Quote:
Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall
There's a guy at my gym who runs the comp team. He's fucking ripped and strong as fuck. Zero body fat. Pound-for-pound, strongest dude I've ever met. He doesn't do anything but heavy, Olympic-style lifting. He keeps telling me that that is why he's ripped. I keep telling him he has some crazy genetic thing happening that he can't see.
I think a mix is best. It's been best for me. I tell him (and myself) that I don't want to put on any more muscle* because my knees are happiest when I'm at my current weight or below.
TM
*(It's totally a choice. It's totally a choice. It's totally a choice.)
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He sounds like he hit the genetic lottery. Putting on muscle will cause your body to burn more calories, I believe, but it will not alone fight off the weight gain that occurs as metabolism slows in middle age. I think you need to add cardio for that.
And putting on muscle to offset weight gain can be a double edged sword. If you get too bulky, you look strange in clothes. If you have to get suits re-tailored, it's also expensive. If you're lifting enough to cause the arms to get tight, you're risking looking a bit too bulky, IMO.
This time of year, the challenge is too not eat one's face off to the point that you wind up looking like a muscular fat guy (Russell Crowe look). If you start gaining weight and think, "Well, I'll just bulk up on muscle and that'll cover up the fat," you wind up with the worst of both worlds.
