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Here’s the secret of bodybuilding (lean close, listen carefully): there is no secret. There it is. Revel in its simplicity. The surest path to success rarely lies close to the edge. Still, for some, bodybuilding is an extreme sport. Some bodybuilders (some of them much bigger than you) train, eat and live on the edge–or at least that’s the way the stories go. In true “Mythbuster” style, we set out to determine the veracity of bodybuilding’s 10 strangest legends. Eat light and fasten your lifting belt, for we’re going where sets, reps and calories have no known limits. What’s true, what’s not and what does it all mean?

#1 Jay Cutler frequently eats more than 10 times per day and wakes up three times at night to eat.

True.

Cutler tends to eat every two and a half hours throughout the day and night. He will set his alarm clock to ring two or three times during the night so he can get up, eat and return to bed, only to wake up and eat again two and a half to three hours later. Some other pros follow a similar schedule. We can’t tell you this is a bad idea, for keeping your body in a protein-rich anabolic state is the best way to fuel muscular gains. However, we can tell you it’s a bad idea for our average reader to pursue bodybuilding to this extent. If you’re not a pro, keep your eating and training in balance with other aspects of your life. Six or seven protein-rich meals per day (including shakes) will suffice, and rest easy with a full night of sleep.

Jay Cutler -Warrior

#2 Roy Callender did more than 80 sets for bodyparts.

True.

Callender, a top pro bodybuilder in the late ’70s and early ’80s, regularly did 65 to 85 sets for large bodyparts like back and around 40 sets for small bodyparts like biceps. What’s more, he worked each bodypart twice a week and trained at least two bodyparts during each workout, often spending more than six hours a day in the gym doing more than 120 total sets. He’s not the only barbell marathoner. Before winning the 1951 Mr. America, Roy Hilligenn trained more than eight hours per day (in two sessions) and frequently did nothing but shoulder presses for four hours! As part of his “Intensity of Insanity” training system, 1972 Mr. America Steve Michalik (and protege John DeFendis, 1988 USA champ) sometimes did more than 90 sets for bodyparts.

Callender and Michalik contend they tried training with less volume, but achieved their best gains via marathon workouts. It’s possible that there are unusual individuals who respond best to endurance weight training.

However, in the two decades since Callender was at his peak, training science has highlighted the importance of limiting volume and workout time and maximizing recovery. For most, a routine with upward of 18 intense sets for bodyparts and more than 90 minutes of continuous weight training will spark overtraining and bring about only diminished gains.

#3 Jim Park consumed 2,000 protein pills per day.

Likely false.

Park, like Reg Park (no relation), was one of the best bodybuilders of the ’50s. He won the 1952 Mr. America and Mr. World titles and the 1954 NABBA Pro Universe. With no more Worlds or Universes to conquer, Park retired from competition at 26. Not only was Park’s physique ahead of its time, but so was his high-protein low-carb diet and practice of eating six times per day. His supplementation, however, doesn’t fit in any known time or place.

In multiple interviews, Park claimed he took 2,000 of Irvin Johnson’s protein tablets daily–we find that hard to swallow.

The tablets were about the diameter of a nickel–just pondering so many doses, basically a bucketful, can make a throat and stomach sore. The pills lacked nutritional stats, but even if we estimate that each contained only one gram (g) of protein, that still adds up to a staggering daily total of 2,000 g from supplements alone. Park’s story aside, there are limits to the amount of protein a person can digest in a day and in individual meals. The excess will either be excreted or converted to fat, and extreme amounts can place undue stress on the digestive system. We recommend consuming 1-1 1/2 g of protein per pound of your bodyweight per day, spread out over six or seven meals (including protein shakes) and typically no more than 50 g per meal. So, if you weigh 200 pounds, 240 g of daily protein in six meals (40 g per meal) would be an appropriate amount.

#4 Mike Mentzer grew by doing only one set per bodypart.

False.

Mentzer, 1976 Mr. America, created the Heavy Duty system of high-intensity training (HIT). In the final years before his death in 2001, he did indeed advocate one working set per bodypart as the ideal, although the clients Mentzer trained then typically did two or three sets per bodypart. When he was competing in the late ’70s, he stated in articles that he did four to six working sets per bodypart, and observers claim he often did six to 10 sets (still much less than the norm then). This isn’t to say Mentzer was a phony. His writing in later years when he was no longer training was often too theoretical and dogmatic as he advocated increasingly less volume.

A set so intense it can thoroughly exhaust muscles remains theoretical, but, in reality, training simply requires more work.

Still, in a broader sense, Mentzer’s HIT system, based on Arthur Jones’ teachings, revolutionized bodybuilding. Only a few champs, most notably Dorian Yates, followed his philosophy (Yates typically did only one working set per exercise, preceded by warm-ups), but you only have to look at the way most bodybuilders trained in 1980 versus 1995 to see that Mentzer’s and Yates’ emphasis on less volume, greater intensity and longer recovery time dramatically altered workout programs.

#5 Ronnie Coleman has squatted and deadlifted 800 pounds.

True.

Bodybuilders have long made dubious claims of hoisting astonishingly large weights, but the evidence of Coleman’s world-class strength is in his own training videos. In The Unbelievable (shot in September 2000), he deadlifts 805 for two reps. In The Cost of Redemption (shot in August 2003), he squats one rep with 800 pounds. These are both anomalies, however, performed for the camera’s benefit, for although they demonstrate his tremendous strength, they don’t represent his typical training style. In fact, although Coleman uses prodigious weights, he almost always aims for 10 reps per set.

He sometimes does more, but seldom does less. Likewise, you should do sets of fewer than six reps sparingly. For muscle growth, most of your sets should be in the eight to 12 range.

Ronnie Coleman – 800 lbs Deadlift

#6 Steve Michalik ate monkey brains.

True.

In going public with his psychological addiction to bodybuilding drugs, Michalik made some outlandish claims. The craziest of all is that he ate monkey brains for the purpose of elevating his growth-hormone levels. In the early ’80s, he acquired dead monkeys from pre-med and pre-veterinary students and ate the brains (sauteed with garlic) in an effort “to extract the hormonal fluid from the pituitary gland and hence grow like a gorilla.” It didn’t work as planned. He goes on to say, “I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, unless you want to experience some weird growth in places.” (We’ll leave that comment alone.) Fresh monkey brains top the list, but they have a lot of company on the roster of bizarre foods bodybuilders have swallowed in a quest to elevate anabolism. Some physique champs of lore ate animal testicles; glandulars made from dehydrated bull testes were once popular supplements. Armand Tanny, 1950 Mr. USA, followed an all-raw diet, consuming beef steaks and liver uncooked, and Johnny Fuller blended raw liver and drank it like a smoothie. Remember, there is no secret, so there is no “magic food.” The best bodybuilding diet focuses on the basics: protein (from foods such as eggs and lean meat) and complex carbohydrates (from foods such as oatmeal and brown rice).

#7 Arnold Schwarzenegger’s calves were injected with silicone.

False.

Schwarzenegger’s lower legs went from perhaps his weakest bodyparts circa 1969 to two of his strongest by the 1973 Mr. Olympia. The rumor that the dramatic change was the result of injections or implants has percolated for more than 30 years. If used in significant quantities, any injected substance will smooth out muscles. As for calf implants, they rest under the gastrocnemius and, instead of expanding the muscles’ diameters, they simply push them outward.

In contrast, as seen in Pumping Iron, Schwarzenegger’s calves were sinewy and full in all directions.

Other bodybuilders have obviously had calf implants, and some champions have admitted to Synthol use to inflate bodyparts (both measures are against the rules of the NPC and the IFBB). Schwarzenegger, however, was blessed with relatively low calf attachments, and when he put in the hard work with a lot of sets and a lot of weight, they responded. The seven-time Mr. O says it takes 500 hours of cumulative work to build great calves, and when you figure he was training them for 30 to 45 minutes four times per week, you understand how his calves made their gradual and eventually dramatic progression during the Nixon years.

#8 Johnny Fuller wrapped himself in trash bags for hours before contests.

True.

Fuller, a pro competitor in the early ’80s who recently passed away, would sometimes enshroud himself in plastic trash bags the night before a contest and then try to sleep as his body sweat out water. Frank Roberson creates his own sauna with the clothes dryer in his garage and sometimes blow-dries his skin hours before contests; others have blow-dried their skin backstage to enhance vascularity. Competitors need to beware of the severe dangers of dehydration when shedding water for a contest. Except in the final week before a competition or photo shoot, bodybuilders should always be sure to ingest more than enough water for growth and health. Losing subcutaneous water is only a short-term and temporary means of enhancing definition.

#9 Victor Richards regularly consumed 30,000 calories daily.

False.

Richards now contends that the famous claim was taken out of context, and that when he stated this, he was only estimating that 30,000 calories were the most he consumed in one day (due to the calorie-dense Nigerian foods he liked to eat). No matter your metabolism, the majority of 30,000 daily calories would be stored as blubber.

A 280-pound man would have to run for just under 24 hours straight at six miles per hour (144 miles total) to burn all 30,000!

Richards contends that his calories were typically in the high but not mind-boggling 6,000 to 8,000 range. To gain muscle, you should ingest closer to half that many daily calories (depending on your current bodyweight), but if you focus on getting enough lean protein and limiting high-fat high-sugar foods, you shouldn’t need to count calories.

#10 Tom Platz squatted 500 pounds for 23 reps.

True.

At an exhibition in 1991, Platz (appearing to weigh less than 220) squatted 23 reps with 500 pounds (five plates on each side, plus collars). The feat was videotaped. At his best in the early ’80s, Platz was legendary for utilizing high reps and, eventually, partial reps during high-intensity marathon sets. Others have followed a similar course. Idrise Ward-El frequently does more than 20 full reps per set and another 20 pulses (partial reps), and for decades, Irvin “Zabo” Koszewski did 1,000 continuous crunches and 1,000 continuous leg raises daily. Unless you attack with Platzlike intensity, it can be difficult to exhaust your muscles with very high reps. In addition, Jim Stoppani, PHD, explains that marathon sets can send signals to your muscles instructing them to shrink in order to increase their endurance capacities. Sets of 20 or more reps are effective for shocking complacent bodyparts, but, as with very low reps, use them only occasionally. Most of your sets should remain in the ideal eight- to 12-rep range.

Amazing – 23 Reps (500lbs)

Life On The Edge

Whether it’s plowing through six-hour workouts, allegedly downing 2,000 protein pills or dining on sauteed monkey brains, bodybuilders have gone to extremes in a quest for extreme growth. As we have shown, many of the strangest gym legends are true, and yet we cannot recommend any of their courses of action as a long-term strategy. “The secret” is out. A moderate approach that avoids the treacherous edges on either side is truly the fastest and healthiest route to muscular growth.

References:
COPYRIGHT 2010 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2010 Gale, Cengage Learning
Flex Magazine
www.flexonline.com

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