Misery Loves Company
Before Laree and I hop in the bomb and head north to Bill Pearl’s Oregonian territory for a workout in his old barn gym, I thought I’d leave you with a stack of questions and answers to clutter your minds. So you don’t think you’re the only one, here are nine bombers struggling with troubles of their own.
We’re strange creatures, gaining comfort from the quandaries of others. That doesn’t make us bad people. Listen, empathize and learn.
Q) I came across an article where you went from 165 to 235 pounds in a year. I'd like to embark on a similar bulking diet, but I have a few questions. I'd just like to know how often you trained each muscle per week and/or how often you would recommend training. I would also like to know approximately how much you were consuming.
A) You read some article printed for entertainment value and not real information.... muscle mags do that often. Truth is, I never gained more than 10 pounds in any given year while determined to build size and strength, and that was done by consistent force-feeding and training in general. I trained each muscle group two to three times a week, depending on what season or year of my life and I, today, suggest training each muscle group twice a week as the solid way to achieve muscle mass and density, fitness and muscularity.
Everyone is different and few, very few, musclebuilders require less. The theories recommending less comes from either the drug camp where gains come from thin air, or the scientific camp where gains come from books, note pads and theories and not experience, or boastful hot shots with limited understanding and desire making deceptive claims. You've got to blast it or you'll get big and strong and fat.
Bring on the red meat, milk products, eggs big time along with chicken and fish. Lots of salad and fresh vegetables and enough choice fruit. Get your carbs from whole grains. Protein rules. Add essential fatty acids to your diet, and a good protein powder for convenient and essential meals -- AM, PM, pre- and post-workouts. Bomber Blend is the best in my opinion.
No secrets here... major bulking (from 165 to 235 pounds in a year) is crazy. Not healthy, not fun, not possible. 10 pounds a year is wise and manageable for a young man.
Train hard, eat right and settle in. You can't hustle musclebuilding.
Q) I am trying to get information on musclebuilding and cardio for my friend who is incarcerated. As his time to exercise is severely limited and equipment is insufficient, he needs in-cell training recommendations.
A) The best way to answer the exercise question is by asking myself, "What would I do if I was in the same dilemma?"
I was once speaking directly to prisoners in their barred cells who asked the same question. I suggested running in place, performing high-rep crunches and leg raises and pushups. There are ways to grasp bars (if available) and using them to push and pull in a manner that duplicates real exercise. Deep knee bends and lunges move a lot of blood. These various improvised movements developed into a tight routine, by practice and commonsense, will provide plenty of muscle work, deep breathing and raise the heart rate considerably for a sufficient period of time.
The more affinity one has for exercise, the more realistic and doable these basic suggestions are. The process requires heart, imagination, purpose and fortitude. Oddly, at the same time it builds these qualities, something your friend needs in stacks while behind bars.
Buy tuna at the prison store, drink lots of water, read the Bible.
Q) As I’m trying to get leaner, should I lay off the protein before and after workouts? I’m getting about 250 grams of protein per day and part of that is 50 before and 50 after the workout. I’m trying to lose the fat and not the muscle. I’m wondering if the protein was causing more harm than good.
A) The last place you want to reduce your calorie consumption is through protein calories. Your protein calories comprise only 1,000 of your daily total intake. I recommend you maintain the anabolic environment (sufficient complete proteins, essential fats and nutrient-strong carb foods) and continue to train smart and hard. Let the training build the muscle and the good food provide the energy and ingredients for muscular gains over time. Think of gaining muscle rather than losing fat.
You might drop your intake of the least valuable foods throughout the day. Keep the pre- and post-workout meals... maybe... I hate to say it... perhaps, possibly, if you must... cut them in half. Gasp. No, nevermind! Forget I said that.
Q) I'm 60 years old, only five foot six and 126 pounds. I'm healthy, even though I had a bypass seven years ago. I want to take up the bodybuilding sport. Have you ever heard of an older person with small stature like me to be successful in this sport? I can work hard, but I want to know if my body could take the pains and build new muscles.
A) Since you express an interest in the sport, I think you should give it a go. Weight training is a fun diversion and its benefits are not limited to building stronger, harder and shapelier muscles. Your internal health (cardiovascular system, metabolism, body chemistry, hormonal balance, central nervous system) is fortified by intelligent resistance training and systemic exertion. Longevity and quality of life improve. Disciplines are recruited and grow regularly; coordination increases and athletic and recreational abilities improve.
Be aware and be wise, elemental precepts we share as time goes by. Take it slow and easy and crank up the workload as you become conditioned, confident and in-tune with yourself. Learn the basics by trial, error and practice, and advance day by day, month to month by consistent performance, observation and commonsense. Make it a game or sport like baseball or swimming; make it fun and challenging.
Search the earth for a personal trainer who is ready, willing and able to give you a bushel of advice and exercise demonstration in three workout sessions and unloose you in the gym. You’re still a kid, but too old for a babysitter.
You’re in for the trip of your life.
Q) I am a mom who has been in shape and a regular gym rat until a year ago. My last beautiful child, the third now 18 months, sorta did me in. I am now what they call obese. Ugh! I am going to back to the gym this week and was wondering if I should do only cardio for the first 50 pounds, and then add the weights? What do you think?
A) Any and all efforts will be of value at this point. The key is to consistently reapply -- rededicate -- your past training knowledge and experience to your life today. Things are different -- age, body chemistry, hormonal balance, viewpoint, conditioning -- but one thing is the same: what must be done. Doing what must be done, however, will accomplish your goals.
Typically, the first weeks are hard, but we endure. The continued weeks are harder cuz disappointments and despair tend to take us down; we want results now and doubt they will, in fact, ever take place. Truth is, they are and will continue and we must be stronger than everyone else, stronger than before.
The trick is to establish confidence and an attitude of gratefulness for knowing your needs and the way to go, and the ability and willingness to go that way. Invest the time and effort -- the payoffs are guaranteed for life. Tough being tough.
I wrote a book, Your Body Revival -- Straight Talk for the Overweight -- that deals with your dilemma. Pick up a copy at the library or our online store. There are scuffed copies, discounted. It's the best book on the market for the determined overweight: direct, motivational, routines for all levels, eating schemes and tips and hints we need to digest.
Cardio is important, building muscle is far more important. Hit the streets walking or the stationary bike for starters, along with mild weight training with an eye on more aggressive weight training as soon as next week. The key to your weight problem is made of iron.
Dump the sugar and snacks, up the protein instead. Eat regularly, eat enough and eat wisely.
Q) I have just read a popular training book that advises we should not go to failure. This goes against everything I have been told about weightlifting and bodybuilding. What do you recommend?
A) We're all different, different needs, desires, requirements, thoughts, expectations and conclusions. Here's where you come in: Think for yourself. Push hard and with good form, go to 95% but not failure, love it and don't hate it. Failure has its dark side. Also, what failure is to one might be good-and-hard to another. Some trainers and writers exaggerate their input. All that you read is not accurate and you must glean your readings to seek the truth that applies to you. Confusing? That's why I suggest you read less and train and practice more and look to yourself (you, your own personal trainer) for the way to go. More fun, smarter, wiser, more direct, more fulfilling.
Speaking of reading less, Brother Iron Sister Steel is about all you really must read. But I’ll bet you knew that.
Q) I have a repaired herniated disk that is recovering nicely. I need to hit the weights again in the most determined way. Please give me some advice. I need to get back on the path that I let go a year and half ago.
A) Sorry for your dilemma. Get over the lost time and go from here.
I can only tell you what I would do. After assessing the pain and assimilating the doctor's input, I’d go to the gym and begin an overall training regimen that suited my condition. I would spend one or two workouts testing various movements to determine which ones I could and could not do, how to improvise equipment and exercise grooves and where my limitations were and how to approach and exceed them.
Some exercises will be wrong -- standing presses and curls, bentover barbell rows, squats, heavy deadlifts, heaving dumbbells into place for flat or incline presses or pullovers. They fall into the red zone.
Machine movements will be more doable -- machine dips, pulldown variations, torso supported press and lat machines, leg press and extensions -- some light-weight, high-rep lying dumbbell presses with feet up, various incline and flat bench curls.
There are specific stretching and back-flexing movements to strengthen the damaged region and some ab work you can finesse.
Application of any of these exercises in a favorable routine will begin whole body and mind development. It will pull you out of the hole and put you on top. It takes an injury (hardship) to gain our attention and re-right our priorities and stir our gratitude. An injury is a valuable tool to teach us training focus and true exercise performance.
Forget the big bench and your previous facilities. They are there, strengths in your chemistry and will, yet need to be restored. Go with what you have and are today -- wiser, most determined, more appreciative and RTG -- ready to go!
Q) I'm 19 years old and have been training for three. This year I focused on leg training and made great gains, but progress has stopped. I find it hard to squat the same weight I did a year ago. It seems my progress actually went backwards! What’s up?
A) Happens to the best of us and we all hate it. Back off squats, the legs (and your head) need a change. Hit leg presses moderate to heavy for a month and bring on the reps (5 sets x 20-25 reps). The action and muscle recruitment is different enough to allow necessary repair and promote fresh growth in newly engaged regions of the quads and hams. Turn your attentions toward some favorite upper body movements -- deadlifts, forearms, bentover rows -- something productive to gain your attention, sooth the frustration of stalled leg growth and bolster your confidence.
Pack in the red meat protein... Go...
Q) I’m a Sergeant First Class stationed in Kuwait and have been a soldier for 20 years. I am going home to see my wife of 22 years in mid-November and want to shape up. I am currently 45 and weigh 205 at 5'6" and, though heavy, in good shape. I need to lose the body fat and add some muscle. I would greatly appreciate help with a routine and a simple diet plan.
A) You've got just over three months to do your thing and have a number of great advantages in your favor. The first and foremost is your incentive -- to return home to your family after a long tour with a renewed and invigorated body. Further, being in good shape, healthy and strong, will serve you well. Having a background that includes regular weight training is a big plus. And, of course, that you're Army, possessing the courage and dedication that is part of the force, brings it all together.
Here’s what you do: Start putting in the miles on a track or around the base. Do what you are able, as you recall the familiar routine common to a soldier’s conditioning. Your goal should be a brisk one or two miles, three or four days a week. Get to the gym four or five days a week and plan on 60 to 75 minutes of work with the iron. Keep the routine basic, the pace steady, the time uninterrupted and the effort sufficiently intense. Don't think in terms of heavy lifting and maximum muscle size. Save that for another time when you have different goals and a different schedule. You want to drop bodyfat while developing lean and healthy muscle.
The big changes will be most evident by your drop in bodyweight through healthy eating. I'm sure this can be done if you apply willpower and keep your eye on your premise. The basics work every time: smaller meals of high protein foods while keeping the sugar-high, nutrient-low and greasy foods in check. Foods containing good fats -- essential fatty acids -- will serve you well, energy and system health. Support the body with a fine quality vitamin and mineral supplement and drink plenty of water regularly. Reminder: Always slip in a simple pre- and post-workout meal for energy and endurance, tissue sustenance and recuperation.
Here's a simple and efficient routine I'd follow. It's basic and flexible and includes supersets, which I highly recommend.
Begin or end each workout with 10 minutes of vigorous crunches and leg raises.
Day 1) Chest and back and shoulders:
Bench press and widegrip pulldown
3-4 sets x 8-10 reps
Steep dumbbell inclines and seated lat row
3-4 sets x 8-10 reps
Sidearm lateral raise
3 sets x 8-10 reps
Bentover lateral raise
3 sets x 8-10 reps
Day 2) Forearms, biceps and triceps:
Wrist curls and stiffarm pullover
3-4 sets x 10-12 reps
Standing barbell curl and lying triceps extension
3-4 sets x 8 reps (bis), 12 reps (tris)
Low incline curl (30 degree) and machine dip or pulley pushdown
3-4 sets x 8 reps (bis), 12 reps (tris)
Day 3) Legs, low back
Leg press
3 sets x 15 reps
Squat
3 sets x 8-12 reps
Toe raise
6 sets x 12,15-20 reps
Stiff-leg deadlift
3-4 sets x 10-12 reps
There you have it.
Carry on the mighty work of this wonderful nation. Let's get the world back. You guys and gals are the greatest.
And so we come to the end of another round of Q&As, bombers. Nothing we didn’t know, nothing we can’t handle.
Altitude, clarity and swiftness... Go... Draper
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