The Learn from My Mistakes Interview, Part One


Dave Draper's Top Squat

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***A dozen or so years ago, there was a popular website called Learn from My Mistakes that requested an interview with Dave. The site is long gone, but the interview lives on in our archive. Here's Part One; we'll run with the second half next week. ~ Laree

1. What do you feel is the single greatest trait (genetics, discipline, intensity) that led to your success in bodybuilding and why?

Dave: Nothing I possessed in the way of structure or body chemistry was outstanding. A six-foot frame with a large bone structure is certainly an advantage for which I am thankful, but these didn't separate me from the crowd.

Further, I didn't have a burning ambition or dream to become a champion, a nuclear scientist or the President. I did have in my growing years, however, a simplistic approach on all projects undertaken... still do.

What do I want? Is it sensible and worthwhile and how do I -- with common sense -- accomplish it? Once the questions are answered (guesses count), do it. Here you have a goal, focus and commitment.

It is during the simple process of achieving that we develop those grand habits and character qualities more valuable than blue chips or chocolate chips. Determination is a competent ally in gaining anything we have positioned before us. And determination spawns discipline, the thick leather reins that prompt and lead the untamable animal. The sum of determination and discipline is perseverance, the impenetrable armor of warriors.

So, keep your eye on that worthy goal; choose the logical (simple, most basic) way to go, and go. Go hard. It's a struggle, yet without intensity, I don't go far. Make room in your heart and mind to gather and store the determination, discipline and perseverance found in thick clumps along the way.

Patience follows like a tired old mare; get used to her.

2. When training with weights, beginners often struggle to find the exercises and techniques that work best for their body types. What exercises and routines seemed to work best for you when you were just starting out? And what exercises did you try to avoid?

Dave: When I was starting out, I was very young and made up some dumb rules as I went along. Once I got my hands on some battered wall charts demonstrating the variety of exercises one could do, I chose the simplest (coincidentally like my own favorite inventions) and continued to train, grow in understanding and gain in muscle development. I was 12, what else could I do? What more could I expect?

The biggies that kept me going, growing and interested were standing barbell curls, wrist curls, lying and standing triceps extensions or presses, bench presses, bentover barbell rows and stiffarm pullovers.

I, like most kids, ignored the legs, as if they were miles away, below the beltline and out of sight.

Note: When I refer to "barbell," I speak of a 16-inch bar with my limited selection of weights in the center and my tightfisted mitts squeezing what little was left of the bar's short ends. The volume varied from 1 to 20 sets and reps, as I intuitively sorted things out and eventually added to my equipment list.

Any routine worked as long as I stuck to it with regularity for 30 minutes. The word "technique" is not applicable to whatever it was I did during those grimacing, premature workouts. Wrestling, free-for-all and slugfest more appropriately describe the action taking place... a brawl or a battle-royale.

What I tried to avoid was dropping that congested bar on my head. Though I had no supervision early on, I was reasonably safe because I didn't have very much weight. The meanest wrong one can do when new to weight training is to use too much iron with too little know-how and too little physical conditioning.

Common disaster: "This is fun. I wonder, how much weight can I bench?"

Tendons and muscle insertions that are unprepared for heavy resistance might tear or otherwise be damaged when subject to exuberant and heavy lifting: painful, frightening, disappointing and perhaps chronic.

Later, though, as I stepped into the YMCA and Vic Tanny's of the late '50s, I zipped forward to dumbbells of assorted sizes, benches, racks and cables. Supersetting with the basic movements became my thing then and continued over the decades.

Added to the list of original exercises I practiced as a kid eventually became squats and deadlifts and shrugs and pulldowns and dumbbell presses... nothing fancy, just solid.

3. Many people who begin weight training are looking to build mass in the arms and chest. Can you talk about the importance of symmetry to a healthy body?

Dave: It's important to understand the necessity of seeking balance in developing the body's muscle structure. The body works as a system, mutually supporting and interdependent, and performs more healthfully and efficiently when developed as a functioning whole.

Muscles grow faster, overall conditioning is achieved and no part of the body lags behind in formation as a result of neglect.

Imbalance in strength and structural development can cause chronic pain and degrees of disability as the years go by. A predominantly strong arm and chest development can lead to rotator cuff trouble; an abdominal region deficiency can lead to lower back trouble; weak hamstrings can present knee problems. Do we want pain and limitations?

Getting huge at all cost is not unheard of among budding bodybuilders of all ages. Why not? They are promised extraordinary gains in short periods of time if they use this formulation or that stack while following this champ's routine.

Stop and think. It's smart to consider from the onset the eventual appearance of the body -- body esthetics, beauty, balance and appeal -- when enthusiastically embracing bodybuilding. A lopsided body can be a problem to correct, reflects your thinking and follows you wherever you go.

Simultaneously, however, I believe anyone who begins to train with weights should do whatever he or she feels like doing for whatever purpose. You can usually get away with a few months of floundering and butting your head against the wall without knocking your brains out or building 19-inch arms on a 150-pound frame.

Gives the would-be champs time and space to search, invent, express, improvise and make a bunch of instructive mistakes of their very own. Freedom before margins.

Let's wrap this up for now and finish with Part Two next week.

dd

*****

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