T Folk
Greetings.
Since beginning my new job in early June my training structure has dramatically changed and I am training at a new gym (obviously). The owner of the gym (a small gym in a podunk town) is a pro natural bodybuilder and has competed and placed locally (buffallo/rochester/syracuse area). He is a great guy and has taught me alot about training strategies, lifting form, tempo etc. BUT and here is where i need to vent a little…the gent is clearly uneducated on nutrition and its role in training. Yeah the guy is 165 and ripped up, but he is not that big. He has no idea how much he eats and every day he gives me a different macro breakdown. Its obvious he doesn’t eat much more than 2500kcal a day and he always chews gum in the gym (a sign of somebody who might be hungry). When I tell him to jack up the eating to get big, he totally is against it and says he doesn’t want to gain ANY fat to put on bulk. Yeah he’s ripped, but as I said, he’s not that big. He has no idea about proper supplementation for the most part and he thinks for example, fat can be “turned into” muscle. He uses soy powder and protein. He clearly overtrains in my opinion. When i started lifting here, i maintained (for a while) my schedule of usu. 6 days a week in the gym. Since i have gotten deep into work and met a girl, its down to 4 days and the volume is decreased, although i feel i am making progress utilizing a 5x5 method (he has no idea what this is.) Just today he was like “i would dramatically alter your training structure if i were you”…“you need to get in here more often and increase your volume.” Now, i have overtrained before (1) and I am not going to let bodybuilding take a higher priority than a relationship or my job (2)…not to mention i feel i am getting better workouts and recovery with the mixed 5x5 and the increased recovery (3). In addition, i am still going hypocalorie through mid-August to remain and/or get leaner. As such, increased volume would not necessarily be a good thing at this time. I am tweeked out…for the most part i have kept my mouth shut, but its hard to hear him tell other people info on nutrition and what he eats and scientific finding from MM and the like…Somedays i just want to flip…anyway, i just needed to vent. Has anyone else experienced something like this?..Its frustrating as hell, esp. if you do your homework and feel you know your material.
Out
Vain
Have you ever noticed how almost all successful athletes have no idea what they are doing?
Most of those fools cant even tell you what type of carb is found in milk and where that energy is stored in your body!!! Some of them dont even know the difference between a straight keto diet and a CKD!!! I personally laugh at them.
Listen, obviously I was being sarcastic in the paragraph above.
Either you are the type of person who thinks genetics is the only factor in successful athletics or you’ll have to admit the guy knows something about training.
Just because he cant ‘scientifically’ explain what he is recommending doesnt mean its worthless. It just means he either doesnt read studies or that science hasnt proved it yet. Even Duchaine said he couldnt prove many things he said. It was just a gut instinct from a guy who’s got a knack ‘for that shit’.
As a matter of fact I remember T-mag’s very own Don Alessi getting smoked one time on this forum for recommending the T-dawg diet for Meltdown I [lactic acid training]. Because the author couldnt scientifically back up his recommendation he lost some credibility and the diet/program has never been as popular since. Regardless that Don Alessi has empirical evidance that the diet/program combination worked.
Not to mention you were training 6 days a week and werent overtrained. But as soon as he tells you to increase your frequency up from 4 days a week you assume you will shrivel up. Yes, this person you speak of definitely sounds like a fool.
There are so many valid training models and diet. Just on T-mag alone you’ll find Davies and King. They’re both highly respected here and have very different points of view on volume and frequency. Yet none of them have been proved wrong yet.
All I can say is that you should take comfort in knowing you can beat this individual in a debate on any day. And remember to never follow his scientifically unsound theories.
PS: Sorry for the ramble. Hope you can make something out in it.
I am pro-gun… As such I always run into anti-gun propaganders out there misinformed by the media. Do what I do, when you’re done with your latest T-mag issue, leave it on his counter. Hopefully, he’ll digest the material like you’re hoping he’ll digest more food and he’ll “see the light”.
Hey, Vain, how’s it been? I feel for you. The gym where we train, we overhear misinformation being passed from the trainers to their clients ALL THE TIME. But, we bite our lips and just train and then just leave. Occasionally, someone will ask us our opinion, and we’re usually glad to answer.
What you may need to do, and I know this is going to be painful, because being a woman, I'm ALWAYS being approached by guys who THINK they know more than me trying to give me advice *rolling eyes* - is let that stuff he says go out the other ear. Do what you need to do. Let the results of your actions speak. You know what you need to do - just do your thang. Focus on you.
I have a similar problem only this time it’s the other way round. At the gym where i work there is a group of bodybuilders who insist on giving out information to the members and contradicting everything i’ve been taught about safe training. they reccomend 30 and 40 reps sets to people who need functional strength. the only way i can compete with these people who in the eyes of the inexperienced trainee look bigger than me and therefore must know more is to say that they should try anything that does hurt them and if they get results then stick with it. if not, come back and listen to what i have to say.
Dr. Mindbender,
When referring to Alessi’s T-dawg/Meltdown, you mean anecdotal evidence? I don’t remember referring to any studies.
I’m not sure what you mean? I agree he only had empirical [empirical :adj : derived from experiment and observation rather than theory] evidence. Thats what made him lose credibility despite the many success stories of those who actually tried the program/diet combination.
My english isnt very good. You’ll have to be patient with me smile.
Here’s the deal, bro. If you want to look like this guy, train and eat the way he says. But if you want to actually be larger and stronger than a toothpick (165 is damn small), then you should use your head. Also, how does he get off calling himself a “pro” bodybuilder at 165#?
my question is,why do you care?
this guy maybe perfectly happy with his results,he may not want to be bigger.
i could see u caring if it’s his gym,his rules type approach but it doesn’t seem to be and it won’t affect u in anyway,so why should you care?