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PaperclipPerfector  11mo ago (text post)   3859 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.

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