So… How are Choc those Peanut Butter pop tarts?
Hey Stu, just wanted to say you’re one of my favorite posters on this site, as many other guys would say.
Wanted to ask you a quick question, not sure it is the right place to do so, but still going to shoot it in here. Knowing what you know now, as a ‘‘been there, done that’’ bodybuilder, if you had to choose only one type of programming for hypertrophy for your entire career, what would it be? bodypart split? upper/lower? some form of legs/push/pull? My guess would be a form of upper/lower with alternating intensities, but then again, I’m not you!
Thanks for your time
[quote]jeanmich wrote:
Hey Stu, just wanted to say you’re one of my favorite posters on this site, as many other guys would say.
Wanted to ask you a quick question, not sure it is the right place to do so, but still going to shoot it in here. Knowing what you know now, as a ‘‘been there, done that’’ bodybuilder, if you had to choose only one type of programming for hypertrophy for your entire career, what would it be? bodypart split? upper/lower? some form of legs/push/pull? My guess would be a form of upper/lower with alternating intensities, but then again, I’m not you!
Thanks for your time [/quote]
To be honest, I think that there are benefits to most of the usual splits you hear about. It all comes down to your training experience and individual recovery level, how much volume and intensity you plan on putting into each training session, your dietary approach and how dialed in and dedicated you’re going to be nutritionally, and how much time you can reasonably spend in the gym each week (life responsibilities, work, school etc all come into play).
I’ve personally gone through many different approaches over the years. Some, because I gave serious thought to what I was doing, and tried to balance different variables out, while others, I simply followed along with whoever I was training with as I hoped to learn by doing.
Also, something I have to stress, is that you always want to choose an approach that works for you goals. For example, I made fairly good progress in terms of overall size and development training on a 3 day split when I was in graduate school, but, as I wanted to build a more symmetrical bodybuilder physique, I had to address the fact that I had certain muscle groups that grew more easily than others. So for me, I’d day that a 4 day split is what I followed through most of my productive training years, as well as right through all of my competitive endeavors.
My initial 3 day split was: Chest/delts/tris, Back/bis, Legs
My favorite 4 day split was: Chest/calves, Back/Bis, Delts/Traps/Tris, Legs
This allowed me to focus on my lagging pecs, as well as be more focused on my calves. Trying to get a good Calf session in after you’re already spent a considerable chunk of time and intensity on quads and hamstrings is not easily done IMO.
Again, this is how I was able to get the most bang for my buck, as well as address my individual weak points and goals. Is it somewhat similar to the standard pus/pull/legs? Sure. That’s because if you look at two basic premises of training that have been around for a long time - Train overlapping muscle groups together and training larger muscle groups first - there’s a lot of support for such an approach.
S
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
So… How are Choc those Peanut Butter pop tarts?[/quote]
Lmao, friggin’ great! Now I come home and have to choose between Choc/PB and regular PB, and it’s a serious decision!
Of course a buddy on FB just threw up a photo of a Red Velvet PopTart and Peanut Butter ‘Sandwich’ that seriously has me thinking 
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
So… How are Choc those Peanut Butter pop tarts?[/quote]
Lmao, friggin’ great! Now I come home and have to choose between Choc/PB and regular PB, and it’s a serious decision!
Of course a buddy on FB just threw up a photo of a Red Velvet PopTart and Peanut Butter ‘Sandwich’ that seriously has me thinking
S[/quote]
Agree with you on the choc-p/butter stu,haven’t had the regular p/butter yet but their on the list.
Damn you carb eaters…
So a cool bit of news that I forgot to mention (during my little 2 week hiatus -lol) is that I was contacted by the head of the WNBF and asked to judge the mens portion of this year’s prestigious Hercules contest. This is the oldest (and largest?) natural bodybuilding contest in the country, and has been the stage where many of the sport’s top athletes have earned their WNBF Pro Cards! Being asked to serve as a judge for such a contest is something I view as quite an honor.
Apparently I’ve performed quite well at the previous shows I’ve been on the judging panel for, and I take this honor and task quite seriously. As a competitor, I know how difficult it is to train and diet for months in preparation of one day, and how something as simple as placing 8th vs placing 9th can make all the difference to someone.
I made sure the powers that be were aware that Cat will be competing in the women’s open division, and they said that the females would have a different set of judges. Also, the fact that Cat goes by her own last name, and isn’t seen around the sport at contests and seminars like I am, leads me to imagine that the female judging panel probably won’t even realize she’s my wife. Besides, at a show like this, you can’t really fudge the placings. The videos and photos get out as the contest plays out!
I have received quite a few jokey emails from competitors who know me on Facebook, asking how much money they should put in a suitcase in exchange for a pro-card -lol. Ahhh the problems of a bodybuilding judge 
S
An interesting little story from the contest I judged this past weekend:
As we were going through the men’s open middleweights, one competitor specifically stood out. I’ve seen some pretty damned large middleweights in my time, but this guy just took the cake. He was dense as hell, with very large pecs, legs, shoulder spans, and his skin was so paper thin you could practically see his blood pumping. As all of the folks on the judging panel have been around the sport for a while (as judges and as competitors), I think it’s safe to say that a lot of us had our suspicions. You can’t judge someone purely on suspicions though, so no matter how not-clean this particular fellow may have been, it wasn’t for us to decide. We just judged his physique, and if the urinalysis revealed anything amiss later on, then that’s that.
We quickly suspected that he also didn’t understand English. As the other competitors stood relaxed, he was grinning ear to ear, hitting his own poses, and completely ignoring the head judge’s instructions. His physique however, was so good that one of the judges was asked to do a quick little interview with the man in between the prejudging and the night show. During that time, another judge and myself decided to google our foreign friend on my Iphone. He had won several ‘Muscle Mania’ shows (infamous for not really being drug tested), and according to a few people in the audience (his wife?) he was a Mr. Universe winner from France and had traveled all the way to NY just to compete in the prestigious Hercules competition. The question though, was whether or not he understood that it was truly a drug tested show. Sure he had passed a polygraph beforehand, but did he really understand the questions he had been asked?
Fast forward to the evening show. I’m standing to the side of the stage behind the curtains to hand out trophies (it was actually pretty cool, they announced me as a former Hercules Champion and rattled off a few other larger shows I had won), and I see the backstage photographer shooting a zillions pics of our French Mr Universe. One of the expeditors leans over to me as says “photos won’t be much use when he fails the drug test.” Well, some time goes by, and I get my moment to present the now Middleweight winner his trophy. Standing next to him onstage I realize that he is certainly not of the dimensions of any other Middleweight I’ve stood alongside over the years. Whatever, nothing to do until the drug test I think to myself.
Long story short, he easily takes his class as well as the overall, and to be honest, it wasn’t something that seemed to sit well with any of the judging panel. The young kid who won the lightweight class and I have no doubt was in 2nd place in the overall posedown had competed in this contest many times. He’s taken 2nd place twice, 3rd once, and while he could have opted for an easier contest to try for a pro card in, he kept coming back to this one, knowing full well how tough it always is. It wasn’t a unanimous decision though, and it was definitely a hard call adhering to the standards 100% with such obvious suspicions looming in all of our heads.
Well, this morning I get a few emails and have a few online chats with other judges and WNBF staff from the show. I headed out shortly after the show wrapped as I was just famished and had a few buddies waiting around, so I missed what went down. Each class winner in this ‘super-pro-qualifier’ not only gets their WNBF pro card, but also a seriously badass war helmet as their 1st place trophy. In addition, the overall winner gets an engraved sword. All class winners have to stay after the event and provide a urine sample which is then sealed, signed, and sent to Quest labs where it is run through the most intensive list of banned substances of any ‘drug tested’ federation. Apparently “Mr Universe”, upon being told that he had to provide a sample, decided instead of take his sword and flee the premises instead of have his urine subjected to testing.
Now, in my book, refusing a test is the same as failing a test, and I can only assume the real higher ups in the federation are going to say something along the same line.
What really bothers me about the whole situation though, is the Lightweight winner who not only would have finally won his pro-card at the show that has always eluded him (he did anyway though), but he would have taken the overall, and gone back home with the ultimate victory at the contest he’s been competing in for years. Sure there will be adjustments to the final standings, not just the overall winner, but the Middleweight class where each competitor now moves up one spot. Still, IMO an enhanced competitor who steps into a tested arena is just a very low thing to do. While I can’t say for certain if he fully understood that this is a tested show (I heard it was explained before the prejudging during his polygraph test), how things went down just sullied was has long been a very respected show, and always brings the very best competitors.
S
Man, that sucks, 2nd place just had his moment stolen from him 
Forgive my ignorance, but why don’t they test before the show instead of after?
They do Polygraphs for the competitors before the contest, but the urinalysis has to be submitted to a lab, and the results don’t come back for a week or so.
S
Ahhh, makes sense.
Man, it’s pretty low to cheat in the first place, but to actually flee with the trophy? That’s a whole new level of low.
What a shame.
Stu, I dont know if you know this, or can share this if you do, but how much stock do they put in the polygraph test? To my understanding, in its current state its either useless or worse than useless because it can easily generate false positives based on any number of factors (nervousness, how the interviewer decided to ask Q’s, etc…). Obviously they test the urine later so they consider that a more definitive test, but I’m always curious what people expect to get out of a Polygraph based on the fact that its inherently a flawed test.
Crazy story though. While its nice everyone moves up a spot, it sure would have been nice to have all those people get the recognition they deserve at the show for the sake of their friends and family, and all the hard work they put into it. Thanks for sharing.
As much as I hate to say it, name & shame time?
[quote]238 wrote:
As much as I hate to say it, name & shame time?[/quote]
That’s how these things usually work. Sadly you can find many instances of competitors failing WNBF/Inbf drug tests only to magically decide to compete solely in another federation. As I’ve always said, I have no problem if someone chooses to make use of certain substances, whether legal or illegal to achieve their own goals, but by trying to slide past others who choose not to, well, it’s certainly not an honorable course of action as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve spoke to several judges/administration since the show, but until a final statement/decision is issued, I assume we’re all just holding our tongues.
S
Good point. Although with that said, do you think also broadcasting the bit about how he effectively stole the sword will have any effect? Personally I think that puts him in a class of his own when it comes to dishonourable behaviour.
Just spent the week in Vegas for a bachelor party and got to take in the UFC fight. My DPT brother works with Weidman, and I’ve met his trainer Jamal before (he instantly recognized me which was pretty cool), so long story short we got to hang with the champ all VIP style after his victory. Jamal and I will be training together once wre back in NY. Hopefully I’ll pick up some gems from this brilliant guy.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Just spent the week in Vegas for a bachelor party and got to take in the UFC fight. My DPT brother works with Weidman, and I’ve met his trainer Jamal before (he instantly recognized me which was pretty cool), so long story short we got to hang with the champ all VIP style after his victory. Jamal and I will be training together once wre back in NY. Hopefully I’ll pick up some gems from this brilliant guy.
A[/quote]
That’s awesome man! I’ve always found Anderson Silva extremely entertaining, but I gotta say he had it coming with his antics. Sounds like a great time, and looks like you were filling out that shirt pretty well!
[quote]238 wrote:
Good point. Although with that said, do you think also broadcasting the bit about how he effectively stole the sword will have any effect? Personally I think that puts him in a class of his own when it comes to dishonourable behaviour.[/quote]
Ok, official word on this: Just chatted with the guy who took 2nd in the Overall (I help this kid out a lot during the year, and he’s definitely a well mannered, respectful, excellent bodybuilder all around). He just got off the phone with the President of the WNBF, and was told that he is now the overall winner of the 2013 Hercules. They’re even replacing the sword that was awarded onstage and sending it to him, which is great, because it’s so disrespectful that the guy who failed his test ran off with it.
While I won’t throw up pics here bashing the ‘cheater’, I’m sure you’ll be able to find lots of crap about him on FB and other sites that follow contest results.
Just a shame that Cody Wyer (find some 2013 pics, the guy came shredded!!!) had his moment onstage stolen from him.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
[quote]238 wrote:
Good point. Although with that said, do you think also broadcasting the bit about how he effectively stole the sword will have any effect? Personally I think that puts him in a class of his own when it comes to dishonourable behaviour.[/quote]
Ok, official word on this: Just chatted with the guy who took 2nd in the Overall (I help this kid out a lot during the year, and he’s definitely a well mannered, respectful, excellent bodybuilder all around). He just got off the phone with the President of the WNBF, and was told that he is now the overall winner of the 2013 Hercules. They’re even replacing the sword that was awarded onstage and sending it to him, which is great, because it’s so disrespectful that the guy who failed his test ran off with it.
While I won’t throw up pics here bashing the ‘cheater’, I’m sure you’ll be able to find lots of crap about him on FB and other sites that follow contest results.
Just a shame that Cody Wyer (find some 2013 pics, the guy came shredded!!!) had his moment onstage stolen from him.
S[/quote]
Is that something that happens often?
Thanks for the update, I suppose that’s the best result that can happen in those circumstances. Good on them for also replacing the sword.