Earlier this week, I had an interesting quote from Canadian strength coach and hypertrophy expert Christian Thibaudeau. Very knowledgeable guy, and his Instagram feed, @christian.thibeudeau.thibarmy, has lots of interesting tips, as well as observations—like this…
1) By all anthropological studies, cavemen were not big and muscular—they were built more like marathon/endurance athletes, not lifters.
2) Warrior nations like the Romans and the Greeks were NOT, despite the CGI-enhanced/steroids-helped depictions in movies and TV series, muscular beasts (see pic below for example of BS depiction). The average Roman soldier was only 125 to 135 pounds.
3) Spartans were just as small. They valued endurance, speed, and agility a lot more than strength.
4) Gladiators were a bit bigger, but they were fat. The reason: They had to fight frequently in one-on-one combat and knew that carrying a layer of fat would cushion the blows.
5) Vikings were a bit bigger, but still not big and muscular by modern standards—more like 5’8” to 5’10” on average and 165 to 175 pounds—except for the fatter ones.
The point? If you’re more wiry and struggling to put on muscle, know that despite not looking like Mr. Olympia, even a small amount of muscle will give you a kick-ass warrior physique. Sparta!
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ill next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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