Credentials: Recurrent Writer- Iron Man Magazine 2x Mr Natural Olympia 2x Mr Universe 1x World and National Champion Pro qualified in NGA, INBF and INBA/PNBA Pro Coach since 2014 with Masters and Elite level certs from ISSA Certified head judge in 2 federations Clients pro qualified in IFBB, INBA/PNBA, OCB, INBF/WNBF, and ANBF Masters in Kinesiology (in progress) SCSU
@hessville47 So yes and no. I know the day before what muscle group and what i wanna do exercise wise and what training mentality to use for the block. I would say if I wake up and feel froggy, Its easy to do intuitive training. If i feel a bit run down or didnt sleep well, I ease off.
@jem15153 I tell my clients ONE thing. Get strong... or stay shredded. If you really think strength and size, dont actively seek to just gain a ton of weight, but focus on the GOAL... not the part you dont like about getting there. Leverage, recovery, strength, and even diet break leeways all play into the gain phase and if youre concerned about keeping your abs... youre never going to get as big or as strong as you want.
In regards to your second question... is it possible?Absolutely. Being 5-7% over maint and gaining is possible. But MAN is it slow.
@paparazi257 Hey all! Im so happy to do this and will answer as many of these as i can throughout the day so please be patient and we will keep this going!
@savedlongs I really wise i could answer this as simple as you want but i cant. Im 5'5" so anything more than 5-1.2lbs every 7-10 days the first few weeks and then anything more than .25-.5 a week after that is a ton. If youre already 195 and 6'1", thats kind of middle of the road. Instead of focusing on a specific number of gain rate, do it in %'s. What i mean by this is try saying "this month, we wanna add no more than 3% of my overall weight and i wanna add no more than 15% of my bodyweight this bulk." Much more individualized that way. EVEN THEN... you may realize your fat stores are setup far different than someone else and your 15% is barely changing your shred... thats when you make pivot decision down the road and see if your number may be able to handle some updating.
@savedlongs Isometric holds... #1 way to increase the feeling of the contraction and try it with a set of 30 where every 10 reps you switch hand placement. It’ll force you to feel what changes the contraction points.
@paparazi257 Lighter weights with high volume or heavier weights with less volume better for hypertrophy?
Additional question : if you could only pick one exercise to do for each muscle group (chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, quads/hams, abs) what would it be?
@haleybethb So your question is a bit of a trick. There are MULTIPLE types of hypertrophy (sarcoplasmic vs myrofibrilar) and they require different things. For SIZE related hypertrophy, high weight and low reps and tons of rest. For density and detail to really pop after the cut, light weight with rep volume. That also is in line with what each of those requires on a bodybuilder right? Most BBers would never put a German volume block right before the stage so the ONLY time you have calories and the safety to do the high weight lower rep training is during diet surpluses. You need BOTH to have a good stage physique and doing them at the right times ensures lower injury rates and higher efficiency.
@paparazi257 Do you believe food quality can impact cutting for stage prep? I.e. grass fed meats and organic vs. standard foods at market? Do you believe food intolerances can be more apparent when dieting down, I.e. certain foods triggering inflammation, bloating etc. and how do you deal with that?
@werbowy SUCH a good question. So much so that this is going to be the topic of my PhD thesis when I finish my masters next year. I have noticed that countries i competed in (Australia, New Zealand, Finland) with higher standards for meat production on a commercial scale have UNREAL depth of the bench on their competitors meaning that the average physique produced in those countries is MILES above those with worse farming conditions. That being said, that really is (as far as my thesis is concerned) only really going to matter to people in the elite category. All of the major study data for the general populous is currently pretty split on whether or not it matters for all-cause mortality and generalized recovery. I myself do tend to switch to all organic, and grass fed meats when im within 2 weeks and I do notice a difference in inflammation and indigestion. Again though this is correlation and not causation at this point and only is noticeable when im DEEP into prep. I also tend to mega dose anti-inflammation agents like turmeric and CBD the last 4 days leading into a show as my legs used to ALWAYS swell.
@linhmaiha The only time I advocate for this is deep into the surplus in the off season and usually more prevalent for my powerlifters. I used it to AMAZING results for strength when i was training to break the RPS bench and squat world records this past year (meet was cancelled... fucking covid) and I would have blown the bench away at 162lbs and was real close to the squat. For the deficit though and leading into the show, calories are usually not high enough to justify the heavier weight lower rep days so it wouldnt be nearly as effective or safe.
@renejceternity Obviously the squats and hammie curls and leg press but honestly not enough people pay attention to glute bridges, ad/abductors. The reason i think they are important isnt just for the aesthetic. I notice so many leg damaging injuries and squats that get bailed out on weight wise because they have weak stabilizers. You want bigger legs you have to go heavier. How do you go heavier? Have stronger secondaries.
