Bodybuilding
May 12, 2009 by Matador
Filed under Featured Articles, Health and Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding
When I was around 21, I got into bodybuilding. I played football, basketball, martial arts, track, & pole-vaulting in high-school. I grew up in Texas and being big and muscular increased your social value immensely (as most high schools I assume).
When I turned 21, I started to lift for aesthetic purposes, not just for athletic performance. At my peak I managed to get to 245 and 3.8% body fat benching 450lbs for 4-5 reps.
In short, I looked like a real amateur bodybuilder. Anybody who knows me from a couple of years ago can attest to that.
Here is my experience of various dynamics during my journey.
ATTENTION FROM WOMEN
This result was two-fold. I am around 6’2”. When I hit around 205 at 5% body fat, I noticed a night and day difference with women throwing IOIs at me. When I started to increase to 220lbs at 6% I noticed it started to go down. When I hit 245lbs @ 6-7% body fat I noticed it go down a lot. Some girls would still throw IOIs, but most were scared of me. In addition, some simply gave me deliberate IODs.
To put 205@5% into perspective: It would look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club or Troy.
At 220lbs@6%, it would look The Rock in Scorpion King.
At 245lbs@6-7% body fat, it would look freakish and like the guys on the cover of Muscle and Fitness and maybe FLEX (the guys on the cover of FLEX are pros and still are at another level above).
This was back before I knew anything about the community. In my mind:
More Muscle = More Social Value = More Women.
My conclusion: The Brad Pitt Fight Club look works the best for pua goals.
RESPECT FROM MEN
QUICK NOTE: Bodybuilding and fighting are two different art forms. Weight training-not bodybuilding-helps the latter. Do not think that just because you are big you can fuck with anyone. There are some scary cats out there. Avoid fights if possible is my best advice. It is not conducive to our survival goals.
Pros and Cons here: On one hand, you almost get instant respect from men. Men simply do not want to fuck with you. From bouncers, businessmen, athletes, musicians…etc. They all start throwing submission IOIs to let you know you’ve got them in this area. Some want to align with you, some want to distance themselves from you, and some outright resent you and talk shit behind your back.
Another pattern I observed. Rich guys will want to be seen with you (when you’re really big). They will want you to roll in their entourage. They will buy you drinks, throw women on you, and introduce you as their friend.
Cool guys, who you want to be like, will give you a level of respect instantly into their social circle, provided you are not a socially unintelligent person. In other words, they will give you access to their world, provided you don’t do anything stupid.
People in general will give you compliance easier. It’s the small things you notice in everyday situations from waiters, people standing in line…etc.
One funny story, I ran a red light at about 60mph, simply because I thought I could make in the yellow on pacific coast highway. I was in a national park and I noticed the park ranger slow down as I sped up. I was going to try to make the light and he was going wait for the next one. I ran it and he turned his sirens on and pulled me over. Why would I do such a thing you may ask? Well, I didn’t think these guys handled traffic violations. I thought they monitored park activity such as fires, vandalism…etc., things like that. In short, it was stupid, but that’s what my rationalization was at the time. As he is pulling me over, he asks me if I have been drinking which I said no and then asked me to step out of the car. After I did, he took one look at me and asked me, “Why shouldn’t I give you a ticket.” I told him, “that was a completely stupid thing I did and it won’t happen again.” He let me go! Some may say that was completely random. However, I disagree. Nothing is completely random, nothing is an accident. Even if people themselves are not aware of what they are doing, they’re emotions are reacting nevertheless. In this instance, his emotions & logic decided to give me a pass, if I simply gave him this one little compliance test. He didn’t want a cute logical answer, but wanted an emotional one. Notice how I never answered the question that he asked? Why would he do this in the first place? I believe, by the intimidation factor of this huge guy being presented to him on a one-on-one basis on the side of the road.
Women will want to show you off. Hold your arm like they are so proud to be there. Even though it all breaks down to value, there is nothing like seeing the love and adulation in a young girl’s face as she is looking at you and you know it is real.
CONFIDENCE
At gladiator dimensions, you’re CONFIDENCE is SUPER-HUMAN. I am not saying it is entirely real…just describing how you FEEL. You feel entitled to any girl in the venue. You FEEL entitled to TAKE what you WANT. You feel like you can slam dunk a basketball (which I could barely do)…you FEEL like you can accomplish anything after enduring the discipline and pain it takes to get there. YOU FEEL FUCKING AWESOME. Almost anything you wear looks good, you feel like a Ferrari on a road filled with Cadillacs. You feel peaceful. You feel clean. You feel energetic. You feel younger. You feel like you’re not aging. You feel DANGEROUS. Your feel POWERFUL…physically & mentally. Remember, don’t go into the gym get up to 225lb on bench with a gut and say you don’t feel these things. This is how I felt when my body was at a level where someone would pay me to photograph it.
HOW TO GET GOOD
A rough but effective game plan to get your body to where you want it to be is a follows:
First, outsource the knowledge. A lot of you guys are busy on your wealth and relationship nodes of your life. You don’t need to immerse yourself in the world of bodybuilding. Here is the solution and eventually you will acquire the knowledge yourself.
Find a trainer that LOOKS like a bodybuilder from a reputable GYM. You may not want to look like him, but he will have the knowledge and drive to take you to where you want to go because he has done it himself. They may be exceptions to the rule; however, I don’t want to waste any time finding out. Also, you have to believe in your trainer as a teacher/role model and he needs to earn that respect as he is yelling at you to grunt out another rep on the leg press as you have a white-hot burn going through your legs.
Second, you must hit your training, diet, supplementation, and rest in unison. If anyone of those areas is left undone, you will not get the “Perfect Look”. There are some major mistakes I see a lot of guys do. The will either:
1) Over train
2) Not know how to train, but think they do after reading a few pages of muscle and fitness.
3) Train and then go eat a pizza afterwards and wonder why their ab wall doesn’t show after the million crunches leg raises that they’ve done.
4) Not rest enough…I knew one guy do did fifteen sets of 8 on bench press as his first chest exercise! WTF!
5) I saw this same guy repping with the same weight for about 2 years!
The list could go on an on. In short, seek out those you have the knowledge and motivation that you need TODAY and who have proven successful at the task you are about to perform.
Here is a rough summary:
1) Seek out a QUALIFIED TRAINER based on my text above (this is an important step).
2) Follow his instructions exactly…believe in him even if you don’t see results at first. (That’s why step #1 is important, he needs to inspire, motivate, and earn your respect).
3) Believe that this body (the archetype I found the best for our PUA goals) is something worthy and worth fighting for. You have to want it. I illustrated my experience, so you’d know it is a huge DHV prop to your avatar.
CONCLUSION
For RELATIONSHIP purposes…I think it is an excellent sport that does provide the ROI you are looking for.
For HEALTH purposes…I think it is an excellent sport that does provide the ROI you are looking for.
For WEALTH purposes…I think it is an excellent sport that does provide the ROI you are looking for.
In this regard, remember I mentioned that High-Value guys will want to align with you. I can’t tell you how many different wealth-building alignments are spawned from guys wanting to be your friend and throwing value your way.
All-in-all the BODYBUILDING activity permeates through multiple areas of your life that are consistent with PUA goals. I high recommend it for the reasons in this post.
-Matador




Hey man, great post but… 205@5% doesn’t look like Brad Pitt in Troy, he was really only ….155 lbs!! Isn’t that crazy? He just has extremely good definition so it looks like he is very muscular.
Hey, Matador.
Just curious, there is no way you could look like Brad Pitt at that weight (205 pounds), you must have looked a lot bigger!
Brad was < 160 pounds at 5`11″ in Fight Club. He was much bigger in Troy though. In Fight Club he looks kind of skinny actually.
Bro, lighting and extreme definition makes one look a lot heavier and muscular.
I work out five days a week and could use some advice for picking up gym girls :]
Matador is correct. Most surveys and most of the women I know on South Beach say that too big a body on a man scares them, not only phyically but they fear the guy will spend every free moment in the gym . I know some bodybuilders and theydo have hotties around them, but most of the time they are at th egym or talking about bodybuilding with other bodybuilders. Its almost like an obsessions with them.
Also in the latest Fitness RX it quotes a survey that says women equate bodybuilder size with a 100% chance he will cheat on her. Also the purpose of lighting is to enhance the physique. Anyone who knows a model or has seen one of the 100 different rality shows on TV knows that we use lighting to make us look better.
And if you are quoting Brad Pitts stats, you might want to focus more on your improving as a PUA. Besides correcting Matador on what works for a PUA is kind of like correcting Stephen Hawking on Physics….
^^^^^ agreed i’m 5″6′ and i’ve been at 150 with a six pack and ppl thought i was up close to 180 or 200 sometimes. Definition goes a long way. Known girls that find veins hot others think its gross so dont overdo it as posted by Matador.
I absolutely didn’t intend to correct Matador, in fact i find this post inspirational but i am speaking my mind and sharing an interesting fact about Pitt
hey guys, can you get off of Brad Pitt’s jock and stop being such geeks?… I think the point that’s trying to be made is that more women physically prefer an toned athletic looking guy then they do a yoked up linemen. Work on your look fellas, it’s a great way to get instant IOI’s without even spitting game.
hey matador
I have a question I’m a martial artist but I’m not that big I’m 17 years old I’m six feet , 149.5 lbs and have a nice six pack, I don’t realy have like big arms ( but can punch hard ) I would like to get some bigger arms but don’t lose my speed, even get more speed
people told me I should do more reps with less weight, than I will gain speed ( I think that won’t make my arms any bigger )
you are a martial artist and bodybuilder you most have the answer
sorry for my bad english it’s I’m dutch
Hey Madator , ive noticed alot of women say to me that im very skinny and its a turnoff ( 62 kg @5″11 ) , lots of women are eww your so skinny . I dident want to belive it would effect me in meeting women but some freinds get more sucess with women because their muscle , alot of women say muscular is alot more manly etc and my female freinds always comment that muscular guys are hot .
Their is a great training system http://www.mikementzer.com , you might of heard of it buddy its great for skinny guys to put on size fast because its short and intense .
Good artical its good hearing about your experiances at different weights and its motivated me to get back into the gym .
I mean you are in damm good shape bro , im aiming for 80 kg bodyweight and to be cut up , i used to be 72 but 10- 20 kg of dry muscle will go along way .
well played sir
you nailed it, bodybuilding is the best sport in the world. I’m not a pua coach but I do train and I totally agree about the influence your physical presence affords you.
While the body is going through physical discipline, the mind cannot help but be affected by this and change with it – to a stronger and more resourceful state.
Matador I only recently discovered your show and after reading this post I will be following your blog.
You magnificent bastard, I salute you.
This article reminds me of when I first started getting into weight lifting myself. When I was In my last year of high school I started to get into weight lifting heavy myself, working out 6-7 days a week. Seeing I had a thin athletic build I wanted to get as big as possible thinking that the women would go crazy over it.
By time I was in colleges I was working out as much as 3 hours a day doing heavy weights at 5-7 reps. Yes, I got alot bigger but it didnt change the fact that I was still single and never had a date before in my life. In fact that's the way it was in high school and all during college.
But during my high school and college days I had a bad view of myself. I didn't think I was that attractive even though people told me I was very good looking. All I did was find faults with myself and put myself down like alot of guys I see doing these days.
You see, all that weightlifting might have improved my outer appearance but didn't change anything about my inner appearance.
My first date was at 27 years old and I'm now 36. As Matador is saying in this article is that finding the right balance of size and symmetry will help you in the looks department but what I really like is how he stresses the fact that you have to change the way you feel inside above all.
I'm not even close to being a master pick up artist but I do get better responses from people and women seeing that I feel much better about myself inside.