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Clothing motivating you NOT to put on more size?

post #1 of 14
7/23/09 at 5:58pm
Thread Starter 
While it's great to see myself getting bigger and increase my strength from weight training, I've also run into the problem of my former clothes no longer fitting me perfectly anymore. For example, I had a pair of jeans that fit me fine before, but due to squats the thighs now look and feel like spandex on me. Other examples include the need to go up a size in dress shirts, but I now need to get the sleeves shortened. The large drop in my chest and waist also makes buying suits more difficult since you don't fit the normal mold. I'm sure you guys can name many other things. I'm really not looking forward to having to buy new suits and other clothing because I lifted myself out of a size. I'm also questioning whether getting as huge as I can is my goal for weight training. I look decently muscular now, I'm not a bodybuilder by any means, but it is evident I workout. How much is enough? How have you guys handled this dilemma? Have you just accepted that you'll need to size up and have custom alternations done? Or have you altered your workout, for example you purposely stopped upping the weights, you restricted your reps, etc. in an attempt to just maintain what you have rather than get bigger or stronger? Is it possible to train to get stronger while not putting on additional size? Thanks for any replies.
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post #2 of 14
7/23/09 at 6:00pm
Easy: don't train for size.
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post #3 of 14
7/23/09 at 6:16pm
I stopped bulking and started cutting. I would be fine staying my same size / weight and being ripped instead of big.
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post #4 of 14
7/23/09 at 10:04pm
Gaining size has motivated me not to buy any nice clothes besides jeans.
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post #5 of 14
7/23/09 at 10:13pm
For some reason t-shirts fit worse the more bulky I get. Probably partially because I'm 5'8, and if I get too bulky in my upper body then t-shirts start looking proportionately weird on me, and I sometimes have to get shirts that are too long for my body.
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post #6 of 14
7/23/09 at 10:17pm
That's because most clothing companies "athletic fit" tees account for a 2" drop maximum.
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post #7 of 14
7/24/09 at 2:44am
In part, yes. But I mostly decided to aim for a leaner, muscular frame because I realized I felt better when I was working toward that composition. I felt lethargic and like a sack of shit the few times I tried to bulk.
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post #8 of 14
7/24/09 at 3:06am
I cannot understand why anyone would want to be "big". Unless you were really skinny to begin with in which case you should want to be proportionate. Being strong makes sense, being big (bigger than your normal genetic equilibrium) does not. It's probably almost the same thing as how lots of people can't understand why anyone would want to own a gun, I guess.
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post #9 of 14
7/24/09 at 3:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by j View Post
I cannot understand why anyone would want to be "big". Unless you were really skinny to begin with in which case you should want to be proportionate. Being strong makes sense, being big (bigger than your normal genetic equilibrium) does not. It's probably almost the same thing as how lots of people can't understand why anyone would want to own a gun, I guess.

What's to understand? Who wouldn't want to look like this:
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post #10 of 14
7/24/09 at 10:56am
I have a drawer full of MTM and OTR shirts that no longer fit.
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post #11 of 14
7/24/09 at 11:30am
Why, I saw you mentioned training for strength, rather than size. Is it possible to train certain parts of the body for strength and others for size? For instance, all my pants look fine on me, but I have trouble filling out a size small buttondown from any brand other than BoO and H&M. After a couple months of 3x5 SS, how might I change my workout to accomodate my goals of getting stronger legs and a bigger torso?
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post #12 of 14
7/24/09 at 11:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wmmk View Post
Why, I saw you mentioned training for strength, rather than size. Is it possible to train certain parts of the body for strength and others for size? For instance, all my pants look fine on me, but I have trouble filling out a size small buttondown from any brand other than BoO and H&M. After a couple months of 3x5 SS, how might I change my workout to accomodate my goals of getting stronger legs and a bigger torso?
Yeah, it's possible but the two overlap quite a bit. If you want your shirts to fit better and want stronger legs just stick to posterior chain movements like squats and deadlift. Keep in mind stronger legs generally means bigger hamstrings too -- but size in legs can be adjusted a good amount by hydration levels. Don't worry too much about your looks now or try to project what you'll look like with a given program after a certain amount of time. That depends on a lot of factors. Just focus on squats and deadlift at the moment and adjust later if you feel like it.
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post #13 of 14
7/26/09 at 4:44pm
Don't get rid of the old clothes, if you slack up on the lifting you'll return to your former self faster than you think. The phrase "building muscle" implies something permanent, but it's not.
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post #14 of 14
7/28/09 at 3:47am
I basically have 2 different sets of clothing - one for soccer season, one for off-season. I just spent a semester in Paris and came back wearing size 30 super-skinny helmut langs. Now my thighs are struggling to fit into my APCs and none of my shirts fit. I feel your pain. Hopefully I'll lean out more as I get more into the running part of preseason training, but for now my wardrobe's been reduced by an easy half.
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