Dave Draper’s Musclebuilding Q&A

A question to wrap up all my wonders: Is it ok to push the gym time of 30-45 minutes as long as I keep the workout minimal but effective, and no longer than say 90 minutes? Working out smart and not hard — in other words not forcing the reps in the last sets.

Apparently, we’re from different schools of thought. I insist on bombing and blasting, while you prefer friendly persuasion. I suspect it has to do with personality, instinct, trial and experience, education and common sense and urges.

I’m a Bomber, you’re the Captain of the Guard.

Consistency wins the prize… Go… Dave

I have a question about typical contest preparation back in the 1960s. I’ve read about recent contest preparation, diet and water restriction is taken to an absolute knife edge as far as having enough energy to train or pose.  Back in your contest days, did you feel totally drained from the restricted diet, or was a more realistic approach taken?

Don’t have any idea what the bodybuilders are doing these days. We controlled the water and carb intake in the last week to accommodate leanness needs, muscle fullness, well-being and common sense — a juggling act. Carbing up the last 24-48 hours was the trick.

I remember being amped and anxious and, yeah, drained and overtrained.

On-stage competition was not my cup of tea… give me the gym and a pile of iron and handful of old-school muscleheads… lotsa luck.

Go… Godspeed… Dave

Is it cheating to use the legs for extra effort in the last few reps or just push from the core (squeezing the stomach), or does it matter? I can
see benefits to both.

Experience both and make the on-the-spot choice according to urge, comfort, aim, ability…

I’m all for a little thrust in an exercise when it’s for the benefit of maximum exertion and muscle engagement and when it’s a natural extension or finessing of the movement. I prefer full range of motion and less isolation.

Thanks for faithfully hanging out… Dave    <<< Godspeed>>>

Can a man in his 60s increase in muscle size and strength?

The short answer is yes if he hasn’t been training long, but probably not if he’s got a long history of training.

Everyone is different… no secret there. Structure, chemistry, genetics, attitude, health, will, commonsense, exercise affinity, mental and emotional balance, stresses, support systems, knowledge and understanding.

Apply yourself eagerly, hopefully and wisely to a very good cause — muscle, might and fitness — and have fun doing it. You have an opportunity to grow in countless ways, even if muscle mass comes slowly.

Consider this: Keeping what you gained (muscle, strength and health) and preventing it from diminishing is a triumph in itself.

Grab those dumbbells, get under that bar…and push… God’s strength… Dave

I have been following your off-season diet and was wondering if you waited a few hours to eat after consuming a shake? What I mean is, I wake up, take morning supplements, drink the shake, go to the gym for a couple of hours, come home drink a shake, then wait three or four hours before eating. Is this correct?

The Bomber Blend pre- and post-workout drinks are ironclad assurances of musclebuilding and energy-providing ingredients at advantageous times.

I eat an hour or so before  the pre-workout drink to satisfy hunger and provide plenty of good carbs and fats and protein for the workout, and within two hours after the workout for provisional eating. Keep in mind, this is for a serious weight-gain program.

The Bomber Blend servings around workouts are assimilated and absorbed more rapidly under the siege of hard training. More like high-quality mini-meals.

Train hard and always… God’s Might… Dave

I’m getting ready for contest. Any thoughts on carb depleting or any other recommendations?

Top two basics: Don’t starve the muscle and don’t overtrain, as the nerves and late-day assessments compel us.

Other thoughts:

Avoid bloating and excessive milk products during last weeks.

Practice your posing with calm exertion for presentation and definition. Relax and prepare your mind with positive imagery.

Carbo loading works, but is personal and tricky… I dare not give you my hairbrain formula.

Have a good time on stage and behind the scenes… dd

How effective are dumbbell pullovers for upper chest? What do you advise?

Not very. Each of us responds differently to the various exercises. Bent-arm pullover and press has possibilities, especially the point of transition from pullover to pressing, but it’s for young gorillas.

• Straight-arm pullovers accompany chest workouts very well, my favorite superset being DB incline and straight-arm pullover. Upper pec area is tough to engage unless one has the cool structural mechanics.
• Try steep DB inclines for upper pec and shoulder combination, variations of dips on the dip machine , cable crossovers (one-arm or two-arm) positioning yourself for upper chest engagement — lean forward and dig in with slightly bent arms and a high groove.
• Try grasping a DB with both hands and raising it from the waist forward and up with straight-out arms to a position slightly above parallel, like a forward lateral. Lower sorta slowly, focusing on entire pec region. The crushing effect loads the chest. Start light and go up the rack toward heavy. (4,5 sets X 10, 8, 6 rep range)
•  I don’t like Oly bar pressing, flat or incline. Shoulders beware!

We press on… we never quit… Godspeed… DD

Been lifting weights for 30 years. At 43, is there any reason I couldn’t stop lifting weights and just freehand exercise — chins, dips, handstand pushups, hindu pushups, one-legged squats, muscle-ups, etc?  My goal at this point is to be strong, agile and fit. Other than potential for massive bulk, is there something weights bring to the table that bodyweight exercises don’t?

Yes! Iron.

I think one can achieve or maintain fitness with a good diet and the variety of freehand exercises you list, providing they are well-executed, vigorous, thoughtfully arranged and consistent.

Certain lean, muscley body types (those guys with natural abs and no excess skin, the dirty rats) respond well to bodyweight exercise, significantly better than others.

If muscle mass and power are really important to the trainee, resistance exercise (weights, cables, kettlebells) is the by far leader of the pack.

Injuries lurk in dark corners. Lately, I dare not chin for fear of pulling my biceps… I refuse to freehand dip or perform a pushup because I suspect I’ll shred my rotator cuff. But I lift wisely and safely.

Give me the iron, just enough, and I’ll press on… DD

PS: Did I mention Bomber Blend… it’s the greatest…

What’s happening to true art of body building? I see people training with broomsticks, jumping, running a lap, doing some awkward pull-up, throwing balls to each other. It really saddens me. Is it because people don’t want to face the weights and hard work, or is bodybuilding is disappearing, or is it me who thinks this way, Dave? I always thought gyms are for people who like to sculpture bodies and train hard.

Train with common sense and intuition and mostly your heart. Have fun, work hard, stay alert and learn, if anything sensible comes your way.

There is so much trendy stuff out there (gadgets and gizmos and money to be made) that today’s fitness-heads are often confused and mimicking and pointless.

You’re a weight lifter, an ironhead, in pursuit of muscle and might, and anything trick and trendy is foreign and unappealing. Some of what the fitness crew do is worthwhile, if you’re seeking a fit, pain-free and healthy body functioning forever.

There goes heavy pushing and pulling, pass me the Exerball.

The general exercise population pursues balance, mobility, tone and strength and endurance. Can’t knock that. Of course, there are too few of them, and fewer persevere. Fewer still seek muscle and might and they don’t last much longer.

In the mags are the super-duper enhanced competitors — wow — and then there’s us blasting it in the corner and scratching our heads… and we’ve been there a long, long time.

Life changes day to day, muscleheads are forever.

Nose to the iron, we press on… DD… Godspeed

I’m 57. I want to increase my running, but I don’t want to give up any weight training, although my gains appear to be turning into losses. The muscle seems to be disappearing faster than I can renew and I know it’s because of or partly due to the running. If I want to increase both my running capabilities and weight gains, things have to change. People either run or weight train, I want to do both. With some education and understanding there’s no reason that I can’t.

The two activities accommodate each other if you’re sensible about your engagement of each and your goals. Physical fitness, health, longevity and quality of life are smart, wonderful and fulfilling goals. Wanting to exceed in both at once is not exactly sensible — more like excessive, overloading, frustrating and destructive. Were you hovering above 30, I’d say sorta the same thing, adding have fun.

Fact is, all you can do is what you’re doing. Train hard, eat right, be strong and be happy. I can only encourage you to add sufficient lean red meat to your daily menu, and quality peanut butter and bananas to your shake, and a meal of tuna and water to your existing diet, and cottage cheese and plenty of raw fresh vegetables regularly, enough fruit and, by all means, Bomber Blend. I love it.

Don’t run yourself down, expect too much, flog yourself. 57 is a great age with delicious and righteous training ahead. Don’t miss the journey, hasten it or injure the traveler. Be good to yourself and your dog.

Godspeed

I was wondering if you were serious about a second edition to Brother Iron? I am 41 now and have been training since I was 14, so you can understand why I would be most interested in your thoughts towards nutrition and training after forty since the first Brother Iron.

Good Question, and thanks. I think we’ll do some combining of collected material, make a few revisions and add a chapter or two on training after wrinkles replace the cuts. Writing about aging while you’re amid the gnarly process is as much fun as it sounds. I’ll not research deeply, scrutinize my findings nor elaborate on the details. I’ll get to a dull point and leave the rest to our imaginations. The book is a work in progress.

From where I sit, it seems like I’ll do what I’ve always done, except less of everything. Go with the flow, dial in regularly; the weights and the day-by-day workouts are the barometer.

41 is a great time for enjoying, hoping, bombing and growing. The shadows are short, the sun is overhead, the storms are navigable. Do not miss it; it’ll last another 20 years unless you hit a tree.

Go… Godspeed… Dave

I am 69 years young — I work out six days a week with mostly lighter weights and a variety of exercises, including improving in hack squats. The problem is that while my legs are improving in muscularity, some of the veins on the inside of my left leg and several spider veins on the bottom of my right leg and now getting larger and turning dark blue. Is it possible the squatting is causing some of this and if so, are there some good alternative exercises I can use to improve the size and tone of my legs without the risk of vein problems?

There is nothing like regular and vigorous resistance training and smart eating to keep us healthy across the spectrum of our life. And it’s enabling and commendable to be positive and seek improvement where we can. These efforts are generally beneficial, unless we exceed our real limitations.

At 67 I’m learning there are many less-than-agreeable changes to our bodies due to natural aging that we can not avoid. Ugh! We press on using our common sense. At some point our strong drive and desires can damage our system and structure by training overload. We modify.

Health, avoidance of injury, fulfillment and wisdom and joy are our goals via sustained moderation in our efforts.

As a bomber and not a doctor, I don’t have a specific answer for you regarding the vascular variations in your legs. My least favorite exercise is hack squats; I give them a D-. Do they cause the vein problem? I’d say they contribute — increased blood pressure on less-resilient, aging venal walls. Who at 69 doesn’t have some degree of this condition?

Me? I’d continue with what I can do and enjoy with close attention to the target site and any similar or associated concerns. I’d make adjustments ­ weight, sets, reps, max output, workout frequency, exercise ­ in an effort to accommodate the distress. Better regular and thoughtful moderate exertion than little or none at all

There’s the stationary bike with a comfortable version of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), walking with a weighted backpack, climbing stairs, or standing freehand squats or lunges, or either with light dumbbells.

Not a bad idea for all bombers: Get a complete physical with a blood work up from the best MD in your world.

You’re doing great. Thank God… Dave

This distant reader is gonna try one more contest and then I may stop competing. I will be 64 in November and my passion is as great now, if not greater, than at age 54 when I began.  You understand having a goal. I fear I will feel, and be, empty if I stop and have no goal.  What IS the answer?

I’ve competed a total of six times in my life, and not one since 1970. That was enough for me, competition not (never) my lightening rod. I wanted the muscles to make me strong and capable and respected and out of the norm and quietly noticed. No different today, except I’m 99 years old.

My training passion has never waned, but my love for the iron escaped me when a contest was in my sights. It was no longer me and the weights, a solid friendship; it was me and the other guys and the mirror, which training scheme and the necessary work I had to do at the stinkin’ gym.

I sought to stay in shape year round and found on-going or occasional competing an interruption in muscle and strength building — off-season training gaps and eating excess, harsh dieting for months costing muscle and training momentum, and producing stress, anxiety, discomfort, doubt …

The answer? Got me. We’re all different, from head to toe. Certainly, don’t stop. Dig your training and do it for the other extraordinary reasons we bombers regularly consider here at IronOnline.

Do it for you and God within.

Press on… Dave

It seems like no matter what I do, I cannot get my bench press to go up. I’m listing my current training program to review.

The more you worry about the bench and pursue heavy weight in its execution, the more you risk severe and long-term injury.

Your musclebuilding outline is okay as you proceed in your daily and on-going training challenge, but it is not one designed for increasing pressing power (it’s bodybuilding accentuated). Tris and front delts are heavily exerted almost daily, leaving not enough rest.

You might want to determine an alternate power program for insertion as a seasonal power push. Here’s a sample bench press routine, if you decide to go that route.

Take a second look at barbell benches — go upward in dumbbells instead. Think lean red meat and Bomber Blend.

Be wise and safe, strong and courageous,

dd

Should I do a wider variety versus the same month after month? My thought is if I don’t do the same ones I won’t be able to maintain the same weight. What maximizes the effectiveness when only training 3 times/week? Am I disciplined and routine to a fault?

Order works, but don’t hem yourself in…

From the last newsletter… answers your question to the best of my ability:

• The older I get, the more I prefer and better I respond to variety in my workouts. This variety includes exercise choice, order, tempo, execution (groove) and exertion.
• Musclebuilding/weight training is not about the exercises; it’s about the lifter and his execution of the exercises. It’s not what you do; it’s how you do it. What I fail to bring in originality, you must bring in execution (ever-renewing zeal, evolving style, improving skill, growing emotion, divine assurance). These work if and when you work.

I have my favorites (actually, the only exercises I’m able to do after many injuries and aging) and I practice them according to feel, need, desire, instinct and commonsense.

After years of training with yourself, I believe only you can uncover the answers.

You’re doing good.

We press on, observe and press some more… Godspeed… Dave