If I had it to do over (bodybuilding related)

[Pray_4_War]

If I could do it all again I would try lifting with super high reps for the first 6 months or a year.  Like 50 plus rep sets, 75 reps, maybe 100.  I'd do this in order to build a better mind/muscle connection. 

I think in my early years of bodybuilding I was pretty much just moving the weight and not getting good muscle contractions.  I lifted moderate heavy to heavy and I gained some strength and some mass but it took me many years to be able to really feel my muscles working.  I could be wrong, but I think super high reps in the early stages would have helped me make more progress and make it quicker.  It's almost all a waste of time because I was drug free and my gains were modest but I wish I could test this theory. 

I train sometimes now with these super high reps and I've made some pretty good progress with it even as a 40 year old dude.  I realize now that even though I thought I was training hard at age 18 I was really just fucking around.  I was reading all this bullshit in bodybuilding magazines and it took me a long time to understand the reality of training as a natural.  I had fun, but the truth is I wasted a lot of time and a lot of money following bullshit "advices".

[illuminati]

If I had my Time again I'd do my Bodybuilding Competitions before my power-lifting
And I'd of started on PED's many years earlier.
I might of won a couple of world power lifting championships / or turned pro as a Bodybuilder.
Ahh well it was Not to be.
Still I'm happy with my national titles in both & competing for UK internationally.

Hindsight such a wonderful Thing. or Piss Me off.

[Matt]

I would have maybe just allowed myself to pursue it, and not been as brainwashed by rat studies showing that caloric deficits are healthier.

Then I wouldn't be so terrified over increasing my body weight behind the overweight level [technically, 170-lb is overweight for me at my height, according to the BMI].

I also wouldn't have bothered at all to "bring up weak points".

In the couple of good areas I have [shoulders/triceps], I would have trained in the hypertrophy rep range.

In all other areas, I would have trained in the strength rep range.

And I wouldn't have been so afraid of PED's, possibly.

Do you ever fully get your balls back if you use massive amounts of PED's? I've only ran tiny cycles for very short periods, and I was always worried about that if I had done anything stronger/longer.

[Virgil]

I'd use much lighter weights, better form and higher reps...been at it since 1975

[ThisisOverload]

If I could do it all again I would try lifting with super high reps for the first 6 months or a year.  Like 50 plus rep sets, 75 reps, maybe 100.  I'd do this in order to build a better mind/muscle connection. 

I think in my early years of bodybuilding I was pretty much just moving the weight and not getting good muscle contractions.  I lifted moderate heavy to heavy and I gained some strength and some mass but it took me many years to be able to really feel my muscles working.  I could be wrong, but I think super high reps in the early stages would have helped me make more progress and make it quicker.  It's almost all a waste of time because I was drug free and my gains were modest but I wish I could test this theory. 

I train sometimes now with these super high reps and I've made some pretty good progress with it even as a 40 year old dude.  I realize now that even though I thought I was training hard at age 18 I was really just fucking around.  I was reading all this bullshit in bodybuilding magazines and it took me a long time to understand the reality of training as a natural.  I had fun, but the truth is I wasted a lot of time and a lot of money following bullshit "advices".

I think most of us did the same thing. When i started lifting in high school it was due to playing sports. The coaches wanted us to be heavy and strong. We never did more than 8 reps on anything, lots of sets in the 3-5 rep range. I did get strong, but i never really understand the mind/muscle connection until many years later.

If i could do it all over again, i would never have gotten into competitive power lifting, due to injuries i'm dealing with today nearly 20 years later. And i would have trained mainly in the 10-15 rep range. Use mostly DB's. Also, i would have focused on eating clean and staying lean most of the year.

I think high reps have a place, but what i've noticed is my form goes to shit after about 20 reps on anything.

I always tell new lifters to train for a pump and learn how to stimulate and flex your muscles correctly. Learn the proper range of motion for constant tension.

But everyone just wants to max out on bench and call it a week.

[Hypertrophy]

I'd never lift less than 10 reps per set and focus more on about 15. It's better on the joints and I have gotten bigger since I started with higher reps. I set a limit of 20 reps tho because it gets to feel more like endurance past that.


I'd also stick to doing just one exercise per muscle group per workout. As a natural more doesn't mean better.

[Grape Ape]

Yeah, I would have learned about cycling weights, learning better form, and keeping flexible.

All we did was lift heavy almost every time in the gym.

[a_pupil]

I would have stayed lean, and kept away from the perma bulking theorists like doggcrapp et al.

[joswift]

I never really gave it 100%

I still dont, its a hobby..

[Rambone]

If I had to do it all over again, I would’ve stacked vanadyl sulfate and chromium picolinate

[Henda]

Would have not stuck with the Stuart mcRobert “abbreviated” training so long. No direct arm training was a fucking disaster and was incredibly boring doing 5 or so exercises a week

[dexitrim]

If I had to do it all over again, I would’ve stacked vanadyl sulfate and chromium picolinate

^^^^^ This lol

[Taffin]

If I had to do it all over again, I would’ve stacked vanadyl sulfate and chromium picolinate

Edgy - you've got balls, Son - I'd have stuck with good ole plain Mumie


As for training, I'd probably have tried throwing in some partial range reps/pumping - I was always a full stretch to full contraction kind of guy, and built my strength up with progressive overload and a notebook and pencil I took to the gym religiously for 3 years (oh brother).  When I (finally stopped being such a form Nazi and) tried just mid-range pumping, my joints felt better and I got 'rounder' if that makes sense?  (Of course, it could have been the Parabolan )

[GymnJuice]

I would have given up the weights, learned to play the guitar, grown my hair long, wore skinny jeans, and banged all the chicks with daddy issues while mooching off of them 

[Getbiger of the past Bast]

Ronnie Coleman didn't exactly train with high reps and light weight with slow controlled form, and he grew pretty damn well.    I think genetics vary a lot and that is big factor..   I think some people can train more frequently than others and recover at different rates.  There are so many factors.  For example.. are drop sets without rest better than doing sets spaced out with the same amount of weight?

[robcguns]

Prob wouldn’t have trained at all.

[bhank]

There was an teenager lifter who swallowed a fly.
I dunno why he swallowed that fly,
Perhaps he'll die.

There was a young man who swallowed a spider,
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside him.
He swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why he swallowed that fly -
Perhaps he'll die.

There was an young man who swallowed a bird;
How absurd, to swallow a bird!
He swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside hIM.
he swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why he swallowed that fly -
Perhaps he'll die

There was a soldier who swallowed a cat.
Imagine that, he swallowed a cat.
he swallowed the cat to catch the bird ...
he swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside him.
He swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why he swallowed that fly
Perhaps he'll die

There was a business man who swallowed a dog.
What a hog! To swallow a dog!
he swallowed the dog to catch the cat...
he swallowed the cat to catch the bird ...
he swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside him.
he swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why he swallowed that fly
Perhaps he'll die.

There was a middle aged man who swallowed a goat.
Just opened his throat and swallowed a goat!
he swallowed the goat to catch the dog ...
he swallowed the dog to catch the cat.
he swallowed the cat to catch the bird ...
he swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside him.
he swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why he swallowed that fly
Perhaps he'll die.

There was an old man who swallowed a cow.
I don't know how he swallowed a cow!
he swallowed the cow to catch the goat...
he swallowed the goat to catch the dog...
he swallowed the dog to catch the cat...
he swallowed the cat to catch the bird ...
he swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside him.
he swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why he swallowed that fly
Perhaps he'll die.

There was an old man who swallowed a horse -
he's dead, of course.

I wouldn't have swallowed the fly nah that's a lie

[Pray_4_War]

Just to clarify my earlier post.  I would train using light weights and super high reps to develop mind/muscle connection but only in the beginning stages of my training.

After that I would train heavy with medium to low reps.  I'm not denouncing heavy training, I'm just saying for me I think I would have benefited from being able to feel the muscles a little more.

I knew about the mind muscle connection early on but it took me a long time to develop it.  I heard Arnold talk about it but he was talking a lot in terms of visualization.  I don't have much of an imagination.

[Coach is Back!]

I would have competed more when I was younger

[POB]

Imho sweet spot for upper body reps is 15 and lower body 25

[pamith]

If I had to do it all over again, I would’ve stacked vanadyl sulfate and chromium picolinate

Bro...

[pamith]

I would have taken bodybuilding more seriously, there were years when I hardly trained at all because having fun and living it up, I train super high rep range now (up to 300 reps) because I learned that's what gives me results, but any rep range can deliver results, however 10-12 nonsense is unnecessary

[honest]

Should have stayed retired after achieving what i set out to achieve, not come back a few years later with a physique less than previous, Bodybuilding is a momentum sport, its also a sport that requires you to push the envelope, once you have lost momentum and that competitive edge to do what's required, you have no place being on stage. The day you stop getting bigger and better is the day you should give it away competitively. Its a great lifestyle and hobby, but its not worth killing yourself. Its also a young mans game, your body is much less forgiving as you get older.

[Soul Crusher]

Prob wouldn’t have trained at all.

Hi shizzo.   

[Humble Narcissist]

Would have not stuck with the Stuart mcRobert “abbreviated” training so long. No direct arm training was a fucking disaster and was incredibly boring doing 5 or so exercises a week

Yeah, Stuart gave some terrible advice.