Please check your racially insensitive words. I am not Chinese but can you tell where you got it that Chinese generally have smaller bones than their white and black counterparts? PLease do not generalize. Talking 240 lbs. That is the ideal weight for a 7-5 guy. HE WILL NOT BE OVERWIEGHT at 240 because he is 7 freaking 6. After he puts on 30 - 40 more MUSCLE MASS (not your regular fat) some of use may not even notice it that much.
I take it some people on this thread don't do a lot of physical training.... ... but Yao Ming putting on 30-40 lbs does not necessarily mean he'll be gaining a lot of pudge (unless he's doing it the Kemp way). It just means he'll be replacing/adding muscle mass throughout his body, which is significantly denser than fat. If it's really 30-40 lbs of muscle, it'll probably look something like 10 pounds of "girth". He'll be fine at 340. That could very well be his ideal playing weight.
40lbs of muscle is a lot for anyone. That is 40 lbs that we will have carry around with him all the time. Can you imagine putting a 40lb back pack on and running around on a basketball court for 82 + games a season. This is going to fry his knees.
that's a terrible example. you don't just wake up with 40 extra pounds on your body like you would a backpack. weight gain is done gradually, so your body can properly adjust to it. 340 pounds at 7'5" is not too much of a strain - especially when you look at yao ming's chest...or lack thereof. he could easily put on 10-15 pounds of muscle on his chest. also, as another poster pointed out, it's not just slapping on 40 pounds on top of what he has. he is also reducing the amount of fat on his body with lean muscle mass - which is considerably denser than fat. the 10 pounds that yao ming has put on already is most recognizable in his arms - and, imo, he still could use an extra 5-7 pounds there. his shoulders could use a little muscle mass as well. truthfully, when you talk about putting 40 pounds on a 296# yao ming, you're not talking about turning him into Bruce Banner (Incredible Hulk, if you didn't know ). yao ming would still be considerably less bulky than shaquille o'neal (who is close to 400lbs...don't let the media lie to you). yao ming at 340 - if gained properly - would end up as one of the greatest centers of all time. he would retain the flexibility and gain the strength necessary to withstand the punishment doled out in the nba paint.
Proportionately, 30 pounds added to a 300 pounder is the same as a 150 pound man gaining 15 pounds. That crack about Asians being physically *small boned* never met me. My pic is on my website, and I am larger than most White or black men I know. Big men are big men. Black, white, yellow, or green............
I would venture to guess Yao getting additional overall body strength via more muscle weight in his legs and upper body would reduce his chance of injury. Stronger limbs and more muscle, up to a reasonable point, probably decreases risk of joint injury. While examples like this to follow are admittedly poor, but tell me who has had more injuries, the very strong for their positions Karl Malone and Shaq, or the the finese oriented and less strong Sam Bowie and Bill Walton? While I am not qualified like everyone else here offering their opinion, I would guess Yao carrying 330 or 340 would be a good thing for his body and basketball career as long as his body fat levels are good.
I thought I read somewhere that Ming dropped 10 pounds at the beginning of the season. Maybe he's just gained it back in muscle? I'm with those that make the case for moderation. Another 15-20 pounds of muscle will work just fine. 311-316 sounds perfect.
It most likely does have to do with his shooting percentage of late but we're going to have to sacrifice a little bit of shooting right now in order to get one of the most unstoppable centers in the NBA.
As a fellow basketball player, you never forget how to shoot. Putting on muscle doesn't magically take away your shooting touch. You either have a nice touch or you don't. The reason his shooting % has gone down in recent games is the fact that he's being double teamed and being forced out of a higher shooting % range. Teams are adjusting to him and aren't giving him as many wide open looks as they were earlier in the season. It's not the added muscle that's ruined his touch. It's the fact that he's being given much more attention on the defensive side. The plain fact of the matter is, people are pushing Yao outside of a comfortable shooting range, which is why he needs the added muscle so that he can fight for better position in the low post.
You people obviously don't know anything about strength training/muscle mass. Putting on msucle make you faster and, more explosive! As long as its not done with bodybuilding type training techniques. Look at NFL players these guys are heavy and most of these guys can outjump NBA players from a standing vertical jump! They're also a lot faster too...
i guess i shouldn't generalize but stereotypes tend to exist because they are usually more true than not. Asians (more specifically chinese, koreans and japanese) in general are lighter than any other race with respect to height. And i'm not talking about impoverished nations where the vast majority of people are suffering some sort of malnutrition. Asians also tend to be more prone to lactose intolerance => less calcium => less bone density. Okay, i know there are other sources of calcium than milk, like soy or fish but i am digressing. Anyway, the topic on hand is about Yao who incidentally has size 18 feet and a 36 inch waist. Shaq has at least size 22 feet despite being 5 inches shorter. I won't even go where what his waist size might be. He also has foot problems. Wang Zhi-Zhi is taller than Shaq, and i don't know what his shoe size is, but he is all of 220 lbs. Yet he doesn't look as skinny and nowhere near as lean and muscular as Garnett who's also 220 lbs but shorter at 7'. I don't think t'wolves fans are screaming for KG to put on 30+ lbs. I also don't believe the strength of a person's bones and joints is proportional to his weight. Whether Yao is overweight at 340+ (how this is the ideal playing weight is beyond me) or not isn't the point. Putting on 50 more pounds (remember Yao actually was down to 288 recently) isn't going to make him faster or jump higher or gain more endurance(his weaknesses and skills ANY ball-player can use more of). I can guarantee you that. And that talk of Yao losing his jump shot being acceptable if he becomes unstoppable in the paint? If he eventually develops a game like Shaq, well that's all good for about 3-5 years which is about how long Shaq has been the most dominant player in the NBA. And Shaq will become a has-been. It's already starting to happen. Shaq also entered the league when he was 20 (EG's age now) so he had a two year head start to achieve total "dominance". It only took him 7 years. What's better? To have a long productive career with 6 MVP's like Kareem Abdul Jabbar despite playing in the age of Wilt, Reed, Malone, Walton, Gilmore, McAdoo, Cowens, Lanier, Parish, Olajuwon, Ewing and many other excellent centers or to have a shorter dominant one with 1 MVP like Shaq while playing in this current dearth of centers? The key is longevity. Long-term success vs. short-term gain. Finesse goes a long way. The NFL and the NBA are not apples to apples. The bodies of players in both sports are usually considerably different and rightfully so. I doubt there are any Pro Bowl wide-outs that are over 250 lbs. And for all their alleged speed, hops and strength, why don't they go play in the NBA where they can have much more lucrative and longer careers with less long-term health risks (head/brain damage, paralysis and other really bad stuff)? They can't. And it's not just because of height (most NFL'ers are over 6'). The "athleticism" and skills just don't apply in most cases. There are many "dominant" players lighter than Yao. For the most part, Yao just has to learn to use what he has which is a lot more than what most other players will ever have. As far as stregth programs go, what he could really use is emphasis on improving fast-twitch muscle fibers, flexibility, injury-prevention, muscle- toning/strenghtening and only THEN very gradual and light increase of muscle mass. Why do some people insist on turning him into some physical freak? Oh well, thank goodness Yao is about as smart as ball-players go and won't do anything to jeopardize his career. I hope anyways. Didn't mean to come across as defensive. I'm not really.
I think a better way to put this is stereotypes tend to exist because now or at one point in time there might have been a kernal of truth in them. However other stereotypes, particularly negative ones, may have no kernal of truth and simply be propogated to make one feel superior to others of another group. Akuma I think you should get into the issue some more before posting on stereotypes. As far as the issue of strength and adding a little bit of well placed and steadily added bulk, you only have to look at Micheal Jordan and Karl Malone to find out strength training and some carefully added bulk can extend your career and reduce the likelihood for injury. Kobe hasn't been any less effective since bulking up either and may have more endurance. While Malone may always have been pretty thick in the upper body, MJ and Kobe were not. I think it is very hard to contend Yao wouldn't reduce his injury chances and increase his stamina with another 30 or 40 pounds of muscle while lowering or maintaining his body fat--the NBA game today is a very physical game with a lot of physical punishment.
I've noticed Yao is begining to push people around inside more, especially last night against Atlanta. He was getting great position almost every time down the court. He was either in the paint, or very near it. Looks like the added strength has helped. If only he could have hit some of those easy lay-ups he would have had a good game last night.
I think adding 30 more lbs will be in addition to reducing his body fat percentage and losing some weight in the lower body. He's too heavy in thelower body. Kobe gained 15lbs over the summer, and it doesn't show as extra, it just looks like he's toned up. Isn't anyone worried that he's being overworked though? He doesn't have a complete All Star break comin up.
