Re: What I'm Satisfied With

[bird <birdwl@earthlink.net>]

> From: Kestas <Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu>
>
> It's difficult for most people to put on muscle, unless you're a genetic
> freak and/or use gear. But most NBA players manage. It's really not that
> complicated  - if you eat more (quality) calories than you burn, and  lift
> an adequate amount, you'll put on some muscle, at least initially. You
> won't grow past a certain size without juicing, but McCarty isn't anywhere
> near that.

True (and by that I mean "you sound confident and I have no idea, so I'll 
believe you"), I was just wondering if McCarty may have some medical 
reason why he can't put on weight or muscle.  It's highly unlikely, I 
guess.  Like I said, I'm prepared to believe that Walter just doesn't lift 
or put on muscle just because he doesn't want to, as well.

> Btw, McCarty is not 'freakishly lean', it's just that his muscles are
> underdeveloped, so he looks just plain ol' skinny. He doesn't have a lot
> definition.  Heck, Battie looks like a Mr. Olympia next to him. Now, guys
> like Ben Wallace, Delk, Outlaw, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and many
> others *are* freakishly lean. They have varying amounts of muscle, but all
> have a very low bodyfat %.

Yeah, I don't know, I think I'm going to stick with my "freakishly lean" 
comment, because McCarty *does* look that way to me.  I probably should 
have said "freakishly skinny" or something because I wasn't talking body 
fat so much as body type.  He reminds me of a (foot shorter) friend of 
mine -- turn him sideways and you can't see him, almost.  McCarty just 
seems "stick figurery" to me.  All those guys you mentioned make him look 
like a beanpole.  Though Delk, as you said, is also a lean character, too.
   Just that Walter has 7-8 inches on him and therefore probably looks even 
skinnier to the eye.

> As for losing quickness by putting on muscle...Quickness is a function of
> the type of training one does and one's % of fast-twitch fibers (more the
> latter). Sprinters are pretty huge, girth-wise, yet they are the fastest
> human beings on the planet. Their size is part training (including lots of
> weight lifting), part juicing, and part selection bias (fast-twitch 
> fibers,
> of which they have plenty, grow the most in response to appropriate
> weight-training). Since McCarty is a former HS track star (400 m, I
> believe), and is obviously not juicing or lifting, he must plenty fast
> based on natural talent.  So, appropriate weight training (i.e. a
> speed-strength training regimen, not a bodybuilding one) would make him
> faster, not slower, through  hypertrophy of his naturally abundant
> fast-twitch fibers.
> Hit the weights, Walter, you have much to gain...

Yeah, I think so, too.  I wonder what the *real* reason for him not 
lifting is.  Like others, I wonder if it has something to do with his 
"other passion" and his unwillingness to pick up a basketball over the 
offseason.

Check us out: actually talking about Walter McCarty as a guy we'd like to 
re-sign (albeit for low money and short term).  Who'da thunk it?  I admit 
I didn't think Walter had it in him to "settle down" and play the game and 
not just run and flail around.  As for his physical regimen and such, you'
d think there'd be good reasons for these things (like our big men never 
going to Pete Newell's Big Man Camp) -- I'd like to know them sometimes.

Bird