Why do some players bulk up so quickly?

[Schism]

Partially correct - creatine, esentially, is a muscle cell volumiser. Monohydrate does not cause cramos and bloating in 99.5% of the population either. And i bought you many afl players use this because creatine is known to enhance power output, strength, and some reports also suggest endurance. High carbs does not bulk you up, carbs are essentially energy....yes your muscles use carbs in the form of glycogen, however it is protein which dictates their growth or atrophy. I dont think there are that many players that are that built and ripped to cause a stir with steroid use, so i wouldnt start pointing fingers- most look el-natural, they simply dont have THAT much muscle on their frames to warrant steroid claims.

I doubt any of them use creatine during the season, it causes water retention that would kill you on match days against hard runners like say, ling or cornes. Of everyone i've trained with or i know that trains, it's probably 50/50 on whether creatine even does anything at all. I know it has helped me before, especially coming back after not training for months/years.

I agree there is no player in the AFL that looks like hes on roids.

 

[VanBerlo=God]

Has anyone noticed the amazing way some players seem to bulk up so quickly.
I can recall West Coast players in the very late 80s at the end of the season and then in the beginning of the next season looking completely different - huge upper body development.

I have noticed that to alesser extent in more recent years although some Collingwood players may be approaching that category.

Is it just hard work and top gym work?

i've done about 7 gym work out sessions this month (sept) and had i gone constantly and regularly, my arms would be pretty big, my shoulders huge, i would have a 6 pack and a decent set of t***ies by now.

im one of those guys that with 6 months of dedication could turn flabby into ripped, some have it some dont, metabolism (previously stated).

 

[greennick]

Has anyone noticed the amazing way some players seem to bulk up so quickly.
I can recall West Coast players in the very late 80s at the end of the season and then in the beginning of the next season looking completely different - huge upper body development.

I have noticed that to alesser extent in more recent years although some Collingwood players may be approaching that category.

Is it just hard work and top gym work?

The Eagles were one of the first clubs to invest in one of these:

The drugs helped too. You haven't heard about the massive doping we've had going on here for about 15-20 years now? I thought everyone knew about that, I mean it has involved about 100 players and countless support staff. I hear stories about the systematic doping all the time.

 

[enosis7]

In order of importance
1. Genetics
2. Training stimulus
3. Diet
4. Legal supplements

Illegal supplements can be so effective, you'd probably put them in front of genetics.

Aussie Rules is a sport where creatine would have one of the best potentials for benefit. Water retention is not really a major side effect when used in controlled dosage. In the original trials they only used around 5g a day after the initial loading phase. This dosage won't, in my experience, cause much water retention, particularly if it's high quality micronised creatine.

There's evidence to suggest caffeine counteracts creatine's benefits. It's possible they'll use creatine in the off-season/pre-season and caffeine during the season.

Everyone's different though and creatine doesn't benefit a lot of people so this is not a golden rule. Different players will use it differently.

 

[VanBerlo=God]

Some players are just more receptive to strength training. Would someone please feed Mr Mackie a large roast dinner while I am on the subject

pork roast?? yummo

oh btw, moving weights is terribly boring...

 

[Mr Lizard]

Which is exactly what i said in my last sentence of that post

Yeah, but I was rolling my eyes.


Steroids alone would make a player top heavy and he'd lose endurance, sure. That was where you left it.
Add some EPO, hey presto.


And I know nothing about drugs really. What other drugs have they come up with by now?

 

[BK Eaglesfan]

Most players i believe go on 6 to 8 weeks steroid cycles in off season to bulk them up and then continue training to maintain the size. Towards end of preseason players would use stazanol because that is a ripping agent. So in a majority of cases it would be drugs.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Mots of the genuinely big players in the league, or those with body parts that show the benefits of gym work, have been in the AFL for a long while.

Think of the real strong men in the AFL who have 'gym physiques'. Buckley, Tarrant's arms, Gehrig is a monster.....most of these guys have been in the gym several years, and been on custom strength programs put together by people more experienced than you average personal trainer. They have aslo gone through the early 20's age where guys are more predisposed to put bulk on. Look at Gehrig now, compared to Gehrig at the Eagles.

Often players come back after an off season looking vastly different. Again, with good trainers, over a 4 - 6 month period massive changes can occur. A pro bodybuilder (and I'm talking even a natural one) would often times look to put on 10 - 15kg in 6ish months, and then spend 3 months shedding the fat to hopefully end up with a few kg more muscle than the same show last year. So, with a whole off season to work on strength, and guys coming onto lists at 18 and then hitting the age where they fill out, it's hardly surprising some go through big changes in the off season.

 

[Schism]

Yeah, but I was rolling my eyes.


Steroids alone would make a player top heavy and he'd lose endurance, sure. That was where you left it.
Add some EPO, hey presto.


And I know nothing about drugs really. What other drugs have they come up with by now?

Top pro bodybuilders (Coleman,Cutler etc) are on so much shit it's out of this world. They are on experimental drugs, plus all the drugs you would expect, plus what..insulin? HGH? and then throw in some more that only the top guys who research and design the stuff know about. It's crazy. But they are guinea pigs and they accept that as a sacrifice on their way to being the biggest and best.

 

[chrisjie]

St Kilda Saints did not have squats as part of their weight training program until this year.

So the simple answer is: Some people know how to train, some don't.

 

[GoOsH]

Has anyone noticed the amazing way some players seem to bulk up so quickly.
I can recall West Coast players in the very late 80s at the end of the season and then in the beginning of the next season looking completely different - huge upper body development.

I have noticed that to alesser extent in more recent years although some Collingwood players may be approaching that category.

Is it just hard work and top gym work?

nope, it's steroids.

 

[Schism]

St Kilda Saints did not have squats as part of their weight training program until this year.

So the simple answer is: Some people know how to train, some don't.

A wise man once said "it is not worth living if i cannot deadlift". I'd say that for squats as well

 

[BWST]

Has anyone noticed the amazing way some players seem to bulk up so quickly.
I can recall West Coast players in the very late 80s at the end of the season and then in the beginning of the next season looking completely different - huge upper body development.

I have noticed that to alesser extent in more recent years although some Collingwood players may be approaching that category.

Is it just hard work and top gym work?

I lifted weights as a skinny 18 year old. No drugs.......heaps of protein. Egg Whites with Skim Milk Powder. Chicken Breasts, Lean Steaks, So on.

As a 22 year old, i was 6 foot and 100 kilos. Not much fat. Imagine what a good coach and science can do now days.

Heavy weights, low repetitions. I got to a 150 kilo Bench Press. 200 kilo Squat. ( single )

I grew so fast i still have stretch marks around my chest and underarms.

It's not Rocket Science.

 

[huggy_b]

Add to this that its basically a full time job for them - weights all morning, followed by cardio, more weights in the afternoon and so on.

Genetics do come into it, but if you eat like a horse and push heavy weights, anyone will bulk up.

 

[BWST]

Add to this that its basically a full time job for them - weights all morning, followed by cardio, more weights in the afternoon and so on.

Genetics do come into it, but if you eat like a horse and push heavy weights, anyone will bulk up.

Good post.....genetics are 75 percent.

My Old Man was built like a horse before he lifted a teaspoon.

 

[GoOsH]

Steroids alone would make a player top heavy and he'd lose endurance, sure. Add some EPO, hey presto.
And I know nothing about drugs really.

no offence, but the second line kind of blows the first line out of the water there.
There was actually a guy on here when everyone was talking about EPO who had a keen interest in cycling and drugs in cycling (he certainly seemed to know a lot more about it than any of us) and he was saying that for EPO to have an effect you need to be in the regions of a lance armstrong as far as your efficiency of oxygen use in the blood, as well as doing super endurance events like the tour de france, and that basically for sports like football, EPO would not improve performance.
But hey, keep making it up as you go along!

 

[dmc333]

i've done about 7 gym work out sessions this month (sept) and had i gone constantly and regularly, my arms would be pretty big, my shoulders huge, i would have a 6 pack and a decent set of t***ies by now.

im one of those guys that with 6 months of dedication could turn flabby into ripped, some have it some dont, metabolism (previously stated).

Wanna hook up?

 

[Lynch takes a mark]

Given most players are around the 85-90 kg mark and over 6' I find it HIGHLY unlikely that they are using HGH, AAS or any other illegal performance enhancing drugs.

Darren Glass started out as an 82kg lean & athletic defender, after about 6 full pre seasons at the club he was up to a massive 95kg's, he is now one of the strongest body on body players in the league.

Time, Consistent Training, Genetics & Diet are what builds muscle

Matt Rosa will never be as big Q. Lynch but this has as much to do with genetics (myostatin levels ect) than it does with training.

Also why Haselby & Whitnall will never be as lean as a guy like Cousins, although diet would have a fair bit to do with it

 

[justthedukes]

One thing ive always wondered is why do commentaters say 'such and such will be a good player if he bulks up abit', ussally to blokes after a year or two in the AFL (eg. Dale Thomas, heard numerous commentators say that last year, not that much this year).

So they dont do weight training in junior football? Most clubs, esspecially the clubs up and coming youngsters play for have very good facilities and personal trainers. I know alot more money would be pumped into weight training at an AFL club, but man, a bench press is a bench press, and a protein shake is a protein shake?

 

[Geoffa32]

Spinach

Anyone think Hoff will build up....he has a very light frame and not very broad shoulders??? Fianls series shown he needs too to be a key forward...

 

[VanBerlo=God]

One thing ive always wondered is why do commentaters say 'such and such will be a good player if he bulks up abit', ussally to blokes after a year or two in the AFL (eg. Dale Thomas, heard numerous commentators say that last year, not that much this year).

So they dont do weight training in junior football? Most clubs, esspecially the clubs up and coming youngsters play for have very good facilities and personal trainers. I know alot more money would be pumped into weight training at an AFL club, but man, a bench press is a bench press, and a protein shake is a protein shake?

weight training is highly unrecommended for individuals under the age of 16, can harm muscle and bone development, along with a crap load of other issues that can arise that may harm the individuals body development.

just like that russian kid a few years back whos probably 18/19 now, power to weight ratio, could outlift anyone at the gym and was like 8 years old or something

Wanna hook up?

 

[Schism]

weight training is highly unrecommended for individuals under the age of 16, can harm muscle and bone development, along with a crap load of other issues that can arise that may harm the individuals body development.

That is urban myth.

 

[FuManchu]

Add to this that its basically a full time job for them - weights all morning, followed by cardio, more weights in the afternoon and so on.

Genetics do come into it, but if you eat like a horse and push heavy weights, anyone will bulk up.

not neccesarily and those without the genetic disposition can actually do a lot of soft tissue injuries in the pursuit of bulking up, with little gain.

How do I know?

20 years of doing it in the gym, 5 /6 days a week.

You either have it or you dont. Players like Michael Tuck wouldnt have had it and they probably rarely looked at a weight and didnt need to.

 

[FuManchu]

Top pro bodybuilders (Coleman,Cutler etc) are on so much shit it's out of this world. They are on experimental drugs, plus all the drugs you would expect, plus what..insulin? HGH? and then throw in some more that only the top guys who research and design the stuff know about. It's crazy. But they are guinea pigs and they accept that as a sacrifice on their way to being the biggest and best.

and a good percentage have liver and kidney problems and die shrivelled up old men before their time

 

[SS_Fury]

That is urban myth.

x2...im guessing your a personal trainer or something too, you seem to be fairly clued in

 

[Schism]

and a good percentage have liver and kidney problems and die shrivelled up old men before their time

Yep no argument there. I'm not suggesting for one moment the sacrifice is worth it.