Bodybuilding contest training: Comparing Off-Season and On-Season Practices by Jerry Brainum 7/19

 

The dietary and training strategies used by competitive bodybuilders have often been deemed "unscientific" by many self-styled "experts." Many such experts. although they have advanced degrees, such as doctorates, have never set foot in a gym. As such, they have little idea of what really works in real-world bodybuilding practice. Indeed, many of the suggestions they offer, especially in regard to nutrition and exercise, are not often practiced by bodybuilders and athletes simply because they don't work. On the other hand, a major problem with current information about what constitutes effective bodybuilding training and nutrition practices is that it's based mostly on anecdotal information, as in "It works for me." But what works for one person may do nothing at all for another, and may even result in a loss of muscle mass. A good example of this is various training routines, diets, and worst of all, anabolic drug regimes offered on various websites and blogs, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, other social media platforms, and in various bodybuilding forums. The truth is that anyone can anoint themselves as an "expert" on the Internet, and the advice they provide could be either complete lies or just "Bro science" garbage based on nothing. Indeed, from what I've seen, most such advice falls into those categories.

This creates a dilemma for anyone who seeks accurate advice on how to build muscle mass or lose excess body fat. Based on my 58 years of consistent study and actual training experience (which to my knowledge, isn't matched by any current "experts"), I would say the answer to figure out how to effectively train and diet requires a combination of experience through trial and error, along with studying various techniques that have proved to be effective over the years. Indeed, some suggested ways to build added muscle will work for anyone, regardless of genetic predispositions to build muscle. I've used most of these techniques myself, and have observed others use them and make consistent gains in muscular size and strength. One such technique is the venerable Progressive Resistance Training principle. Simply put, this refers to always attempting to make some kind of progress in your training, and not complacently doing the same thing over and over again. One way to employ this method is to try to increase the amount of weight you use on any particular exercise. Muscle gains are made by a gradual imposition of stress onto the trained muscles, causing the body to produce adaptive changes to compensate for that added stress. It does this is by increasing the thickness of existing muscle fibers, which is recognized as muscular hypertrophy or growth. Although more recent studies have suggested that you can develop an equal amount of muscle mass through lifting relatively light weights, or about 30 to 40% of one-rep maximum, if you do higher reps in the range of 25 and up and do . . .