All Hail the Great and Wise Wendler!
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Wrong
I can’t tell if this set up is serious or a joke?
Scott
My last gym had one of those bars. It was pretty popular with older guys. I think it is often used for rehabbing shoulder injuries.
When I googled the term Oscillating Kinetic Energy, it brought up a number of articles about that bar, commonly referred to as either a Bamboo Bar or an Earthquake Bar. It was developed and is currently being sold by one of the co-founders of Westside Barbell, a legendary powerlifting gym. So I guess we can say the idea has credible provenance for serious lifters…
Johnston described it well on the old forum and books, but in my view, it kind of stems all the back to Vince Gironda. Gironda emphasized not worrying about the weight (using even somewhat lighter weight), but concentrating on the feel of the muscle and cumulative fatigue (short rest between sets).
Very short rest between sets I think is one of the most important things Gironda pushed. I guess that’s the same idea of Johnson’s “more contractions in the same amount time” which was what he referred to as ‘High Density Training’ . I remember Gironda saying to shoot for rests between sets being so brief that you don’t even put the bar down between sets. I can’t do that with something like barbell curls (grip would give out) but definitely avoid taking my hands off the equipment while in a machine , etc.
I’ve never been able to do his 8 X 8 on one exercise either … that is brutal ! But 4 X 8 on two exercises for the same muscle is attainable though I never feel I need more than three sets of the same movement and two sets is usually what I do with a 15 - 20 second rest between them.
As far as the ‘Tribe Mentality’ ( good term, lol ) mentioned earlier … not long ago I mentioned in a thread here that I just had a great leg / ab workout which was around 16 sets in 30 minutes and someone questioned me if that ‘qualified’ as HIT .
What am I trying to qualify for ?
There are stability bars that bend and wobble, and also banded kettlebell/plates hanging off of bars - they make the bench incredibly unstable and help people keep seriously heavy loads in a good position during lifts. Not a joke, and used by some of the highest level powerlifters.
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Re Tom Platz “intensity”: when you gulp PEDs, steroids and who-knows-what-else your body can withstand a lot of things (much more than we, normal people, think), including such body English as Platz displayed in the video posted. I have been visiting and commenting on this and previous forum for a number of years, but I am still amused why people here refer to chemically-enhanced BBers as examples of training approach/methods when speaking about general fitness and presumably natural bodybuilding.
Re isometrics: I remember ordering Pete Sisco’s isometric machine which was delivered from New Zealand in order to admit 3 years later it was a grave mistake despite all my genuine efforts. I looked even worse than on Mike Mentzer’s consolidation training, although was strong based on the figures displayed on that machine.
Re “to failure or not”: even Arthur Jones admitted in one of his later books (which I value much more than early ones) that his prescription of the same set/rep range to everyone was a mistake. I applaud Dr. Darden for taking a step further and finally admitting that failure is not the name of the game.
After training for 30+ years I now know six rules (key principles) of bodybuilding:
ONE, remember the principle of Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands (SAID): to look like a bodybuilder you need to train like a bodybuilder (all within reason, of course, and in accordance with #2);
TWO, design your training with your muscle fiber makeup in mind;
THREE, you don’t necessarily get bigger by getting stronger, but you surely get stronger by getting bigger,
FOUR, always look for better tools and better techniques/methods of training,
FIVE, variety, variety, variety: in key elements (intensity, frequency, volume), tools and training techniques;
SIX: listen to the feedback provided by your body and make changes accordingly.
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Good stuff here!!
Scott
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You and Brian Johnston are one! You seem to agree with each other (and I couldn’t agree more).
I’ve never tried to hide the fact that of all the people who influenced me in relation to training Brian Johnston is the standout man. I own almost all books of Dr. Darden (except for few sport-specific books), including two printed in Russia, but I cherish the latest book of Brian “Advanced Bodybuilding Methods & Strategies” the most. For me, Brian is the iron guru of XXI century as Vince Gironda was the iron guru of XX century. I learned so much from few email consultation which I had with Brian, and I know that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
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You’re wrong about this - heavy steroid users experience a lot of tendon and ligament tears because those things can’t keep up with the massive rates of supraphysiological muscle growth. Tom Platz’ body withstood those things because of the very thing you mentioned in your rules - SAID.
Because the same principles apply to lifting on and off of gear - I take my cues from knowledgeable people, natural or enhanced makes no difference to me, and I have never used any PED’s.
On a side note, I agree with all 6 of your “rules”. All great things to apply over a lifting career, for sure.
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Isn’t it funny that doctors prescribe corticosteroids to treat ligament and tendon tears? Heavy steroid users are humans too (although sometimes it’s not so evident), and they may have problems with tendons, ligaments and muscle tears (examples are plenty), although my point was that the same style of training will lead to injury for “natural” trainee much sooner (and in a larger number of cases) than in the case of chemically-enhanced bodybuilder. Similar to a pain barrier, everybody has its own limits which can be stretched with some augmentation.
I would not apply the methods used by enhanced bodybuilders to non-enhanced bodybuilders - at least, I would not expect the same results to be the same. Especially when it comes to dieting and training. (Please, show me an example of natural trainee with a 3-D physique, large muscle mass and below 5% bodyfat. I don’t think it’s possible). If we discuss things on the basis “all other things being equal”, the very fact of “enhancement” of certain human individuals negate the possibility to apply the same methods and expect similar results with other people.
As an example, Eddie Mueller and Keith Whitley: the former looks to be non-enhanced and the latter was definitely on something (before and after training with Dr. Darden). Drugs add a lot in terms of recovery ability, muscle contractions, ability to withstand the pain, warlike attitude, etc. and I would take any advice from such people and/or copy their training methods with a large grain of salt. Unfortunately, I seldom see the “enhanced” people to admit their results are largely (90%+?) are due to “enhancement”. I saw so many “miracle body transformations” of young and old people, men and women, throughout 30 years that I stopped to count them. Having been able to discuss their results with many of them, I know the answer. All those women claiming their new booties owing to special exercise techniques of Bret Contreras or similar. Don’t bullshit me guys. There are things which are impossible unless you add something (or enhance something with plastic surgery, for instance).
- Doctors don’t prescribe corticosteroids to “treat” ligament and tendon tears. Corticosteroids don’t enhance healing–they inhibit it. (Corticosteroids are Rx’d to reduce inflammation.)
- What do corticosteroids have to do with anabolic steroids?
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This is disingenuous of you to post here, unless you are genuinely unaware of the vast difference between corticosteroids, which block inflammatory responses and are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis more than ligament and tendon tears, and anabolic steroids, which bodybuilders take, and which I was obviously referring to.
And my point was directly contrary to yours, which is that growing muscles at a supraphysiological rate does not allow the tendons and ligaments to keep up with that muscle growth, and leads to those being injured quite often.
I see natural, puny guys doing dumber stuff than that all the time in commercial gyms. My point was only that “bad form” is subjective and people use what others would call bad form to great effect.
You’re branching the steroid talk out into a general discrediting of all who use steroids, anyways. John Meadows used, as did most of his athletes, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more knowledgeable guy (R.I.P.).
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I believe that corticosteroids became popular for tendinitis because they have can produce short term pain reduction. However, some Doctors have become more cautious about using this kind of treatment, because there is evidence that longer term they reduce the structural integrity of the tendon, and increase the risk of ruptures.
- In case of injury, whether it’s tendon, ligament or muscle, the first response is RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). In order to start healing process one need to deal with inflammation first. Sometimes OTC anti-inflammatories are ineffective in reducing inflammation and the doctor may need to prescribe NSAIDs. If NSAIDs prove to be ineffective, the doctor may prescribe cortisone injections (corticosteroid). A corticosteroid can improve the healing of damaged tendons , but it must be given at the right time, according to 2017 study from Linköping University in Sweden.
- Yes, they are different from anabolic steroids, no doubt, but what do they do? They reduce inflammation while enhancing recovery. Both factors are very important when we discuss training methods of enhanced athletes and their results.
Why growing muscles at a supraphysiologic rate doesn’t allow the tendons and ligaments to keep up with that muscle growth? My experience of witnessing people growing on drugs shows quite the opposite. Again, if we take the normal conditions when tendons and ligaments do get thicker and stronger with weight training over time, but it takes a lot longer than muscle growth/strengthening due to lack of blood flow to the tendons, that’s true. But it is not the case with enhancements.
In relation to John Meadows: it is said when any person dies. I know almost nothing about him, except for dozens of youtube videos which I watched, but I don’t remember having taken anything valuable from his teachings. As usual with “enhanced” athletes, I was shocked to know he was only 49 when he passed. He looked much older. I am 44, but I look 25 years younger than he. Speaking about aging and the things which influence it.
Of course you can’t tell ! But a serious lifter can!
Many would disagree, but we need not press the matter.
Corticosteroids do not ‘enhance recovery’ in any way remotely like the way anabolic steroids ‘enhance recovery.’
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