The Scientist
Level 3 Valued Member
Nick,
My point is that for a man of average height and frame, getting much over 200 lbs requires either getting fat or taking steroids. This is backed up by the very robust evidence that "natural" bodybuilders, who put enormous amounts of effort into building muscle, very rarely exceed that weight. You said that it is the muscle mass, not the steroids, but if you need the steroids to get that much muscle, it doesn't really matter anymore even if you are technically right (which I'm not saying is necessarily true). I don't know Hugh Cassidy, but at 290, he was either fat or using steroids. People on this board are not taking steroids, so warning against building too much muscle seems like the wrong advice – you should just warn against anabolic steroid use.
Also, your claim about higher rates of heart disease due to upper body mass needs some clarification. Visceral adiposity is correlated with heart disease rates, but nobody has ever proved that it is the mass of the tissue, and not its endocrine or metabolic activity that causes heart problems. Never mistake correlation with causation. Also, the association only holds up for fat. Nobody has ever linked upper body muscle mass with heart disease in drug-free men. Quite the opposite actually – muscle mass is one of the best predictors of health, especially in old age when it is hard to keep.
My point is that for a man of average height and frame, getting much over 200 lbs requires either getting fat or taking steroids. This is backed up by the very robust evidence that "natural" bodybuilders, who put enormous amounts of effort into building muscle, very rarely exceed that weight. You said that it is the muscle mass, not the steroids, but if you need the steroids to get that much muscle, it doesn't really matter anymore even if you are technically right (which I'm not saying is necessarily true). I don't know Hugh Cassidy, but at 290, he was either fat or using steroids. People on this board are not taking steroids, so warning against building too much muscle seems like the wrong advice – you should just warn against anabolic steroid use.
Also, your claim about higher rates of heart disease due to upper body mass needs some clarification. Visceral adiposity is correlated with heart disease rates, but nobody has ever proved that it is the mass of the tissue, and not its endocrine or metabolic activity that causes heart problems. Never mistake correlation with causation. Also, the association only holds up for fat. Nobody has ever linked upper body muscle mass with heart disease in drug-free men. Quite the opposite actually – muscle mass is one of the best predictors of health, especially in old age when it is hard to keep.