Mighty's Contest Updates & Q&A Thread

[The_Mighty_Stu]

[quote]starofdavid5 wrote:
mr. stu, considering you are a natural trainee and already lifting for 7 years, having sore muscles a day after a workout does that mean that muscles are still growing? or this is just a misconception of watching too much pumping iron…i know this question might sound dumb, but that is what i believe in my years of training…hope you could again shed some light.

Thanks in advance, mR. stu![/quote]

This is something that’s been discussed, argued, and theorized about quite a bit over the years. I think it’s safe to say that we all love to feel sore the day after a workout. It gives us a warm sensation that we did sufficient damage to our muscles that they must not adapt and grow. I’m certainly guilty of repeated poking and prodding a sore muscle, only to go “Ow!,… ahhh, that’s the stuff,” and smile imagining job well done.

The reality though is that soreness doesn’t really have any direct correlation to having stimulated muscle growth. Yes, I know that the general process of hypertrophy training is intended to create damage to the tissue, but we’re talking on such a microscopic level that it’s entirely possible to traing for years on end, making very noticeable size gains, and yet never be sore from a single workout.

I very rarely find myself sore at anymore. On the days where I find myself selecting a unique exercise, or approach I may not be used to, I may experience some discomfort the following day, but for the most part, I’ve followed a routine that has been exactly the same (or at least 95% of the time) since I started competing, and have packed on more size each successive year without experiencing much in the way of muscle soreness.

There’s a saying that when you train you want to do just enough to stimulate growth, and that anything more is counterproductive. If that’s true, I would think that going beyond that magic ‘growth line’ is where you start digging into the area that produces soreness the days following a training session.

S

[The_Mighty_Stu]

Little update on my recovery here…

So as of today, I am 8 weeks out of surgery. With the knowledge that my brother was back to full training in the gym at 16 weeks makes me feel good, having reached a half way marker of sorts.

At my PT session last night, we finally bumped things up in terms of actually doing more ‘real’ training movements as opposed to just rehabilitation stuff.

-Seated Cable Rows (very light, maybe 60 lbs, but felt great)
-Single Arm DB Rows while laying prone on a table (10 lb dumbells! I’m a monster!)
-Single Arm DB Stright Arm Pressdowns (while laying prone as well, same 10 pounder)

and some new stretches that really allow me to focus on the posterior shoulder capsule, which if it may have been a little tender before, it most certainly was during these stretches!

I was even told by Jessica that I can do a little tricep work at the gym. Of course my brother was there and offered to translate this into “meat-head” for me when he saw how excited I got at the notion of training anything in my upper body.

Jeff: Just pressdowns!
Me: Got it
Jeff: Shoulders pinched back, don’t turn them into presses
Me: I never do
Jeff: Nothing stupid heavy
Me: Got it
Jeff: Don’t be doing like 20 sets of pressdowns
Me:

I can’t wait -lol

S

[kravi]

I think I’d like to see you and your brother together over a beer. It would be a hoot.

Regardless, glad to hear things are progressing and the prognosis remains good! I’ll be very curious to see what you look like when you are given the all clear to start “truly” lifting again, and how long it takes to get back to where you were. Two months, huh? I can wait.

Good luck!

–Me

[The_Mighty_Stu]

[quote]kravi wrote:
I think I’d like to see you and your brother together over a beer. It would be a hoot.

[/quote]

Believe me, my two brothers are myself are quite an interesting group when together. We all have some interest in training, but the differences always rear up.

Jeff is the youngest, and a former baseball pitcher. He’s also a highly respected DPT,CSCS,Olympic Lifting Coach, and ART specialist. So he’s got the ‘real education’ credentials pretty wrapped up. Of course his one foray into bodybuilding competition entailed me coaching and fully doing his prep. So when he won his class, he found himself in the situation of having to admit that maybe I might still know a bit more than him when it comes to ‘this’ -lol.

My other brother Craig is the middle child, and was captain of the Varsity wrestling team, track team, and basketball team. Basically the all around jock of our family. He ended up getting injured (4 herniated discs in his back), and stopped wrestling his senior year in high school, only to enter an open meet his senior year in college and at a weight a good 60-70 lbs above his former competitive weight, win the event.

If any of the three of us had the genetics to be an athlete, it was Craig. Of course these days, he ‘enjoys’ himself quite a bit. Still trains hard, and walks around with arms that easily tape about 17", but not really concerned with having shredded abs if it means cutting back on partying. Last year, he wanted to enter one of those ‘physique transformation’ contests. So I designed a 12 week program for him.

He dropped 25 lbs while putting on a good deal of muscle, and suddenly I had all his friends emailing me for help. Of course he went right back to enjoying life after his transformation, but I’m sure he’ll pull things back a bit as he’s planning on getting married next Summer.
Few things annoy Jeff as much as when someone saying that Craig was the athlete in the family.

With me, well, before teaching, I was a professional animator for 12 years. Art was always my thing. Never cared about sports the way Craig and Jeff did, so for me to receive the success I have in bodybuilding competition, especially to be hailed as a ‘professional’ athlete, has been a running joke with the three of us. If you’ve ever watched the online video of my 1st pro card win back in 2010, at the very end you can hear Jeff giggling to Craig saying “Stu’s a professional athlete” -lmao

Of course we’re all pretty immature products of growing up in the 80’s, and are still very succeptible to pop culture, so we certainly have our favorite things that no one else seems to comprehend. A closeknit group, no question:)

[quote]
Regardless, glad to hear things are progressing and the prognosis remains good! I’ll be very curious to see what you look like when you are given the all clear to start “truly” lifting again, and how long it takes to get back to where you were. Two months, huh? I can wait.

Good luck!

–Me [/quote]

Thanks! I got to use some DBs for bent over rows yesterday as an alternative for seated cable rows. Sure they were only 15 pounds each, but it felt great! Even the little addition of tricep pressdowns at the end of my hamsting workouts has me getting fired up (Up to 40 lbs! -lol)

Jeff says that in 2 weeks, We’ll be incorporating some overhead work (pulldowns), but at a slight angle. Not sure if I’ll have full 180 degree ROM in the joint by then, or if they just don’t want to put pressure at that angle yet, but I’ll take whatever they let me do. I finally feel like I’m ‘moving’ a bit here. I know that up to now it’s been the issue of the surgical repair actually being fully ‘intact’, so I can’t whine too much.

Cat’s eyeing a couple of shows herself in the Spring, so I figure that I’ll be getting back to training while she’s prepping. All the more motivation to be smart, and focused while putting myself back together.

S

[kravi]

You know, I think you should be posting your recovery plans here. While it isn’t exactly prep for a show, I for one would find it educational. I’m curious as to how you progress after a surgery like that, and any pearls of wisdom you pick up during your recovery might be useful to the community at large.

Just a thought

Hope all is well.

–Me

[sesumatse]

Stu, Im impressed with your upper pec/delt tie in and width. What are a few of your favorite ways to build that up?
Much appreciated!