We all know people who are all “show” and no “go”, right?
Right?
Or do we?
I mean – in my own dealings with 1,000s of gym-goers and athletes over the years I actually haven’t met that many people who were big and jacked (show) and actually lacked “go.”
Why is that?
Well – primarily because muscle is built as a consequence of progressive overload on correctly performed quality exercises.
And if you do that you will have some show and some go.
So I’m not sure how much meaning that statement really has if we’re being honest.
Sounds good, but it mostly comes from strong fat guys trying to passive aggressively insult their leaner counterparts.
So this got me to thinking about the utility of some focus on hypertrophy specific “bodybuilding” type work with performance athletes.
Is there a benefit or largely a drain on resources?
The answer is yes…and yes.
Weightroom activity must always be carefully balanced when working with athletes.
They often have huge demands outside of the gym and strength coaches need to pick and choose exercises/sets/reps wisely to make sure that the gym actually aids performance instead of hinders it.
But what are the benefits (if any) of potentially dedicating some specific time to exercises that might be deemed strictly for hypertrophy for a performance athlete?
I’ll give 3 main reasons (potentially) why this might be a good decision in some instances?
#1: Bigger Muscles Produce More Force
So whether you build your muscle mass with a barbell, a dumbbell, a selectorized machine, or a cable doesn’t really matter that much. That muscle is still bigger. It isn’t constructed of different tissue based on how it was built. So bigger muscles always have the potential to generate more force.
Now – you still have to train force production directly. Doing machines for 10-15 rep sets CAN build muscle mass. But it’s still low force production work. High force production weight must be done with heavy weights (generally 1-5 rep range) or high speed work – think Dynamic Effort work, Olympic Lifting, Sprints, etc.
So in essence you still have to show those bigger muscles how to produce force if they haven’t been trained to do so. This isn’t a problem in my programming because there is always some element of heavy 1-5 rep range work and usually some higher speed work like Dynamic Effort work for any sport athlete I train, as force production is generally the primary adaptation we’re looking for. It all develops concurrently (hypertrophy & strength) because of how I program and how most good coaches program.
The all-show and no-go mantra generally comes from witnessing accounts of some bodybuilders (huge and jacked) that just weren’t that impressively strong for their size. Especially compared to some powerlifters with far less impressive physiques. The difference is that the powerlifter trains for high force production. This is a requirement for the sport. Some bodybuilders (Ronnie Coleman, etc) trained very heavy and were thus very large and very strong. But some bodybuilders may rarely go below 8-10 reps. They can still get pretty damn big, but they aren’t as strong as you’d think they’d be for their size. It’s simply a matter of having an untrained nervous system for high load work.
I would also argue that 99% of huge jacked bodybuilders who “aren’t that strong” could be quite impressively strong with a few months of exposure to higher load training. Developing neurological efficiency for higher force production can be a fairly rapid adaptation for a guy who already carries a lot of muscle.
Moral of the story – it may not be totally necessary for the sport to develop more muscle mass on a given athlete, but it almost never hurts, and almost always raises their potential to become better at force production. So rarely is more muscle a bad thing.
Some exceptions of course exist – athletes who are already big enough for their sport/position, and some endurance type athletes such as swimmers actually probably don’t want more muscle than is necessary for their frame. That being said – this is rarely a consideration in 90% of the population of athletes you’re likely to work with in real life – most of which could use quite a bit more muscle.
#2: More Muscle, Better Physique = More Confidence
The first time I heard this from an elite athlete was about 10 years ago and it stuck with me ever since. Many of you may remember an MMA/UFC fighter by the name of George St. Pierre or GSP. GSP was an all-time great welterweight champion and had a very well developed physique. Not quite bodybuilder level but really good. I heard him say in an interview that looking in the mirror and seeing a muscular well developed chiseled physique was an incredibly important part of his fight prep.
It gave him confidence.
Say what you want, but I am 100% of the belief that confidence plays a huge role in the performance of an athlete.
And going back to what I said earlier in the article – all show and no go is not really a thing. A really great physique is, by and large, a reflection of what you can do and what you have done.
In GSP’s words – seeing that great physique in the mirror was a reminder that he gave everything he could in his training camp. He lifted hard, he did his cardio, he managed his diet, etc. The body was a reflection of a well disciplined, high effort training camp. Had he looked in the mirror and seen a couple layers of body fat over smooth muscles, he would be thinking – did I lift hard enough? Did I condition hard enough? Did I manage my nutrition well enough?
So the confidence wasn’t just coming from his reflection in the mirror. The confidence was coming from the fact that his reflection was a testament to the quality of the work he did to prepare for the fight.
I think he has a point.
#3: A Good Physique Stands Out (i.e. you get noticed).
I’ve trained a few dozen high school and college baseball players at my gym over the years. Most of them are trying to get noticed by scouts. Especially if they aren’t really true superstars – it’s a very crowded field. Often the scouting is done at large multi-team tournaments played in a central location. There are hundreds of kids walking around and a few dozen scouts trying to sift the wheat from chaff.
Does it help if you look more like 1998 Mark McGwire or 1988 Mark McGwire??? Yes, it does. A kid that “looks like an athlete” gets noticed by those that matter.
So maybe he has the stuff to make it to the Pros and maybe he doesn’t. But the key is getting a set of eyes on you in the first place. Looking the part absolutely helps.
No it isn’t going to get you drafted, but it will get you noticed.
On a smaller scale, my son is 14 years old and entering his Freshman year of high school football as I write this. Again, it’s a crowded field. Lots of kids play on the Freshman football team and there are only 22 starters.
I’ve been training my son since he was 10 years old. He’s one of, if not the strongest kid on the team (humble brag) but he also has a very impressive physique for a kid his age.
On Day One of summer workouts that started this week –he got noticed.
The high school coaches don’t know any of these kids and they don’t know who can play and who can’t.
But they do know who “looks like an athlete” and who doesn’t.
This puts him at the front of the line for at least the opportunity to earn a starting position right off the bat. They are going to want to see if he can play.
Could he fuck it all up and still ride the bench? Of course. Good physique doesn’t equate to a great football player automatically.
But the moral of the story is that he will likely be given ample opportunity and he’ll likely be given it early. So in essence it’ll be his spot to lose.
All those curls may not have been a waste of time after all.
Andy
