[quote]MinusTheColon wrote:
Really appreciate that advice, Stu.
I hope you won’t mind two more questions, one short and idiosyncratic and one that’s longer:
- I started seriously training about seven years ago. I always told myself that I wanted to compete in a BB competition when I am 30. The problem now is twofold, one of which is manageable and the other I wanted your opinion on. The first is that I have to be very careful about lifting because I am highly susceptible to hernias now. The second (and related) issue is that I have severe abdominal scarring, including a large incisional scar running down from my sternum to right above my genitals but also scarring on both sides of the incision relating to tubes that had been inserted into me (four total) over the course of the operation and my recovery.
The question is: what type of effect does this type of medical situation and resultant aesthetic abnormalities have on bodybuilding judging and competing? I know the answer will ultimately be that it is a competition against myself and that I should do a contest if I want without worrying about the judging components, but I’d at least like to know what I’m getting myself into.[/quote]
I know I’ve probably mentioned my friend Phil sometime before, but he had a horrific motorcycle accident that shattered his lower leg in 12 places. As a competitor, he was initially devastated, but through hard work, dedication, and just the most dogged perseverance I have ever seen, he not only regained his form, but continued to improve, winning his Wnbf pro card and a Musclemania pro card at 47 years of age.
Now, obviously as a contest judge, I’ve seen plenty of competitors with surgery scars, and even natural issues that leave them… a bit unsymmetrical. I can tell you that I personally never hold such issues against people, and I’m pretty damn sure that the other judges don’t either.
Phil, being a smart bodybuilder, did his very best to not only even out his physique as best as he could, but as I always did myself, posed in a way that allowed him to hide his weaknesses while showcasing his strengths.
So I guess my final answer here would be that I personally wouldn’t let it factor in to a decision on whether to step onstage or not.
[quote]
2. If I could ask something else that’s been bugging me, literally, for years haha:
I’ve been reading T Nation for years, including your thread and Sloh’s old thread. It’s interesting in coming back to these boards that the top two threads are yours and Sloh’s, because you both have very different approaches to bodybuilding development in general, with his being more of a set-point, traditional bulking approach. I also think of your approach and general philosophies you discuss as being very different from what I have been listening to on Iron Radio over the years with Lonnie Lowrey.
I’ve always been interested in the difference and whether you are all really talking about the same basic principles but just in different terms, or whether it’s that there’s simply more than one way to skin a cat, to the extent that seemingly diametrically opposed principles relating to strength and muscle gain can both lead to success. Wanted to get your thoughts.[/quote]
Well, obviously you’re always going to find people with different approaches. I’m a big fan of pointing out that just because new methods or information becomes widespread doesn’t suddenly negate older methods and their ability to produce results.
Many an old school bodybuilder built excellent physiques with the bulk/cut/bulk/cut approach. Of course over the years as “gym science” and “lab science” started intermingling, certain biological truths became as common a gym rat discussion as best methods to remove hair, or how to make protein pancakes. Now Im far from suggesting that you should only believe something if you read it on pubmed, but, I am saying that you’d be foolish to ignore methods that are not only supported by science, but utilized by the vast majority of top competitors.
The longer I competed, and the more people I interacted with, the more I realized that many of the approaches I decided to bank on myself were also used by so many of the top Wnbf Pros that I had and still do respect and look up to.
Maybe it’s because I read too much when I first started training, but it was mind blowing to find out that “expert advice” I had been repeating myself to anyone willing to listen, wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. My buddy Brad always laughs when I joke about how bodybuilding “ain’t rocket science.” It’s not, but there are also a few basic premises that you can count on, no matter who you are.
Lonnie Lowery was one of the guys I used to print out his articles way back when. I still respect the guy. That doesn’t mean that I will always agree with him, or Sloh, or anyone else on here. When I did well in many successive contests, I reluctantly had to acknowledge that maybe I kind of understood how “all of this” works. When people started coming to me to prep them for contests, or professional athletes coming to me to help them hit certain weights or recompose their bodies, I also was somewhat reluctant, because who the hell was I? But having done as well as I have, and having had so many clients do well in their own endeavors, I can’t really doubt that what I believe works. Again, that doesn’t mean it’s the only answer, merely that I’m doing right by making the recommendations that I routinely do.
[quote]If I could be indulged in one more, probably silly question. it’s really less a question and more just getting your opinion:
Considering that I’m now 155 pounds and pretty pathetically weak (it is incredible how much mass the body can lose with bedrest combined with an inability to eat over a prolonged period), is it even realistic to think that I can get to a point where competing is possible two years ahead? I know it seems arbitrary, but I’d always set 30 as my goal age to compete (turning 28 this year).[/quote]
Strength is a relative thing. I was strangely very strong with very little time under the bar. Size, however, took much more time, and controlling of a lot more variables. I’ll tell ya though, there are plenty of not-impressively-strong competitors and no one would ever suspect. To me, “perceived resistance” is much more important than actual resistance. What that means is that while the iron on the bar may not seem all the impressive to onlookers, if it’s enough to seriously tax your muscles optimally, and your diet is spot on, sleep locked down, and all else being equal, you’re gonna do just fine.
I made more progress over the few years I competed than at any other time in my life. And lemme tell ya, a solid, 100% muscle gain of 2-3 lbs can make a huge impact when you’re in contest shape!
S
