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PaperclipPerfector  11mo ago (text post)   3838 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 14, 2023

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Purely idle curiosity: Could someone following the Charles Atlas exercise program achieve Charles Atlas's physique?

Charles Atlas's physique

i think he stood 5'10 and 185 lbs at 15% bodyfat/ that is doable

It's not Arnold tier but as I understand it his Dynamic Tension program was unique in being largely about what he called non-apparatus methods. I've just had a flick through a copy on archive.org and it's not much more than a few basic bodyweight exercises (dips, leg raises), some stretches, some weird self-resistance exercises (climbing an imaginary rope, punching yourself in the abdomen), and plenty of fresh air, a balanced diet without sugar and caffeine, and a cold cloth on the genitals each morning.

I assume a diligent follower could achieve a basic otter mode and no longer be a weakling who gets sand kicked in their face but Atlas claims he had a 47" chest. Taking a quick skim through an image search that looks more like a juiced up underwear model who lifts weights than the dad bod + clean diet physique of Atlas who supposedly didn't touch apparatus and had no access to steroids. Apparently Arnold was 58" at his biggest and he used every means available.

Pre-steroid bodybuilder physiques are quite normal looking. Big, lean, natural. Choose two.

IIRC, it's the lack of gigantic pecs and lats. If you look at the old-time athletes, they are broadly Π-shaped, while later bodybuilders like Columbu or Arnie have a much more pronounced V-shape.

big naturals

Can’t be mad at that.

But all joking aside the best physique I ever had was me at about 230lbs and 20% body fat.

After 18 months of big lifting and hard work, I was in the locker room, looked in the mirror, and I had the physique of an over the hill samurai. Ropy, thick shoulders. A huge, muscular ass. A core like a tree trunk. And a little pot belly.

I looked like a mook in a Kurosawa movie, screaming at the bar maids to bring me more sake.

Shit was choice, couldn’t be more proud of myself.

I don’t think it was a coincidence that I got married shortly after that.

230 at 20% body fat is no joke. That's the "can probably beat 99% of men in a fight" physique that women seem to love.

I call it the “Alpha Dad Bod”. Especially since I wasn’t doing any bodybuilding stuff, it was almost all complex lifts and boxing. Very utilitarian.

I’m currently at 245lbs at almost 30% body fat, I’m trying to get back to it.

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