Good read for the serous Bodybuilder.

[Rich Knapp]

3DMUSCLEJOURNEY - Science Blog - December 2011

[Off Road]

My take-away from the article...

"With that said, dedicated bulking and cutting phases are almost always the necessary resort once trainees make it past the beginning and intermediate stages and still want to push the envelope. The direction taken has to be very specific, whether it's gaining muscle or losing fat."

[Rich Knapp]

Originally Posted by Off Road

My take-away from the article...

"With that said, dedicated bulking and cutting phases are almost always the necessary resort once trainees make it past the beginning and intermediate stages and still want to push the envelope. The direction taken has to be very specific, whether it's gaining muscle or losing fat."

He is a wealth of info.

[bamazav]

Great Article Rich. I was reading on Berardi's site last night and noticed a similar vein of thought. Exercise is important but nutrition should come first. Aragon is one of my favorite nutrition dudes.

[TitanWIP]

On the forefront of bodybuilding, I'm ironically witnessing a sort of reversion to the basic basic stuff rather than a technological thrust forward. Nutrition-wise, much of the typically imposed intricacies of nutrient timing, supplementation, nutrient cycling, etc., are neither necessary nor beneficial compared to the boring, fundamental broad strokes.

Statements like this will be misunderstood by so many people looking to build muscle. I understand what he's saying but 95% have no reading comprehension and use quotes like this to back their current sub-par approach.

[Rich Knapp]

Originally Posted by TitanWIP

Statements like this will be misunderstood by so many people looking to build muscle. I understand what he's saying but 95% have no reading comprehension and use quotes like this to back their current sub-par approach.

Notice the title "Good read for the serous Bodybuilder" these people will know what he is saying.

[jasonjduke]

I liked it Rich. I don't care much for dogmatism, but Alan seems to have a grip on the fact that if it (program) is working keep doing it and if it ain't - stop and change it up.

This is a very nice statement that he says:
"Hypertrophy is something that can be achieved with pretty much any intensity of load, as long as the work is progressive. However, the far ends of the spectrum (super low reps and super high reps) make this process far less efficient."

I could take it further from my own experience and agree - progressive planning truly is key to hypertrophy. I realized this when I did a "beginner" with light weights of 12-15 reps for 3 months and then dropped the reps to 8 per set and jumped the weight - blam, I experienced textbook hypertrophy. He says that super low and super high reps make the process of hypertrophy less efficient. I would say that if one could "boomerang" out of super low or high reps with progressive programming than one may actually coax the hypertrophy process for even better gains.

As for his comments on bulking and cutting - perfect. Only the advanced trainee should even consider doing phases of these sorts. I like how he came up with the "culking" term for those newbie folks who constantly bother with all the excess bull of such things (really everything) instead of just putting an honest to goodness effort forth through the principles of proper programming protocols of progressive resistance. What I mean to say is that if you can train and eat properly, bulking and cutting actually become unnecessary.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by jasonjduke

What I mean to say is that if you can train and eat properly bulking and cutting actually becomes unnecessary.

True.

Pulling someone away from OCD rabbit holes in both the training and dieting realm is the biggest challenge. The average young lifter on any forum is not training hard enough on the basics, is overtraining ineffective exercises, and there is a good chance they are undereating. I see this frequently where a lifter 20 years old is eating 2300 daily calories based on some random BMR calculation.

Common sense is devalued, hard work is minimized, and the focus is almost completely on finding some magical, mystical combination of macronutrients and training exercises/split/sets.

Obviously most of the young trainees can't help it, as this is the information they are supplied.

[Off Road]

And then you give reliable information to help them and they call you a "Crazy Old Coot."

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Off Road

And then you give reliable information to help them and they call you a "Crazy Old Coot."