An interesting/strange question...

J

johnnyg2008

0
Ok here's my question...

Everyone says to build muslce you need to eat more calories and more protein and do compound lifts like squats deads bench etc for 8-12 reps 3 or so sets....

Now my question is.... why do people who play soccer for years have big legs? why do construction workers have lots of muslce? why do swimmers have big shoulders?....

Most of these people have regular... sometimes poor diets... most don't lift heavy.... and yet especially in the case of construction workers (well all the ones ive seen) they have well developed large muscles? People i know who've been playing soccer for years (girls and guys) have big legs wthout good diets or ANY gym work.

Maybe its a stupid question but i'm still interested as to how these people get muscles when all i see is "lift big, eat big or u wont get big".. doesn't this go against that?
 
Construction workers lift heavy things all day. However, at one point, they pretty much stop growing becase they do the same things over and over again and the body gets used to it.

I've seen many soccer players with big legs, and many with tiny legs too. Pro soccer players do weight train, for some, it can be genetics. However, soccer is like HIIT, and sprinting (like you sometimes need to do in soccer) is a lot of muscle work, it's not like low intensity cardio.

Swimming uses quite a bit of lats and shoulders, but the case here is again that they will only get so big before they adapt and the rest of the adaption to get faster is more cardio than muscles.
 
To be fair I've never seen a soccer player with big legs, they're generally pretty skinny like David Beckham. But I understand your point.

With swimmers and soccer players I'd say that the musclular power comes from the amount of explosive movements they do like sprint training in soccer.
Motor unit activation speeds have a lot to do with muscular development and sprinting on land or sprint swimming is going to require type 2 fibre activation

As for construction workers, again, I've never seen one that I thought looked like he lifted weights but obviously they still lift, support, grip heavy stuff all day. Over time this is going to give them strength

EDIT: Roberto Carlos has big legs, but that's it :)
 
Ah thanks i get it.

I didn't mean that soccer players have HUGE legs or anything but they do have leg development for sure (not the pros... just people i know).. and same with construction workers... they seem to have big forearms.

Anyway a question leading off from this....

These people gain some muscle without eating to gain...

Question is... if i just keep eating normally but lift big... will i still gain muscle but slower? or not at all?

Yes i realise i'm trying to ask question on alternative/lazy ways of doing things and i know that eating and lifting big is the best way but i'm just interested.
 
I do know what you mean, my father in law is a carpenter and has stronger forearms than I've ever seen on a weight lifter and his diet sucks big time.

I think it's just a question of degrees, he'll never have big muscles because he doesn't eat enough but his body is forced to keep as much muscle as it possibly can because he's constantly on building sites lifting and gripping big bits of wood.
It's a bit hard to try and replicate that kind of physique by going to the gym though as you'd need tobe down there for 8 hours doing super high rep work
 
CCR said:
I do know what you mean, my father in law is a carpenter and has stronger forearms than I've ever seen on a weight lifter and his diet sucks big time.

I think it's just a question of degrees, he'll never have big muscles because he doesn't eat enough but his body is forced to keep as much muscle as it possibly can because he's constantly on building sites lifting and gripping big bits of wood.
It's a bit hard to try and replicate that kind of physique by going to the gym though as you'd need tobe down there for 8 hours doing super high rep work
Click to expand...

Ah ye i understand thanks..

I'm not sure where to ask diet specific questions but...

I feel sick and bloated and often feel like throwing up recently as im trying to eat big.... are there specific foods that contain lots of protein and calories that wont make u bloated and feel sick?
 
I don't think so. The bloating could either be because you're not used to that level of intake in which case just keep at it until your body gets used to eating more, or you could be intolerant to something you're eating; dairy products can often be the offending party there.

What do you eat in an average day?
 
CCR said:
To be fair I've never seen a soccer player with big legs, they're generally pretty skinny like David Beckham. But I understand your point.
Click to expand...

maybe you haven't seen Steven Gerrard , Zlatan Ibrahimovic , Adriano, Didier Drogba, Jaap Stam etc etc etc

nowadays players focus on strength and they are huge. beckahm is a fashion model not a footballer lol
 
I am with CCR on everything in this thread.

I ave also never seen a soccer player with big legs. (when I say big I mean over 30")

are there specific foods that contain lots of protein and calories that wont make u bloated and feel sick?
Click to expand...

BigTom hit this one. You are better to eat a lot of small (or regular) size meals as opposed to big meals. Eating big takes practice, you will not be able to do it all at once. Just like you will not squat 600lbs right away.
 
If you're continuosly using a specific muscle group, such as CCR's father-in-law using forearms for 'sawing' etc, then the body is gonna break-down the muscle fibres and HAVE to regenerate to make them bigger and stronger for the next time that task comes to hand. It's just the bodies way of helping you cope with general day to day life. Any form of protein in CCR's father-in-law's diet will aid to the reconstruction of the muscle fibres in his forearm's.

That's the way Mother Nature looks after us ;)
 
snorkles said:
maybe you haven't seen Steven Gerrard , Zlatan Ibrahimovic , Adriano, Didier Drogba, Jaap Stam etc etc etc
Click to expand...

Just looked at the legs of all of them and they all have skinny legs

I've attached a pic of Roberto Carlos' leg just to show that soccer players can have muscular legs. The idea that too much bulk can slow them down is just another excuse not to squat ;)

View attachment 2300
 
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