Dave Draper’s Musclebuilding Q&A

What got you through the tough times as well as through hard times in life? I don’t know how to force myself into the gym when I’m down, I go and lift, but nothing clicks like it should. I know doing something is better than nothing.

Yo, faithful friend in iron and steel…

I have never gone to the gym without exiting stronger and happier and more content than when I entered, even if the workout was a flop. The underlying training motivator is found in the answer to the sniveling question, ‘What if I don’t workout today?’

Ugh! Who can bear the guilt, the suspension of discipline and the loss of time and investment. Besides, lest we forget, the act is fun and feels good after the first stiff and bland moments.

We go cuz we have to, we must, we’re destined to, we need to, we’re bound to, we’re obliged to, we owe it to ourselves, deep down we want and wish to. The proof is in the experience. Next time you don’t want to go to the gym, don’t. You’ll see. That which does not click is thunder to the body, mind and soul.

Barbell or hell… your choice… the smiley faced Bomber   <<< Godspeed >>>

I’m 58 years old and started weight lifting at age 14. I felt great for years enjoying exercise. I need to have shoulder replacements in both shoulders due to arthritis. In your years of experience, do you think bodybuilders wear their joints out? Could my case just be from genetics?

Sorry for your injuries and the tough road ahead. Learn, grow and endure and you’ll come out on top.

I suppose we’re susceptible to injury due to a list of variables outside the gym walls, which include genetics, structure, nutrition, accidents, lifestyle and job description. And in the gym even a sound and genetically strong body can be damaged by excessive training, overload, improper exercise execution, carelessness and foolishness.

A responsible and sensible and meticulous lifter has the best chance of surviving training injury-free. Hello! Such animals are as frequent as zebra-striped apes. Most ironheads I know are a good kind of crazy, pushing and pulling with all their might.

Sometimes I think the pain begins in the head and ends in the shoulder… or elbows or knees or…

Slow me down Lord.

I guess that would be Godspeed… Dave

The cartilage in both of my shoulders is gone — the x-rays and MRIs show bone on bone. It hurts both during the workouts and afterwards. I have had cortisone shots in the past, but that cannot continue on an indefinite basis. Taking Tylenol helps the pain, but does not treat the cause. Do you have any advice for me?

Doesn’t sound good. I think this is the time some doctors recommend shoulder joint replacements.

I’m 68… letting go is hard to do… surgery is a crappy option, if it’s available — anesthesia, recovery, insurance. Continue intuitive training accompanied by the best nutrition is the least undesirable road. Beware of excessive use of any and all pain killers or anti-inflammation over-the-counters.

Working around shoulder deterioration is a frustrating challenge and is best discovered and arranged by the pain-guided subject. I think you know all about that by now. Light one-arm lateral raises with focus and form and adaptive groove sound good compared to presses that bear down on the bone, cable crossover for pecs, partial range of motion on certain exercise (stiff-arm pullover, pulldowns, seated lat rows).

You might love rope tucks.

Go… Godspeed… Dave

I’ve been training for two years and at 51 did my first Masters competition. My fellow iron head at the gym says to forget trying to build more muscle, just maintain what I have and get leaner for next comp. Is he right, or can I with the right diet and and dedicated workouts increase muscle still?

He’s not wrong, but I think trying to build bigger muscle is part of how we keep and improve what we have.

Don’t smother yourself in bulking up and power training and injury and disappointment, but lean on your training with growing in mind.

Devotion to getting lean-only is tedious and boring, and might cost muscle size. Let the diet and the jury decide when the proper time comes.

Press on, never quit… Dave

I was looking at the top squat and maybe I missed it in the reading, but in your opinion could the Top Squat considerably reduce the risk of shoulder injury? I’ve been pretty lucky so far, but some days I can tell that I overtrain. Just curious because I’ve used the Manta Ray and it’s effective enough, but on those heavy squat days my shoulder seems to get more of a workout than my legs.

I devised the unit specifically because of my own shoulder damage… cannot reach back to stabilize the bar.

The top squat allows the lifter to hold the bar in place without stress on the shoulder cage, and enables the essential relocation of position of the load on the back to perfect the squat movement. The Manta Ray holds bar in one place, too high on my back to be healthy for me and does not unload the stress on my shoulders.

Here’s a video a young coach made with the top squat recently — thanks, Nick.

Dave

I continue to ponder the plight of the bodybuilder, strength-builder, or whatever…  In days gone by, the “bodybuilder” started out  in a search for strength.  You have so-stated many times and I agree, I wanted to be able to LIFT stuff!  It wasn’t how much… Then came the street-corner pharmacist with the close of the century…  the “bodybuilder” wanted size at any cost and the frenzied masses screamed for more.  Human nature… We’re not so stupid as we are victims of our own misguided egos.

You give this stuff a whole lot of thought. I agree.

Here’s a funny thing: I’ll bet I never exchanged more than a 100 words about training methodologies with any of my contemporary golden-age muscleheads — a few dozen with Frank Z, zero with Arnold or Franco, 50 or less with Zabo, 19 or 20 with big Mike Katz…

We met, we trained, we observed, we encouraged, we rooted and shared energy and we followed our own noses. Outside the gym we breathed our own air and licked our own wounds, we moaned and we rejoiced… we bumped fists.

That was me, that was us, that was then. I haven’t a clue who or what the muscleheads do today. It’s not that I don’t care, but I have my tin head full — sets and reps, action and form, today and later today… the bazaar and ludicrous is for like minds. This is not meant to be derogatory.

God loves us… Dave

You mentioned in a recent Q and A about avoiding upright rows. I was wondering if you thought doing them with dumbbells would be easier on the shoulders. I know you’ve avoided the regular barbell bench press for years in favor of incline dbell benches instead. Would using dbells for upright rows in your opinion provide a similar alternative for the upright movement, such as upright rows and the hang clean and press?

Be your own trainer with vigilance. Partial upright rows with moderate weight might be okay, if you don’t enter a red zone of dislocation. Make the muscles work via focus, form and controlled force.

Try the dumbbell things (in both cases, bar and dumbbells) with a light weight to warm up, study the movement and locate a groove and achieve healthy and productive eccentric and concentric action. Take the weight up slowly and employ a well-defined, low-volume thrust to ease the weight into a substantial, non-endangering groove.

In other words, be careful, Chief Ironhead. Use your head and shoulders… Some people can do ‘em… most can’t.

We lift, live, learn and grow, don’t you know… DD

I know you’re not a medical doctor, but I reckon you’ve got Doctorates in bodybuilding and weight lifting, so I wanted to ask you this:  If I go real heavy on barbell curls or dumbbell shrugs, it feels like something is swollen in my upper inner right arm, in the armpit region.  Have you ever experienced this or have any educated guess on what it might be?  It only happens on those two exercises, and only if I go heavy (a weight I can only handle for 4-6 reps). Semper Fidelis…

Gee, by now your biceps are healed, and your guns are the size of cannons.

I don’t know what your problem is, but it sounds like an overwhelmed biceps insertion. Heavy weights and low reps present awesome eccentric or negative action. Gotta warm up, work out with care and persuasion and know that moderate weight with focused intensity can be as affective in building muscle as heavy weight… and safer and smarter.

Yeah, tell that to a Marine fighting terrorists in Afghanistan.

God bless you and your buds and know I’m one of millions of big fans across this great country. I pray for you all regularly.

Handle with care. Never quit… Dave

Now that summer is approaching, we are inundated with various health magazines focusing on the “abs” and frankly I am confused.  Some advocate training the abs every day; some say it is like any other muscle and needs a rest day, high reps no resistance, low reps some resistance.  I have one magazine boasting 150 different abs exercises! In examining photos from your competition days, you not only had well defined abs, but something you do not see anymore, namely a small waist.

Not everyone is structured and genetically qualified to have those worshipped and longed-for and will-die-for abs. I eventually adapted to working the core for health and strength through a variety of hi-rep leg raises, incline leg raises, weighted leg raises and hanging leg raises along with hyperextensions and hip-thrusting crunches and rope tucks.

Roman chairs were popular in the day… no longer…  and crunches are not good for ya.

I prefer sets of mixed reps on the higher end (25 – 50 reps), not the 100+ stuff. And three days a week  serves me best, with an ever-vigilant eye on the high protein, lower fat and carb menu.

Rope tucks are my favorite core and midsection movement, plus a hit on low incline leg raises and hypers.

Have fun… DD

After almost two years of training, you cannot tell I have any lats. I can’t spread them. Yet, I do rows with the 140 lb. dumbbells, max out our seated row cable machine at 325 lbs. for sets of 6 reps, do 1-arm rows on the seated Hammer Strength machine with 235 lb. on each arm, and do tons of wide grip pulldowns with anywhere from 120 lbs. to 230 lbs. Lots and lots of strength, but no size in the traditional lat sense. I can spread a pat of butter wider than I can spread my lats. Just a genetics issue???

Handling all that weight might not be the answer to muscle growth… Proper and more complete engagement of muscle is more important for size.

Often something is lost in the translation of heavy, thrusting, mind-blitzing action and the muscles are left without bearing their true extension-contraction load.

Just a thought… mix in the X-heavy workouts sparingly and go for hefty moderation in weight and improved focus and form and muscle recruitment with a 12, 10, 8, 6 rep scheme in your array of exercises.

dd

This question has been on my mind for a long time.  Would a person develop the most real strength doing straight bench presses or doing dumbbell bench presses?  It seems to me dumbbell pressing is a lot more difficult.  What do you think?

Go dumbbells. It’s safer and healthier for shoulders, more effective muscle- and strength-builder, more variation in action for movement relief, muscle shaping and funzo.

Drawback: They don’t come in a convenient overhead rack.

Plus-factor: The lifter has to put them in place with alacrity, agility, finesse and might. This is good for the system and core and associated muscles.

The best dumbbells come in pairs… Godspeed… DD

Most bodybuilders never really varied their workouts much whether they were volume trainers or HIT trainers. They might tweak a program with being more instinctive or amp it up when contest time was around the corner, but you knew roughly what they were going to do when they came to the gym. Few ever logged a training program, the question is to you: Did you logged workouts and did you have a program that you stuck with by and large?

I logged for a short period during one winter while training at the Muscle Beach dungeon, 8-10 weeks — mid-’60s. It had its purpose and value then. Ever since, I’ve followed more or less some version of the scheme I enjoyed then. Today my workout it’s a skeleton of what it was years ago, but it has the same taste and smell and silhouette.

Hey! Wait! I think it’s my shadow.

I don’t remember any bodybuilders with noticeable muscle ever logging their workouts. A few might have made notes at home. Guys who did log overtly looked like students, trained like students and disappeared before the ink dried.

Powerlifters scribbled away on pads as they reached for their chalk and inhaler, and for them logging works quite well, some might say mandatory even.
We press on, never alone… Dave