Bodybuilding

They're not as different as most people think.

Not to say that the optimal way to train for them are identical, but your strength potential is a function of the amount of muscle you have, so bodybuilders tend to be far stronger than the average gym-goer. However, they're much weaker than (in the metrics of choice of) powerlifters, oly weightlifters, or strongmen, who seek to continually optimize muscle fiber recruitment in the relative movements, whereas driving increases in load (weight) for bodybuilders are primarily a means of progressive overload rather than the goal of other forms of overload.

>massive gains
And apparently a very small benis. It looks like a fucking nipple

No, because muscles!= fighting ability. Muscles != how to spot a guy with a hidden knife. Muscles!= horsemanship.

You can make the same argument about anyone with dedication towards any field of endeavor. What makes the gym rat necessarily smarter than the master equestrian?

>bodybuild
is a modern vanity and less effective than just straight
>Strength building
was an actual thing, and training took longer but would be and was overall more beneficial

You can also ague the more intimidation point of view.
Kali Muscle looks like he would be more trouble in a fight then Bruce Lee.
If you didnt know who each of these people where, who do you think people would bet on in a fight.

It's always a matter of cost. Does a king need huge knights. The answer is no, which is why they weren't common in history.

Outside of history, it really depends on the setting.

If you want huge dudes as knights you gotta figure out what in the setting would necessitate such gains.

only if he has access to modern doping systems, or to magical ones that might exist in his kingdom.
Still, it must be one sick and evil king to make his knights turn into gross freaks like the one you posted

Reminder that this was impressive physique 100 year ago and that's what gains knights would look like bar the mandatory 20% bf kek

This was actually an important part of ancient societies.

Peasants would have limited access to food, especially protein sources such as meat. They would wind up wiry but stunted.

The noble/warrior class would have as much food as they could eat, starting from early childhood. They would eat disproportionate amounts of meat, to show off their wealth. (Also, "feed your soldiers meat to make them strong, feeding them just grain will make them weak" has been known basically forever.)
They would start strength and combat training in adolescence, and keep it up until they could no longer usefully fight.

You could tell the difference between an average knight and an average peasant even if both were naked. The noble would be bigger. If you were a peasant, your noble masters would look almost like a different species.

Note: the noble would still probably be small by modern standards, but big compared to common folk of his time.

You do not body build in the middle ages. The amount of food needed to support somebody who is 6'6" plus and absolutely ripped is obscene. And it won't contribute much to combat.

Oh and their armor will cost more as it needs to be bigger.

Nowhere does the statement "it's pretty rare to come across a stupid gymrat" imply that only gymrats can be smart.

This is a load of shit. Peasants and nobles from the high middle ages and early middle ages were just as tall as us. The average height only goes down in the very late middle ages/early modern era, with heights being at an all-time low in the 18th century.

this is 100% not true

Murderous cutthroats and swordsmen ( of any shape and size), PLUS big muscle freaks who just lift, and train grappling, and wrestling.

Plus small nondescript dudes with daggers, and garrotes within the crowd scanning for threats.

come at me, peasants.

>aesthetic
>aesthetics

Incorrect. You're right that people were taller in the early middle ages than in the late middle ages, but they were never as tall as modern people.

sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/09/040902090552.htm

Early middle ages average male height: 5'7"
17th century average male height: 5'5"

Modern era average male height: 5'10"

How about investment into finding and grooming your very convincing double? Preferably with good loyalty fail-safe.

What does early 20th century aesthetic have to do with how bulking knight would look?
Last I checked the statue of Heracles is 1800 years old and was clearly based on a real model.

Clearly SOMEONE in the 2nd century knew how to leave humanity behind.

He'd be better off training them to fight. Bodybuilding doesn't hurt (mostly), but there's a reason an MMA fighter and a bodybuilder look so unalike.

>I'm a very tall guy of generally broad stature, 6'8" 260lbs of predominately muscle
>I used to have serious anger management problems when I was younger, and to help relax, I learned write poetry and read philosophy
>for as long as I can remember I've had a power fantasy about going back in time as a giant and spending all day long lifting heavy things, smashing fools for my king, and generally dismembering a bunch of people
>every time I watch Sin City, I get all misty eyed when whats-his-face talks about being more at home on a battlefield swinging a giant axe than he possibly could in the modern world
>tfw I'll never become a warrior poet, smiting my enemies and immortalizing them in verse
It's like I missed my one true calling by being born in the wrong time. Now I just work security and fuck up stupid drunk muscle dummies who start fights.

>During your audience with the king you must spot him while his majesty reps on the bench press.
>He keeps interrupting his advisors to pass him the rag to wipe down equipment.
>His thtone was designed by Dwarven artisans to incorporate every leg day routine. He only actually sits on it during leg day.

I may use Chad King in my next game.

>not just using fertility/blood magic to ensure that you have litters of identical twins as heirs who effectively share the same throne/identity.

Even in a low magic setting your nobility are going to invest in some level of human-augmentation experiments to refine their governing power and right-to-rule. Even the most basic applications like semi-functional alchemy for nutrition enhancement and disease prevention would easily justify the average noble have a significant stat advantage over his people.

That film was fucking weird

Not that guy but allow me to play the devil's advocate: AVERAGE male height. If we compared average noble male height of the time to today's average male height overall, we'd probably see comparable figures.

>because muscles!= fighting ability. Muscles != how to spot a guy with a hidden knife. Muscles!= horsemanship.
They're also not mutually exclusive. Ceteris paribus, you want a tall guy in your army or in your guard.

>6'8" 260lbs of predominately muscle
You'd quite literally be called a giant in ancient times. Tell me, how good are you with an ass' jaw?

>Tell me, how good are you with an ass' jaw?
Depends how long and fabulous my hair is. Right now? Somewhere between single-minded murder beast and that guy who insta-gibs exactly one person then dies in a hail of arrows.

Hot

>stabbed in the back in a hectic melee
>lie on floor for days until you die of sepsis
We can dream though, eh user?

>stabbed in the back in a hectic melee
Literally why formations were invented.

Pretty sure some peoples did this, but they didn't have the tools to get the kind of massive gains we can today. In India, only the warrior class was really allowed to eat meat for this basic reason. You don't want an equality of gains between the haves and have-nots.

Everyone knows SS+GOMAD was adopted by the Jomsvikings, Landsknechts, Gallóglaigh, Condottieri, Varangians, Swiss Mercenaries.

Why aren't you doing it?

>while smart people on average realize that fitness matters.

Right there is where you imply it. Learn English.

Realistically I'd be the most useful in full plate with a halberd, and probably mounted so I wouldn't need to tire myself out moving around, but I doubt a horse could hold me. I'd probably wind up with a giant spear to try and stop cavalry charges but my dream is to be the "ace" unit in charge of busting formations or rearguard.

I wouldn't die from a stabwound, I'd probably fracture my arm after my flimsy ass weapon broke under the torque against a shield, then die a humiliating death when it gets infected.

You do realize that most people in the middle ages did NOT fight in formations? It was basically warband on warband style fighting except with certain Germanic tribes and the shield wall.

Giants don't help a shield wall. They are so big that they can't be covered by the shield of their comrades.

You would die as other user stated.

>source: my ass

Historically people would do shit like that, though with laborers instead of warriors. There were tons of labor teams that were legendary for being fed only meat and beer.

Or not, don't let the dream die.
Why not find a medieval reenacting group and learn to fight?
If you're as big as you say you'd be a terror with a Dane axe.

user, you truck a giant out there like they did in Troy to fight against the other army's elite unit to demoralize the squad while everyone watches. Except in real life Paris or David isn't going to get a lucky crit unless you're terribly unskilled and you decapitate that bitch then mount their head on a pike. After that, you park the giant firmly beside the king until the battle is over because they're way more useful when killing one guy, as opposed to sticking them in a giant melee to die a horrible death.

Is that a thing I can actually do? I would love that more than anything, even if I never eviscerate anyone.

>the virgin mouse
>the chad rodent

The smaller one is even looking away, as if Chad is up in his face and he can't bring himself to make eye contact with this monster-mouse.

>Is that a thing I can actually do? I would love that more than anything, even if I never eviscerate anyone.

Absolutely. There are events like that. You can dress up in armor and fight people.

Source: Cucked by an ex-football-player who fights in SCA

Why would a king choose to have guards with shitty stamina ?

>you can only be fit by going the gym
wew lad

Why did you quote the first post if you didn't include it in the expansion on your "this is a load of shit" opnener?

I agree with the first post and was kind of expecting to argue with you about it, and now I want answers

butthurt fat-ass detected

This guy is fully erect.

'nuff said.

lmao

how can one person be so wrong?

he must be a gym rat

It won't matter with experienced fighter.

No, the average human height is 5'7" still. Not 5'10".

You know how I know you're a faggot?

Natty body builders are big, but pretty small compared to that guy.

Unless the king also has access to performance enhancing drugs, it's not going to be any major change.

>Not having a squire on hand to wipe the equipment and re-rack weights for you.
Pleb.

Spotting the king is considered a high honor; after all a king must have trust in his spotter. That kind of led other courtiers to pile into other gym-related tasks hoping to curry favor with His Chadness.

...

>he thinks a bodybuilder would make a good knight
>he thinks that's the ideal body type for a combat soldier

laughing_girls.jpg

Are you fucking 12, OP?

>>because muscles = dumb

Says the faggot who literally cannot even spell "you're".

That's still decently impressive now.
If I was the king, and all my knights looked like that, I'd be pretty pleased.

>this brainlet
Power lifters train core, body builders build aesthetics.

Anyway, obviously the best thing to do is combat and cardio. Just go find that Roger Huerta clip where he beats the shit out of that football player 4x his size with relative ease.

If you need a guy with those kinds of muscles just recruit some giants.

>In the years following King Chad taking the throne power lifting quickly replaced jousting as the preferred sport of the nobility.
>A noble's holdings is now largely second to their Gains in determining status amongst their peers.

Most likely a grimdark one.
A setting where people are constantly doing athletic checks and fighting monsters means they probably got huge gains+functionality

There were a few heads of state historically who were made a point of having tall men as their elite soldiers, so having huge soldiers could also be a thing for a wealthy and powerful ruler.

Hell yeah. You have to have muscle to wear full plate heavy armor on an armored clydesdale warhorse and still fight mounted or not.

chaosknight.jpg

5'10" for white Americans, IIRC. Hispanics bring the average down.