I trained a while ago at Temple Gym, and some bodybuilders told me you were advised two weeks before beginning a steroid cycle to reduce 400-500 kcal. I wonder why? And which macros should one reduce the macronutrient calories from— protein, carbohydrates, or fats?
I never gave any such advice, mate. Various statements have been attributed to me over the years that I can assure you never came out of my mouth, and this is one of them. I don’t really see the logic in such advice, except that maybe by reducing protein intake substantially for a couple weeks, perhaps the body would absorb and utilize it better once you return to the normal (high) intake. But I would just forget about this alleged advice.
Dorian, I’ve just started using the “1 set to complete failure” training program. My mates think I’m mad. I’ve always done less sets than everyone I know (5-7 sets per muscle group), and have always had good results. I was just curious whether to include cardio in my program. I train Monday (chest/bi’s/tri’s), Wednesday (back/shoulders/calves), and Friday (quads/hams/grip forearms). I was wondering if I did cardio on Tuesday and Thursday, would that be too much?
It should be fine as long as you don’t do an excessive amount and you don’t make the cardio too intense. Thirty-minute sessions at a moderate pace that has you breathing heavier and breaking a sweat, yet not gasping for air or drenched in perspiration, is about right. Cardio done in this way won’t cause you to overtrain or impede your gains. Rather, it should actually assist in recovery due to improved circulation and transportation of waste products (out) and nutrients (in) for the muscles. Having decent cardiovascular conditioning will also allow you to train harder on certain exercises like squats and deadlifts that incur a heavy oxygen debt. If you’re not in good cardio shape, it’s not uncommon for a lifter to end a set of a heavy back or leg exercise simply because they couldn’t catch their breath rather than their muscles were truly fatigued. So by all means, do some cardio— a little goes a long way!
Hey, Dorian— I was wondering if when you used to do leg press, did you ever have a problem with one of your quads going into a really hard cramp? When I do a set of leg presses to failure, my left quad tightens up really bad and it feels like it’s going to tear. I don’t get anything like this in my right quad, only the left— and it only happens on the leg press. I can go to failure on leg extensions, hack squats, and squats with no problem— but because of the pain in my left quad, I can’t do the same on the leg press. I’ve cut out the leg presses for the time being. Any other suggestions?
You will need to have an MRI performed to be sure, but from what you are describing it sounds like you may already have a partial tear in your left quadriceps. Usually when anything feels as if it’s about to tear, it is! And you would be surprised how long you can go with a partial tear and not even realize it. That was the situation with my triceps. We usually think of muscle tears as sudden and traumatic events, but in many cases the full tear is merely the final step of a process that may have been in motion for many months. I’m only guessing in your case, of course. There are any number of things that could be responsible for what you are experiencing, among them nerve damage. This is definitely a matter that requires serious medical attention before it gets any worse.
What do you think of using instant oats in a shake? Is it a decent alternative to a solid-food carb source? In school, it’s hard to always make food in the morning to take with me!
That’s absolutely a viable alternative to eating oatmeal. I used to make whey protein shakes with instant oats as well, mainly because it was a quick and easy way to take in the protein and carbs I needed when I didn’t have time to sit down and eat a proper meal.
Dorian, what was your strategy for bringing up weaker/lagging body parts? Most other styles of training would have you hit that body part more often, which I assume by your philosophy would be a mistake.
Let’s just start with one truism that few can argue with. Doing the same thing you have been doing will not elicit a different result. So something does have to change in the way you train a body part that isn’t responding. You are correct in assuming that I don’t believe the answer is to just do more for the muscle group in question; training it more frequently, with higher volume, or both. If that were the solution, anybody could simply train their stubborn parts for hours every day, and in no time flat the formerly weak body part would be spectacular. Clearly, that strategy doesn’t work or else every bodybuilder would be doing it.
What I feel is the best way to bring up a lagging area is to prioritize it. Train it first on a day that follows a day of complete rest from the weights. This provides it the most advantageous environment for you to train it with maximum energy, focus, and intensity. Don’t do more sets or exercises, but work those few sets very hard. After reaching positive failure, continue on with forced reps, rest-pause, or negative-only reps. Don’t do all of these at once, of course!
It’s also advisable to back off a bit on your overall volume and intensity for other muscle groups while you are specializing on a problem area. That’s hard for a lot of bodybuilders as they love to train their stronger muscle groups, but you must keep in mind that the ultimate goal here is a balanced physique. Think in terms of maintaining those stronger areas whilst you strive to improve the weaker ones. This is key, because with the increased intensity you’ll be applying to the lagging body part or body parts, your nervous system will be taxed to a greater degree than normal. Only by backing off a bit on your other muscle groups can you be sure of full and thorough recovery so that growth can take place.
I wonder if you ever experienced aggression while doing HIT training? I’ve noticed when my intensity is very high, I have a certain amount of aggressiveness in me between sets. Did you ever feel this, and how did you deal with it?
Well, of course I felt aggression! But I channeled it into my workout. Mine was never a blind, mindless rage, but a very focused and measured aggression that put me in exactly the perfect mental and physical state to put out maximum effort. I never had any issues with that aggression affecting anything else. If you do, and I’m being totally serious, it’s possible you have issues that might benefit from some sort of anger management class or therapy.
