The Problem of Shirts

An observation about fitness trade-offs

If you are “natty” (= not pharmaceutically enhanced, aka “on roids”), there is a problem with shirts.

Essentially, you have a choice between the following:

—> You can either look OK with your shirt on and GREAT with your shirt off,

—> Or you can look GREAT with your shirt on and OK with your shirt off.

The natty who is well muscled but super cut won’t stand out MUCH in a normal t-shirt. They will look pretty average, and sometimes straight up skinny. Take the shirt off (or even just the sleeves), however, and then you can tell… this person trains. Think about Bruce Lee. In an everyday t-shirt, he wouldn’t have looked huge or crazy muscular. But once the shirt came off… Dang!

The natty who looks “big” in a shirt, on the other hand, probably has a pot belly. That is, in filling out their shirt, they will generally look less good with the shirt off because of what it takes to get that sort of size without drug use.

I’m not saying there aren’t exceptions (there are always exceptions, and you could always get a smaller, more form fitting t-shirt, I suppose), only that this is a general rule to be aware of, and that you should decide which you prefer. Personally, I like the risk of looking skinny with a shirt on, so I can look better with my shirt off (which, ironically, I almost always have on).  

In fact, on some of my kettlebell videos with my shirt on, people have commented that I look skinny, whereas on other of my kettlebell videos with my shirt or sleeves off, people have accused me of being on steroids (which, of course, is a complete joke, but nevertheless highlights the point of this post.)

Really, this is just “The Natty Triangle.”

—> You can be cut and natty… but not big.

—> You can be big and natty… but not cut and natty.

—> Or, you can be big and cut… but not natty.

Being natty has its tradeoffs. What you should do is be aware of them and train accordingly.

(Of course, being not natty has its tradeoffs as well.)

- Pat

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