ATTN: SF Fitness Gurus

Sorry to break this to y'alls, but your body fat levels, amount of lean muscle mass, or general "jacked"-ness does not qualify you as a superior fitness adviser than another member. Take a look at muscle mags - just because the dude writing the article can bench 500 does not mean following his advice will get you there.

Why? Let's explore.

Genetics. For all we know, you could have been a genetic freak. I know several people who have a six-pack with no dieting and no lifting. I know people who are built like a linebacker and do not work out very hard relative to others, and do not consume 5000 cals a day. I know people with high testosterone levels and low testosterone levels. How you look in a picture does not determine how well-versed you are in the science/art of fitness.

If you want to prove you know what you are talking about, don't post a jacked pic, post a before and after pic. I would take advice from someone who started off a beanpole and turned into a fitness model or someone who was a tub of lard and slimmed down and got ripped than someone who simply points out they are in good shape at this moment.

This doesn't take into account the possibility of using steroids or similar substances for the transformation, but it's the internet, you can only control for so much and assume people are being honest.

Just had to say it, y'alls.

Good post. i'm even sick of my own advice. for what it's worth, i was a fat **** growing up with piss poor genetics which i guess i feel like makes me somewhat qualified to tell fat ***** trying to get les fat what to do. but, all in all, I hear you.

Agreed, especially when so much fitness advice is either incorrect or else irrelevant. There is also the problem created by men's magazines of having to come up with something new every month, leading to the invention of the most ridiculous and pointless regimes and exercises. For what it's worth, I'm very slim and have a fast metabolism that keeps me that way. However, I undertook to bulk up one year and went from 6'1" and 150lb to 178lb in a single summer by working out every day (fundamentals, no fancy stuff) and ingesting a shitload of calories. I probably gained as much fat as muscle. In retrospect, I think I was only able to do that because I was so far underweight prior to then, and not very physically active. Now my weight is at around 171 lb. and I find it doesn't shift too much. I think it would be nearly impossible for me get much higher than 180, even though I regularly go to the gym and play sports. It's just not in the genes.

You'd have to be a special kind of stupid to take fitness advice from a message board, but I have a soft spot for helping young guys cut through the bullshit. I feel badly that that kid just spent $500 on stupid ****.

lefty

I think the fitness advice on this board ranges from great to abysmal (in my opinion). It is hard to find good advice on bodybuilding.com, let alone on SF, but I appreciate all the people chiming in here. I just wanted to point out that it is difficult to gauge expertise in the field just by member photos. This isn't personal at all.

Originally Posted by lefty

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You'd have to be a special kind of stupid to take fitness advice from a message board, but I have a soft spot for helping young guys cut through the bullshit. I feel badly that that kid just spent $500 on stupid ****.

lefty

Unless of course that advice is coming from our new member "Pee".

Originally Posted by mikej77

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Unless of course that advice is coming from our new member "Pee".

Funny you mention that, but one of the more respected online personal trainers goes by the handle of "Doggcrap".

Different things work for different people as well so despite all the "advice" you still have to find out what works for you. But the one thing that all big/jacked/ripped people have in common is that they are determined to achieve their goals, and if you don't have that, you will always fail

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

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If you want to prove you know what you are talking about, don't post a jacked pic, post a before and after pic. I would take advice from someone who started off a beanpole and turned into a fitness model or someone who was a tub of lard and slimmed down and got ripped than someone who simply points out they are in good shape at this moment.

I really don't think this is any better of a measure compared to just a current picture. It really doesn't overcome any of the problems of taking one persons unique results for themselves as evidence they that know what they are doing or their ability to reproduce it in someone else. Also consider that every hack supplement + trainiing gadget on the market has a before and after picture. It doesn't mean that particular thing being marketed got the person in the picture there.

If you want to know if someone is a "superior fitness advisor" then you really need to know the results of multiple people they've advised. Did the people they've advised start where you are now and end up the way you want to be? The chances of this actually being done on line are pretty small. In the end I think you just have to look at the advice being presented and the various arguements for or against that advice. That and educate yourself with more then just a message board.

I saw this thread and it told me that pee just got banned, and that made a good day even better.

Originally Posted by lefty

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You'd have to be a special kind of stupid to take fitness advice from a message board, but I have a soft spot for helping young guys cut their ****. I feel badly that that kid just spent $500 on stupid ****.

lefty

1. I agree it is moronic to accept advice from clueless morons out to sabotage another's well being ie. w_y. But its another thing totoally to take advice from moi.

2. That sounds so gay.

Originally Posted by lefty

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You'd have to be a special kind of stupid to take fitness advice from a message board, but I have a soft spot for helping young guys cut through the bullshit. I feel badly that that kid just spent $500 on stupid ****.

lefty

Really? I don't remember who said it, (maybe why?) but the advice was to do assisted pull-ups versus lat pulldowns, and after following that advice for a couple of weeks, I've noticed a big difference.

I think some of the advice here is pretty helpful.

The advice that helped me lose a lot of weight in a pretty short time (not to mention help me gain health benefits, appearance benefits, sex benefits, etc) came from someone on this board, so I can't really say that nobody knows what they're talking about. Obviously, YMMV.

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

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The advice that helped me lose a lot of weight in a pretty short time (not to mention help me gain health benefits, appearance benefits, sex benefits, etc) came from someone on this board, so I can't really say that nobody knows what they're talking about. Obviously, YMMV.

Did they advise you to do some grip work?

I find that I've gotten better fitness advice on the internet than I have in some of the gyms that I've worked out in.

Of course, I lived in the Philippines for most of my life, where many trainers are hopped up on horse steroids.