bodyweight - ???
Close Grip Bench - all reps paused
barx50,30
135x15
185x5
225x4
275x3
315x2
365x1
385x1
365x3,3,3
315x8,8
225x10,10
Flex Machine Rows - 5 sets of 12 up to the whole stack
Notes - Felt tired as shit. Not a great way to kick off the first week of meet training but hey, it is what it is. I didn't weigh. If I had to guess, 247 or so. The triples with 365 were a mixed bag. The first set was so fast I checked to see if I indeed had the 25's on. I did. The second set was off, and the third set felt like shit. The back offs with 315 also felt homoerotic, and I'm a straight guy. So that should tell you something.
Overall, an 80%er, however not anything worth bragging about. Next week is inclines. So bench one week, incline the next. Just like old times.
Strength Life Legacy
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Base building part 8 - Consistency trumps all - section A
Anytime you look for a list in regards to the most important facets in achieving success, regardless of the endeavor, you will undoubtedly find that consistency tops the list, or is near the top.
If it doesn't, I'm not sure what potato was filling out that list.
I realized just recently, that everyone talks about consistency and the importance of it, yet no one talks about how to build consistency into programming, or somehow account for it. Consistency has become a mantra, or a "mindset". It's just something people say that sounds important, because well, it is. However no one really bothers to put a stamp on what that means.
"Well, train a lot. Don't miss workouts."
"Thanks for that knowledge bomb. Where'd you park the car Dick Tracy?"
If consistency is the most important piece in training, or one of the most important pieces in productive training, then how do we actually plan for it? How do we build a training methodology around being consistent?
The main thing you have to do first, is outline the things that cause you to be inconsistent in your training.
After that you have to redefine what consistent productive training is. Because you can consistently train poorly or in an unproductive manner.
For each person trying to reach their strength, fitness, muscular goals, there will be factors that cause inconsistency that is unique to them. If you're the guy that does binge drinking each weekend, then pays for it for a few days, I can't account for that in a cookie cutter program. You have to understand all of the things that you do, from an individualistic standpoint, that short circuits consistency in your training.
For example, I have struggled with insomnia for most of my life. I know during meet prep it's vitally important that I not do things to hurt my sleep cycle. Once I get into what I call "sleep debt", it can takes me days to get back out of it. I generally cause this to happen on the weekends, when I might stay up later than usual watching movies, or being out with friends. I have to be more cognizant of my behavior during this time lest I get into said sleep debt and end up having poor training sessions due to it.
I can't name all of the things unique to you that might cause your training to be inconsistent. You will need to perform some genuine introspection about what those things may be, and what you need to do to rectify those problems. That part is up to you. However we can outline some general issues that keep your training from being consistently productive.
I can't proceed forward however, without also addressing what "productive" means as well.
For most guys, productive training sessions fall into a vacuum. In other words, they look at productive training as single session events. This is one of the reasons that training with damn near maximal intensities has become such a huge trend in training methodologies these days. Because the big picture in training gets lost, and the only thing that matters is THAT DAYS training. It doesn't matter if that days training causes so much fatigue that few other productive training sessions can be had for the next 3,5,7,10 days. All that matters if that you pulled that max dead or pressed that max bench.
Ridiculousness.
This is akin to running a company that mass produces something, and every time you can, you bust the workers asses for as many hours as they can work, push the machines to maximum working capacity until they break or damn near break, then wonder why the hell everything isn't working at the same level the next day?
What is the outcome of this?
Employee turnover becomes high because people quit, mechanics must be paid for broken equipment, and production slows or comes to a halt until people can be replaced and machines are working normally again. So what does this company do after things are back in place? They repeat the cycle. Sure, some production occurs, but eventually over time you have more days where production is poor than optimal, and you never get above a general baseline of "less than optimal".
Everything has limits. People, machines, anything and everything.
What would the model of a successful company be? They figure out through trial and error what quota can be met daily, weekly, and monthly. How much to pay their employees for a normal work week, the rate at which the machines can work and produce goods with the least amount of malfunction, factor in every other expense they have, then create a price for their product.
What is the common denominator in this process being productive?
Consistency tends to work best with moderation. Not extremes.
Over time, consistency outruns the company that tries to manufacture as much as possible in a single day, rather than thinking about long term consistency with their product.
Understanding that everything from 50% to 100% of your max has benefits and drawbacks, and what they are, is your best tool in designing productive training and productive training cycles. Manipulating your volume and frequency is the other key in that. You have to massage all of these parts over time in order to meet your needs for where you are at in your training life. This will be different for everyone. I throw that out there because I've heard that I'm dogmatic, and it's literally the dumbest god damn thing I've ever read about my writing and how I think about training. Everyone needs to tweak programs and "routines" in order to meet their needs. This is REALLY, the heart of what consistent productive training is. Massaging all of these factors
1RM and fatigue management -
The other part of this equation that is broken, is the means by which so many measure progress. Namely, the 1RM equation.
"I got stronger, because I lifted a high 1 rep max."
You had to take a max to figure out you got stronger? There aren't other ways?
Through rep PR's? Yes.
Through bar acceleration at the same intensities? Yes.
Through the ability to do more work (volume/intensity related) with less energy expenditure (less time)? Yes.
The testing of pure 1 rep maxes in the gym makes virtually no sense to me. When you look at the training methodologies of the strongest guys from the 70's and 80's, they had long well planned out cycles that resulted in a lot of progress, with virtually no missed lifts, and they NEVER maxed in training. Hell, they rarely worked above 90%. Why? Because you don't need to do so in order to get stronger, and because as Coan put it, he "saved the big ones for the meet".
You have a lot of people that scoff now at pre-planned cycles. Well that's great, but I see most of those people stay within the same strength level meet after meet, or year after year, because they refuse to acknowledge that the body works in cycles. You cannot be at peak strength all the time, no more than marathon runners or sprinters or any other athlete I can think of, trains at his maximum year around.
The Russians figured this out years ago, and feel that well, we are pretty stupid for beating ourselves into the ground in the gym, when those efforts rarely bear fruit on the competitive stage. At least, not in comparison to them and what they are doing.
So why do so many guys of today feel that it's a requirement to train at such high intensity levels, and max out so often?
It's pretty simple. Geared training methodologies, and the inability to come to terms with the fact that the body got stronger without proving that with a tested 1 rep max. I have helped tons of guys get ready for meets, and every single time, they tell me "dude, I can't hit my lifts with as light as we are going." Then they get to the meet and crush shit and are amazed at how good they felt.
Training should not destroy you. It should get you better over time. This doesn't happen because of single session blow ups. How do you think that single awesome session happened? It's generally because of the work you put in BEFORE that finally manifested itself in that training session.
Ruminate on that for a while.
I have a female client I am helping at the moment, and she too was upset at how "good" she felt leaving the gym each day. Yes, she was upset by feeling good. She was used to leaving the gym just feeling exhausted, and thought that this was indeed the measuring stick of a great workout.
Yet each week, she just destroys whatever it is I have lined up for her to do, and now she's destroying weights that were previously difficult for her.
"I want to do more! It's so easy!"
"It's so easy because I'm not letting you do more."
The egotistical gym lurch will reply to that "well why can't she do more if she feels strong?"
Because she feels strong because we are managing her fatigue and intensities, and not letting her go heavier and beat the shit out of herself. She gets stronger because she's not in a constant hole of trying to recover. Anyone who doubts fatigue or under-recovery in training is either willfully ignorant or macho to a degree that makes them that way. The whole "there is no such thing as over-training, only under eating and sleeping" bit is soooooo 1992. Fine, set your hair on fire and go as hard as you can every single session with no regard for the fact that hey, you haven't progressed a whole lot in a very long time and injury your injuries.
In the next part, I'll talk about under-recovering, why it's YOU and not the training system that is at fault, maxing out (again), getting injured, and the most important "type" of sessions to stack up over time in order to see progress continue at a steady rate. You know....consistency.
If it doesn't, I'm not sure what potato was filling out that list.
I realized just recently, that everyone talks about consistency and the importance of it, yet no one talks about how to build consistency into programming, or somehow account for it. Consistency has become a mantra, or a "mindset". It's just something people say that sounds important, because well, it is. However no one really bothers to put a stamp on what that means.
"Well, train a lot. Don't miss workouts."
"Thanks for that knowledge bomb. Where'd you park the car Dick Tracy?"
 |
| It's only a virtue if you're not a screw up |
If consistency is the most important piece in training, or one of the most important pieces in productive training, then how do we actually plan for it? How do we build a training methodology around being consistent?
The main thing you have to do first, is outline the things that cause you to be inconsistent in your training.
After that you have to redefine what consistent productive training is. Because you can consistently train poorly or in an unproductive manner.
For each person trying to reach their strength, fitness, muscular goals, there will be factors that cause inconsistency that is unique to them. If you're the guy that does binge drinking each weekend, then pays for it for a few days, I can't account for that in a cookie cutter program. You have to understand all of the things that you do, from an individualistic standpoint, that short circuits consistency in your training.
For example, I have struggled with insomnia for most of my life. I know during meet prep it's vitally important that I not do things to hurt my sleep cycle. Once I get into what I call "sleep debt", it can takes me days to get back out of it. I generally cause this to happen on the weekends, when I might stay up later than usual watching movies, or being out with friends. I have to be more cognizant of my behavior during this time lest I get into said sleep debt and end up having poor training sessions due to it.
I can't name all of the things unique to you that might cause your training to be inconsistent. You will need to perform some genuine introspection about what those things may be, and what you need to do to rectify those problems. That part is up to you. However we can outline some general issues that keep your training from being consistently productive.
I can't proceed forward however, without also addressing what "productive" means as well.
For most guys, productive training sessions fall into a vacuum. In other words, they look at productive training as single session events. This is one of the reasons that training with damn near maximal intensities has become such a huge trend in training methodologies these days. Because the big picture in training gets lost, and the only thing that matters is THAT DAYS training. It doesn't matter if that days training causes so much fatigue that few other productive training sessions can be had for the next 3,5,7,10 days. All that matters if that you pulled that max dead or pressed that max bench.
Ridiculousness.
This is akin to running a company that mass produces something, and every time you can, you bust the workers asses for as many hours as they can work, push the machines to maximum working capacity until they break or damn near break, then wonder why the hell everything isn't working at the same level the next day?
What is the outcome of this?
Employee turnover becomes high because people quit, mechanics must be paid for broken equipment, and production slows or comes to a halt until people can be replaced and machines are working normally again. So what does this company do after things are back in place? They repeat the cycle. Sure, some production occurs, but eventually over time you have more days where production is poor than optimal, and you never get above a general baseline of "less than optimal".
 |
| I'm beating you to the "sweat shop" comparison because eventually that shit gets shut down |
Everything has limits. People, machines, anything and everything.
What would the model of a successful company be? They figure out through trial and error what quota can be met daily, weekly, and monthly. How much to pay their employees for a normal work week, the rate at which the machines can work and produce goods with the least amount of malfunction, factor in every other expense they have, then create a price for their product.
What is the common denominator in this process being productive?
Consistency tends to work best with moderation. Not extremes.
Over time, consistency outruns the company that tries to manufacture as much as possible in a single day, rather than thinking about long term consistency with their product.
Understanding that everything from 50% to 100% of your max has benefits and drawbacks, and what they are, is your best tool in designing productive training and productive training cycles. Manipulating your volume and frequency is the other key in that. You have to massage all of these parts over time in order to meet your needs for where you are at in your training life. This will be different for everyone. I throw that out there because I've heard that I'm dogmatic, and it's literally the dumbest god damn thing I've ever read about my writing and how I think about training. Everyone needs to tweak programs and "routines" in order to meet their needs. This is REALLY, the heart of what consistent productive training is. Massaging all of these factors
1RM and fatigue management -
The other part of this equation that is broken, is the means by which so many measure progress. Namely, the 1RM equation.
"I got stronger, because I lifted a high 1 rep max."
You had to take a max to figure out you got stronger? There aren't other ways?
Through rep PR's? Yes.
Through bar acceleration at the same intensities? Yes.
Through the ability to do more work (volume/intensity related) with less energy expenditure (less time)? Yes.
The testing of pure 1 rep maxes in the gym makes virtually no sense to me. When you look at the training methodologies of the strongest guys from the 70's and 80's, they had long well planned out cycles that resulted in a lot of progress, with virtually no missed lifts, and they NEVER maxed in training. Hell, they rarely worked above 90%. Why? Because you don't need to do so in order to get stronger, and because as Coan put it, he "saved the big ones for the meet".
You have a lot of people that scoff now at pre-planned cycles. Well that's great, but I see most of those people stay within the same strength level meet after meet, or year after year, because they refuse to acknowledge that the body works in cycles. You cannot be at peak strength all the time, no more than marathon runners or sprinters or any other athlete I can think of, trains at his maximum year around.
The Russians figured this out years ago, and feel that well, we are pretty stupid for beating ourselves into the ground in the gym, when those efforts rarely bear fruit on the competitive stage. At least, not in comparison to them and what they are doing.
So why do so many guys of today feel that it's a requirement to train at such high intensity levels, and max out so often?
It's pretty simple. Geared training methodologies, and the inability to come to terms with the fact that the body got stronger without proving that with a tested 1 rep max. I have helped tons of guys get ready for meets, and every single time, they tell me "dude, I can't hit my lifts with as light as we are going." Then they get to the meet and crush shit and are amazed at how good they felt.
Training should not destroy you. It should get you better over time. This doesn't happen because of single session blow ups. How do you think that single awesome session happened? It's generally because of the work you put in BEFORE that finally manifested itself in that training session.
Ruminate on that for a while.
I have a female client I am helping at the moment, and she too was upset at how "good" she felt leaving the gym each day. Yes, she was upset by feeling good. She was used to leaving the gym just feeling exhausted, and thought that this was indeed the measuring stick of a great workout.
Yet each week, she just destroys whatever it is I have lined up for her to do, and now she's destroying weights that were previously difficult for her.
"I want to do more! It's so easy!"
"It's so easy because I'm not letting you do more."
The egotistical gym lurch will reply to that "well why can't she do more if she feels strong?"
Because she feels strong because we are managing her fatigue and intensities, and not letting her go heavier and beat the shit out of herself. She gets stronger because she's not in a constant hole of trying to recover. Anyone who doubts fatigue or under-recovery in training is either willfully ignorant or macho to a degree that makes them that way. The whole "there is no such thing as over-training, only under eating and sleeping" bit is soooooo 1992. Fine, set your hair on fire and go as hard as you can every single session with no regard for the fact that hey, you haven't progressed a whole lot in a very long time and injury your injuries.
In the next part, I'll talk about under-recovering, why it's YOU and not the training system that is at fault, maxing out (again), getting injured, and the most important "type" of sessions to stack up over time in order to see progress continue at a steady rate. You know....consistency.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Thoughts about life, crap, training, and stuff - Sunday steroid edition
So the Arnold is going on this weekend, which means right now the square foot to testosterone ratio is higher in Columbus, Ohio than every other place in the world combined.
Obviously because steroids are evil and are the main cause of rape, bestiality, murder, divorce, and shrink your dick (this one still makes me laugh), then the crime rate in Columbus should soar during these weekends. Men with big muscles and tiny dongs are out everywhere, killing, robbing, murdering, and filing divorce papers.
Oh wait, that doesn't happen.
In all seriousness, if steroids were the devil the media made them out to be, wouldn't you see mass riots in Columbus every year when the Arnold rolled around? I think that'd be pretty cool actually. Thousands of muscle heads piled into the street, rioting for no other reason than that their tren and anadrol doses were just way too high. You thought Canadians could turn over cars during riots? Shit, they'd have nothing on the Arnold weekend!
I see so many ignorant and laughable comments related to steroids and I touched on many in my darksiding series, however I still see some comments related to them, that are flat out WRONG. And some of these come from the users themselves. The funny thing about these particular comments is that the guys who say them, I don't think realize, contradict each other.
The first one is "you can't just take a cycle and set world records."
This is very true. Lots of guys use gear/gas/androgenic/anabolics and never win anything in bodybuilding or powerlifting or strongman, or never do anything at a championship level. There are many reasons for this.
Some guys never learn how to eat and train properly. I personally don't give a shit what anyone tells you, your training and eating will always be the two biggest factors in achieving success. I say this because, I know lots of guys on big cycles who haven't gotten any better in a long time. Mainly because their training methods suck, and/or they eat like shit. Drugs can overcome shitty eating and training but only to a point. Everything has its limits and drugs are no exception.
The other thing is, not everyone responds to these drugs the same way. I know guys that are on very little shit. I mean VERY little, that are insanely strong. They don't need a whole lot to benefit. I know other guys who are on buttloads, that barely look like their lift and are at laughable strength levels outside of their powrlifting gear. There are too many variables here to lay down absolutes.
So let's get this one out of the way. Just because dude X takes steroids and is big, strong, and jacked doesn't mean you are going to take them and find your way into his territory.
However, the flip side of this, that pisses me off to no end, is when dude X says dumb shit like "if you took steroids away, all the same guys would be at the top."
The only guy that ever actually proved this, that I know of, was the great powerlifter John Kuc. Who was a beast as a juiced 245'er, then came back later as a natty 275 guy, and well, was still strong as fuck. But, that's John Kuc, and you're not John Kuc.
I think I hate this particular bullshit saying more because I personally think the guys on the sauce love a feeling of entitlement. "I'd still be strong without it!"
Ok fine, but a world champion or competing at an elite level? You don't know, because you haven't done it. I will adopt the Missouri "show me" state motto, and tell you, if that's true, then show me.
In fact I will say that you wouldn't. Because drugs change so many things from one guy to the next, that I believe some guys that are at elite levels, might not have continued training at all as a natty.
I know some guys that have big mouths about how strong they are, but I can tell from their videos when their dose is at its highest. They get stronger (or injured...again) in the gym, but then of course know fuck all about training and constantly show up and underachieve at every meet. When I see a guy struggling to do 5 reps at a certain weight, then adds 20 pounds two weeks later for 8 reps, I know that it's not because his training program is so dreamy. Please.
So when they post up a vid or the message board mental masturbation crew ruminates about these guys, someone eventually "takes the piss" and talks about how he's on the gas. Someone else shows up to say "you think you can just take something and do that? well it still takes hard wok and blah blah blah."
Steroids did in fact, contribute HIGHLY to why that guy is able to do what he can do. It's a huge part of it.
Let me add to that. These same guys that are such hard workers, and worked so hard that they started pumping gas at insane rates in their early 20's, rather than developed everything they could naturally. I think we can save the "hard worker" label here because let me tell you, as a guy that was natty for 20+ years, I know more about struggling to gain a few pounds on a lift far more than guys who decided to darkside their shit early.
I don't know if they are hard workers, and neither do you, because drugs also make you more aggressive and motivate you to train at much harder levels. It's not hard to work hard while you're on higher doses. Anyone that has run shit will tell you this. Throw in a gram of test a week with some dbol at 50mg a day, and tell me if your training doesn't sky rocket and tell me if you don't feel pretty fucking excited about training. Take that shit away after a few months, and let's see if you're still working as hard.
While it's true that no matter how many drugs you take, you won't become Lance Armstrong or Ed Coan or any other athlete that used PED's that competed at the highest levels. On the flip side, part of those guys championship recipe, was in fact drugs. So they aren't who they are, without drugs either. This is not a slight, it's just the truth. You wouldn't be who they are on drugs more than likely, unless you are as genetically gifted in just as many ways. Yet, they aren't the champions they are without drugs either.
If steroids work, and someone uses them in order to attain the level of athletic achievement they do/did, then drugs were a part of it. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Some guys respond really well to drugs, so the real "genetic freak" part you hear about in bodybuilding and strength sports, is really a guys ability to respond to drugs, or deals with the side effects of them better than the other guy. And yes, he's born with that ability, so that's the "genetic freak" part you hear about.
Dorian Yates doesn't win Mr. O's without drugs. He will be the first to tell you that. Lance Armstrong doesn't win all those Tour De Frances without drugs. Stan Efferding isn't squatting 900+ and benching 600+ without drugs. It's a part of the package. It isn't a slam on someone, because as I noted, not everyone that takes drugs will be able to do those things. However without drugs, the before mentioned guys aren't doing that shit either. And until guys actually go clean and show they can repeat their feats without drugs, the mantra that all the same guys would be at the top is hogwash as well. To my knowledge, that's never been proven, nor do I think it can be, across the board.
So while it's true that you can't just take some drugs and become a world champion, the world champions who used drugs to get there, aren't world champs without them either. This is neither good nor bad, it's just how it is.
Obviously because steroids are evil and are the main cause of rape, bestiality, murder, divorce, and shrink your dick (this one still makes me laugh), then the crime rate in Columbus should soar during these weekends. Men with big muscles and tiny dongs are out everywhere, killing, robbing, murdering, and filing divorce papers.
Oh wait, that doesn't happen.
In all seriousness, if steroids were the devil the media made them out to be, wouldn't you see mass riots in Columbus every year when the Arnold rolled around? I think that'd be pretty cool actually. Thousands of muscle heads piled into the street, rioting for no other reason than that their tren and anadrol doses were just way too high. You thought Canadians could turn over cars during riots? Shit, they'd have nothing on the Arnold weekend!
I see so many ignorant and laughable comments related to steroids and I touched on many in my darksiding series, however I still see some comments related to them, that are flat out WRONG. And some of these come from the users themselves. The funny thing about these particular comments is that the guys who say them, I don't think realize, contradict each other.
The first one is "you can't just take a cycle and set world records."
This is very true. Lots of guys use gear/gas/androgenic/anabolics and never win anything in bodybuilding or powerlifting or strongman, or never do anything at a championship level. There are many reasons for this.
Some guys never learn how to eat and train properly. I personally don't give a shit what anyone tells you, your training and eating will always be the two biggest factors in achieving success. I say this because, I know lots of guys on big cycles who haven't gotten any better in a long time. Mainly because their training methods suck, and/or they eat like shit. Drugs can overcome shitty eating and training but only to a point. Everything has its limits and drugs are no exception.
The other thing is, not everyone responds to these drugs the same way. I know guys that are on very little shit. I mean VERY little, that are insanely strong. They don't need a whole lot to benefit. I know other guys who are on buttloads, that barely look like their lift and are at laughable strength levels outside of their powrlifting gear. There are too many variables here to lay down absolutes.
So let's get this one out of the way. Just because dude X takes steroids and is big, strong, and jacked doesn't mean you are going to take them and find your way into his territory.
However, the flip side of this, that pisses me off to no end, is when dude X says dumb shit like "if you took steroids away, all the same guys would be at the top."
The only guy that ever actually proved this, that I know of, was the great powerlifter John Kuc. Who was a beast as a juiced 245'er, then came back later as a natty 275 guy, and well, was still strong as fuck. But, that's John Kuc, and you're not John Kuc.
I think I hate this particular bullshit saying more because I personally think the guys on the sauce love a feeling of entitlement. "I'd still be strong without it!"
Ok fine, but a world champion or competing at an elite level? You don't know, because you haven't done it. I will adopt the Missouri "show me" state motto, and tell you, if that's true, then show me.
In fact I will say that you wouldn't. Because drugs change so many things from one guy to the next, that I believe some guys that are at elite levels, might not have continued training at all as a natty.
I know some guys that have big mouths about how strong they are, but I can tell from their videos when their dose is at its highest. They get stronger (or injured...again) in the gym, but then of course know fuck all about training and constantly show up and underachieve at every meet. When I see a guy struggling to do 5 reps at a certain weight, then adds 20 pounds two weeks later for 8 reps, I know that it's not because his training program is so dreamy. Please.
So when they post up a vid or the message board mental masturbation crew ruminates about these guys, someone eventually "takes the piss" and talks about how he's on the gas. Someone else shows up to say "you think you can just take something and do that? well it still takes hard wok and blah blah blah."
Steroids did in fact, contribute HIGHLY to why that guy is able to do what he can do. It's a huge part of it.
Let me add to that. These same guys that are such hard workers, and worked so hard that they started pumping gas at insane rates in their early 20's, rather than developed everything they could naturally. I think we can save the "hard worker" label here because let me tell you, as a guy that was natty for 20+ years, I know more about struggling to gain a few pounds on a lift far more than guys who decided to darkside their shit early.
I don't know if they are hard workers, and neither do you, because drugs also make you more aggressive and motivate you to train at much harder levels. It's not hard to work hard while you're on higher doses. Anyone that has run shit will tell you this. Throw in a gram of test a week with some dbol at 50mg a day, and tell me if your training doesn't sky rocket and tell me if you don't feel pretty fucking excited about training. Take that shit away after a few months, and let's see if you're still working as hard.
While it's true that no matter how many drugs you take, you won't become Lance Armstrong or Ed Coan or any other athlete that used PED's that competed at the highest levels. On the flip side, part of those guys championship recipe, was in fact drugs. So they aren't who they are, without drugs either. This is not a slight, it's just the truth. You wouldn't be who they are on drugs more than likely, unless you are as genetically gifted in just as many ways. Yet, they aren't the champions they are without drugs either.
If steroids work, and someone uses them in order to attain the level of athletic achievement they do/did, then drugs were a part of it. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Some guys respond really well to drugs, so the real "genetic freak" part you hear about in bodybuilding and strength sports, is really a guys ability to respond to drugs, or deals with the side effects of them better than the other guy. And yes, he's born with that ability, so that's the "genetic freak" part you hear about.
Dorian Yates doesn't win Mr. O's without drugs. He will be the first to tell you that. Lance Armstrong doesn't win all those Tour De Frances without drugs. Stan Efferding isn't squatting 900+ and benching 600+ without drugs. It's a part of the package. It isn't a slam on someone, because as I noted, not everyone that takes drugs will be able to do those things. However without drugs, the before mentioned guys aren't doing that shit either. And until guys actually go clean and show they can repeat their feats without drugs, the mantra that all the same guys would be at the top is hogwash as well. To my knowledge, that's never been proven, nor do I think it can be, across the board.
So while it's true that you can't just take some drugs and become a world champion, the world champions who used drugs to get there, aren't world champs without them either. This is neither good nor bad, it's just how it is.
Training - Day 2 assistance
upright rows - 3x15
poundstone curls - barx130
side twist machine - 5x10
decline sit ups - 2x15
calf raises - 5x10
low back machine - 5x10
rope pushdowns - 2x50
This done in 40 minutes. All light for "movement" purposes.
poundstone curls - barx130
side twist machine - 5x10
decline sit ups - 2x15
calf raises - 5x10
low back machine - 5x10
rope pushdowns - 2x50
This done in 40 minutes. All light for "movement" purposes.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Start of meet prep - Assistance work
Bodyweight - 245
Cable Rows - up to stack x 12
V-Bar Rowdowns - up to stack x 6
Flex Seated Shrugs - up to 315x8
Good Mornings - 135 x 5 sets of 10
Notes - What a funny day at the gym. I had a very obvious gay dude tell me I had an amazing body, and a dude tell his girlfriend to "pay attention to the workout and stop staring at that guy". The pheromones must be strong today! hahahahaha
Cable Rows - up to stack x 12
V-Bar Rowdowns - up to stack x 6
Flex Seated Shrugs - up to 315x8
Good Mornings - 135 x 5 sets of 10
Notes - What a funny day at the gym. I had a very obvious gay dude tell me I had an amazing body, and a dude tell his girlfriend to "pay attention to the workout and stop staring at that guy". The pheromones must be strong today! hahahahaha
Friday, March 1, 2013
Ed Coan is wise
Never maxed out in the gym
Didn't miss reps in preparation for his meets
Reduced volume as he got stronger
Did reps
All of this seems very familiar..........
Didn't miss reps in preparation for his meets
Reduced volume as he got stronger
Did reps
All of this seems very familiar..........
Thoughts about life, crap, training, and stuff - Friday morning pep talk edition
The greatest gift you can ever give yourself is the undying belief that you are worthy. Someone who doesn't value their own self worth cannot fully accept anything gifted to them, or anything earned.
If you do not believe you are worthy of someones love, you will never experience it. If you do not believe you are worthy of adoration, you will never receive it. If you do not believe you are worthy of being strong you will never know it.
Inhale and grok the belief that you are worthy of things both gifted and earned. Without this, you will never understand the value of who you are, what you are capable of, or appreciate the fruits of your labor.
Now go, and win the fucking day.
If you do not believe you are worthy of someones love, you will never experience it. If you do not believe you are worthy of adoration, you will never receive it. If you do not believe you are worthy of being strong you will never know it.
Inhale and grok the belief that you are worthy of things both gifted and earned. Without this, you will never understand the value of who you are, what you are capable of, or appreciate the fruits of your labor.
Now go, and win the fucking day.
I hope everyone has a productive and safe weekend.
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