Intervention

Women heart guys that are 70’s Big

I’m not quite sure how I can top yesterday’s post. It was probably a bad idea to start the week off talking about sex.  In any case, I need to be cavalier to get out of this self-emplaced rut.

Today I need to have a pep-talk with the guys in this open forum. Women are welcome, but this message isn’t really directed at you.

Due to the increasing popularity of this site, I get a lot of e-mails. So far, these e-mails don’t annoy me. I’m happy to help in whatever way I can. Eventually I’ll organize the popular themes of these e-mails and create some kind of a FAQ (you know, after I create the Hall of Fame page). One subject in particular requires attention.

Hey, skinny guy. It’s time for an intervention.

You’ve been skinny your whole life. This isn’t much of an accomplishment in the same way that being fat your whole life isn’ much of an accomplishment. Fat guys aren’t weird about getting less fat. Skinny guys are definitely weird about getting less skinny. Damned weird. The cause for such a misconception probably includes Hollywood, advertising campaigns, expensive clothing stores, muscle magazines, Calvin Klein jeans, and fanatic fitness methodologies.

When training to get stronger, muscular body weight is gained. After the initial stages of this happening accidentally, a protein and caloric surplus will be required to continue making gains. In the presence of a surplus, it is likely (with regular genetics) to have an increase in body fat along with muscular body weight. To any sane person with eyeballs, muscular body weight is clearly increasing substantially with a little bit of fat. This is not only normal, but it’s going to be necessary if strength is going to be gained.

Even though this is a reality, guys freak out about losing their abs. Really. Usually these are guys that have been awfully skinny their whole lives, and they accidentally had abs that sat below emaciated bony protrusions called ribs. You skinny guys know who you are, especially those of you who are tall and skinny.

Here is my official statement to you: since you’ve been skinny your whole life, you don’t get to have an opinion on what “being fat” is.

There are only two things that I can think of that might be motivation for keeping a set of abs in light of what you’ve learned from 70’s Big: 1) you’re worried about impressing the opposite sex, and 2) there is a fitness methodology that exudes the idea that having a low body fat percentage is vital for elitism.

1) Do you really think that the girl you want to sleep with isn’t going to because you have a bit of body fat (or your interpretation of “a bit of body fat”)? Even if this was the limiting factor in you getting laid, and there is plenty of empirical evidence otherwise, this isn’t someone you’d be keeping around for longer than a half-hour anyway. I’ve recently been told by multiple females that not only do they prefer adult males (>200 pounds), but they spite guys who are 90’s Small. Besides, what woman wouldn’t want to be hauled to the bedroom over a beefy shoulder?

2) Just because a large collection of people, on the internet no less, think you need to be skinny to perform well doesn’t make it true. There aren’t many elite athletes at 5’10″, 165 pounds, and chiseled abs never accomplished anything useful. Sorry.

Depending on your height, you really shouldn’t be worried about being fat until you’re at least 225 anyway. Stop being so damn self-conscious about being fat, because being a self-conscious won’t bring in the ladies, and it sure as hell won’t make you 70’s Big. Grow up. And get strong while you’re at it.

———-

Mike from Charlottesville, VA is a graduate student at the University of Virginia. He’s 6’ tall, and weighs 200 pounds (as of last week). At one point, he weighed a silly 140 pounds. Mike sent me some pictures of smoking eight pounds of pork shoulder which apparently only lasted him for about 5 days.

8 pounds of pork

8 pounds of pork



Homemade smoker

Homemade smoker


46 thoughts on “Intervention

  1. *drops rice cake in shock*

    Good post, count me as one of those skinny dudes – this site is making me change my mind and get strong.

    It”s refreshing to see something like this among all the other “fitness” shit on the net

  2. I have never had abs and once I figured out the game, never had a hard time getting laid. Chicks dig confident guys. That”s the secret. Oh yeah and guys that can protect them from the things that go bump in the night.

    I made smoked pig this past weekend too. 8 pounds of shoulder for 99 cents a pound and 12 hours of low and slow made a great meal or two.

  3. Great article as I was just thinking of a new slogan.
    Why do I workout only 3 days a week, using the 5 barbell exercises and some pullups only? Why dont I do ab exercises and isolation curls? Why do I drink a gallon of milk a day and eat 6 eggs for breakfast, 2 Big Macs for lunch with a peanut butter and banana sandwich and milkshake and a whole pizza for dinner? Why is sleep important to me? Why, you ask? “Cause chicks dig 70s BIG!” Thats WHY…

    Thanks Justin for bringing back this concept and breaking down the walls of narcissism and self-absorption found in today”s “fitness clubs.”

  4. Can we get a how-to on that homemade smoker? Looks simple enough but would like to see what the guts are made of.

    A guesstimation table would be hard to do. When you start to become barrel chested you are well on your way to being 70”s big.

  5. Another thing that fouls up the thinking of the fragile male ego is that many girls lie about being attacted to beefy dudes.

    Maybe these chicks are just trying to be politically correct and come across as not basing attraction to the opposite sex on looks alone. However, next time you”re out at a bar(or any other public place)pay attention to who most women are checking out or even openly flirting with. Its pretty easy to observe that most women are more drawn to a physically imposing man than a skinny one.

  6. I agree with cj3asu. The good chicks flock to us. But i did read an article about women on the pill like “boyish” features but when they are mnstruating they like “masculine” men. I say what guy can move the couch aorund and carry her to the bed?!?!

    Great idea for the smoker too.

  7. Word. While not every chick wants to be thrown over a beefy shoulder, she sure doesn”t want to have to throw you over hers. Hot women (read: athletic not emaciated) dig men they don”t intimidate.

  8. The slender yet muscular man has been a hallmark of western aestheticism for Millenia. Going all the way back to ancient Greece and their statuary you can find representations of the manly idea, and he is more Brad Pitt than Viking Warrior.

    You can see examples here:
    http://www.accd.edu/sac/vat/arthistory/arts1303/Greek3.htm

    So, these young men are buying into a certain kind of aestheticism that has been around a lot longer than fashion mags or Calvin Klein.

    The problem is that they don”t understand that these statues (if they were real men) are probably still around 200 pounds (because they”re very tall, proportionally)

    Basically young men in skinny jeans don”t understand the difference between:

    Michelangelo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo%27s_David

    and

    Donatello: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_%28Donatello%29

    One looks the young man who will become God”s gunslinger and conquer and subdue Israel”s enemies…

    The other is an Italian fruitcake”s wet dream.

    Get big, get strong. Then worry about looking like a piece of chiseled Carrara marble.

  9. Justin (or anyone else with a knowledgeable opinion), can you recommend a good protein powder? I am not sure what the stance on protein powder is at 70s Big, but I am having trouble downing enough food to really put on weight at a good pace, so I”d like a good protein powder to mix in with milk. Thanks for the feedback.

  10. Edward –

    Optimum Nutrition”s Gold Standard Whey is the best stuff I”ve ever had. Great tasting, and 1 rounded scoop has 24g of protein as well as some other good stuff like 5.5g of BCAAs.

    The flavor I have is called Extreme Milk Chocolate. For a quick and tasty protein shake, I put about a dozen ice cubes into the blender, a scoop or two of the protein, a banana, and some peanut butter, and enough water to cover just over the top of the ice cubes (or milk). Blend it all together and you have a chocolate banana peanut butter shake.

  11. edward-
    gold standard is good and its all i ever used untill optimum came out with a platnium standard which is hydrolized so its already partially broken down which means it will be used by your muscles faster and it has over eight grams bcaa”s. also has more protien per scoop than the gold. a few scoops with whole milk.. it tastes better and better for you than water. then drink a gatorade which has 18 grams fast digesting carbs which will help spike ure insalin levels and help ur musles use the protein faster. them a casein protein at night. 30-40 grams half hour before bed will last through a good seven hours of sleep. i hope this helps

  12. You can get 3.5lbs of the Platinum Hydrowhey for $50, or you can get 5lbs of the Gold Standard Whey for $40. If you”re on a budget, it”s hard to beat the prices you”ll find online for Gold Standard. I personally think the platinum whey is a waste of money.

    Fitrx.com does two 5lb Gold Standard Whey deals all the time for $65.90 plus about $3 to ship them, and they sent a 150g bottle of ON Creatine with it for free last time.

    I think casein is a bit of a hype product as well, but again that”s just my opinion.

  13. I don”t know if this is particularly relevant to the topic but I wanted to share anyways. This past weekend I packed up my canoe and went camping in Tomales Bay here in California where I proceeded to catch and eat a 5 foot lemon shark. To cook the shark I carried what I would estimate to be a 175-200lb piece of driftwood about a quarter mile over sandy beaches and rocky surf back to my camp site where I hacked it to pieces with a large axe.

  14. Lemon shark? I like your style. The drift wood makes it ever more primitive. Im hoping to kill a deer soon. Harvesting your own meat is so much better when you eat alot at a time. Or its just funner.

  15. Jesco-
    You don”t know if that story was relevant? I”m pretty sure killing big game and eating it is extremely relevant to this site. Just ask yourself, “Would Johnny Spuke do it?” If the answer is yes, it”s relevant.

  16. Jesco, did you catch and kill it with your hands? THAT would be 70s big. And awesome. Then again catching any food you eat with your hands is awesome (however, watch your intake of shark meat…).

    ps- I think bsn proteins are the best tasting (esp. Syntha 6) and is fairly cheap online.

  17. Women dig real men. I know mine finds me much more attractive now as 230lb bearded man, than when I was so called “lean” and a female (under 200). Plus chicks that do not barbell train, are just not as cool.

  18. As my friend and I were talking to a girl this weekend the subject of weight came up. I believe one of the guys in the group mentioned himself weighing 160 pounds. The girl”s response was “Whoa, I thought guys were supposed to weigh like at least 200 pounds.” This pleased me greatly because I”ve been trying to get my friend to gain weight, but he sadly will not. Even women know adult males > 200 pounds. I look forward to joining the adult male club by the end of the year.

  19. I love this article! I cannot emphasize how much unattractive “90”s small” guys are. I don”t care if a guy is ripped to shreds, if I can come close to your squat, press or deadlift, there”s the slightest chance that you could fit a leg into a pair of my jeans, or if a guy turns down my Mom”s cooking for fear that it might make him look “soft” I”m not interested. A strong, big man is attractive for so many reasons. Just as men are attracted to small waists, large breasts, higher voices, etc because it is a sign of fertility, women are attracted to strong, large men because historically these are the men who could provide and protect. But, all I know is that a strong, big man, capable of moving heavy weights is hot and one who”s too scared of what will happen to his abs if he eats enough to get strong is NOT.Plus, being an athletic, NON-waif I want to feel feminine when I”m with a man and do not want to fear that I”m bigger or stronger.

  20. Vanessa is my perfect girl, I wanted to add a couple things:

    She loves when I have a beard.
    She loves beer breath.
    She loves my pitbull. He”s now our pitbull.
    She loves brisket.
    She cooks me eggs.
    She lifts with me almost everyday.

    Her lifts:
    Deadlift 285
    Squat 205
    Press 80
    Clean and Jerk 130
    Snatch 95
    …and she”s doing a strength cycle right now.

    Guys, there are kick ass girls out there that will enjoy you getting and being 70”s Big. These women are smart, sexy, and strong. Take time and find a good woman and then treat her right. If you go out there and get together with some liberal, vegan, yoga practitioner, skinny, weak, waif of a woman- you are forever doomed to be small and weak yourself.

  21. Prak, Joe, & Others,

    Smoker Details

    The design was inspired by Alton Brown. One major change: I use charcoal instead of a hot plate. I could never get enough heat.

    Take two clay (or tera cotta) pots, some bricks, and a spare grill grate. The bricks are the platform. Hot charcoal and big chucks of hardwood go in the bottom pot. The grill grate sits inside. Meat goes on the grate. Second pot goes on top. A grill thermometer can go on top if you want.

    The pots have “drainage” holes. It”s important to arrange the bricks so that the bottom hole is not closed off. This would kill the heat. Fire needs air.

    The rig works well for smoking: consistent heat between 200 and 300 for 3 to 4 hours without having to fiddle with it. A great way to spend a Saturday!

  22. Dear Mike,
    I too live in Charlottesville, VA and I am only 5”9″ 150 lbs. Will you mentor me to greatness?

    There should be a 70”s Big Brother/70”s Big Sister program I think.

  23. bflatsax:
    The grill grate is about 17 inches across. It can fit a brisket (about 5 to 12 lbs), or two pork shoulders, aka Boston Butts (about 8 lbs each). The short answer is that it holds enough meat.

    bends:
    Let”s take this offline. My email is midohu AT gmail DOT com.

  24. I use a combination of a Big Green Egg – a combo bbq and smoker for the big stuff. The quick stuff gets the gas grille. Less satisfying but works in a pinch. As for women liking big men I can attest. Chicks dig guys over 300 lbs. Especially if you have some style and know how to have a good time. I always thought there was some fundamentally wrong with a girl eying the 6”5″ 315 lbs guy at the bar and thinking “i want that big ass dude on top of me”. I guess they are more than a few because it happens often. At the end of the day any guy that can bested by my girl on the platform need not continue. But she is pretty strong…5”2″ 125 lbs with a raw 300 dl, 265 squat and 135 lbs press. I know a lot of guys that would be jacked with those numbers.

  25. Chuck, you”re the sweetest(oohh… do you get points deducted from your 70”s big account for that?). But, I have a long way to go before I”m happy with my lifts.

    pw00132, I do have friends but sadly most of them aren”t into lifting like I am. But, I say find a girl that”s sick and tired of starving herself and has trouble fitting her “big” legs into skinny jeans and you”ve got some potential there.

    Jay, you and Nikki ROCK!

  26. I was practically cheering aloud when reading this article. Then, to my surprise, I find a mention of a fellow UVa graduate student working to become 70”s big!

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