17 May 2018

A Public Service Announcement from Bruce Randall: "For Fuck's Sweet Sake. Bulk First, Then Worry About Getting Cut."

Bruce Randall went from nothing to fat badass to shredded ladies man in three years, natty af.  Begin the naysaying, skinny-fat internet nobodies!

Having been positively besieged with questions over the years asking how lean a person should be before bulking, I thought it was high time to introduce a new generation to the modern human marvel- Bruce Randall, a strongman, powerlifter, and bodybuilder famous in the 1950s for making an insane amount of progress in a very short period of time.  I realize that it's all the rage to traipse through your fitness club in skin tight capri pants and a melon colored string tank top, checking out your abs between lackadaisical sets of whatever Jeff Seid happens to be recommending these days, but if you actually want to impress real, live people when you walk down the street as a physically imposing and impressive motherfucker, chicken breasts, kale, and P90x isn't going to fucking cut it.


And before we delve in, bear this in mind:
"We must remember that although testosterone was being manufactured by 1935, it was almost never used by people in the iron game. Remember also that 1957 was several years before Bill March, Tony Garcy, and Lou Riecke— aided by John Ziegler— introduced anabolic steroids to the strength sports in this country. Dianabol was not manufactured until 1958" (Neece).



Bob Hines, Bruce Randall, and Abe Goldberg outside of Goldberg's gym.

I realize that for anyone reading this while rocking athleisure clothing, this revelation will come as a fucking shocker, but it's true.  The only person of whom I can think who successfully shreds and then lean bulks is Sylvester Stallone, cited above.  As such, I am not saying it is not possible to do, but it's a mostly idiotic way to go about things for most people.  A far better example to follow would be a person like the wrestler Bruno Sammartino, who gained over 100 lbs of muscle in 4 years and set a bunch of lifting records while doing it, or the man pictured above, Bruce Randall.  Bulking hard and then cutting allows you to overeat like crazy to pack on muscle, which is easy enough to hang onto if you keep your protein high.



Sylvester Stallone- the reigning world champion of cutting and then bulking.  "[W]hen I did Rambo III, I didn’t like the way I looked anymore, so I decided to reshape myself. I went down to 168 pounds. I put on weight slowly and got sinewy, hard-cut muscles. I wound up weighing about 200. But it was all muscle – my body fat was down to 3.8 percent. Now my fat count is 6.8. I’m 5’10? and weight 187 pounds. I’m pleased with my body now" (Davis).

So, having already written about Sammartino's methods, allow me to introduce you to Bruce Randall- at 6'2", his weight ranged anywhere from 183 to 401lbs.  In the course of his career, the man managed to gain world renown for his strength, then gained even more renown for shredding like crazy and winning the Mr. Universe title against some renown strongmen in 1959.  The thing that made him stand out in my mind (for which I unfortunately couldn't find a citation) is neither of those things, though- it's that once he cut down he was so unaccustomed to his own strength that he grabbed a bench to do some benching and noticed everyone staring at him.  When he set the bench down, he realized the fucking thing had been bolted into the ground, but he was able to rip it out of its moorings with no more effort than what it took to pick up a bench.


I highly doubt any of you have made gains or losses that even slightly compare to those, so you goddamned well better pay attention.  As to the tilt, the image was cockeyed and I'm working on a Chromebook, so that's the best you're getting.

Before we get going, I know half of you are going to call bullshit on his weights and progress, but the dude was heavily documented by Iron Man magazine the entire time.  The other half of you are going to talk shit about his programs, because the knee jerk reaction for people these days is to say "that's horseshit and you're a lying pussy" rather than actually considering the implications of what you are reading actually might teach you something, rather than just reinforcing what you think you know.  That said, let's delve into the story of a man whose life tale is so tall it's like Mark Henry and Johnny Appleseed doubleteamed Calamity Jane to create a man who makes Paul Bunyan seem like a punk bitch in comparison.




Bruce Randall was a professional bodybuilder and insanely strong guy who leapt into the public eye early in life and disappeared from public view just as quickly.  Born in 1931, Randall didn't actually start lifting until he was of legal drinking age, and only did so at 21 because he needed to weigh 225lbs to play for the base football team in the Marines.  Approaching the base lifting coach, Chief Petty Officer Walter Metzler, Randall explained he needed to pack on mass as quickly as possible so he could go out and be the crazy white Lawrence Taylor of the armed services.  So at a bodyweight of 203lbs, Randall began his training with weird as hell program and a ingeniously simple diet that initially just included an extra loaf of bread, quart of milk, pork chop, or whatever he could get during every meal (Randall and Roach).




Clearly, that dietary methodology is so simple a six year old could have figured it out, but frankly it never once occurred to me to try that sort of thing- luckily for all of us, it's never too late to try to pack on 30 lbs of mass in six weeks.  His program was also incredibly simple, and although you'll all hate it, his methodology was sound.  Having grown up in an era where you're gonna get mocked for skipping legs, you would likely all write a beginner program based around the Olympic lifts or power lifts in an effort to engage as many muscle groups as possible.   Randall, on the other hand, said fuck that noise.  Instead of doing some lame fucking 5x5 program wherein you are allegedly going to get jacked off three days of lackluster lifting a week, Randall did the following program 6-7 days a week.  His logic?  "I found that in my case I could work on my arms almost every day and make gains. I assume that this is due to the natural recuperative powers of the arms. Because they are always in use they seem to be able to regain total strength with just one night’s rest and are ready for more the next day" (Randall).  In short- you can make serious hypertrophy progress training your arms every day like a fucking maniac, but the same couldn't be said for a program comprised of squats and deadlifts.  You'd fall apart faster than a scarecrow in a tornado.


Randall's 1st Program, Aka the "Curls for the Girls" Routine

Military style barbell curls – 110 pounds, 3 sets of 6-8 reps
Dumbbell concentration curls – 50 pounds, 3 sets of 6-5 reps
French style barbell curls – 70 pounds, 3 sets of 6-8 reps
Bent-over triceps extension with dumbbells – 35 pounds, 3 sets of 6-8 reps
Dumbbell incline curls – 45 pounds, 3 sets of 6-8 reps (with an arm hanging over a gymnastic horse)

His weights are the weights he started the program with, so a couple of years of chopping wood prior to starting this program definitely paid off as unplanned preparation for lifting. He'd start with six reps per set, and as he grew stronger he would wait until he hit eight reps for all three sets, then increase the weight and start back at six.  With this program and diet, Bruce Randall's progress was nothing short of pants-shitting (both figuratively and likely literally).  In six weeks, he increased his weight from 203 lbs to 225 lbs and his arms grew from arms increased from 16” to 17.5”. Because football was still a few months off, Randall decided to change his goal to gain another 25lbs using the same routine and diet, and he got his weight up to 265lbs.




Clearly, this kind of weight gain and progress is just fucking ridiculous, but it should immediately indicate to every motherfucking last one of us that we eat like Angelina Jolie and we need to level the fuck up at the dinner table.  Lest you think I am suggesting that we all should get fat as shit to pack on mass, I'm not.  There is a happy medium between gaining 200 lbs in two years and applying similar principles to this in order to quickly gain mass, or to smash through sticking points (and there is definitely evidence that our collective sticking points are due in large part to eating like fucking hummingbirds.




Can you imagine someone posting a pic of this now?  The internet would go crazy screaming shit like "fake plates" and "snap city"

So at 265lbs, Randall decided it was time to take his diet to the next level and alter his training to involved the larger muscle groups.  The following just the basis of his training, and he would add exercises as time permitted.  Again, he started with three sets of each exercise, dropping the starting reps to 3-5, and adding weight when he hit 8 reps.  His starting weights were still light, but recall at that point lifters had to clean the weight to their chests and fall back into a high incline board for incline barbell press, which definitely increased the level of difficulty considerably.  He took as long as he felt he needed in between sets, often lifting from 3-5 hours a day.


Randall's 2nd Program

Dumbbell Bench Press – 120 pounds, 5-8 reps
Decline Dumbbell Bench Press – 130 pounds, 5-8 reps
Incline Barbell Press – 250 pounds, 5-8 reps
Good Morning – 295 pound, 3-5 reps

If you are wondering, like I was, why the squat still wasn't in this program, I have your answer right here:

"Randall originally shied away from the squat because of a serious injury there years previously in which he broke his leg in seven places.  He would periodically test his strength in the movement and attributed the hard work in the good morning exercise for allowing him to squat 680lbs.  He actually once took a shot at a 750lbs good morning, but had to drop the bar because the weights shifted on him" (Roach).
It was with this program, just under a year into lifting, that he managed to win an Olympic weightlifting competition, in spite of the fact he trained less for it than most people train for fun runs.  In December of 1953, 11 months after he started training, Randall entered his first meet, the Capital District, and won with a 300lb press, 230lb snatch, 315lb clean and jerk, and 845lb total. 



As his training evolved to suit his heavier training with more compound lifts, so did his diet. Centered around four massive meals (a cafeteria tray filled to overflowing with rice and pork for dinner, or a breakfast of his typical breakfast, consisting of 28 fried eggs, loaf and half of bread and two quarts of milk) a day, at 6:30am, 11:30am, 4:30pm, and 9:30pm.   Between meals he didn't snack beyond drinking milk, of which he drank a fucking unreal amount (8-10 quarts on average).  When I say unreal, I'm talking unicorns that fart cinnamon and sneeze rainbows unreal- at least one time he drank nearly five gallons in a day, which gave him almost 15,000 calories and 600 grams of protein just by themselves (Roach).

“I remember one incident that happened to me at lunch. I weighed about 330 at the time and came to lunch ready to eat like a horse. They were serving a favorite Chinese dish of mine, fried rice with pork. It happened that I was eating at the Navy mess hall at the time and so had a metal tray with five different compartments in it to eat from. Well, I filled the entire tray with rice and pork. The mound was so high that if another spoonful was added it would run over the side of the tray. Carefully balancing the tray so as not to drops a precious grain, I made my way back to a table amid incredulous stares from every sailor in the hall. Upon sitting down and tasting a few spoonfuls I found the rice to be slightly undercooked. The center of each grain was a little pasty and absorbed all the moisture in my mouth when I chewed. In order to solve this frustrating dilemma, I secured several quart bottles of water and proceeded to eat the rice with a swig of water every so often. Under this procedure I was able to finish the entire tray of fried rice and pork (I made it an absolute rule to finish everything I took. Wasting food is an unpardonable sin!). Upon getting up, I was, to put it mildly, sufficiently filled. When I arrived back at the Marine Barracks I found myself feeling rather strange sensations going on in the region of my stomach. I made a hasty retreat to my bed and lay upon my back for five hours taking short panting breaths because I found that deep breathing caused even more pressure on the stomach. Thereafter I made quite certain that the rice was well cooked before I loaded up the tray" (Randall and Roach)


Those of you who remember the Saxon Trio's eating habits will note even they would have thought this was just an egregious amount of food and milk, and the man's bedroom must have smelled like a Turkish bathhouse in which Gary Busey and Nick Nolte had been doing squats.  If you slept in a sewer you probably would have breathed better than you could in this man's room.  And Randall gave less fucks than Deadpool donkeypunching Gina Carano in the middle of a child sex ring- he actually once said that if he'd pushed his weight to 500lbs he could have deadlifted 1000lbs (Roach).



Putting aside that Randall's bedroom must've smelled like a camel threw up eggs onto a pile of cow shit, and his bathroom was likely considered a Hazard Zone by every governmental agency in the country, we'll go back to his training.  Randall said he never really had a "set" program, but he did specifically alter his training to the following, done five to six times a week:





Incline Clean and Press (pictured above) – 3x3-5, 355 lbs.

Quarter Front Squat – 3x6-8, 1,010 lbs.
DB Bench Press – 3x3-5, 205 lbs.
DB Decline Press – 3x3-5, 195 lbs.
Good Morning – 3x3-5, 565 lbs.

His training kept changing from then on, rotating in and out various exercises (but usually keeping the total exercise count to six) that constantly ramped up the insanity as he tested his digestive system and his body's ability to adapt.  By the time he had two years of training under his belt, Randall's lifts were among the best in the world at the time.



Randall's Best Lifts after 2 years of training, at 335-410lbs (Greatest, Willoughby 138)

Military Press – 365lbs x two reps, 375 x one rep
Squat – 680lbs
Good Morning – 685lbs (Bent knees, back parallel to the floor)
Deadlift – 730lbs x two reps; 770 x one rep
Strict Curl – 242 lbs Dumbbell Bench Press – 220-pound dumbbells x two reps
Bench Press – 482lbs (with a 3-second pause on the chest)
Decline Dumbbell Bench Press – 220lb dumbbells x one rep
¼ Front Squat – 1,320lbs
Incline Clean and Press – 380lbs x three reps, 410 x one rep

It seems that his switch in diet happened basically on a whim he mentioned to a friend, that he wanted to “look at life from the other side of the weight picture,” and his friend essentially told him he was out of his motherfucking mind, which only served to strengthen his resolve (Rader and Randall).  I can respect that kind of motivation, because as I've written in the past, spite is an amazing motivator.



As far as I was concerned there is no such word as "never" in a lifter’s vocabulary.
- Bruce Randall

Taking up the challenge like a heroin addict takes up a fentanyl habit, Bruce knew he would have to immediately change both his diet and his routine.  Interestingly, he had the exact opposite opinion about the matter than Arnold, though they both ended up at the same conclusion using the same simile.  Whereas in Pumping Iron Arnold said, "you look in the mirror and you say, okay, I need a bit more deltoids ... so that the proportion's right, and ... you exercise and put those deltoids on, whereas an artist would just slap on some clay on each side," Bruce Randall said, "take a sculptor about to create a statue. He takes a big, ungainly piece of rock and with hammer and chisel he chips away at it until the desired effect is created" (Logan).  At 401lbs, Randall saw himself as that big, ungainly piece of rock, and the weights and diet were his hammer and chisel.  With that in mind, he reversed his previous methods and reduced his food intake at each meal, trying to keep his protein and green vegetables high while cutting back on starches and fats.



At the same time he reduced his food intake, he increased his volume in a way only a dangerously psychotic and probably self-destructive person would, training 6-7 hours a day (and once 27 hours in two days and 81 hours in that week), 6-7 days a week (and once 27 days in a row) doing more than 20 exercises with 4-5 sets of 12-15 reps apiece.  He also started walking daily, gradually increasing his walks and pace until after a month he would walk/jog, and was running 3-5 miles a day by the end of his 9 month cut.  And if you say that's going to kill your lifts, no it won't- you're just being an excuse-making pussy.  According to the man himself, "I found that it did not adversely affect my workouts in the gym and in addition to the above mentioned benefits it increased my stamina and endurance greatly" (Logan).


His workout was as unconventional and volume dense-as-a-black-hole as you would guess:

Randall's "Reduction" Program
Situps, leg raises, hanging leg raises – 20-50 reps.
Squats without weight – sets of 20.
Leg curls and extensions – sets of 25.
Bench presses, flyes – sets of 15-20.
Chins, dips, curls, rows, upright rows – sets of 15-25.
Seated DB presses, incline presses – sets of 10-15.
More situps, leg raises and hanging leg raises – sets of 25-50.
Miscellaneous optional exercises at the end of each workout.


Randall at the end of his cut, weighing 187lbs.

If that's not insane enough for you, his 1956 New Years resolution was to do 5.000 situps a day for the first 15 days of 1956.... in addition to all of the other ab training he did. He credited that with his waspish waist, which was an amazingly trim 33", and whatever else it did, that resolution confirmed that the man was indeed crazier the Heath Ledger Joker on angel dust and flakka.  He did, however, say that in retrospect his reps and should have been reversed (ahhh, sweet vindication):

"I prefer to REDUCE the repetitions and INCREASE the number of sets. 
To illustrate the above point let us take the following example. Instead of performing 3 sets of 20 repetitions per exercise, I would prefer to perform 10 sets of 6 repetitions per exercise when training for definition. Let us say that we were able to do 3 sets of 20 reps with 100 pounds in the curl. Now, if we were to increase the sets to 10 and reduce the reps to 6 we would be able to increase the weight substantially to, let us say, 150 pounds! The point is that at the end of the exercise we have performed exactly the same amount of repetitions. However, on the high set, low rep principal, we use 50% more weight thus accomplishing more work and therefore burning more energy which is necessary in order to reduce fat and attain definition. 
Remember, it is the amount of energy you have burned up which in turn is determined by the amount of work you have performed that will determine the amount of fat reduction. This approach to definition should also enable the trainee to retain a great degree of muscle density, at the same time encouraging greater definition. The writer is not suggesting that the reader follow the idea of 10 sets necessarily. It is true that the more sets you perform the longer will be the length of your workout. It is also true, however, that it is necessary to put in many long workouts in order to bring the body around to top contest condition. Ask any top physique winner and you will find that this is true" (Randall).


Bruce in 1959 at 225 lbs

In the end, Bruce Randall was eating like most kids online claim they're eating when they "literally can't eat another thing."  How those kids have such tiny appetites almost as big a mystery as how the formerly competitive-eater level Randall got his food intake down that low.  By the time Randall was down to 183 in 1956, he was eating the following:


Breakfast

2 soft boiled eggs
Plain pint of skim milk
Glass of orange juice
Apple

Lunch

Salad, dates and nuts

Dinner

Round Steak
Two vegetables
Quart skim milk with additional powdered milk
Gelatin
Coffee (Occasionally)


As you can see below, his first couple of competitions didn't go quite as well as Bruce Randall would have liked- but the man remained undeterred.  When he stepped onstage in 1956, Bruce had increased his weight up to 219 lbs., continuing his bizarre weight yo-yo.  In 1957, Randall took a different tack and went lighter, coming in 6th weighing 195 lbs.  At that point he was walking around at a much more reasonable 203lbs-240lbs in the offseason, and won in 1959 weighing 231lbs, four pounds lighter and an inch shorter than Arnold Schwarzenegger, who would win it nine years later.

Bruce Randall's Competition History

1956 – Mr. America – AAU, 13th
1957 – Mr. America – AAU, 6th
1958 – Universe – Pro – NABBA, Tall, 2nd
1959 – Universe – Pro – NABBA, Tall, 1st
1959 – Universe – Pro – NABBA, Overall Winner


“I constantly put personal goals before myself and these goals acted as a stimulus of sorts. In other words, I would set a date, perhaps three weeks hence, when I would try to accomplish some change such as a loss of 12 pounds or a reduction around the chest or waist of several inches. This idea of using goals is something that I learned when I was gaining weight and strength. I would tell myself that at a certain date I would press or deadlift, etc., such a poundage. Thus I found myself constantly challenged and I love challenges!" (Randal and Rader).
And that is essentially where the Bruce Randall story ends.  He fell off the map and no one really heard from him again.  Likely, he burnt himself out and just didn't have it in him to keep training.  On top of that, his unconventional methods and ridiculous training volume lent themselves about as well to coaching athletes as John Belushi's party practices would have lent themselves to leading AA meetings.  In any event, the man is a fucking textbook on how a zero-fucks-given attitude and big brass balls can push you to the forefront of the strength game... and that the bullshit about yo-yo dieting killing you faster than a diet of plutonium will.  Randall lived to the ripe old age of 87, probably just to prove one unnecessarily awesome point.


A couple of gems Randall had for people regarding training were (Randall):



  • “I did do one exercise during this time which may have had some influence on my squat. This was the good morning exercise. When I reached over 400 lbs. on this exercise I found that I could not do the exercise in the strict sense because I had to band at the knees in order to compensate for the weight at the back of the neck. I made 685 in this manner with my back parallel to the floor and once almost made 750 but was forced to dump it because of a shift in the weight."
  • “I found the ¼ Front Squats helped me push-press heavy weights and believe it to be a fine exercise." 
  • When cutting- “I use powdered milk and skim milk mixed together, thus increasing the protein content. I also took coffee at times finding it tended to curtail my appetite."
  • Just as Mac from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia said about his season-long weight gain, Randall felt good at his heaviest.  "Actually, I felt fine when weighing 400 pounds but found that I perspired freely and had a bit of trouble getting about the city. Of course I needed great amounts of sleep and food. My food bill (early ‘50s) was never under $80 per week and very often well over $100. I know that if I wanted to gain again I could weight 500 lbs. in 18 months time." 
  • On doing anything you believe you can- "Many people say that added weight is not necessary to become stronger. Perhaps they are right, but in my case it was necessary because I believed it was.
  • "I would suggest that those who find it difficult to refrain from the cake pie and candy routine remind themselves that each candy bar will cost them another 500 situps to work off! I found this to be a very persuasive means of combating temporary dietary temptations!"
  • Finally, all you Zyzz and Jeff Seid loving motherfuckers out there take note- "Remember that anyone can have the definition he desires if he is willing to train and will apply a little “exercise” of the will power. In conclusion I think it might be wise to add that there is a time to be extremely defined and a time not to be quite so defined. I feel that it is unwise to maintain an extreme degree of definition for great lengths of time because, by reducing the body fat to an absolute minimum, one also reduces his resistance and may subject his body to colds and many other possible illnesses."

So what have we learned?  First, we learned once again that you form Nazis out there can take a big step back and literally fuck your own faces.  We also learned that literally anything is possible if you set your mind to it and go ball-to-the-fucking-wall.  Finally, it should also seem fairly obvious to anyone paying attention that bulking at the outset to build strength and size makes far more sense than trying to achieve and maintain Instagram-ready abs at all times.  Frankly, I wish I'd dirty bulked in my formative years so I could maintain a higher set-point of muscle mass, rather than constantly scraping and scratching to gain a little muscle every year on a diet of rice and chicken... plus, pizza is fucking delicious.  A bit of food for thought, at least...


"Singleness of mind and the will power to stick to something with the courage to go on in spite of what people might say is a great factor to success."

By the way, big ups to Antonio Jacopo Campaner for reminding me of this guy's name.

Sources:

Bruce Randall.  Greatest Physiques.  Web.  8 May 2018.
 https://www.greatestphysiques.com/bruce-randall/

Christopher, Logan.  Bruce Randall.  Legendary Strength.  8 Oct 2013.

 Web.  8 May 2018.  https://legendarystrength.com/bruce-randall/

Davis, Chris.  Sylvester Stallone workout: Rocky & Rambo.  Pop Workouts.  21 Feb 2016.  Web.  16 May 2018.  https://www.popworkouts.com/sylvester-stallone-workout-rocky-rambo/4/


Heffernan, Conor.  Bruce Randall and the most amazing transformation in bodybuilding.  Physical Culture Study.  1 Jun 2016.  Web.  30 Apr 2018.  https://physicalculturestudy.com/2016/06/01/bruce-randall-and-the-most-amazing-transformation-in-bodybuilding/


Neece, S. Some lesser known strongmen of the Fifties and Sixties. Iron Game History. 1998 May; 5(1):16-25. 

Randall, Bruce.  Definition, That Elusive Quality.  Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban.  30 Apr 2009.  Web.  30 Apr 2018.  http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/04/definition-that-elusive-quality-bruce.html

Randall, Bruce and Peary Rader.  How Bruce Randall Trained- Up and Down to a Mr. Universe Title (1957).  Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban.  24 Aug 2008.  Web.  30 Apr 2018.  https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-bruce-randall-trained-randall-rader.html

Roach, Randy.  the amazing transformation of Bruce Randall.  Iron Game History.  Aug 2008.  Web.  8 May 2018.  https://www.starkcenter.org/static/igh/articles/igh10.3.23.pdf

63 comments:

  1. I am Antonio, thank you for putting my name here, congrats for the article from a Donetsk-based powerlifter-ultrarunner hybrid

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, thanks for the reminder! Seriously. Much appreciated.

      Delete
  2. I have only read this quickly but it strikes me this is a really important article and one of the better ones from Mr Lewis. I am going to analyse it a bit more carefully but just wanted to say cheers. Recently I have exchanged a few messages with Jamie and he comes across as really decent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Recently I have exchanged a few messages with Jamie"


      What through, Grinder?

      Delete
  3. https://www.livestrong.com/article/485454-sumo-wrestlers-compared-to-bodybuilders/

    Randall made it to 87. Maybe the period of calorific restriction played a role in that? Just one little thought on longevity...much of it is genetic. The ones who are genetically made to last will do so despite all odds. That does not mean that the average Joe's have no say in the matter, just that the outliers don't get there by great individual effort. Personally I want to clock a hundred, no matter how miserable it is, I want to screw those pension people right in their hairy arses - metaphorically speaking! I got some Mediterranean genetics, so could be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Personally I want to clock a hundred"

      So what's that, about another ten years?

      Delete
    2. Steve, I don’t want to see another comment from you ever again on this blog. You’re a communist and a failure.

      Thanks.

      Delete
    3. I am so beta I can only sit here sobbing.

      Delete
  4. Ahahaha fucking love it. It shows the path to extreme strength, leannes and fucking everything that is between you and your objectives.

    It reminds me a lot to you this guy.

    Between you and Jordan Peterson, we could create something much better that the Ubermensch of Nietzsche.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've no idea who that is, but thanks man, haha.

      Delete
  5. Related ...Cutting Diet: Lets say "John Smith" is a 275lb bodybuilder holding 16% body fat in the off-season. He is smooth but his heavy training and high protein eating have made it possible for his body to hold 275lbs with probably an ideal contest weight of 226-234lbs or so. Since his present diet is allowing him to hold a "hypothetical" 230lbs of lean mass, what do you think is going to happen on a "cutting diet"....oh he will get ripped but probably at a 60-40 or 70-30 body fat to muscle mass ratio loss. My opinion is to leave the training heavy and leave the diet 90% what it is. The only changes I would make are to be religiously strict with low/trace carbs after 6pm and drop dairy 6 weeks out. Let the cardio take off your body fat!

    Forty five minutes at a slightly brisk walk on a treadmill first thing in the morning on an empty stomach-- on every day except leg days will do it. Add in maybe usnic acid and a thermogenic and your going to end up inside out shredded. That's from a bodybuilding standpoint as I hate seeing someone gain 15lbs of muscle from training so hard in the off-season just to panic diet it all off trying to get ripped. In a general everyday sense for people who don't care about losing 8-20lbs of muscle mass on their way down to leanness,--cardio and a cutting diet will work faster for them. Again, the diet I prefer is high protein, moderate carbs, and moderate good fats (olive oils, flax oils, EFA's)--your stomach is always going to be full on this diet and I want it to be. A main staple of my way of doing things is cutting carbs at night.

    The only carbs coming in after 5, 6, or 7pm (depending on your schedule and your meal timing) are trace carbs found in vegetables and such.

    By Dante a.k.a. Doggcrapp

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "A main staple of my way of doing things is cutting carbs at night."

      Other way around's better

      Delete
    2. Sally is right from sleep standpoint in particular, but I'd just cut them altogether or only consume them post-workout.

      Delete
  6. skin tight capri pants and a melon colored string tank top....Hey, they were fashionable in the eighties when I bought most of my clothes that I still wear. Seriously, I am the most miserly Marxist accountant you will ever meet.

    ReplyDelete
  7. http://ditillo2.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/nutrition-paul-anderson.html

    We live in a world of images. Images designed to create impact and sell commodities. Everywhere in training world its ripped abs, brief intense training, screaming the last rep.

    I call bullshit. If you can see all your abs, I doubt you are maximising your growth. I speak as a non anabolic user. Similarly, The adage you cannot train long and hard may well be true, but the lesson is not always learnt. There is no need for theatrical displays of intensity most of the time, it is likely a negative. But pushing up the tonnage, training long - that works.

    ReplyDelete
  8. "He took as long as he felt he needed in between sets, often lifting from 3-5 hours a day." Yep, the 20 minute HIT routines appeal to the proletarian slaves who have no time cos they are busy producing surplus value for the ruling class...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, they are slaves because they want to be slaves. No one put a gun on his head and tell them where to work. They just choose an easy option.

      Anyhow, I doubt that someone who hates his life so much and does not do something to eliminate the root of the problem, will have enough grit to support 3-5 hours of lifting everyday

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    2. You can choose who to work for.. How come I didn't think of that. Well, I just wasted 4 decades studying Marxism. What a fool I am.

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    3. Well, if you spend 40 years studying marxism, yes, you are a fool.

      At the end is a philosophy that had killed more than 100 million in less than a century, solved 0 problems, and part of the false premise that history moves through economic cycles.

      And fuck, always is going to exist between the people. And even if you put the same input among all people, the outcome is going to be really fucking different.[Rawls theory]

      So, if you would be so kindly to tell why you waste, i mean, spend 40 fucking years studying the same thing, i would aprreciate.

      Because the marxism... You read Marx, Engels, Lenning, a bit of the socialist such as Luxemburgo, and a bit of postmodernist with a bit of history and in less than a year you are not going to learn much more.

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    4. Even though I disagree with you I thank you for taking the effort to write your thoughts. I think you have swallowed the ruling class narrative hook line and sinker, but you will no doubt say the same about me. In the end, its a struggle between opposing perspectives.

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    5. ^^^

      It's like reading a 'debate' between Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson

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    6. Now that you have enter Sally, there is a subnormal in the debate too :)

      And good answer steve, we would never view the opposite perspective in this discussion. At least in a written conversation.

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    7. "Subnormal", lol, my husband would probably agree with you there tbh.

      Just to put the record straight though - at no point did Steve "enter" me, as much as i know he'd like to

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  9. No bulking, no cutting. Just continuous and dedicated training, unless you are SHW competitor in PL or OL.
    If you like bulk up and slim down fairy tales check also Hugh Cassidy.

    BTW, the whole article is a hyperbolic version of following: https://legendarystrength.com/bruce-randall/

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    Replies
    1. I don't advocate extreme bulking, but moderate bulking cutting makes sense. Diet and train for goals.

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    2. I used to like to read the comments but now 75 percent of them are from this jabroni... why do you think people care what you think about every little thing? Youre not fucking Kanye

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    3. I cited that article and used a hell of a lot more sources. Did you miss the sources section or something? This article isn't a fucking "version" of anything.

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    4. Steve, I don’t know why your weak ass is advocating anything. Come back to give us advice when you finally hit 315 on the deadlift.

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    5. He used the word jabroni, so he wins by default.

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    6. Analease, I have deadlifted 600. I got an ipf certificate for a 583 dead later on in life as a masters lifter. Nothing incredible, but I did it natty and give it my best shot.

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    7. You did it natty? Wow, would you like a cookie?

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  10. That article says... Randall continued pursuing his dream and won the Mr. Universe title in 1959. He died in 2010 at the age of 79. Mr Lewis wrote 87. We also live in a world that palms off appearances as realities.
    I find the waist measurement of 58 inches hard to accept. That is real fatty territory.

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    Replies
    1. One source I had said 87. Nevertheless, he outlived his life expectancy.

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    2. Not saying you were wrong, just pointing out discrepancy. Even this aspect of his story is pretty interesting. I read...
      The most current information I have on Bruce Randall is that he was rumored dead a few years ago. No reason for his demise and no documentation. There was supposedly mention of his passing on the Rheo H. Blair site...but the specific archive article in which that was supposedly mentioned has been removed.

      A "Bruce Randall" has been located in several widely spaced states...but when contacted, was not "the" Bruce Randall.

      The question remains up in the air...is he alive or dead?

      One possibility that might explain the lack of information about him...could be that he is a participant in the Federal Witness Protection program. That is a possibility...but no documentation exists...obviously.

      from Dave Draper's site

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  11. Man, you've got some real fruitcakes commenting on this lol. I did GOMAD several years ago and went from 135 to 185 in around 3 months. Got fat as fuck from it but it taught me what eating actually was, which has been invaluable. Had to cut back down and build slowly back up to a not so fat 185. I didn't realize how bad my recovery was until I started actually shoveling food into my mouth. I almost cant make myself sore now. I like stories like this one. Nice job.

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    Replies
    1. You really think any normal people are involved in this lark?

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    2. Wasn't judging the convo on it's normalcy. More-so it's utility.

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    3. What the fuck is a lark...

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    4. A lark is a (mainly Australian) slang term for something that’s done as a joke. Steve, as usual, doesn’t have the proper IQ required to form a sentence that makes sense.

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    5. lark
      noun
      Definition of lark
      : a source of or quest for amusement or adventure
      ****************
      Training as an adventure, I think so.

      Adventure, banquet, passion...


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    6. Man, you've got some real fruitcakes commenting on this lol. I did GOMAD several years ago....1Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

      GOMAD!

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    7. Fuck is wrong with you Steve?

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    8. Mom always told me I'd put my eye out if I kept playin' with my beam.

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  12. Oh by the way - Bruce Randall was about as natty as Rich Piana.

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  13. Do the Easter bunny and Santa!
    Glenn Ross went from cut builder to 400lbs.
    Looks like slimming has not helped big z at this years wsm...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Looks like you’re a gigantic faggot

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    2. You got something against giants or faggots? I don't discriminate against either group. Do you?

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    3. Giants are fine by me, not the biggest fan of faggots though

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  14. I think I remember the story about moving the bench without realising it was bolted down being about Pat Casey, not Bruce Randall, which might be why you couldn't find a citation (or maybe it happened to both of them)

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  15. Cool article.
    For what it's worth: I started lifting after HS when I weighed 75kg/165lbs at 195cm/6'4'' and slowly ate my way to a nice chubby 136kg/299lbs. Took me 4 1/2 years to get there but I never hit a hard plateau and had no problems reaching a 185kg/405lbs bench and 300kg/660lbs deadlift. Most of my protein and calories came from half-fat milk, oats and protein powder blended together. Lifting was done at my dorms cellar gym. Dieting down to 105/230lbs wasn't all that hard either and although I have mostly done bro-stuff since then I have done 300kg deadlifts several times at that lower BW. Bench is down to 165kg/365lbs, but I mostly do barbell overhead presses and DB bench presses.

    So, long story short: not worrying about abs makes it easier to get strong :D

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    Replies
    1. Maybe get yourself a training partner. At your bodyweight those lifts should be much higher. Or take up a different hobby?

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. Very similar to my experience. However I went on to pursue 5k racing and ran long distance too which I now think was a mistake, but it has its merits. But after decades of lifting, I wanted a change. Got it out of my system.

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    4. Right in the feels :( But given that most powerlifters who I have met are usually weaker in the DL and have much smaller arms I think I can recover ;)

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    5. You're a tough judge Sally. I think he is doing OK.

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    6. Steve, what kind of lifting was your prefered type? I'm guessing shirt lifting (yuk, yuk, yuk!!)

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  16. I note this has gone on in the latest hatecast, some great stuff.
    One q for you good folk, as I understand it, Jamie is advocating taking the fat burners during the bulking phase. I always thought that was a waste of my good ephedrine which I always save for the calorific restriction. Any thoughts?
    Communist greetings.

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    Replies
    1. Why do you include that you’re a communist in every post? Augusto Pinochet had the right idea of what to do with people like you.

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    2. Many apologies, will avoid the communism unless requested.

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  17. «in my case it was necessary because I believed it was." » Is belief really that important?

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