trifecta

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Mr. Beanz

If my arms ever get that skinny, shoot me! All the roadies that I've posted better times on 10,000 ft timed centuries, shoot them!

frankum

Thats your opinion. I cannot give those who have super skinny arms, can see their ribs through their 'pecs', and yet still have big legs very much respect. How can you be so narrow minded about physical conditioning to think that being in shape elsewhere in your body besides legs isn't helpful? It is. When I see someone like is pictured in the first post, I instantly think they've never tried to better themselves besides on a bicycle.
See this first picture below? 7 tours under his belt. AND he has more muscle than me. Genetics? Of course. But, ANYONE who's not poverty stricken can stop themselves from becoming UNHEALTHY which is perfectly shown in the last picture. Yes, unhealthy, as in not good for prolonging one's lifespan & well being.

grolby

So "Crossfit" let's you win 4 out of 5 events in a contrived (and imaginary) competition against a specialized athlete. Wow, that's....lame. Any sense of achievement gained in such a competition has to feel pretty cheap. Like I said, we are ascending the peaks of mediocrity, here.

Even this idea that a winning Crossfit athlete is the best possible "all-around" athlete is false. Someone who trains for these events is, yes, specialized for Crossfit competition. I'll be impressed when you enter a basketball game, a bicycle race, a sprint race on foot, a long-distance race on foot and a curling match in events sanctioned by the governing bodies of those sports under their rules and under no other sporting association (like Crossfit) and do well in all of them. THAT would be impressive. But any organized competition purporting to produce the best "all-round" athletes is just another game that can be focused on.

That doesn't make any sense. In what way would you be a good athlete anymore? Let's see, you'd be mediocre with respect to attaining your maximum potential as a cyclist, mediocre with respect to attaining your maximum potential as a runner, lifter, footballer, bellydancer (or whatever), the list goes on.

This crap about how some "ideal" athlete has to have some upper-body heft or bulk, or be able to squat a given amount, or in any other way to be something other than a pure endurance athlete always seems to come from jocks who are insecure about getting dropped whenever the group ride hits the hills. Well, this is cycling, so HTFU and deal with it. Skinny-armed guys get dropped, too, but most of us usually admit that it was because we couldn't hack it.

There's no such thing as an objective "well-rounded" or "better" athlete outside the specific bounds of a sport, because there's no objective framework whatsoever to define such a thing. Which is why it is always the whiny refuge of the weak of legs.

Hey, I suck at football. I can handle it, so can you.

frankum

Any sport you do requires use of all muscles in your body. All your muscles DO work in conjuction to support the other. So, would it NOT make sense to have a strong total body to increase your total fitness level? All the muscles in the body are interconnected like I said, so if one is stronger, it can further support and 'help' the other muscles. Granted its not like skinny armed guys have no muscle, but more would most definitely help them, and they're only naive to not realize this.

gregf83 

Helpful in what way specifically? If a guy is genetically skinny what exactly is the point of him spending a ton of time in the gym lifting? It's unlikely he is going to bulk up his upper body and other than his appearance what good would it do for him? Would he live longer? Have more opportunities for manual labour jobs? Something else?

grolby

You're an idiot. Are you in contact with Messr. Rasmussen's doctors? Do you have personal knowledge of his actual health?

Meatheads like you seem to think that muscle mass and looking sculpted is somehow synonymous with good health. I bet you also think that Lance has "healthy tan." But appearances don't mean all that much. I'm not as thin as Rasmussen, but I'm skinny enough that my ribs are slightly visible, I have very slender arms and even fairly skinny legs for all the riding I do. You would probably look at a picture of me with my shirt off and call me unhealthy. And that would make you an idiot. All actual medical measures of health show me as being extremely healthy (except for my primary hypertension but that's not my fault). I have excellent cholesterol, heart health, and fitness, and an extremely robust immune system - I am almost never sick. For all we know, Rasmussen there is in similar good health, though all that training will probably depress his immune system a bit.

urbanknight

Keep it up, I appreciate the weight handicap if I ever go climbing with you.

Sea Green Sky

Yeah lets see ... IT job in SoCal -OR- traveling the world and racing bikes. Hmm, yeah I'll take the skinny arms and pro career every time.

grolby

The muscles in my arms are more than adequate for daily life and the sports that I participate in, such as cycling. Upper body strength isn't good for much on a road bike. The only possible reason for me to make the (mostly fruitless) effort to bulk up my upper body musculature to your satisfaction would be vanity.. You guys really need to just admit that that's what this is really all about. It hurts your feelings that those skinny bike weenies wipe the floor with you.

s4one

You don't need to choose the skinniest pro cyclists to compare, lance is preattty damn strong and I bet his arms are bigger than yours.

Carbon Unit

It all depends on what you are into. Big arms won't help you win races. If those guys are professional cyclist or just competing, they want to keep their weight down.

One thing is certain, you might beat them arm wresting, but I am sure they would kick your butt in a crit.

MONGO!

If Lou Ferrigno had rode a bike he would have won 8 tours. Just sayin'

woodduck

bro, you have only really shown GT riders so far. They are skinny by nature and at the end of racing a 3 week tour, I'm sure they are even more thin. The Armstrong photo would be from the time off his bike as he was more lean during his heyday.

there are more than just 3 week road racers that are cyclists.

maybe these boys are too skinny too hey?

SkyeC

there. decent-sized arms for you to ogle.

what a weird thread.

.PJ

What's your dead|squat|bench and C&J/snatch total OP?

btw, this thread sucks

logdrum

We had 2 guys helped uslast summer with the handy work around here. One skinny, one that had the body of a Greek god. Both have fathers that are farriers too. Farriers -> horse shoers and they are too but still beginners.


Nevertheless both helped to shoe our draft horses, not easy because that kind of horse is over a ton. OK they are not lifting a ton but you have to support a horses leg. When I do one horse trimming hooves, I have to lay in bed the next day.

The skinny dude is much stronger than the pretty boy-muscled guy. Both are nice and strong people but in terms of lifting stuff and endurance, the skinny guy who doesn't even have a serving of meat in his arms, no glutes, bass guitar chest can lift 2, sometimes 3 bags of quickrete and unload the flatbed in record time. Too bad he moved bad he was the best person that help me with my honey do's. Tolerant to pain as well.

However pretty boy get's killer girls all the time. The skinny dude has a nagging chubby jealous wife. Oh well!

SpinDr

Okay so I'm about to feed the troll...

I cycle ~60-100 miles a week for fun. I run ~5 miles on my off days and also lift my own weight (push-ups and sit-ups). I don't have massive arms or massive legs (unlike the OP), but the tone and strength is there. I'm not a big guy but I'm trimmed, toned and strong for my size and I could probably hose him on most hills if he's carrying the extra upperbody mass.

It's incorrect to base strength or fitness on size. My pal is ex-SAS and has never lifted a weight in his life. He's as strong as an ox and has an aerobic fitness level that I could only ever dream of.

Ben

davids0507

Hilarious.

When I saw the first picture on this thread, I didn't realize it was supposed to be someone super-skinny. I spend too much time around endurance athletes.

Johnny Colnago

Weaksauce troll OP and shame on all you idiots who fed him.

Metzinger

:facepalm:

gsteinb

You post a picture of a climber and comment on his upper body strength. You can do the same with an endurance runner and do the same. Post pictures of sprinters and you'll have a different conversation. Your lack of knowledge of the sport or athletics is staggeringly silly.

gsteinb

That's good, because I don't even know what you're talking about.

gsteinb

Good job on distorting context. Now compare a pic of lance during the tour versus when he was running around with Matt banging startlets.

ch3n207

Ugh i have skinny arms. Im 5'9 118 pounds. So what? It's because i chose to be skinny so i can climb more efficiently. Don't judge others because of how they look. GEEEEZZZZ!!