Steroids Source Talk | Anabolic Steroid Forum - View Single Post - A Training Philosophy For Solid Mass Gain

Cornish_Celt · #3 (**permalink**) 07-08-2010, 01:58 PM

16. Training Like a Bodybuilder vs Training Like a Powerlifter

In the big scheme of things, the main difference between the training of a bodybuilder and the training of a powerlifter should be that the powerlifter tries to lift as much weight as possible on 3 movements while making the muscles work as little as possible and by taking stress off his weaker muscle groups. In contrast, the bodybuilder should be trying to lift as much weight as possible on a slightly greater variety of movements, while making his muscles work as hard as possible and creating extra tension in his weaker muscle groups.

17. Why Some Powerlifters Squat a Ton and Have Skinny Quads

A powerlifter with skinny quadriceps will tend to spread his stance and sit way back on his squat and bounce out of the hole, thus minimizing contribution from his weaker quadriceps, while a bodybuilder with skinny quadriceps should be squatting with a closer stance at a really smooth pace, perhaps even with a pause, to really emphasize the tension on his skinny quadriceps.

18. Getting The Weight Up vs Getting at The Muscles

Since a bodybuilder is simply using movements to “get at” his muscles, he may need to target and get strong on more exercises then the powerlifter, so that adequate tension can be put on weaker muscle groups. All the powerlifter cares about is getting his bench up regardless of whether the work is done with the pecs, delts, or triceps. A bodybuilder, on the other hand, wants to target and develop the muscles of his chest, delts, and triceps. If he uses a bench press and he has the type of build that places 90% of the work on his triceps and delts, obviously his pecs won’t be receiving adequate tension. Therefore, he’ll probably want to add in movements specifically for his pecs. A flye or crossover for example. The same is true for other bodyparts. Bodybuilders often use additional movements to target various muscle groups and should focus on making bar weight increases on those. Other then that, the principles of getting stronger should be exactly the same.

19. Long Term Effectiveness of Training For Strength vs Training For "Pump"

Two twins with long legs both choose the hack squat as a main exercise to target their lower quads since, due to their inherent structure, they find they have a hard time fully targeting the quads with normal squats. One twin never goes above 3 plates on each side and does high rep sets, strip sets, and supersets hack squats with leg extensions. He works out really hard and throws up at least once a month whilst training legs. The other twin simply takes a no holds barred approach to increasing the bar weight on the hack squat so that after 2 years he is working up to 12 reps with 5 plates per side for 4 sets. Which twin will have better lower quad development? The one hack squatting 5 plates per side or the one squatting 3 plates per side? The answer should be obvious.

20. What Is Intensity?

Contrary to popular belief, "intensity" is defined as the percentage of your maximum lift that you are training with. Most people confuse "intensity" with "intensiveness", which is the subjective level of effort put forth. The gym does not have to be “feared” in order for a person to have productive workouts.

21. What is hardcore?

The definition of “hardcore” is the guy who makes sure he gets all his meals in every single day, every 3 hours, for months on end. It’s the guy who makes sure he sleeps 7 or 8 hours each and every night. It’s the guy who keeps a log book and writes down all his meals and workouts every day year after year. It’s the guy who continually tries to increase bar weight and who monitors his scale weight and body-fat on a weekly basis. That’s hardcore (yes, and more then just a little obsessive too). Hardcore is not the guy who dicks around for 23 hours of the day and then comes in the gym and walks around like a bad-ass and then gets in the squat rack and yells while doing one set of squats

22. Volume and Recovery

The volume many bodybuilders use to stimulate fatigue and get a good “pump”, often interferes with the ability to progressively put weight on the bar, due to the level of fatigue created. (Thus explaining why the average powerlifter is both stronger then and often makes better long term gains muscle mass wise then a lot of bodybuilders, who do “try” and put weight on the bar consistently, but are often not as successful).

23. Hardcore Training and Recovery

The length of time it takes to fully recover from a damaging and fatiguing bout of hardcore training can be a week or more, as not only must the muscle recover and grow, but the nerves that fire the muscles (neuromuscular junctions) must also recover. The nervous system recovers slower then the muscles recover. The neuro-muscular system is not fully recovered until a muscle has returned to, or surpassed, it’s full strength from a previous workout.

24. How much is required for stimulation?

A muscle does not have to be driven into the ground balls to the wall with high volume in order to be “stimulated”. As little as one or two sets at an increased tension level above what your muscles are accustomed to can and will stimulate growth. That doesn't mean I recommend HIT training because that's not necessary either. But just as an illustration, if you don’t believe low volume can stimulate growth under the right circumstances, go jack yourself up on a chinup bar, start from the top, and with ONE arm only, lower yourself under control for 4-5 reps of single arm negatives. Use a stool to assist you going back up and then lower yourself with as much control as you can. Do just one set of that and come back in 2 days and tell me that high volume is necessary. Even one set of sub-maximal pushups can stimulate microtrauma and thus growth in a sedentary person. In contrast, it might take multiple sets with 400 pounds or more of bar weight in a bench press to stimulate growth in a veteran trainee. Loads should get heavier over time as your muscles ability to handle a given amount of tension improves.

25. Is failure necessary?

A muscle does not have to be trained to failure to be stimulated either. Microtrauma results from any increase in tension beyond what a muscle is fully adapted to. Failure and forced reps don’t do much, if anything extra for strength or size gains, yet they do create a lot of fatigue and prolong recovery time. How many 135 pound bench pressers have you seen doing forced reps with spotters saying, “It’s all you?” How many 400 pound plus bench pressers have you seen doing forced reps period?

26. How long does the growth stimulus last?

The chemical signals that “tell” a muscle to grow after it is damaged start to go away after about 48 hours. Therefore, optimal stimulation frequency for “size” gains precedes the full recovery of “strength”. People who pound a muscle into submission everytime they train and then wait a week before training again spend most of the time farting around waiting for full recovery to take place. They could be training more often so that their “growth signaling” mechanisms remain elevated more frequently.

27. The muscle's first goal after training is replacing the energy you burned up

After a bout of resistance exercise, a muscle will not grow until it’s energy reserves are replaced. The first thing your muscles want to do after a workout is replace the energy or glycogen you just burned. After that energy is replenished, growth can occur. If you constantly train with humongous volumes and burn up a crapload of energy each and every workout, or if you don't eat enough to replenish muscular glycogen content, it can be difficult to grow.

28. So Training A Muscle Group Every Other Day is Superior?

Training a muscle group every 48 hours sounds great in theory, yet in the real world doesn’t hold up very well for a lot of people. The frequency is too great for many people to recover well enough from to make continual and rapid strength increases. This is particularly true the stronger a person gets. The ability to generate fatigue increases a lot more then the ability to recover from fatigue does. As you get stronger you develop an extreme ability to intensify or create stress, yet your ability to recover from that stress doesn’t change quite so much. A 600 pound deadlift requires more recovery time then a 200 pound deadlift, even if the 600 pound deadlifter has been training for 10 years while the 200 pound deadlifter has been training for 10 days.

29. Is getting ultra fired up and banging your head against the wall a good thing to do?

Fully motivated efforts can take 5 times as long to recover from than un-motivated efforts, which is a good reason to AVOID stimulants like ephedrine, which create “artificial” motivation and thus can prolong recovery time. Stimulating growth rarely, if ever, requires a person get fired up to the level some people think is necessary.