>>JUSTIN SAID: >>I've met several people who employ a 6 day per week volume routine, >>are >>drug free, and have made excellent gains. In my gym there's one >>40yr >>old man who's drug fee and trains 6 days per week. He's a >>powerlifter >>and squats 500lbs at a bodyweight of 165lb. With this >>level of >>strength, I don't consider him to be overtraining. >DAVE SAID: >Some have one lift they are really proficient at. Is he strong at the >other 2 lifts? I really doubt that he is drug free. It's a >possibility but >I doubt it based on my experiences. >I suppose some might have superior drug free recovery ability but >this >doesn't mean they couldn't do better. His name is Tim. His bench is weak compared to his squat and deadlift. Although his bench may be improved with less volume, it's mainly due to his genetics. He genetically has powerful thighs and lower back (squat and deadlift), and although his chest, shoulders, and triceps are also powerful, they are not as strong as his lower body. I know him fairly well, and he is a lifetime natural athlete. There are a few other things I forgot to mention. He works 10 hour construction days. Then he goes to the gym and hammers out a volume routine. He also does cardio about every other day on the treadmill. He has never attempted HIT so it is always possible that his gains would be better with with less volume. I tried his routine at the age of 17. I was very weak b/c it overtrained me. But he has made gains at the age of 40 something training this way. >DAVE WROTE: Those these "old guys" may not be big and freakish as the >drugged up >muscle mag poster boys they have awesome physiques and strength >that >is 99.99% above the average for their age and weight. Agreed. And even if powerlifters do use drugs, typically, powerlifters and athletes use far less drugs than bodybuilders. Top powerlifters will typically use 600-1200mg of a fast acting testoserone ester. Bodybuilders will typically use 2000-3000mg testosterne, thyroid medications, high dose of human growth hormone (hGH), PFG2 (a prostaglandin for localized hypertrophy), synthol (MCT oil injected into a muscle for a temporary size gain before a contest), DNP (a mitochondrial uncoupler that converts incoming carbs into glucose), insulin, clenbuterol or EC combo, amphetamines to blunt hunger, etc. There are some top powerlifters who are drug free. There are no (yes, not 1 single person) top bodybuilders who are drug free. (By "top" bodybuiler, I am referring to the top profressionals and NPC level amateurs). >DAVE WROTE: How many do you know will train brutally hard and reduce >training to >once every 2-4 weeks? Most stop for fear that they are under >training >but are more than willing to criticize a technique they haven't >truly >implemented. I don't know anyone that trains with that level of infrequency, so I cannot comment on it's effectiveness. Myself, I do upper body once every 7 days and lower body once every 7 days. I tried doing this once every 14 days and I gained strength for the first 2 workouts. I later learned that this occured b/c the growth of Type IIC white muscle fiber (a disuse fiber) outweighed the atrophying of my other fibers. So it did produce benefits for the first month (2 workouts). But then I eventually began to lose a small degree of strength b/c my muscles just continued to fall into disuse. >DAVE WROTE: >Ask to look at their training journals. Did they really make >progress? Most bodybuilders don't keep training journals. Most athletes and powerlifters do. >>JUSTIN WROTE: >>Some HIT trainees throw out terms like recovery ability, yet most of >> >>them have not even read The Classic Collection by Arthur Jones so >> >>they don't even understand the foundation of it. >DAVE WROTE: >Read it. It's amazing, isn't it?! When I first stumbled upon those articles I knew I had struck a gold mine. :) Arthur was way ahead of his time. >DAVE WROTE: >You are pretty young aren't you Justin? You may see things >differently >because of your age. No slam intended because you are >much more focused, >intelligent, and inquisitive then most twice your >age but do you think >that everyone's physiology is that different? >Though we all lose and gain >bodyfat in varying degrees we all >function under the SAME physiological >principles. No calorie >deficient no BF lost. I happen to believe it more >efficacious to >implement a lifestyle change than to implement a short term >aerobic or dietary program. I'm 21. Yes, I do believe everyone's physiology is that different. Look at Mentzer's and Arnold's routines. They were very different. Although they functioned under the "SAME physiological principals," their individual physiology varied greatly. Mentzer's genetics were obviously suited well to infrequent, intense workouts, 2-3 times per week. Arnold's genetics were suited towards pounding out 4-5 hour long volume sessions 6 days per week. They both used low dosages of steroids (2-3 Dianabol pills per day was considered high back then) so I don't believe Arnold's ability to recover from those session can be credited to steroids anymore than Mentzer. >>JUSTIN WROTE: >>People respond differently to individual foods. Some are allergic >>to >>dairy (I know I am), but others are not and respond well to a >>good whey >>protein supplement. Some are allergic to bananas, but I >>certainly seem >>to respond well to them. We are all genetically >>different. >DAVE WROTE: >Genetic code is not self expressive. We actually vary very little >genetically. The driving force of genetic expression is lifestyle. >Mental, >physical, and chemical forces are what drive genetic >expression not some >uncontrollable invisible force. I would disagree. I believe we all vary greatly genetically. Look at our variances in height (midgets and 7'0 giants and everything in between), hair and skin color (blondes, brunettes, blacks, whites, and everything in between), genetic shape (Arnold had a huge chest, Menter's was weak; Nasser El Sonbaty has weak lats, Dorian Yates' lat spread looked like a total eclipse). Justin Hasselman