Wow… Nobody had a bigger influence on me as a lifter than Mr. Poliquin. When anybody has ever asked me for advice, I steer them towards anything Poliquin and Waterbury wrote. Beyond, what those guys have said, I have nothing to add, especially for advanced lifters. I still use his techniques and won’t stop because they work. He’s part of why I stopped posting in the lifting forums. What am I going to tell somebody that Poliquin hasn’t already said a million times? What is somebody going to tell me that I haven’t already read about?
Brilliant man!
God Bless him and may he rest in peace.
I agree it’s not appropriate to, even if tempting, to speculate on the cause of death, when all know is what was stated which was a heart attack.
There are many heart conditions that are not detectable from standard check up’s or tests.
It’s very possible he was healthy as horse, one day and have a fatal heart attack. He was a young guy. And the world lost a genius.
Those of you who are not familiar with his work, read everything you can of what he wrote. You cannot go wrong and you will make gains if you follow his advice.
I am sad he’s gone. He’s forgotten more about training than most of us will ever know.
Don’t get me wrong, there are many good coaches, but Charles Poloquin changed the game. He invented many of the techniques a lot of coaches recommend now. He was years ahead of his time and he took some crap for it. But he stood his ground and his principles have gone on and become standards in the industry, he got results.
I wish I could unlock everything he knew. I am certain he still had some gems left.
Not to start a whole thing but, why should the cause not be discussed? It has been done with every wrestler, bodybuilder, etc. that has died. Steroids has never been the initial reported cause but, it was talked about and allowed. Dallas Mccarver was first thought to have died from choking but, people still went on about all the shit he was on.
Because it’s disrespectful rumor-mongering that’s in poor taste and has no place in a thread memorializing a literal legend in the field. Take it to another thread, like Unreal said is already around.
GVT, his intense calf routines, the one-day arm cure, his 49 different Question of Strength articles on the site, Biosig… there are plenty of things to discuss about Poliquin that don’t involve anything like “maybe he did something and it contributed to something” gossip. So, yeah, it’s not the place.
EDIT, because it’s stuck in my craw: Don’t overlook the fact that the man actually worked here for years, starting from Day One. He was the first coach to write for T Nation and played a none-too-small role in setting the ground for what it was and what it’s become. So, sure, I’m going go to say that in this house he’s given more respect than any wrestler, bodybuilder, or whoever.
What did Charles Poliquin do for GVT? I actually totally forgot about german volume training, it’s like… super difficult, the DOMS from doing legs GVT style… my god… it really is just the worst (GVT), but it works, maybe not as bad as 20 rep squats, but I’ve never done those. I’ll be honest and say I’m not well versed on Charles Poliquin’s writings, I’ll do some reading.
Which he deserves. I was there in the begining, I was seldom left gobsmacked over training articles. This guy came up with stuff, backed it up with why it usually works, then I try it and it’s every thing he said it was.
He’s a legend in my book. I got way stronger then I thought I could using his principles. What’s more is all this information was free.
Very sorry to hear. Condolences to his family and friends. I’m familiar with some of his writings but in any case sad to hear regardless and much worse knowing he has a young child.
He totally re-popularized it and pulled people’s attention towards it for muscle-building. It started with weightlifting coaches in the 1970s (unrelated to Vince Gironda’s work with similar volume) but Poliquin brought GVT back into the spotlight in the mid-to-late '90s.