A question about low muscle tone without flexing

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15 Apr 2013, 4:37 pm

I have muscles and you can only see them when i flex them. Are there any supplements or medication that can let my muscles become like a black man, their muscles are big without flexing while mine just look like fat and skinny.



Venger
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15 Apr 2013, 5:53 pm

I think low body-fat% and dark skin are the main factors that contribute to good muscle tone/definition, so using a tanning bed would probably help along with doing some cardio after lifting weights. Steroids obviously build muscle while burning body-fat at the same time which is why they give such good muscle tone/definition although I don't recommend them.



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15 Apr 2013, 6:53 pm

When a muscle becomes big enough it can be seen without flexing - black or white. I am (lovingly) called she - hulk by my boyfriend.. why? Because I have bigger muscles than him because I have had nerve damage in my spine that has caused my muscles to be in a constant micro flexing and over many years my muscles have built up. Having a tan may help.. but I also think it has to do with how your muscles are worked out. Look up weight training sites that can tell you how to exercise a muscle to give definition. Look into isometric exercise.. my boyfriend does those and he has muscles build pretty quick.. his arms look great!

But I believe part of being on the spectrum is low muscle tone. So you may have to work extra hard to build them up.



1000Knives
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16 Apr 2013, 5:25 pm

Pretty much everyone has this problem. Basically, if you want to see your muscles, you need really low bodyfat. Generally it's like 10% to see your abs. So that's why you can see people who look very unimpressive with shirts on at like, 130lbs at a normal height (5'9 or so) but then when they take their shirt off, they're pretty "ripped." So if your muscles are already pretty big and you got a bigger frame, then just diet down and lose some bodyfat and you'll be ripped. Go create a calorie deficit (either cardio or just eating less) and lose a little weight. You can lift weights, and maybe maintain or gain some muscle, but honestly on a calorie deficit, you can't really gain lots of muscle mass. Also, when you gain any weight, even just sitting on the couch, some will be muscle, and then when you lose weight, some lost will be muscle. It depends on how you set your diet up to lose weight, how fast you lose it, etc. Generally, the slower you lose weight, the less muscle that'll be lost.

For example, here's powerlifter Dave Tate.
Really fat.
Image
He had plenty of muscle on him, but just covered by lots of fat.

Anyway, if you wanna see your muscles you currently have, probably do something like P90x or something like that. Some kind of circuit training type cardio thing, with a tiny bit of lifting in it.

If you want to get bigger, that's where things gets a bit harder. You're gonna have to lift weights, and for someone natural, do compound barbell movements (like squats, deadlift, presses) for a lot of volume. Most beginners though, do pretty well on a routine that's like 5x5 trying to gain strength in the movements instead of just volume. If you wanna gain a lot of muscle, though, you're pretty much gonna have to get fat for like a year. Because basically, it's hard to gain just muscular weight without gaining fat weight, too. Pro-bodybuilders do this, they "bulk" and then before a contest "cut" and do a bunch of cardio/cut down food intake, and then are "ripped" on the stage. I'd caution you about "bulking" as lots of people bulk...and then never stop. You'll see lots of people permabulked forever at any gym. But if you wanna get bigger, that's what you gotta do.

Anyway, on the exercise end, that's about all you can do. Reduce bodyfat to see your muscles, eat a lot of calories/protein to get more muscles and lift a lot/heavy, and then yeah.

As far as black people go, two things. First off, darker skin makes you look more muscular. I don't know why, but it does. I think it's something to do with shadows and lighting or something. But it does. So you can get a tan I guess. But with black people specifically, most black people do have genetic advantages on the muscle front. Most, not all. Black people usually have more testosterone than other people, and also usually have higher amounts of Type II muscle fibers (fast twitch, strength/power muscle fibers, Type 1 is slow twitch, ie, endurance athletes.) So for black people, it's not too uncommon for them to be a lot more muscular and be more athletic than other races, this is why you see so many black athletes (and why black people were taken as slaves) because they're pretty much genetically better in those ways.

As far as drugs, this relates to the testosterone thing. I believe a lot of autistic people for whatever reason tend to have lower than average testosterone. I don't know if it's ever been studied, but yeah. You can go to a doctor (endocrinologist or urologist would be best) and ask for labs to get done. If you have low testosterone, you can get testosterone shots or androgel. This is the same anabolic steroids you hear about in sports, keep in mind. I'd say only do them under a doctor's supervision and do the least amount possible if you go that route. Also, if you do go that route, you might become sterile and get side effects like hair loss, depending on dosage/how long you're on, etc.

Before drugs, I'd fix your nutrition up. Try to eat most of your food unprocessed/from scratch, and eat lots of vegetables, and SOME healthy fats, like eggs. Take a multivitamin, and some extra vitamin C, probably D, too. Lots of people like ZMA, zinc magnesium aspartate, for boosting testosterone. There are some herbal testosterone boosting things you can take, like ecydysterone, or Maral Root. Eucommia bark is one I like, too. Some people say the herbal things aren't effective, but I like herbal stuff.

Anyway, sorry if that's a bit too much information overload, but yeah. Those are all your options.



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17 Apr 2013, 10:56 am

Stay away from the tanning beds, they are dangerous, unhealthy and can be a factor in premature ageing, try using an aromatherapy natural tan lotion. Also you might want to consider using Argan Oil, it has been proven to have many good factors for the skin, you could try taking 100'000 iu of beta carotene a day as well.



Wolfheart
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17 Apr 2013, 10:59 am

It is difficult to know what type of physique you want, are you going for the Bruce Lee look? Jean Claude Van Damme look? How much muscle mass are you looking to gain?



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30 Apr 2013, 1:54 pm

You don't need to get fat to get muscle size. Powerful professional sportsmen, like rugby players for example, do both strength and cardio work and most of them have great size and definition.



1000Knives
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30 Apr 2013, 2:36 pm

UDG wrote:
You don't need to get fat to get muscle size. Powerful professional sportsmen, like rugby players for example, do both strength and cardio work and most of them have great size and definition.


You don't need to, but my point is, you need extra calories to build muscle. Unless you're very good at calculating your caloric/macronutrient out to very exacting proportions and never mess up, you'll probably gain a LITTLE bit of fat. Like me, I went from 180 to 195. I didn't really look any different at 195, and sorta just "converted" my fat to muscle once I cut down. Now I'm at 182 and look way better than my old 180. Like according to a calculator I used, I gained likely 10lbs lean mass from that year. So I don't mean you're gonna get fat fat, but you'll gain weight, some fat, some muscle, hopefully mostly muscle depending on your training and macronutrient ratios.

You won't get idiotically fat if you're not an idiot (Dave Tate's old diet was full idiot mode, like 10% of calories from protein, mostly frozen burritos and fast food,) but it's very hard to "burn fat and gain muscle" at the same time. You can do both, but you just have to keep in mind you'll compromise a little bit in either department, you won't gain as much muscle as you would if you ate more calories and didn't do cardio, and you won't lose as much fat if you just did cardio and ate less calories. But, I do think a compromise type of program is OK, just you have to be realistic about your goals.

Also, rugby players in the offseason probably concentrate more on weights and put on a bit of weight, and then when they get to season time, do more practice for actual rugby and lose the fat.