Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

BEYOND BRAWN
not get to your goal. e names of our game are effort and progressive
poundages. While cycling training intensity does not mean full-bore effort
at every workout, you must get into sustained periods of intensive workouts.
17.4 ere are two crucial considerations to keep in mind when viewing my personal
training achievements:
a. I have never taken bodybuilding drugs, and never will.
b. My genetic endowment is almost the opposite of what is needed to
develop great strength.
17.5 While 400 × 20 is fine deadlifting for a hard gainer, it is not much in today’s
world where the genetically gifted elite grab the publicity and attention. But
while some of these men are awesomely strong, more than a few of them are
far less strong than their posed lifts (sometimes using fake plates) suggest.
I did not use a lifting belt or any lifting gear other than grip support. I was
195 pounds—at 5'9", and about 15% bodyfat—when I did the 400 × 20, so I
was pulling over twice bodyweight. is was in July 1992 when I was 33 years
old.
17.6 When appraising my genetic endowment for lifting weights, there is nothing
to marvel at. Two areas come out as better than average, i.e., calves and
body structure for the deadlift and stiff-legged deadlift. Everything else
ranges from average hard-gainer material to worse-than-average, with arms
in particular being the pits for bodybuilding.
17.7 I had extensive work and parental responsibilities during the deadlift cycle.
ese prevented my resting and sleeping as well as I should have in order
to recuperate speedily from training. I am a real-world person, not someone
who can devote himself to his training with little or no thought for other
aspects of regular life. As typical working hard gainers it is not just our genes
that work against us. ere are other out-of-the-gym factors as well.
Reasoning for the deadlift focus
17.8 For almost all of my training years—right until this 400 × 20 deadlift
cycle—I have always considered the squat the exercise to concentrate upon.
While my deadlift poundage can almost be depended upon to increase so
long as I am injury-free, work very hard and infrequently, and eat and rest
enough, the same cannot be said of the squat. For years I tried to make the
338