"Where Training Science Meets Training Reality"
"The information below is probably the most "honest" you'll ever read in any bodybuilding article, and it's probably
the most important article I've ever written, or will ever write, regarding bodybuilding and the bodybuilding industry."
This article was originally titled "Beginners Part I: The Rules of Productive Weight Training for The Drug-Free Trainee". But over the years I've noticed a curious thing ...a lot of very advanced trainees have read this article and followed the advice herein. So I thought about it a little and realized that the information contained here isn't really exclusive to beginners at all. In fact, sometimes advanced trainees are in need of the "rules" even more than beginners. Especially when those trainees have wasted years of their training lives not following the "rules". The fact is, the "rules" apply to everyone who wants to get the most out of weight training and is doing so without the assistance of anabolic drugs. So the "Beginners Part I" was dropped from the title to get: "The Rules of Productive Weight Training for The Drug-Free Trainee". Sounds a little profound, but appropriate nonetheless.
Before we get into the "meat" of the article let me relate to you an experience I had in the gym one time (actually probably a thousand times but I've learned to ignore it) that'll help set the tone for where we're going to go. I'll tell you this because you'll probably be able to relate to the situation.
I had just finished my last exercise for the day, was changing my shoes and drinking my shake, when this skinny little guy comes up to me and says, "Do you know how to do Deadlifts?" "Yes", I replied. "Can you show me?", he says. So I agreed and off we went - over to where he was Deadlifting. When I got there he had already loaded up the bar (with a 10 pound plate on each side) and started to go through the motions for me. His form was pretty shakey - he was having trouble keeping a safe arch in his back (he had obvious inflexibility problems in his hips and hamstrings). Now, having performed and witnessed a few deadlifts in my lifetime, I knew his situation intimately ...I'd seen it many times before and I knew the "cure". But just as I was about to speak, some guy, who was even skinnier than him, cut me off and started explaining to him the finer points of Deadlift technique and training. (I guess he felt offended because this kid looked to somebody else for advice besides "his honour".) To be fair though, most of what he was saying was just about dead-on, but it was very obvious from his physique that he hadn't spent too much time actually Deadlifting, if you know what I mean. Still, his instructions on form were sound so I didn't feel like I had to add anything. Over the next half-hour, or so, the two went over all the finer points of Deadlifting technique and the various assistance exercises that the new trainee should be doing - with me watching patiently and putting in my 2 cents worth every now and then.
As time went on, more and more important practicalities of training were being left out of the "sage's" advice. One thing became more and more apparent: This "instructor" hadn't lifted a weight in his life. He was well-read on all the latest texts that his obvious Phys Ed schooling had prescribed, and he had done his homework well, but he didn't have a clue about real-world lifting. He made suggestions that were, clearly, straight from an arm-chair expert who had read one too many texts and lifted way too few weights. He had no idea of how to correct the problems that the new guy had, and he didn't have the foggiest about constructing a practical training routine for the real world. What he did have, however, was the arrogance and swagger of somebody who'd read a few muscle magazine or kinesiology textbooks and now considers himself an authority amongst an otherwise "uneducated" group of gym grunts. In short, all his "knowledge" was useless. He lacked the practical experience to put it into context. Too much reading, too little doing. I later found out that he was the new resident "physical trainer" for the gym - but that would be typical.
Don't get the impression that I'm against scientific research and how it applies to bodybuilding (or powerlifting, or weightlifting, etc.). In fact, many people think of my writing as having a clear scientific leaning. In truth, I have 5 degrees in the "hard" sciences (including a Ph.D.). I've written peer-reviewed articles for scientific journals and attended conferences around the world. I've taught at the university level and I now work in research and development for one of the most technically advanced companies on Earth. I don't say all that to boast, but to tell you that I know how science works ...so I'm not "anti-science" by any stretch. However, the "science" of weight training will never take the place of in-the-gym experience. And that's what too few "experts" seem to actually have - experience. Hey, you can read about boxing all you want, but that doesn't qualify you to get in the ring with Klitschko.
I don't need a crystal ball to tell me that you've got conflicting advice coming at you from all directions - and you probably can't figure out who, or what, to believe. Well, I'm going lay the truth out for you in clear, no-bullshit fashion. I've been at this for at least 18 years ...I know what you need to know, and what you don't need to know and I'm going to tell you straight. Not what I read from just a book or in a research paper (though, trust me, I've read a few ...all the way from texts published in 1896 to the latest research journals) but what I've had hammered into me through over 18 years of unbreakable devotion to weight training; what I've seen other people go through and what I've learned from people who have gone before me. I'm not making any money from this, and the only reason I'm telling you this is because I remember myself, quite vividly, what it's like to be stumbling around in the dark. So, let's get into the Rules of Productive Weight Training for the Drug-free Trainee.
I'm going to start with the rule that upsets a lot of publishers, supplement salesmen and even gym owners (ohh I forgot, they're called "fitness clubs" now). It probably puts me on the magazines' blacklists too, so I don't expect you'll see anything I write show up in the newsstand bodybuilding magazines...
The vast majority of what's in popular "print" is, for the most part, useless to you. Worse than that, it'll do your training life immense harm if you take much of it too seriously. The fitness industry is a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry. Do you really think that the guy's who make a fortune from this are concerned with your gains? No, they are not. Most of them are probably fat businessmen who go to board meetings and discuss what they can do to get this quarter's profits up. As George Turner would say, "you couldn't scrape a teaspoon full of muscle off of 'em." To them, you are simply a potential customer. Think about it, how do they get your attention? They hire some drug-using professional bodybuilder to say that he got great gains from their product (training program or supplements) and they photograph him with some half-naked girl with an 8 pound saline-filled rack. In reality, he probably never even used their product and even if he did, he takes so many steroids and anabolic drugs that almost any program would work for him and supplements are irrelevant. But all the advertisers are concerned with is getting you to give them your money for their latest book or magazine, supplement or "breakthrough discovery", or whatever they happen to be selling ...and it's always something, either directly or indirectly.
Every few months new gimmics come out and are pushed heavily in the magazines and on the internet because gimmics sell. People simply don't want to see and read the same old things month after month, year after year. The newest "wrinkle" is what sells, and sales are what the "industry" is all about. Even the genuine articles, which could be helpful to drug-free trainees, quickly get lost and overwhelmed amongst the sensationalism and material aimed at drug-users and the naive. Beginners and experienced trainees alike simply cannot tell what's appropriate for them and what isn't ...and if an author doesn't specifically say that his advice is for drug-free trainees, then it's not. Training for beginners is an even more special case, and 99% of what's printed in magazines and on the internet is not appropriate for beginners.
Another thing: You are not Jay Cutler or Ronnie Coleman or Arnold Schwarzenegger. The things that those men do to their bodies in training would destroy yours. Why is that so? Because they are taking enough drugs in a month that they'd be 250 pounds and ripped if they never even touched a weight. You have about as much in common with them as you do with a lowland Gorilla. Seem a bit far-fetched? Well, I've heard of competitors spending upwards of $90,000 a year in drugs. Think that your body, with it's natural hormone levels, can compare to that? If you do you're dreaming. WAKE UP NOW, before it's too late and you've spent years wasting your time following Jay Cutler's biceps routine. It happened to me. I wasted 9 years on their drug-dependent routines. If you don't be careful you may too.
Training approaches are very specific and different for drug-free people than they are for drug-users. People of different builds also require different training approaches (especially people that could be classified as "hard gainers"). If you want to learn how to train drug-free you have to look to the people that actually train and trained drug-free - the current drug-free champions such as Dave Goodin, Tony Montalbano and Jon Harris, and the legends of the Iron Game such as Reg Park, John Grimek, Tommy Kono, Steve Reeves, John Davis, etc. Think those people aren't (or weren't) that big. Well, compared to Jay Cutler they aren't. But let me tell you right now, if you want to be like Jay Cutler without turning your ass into a pin-cushion and choking down pills all day then you need a big reality check. Take a look at these men. They are your measuring stick. Ain't so bad, hey?
If you want to read some sensible bodybuilding books I can offer the following list:
The vast majority of training books on the shelves today aren't worth the paper they're written on. I've read every one of the above books several times and can assure you that every one of them is worth the cost. If you have some free money and want to educate yourself about weight training don't spend your money on crap ...give your hard-earned money to the people who are actually honest enough to deserve it - go with something from the above list. They're the wheat hidden amongst the chaff. If you don't know where to get them you can try Amazon or Ironman Books. Also, Bill Hinbern's Super Strength Books contains some real gems and classic reprints from the pre-drug era.
Another thing: Be very leery of people on internet discussion boards who post under fake names and use pro-bodybuilders or cartoons as their avatar photos. I've been surfing the "web" since before you could even call it that - before html, before Internet Explorer, before even Mosaic (if anyone can remember that), way back in the "Gopher" days of the early 1990s - and there's one thing I can tell you for sure: If someone on an internet discussion board who calls himself "buff-, flex-, doctor-, professor-, extreme-, huge-, etc" and uses a fake photo in his profile gives you advice or makes claims, then remember one thing... he's probably weaker and fatter than you. I haven't met a legitimate bodybuilder yet (or anybody else with a good physique) who was afraid to tell you his name or show you his photo (though you've got a better chance of getting written into their wills than getting their real measurements). And having made 1000 posts doesn't automatically qualify you as an expert either. You'd probably be very surprised if you seen some of these "internet experts". Why do you think they won't show their photos or tell their real names? Because nobody would take them seriously if they did.
I know very well that by taking this stance I've "outlawed" myself from ever making money by writing for the mainstream publications and I've also offended a lot of the so-called "experts" on the internet discussion boards. But, guess what? I don't care. I'm sick of bullshit, and I won't play the game and be brainwashed by people who don't know a fraction of what I do about training and nutrition. If you sense that as arrogance and don't like my attitude then I don't care either. But remember this: I've been there, got the T-shirt, learned the hard way and now I'm here to help. Hey, I could be paid for writing bullshit ...but I don't.
Animal life on Earth began over 345 million years ago (some estimates are as long as 400 million years ago). Since that time all living creatures have been doing one thing: lifting free weights against the force of gravity. That is what our bodies are designed for and have evolved to do. I don't care how knowledgeable some machine designers are, they'll never design a better machine for our bodies than what 345 million years of evolution has dictated. That means no Shoulder Press machines, Cable Curls, Pec Decks, Biceps machines, etc. If you want to build the most muscle possible, as fast as possible then you will have to lift free weights.
Machine manufacturers try to convince you with all kinds of so-called "scientific" arguments why the machines are better. They typically use misapplied logic and inadequate knowledge of muscle physiology to argue that machines better stress the muscles over a fuller range of motion - the contention being that the non-variable linear loading of free-weight exercises is inferior to the purposely tailored resistance curves of some exercise machines. What they fail to acknowledge, however, is that at the ends of the range of motion (the stretched and contracted positions) muscle fibers are capable of exerting only a fraction of the force that they can generate over the mid-range anyway (although demonstratable strength will vary because of mechanical leverage) - there isn't much, if any, of an additional growth effect to be produced by stressing the muscles at those positions. In fact, one could argue that, theoretically, providing "tailored" resistance over the entire range of motion would likely serve to decrease the overall growth stimulus because it unnecessarily fatigues the fibers in more "ineffective" states of elongation so that they cannot produce maximum force over the mid-range, where the maximum growth stimulus can actually be delivered (the old-timers would refer to this as the basic, free-weight exercises training the "belly" of the muscle). Not to mention the increased anabolic hormone release in response to intense training on the free-weight, compound exercises.But I'm trying to keep this plain and simple, and I have one reason for you right now as to why most of your training should be done with free-weights (and it has nothing to do with lab coats and test tubes): If you spend your time on exercise machines you will limit your progress as compared to if you lifted free-weights. I spent YEARS wasting my time - and so have countless others. Don't become one of those people who hits yourself on the head a little (or long) ways down the road and says, "Why didn't I do the free-weights in the first place? Look at the time I've wasted!"
What makes the machines so appealing, along with the "scientific" sounding bullshit, is that they are easy to learn to use, and comfortable when you do use them. But ease and comfort are NOT what builds muscle. And what good is something being easy to learn if it's not worth learning in the first place? The free weight movements will take longer for you to learn but you will be more than rewarded when you do. If you don't believe me then feel free to waste your time.
Earlier I mentioned that fitness is a multi-billion dollar industry. Do you know how much those machines cost? You'd be amazed. We're talking usually over a thousand dollars for each unit. Arthur Jones became a multi-millionaire because he invented the Nautilus line of exercise machines back in the late-1960s/early-1970s. He used "scientific" principles to hype the bejesus out of those things and they were bought all around the world. Nautilus gyms were everywhere. Their memberships were huge. The philosphy was "get people in, get people out", as was conveniently supported by Jones' recommended style of brief, infrequent training. And the gym owners were satisfied because the machines were difficult to steal (free-weight theft is often a problem in city gyms). The industry thrives on machine use because the average person doesn't have the money or space to equip a home gym with them, making gym memberships a necessity if they can convince you that free weights are "old-fashioned" or dangerous or inferior. The bodybuilding magazines push this as well because they are either "sponsored" by exercise machine manufacturers or they have a vested interest themselves (the supplement industry operates much the same way). Trust me. It's bullshit. Don't be a sucker.
To my knowledge, there hasn't been a peer-reviewed scientific study published in the past 50 years that confirms exercise machines' effectiveness over free-weights. In fact, any studies you do turn up (if you can find any unbiased results that weren't produced by the machine manufacturers themselves) will imply the opposite. (Even bodyweight Pull-Ups have been shown in MRI analyses to intensely recruit more muscle mass than Pull-downs with a cable.) Perhaps that helps explain why there hasn't been a drug-free bodybuilding champion in history who trained predominantly with machines.
After having said all that, I'm going to seemingly contradict myself a little and add that machines actually can have their place in productive training routines. Not all machines are created equal and some, such as the old Nautilus 4-way neck machine, can be quite useful. (Something similar can be said about some cable exercises.) Beginners, however, having little experience and without expert guidance, have no way of assessing a particular machine's worth (and most are practically useless); so the safer route is to just avoid them until you're advanced enough to make your own judgements or find someone who really knows his stuff to advise you (which is unlikely in today's gyms). Intermediate and advanced trainees (as well as beginners) will learn through experience that for the greatest and fastest general muscle mass gains free-weights are superior anyway. So, unless you're very advanced, rehabilitating an injury, or are using anabolic drugs, put exercise machines way down on your priority list.
Trust me, 345 million years of evolution is not wrong. Use your brain on this one. Perhaps if human beings evolved on planet Cybex things would be different - but we didn't.
Some people will progress much faster than others. Some people will grow into solid chunks of muscle within a few months, while others will have to work for years to get half the gains. I've seen it a thousand times. And it's not just training routine design, effort, desire or diet. If these things were all equal it would still happen. But there's nothing you can do about your genetic inheritance - so GET OVER IT. You can only work with what you've got, so do that. I've seen some very genetically gifted people come into the gym and pass my overall strength and muscle level within 6 months of steady training (though they rarely have the same proportion of balanced development and "quality") - and I've been doing this for over 18 years - but I lived. And I'll be in the gym again tomorrow. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare.
The supplement and magazine sellers hate to acknowledge any of this, and they do their best to keep you in the dark about it because they don't want people to stop clinging to the unrealistic dreams that drive them to buy yet more supplements and magazines. They'd love to have you believe that anyone can have 20" arms if they just have access to the right supplements and latest training knowledge. "Buy our new product and you'll pack on the mass!" What bullshit. The human body can grow only so fast and there's nothing legally on the market that can significantly change that, and none of the latest training protocols produce faster gains than what enlightened bodybuilders have known for the past 60 years. I've sunk money into their scam products since the 1980s and I can count the "good" ones on one hand.
I know it can be discouraging. I've already told you that you'll never be built like Jay Cutler and now I'm telling you that the guy next to you might progress ten times faster than you. Well, take heart. Everyone can build an impressive physique. I've seen some pretty puny fellows put a great deal of muscle on their bones. I've also seen some pretty fat fellows lose the fat and build impressive physiques. I started off with both of those problems - 150 lbs overweight, weak as a rat, and with the upper body musculature of a 12-year old girl. Now, some eighteen years later, I still may not be a prime Steve Reeves, but I'm no fat weakling either. If you stick with it you WILL progress. And if you don't let the industry garbage lead you down the primrose path who knows how far you can go? One thing is for sure, you won't know until you try and you won't get anywhere complaining about your "bad" genetics.
"But Jay Cutler trains 6 times", I can hear you saying. If that's so, go back and read Rule #1 again. Unless you are very genetically gifted, you do not have the hormone levels or joint structures to train that often and progress maximally. It's true that some advanced drug-free athletes can train 5-6 times per week but those routines are only for very specific purposes (such as contest preparation) and are generally NOT appropriate for typical drug-free trainees trying to build up muscle. Personally, as I look back on my bodybuilding "career", I realize that the only times I made what I'd consider "good" gains were when I was working out no more than 3 times per week. Generally, drug-free strength athletes make their best gains when they spend more days out of the gym than in. Don't believe me? Hey, it's your life, do what you want - but if you don't listen to this you'll regret it. I've been there.
"But Mr. So-And-So said that he trained 5 times a week when he started out. He couldn't have been on steroids then." That's right, now go back and read Rule #3. The fact that he's Mr. So-And-So tells you that the guy's probably got well above average genetics. He could get away with it. If you can too then you're a lucky individual. There's still no need to train more than 3 days per week if you're after maximum muscle mass and strength. Genetically gifted people will just progress faster on that 3-day program. So, if you are genetically gifted for building muscle, a 3 day per week training program won't hold you back ...but if you are not it might make the difference between some gains and no gains.
What about the idea that training three times a week is only for beginners and more advanced trainees should train more often? Again, bullshit. Dave Goodin, the current era's most winning drug-free competitive bodybuilder, trains three times per week in the off-season. Reg Park built up to 230 pounds of solid muscle, with a 500 pound Bench Press and over 600 pound Squat to boot, by training "only" three times per week. How many drug-free men do you know who can Bench Press 500 pounds, with no bench shirt or assistance gear, while still being lean enough to see their abs? Let me guess. None.
The core of your routine should be made up of exercises that involve the use of large masses of muscle and the movement of several joints. Those exercises stimulate a lot of muscle and cause your body to release anabolic hormones. That means stuff like Squats, Deadlifts, Bent-Over Rows, Bench Presses, Overhead Presses, Dips, Stiff-Legged Deadlifts and Pull-Ups. These are the ones that will make you grow (incidently, they also typically stress the muscles heavily in the mid-range of motion, as mentioned in Rule #2). If you go filling your routine with single joint exercises such as Lateral Raises and Triceps Kickbacks (because you want to "isolate" this muscle or that) you will only be wasting your valuable time. Put hard work into the compound exercises, on the other hand, and you will be rewarded with the fastest muscle growth possible. And it's not just my experience that proves this, but the experience of thousands of weight trainers throughout the years.
Does this mean that there is no place for isolation movements in productive training routines? No. Exercises for the abs, lower back, rotator cuff muscles, etc, all can be very useful. As well, more advanced trainees can benefit from judicious use of such things as Dumbbell Flyes, Lateral Raises, etc. I do so myself. However, as Rule #2 warns, isolation exercises with free-weights are almost always superior to exercise machines.
In any case, the vast majority of your efforts should go into the compound, multi-joint, free-weight exercises. Don't try to prove me wrong if you want to succeed at drug-free weight training.
This could become a very "scientific" rule, filling an entire article itself. But I'm going to try to keep it brief and simple. Testosterone levels (the body's main anabolic hormone) start to decline after about 45 to 60 minutes of intense weight training and catabolic (muscle destroying) hormones such as cortisol start to increase. This signals the point at which training begins to lose it's effectiveness. In other words, you'd be better off leaving the gym and resting for your next work out because you're not going to stimulate any more muscle growth by training longer anyway. In addition, prolonged training requires the adrenal glands to produce elevated levels of epinephrine, cortisol and aldosterone. Over time, excessive training results in decreased adrenergic receptor sensitivity (making fat loss difficult and fat gain easier) and adrenal fatigue (as evidenced by fluctuating average daily body temperatures, decreasing blood pressure, low energy, joint pain and muscle loss). In short, your muscle gains will stop and you'll start getting fatter and feeling "run down". This probably won't happen in a few weeks, but over time adrenergic receptor down-regulation and adrenal fatigue due to overtraining (and psychological stress, lack of sleep, poor nutrition, etc.) is a large reason why many drug-free trainees keep working harder but get less in return. If you've had a life-long tendency to be fat and weak then you're especially at risk of this.
So let's just say that more than an hour training is not necessary. If the above reasons didn't convince you then remember, weight training is not an endurance event. If you want endurance go for a jog. And how many big, muscular runners do you know? I'll guess again. None. Why? Because endurance training (such as jogging, cardio, weight training for more than roughly an hour) doesn't build muscle.
When you're trying to get contest-lean or are very advanced you might end up adopting a little longer routines (though not necessarily), but, generally, anything over an hour means you're loafing around too much or you're doing more work than your body is likely able to tolerate.
Cheating your reps builds nothing but ego - not muscle. If you have to cheat that means the weight's too heavy for you to lift properly. Cheating does not make a muscle contract harder because you can use heavier weights. A muscle can contract only so hard and that's that. All cheating does is bring other muscles into the movement so you can use more weight - that's not how to effectively train a muscle. And you can't argue for cheating by saying, "Well, I am using more muscles if I cheat." You are using muscles that the exercise isn't supposed to train and robbing the muscles you do want to target in the process. Besides, cheating can be DANGEROUS. Proper form is safe. When you start deviating from proper form you open the door for a potentially serious injury. Even minor injuries can cause you to miss workouts - and that's certainly not an effective way to gain muscle. When you are advanced you might want to experiment with some minor, "controlled" cheating, but until then avoid it at all costs.
This rule ties in closely with Rule #7 but isn't quite the same. Here it is: Don't be insecure. If you're lifting this puny little weight and he's lifting 5 times that amount (or even 100 times) WHO CARES! He's not you, you're not him. Don't start cheating so you can use more weight. If he's using bad form and cheating a lot then that's his mistake. It reminds me of a story I heard from bodybuilding author Mike Brown: "...I saw [a fellow] years ago doing an exercise and bragging that he was 'using the same weight as Reg Park'. Reg Park at that time was almost as well known as Steve Reeves, having won the Mr. Universe a short time before. Mac MacFarland, the 1963 'Mr. Hawaii' winner, looked at this guy contemptuously and asked him, 'If a pudgy nobody like you is handling the same weight in the same exercise that Reg Park is, don't you think that maybe you're doing the exercise wrong?'"
Remember the tortoise and the hare. If you work hard enough, long enough, and never, never, ever quit, you'll get there too - well-built, safely and with proper form.
You have to swallow your ego. I had been training for almost 10 years when I decided to learn the Olympic-style Lifts (the Snatch and Clean and Jerk). I had to go from Squatting with 445 pounds to Snatching with 65. Do you know how foolish that made me feel (and look). Remember, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Do what's right for your body, not your ego. And through it all remember the golden rule of drug-free weight training: HAVE PATIENCE!
This is one of the sadest things in the Iron Game today. Those supplements did not make Lee Priest huge. Go back and read Rules #1 and #3. The industry is big money. The athletes are paid to advertise those supplements. I remember cart loads of products from the 1980s (when the supplement industry really took off) up through to the present. I think I've taken most of them myself. So have my friends and people I've trained and trained with. I thought for awhile that the "secret" would finally get out about the bullshit supplement industry, but it's only gotten incredibly worse. I know that the latest magazine says product so-and-so has been scientifically proven to increase muscle mass. Don't listen to it! I could turn up studies showing that anabolic steroids don't build muscle if I had to (actually, studies reaching that conclusion were fairly regularly published at one time) . A lot of those studies are funded by the same companies that sell the products. That's right, they're paying the researchers' paychecks! That should tell you something. Even the most honest studies can be misquoted and re-interpreted to sound like they've found the breakthrough "key" to massive muscles. Believe me, I myself could describe chicken breasts so that people would be clamouring to buy them for their potent muscle building effects.
Remember, I know how scientific research works. I've seen papers published that were the result of complete fabrication. I've seen grad students (who write the majority of the papers you'll see published), under extreme pressure to graduate, completely "invent" their results. I've seen professors with 30 years experience blatantly plagiarize the works of others so they could continue to get grant money. Just recently a major drug company got busted for "funding" research and deliberately keeping their involvement a secret from the publishers of the scientific journals the articles were being presented in. Trust me, everything that's in print - no matter what the source - is not necessarily trustworthy.
But as I said, I am a scientist. Not all science is "bad". In fact, some research is simply invaluable to our body of weight training knowledge. Knowing how to separate the wheat from the chaff is a job best left for the true "experts", not the guys in bodybuilding magazines or on websites who stand to make millions by selling some supplement. If you have the scientific background, I encourage you to review the published research yourself, or subscribe to Alan Aragon's Research Review or get his book "Girth Control: The Science of Fat Loss & Muscle Gain". You may be surprised that the only scientific "proof" you find regarding most popular bodybuilding supplements is proof that they have no effect on building muscle or reducing body fat. But even a minimum amount of "research" (and a small dose of common sense) will tell you that all of the major bodybuilding magazines and internet websites have supplement lines or make money directly selling other supplement brands - do you think for a minute you can believe anything they say about supplements? If you do, you're incredibly naive and it's time you grew up.
The sadest thing is when I hear a naive beginner talking about a top bodybuilder and the supplements he takes as if the supplements actually had anything to do with his muscle development ...something like, "Do you think this guy could get so big without steroids or supplements?" Let me tell you something. There isn't a supplement on Earth that's 1/1000th as strong as even the weakest of anabolic steroids. And I'll go even further... there isn't a supplement on Earth that's stronger than even a glass of milk. Sorry for bursting your bubble, but that's the truth. All those fancy packaged "anabolic, extreme, bio-, -test, -abol" whatevers are nothing but the height of pure, unadulterated bullshit designed, first and foremost, not to build muscle but to get your money. Any gains you do seem to get from them are placebo effect. When asked about "fat burners", Rob Hope himself (and he's one of the most muscular natural bodybuilders to ever live) said, "Nothing works better that a strict diet and the right amount of cardio." Again, I'm making myself a few enemies in the industry here because I'm telling the truth about their sham. Good.
But don't get me wrong, I'm actually not saying that all supplements are completely useless - for example, high-potency multi-vitamin/mineral tablets are what I'd classify as a "good" supplement. Your body needs vitamins and minerals to grow. If you're short on just one the whole muscle growth process can be halted. I recommend you take two a day - one with breakfast and one with supper. There's nothing wrong with a little extra vitamin C and E either. And if you're in really hard training some extra B-Vitamins can help. Nutritious supplements such as these can help give your body what it naturally needs. I've found that old-fashioned desiccated liver is one of the most effective supplements there is ...if enough is taken (it rarely fails to get moderate strength gains going for awhile in myself or my "clients"). I know a few other supplement "secrets" that apply to people with certain "metabolic disorders", but if you're already "healthy" then practically every supplement is irrelevant compared to proper training, nutrition and rest.
Almost every supplement you see advertised in the muscle magazines and online is a waste of your money. They do nothing. On the other hand, don't ruin all your hard work and dedication in the gym because you didn't swallow a little vitamin/mineral tablet a few times a day ...but don't expect it to magically grow muscle either. The real function of supplements, in a bodybuilding sense, is to build health, as only a healthy body will grow muscle at the fastest possible rate. Incidently, this is how you should view ALL supplements: As nutritional back-up for an already sound diet and lifestyle. Think of them as a nutritional insurance policy - nothing more.
Learn from what I've learned the hard way in the past. Bottom line: SAVE YOUR MONEY! If you have some extra money spend it on some steak (or other good, high protein foods like milk, eggs, liver, yogurt, etc), not on the latest fad - no matter how enticing the advertising is. Vitamins, minerals, protein powder and desiccated liver are worthwhile and convenient, but they don't perform miracles. Which leads me to the next rule...
Weight trainers need more protein than the normal individual. Each weight training session causes your muscles to be broken down and rebuilt a little stronger than they were before. If you want to progress at the fastest possible rate then you'll need a healthy dose of daily dietary protein to fuel the process. The FDA and most physicians would argue this ...but they know absolutely nothing about bodybuilding. Roughly 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day has been reliably shown many times to be a near optimal amount. The muscle magazines and commercial websites may sometimes tell you that you need even more than this, but that's simply because they want you to buy their protein powders - they've been enthusiastically pushing high protein intakes and the use of protein powders as a main means of profit for their supplement companies since the 1950s. Just get about 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day and you'll have the bases covered. More than that and your kidneys will simply break it down and excrete it, less and you might not gain muscle as rapidly as possible.
Eat lots of stuff like eggs, milk, beef, tuna, chicken, cheese, liver, etc. Essentially, if it comes from an animal it's good. Get yourself one of those protein counter booklets at the bookstore or supermarket and pick out some high protein, animal-based foods. Then use these to meet your protein quota. If you're healthy don't worry about the saturated fat and cholesterol in these foods. You need both to grow properly (especially since you're drug-free). Every bit of testosterone in your body is made from cholesterol. If you don't believe me, look it up yourself (try "steroidogenesis" on Google). Trust me, I've read a lot of research dealing with dietary fats, cholesterol and health - they aren't the villians that the industry would have you believe. Am I a "conspiracy theorist"? No. But you won't bullshit me either. Natural foods are wholesome, healthy, conditionally anabolic, and quite safe. If they weren't humans would have died out thousands of years ago.
It might be a good idea for you to buy a protein powder and some desiccated liver. Those are okay "supplements", but remember this: There's nothing that protein powder and desiccated liver can do for you that food couldn't. But the powder may allow you to mix up convenient shakes and it may turn out to be cheaper. Liver is an all-round worthwhile supplement because it has many nutrients important for building muscle and fueling heavy workouts (including enzymes that process steroid hormones and break down estrogen). Don't spend your money on the most expensive supplements you can get, either. Any protein powder made from whey, milk and/or eggs will do fine. I know there's much more to the protein story than that, but right now those details simply aren't worth your attention. Most of the brands of desiccated liver I've seen on the market is made from Argentine beef liver, which is, by law, free of artificial hormones. Go for the cheapest ones and build up to taking about 20-30 per day if you want the best results.You also need plenty of healthful fats, such as those found in fish, olive oil, coconut oil, seeds, nuts and dairy products (remember CLA? - it's found in dairy fats) to support and promote growth. And, like I said, as a drug-free trainee it's a mistake to avoid all saturated fats and cholesterol - that would decrease your testosterone levels. You should eat plenty of natural, unrefined carbs such as vegetables and rice, but avoid products laden with sugar and while flour. "Good" carbs give you energy to train and also provide your body with the energy (in the forms of muscle and liver glycogen), vitamins, minerals, enzymes and phytonutrients that it needs to build and maintain muscle. Too many "junk" carbs only make you fat and sick.
Another thing, as soon as you get up eat a good breakfast. And that doesn't mean Pop-Tarts and Fruit Loops. Get some of the good carbs, proteins and fats that I spoke of above. After sleeping all night (and, therefore, not eating) your body needs nutrients to grow with. If you deny it that you will hamper your growth. Have some milk, eat some eggs, eat a steak if you want, but get some protein. Add a little oatmeal (it digests slowly and will hold you over until your next meal) and you have a good breakfast shaping up.
And eat some protein before you go to bed. Overnight your body will need protein, so give it some just before you go to sleep. It could be some meat, some cheese, a few hard-boiled eggs or something else solid. Solid proteins, generally, take longer to digest than liquids, giving a steady supply of amino acids to your body - so use them.What about eating 5 or 6 meals per day, like most mainstream sources recommend? Well, research doesn't appear to clearly support or refute that. My advice? Eat three good meals per day and add a couple of nutritious snacks in between. If you want to lose weight eat smaller portions and if you want to gain weight eat larger ones. For people without thyroid and/or adrenal problems, it's as simple as that, and for now it's all you really need to know. Save the "tricks" for when you're more advanced and really need them. Trust me, I'm not holding out on you - I'm giving it to you straight. And in case you don't believe me, you should know that I lost 170 pounds of fat before I began seriously training, then I built back up 25 pounds of drug-free muscle to settle at about 10% body fat. I've read almost everything there is to read about nutrition that's been published since the 1800's (no joke) up to the latest research. I know a thing or two about diet.
Before I leave this rule, heed this warning: If you skimp on your nutrition you will cancel ALL of the growth that you stimulated in the gym. Yes, nutrition is THAT IMPORTANT.
Most beginner's don't realize this but let me assure you, sleep is just as important as training and nutrition when it comes to muscle growth. DON'T just skip over this rule and think it isn't that important. Critical repairs and maintenance are done by the body (muscles, organs and nervous system) when you sleep. If you skimp on your sleep then you won't recover from your workouts properly and your nervous system won't fire your muscles optimally. Sleep deprivation results in reduced glucose sensitivity of the muscle cells and higher resting cortisol levels (and that's bad). There are reasons why training, nutrition and sleep are considered to be the "big three" keys to weight training success. PLEASE, treat good, sound sleep as a full ingredient of your weight training program.
After your workout your body needs carbohydrates, protein and electrolytes - and it needs them fast. So I'm going to give you a simple, quick-digesting, shake recipe to take care of that. Of course, it isn't at all a "magic bullet". In fact, of all the Rules covered in this article this one is probably the least critical. But good post-workout nutrition is still an important factor if maximum progress is your concern (and of course, it is!). This shake won't do anything for you that a good meal wouldn't, but it often isn't easy or convenient to have a good cooked meal immediately after training ...use this instead.
Here's what to do: Get some dextrose (you can buy this at any brew supply shop - it's usually called "corn sugar" - and it only costs around $1 per pound. Supermarkets often have it too). Get some potassium-based salt substitute. You can get this at the supermarket - stuff like "Nu-Salt", etc. If you're not sure about it just look at the ingredients for "potassium chloride". If that's the main one then you've got it. Get a bottle of some magnesium tablets. These are only a couple of dollars and you can get them at any health-food place (again, probably the supermarket). Anything with 250 mg of magnesium per tablet is good. Get a box of regular table salt (i.e. sodium chloride). And you should get some protein powder, like I recommended in Rule #10. So here's your grocery list:
To make the shake, first figure out how much dextrose you need. Divide your bodweight in pounds by 2.2. This is the number of grams of dextrose you need after a tough workout like I'm going to prescribe in Part II of this article. Each heaping tablespoon of dextrose contains 20 grams. So if you weigh 154 pounds this would be 154/2.2 = 70 grams of dextrose. That would be equal to 3 and a half heaping tablespoons. Then put in 1/4 of a teaspoon of salt substitute and 1/4 of a teaspoon of salt. Throw in one magnesium tablet. Use one-third the amount of protein that you did dextrose (by the gram). So if you used 70 grams of dextrose then you'll want 70/3 = 23 grams of protein. You can figure out how much this is by looking on the label of your protein powder and seeing how much protein is in one scoop. Now, add at least 1 quart/liter of water (more if you can) and blend it all up until the magnesium tablet is dissolved. Put it in a container and take it with you to the gym. Drink it immediately after you finish your workout (you may sip on it during the workout if there's enough to make it worthwhile, but leave three-quarters of it for after).
NOTE for people who have a tendency to get fat: You'd be better off if you don't use as much dextrose as suggested above. Go through the calculations as usual but after you've calculated the amount of protein you'll be using double this and that will be the amount of dextrose you should actually use. So, in the above example we first calculated 70 grams of dextrose and 23 grams of protein for a 154 pound person, well if that person has a tendency to gain fat easily we'd use 23 grams of protein and only 46 grams of dextrose (23 x 2).
As a note regarding protein powder after training, the idea is to get protein into the system fairly quickly, so the best kind of protein would be a pre-digested whey type. I really don't trust many of the supplement companies, though. After all, several of them have been busted, several times, for lying on their product labels - and there is no regular testing of their products by any government establishment. So, really, why would I trust a company who has some drug-built monster in their ads, trying to mislead me into thinking that their product is responsible for such muscle? I usually just go with the cheapest protein powder, or the ones with no drugged-up bodybuilders endorsing them, because there's probably not a greal deal of difference in them. On the other hand, possibly the most reputable and established brands do contain what they say - but it probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans anyway.
Getting back on track... Believe it or not, that shake doesn't taste too bad. I've been using only Strawberry flavour protein powder for the past several months, so I don't remember what the other flavours tasted like, though.
If you just don't want to make the above shake, you can always go with Yogurt. Yogurt contains high-quality protein and carbs and it digests very quickly ...and if you make your own it can be pretty cheap. All you need is a packet of active yogurt culture (you can get that for a couple of dollars at a health-food store), a few tablespoons of store-bought yogurt and some milk (use skim milk powder and mix some milk up - it's cheaper). The instructions to make the yogurt will be on the culture packet. If it's too tart when you make it just add some dextrose (which would be ideal for after a workout) or sweetener like "Twin" or something (especially if you're trying to lose weight). 2 cups of yogurt will have around 18 grams of protein and 26 grams of carbs (without the dextrose added).
That's sort of the sophisticated approach. If you can't afford any of that, or haven't got the patience to bother with it, then buy a bag of skim milk powder and mix up 1 - 1.5 liters (or quarts) of milk and drink it immediately after the workout instead - 1 liter if you're under 170 lbs and did a fairly "easy" workout, and 1.5 liters if you're over 170 lbs or had a "tough" workout. (I believe regular milk is better than powder - it's less processed - but I know a lot of you might be pinched for money and milk powder is cheaper.) Milk has been supporting muscle building for a long time. In fact, some research in 2007 actually showed milk to produce a greater anabolic response after weight training than a store-bought bodybuilding supplement ...sort of a slap in the face for all those companies pushing "metabolic optimizers" and supplement "stacks" based on "modern science" and nutrition theory. Modern science actually seems to support very old-fashioned milk in this case. Don't underestimate "simple" nutrition.
Recent research has shown that eating protein before your workouts is even more anabolic (as compared to training while fasted) than taking it afterwards. So why didn't I put this rule before #12 instead of after? Well, for one, these rules are not in any particular order of importance, and two, if you're eating properly (3 meals a day with nutritious snacks in between) then you should always have some protein floating around in your bloodstream anyway. But in case you train in the afternoon (before supper) or early morning (before breakfast) it's a good idea to get some protein before you go to the gym (or your basement, or wherever you lift weights). It isn't clear what type of protein is best at this time, so don't worry about it too much ...just get some.
You might want to avoid carbs before training, particularly if you're trying to lose fat. Eating carbs will blunt the growth hormone response of your body to training. That may or may not be important (we simply don't know), but I thought you might want to know because you might come across it elsewhere. There are arguments against eating carbs before training and arguments for. Generally, if it's most important to you that you lose weight then don't eat carbs before training and if it's most important to you to gain muscle then eat some carbs with your pre-workout protein. In either case, it really just isn't that important - if it was, the best option would be more obvious from people's experiences. Guess what? It isn't. You should worry more about your lifting and less about silly details anyway - and that's one of the the most important things you can take away from this article.
This may be the most important rule of all so I'm going to be as clear as I can. Building bigger muscles and increased strength is not determined by training to failure, taking any supplement, using secret exercises or anything else equally, or even more, appealing. Getting bigger and stronger is a product of progressive resistance. You simply MUST improve your training performance - either by using more weight or doing more reps, particularly in the 5-20 rep range on most exercises - in order to get bigger and stronger. Training reality is as simple as that, and nothing in history or in the future has ever, or will ever, change it.
Even more simply put, if this time next year you are still using the same weights for the same reps, then you will not be any bigger. I've just written the most important sentence in the history of bodybuilding.
Don't, however, use this rule to allow yourself to start cheating to lift more weight. If you have to change your technique and start cheating then you aren't get stronger at all. Stay "honest" or the only one you'll be fooling is yourself.
I know you want to have the body of your dreams ...and you want it now. I know you want to have all the pretty girls smiling at you and all the guys in awe of your strength and you want to take the fastest possible route to get there. And since there's so much conflicting advice and information in the bodybuilding world, you don't know who to trust or who to listen to. What about so-and-so who says if I buy his instantly downloadable "get huge muscles fast" program for just $34.95 I can gain 30 to 50 pounds of muscle in a few months?
Let me tell you, once again, that's all bullshit. I've trained in gyms all over the world and have corresponded with some of the most knowledgable and successful people in the world with regards to drug-free training. In those years of heavy involvement with the Iron Game I've never seen or heard of anyone who built that much muscle without being emaciated, or very young (and therefore not fully grown), to start. Look at the guys who write those courses ...if you can find a real photo of them. They either have unimpressive phyisques or they're obvious steroid users. So if their programs are so great, if they know so many "secrets of explosive muscle mass gains", why do they look like any other dude who's worked out for a few months. Off the top of my head I can think of four authors of such internet courses whom I've seen photos of. (I'm not mentioning names because I don't want pointless flame wars with them.) Three of them look like average intermediate trainees and one of them is an obvious steroid user. If I had to sum up their physiques, the phrase "big deal" comes to mind.
Steve Reeves is said to have built 30 pounds of muscle in 4 months, without drugs. But keep in mind that he was still a growing boy at the time and was one of the most gentically gifted individuals to ever touch a barbell. He also gained weight quickly after he lost it due to malaria, which he contracted while in the army. And he gained weight quickly in the 7 weeks leading up to the 1950 Mr. Universe contest, after a many month layoff (though I've seen him exaggerate that time period down to less than 4 weeks). In all of these cases he was either a growing young man (in which case he was experiencing a typical puberty-driven growth spurt and probably would have gained weight anyway), recovering normal body weight after losing it to a serious illness, or gaining back muscle that he had previously developed (the well-known phenomenon of "muscle memory").
Reg Park (actually, his name was Roy, but people called him "Reg" after his father) gained 25 pounds in roughly 10 months when he first began serious training at the age of 20 (he had trained previously for three months when he was 17). Park was a genetic super-freak - one of the most massively muscled, and strongest drug-free bodybuilders of all time - he also trained on one of the soundest drug-free programs possible ...yet it took him 10 months to develop what most naive beginners think they can gain in a few months or even weeks.
Both of these men were over 6 feet tall and extremely genetically gifted for bodybuilding, yet they carried "only" roughly 35 and 38 pounds, respectively, more muscle than an average man of their heights and bone structures at their physical peaks. And it took them both several years to reach their maximum development.
Dave Goodin, the most winning drug-tested man of the modern natural bodybuilding era, carried about 30 pounds more muscle than an average man of his height and bone structure (at 5'7" he was much shorter than Reeves and Park). That's fairly typical for world-class drug-tested champions of his structure. In his own words, it took him 20 years of training to peak out at his max of 30 gained pounds of muscle (though he almost certainly gained the majority of that muscle in his first few years of training). In my experience, it takes most genetically typical drug-free trainees 8-10 years of training to reach their peak weights ...I know that sucks, but if you follow the "rules" presented here you just might cut that time in half (or even better). If you don't follow the "rules", then I hope you've got lots of patience (which you'll need in any case).
Still believe the con man who wants to sell you his secret to gaining 50 pounds of muscle by summer? Get Real. The sad thing is, some of these "internet experts" are so brainwashed that they actually seem to believe their claims themselves. They don't even know enough about real bodybuilding to realize what they're saying is complete, 100% bullshit.
The fastest rate of muscle gain I've seen in a clinical research setting is 6.76 g/kg of lean body mass per week. Most trainees don't achieve half that amount. But if you want an ambitious goal to shoot for - something that's actually based on reality and not some childish delusion - multiply your lean body mass by 0.006754 and that'll tell you how many pounds of muscle you can possibly expect to gain per week in the first twelve weeks or so of serious training. If you don't know your lean body mass here's a general guideline: A genetically gifted male of 180 pounds at 15% body fat (an average body fat level for an active, healthy young man) can gain a maximum of about 1 pound of muscle per week for the first 12 weeks of serious bodybuilding training. Almost no man is naturally big enough to gain 1.5 pounds of muscle per week. Most men will be lucky to gain 0.5 pounds. After twelve weeks or so your rate of gain will start to slow down to half the initial amount. In another twelve weeks it'll be half that again. In his first year of bodybuilding training, under ideal conditions, our genetically gifted individual of average height and bone structure would gain about 20 pounds of muscle. If you're not genetically gifted (and you're probably not), go back and read Rule #3 again and remember that it takes most drug-free trainees 10 years to increase their lean body mass by 17% to 25% (and those numbers come from a compiled study of hundreds to thousands of trainees).
But enough depressing talk of reality and limitations. The truth is 20 pounds of muscle would transform your body. The magazines make it seem like 20 pounds of muscle is nothing ...like your grandmother could gain that much. The reality is, if you gain 20 pounds of muscle this year everyone will notice and they'll probably whisper behind your back that you're on steroids - my friends did. Even 10 pounds would put another inch on your arms. The body of your dreams is attainable and it's waiting for you to come get it, but it probably weighs less than you think right now. Like I said, there's a lot of bullshit in bodybuilding.
That's it. You now know the real "secrets" of drug-free bodybuilding. Of course, there is actually more to it than one article could cover, but the ground work has been laid. The rest is just icing on the cake and fine-tuning.
What you must do now is absorb the "rules" right down to the subconscious level. Hammer them into your brain. Never forget them and make them a part of your psyche. Forget the sensational commercially-driven bullshit you've been fed by the supplement, magazine and internet bodybuilding industries. I know much of what I've said here is very blunt and certainly not "pretty", but it's as true as anything you'll ever hear. Remember, I've devoted most of my adult life to the Iron Game, and I intend to devote much of the rest of it as well. But one thing I won't tolerate is bullshit, and I won't play the game merely for the sake of being popular or making money.
You now have enough knowledge about real drug-free bodybuilding to set out on the most productive, rewarding training path you could possibly take. From here on in it's up to you to provide the most important ingredients necessary to build a strong, healthy, impressive looking body: Dedication, Persistence, Hard Work and Patience. People just like you, and some who were much worse off, have built incredible, strong physiques, and you can too ...if you follow the "rules".