HIT Rob

Thanks ML:)

That's really cool Docakilah, am glad the CT videos has helped inspire someone else like they did me. I actually only stumbled on to his videos a couple of weeks ago myself, i loved his story, and how he "preaches" his thoughts, people like him could whip up anyone up into a motivational lather. Last week when training my biceps i actually began talking to my own arms lol, and nephew and training partner said to me "what are you smoken", i replied "SHOUT DA F**K UP, there's some growen going on over here" lol. The gym you train are sounds great also, there's not many gyms like that around anymore, nitty gritty hardcore gyms are were champions are made! Best wishes Rob P.S - noticed your new training log, great reading and i will be following your progress:)

LOL cool, CT is a real character, nearly all his videos are funny. I look for people like CT, even after open heart surgery and being brought back to life 3 times, he still hits the gym and gives it his all, i love that, i've also had / have several health issues, i found out this year i've an irregular heart beat, i'd a stroke when i was 24, i've a herniated disc in my lower back, and i have just one normal functioning kidney, despite this, its never stopped me doing what i wanted to do in life, i was in the British Army for 6 years, i did competitive kickboxing for 4 years, and i still train in H.I.T and Wing Tsun. As CT says, "I'd rather die doing what i love to do, than sitting on the couch watching TV":)

Indeed mate, as am sure you know, the theory of a given idea doesn't always work in application. I should have know better lol, Im actually taking this week off training, i was still feeling the effects of training 3 days in a row at the start of this week. On my return to training i'm gonna do what i've always found delivered me my best results, that is, training once every 4-7 days, my sweet spot is 5-6 days:)

Mike Mentzer told me (on many occasions), if being sore was necessary, He nor Ray (his brother who was a Mr America) would ever have won a physique title, as he nor Ray ever got sore from a workout. He said DOMS was not a sure fire indicator that growth has been stimulated. He also said that the pump was not a sure fire indicator that growth has been stimulated, but he did say they both felt good, and there was something to be said for that:).

Forgot to mention... Im sure the men i listed above were good decent human beings, they did / do not deserve what has happened to them, i must also say that allow pro bodybuilders do abuse steroids, they still train and work extremely hard to reach the goals in life, and its this i admire about them most. Pro bodybuilders have outstanding genetics, wouldn't it be brilliant to see just how great they can been as natural athletes. I recall Samir Bannout saying in an 80s interview " if you could take steroids out of bodybuilding all at once, the champion would remain the champion", it would be debatable, but i don't think he would be too far wrong. On a side note, Mike Mentzer was a steroid user in his competitive days, but later Mike spoke out against steroid abuse, he tried to advise / steer clients and his followers (for the want of a better term) away from using them, Mike wanted people to know that you didnt need steroids to achieve a more muscular physique. His training physiology was aimed at the natural athlete, it was for this very reason he really pushed the issue of recovery, as the natural trainee did/does not have recovery enhancing steroids to fall back on.

Hi ML, Ive Certainly No doubt that there was a combination of factors in all the above cases that contributed to their health issues and premature deaths, that said, i'm also certain their steroid "ABUSE" would not have help their situation's. Make no mistake, it is drug abuse. The point to the list of names is because i feel Dorian has been somewhat irresponsible in recent years, his willingness to tell people what he took, in what quantities, and telling the public in videos like above "12 years of steroid use has done me no harm" is ridiculous. Steroids imo, has ruined the sport of professional bodybuilding. I personally agree with a comment Vince Gironda made back in the 70s, he said he stopped attending pro bodybuilding contest's because they had become nothing more than pharmaceutical contests.

Some of the greats there, that was great, thanks for sharing Docakilah:) Yeap,the snap city one is brilliant lol

Thanks for sharing Maybenot, they were cool, love ma mma:)

Really? 41 views and no one has a favorite motivational video

Hi all I just love this guy, despite having open heart surgery, he still does what he loves to do... Heres some of my favorites video's from his channel... Whats your favorite motivational videos?

Hi T, As Lauren points out, Intense training is a must for increasing size and strength.... The stimulus MUST be severe enough to warrant an adaptive response from the body. Eat clean, and as exercise is merely the stimulus, insure you allow sufficient time for recovery AND overcompensation, ie growth. Best Rob

I attended a seminar of Dorian's back in May of 98, the seminar mostly revolved around the topic of steroids, something I've no interest in. That said he was a really down to earth individual, and had great sense of humor, very dry like myself lol. With regards to "his" health being good after 12 years of steroid use, the same can not be said for many other big names of that era Nasser El Sonbaty - died at 47 recently from kidney complications Flex Wheeler - kidney failure Andreas Munzer - died at 33, kidney and liver failure, and his heart was enlarged Mohammad Beneiza - Dead at 33, heart failure after an injection of clenbuterol Art Artwood - died at 38 of a massive heart attack Mike Materazzo - Triple heart by-pass 38, plus two heart attacks Tom Prince - Kidney failure Don Long - kidney failure Shaun Davies - kidney failure Derrick Whitsett - died from kidney failure Don Youngblood - died at 51, heart attack Sonny Schmidt - dead at 50, cancer Don "the rippler Ross", Died at 51, heart attack Curtis Lefflar - Died of heart attack, aged 36 Don Ross - Died at 51 of a massive heart attack Charles Durr - Died at 44, enlarged heart Eduardo Kawak - died at 47, heart attack Luke Wood, died at 35, kidney failure Kris Dim, heart attack and open heart surgery at the age of 37 Then there's the likes of Bertil Fox, Craig Titus and Sally McNeil that are all serving life for murder, the latter two blame steroids for their action's. And this is just the tip of the iceberg....

26-6-13 Legs... 1. BB Bench Squats 2. One Legged Squats (J-Reps 1/2's) 3. Romanian DL 4. Hip Belt raise (J-Rep 1/2's) 27-6-13 Arms & Shoulders 1. BB Curl (J-Rep 1/2's) 2. Triceps Pressdown (J-Rep 1/2's) 3. Hammer Curl 4. Dips (negative only) 5. D-B Lateral Raise (3-5 rep cluster sets) 6. Bent Over D-B Lateral Raise (3-5 rep cluster sets) Good workouts, though have to admit, i miss the machine workouts, i feel they lend themselves better to bodybuilding techniques. The training 3 days in a row was a bit too fatiguing, perhaps two days in a row for me would be better, but for now its a 5-6 days off for recovery:)

Am not a big fan of unilateral movements, but one legged squats are the bomb:)

Hey Ross, Up until a couple of years ago i'd a really bad knee injury, i couldn't leg press, squat or even do leg extension's (not even light weights), physio did nothing to help it neither. Believe it or not, what cured it (literally), was performing static holds on leg extension's and leg curl's, holding the weight in the contracted position (the strongest position). Once my knee started to feel a bit better, i started using static holds on the Leg Press, holding the weight in the position of maximum motor arm, after that it was partial rep squats, and before i knew it, i was back to using full range of motion again:) Every now and then i still use static holds. Static holds eliminate friction (a by product of movement), secondly, you not moving through position's of disadvantaged leverage, these are two of the main factors that play a big part in the wear and tear of joints and connective tissues. Best, and good luck Rob

25-6-13 Chest 1. Low Inline D-B Bench Press (J-Rep 1/3's) Bottom, mid, then top - 20 second rest pause between each zone - the top zone was the only zone trained to failure 2. Flat Bench D-B Flyes (J-Rep 1/2) - bottom stretched 1/2 only to near failure 20 second rest pause then... 3. Flat Bench D-B Presses (J-Rep 1/2) - top contracted 1/2 only to failure Back 1. Underhand Pulldown (1 1/4 reps) - to failure 2. D-B Pullover (J-Rep 1/2) - bottom stretched 1/2 only to near failure 20 second rest pause then... 3. Incline Bench D-B Rows (J-Rep half) - top contracted 1/2 only to failure ** Didn't bother counting reps, just focused on going to failure Just a few full range rep workouts was enough for me, am pining for more bodybuilding oriented techniques again, nothing creates the such a high level of congestion within the muscles better the J-Reps and 1 1/4 rep methods. I've decided to go ahead with my 3 day on / 4-5 day off experiment. Tomorrow it'll be Legs, then Wednesday will be Arms & Shoulders. Contemplating on adding some supplements into my diet plan, have't taken any in years, i've never used vegan supplements before, i'll give it some thought.

Hi ML, I've watched quite a few bodybuilding DVDS, my fav's were Markus Ruhl's - Made in Germany / Big & Loving it, and Chris Faildo - Hurricane warning. When it comes to info, Mike Mentzers underground seminar DVD is very good. Having said this, over the years i became less and less interested with pro bodybuilders, they do train hard, however they do also use ridiculous quantities of steroid's and HGH's, some of whom actually have the cheek to try to convince the fans they are natural.

Home Gym Leg Workout... 1. BB Bench / Box Squat 80kgs x 5 reps 100kgs x 5 reps 130kgs x 5 reps 2. One Legged Squat (J-Reps) 20kg x 3 sets of 12 reps per half (awesome pump) 3. Seated Calf Raise Machine 80kgs x 13 reps to failure (holding the weight in the contracted position for 2 seconds) Doesn't look like much on paper, but it was a Good brief and intense workout! Just getting used to BB Squats again, they felt real good, no lower back discomfort...i'll slowly work my way up on this one. Am not normally a fan of unilateral movements, but the one legged squat is one exercise i do like, the J-Reps provided a tremendous pump in the entire leg.

The body does a fantastic job at detoxifying itself without the need for juice fasts etc, that said, i do one or two 20-24hour fasts per week, but not so much for detoxing, rather.. for enhanced recovery. I noted better a better rate of recovery when i do short term fast's, lower blood pressure, lower resting heart rate, and improved cognitive abilities. As for raw food diets, i always recommend cooking food with ever possibly, for reasons explained in the doc... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY_vd4SNC-U

Bodybuilders don't necessarily require more time under load/tension, they require more contractions per unit of time, techniques such as zone training / J-Reps, and 1 1/4 reps are perfect for this specific goal. Such techniques are less strength orientated, and more focused on creating a greater level of congestion within the muscles in a shorter time frame, producing a better bodybuilding effect. Moreover a technique such as zone training keeps the tension consistent throughout the "entire" range of motion. There are other elements that come into play here aswell, training variation, genetics etc. Personally i feel a combination of such techniques mentioned above, along with power / strength training is best for the bodybuilder, if you look back to the bodybuilders of yesteryear, such as Reg Park, Steve Reeves, John Grimick, Chuck Sipes etc, you'll see these guys had developed outstanding physiques, but also, they were incredibly strong, and they were tremendously athletic for their size, they used a combination of powerlifting, cumulative fatigue, and hypertrophy specific training. In more modern times, the likes of Mike O Hearn's powerbuilding approach is ideal. Best of both worlds. With regards to lower back issues, I also have a herniated disc, on most days i'm in a degree of pain. I have't to admit though, i was too quick to dismiss squats and deads completely from my routine, i now see that was a BIG mistake. True, you can hit the legs well using leg presses, leg extension, leg curls etc, but without squats and deadlifts (or variations of them), one can really develop a weak link in the lower back, or worsen an already weak link. For me Hip Belt Squats, Bench / box squats, Romanian deadlifts and even trap bar deads work just fine. No discomfort. Best Rob

Hi ML, Sorry i know this is an older post... If there's one thing i learned from Mike Mentzer, it was about the issue of recovery. Mike made it very clear, the stronger you become, the greater the energy output, this means more recovery time is required. The strongest i ever become was while using Mikes Consolidation Routine, i trained just once a week to begin with, as my strength increased, my frequency was decreased, eventually training once every 10 days. My strength went up in leaps and bounds like never before. Mike told me he had some of his clients at Golds training just once every 2-3 weeks (these individuals were those who had reached the upper limits of their genetic potential or individuals that just didn't tolerate high intensity stress very well), this was how Mike kept these individuals getting stronger. Best Rob

Very good, your managing the training stress well... I've actually decided to start training with free weights exclusively again (in my father-in-laws garage), totally agree with your thoughts on squats and deads, though i have to modified the squat and deadlift for my bodytype, am 6'4 with a long torso and have a herniated disc that like's to flair up every now and then. But I love bench squats, hip belt squats and Romania deads, these babies work really well for me. Keep up the good work Best Rob

17-6-13 3rd workout of my split Shoulders & Arms (Home Gym)....11pm 1. D-B Lateral Raise (slight pause at the top / no swinging) 2 x 12.5kgs - 11 reps + 2 partials to failure 30 second rest, then... 2. Bent Over D-B Laterals (slight pause at the top / no swinging) 2 x 12.5kgs 10 reps + 1 partials to failure 1 minute rest, then 3. BB Curls (4-4 cadence) 42.5kgs x 7 reps to failure one minute rest, then... 4. Triceps Press-down (4-4 cadence) 42.5kgs x 10 reps to failure supersetted with... 5. Negative only Dips (4-6 second lowers) BW + 15kgs x 6 reps to negative failure Enjoyable workout, contemplating on cancelling my gym membership and just training full time in my father-in-laws garage. Its nice not having to wait on a piece of equipment, its well equipped, free, and its open 24/7.