Yep, the article is true. Still train the same way today. It really wouldn't take much to get back in contest shape, never really that far off anyway.
Well let's examine it from this perspective. If you can squat 550 for 12 you are a certified bad-ass. End of story. You can only look so bad if you squat 550 for 12, and you know he isn't talking half-reps. I think this is key here. I also remember that in Levrone's very first leg training article (the one that accompanied this picture here) they said his squat routine before his rookie-year NOC win looked like this:
135x20
225x20
315x20
405x20
495 (500)x15-20
585 (or let's just say 600) x12-15
I remember that the only damn thing that convincing me that Kevin might could do that was seeing his wheels at the time. Otherwise it was just inconceivable.
And let's also examine just how far from 550 x five or six 550 x 12 really is. That's night and day. 12 reps means that your first 8 look relatively textbook. If you're claiming you can do it for 5 or 6, it means that one time at the gym on a dare you chalked up with your belt about to crush you and your face was blue and it was a fight or flight mechanism that got you through the first 3. The next 2 or 3 were just by virtue of your being numb from the shock of feeling that sort of weight at the bottom of the first couple.
Man I'm gettin' fired up over here...
Man you guys keep thinking "supps" just makes training easier. Some things NEVER GET EASIER and this perfectly illustrates that point. The more you can do the farther into that zone you can go, and the deeper you go the deeper you wanna go...
"We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been..." --Tool, "Lateralus"
Ha ha ha oh brother where's my Valeo belt oh brother epic example of beasthood oh my