Almost anyways.
WannBBurley,
You got plenty of time to get the numbers back up, the summer is a while off. I was wondering why I hadn’t seen any big PRs from you on fridays lately.
AZ guy here, wondering if anyone knows of any sites or w/e that have WL meets listed. USAWL doesn’t have a meet setup in AZ so I was wondering if there were other federations i could be looking into…
Justin – yeah, been away during my big move. Getting settled in and ready to hit some fucking PRs again.
WannaBBurly – I’m in. Let’s do it! I have a couple other friends that I will convince to compete, and it’ll be their first meet. Besides, sounds like you’re probably already stronger than me, so what are you worried about? Take me out in the 242 class.
WA-Apples – Hey man! You end up getting your son to compete yet? Hope things are well.
kittenSmash – Love you too (no homo). Don’t blink, I’m gonna grab some PR’s soon too. Although, I saw your press PR and cried a single tear. Awesome…jerk.
Anyone who has some advice please give it. I would love to get my wife to start lifting for strength, she is terribly weak. However, when she works out she simply wants to lose weight so I am having a tough time convincing her to try any strength training. For heavens sake I found something she downloaded from Dr. Oz and it was suggesting she eat 856 calories a day to lose weight; I had to go eat a double hamburger just to reduce my nauseua after reading that. Thanks for any insight.
@msupt – You must compromise with your wife. Bring her to the gym, get her to lift something heavy but keep it short, keep it fun, and keep it easy for now. Set her up for success. Then let her do her own thing or give her some sort of conditioning workout that will make her sweat. Continue to do this at every work out and watch how she comes to embrace the bar. Progress may be slow, but be patient. Show her love and encourage her.
I agree. Quick lifting, then quick conditioning deal.
–Justin
Msupt,
I run into the same thing a lot at the gym where I work trying to convince women that cardio is a waste of time and that becoming stronger is what will best help them achieve their goals. It is becoming easier though, because we have a solid group of females who have listened and made some great progress, so now when a new woman comes in, I just point at the women who’ve been there and explain their progress and what they did to achieve it. That usually works pretty well. But starting out, it took some doing to convince the women that lifting heavy things was one of the best things they could do. Obviously I started with the, weights wont make you bulky, you dont eat near enough or have near enough testosterone to get bulky. Id point to myself and say that I eat 6000 calories a day and despite my best efforts, Im still not “bulky” so there’s no way you are going to get bulky eating 1500. If the lady was a little older, I’d point out the benefits of barbell training on strengthening their bones, as osteoporosis is a big topic with older women. I’d have to use some silly sounding stuff you’d hear in magazines like, “cardio only burns calories while you do it, but strength training builds lean muscle which causes you to burn more calories daily.” I also threw out some Rip qoutes, like “there is no such thing as firming and toning, only stronger and weaker.” I think its also useful to try and ease them into it. If they just have to do their cardio, let them at first, but try to get her to squat and deadlift as well. I’ve found that most women are willing to add to what they are doing, but are afraid to take anything away at first. If they seem to respond well, I’d try to get them to add in more strength, and cut down the cardio time and atleast try and get them to do more of a short interval type thing if they still want to do it. What seems to get them hooked is progress. For whatever reason, being able to do a pull up and deadlifting more than their bodyweight tends to get women excited. In my experience anyways. But they are all motivated for different reasons. We’ve also done a lot to change people’s minds about what they think they “should” weigh, and tell them to put the scale away and go by how they look, feel and perform. They’d be excited about losing inches and fitting into pants they hadnt worn in four years and the next day they’d complain that they hadnt lost any weight yet. I’ve beat my head against the wall convincing them to eat more(especially more protein), do less “cardio” and lift more often. Those that tried it saw great progress. I still havent had much luck with the couple of women who I told need to gain weight. Haha. That’s a tough one. For some reason, they take being called tiny as a compliment. Haha, women….No offense to those reading.
Msupt,
Also, tread lightly as it’s your wife, so the situation is a little different than if she was paying you to tell her what to do. So listen to Jeannette, and be encouraging, and dont “overcoach”. My girlfriend wont listen to me even though she knows what Im saying is right. She knows cuz she went to Rip’s Basic Barbell Seminar, but she just likes to spite me I guess… Haha
@SMC – it’s true that low-bar squats work more muscle mass, but no matter how you spin it, a guy that can high-bar squat 500+ lbs is a strong motherfucker.
36yrs old – 5ft7
This time last year: 185lbs (beer belly…sticks for arms and legs)
Now: 155lbs and ON THE WAY BACK UP!
Food: More than ever.
Following 70sBig: 4months
PRs/Increases in past 4months:
Squat=3×5@205 (up 70lbs)
DL = 3×3@295 (up110lbs)
Bench Press = 3×5@185 (up30lbs)
Standing Press = 3×5@120 (up25lbs)
C&J = 155lbs (up 155lbs haha)
Snatch = 85lbs(up 85lbs)
Needs: Calories. Bumper plates.
Thanks: 70sBig!
@PVC
I would agree on that point. Right now I max out at 350 on high-bar. Never tried low-bar. Might give it a whirl after I finish the 5/3/1
The meets not until June 12th, but I guess I’m just excited, and I like to have my training planned out as much as I can. Info on both tapering training and the day of would be great.
Thanks.
Why do I need a training log if I doing linear progression where the numbers are easy to remember and I feel pretty much the same every workout-heavy!
Because there are going to be days where something goes wrong or you don’t feel up to par and you need to remember why.
–A.C.
Also now I have an account a delayed PR Friday!
17 years old, 6’4 270
PR* 180kg 3*5 squat (Feel like a big boy now!)
PR* 92.5 3*5 Bench
PR* 122.5 3*5 power clean
at 6’4” 270 you are a big boy Adam!
Justin, AC… just curious. How would you two fill out the poll?
Male, 18-23, 200-215, 1 < x < 2 years ACTUAL training, Yes in a notebook. -- A.C.
Thanks for your replies, it will take some work but hopefully she will get stronger.
Quick question:
What are your thoughts on Straight Leg Deadlifts? Been working around a knee injury, and doing SLDL for a few weeks. I just PR’ed tonight with a 5RM of 405. It felt heavy, but I’ve got nothing to compare it to. If I’m Straight-Legging 405, what would I expect my normal DL to be around? Higher I would imagine.
Anybody with input is welcome!
What is the injury?
–A.C.
Good point, Ace. I’d like to know the injury as well. I also would want to see your form on those 405 SLDL.
–Justin
” can any one help me find some oly coaches on the westside of phx by chance?”
I’m in Flagstaff right now for college, but if I’m ever in Phoenix for more than a month I’m definitely going to this place: http://www.phoenixweightliftingclub.com/
New female lifter here joining your guys’ sausage fest.
Ha, cool.
–Justin
I’ll come out of hiding as another one of the females reading this site.
Some recent PRs-
Squat 198x5x5
Front squat 180×2
DL 255×3
I keep a journal, I want to be strong, and I’m getting smaller, not bigger.
Nice!
–Justin
Hey ladies!
@ westcoastgal- you make a good point, women who lift get smaller, less fluff, more muscle. I’m lighter now than when I started lifting but at the same time I’m stronger. This might be a good motivator for getting other women to lift.
I’m a chick, and I read this. However, I’m certainly not looking to get 70sBig… but maybe 70s strong!
Ha you won’t be 70’s Big. Glad you are lifting though!
–A.C.
Female, over 40, under 150 lbs…and been hanging out at sausage fests my whole life, lifting is just my newest one.
I’ve gained 8 pounds in 18 months of training, but everyone thinks I’ve lost weight. I used to look like a soccer mom, now I look like a college athlete. My female friends and relatives watched me transform and started asking to come to the gym with me. Five of them now know the lifts and I’m working on #6.
You’re a great example Gem. I’d kill for my lady friends to actually lift.
–A.C.
WC025 I’m actually not that big as most of my weight is in my lower body hence the larger squat and shit bench and i’m about 20% bf, however I used to be a basically anerexic 67kg of skin and bone at 6’4 when I was 16 (used to do cross country and run 7 days a week for like 2hours). I saw a photo of myself the otherday at this puny weight and I looked like I was suffering from cancer, the strange thing was I actually thought I looked good and was fit because I could run and do 30 pullups.
Girl here, 21, also used to sausagefests.
140-ish, training for 18 months, gained ten pounds, went down two dress sizes, squat 185, bench 125, deadlift 245, 10 pullups. I was going to do a powerlifting meet but they canceled it (damn snow) so I’m going to just take some time to get stronger.
As for getting ladies into lifting: in my case, I found the Starting Strength wiki on the internet and was excited to try it. I was sure I was going to get fat if I stopped running 40 miles a week; but there’s nothing quite as compelling as an angry Texan telling you what to do, so I did what Rippetoe said. A lot of people say you have to motivate women by telling them what lifting can do for their appearance but it was the opposite for me: I liked the “stop being vain and get strong” attitude. It defuses self-consciousness. I only appreciated the nice butt side effects later.
Another girl, 21.
I’m at 157lbs at around 21.5-22% body fat. I’m at a 185lb squat, 225lb deadlift, and around 115lb bench press. Power clean’s at 135, front squat’s at 155, blah, blah, I need to bring these numbers way up. I just joined because someone told me to help this become less of a sausagefest but I’ve read through this a few times before.
Strong girls look better in bikinis.