Comments on: Ask Alfonso: What Should My Body REALLY Look Like?

By: John

John — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:35:59 +0000

You don’t need cardio when you want to get bigger.
It’s absoutely possible that have that body without cardio.

By: Jacob S.

Jacob S. — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:05:17 +0000

Thanks Alfonso and everyone else. Yeah the email wasn’t so much that I’m trying to achieve the perfect body, I have a son who I live for and a GF that I hope to marry so the idea of getting a woman isnt the issue either haha. It’s more or less that I know I need to lose more weight for health reasons, but I look at your avg. joe and I just cant fathom being that skinny!!!! Even when they’re muscular, I’m like “holy crap you’re tiny”

Like I said, after those idols and even my dad who was military all his life and did some bodybuilding, the mindset of anything under a 2x shirt and my chest smaller than 52″ is crazy to me. I just had to know if it was only me going nuts and I’m glad that it’s not. I’m sure as I see more cuts even though I’m shrinking, it wont go thru my head as much. Plus fitting on some rides w/ my son will be a bonus as opposed to that my waist fits, but my upper body width can be an issue!

Thx again everyone and Alfonso for setting it straight. I’ll just continue to lose and every so often add in a week of heavy lifting just to feel better. For anyone curious, click my name to see how i was compared to how i am now

By: Antionette

Antionette — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:26:36 +0000

Diet? Lack of cardio? No set and solid program? Who knows.

By: Eryka

Eryka — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:33:09 +0000

Lightbulb moment, working out was/is feeding into low self esteem. What helped you get over that Alfonso?

By: Stacey

Stacey — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:41:17 +0000

I also struggle w/this. I hate my calve muscles so much, because I perceive them as being to skinny. I try not to go overboard with working them out, as I realize this is counterproductive to growth, but if I go a few days w/out any exercise in general I feel like my calves have shrunken exponentially. Basically, I get sort of dysmorphic about them. It’s taken me years to decide in my own mind to NOT obsess about them, but the feelings manage to persist.

Definitely not alone on that feeling, Jacob!

By: berit

berit — Tue, 22 May 2012 09:35:10 +0000

Congrats on your success so far Jacob. I can imagine how hard it must be for you now, but from reading the numbers I would say you look fantastic right now

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:49:30 +0000

I had several “yes!” moments while reading this. Such a good post. Thanks for writing this, Alfonso. I see a lot of women dealing with the inverse of this mindset and it breaks my heart. Obviously people want to feel like they look good, but the problem comes when we think there is only one way to look good. We find ourselves doing all sorts of harmful things just to achieve that ideal, which is ironically an ideal that is supposedly based off the image of good health. Why not just pursue good health and fitness in the first place and discard the b.s. ideals about what a man or a woman should look like? Makes a lot more sense to me.

By: hakirby

hakirby — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:12:40 +0000

Was there anything after the words “Van Damme”? Something shorted out in my brain, so I’m not sure.

By: Norma

Norma — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:11:53 +0000

I tend to go for guys with an athletic build like an MMA fighter…but my personal trainer is a big jacked up bulky bodybuilder and I think he looks fantastic, too. There is a finite amount of muscle that can be built (naturally, anyway)…so if you know you’re working hard, eating right, pushing yourself, the # on the scale should be a guideline — not a source of obsession. You know you’re fit, strong, in shape and doing it right!

By: John

John — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:49:51 +0000

Alfonso, I’d like to ask a question: There’s a guy at my gym, probably in his mid 30ies. He’s not fat and he’s been at it for about a year. His body hasn’t change at all. He’s doing all the exercises … bench, curls, lat pulldowns, shoulder presses. He’s not training legs though, no bent over rows, no deadlift and certainly no powerclean. What do you think is the reason for that? Is he doing the wrong exercises? Or is it simply a lack of a well thought-out program that prevents him from lifting heavy? He probably knows when he’s going to train biceps / back and when chest / shoulder. But that’s not really what I’d call a program. Program means for me: What (exercises)? How (form)? And what numbers (how many times a weeks, how many sets, how many reps, how to increase, when to deload)? Before you ask for his goal: He’d probably would like to look like that guy on the picture.