Re: work ethic and offseason (long)

[Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:
I've never thought that Waltah or Battie for that matter (since they
have similar tatoos) looked to be lacking in muscle definition. They are
toned pretty much like Robert Parish, a devoted fitness buff, and maybe even
more so. The thing is that they are built skinny and with normal
over-the-counter supplements, I just can't see them getting much bigger.
Maybe a weight gain of 5 pounds a year if they workout all year round. Nor
am I convinced pumping iron and especially upper body mass is all that
helpful to a basketball player.
--- end of quote ---

Well, to my eye at least, McCarty and Battie look quite different. I'd put Battie and Parish  at the low end of the "skinny muscular" group (I think the one Pitino refers to as "Scottie Pippen-type body"). McCarty is more in the Chiquita Boy group.


--- You wrote:
Back in my younger days, I used to enter local weight lifting
competitions in Tokyo, because I could bench twice my weight or so. Yet
despite nearly living in a gym for two years, my body type never changed. I
think I gained three or four kilos in two years of weightlifting and even
adding 2 thousand calories of protein powder to my daily intake. Also, I'm
not sure I became a better or stronger athlete, although it gave me more
confidence to try different sports.
--- end of quote ---

That's interesting. Was it olympic lifting or powerlifting? ('weightlifting' technically refers to OL, as you probably know, but people often use the term for any type of weight training/lifting). As for your strength gains, lifting a weight is pretty objective way of measuring whether you made progress or not.  But it is undisputable that olympic lifters are some of the best athletes around, and powerlifters are also incredibly strong, though in their case it's more limit strength, and less power than is the case with OL. As for basketball relevance, olympic weightlifters are rumored to have some of the best vertical leaps in sports - hardly surprising given that they have a highly developed ability to turn most of their motor neurons on at once (not to mention their muscle size). This is the same thing you need for jumping, except in OL you're also accelerating a few hundred kilos besides your body weight.  

--- You wrote:
It boils down IMHO to a body type/metabolism thing. Even on steroids,
Waltah will never get calves as thick as Walker. Similarly, Walker and
Waltah could eat an identical amount and exercise an identical amount and
still add or lose muscle (or fat) at a dramatically different rate.
--- end of quote ---

Sure, partly because Walker has a lot more muscle mass and thereby burns more calories with other things being equal (muscle uses energy, even at rest, while fat doesn't). However, it is not inconceivable that, because of genetic differences, McCarty's metabolism is faster, even if he doesn't eat and exercise much/often (eating and physical activity accelerate your metabolism; fasting and inactivity slow it down). In such case, he'd have more trouble putting on weight, both fat and muscle. However, even McCarty (more specifically, his body) - Pitino's claims to the contrary notwithstanding - is subject to the same basic physiological processes as other organisms on the planet, unless he has some sort of disease that screws it all up. But if that were the case, we would've heard about it, and he wouldnt've made it this far in sports. 

The guesswork has been taken out of the process long ago: resistance exercise of sufficient intensity breaks muscle tissue down, which then rebuilds itself to become stronger. If the energy intake is above the maintenance point (point at which you expend as many calories as you take in), muscle hypertrophies (grows). The excess gets stored as fat. If it's below maintenance, you lose weight (muscle tissue is used as an energy source before fat, which, ahem, is the last to go - unless you do resistance training in which case the muscle loss is much less). Where your calories come from also has some influence  on these processes (protein and unsaturated fats are good; saturated fats and processed carbs, especially sugar, bad). 

All things being equal, greater muscle cross-section can generate greater force. However, you can become stronger without adding muscle through neurophysiological gains - basically, your nervous system learns to be more efficient at the task (better innervation and recruitment of motor fibers, more neurotransmitter released at the neuromuscular junctions, better coordination of the supporting muscles etc.) There's a limit on both hypertrophy and strength gains without hypertrophy - one is extremely unlikely to reach pro bodybuilder proportions without using anabolic steroids. 

That said, none of NBA players, with the possible exception of Karl Malone, are anywhere near these limits. The "metabolism excuse" is widely used by both overweight and underweight people, athletes and non-athletes alike. It is my assertion that the problem is simply that people under- or overestimate how much they eat, whichever suits them better. I know I did. Adjusting the calorie intake to proper levels (as well as its quality and eating schedule)  worked like a charm for both losing extra fat and adding muscle. If I can do it, why can't a pro player, who can afford a nutritionist, a cook, and a personal trainer, do it? I know Kenny did it to some extent to prepare for last season, and surprise! He played in all 82 games and was stronger both defensively and offensively (I'll leave his passing for another discussion). It's time for our young'uns to get with the program. 

--- You wrote:
BTW, are you a doctor or some sort of medical
practioner/teacher/student? You sound pretty knowledgeable about medicine.
See you on the list.
--- end of quote ---

I'm a Ph.D. student in neuroscience, specializing in oculomotor and other motor systems neurophysiology, and did take medschool courses as part of the curriculum. I have a strong side interest in sports/exercise physiology and weight training (as you can probably tell) and read a lot of the literature in those fields. 

Sorry it's so long, got carried away,
Kestas