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Why Conventional Bodybuilding Methods Suck... and the alternative approach that really delivers Stuart McRobert

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Page 1: Stuart McRobert - Why Conventional Bodybuilding Methods Suck

WhyConventionalBodybuildingMethods Suck...and thealternativeapproach thatreally delivers

Stuart McRobert

Page 2: Stuart McRobert - Why Conventional Bodybuilding Methods Suck

Copyright © 2000 by Stuart McRobertISBN: 9963-616-10-0

CS Publishing Ltd.P.O. Box 20390CY-2151 NicosiaCypruswww.hardgainer.com [email protected]

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Fed up of making minimal or no progressfrom conventional training routines?

New to alternative ways of weight training?

This free book exposes the shocking state ofthe weight-training world—especiallybodybuilding. Even more importantly, itreveals how you can turn your training into a terrific success story.

Please distribute this book Please distribute this book FREELYFREELY,,to spread a message that can helpto spread a message that can helpmany people. many people. Direct people to go toDirect people to go tohttp://www.hardgainer.com/sucks/http://www.hardgainer.com/sucks/to download the book to download the book FREEFREE.. If youIf youprefer to email an attached copyprefer to email an attached copyof this book, you may want to letof this book, you may want to letthe recipients know in advance ofthe recipients know in advance ofthe 4the 4-8 minutes downloading time. minutes downloading time.

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What follows is a scathing report onconventional bodybuilding methods. This may seem very negative, but out of anegative you’ll discover a huge positive.

The basic problem is that conventionalbodybuilding dogma dominates the trainingworld, despite this dogma being a total sham.

To discover the greatness of bodybuilding,and strength training in general, you firstneed to understand what’s wrong with thetraining world. Then you’ll be informedenough to be able to cut through all the crud.So out of a negative you’ll get to a positive,and discover how to build the physique thatconventional training methods deny you.

US officeCS Publishing Ltd.P.O. Box 1002Connell, WA 99326tel [email protected]

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Anyone who thinks that the contents of thisbook are alarmist, or that I’m exaggerating, is way out of touch with the reality of thetraining world; or he has his head in thesand, is living in a make-believe world, or is promoting a lie.

I’m exposing the squalid mess to helpprevent people from getting caught up in itthemselves, and to educate them on how toexploit the marvellous potential benefits ofintelligent training.

With influence comes the responsibility towield power in a socially accountable way.Many influential figures and companies inthe mainstream of the training world havebeen utterly irresponsible, to put it mildly.Millions of trainees have put their trust invarious individuals, publications andinstitutions, but have been betrayed, and at great personal cost.

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I’m a diehard training and bodybuildingbuff, but I belong in a different camp tothat of most of the mainstream. I’ve no timefor the bull, deceit, fraud, drugs, lies andabsurd training practices that are rampantin the mainstream.

Break away from training methods that don’twork. Open your mind and find out fromthis book how to get in charge of yourtraining. But you need to make the necessarychanges now. You can’t keep throwing awaychunks of your life on unproductive trainingroutines. Life is in short supply and the yearsquickly slip by.

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The way that much of the trainingestablishment has deceived the massesis akin to how the tobacco industry hasspun its wicked web over the years. Aglossy picture is presented in order tohide the squalid abuse of economicpower. This is a strong statement, butread on and you’ll see that my wordsare not mere rhetoric.

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Sure I’m a rebel, but a rebel with acause. You need a rebel’s perspective;otherwise you’re going to fall prey to thetraining mainstream due to ignorance.You’re never going to get this rebelliousbut liberating perspective from themainstream, because the establishmentisn’t going to go out of its way toundermine its power. That manymagazines and books give similarlyirresponsible and even harmful advicewill never make that advice right. Whilerepeated hammering away at the samelies and deception does make many ifnot most readers believe they are beinggiven good advice and information, nodegree of repetition of deceit andnonsense will ever produce somethingof truth and value.

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ContentsPreface 8Is your training working? 10What is conventional bodybuilding? 11What gives me the right to preach to you? 15My motives 16What’s wrong with the training world? 19The calamitous fallout 20Train like a champ to become a champ? No way! 23The claim that “the elite” are healthy 32The old-timers were clean, weren’t they? 34Want creation 38Wreaking of havoc in other ways 43Fraud and the commercial imperative 46The current state of affairs 50Bad beyond belief 53Role models that mislead 55What about the legitimate drug-free elite? 56Why’s nothing done to put things right? 58Stand up and be counted! 59The success formula 62If you would like to learn more 72

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PrefaceLearn from the costly experiences of those who’ve beenthrough the mill of desperate frustration with conventionaltraining advice. This book is not based on only one man’sjourney. It’s a distillation of the experiences and acquiredwisdom of generations of people but which have been largelyhidden or ignored by the training mainstream.

Once you apply radical changes to your training program youwill be totally out of step with what most people do in the gym.

Have the courage to swim against the training tide. Alwayskeep in mind that popular training methods simply don’tdeliver the goods for most people. So why would you want touse popular training methods? Life is too short to waste any of it on useless training methods.

Because I’m only interested in drug-free training, andprimarily concerned with satisfying the needs of the hard-gaining masses, most of the values and methodspromoted in this book are heretical relative to what’scustomary in most gyms today.

There’s no other approach to take if training methods thatare practical and helpful for drug-free typical people areto be promoted.

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Anyone, anywhere or anything that promotestraining routines that only work well for thegenetically gifted and/or drug enhanced, oroffers how-to information on drug abuse (orcarries ads for books on the same), orpromotes absurd expectations and rolemodels, or teaches high-risk or impracticaltraining practices, or is a food supplementcatalog in disguise, simply does not have yourbest interests at heart. If you follow the“instruction” found there you’re going totread the same path of frustration and evendespair that millions already have.

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A journey of a thousand miles beginswith one step. By reading this bookyou’ve taken the first step—a huge step—towards the strong, well-developed,healthy and lean physique you crave.

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Is your training working?Do you really have some progress in muscle and might toshow for your efforts over the last few months?

More of the training approach that didn’twork over the last few months isn’t going to work over the next few months.

Before you can take charge of your own training andphysique, you need to understand why conventional trainingmethods not only won’t help you but may actually harm you.

Conventional bodybuilding methods are useless for mostpeople, and their promotion has grossly misled the trainingmasses. Look around almost any gym and you’ll see fewdrug-free people who have good physiques. And considerhow many people have been gym members at one time oranother, but gave up due to dissatisfaction with the results.

The enormous failure rate of conventional training methodsisn’t publicized by the mainstream, because the mainstreamhas a vested interest in the maintenance of the status quo.

Weight training is a wonderful activity, but only if it’sworking. When it’s not working it’s a massively frustratingand disappointing activity. To increase the success rate ofweight training, an approach is needed which is radicallydifferent to that promoted by the mainstream.

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What is conventional bodybuilding?Conventional bodybuilding methods are largely the trainingpractices of elite male and female bodybuilders and strengthathletes—practices which are vigorously promoted in mostbodybuilding magazines and books, and even on televisiontoo. They involve weight training on 4–6 days per week,multiple exercises per muscle group, and usually at leastthree work sets per exercise (in addition to warmup work).

Conventional bodybuilding methods aren’tjust what any specific magazine, book orpublisher has to say. It’s a collective thingarising from many authors, publishers, books,magazines, organizations and gyms. It’s thewhole shebang of excessive and impracticalroutines, and the presentation of thecompetitive elite as gurus and role models.

Consider some of what conventional training methodspromote, and see how it’s a travesty of useful instruction:

1. Conventional training methods overtrain everyone otherthan the genetically gifted and drug abusers, butovertraining will not help you.

2. Conventional training methods promote some high-riskexercises that injure many people. Getting injured willnot help you build the physique you want.

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3. Conventional training methods often promote specificdangerous techniques for otherwise good exercises, andthose specific techniques injure many people. Again,getting injured will not help build a good physique.

4. Conventional training methods promote a volume andfrequency that are impractical for busy working andfamily people. But even sacrificing work, family,education and a balanced life won’t make conventionaltraining methods work for typical people, so there’s novalue in extreme measures anyway.

5. Conventional training methods place exaggeratedimportance on food supplements. Food supplementscan’t make lousy training programs work.

6. Conventional training methods promote exaggeratedexpectations, and invariably use drug-fed genetic freaksas gurus and role models, neither of which will help youto realize your potential.

7. Conventional training methods complicate training, andconfuse people. Complication and confusion can’t help.

8. Conventional training methods are not personalized tomeet individual needs, limitations, lifestyles and goals.This produces overtraining, injuries, frustration andgiving up—i.e., failure.

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9. Conventional training methods actually encouragedrug abuse, because without the drug assistance thosemethods just don’t work for most people.

Much of the mainstream of the training world, and thebodybuilding dimension in particular, plays down the drugproblem, or pretty much pretends it doesn’t exist, and doesnothing of substance to help put an end to drug abuse.

That much of the establishment panders to the drug abusers,glorifies many of them, has made a few of them into icons, and presents them as role models, has played a major part inencouraging drug abuse and the accompanying chaos.

The drug problem in the bodybuilding world in particular isbad beyond belief. This has brought great ignominy uponmainstream bodybuilding.

But there’s another side to bodybuilding, and strength training in general. It has nothing to do with the drug abusers or theirlackeys, or with bull, lies, fraud, or impractical and uselesstraining routines. After pointing out what’s fundamentally wrongand squalid about the training world, this book will show you theother side of the coin—the clean, honest, truthful, productive,practical, healthy and life-enhancing side.

As a youth, when searching for traininginstruction I was heavily swayed by

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appearances. What looked the best (to mygullible eye), had the most striking photos, andthe most hype to really spike my expectations,was what grabbed my attention. That itpresented useless and even harmful traininginstruction didn’t dawn on me until yearsafterwards, by which time I’d been robbed ofsome of the best training years of my life.

Nothing has changed on this score over theyears. The same shambles continues for today’snovices, and will continue in the future.

The “information” most responsible for misleading trainees is not isolated to some specific and famous individuals andpublications. It’s everywhere, and even includes most non-mainstream publications and a plethora of internet web sites.

Anyone, anywhere or anything that promotes training routinesthat only work well for the genetically gifted and/or drugenhanced, or offers how-to information on drug abuse (orcarries ads for books on the same), or promotes absurdexpectations and role models, or teaches high-risk or impracticaltraining practices, or is a food supplement catalog in disguise,simply does not have your best interests at heart. If you follow the“instruction” found there you’re going to tread the same path offrustration and even despair that millions already have.

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What gives me the right to preach to you?I’ve dedicated my working life to exposing the myths, bulland lies of the exercise world, in order to teach people howto exercise responsibly, safely and effectively.

Born in 1958, in England, my “credentials” include over 25years of training, over 350 published articles, having authoredfive books on training, having published and edited anindependent training magazine since 1989, and havingalways been independent of food supplement companies.

Because I’m genetically average, have never usedperformance enhancing drugs, have an extremelydemanding job, and am a family man too, I can totallyrelate to the lot of the average person.

I’m not part of the weight-training establishment. ThoughI’ve written many articles for the mainstream bodybuildingpress, I’ve hammered away at my central themes, albeitlimited by editorial constraints. Few people in the trainingworld who have any visibility speak on behalf of the trueinterests of typical grassroots trainees. Most people withvisibility speak on behalf of the training establishment, and therefore have to peddle the usual “company line.”

But I’m no armchair athlete or theoretician. I’ve deadlifted400 pounds for 20 consecutive rest-pause reps, and I’ve beenan inveterate muscle and strength buff for most of my life.

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My motivesIt cost me nearly half of my life, a great deal of suffering,and an enormous waste of time, effort and money before I learned the real deal on how to improve one’s physiquesafely and efficiently. I want to spare others from learning in the same extremely expensive way, or from giving uptraining due to frustration with lousy results.

In my youth, being a naive and trusting lad, I followedconventional bodybuilding methods hook, line andsinker—just like millions of people have over the years.And just like almost all of those millions, I found thatconventional bodybuilding methods suck.

Whereas just about all of those people moved on,disillusioned and frustrated at having not realized theirexercise goals, I stayed in the weight-training world andmade a career out of teaching others to avoid falling foul ofthe same perils that I and millions of others already have.

My views challenge the mainstream of the training world.In my defense, consider these questions:

1. Is it wrong to want to stop people from committingtraining “suicide”?

2. Is it wrong to want to prevent people from wasting yearsof their lives training incorrectly?

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3. Is it wrong to want to spare people from suffering injuriesfrom using high-risk exercises and specific techniques?

4. Is it wrong to teach people that they don’t have to spenda great deal of time in the gym in order to realize theirstrength and physique potentials?

5. Is it wrong to teach people how to realize their exercisegoals while maintaining a balanced life—withoutsacrificing work, personal and family lives on the alter of excessive time spent in the gym?

6. Is it wrong to want to spare people from wasting money onfood supplements that don’t deliver what the ads promise?Is it wrong to let people know that some food supplementssimply don’t contain what the labels list? Is it wrong to letpeople know that lies and massive exaggeration are used topromote food supplements?

7. Is it wrong to expose the drugs, lies and deceit that arerampant in the training world?

8. Is it wrong to promote practical training routines thatwork without drugs?

I’m not anti conventional training methodsfor the sake of it. I’m just against anythingthat deceives the masses, or promotes useless,harmful or impractical training methods.

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Conventional training methods work well for hardly anydrug-free people, so why promote them?

The benefits of a responsible exercise program are great, butyou won’t experience any of them if you get cheated like Iwas and millions of other people too.

Conventional training instruction is in a colossal mess,and it’s outrageous how so much bull and deception arepromoted in gyms today. Inappropriate, impractical, non-personalized and dangerous instruction will not do. There’san alternative approach—one that’s appropriate, practical,personalized, safe, healthy and super productive.

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The paradoxThe paradoxThough the chronic failings of the trainingmainstream motivated me to write articles andbooks, and publish a magazine, it was thetraining mainstream that provided me with adegree of visibility from which I could presentan alternative perspective. On the one handthere’s so much to protest about concerning thetraining mainstream; but on the other hand,without the training mainstream I wouldn’thave been able to provide an alternative voiceto the extent I have. It’s quite a paradox.

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What’s wrong with the training world?Primarily the promotion of impractical and inappropriatetraining methods that only work well for people who havebeen blessed with great genetics, or for drug abusers. As aresult, most people don’t get the results they want.

The training world is built on huge success for a few people,and minimal or no results for the majority. What I promoteis different to what the mainstream churns out because Iteach healthy, real-world training for real people with busylives and a sane drug-free mentality. My concern is with thetraining masses, not the competitive elite.

What most mainstream articles and books don’t tell you is that the featured role models are usually genetic superpeople and/or are taking so many drugs that they makethemselves super people until, that is, their health crashes.As super beings they can prosper on training methods thatthe average person can’t. Someone who doesn’t share yourdrug-free genetically “normal” condition is in no position to lecture you on how to train for your best results.

With few exceptions, it’s true that mainstream books andarticles don’t give how-to advice on drug abuse. But bypromoting routines that only work well for drug abusers, andby revering people who are drug abusers, that’s tantamountto drug endorsement at worst, and outrageous hypocrisy atbest. And it’s a travesty of responsible behavior.

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The calamitous falloutThe rampant use of muscle-building drugs is the worstcalamity that has ever hit the training world. Drugs haveproduced dishonesty of untold proportions. The firstcasualty of drug abuse is the truth.

Most modern-day training magazines and books reek of lies and dishonesty because of rampant drug abuse by many if not most of the men and women featured inthose publications, and used in advertising.

Some bodybuilders and strength athletes who only got tothe top because they had drug assistance are still claimingthat they never took chemicals. Usually they are dishonestbecause they are ashamed of their drug abuse, and don’twant to tarnish their clean public images. And some evenpromote the charade that they were hard gainers.

While the harm to health that the chemicalshave wreaked is a huge problem, as are thecriminal implications of illegal drug use,these are nothing relative to the colossalharm done to the drug-free training masses.

Rampant but generally secretive drug abuse since the earlysixties, when steroid use really took off, led to drug-assistedtraining methods being almost universally promoted asappropriate even for the drug-free training masses.

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But these conventional training methods don’t work fordrug-free genetically typical trainees. Because thesemethods are so unproductive, most people who try themare propelled into a well of frustration and disappointment.

To make conventional routines work well, harmfulanabolic chemicals usually need to be used. Dissatisfiedbodybuilders looking for quick fixes to their trainingfrustrations and disappointments have produced hugemarkets for drug pushers. But the drug route is not the only solution for training woes!

If people would train on routines based on the principlesand values promoted in this book, they would get resultsthat would astound them. They would not experience thefrustration and disappointment that are usually standardwhen using conventional training routines. Then theywould not feel pressured to take dangerous drugs in orderto make their training work.

Out-of-this-world strength and Mr. Universe-type musculardevelopment are only possible for genetic phenomena whoare stuffed with drugs. Forget about comparing yourselfwith drug-fed genetic phenomena, because that’s the routeto despair, frustration and drug abuse. What matters is whatyou do with your physique, not what others do with theirsunder extraordinary circumstances.

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While it’s true that the approach I promote won’t make youinto a Mr. Universe, it will take you a darn sight further thanconventional training methods would. There’s no comparison!

Keep your integrity, sanity and health.Absorb with every atom of your being theparamount fact that your health is yourmost important possession. And yourintegrity is not far behind in importance.Train drug-free, always!

Anyone who says that bodybuilding drugs are safe to use, is fullof bull. Some of the people who give you the “bodybuildingdrugs are safe” spiel happen to sell how-to books on drugabuse. A few of these “experts” are dead, partially if not whollydue to their own drug abuse.

Bodybuilding drugs are dangerous, and should be avoided likethe plague. As Charles A. Smith told me shortly before his deathin January 1991, “You never know how important good health isuntil you no longer have it.” Think about this. Dwell on it. Makeit one with you while you still have your health, not when it’stoo late. Avoid all harmful habits, activities and environments.Look after yourself!

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Train like a champ to become a champ?No way!“Train like a champion to become a champion” has longbeen the message promoted by the weight-training world,especially bodybuilding. This message has been trumpetedin one form or another by almost all the magazines andbooks in the field—both mainstream and “sidestream”—and by most trainers and gyms too. The motive is simple—it attracts great interest and sells magazines, books, courses,food supplements and gym equipment. While it’s been abig commercial success in some respects, it’s been a disasterfor the training masses.

The promotion of the “merits” of copying—wholly, orpartially—the training methods of the “champion”bodybuilders and lifters is one of the most costly frauds in the exercise world. Despite millions of trainees havingfailed to meet their exercise goals in spite of putting intopractice the methods used and promoted by the“champions,” the fraud continues. The failure of thetraining masses to achieve their goals is not publicized by the mainstream. The successes of a tiny minority—the“champions”—dominate the mainstream press and hidethe real state of affairs in the training “trenches.”

Many years ago I used to be a big fan of a number of veryfamous, elite competitive bodybuilders. They were heroesof mine until I found out about the immense harm they

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were responsible for. I was just one of the millions who,over the years, were grossly misled by these men.

The following is a statement of what these men werereally responsible for; and what bodybuilding orthodoxyprefers to keep hidden, in the hope that by keeping itsuppressed people will actually believe that competitivebodybuilding is healthy and full of decent and honestpeople worthy of emulation. This suppression is necessaryin order to keep the “train like a champ to become achamp” mentality alive and kicking.

The real champions of the training world arenot the drug-enhanced genetically blessedcompetitive elite. The real champions are theunsung heroes who applied years of doggeddetermination in order to build themselvesup against the odds, without ever usingdrugs, without seeking or finding publicity,and without divorcing themselves from therigors and responsibilities of everydayworking and family life.

Genetically gifted and drug-enhanced superachievers who have near-perfect trainingconditions and lifestyles can’t hold a candleto the real heroes of the training world.

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I started weight training in 1973, age 15, when a handful of“legendary” bodybuilders were in their prime. I know fromfirst-hand experience the impact such men have on ignorantand gullible neophytes. Their training methods werepromoted to the training world with no caveats. This wasdone via numerous magazines from many publishersworldwide, and several books. The format was basically,“Here’s how the champions did it, and if it was goodenough for them it’s certainly good enough for you. Train,eat and take food supplements like the champions do, to be like the champions!”

When I started out in bodybuilding I was consumed withdreams of building a great physique. I wanted to be asgood as the most famous men of the time. I trained withthe same dedication. I trained as their articles said Ishould. And I didn’t neglect the mental aspects—Iimagined my biceps as mountains, and I had a hugelypositive mental attitude.

I was at high school at the time. I took on jobs to earn themoney needed to buy the food supplements and extra food I had to have, along with as much training literature I couldget ahold of. Everything in my life played second fiddle tobodybuilding. I became a recluse. I was antisocial. All I wantedto do was train, and then apply myself to fully satisfying myrecovery needs, which meant getting lots of sleep and avoidingsocial activities. I was as dedicated as possible.

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Because I had the extreme level of dedication supposedlyneeded to become a “champion,” and because I knew I wasdelivering on the dedication front, and was training harderthan anyone else at the gym, and I ate a lot and sleptplenty—going to bed earlier than my peers—I couldn’tunderstand why I wasn’t making good progress. In fact, Iwasn’t making any progress for a long while.

It was only many years later that I fullyunderstood the reasons why I wasn’t makingany progress—I didn’t have the extraordinarygenetics the “champions” had, and I wasn’t“supplementing” with drugs. I actuallybelieved that the only supplements the“champions” took were of the food type.

I didn’t build a physique like the “champions.” Not onlythat, but I didn’t even get close. In fact, the methods theyfollowed and advocated set me back.

When I got to know of the drug component, I was disciplinedenough never to use bodybuilding chemicals. Had I not hadthis discipline, however, I’d probably either be dead by now,or a physical wreck. Not having the genetics to be able tobuild huge muscles naturally, almost certainly meant thatI’d never have had the physical robustness needed towithstand heavy drug abuse.

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I wish someone had grabbed that young, gullible and oh-so-enthusiastic bodybuilder I was, and insisted that I trained ina way that was appropriate for me. Then I’d have mademore gains over just a few months than I did from manyyears of the conventional approach of four or more days oftraining each week, multiple exercises per bodypart, andmany sets. I was robbed of the best training years of my lifethrough deception and utterly irresponsible instruction.

Train like a modern-day elite bodybuilder and you’ll neverdevelop a terrific physique unless you’re one of the very fewwho have fantastic genetic potential. Don’t waste years ofyour life before you learn this lesson. Learn it now!

The “instruction” found in most articles from/by elitebodybuilders has no practical relevance for typical people.

Almost all bodybuilding magazines throughout the worldhave, to varying degrees, promoted the “train like a champto become a champ” maxim. For an illustration, consider a1998 article in a major newsstand bodybuilding magazine onthe chest training of one of the most famous bodybuilders ofall time. A five-exercise 24-set chest routine twice a week istraining suicide for the typical drug-free trainee. That’s howit is. This is not sour grapes, or mean spirited.

There were no caveats accompanying the article pointingout the need for superior genetics and drug assistance to

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make the routine work. What relevance has that article gotfor the typical trainee with average genetics and the goodsense not to use drugs? But the typical youngster is going to copy it, and thus suffer as I did when I was very young.

Countless others suffered the same way I did,and still are today, because the same sort ofirresponsible training nonsense that misledme in the seventies is being reprinted orrehashed today.

Not only did the “champions’” methods not help me, theycaused injuries, gross overtraining, and sickness. So theyharmed me. Millions of others have been affected in anadverse way, though you’ll never read about this in themainstream publications. Despite all of this, the elite arealmost deified by some people and publications.

Just about every “champion” bodybuilder since thesteroids era began has been guilty of promotingovertraining and impractical and often harmful trainingmethods, destroying the dreams of countless people, andgiving weight training a bad name.

Some “successful” but scurrilous bodybuilders have claimedto have been hard gainers. Steroids were what “fixed” theirperceived “hardgainingness,” and enabled them to train sixdays a week; but never was that mentioned in the magazines

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and books. Food supplements, “better” training, and morededication were the “secrets,” so we were told.

The promotion of the training methods used by drug-assisted and genetically gifted men wreaks havoc,despite these men being presented as demigods in thebodybuilding world. Sure they have inspired millions,but at the same time they have misled millions; and their“instruction” has robbed millions of people of the besttraining years of their lives.

The ensuing desperation drove many peopleto turn to steroids, to try to make the pseudotraining advice work. Lousy instruction fuelsdrug abuse, because without drug assistancethose methods don’t work for most people.

Though people who’ve suffered from the “train like achamp to become a champ” nonsense know the real score,endless newcomers to bodybuilding don’t, and they aregoing to tread the same well-worn path of deception anddishonesty that millions of people already have.

When sizing up the contribution to bodybuilding ofmodern-day physique “stars,” consider the following:

1. They were presented as role models for others to follow,with the implicit or explicit mantra of “train like a

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champ to be like a champ.” Millions of people triedexactly that, in good faith. But they didn’t get the fullstory. The roles of genetics and drugs weren’t disclosed,and the utter inappropriateness of the “champions’”methods for typical trainees wasn’t pointed out, so thetraining masses were deceived big time.

2. Many people dedicated their lives to their bodybuilding,to imitate the “champions,” and sacrificed education,careers and balanced family lives, and all without evengetting close to what the “elite” achieved.

3. Food supplements were often touted as the “missingingredient” for training success. Millions of dollars havebeen made by selling overpriced food supplements thatdidn’t deliver what the hyped up claims said theycould. Drug-fed supermen endorsing food supplementswas a powerful commercial success for the companiesinvolved, but again, the whole story was held back. As a result, many if not most readers really believedthat the food supplements played a major role in thebodybuilding success of the men providing theendorsements. That drugs were the big “supplement,”and food supplements were neither here nor thererelatively speaking, was kept quiet. So again, thebodybuilding masses were hoodwinked.

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4. What has gone wrong in the past is still happeningtoday. There are millions of newcomers to bodybuildingwho will get sucked into the same mess that I did andmillions of others too. So the fraud continues unabated.

5. Many people discovered that the “champions’” trainingmethods do work to a degree if you take enoughsteroids. So indirectly, the failure of those methods toyield results for the masses, promotes drug abuse.

6. The drug abuse has caused deaths, countless healthproblems, crime, jail terms, ruined relationships, anddevastated families. This is a hideous state of affairs.

It’s a strange world that glorifies many drugabusers who have deceived millions of peopleand caused so much dissatisfaction, frustrationand downright misery.

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Please distribute this book Please distribute this book FREELYFREELY,,to spread a message that can helpto spread a message that can helpmany people. many people. Direct people to go toDirect people to go tohttp://www.hardgainer.com/sucks/http://www.hardgainer.com/sucks/to download the book to download the book FREEFREE.. If youIf youprefer to email an attached copyprefer to email an attached copyof this book, you may want to letof this book, you may want to letthe recipients know in advance ofthe recipients know in advance ofthe 4the 4-8 minutes downloading time.minutes downloading time.

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The claim that ‘’the elite’’ are healthySome magazines and books which supposedly promote a healthy lifestyle are packed with physiques that arepumped to their gills with drugs. A few of those physiqueshave subsequently died largely if not wholly due to drugabuse. That’s hardly in line with a healthy lifestyle.

When I started out in bodybuilding, and for quite a fewyears, I believed that the “champions” followed thehealthy lifestyle the magazines boasted. I believed that the “champions’” success was a result of their dedication,hard work and clean living, and that I should follow theirexample. In my ignorance I followed their trainingadvice, like millions of other have and still do.

These dishonest people didn’t spill the beans about thewhole story behind their ability to grow on routinesthat were training suicide for me and other clean-livingand principled people. I was just one of the millionswho were deceived.

I wish I’d known the full picture in my teens, and hadtrashed any advice coming from anyone on drugs. But themess related to drug abuse back then was low-key relativeto the extent of the squalor today.

How do you know who is and who isn’t on drugs? Justabout every “champion” competitive bodybuilder since the

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early sixties has been into the juice, and not just steroids inmost cases. It’s not a case of “if” so-and-so abused drugs,it’s more a case of “how much?”

It’s not just the bodybuilding dimension of the weighttraining world that has a lot to answer for. Drugs are a messin all aspects of the Iron Game, but more so in some aspectsthan others. Of course, drugs have provided huge problemsin almost all athletic endeavors.

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With few exceptions, it’s true thatmainstream books and articles don’t givehow-to advice on drug abuse. But bypromoting routines that only work wellfor drug abusers, and by revering peoplewho are drug abusers, that’s tantamountto drug endorsement at worst, andoutrageous hypocrisy at best. And it’s atravesty of responsible behavior

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The old-timers were clean, weren’t they?The pre-steroids old-timers did it drug free, but steroids goback to before the early sixties, which was when their usereally started to take off. Some old-timers were takingsteroids before the stench of drug abuse became widespread.

If you look at bodybuilding magazines since the forties, thesudden jump in the standard of physiques in the sixties, andthe number of people with very “high” standards ofdevelopment, is striking. It wasn’t a result of “better”training, supplementation and nutritional habits, like somepeople would have you believe. Additionally, there was farmore frequent promotion of absurd training routines oncesteroids became widespread—working out six days perweek, even twice a day in some cases.

Steroids enabled the “champions” to train to a far greaterextent and still progress, and those methods were promotedto the masses without the caveat of the need for steroid useto make the methods work. Instead, the “champions” werepromoted as demigods who were dedicated to a greaterdegree than other people, and that was why they became“great.” As I’ve said before, and I’m sure I wasn’t the first tohave said it, “The first casualty of steroid use is the truth.”

Bill Pearl is a very big name who misled the masses for many years. To his credit, he did come clean about his use of steroids, and spilled the beans to some extent.

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As a genetic superman bolstered withdrugs, Pearl was light years away frombeing a role model for the geneticallytypical and drug-free masses. He was one of the big names who seriously misled me—one of the men promoted as a demigod bythe bodybuilding world.

My parents bought me Pearl’s courses, as a Christmaspresent when I was about 17. Their instruction was uselessfor me. There was no mention of the role of genetics anddrugs in Pearl’s achievements.

No mention of drugs, that is, until I read his 1986 bookGETTING STRONGER. Then I started to appreciate thatPearl was an example of a tremendously gifted man whowas further enhanced by drug abuse. Yet for many yearshe’d been offering advice to the drug-free genetically typicalmasses. No wonder his routines were so far off the mark.Here are some of Pearl’s own words, from GETTINGSTRONGER, and he could probably have spilled a lot moreof the beans had he chosen to:

My first experience with steroids was in 1958. I had wonthe Mr. America and Mr. Universe contests and was inFlorida making a movie with Arthur Jones, a thoroughlyunorthodox and eccentric friend (who would laterrevolutionize weightlifting with the invention of the

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Nautilus machines). Arthur told me about a newchemical the Russian weightlifters were using. When I returned to California Idid some research.

At the University of California at Davis I met aveterinarian who told me that steroids were being usedwith good results to develop strength and growth incattle. The name of the drug was Nilivar and the dailyrecommended dosage for humans was 10 mg.

Now it might seem extreme for someone with no moreinformation than that to begin using the drug, butthat’s what I did. Good enough for a bull, good enoughfor me! It never even occurred to me that there could beanything harmful in the drug or any side effects...

Two years later Idecided to enter the 1961 Mr.Universe contest. By then, steroids were out of theexperimental stage and well-known to mostcompetitive bodybuilders. They were no longer anunderground item. I remembered the fast progress I’d made using them and decided to do so again...

Most of the old-time bodybuilders will not touch steroidsnow, but probably used them at one time or another.

While Pearl came clean, at least to a degree, few of the otherbig names did—at least not in public. So training methods

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that only work for drug-fed genetic supermen have beendrip fed to the masses since about 1960. The training masseshave been led asunder, and the only way for most people tomake those training methods work well was to take steroids.This is no way to promote “healthy” bodybuilding.

There wasn’t, however, a golden age of training instructionin the pre-steroids era. I’ve a library of training publicationsgoing back a hundred years. Training volume inappropriatefor most people, exercise techniques that cause problems formany people, high-risk exercises, non-individualizedtraining, and dreadfully deceitful ads have been promotedto the masses for over a century. Though there’s nothingnew here, modern-day big business and the drugs problemhave made matters far worse.

The bodybuilding world is stuffed with people who liefreely and sell fraudulent products. A few of them havebeen hailed as icons of the modern world, and givennumerous awards for business “excellence” or“contributions” to the training world.

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Want creationThe “follow the champs to become a champ” maxim is usedto create demand for innumerable training-related products.

Why is there so much attraction in the training world tomatters that are insignificant, useless or even harmful? Becausethere’s not much money to be made out of getting people tojust deliver on the package—hard training on basic exercisesalong with plenty of milk and knife-and-fork food (to producea caloric and nutrient surplus), bags of rest and sleep, andgearing everything to generate the progressive exercisepoundages (in perfect form) that produce bigger muscles.

To produce enough income to satisfy the demands of aplethora of interests, money has to be made out of selling“improvements” to the package in terms of “better” programsand equipment, and “add ons.”

There needs to be a great industry of want creation, andnever mind the uselessness of many of the products thatdemand is created for, or the fraudulent nature of thepromotional techniques. This industry of want creation is largely what the bodybuilding establishment exists toproduce. And how well it has produced it.

The most profitable “add ons” are food supplements,because they are mass produced, consumed quickly andneed to be “renewed” often, yielding lots of repeat sales.

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Food supplements offer huge potential forrepeat sales. A barbell set can last a lifetime, ascan a good book on training know-how, but acan of protein powder only lasts a week orfew. The profit margin on food supplements is large, and the scope for hype and lies inmarketing material is unlimited.

Because bodybuilders and strength trainees are made sogullible by the mainstream literature, there’s an unlimitedmarket for selling food supplements. So the supplementhawkers are going to keep ramming their often criminallydishonest claims down the throats of muscle mag readers.

Some food supplement companies publish bodybuildingmagazines (or are very closely intertwined with thepublishers), and use those magazines to promote theirwares. It’s no wonder that many trainees seem to thinkmore about food supplements than their training.

Exaggerated claims, dishonest reporting, abuse of editorialresponsibility in magazines and books, and utter nonsenseare used to produce demand for large sales of supplements.

Ask around most typical drug-free gym members who haveno vested interest in the sales of food supplements, and youwon’t find many who will tell you they experienced much ifany significant increase in their rate of progress as a result of

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using bodybuilding food supplements. You will, however,find many who will tell you that the most significant resultsof their taking food supplements are the dents made in theirbank balances along with increased visits to the toilet.

Because there’s nearly always something “new” beinghyped up, along with “improved versions,” many traineesare willing to give food supplements “just one more try.”Even when that “last one” bites the dust, as it usually does,something else comes along, with a sales pitch that winsthe doubters over, and trainees give that one a shot. On itgoes—the supplement marketing boys know what they aredoing, and the bodybuilding world is ripe for the picking.

Some ads in the muscle magazines truly arecriminally dishonest. The problem isn’t a bit ofexaggeration or promotional hype. Theproblem is so very serious that it’s a damningindictment of the liars who put their names to“endorsements,” and of the liars who write thefictional claims for progress made whilesupposedly using the advertised supplements.

I know that these scoundrels are full of bull,as do most seasoned trainees. But novicesdon’t. It’s not only the big guys used in thebogus ads who should be damned, but the

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companies putting the ads out. And thosewho allow the ads to reach the public areencouraging the liars and crooks.

Drinking a potion, or swallowing tablets or capsules, to try tohelp training and physique progress will always have a verybig appeal, largely because they are easier to deliver on thanare consistently hard training, good eating and sleeping.

Promoting a training method that supposedly needs foodsupplements to make it work is a great marketing ploy tosell food supplements. But no food supplement will make a bogus training method work.

Off the record, some of the charlatans will tell you thatyou’ve got to get on the real “gear,” namely steroids (notfood supplements), to make their training methods work.

A reader of HARDGAINER called to let me know about awell-known “expert” (a man who has taken steroids formany years). Someone called the “guru” to complain thatthe “expert’s” training methods weren’t working.

The first question the “expert” asked was, “What are youon?” “Guru” assumed that the caller was already on drugs,but the wrong stack and dosage of the blasted things. Ofcourse, the “guru” doesn’t put the required drug usage inhis articles; so people follow the articles in good faith, not

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knowing that they are only for drug-using fools. Thus, the“guru’s” methods wreak havoc in the training world.

Such is the shambles of mainstream bodybuilding, and thecriminal activities of some of its “experts.” Truth be told,those “experts” should be put behind bars.

The “improvements” and “add ons” of the training worldhave to be hyped up way out of proportion to what they canreally deliver (or even be promoted with a pack of lies), dueto the commercial imperative of creating a demand.

The great attention placed on all the “extras” inevitablyproduces a huge distraction from the priority issues, alongwith a great deal of bull and deceit, including bogus andeven harmful products. So the training masses are cheated,and denied the progress that should be theirs.

Get the package in good consistent order, and you’ll go far—adarn sight farther than all typical trainees who get caughtup in the hoopla and bull of the modern training world.

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Wreaking of havoc in other waysGenetically gifted, drug-fed, pro or semi-pro athletes are atotally different breed to the rest of us, and what can workwell for them can wreak havoc on the rest of us. Forexample, training techniques that work for them can ruinthe joints of typical trainees. Despite this, many of thoseharmful training practices are promoted to the masseswithout any cautions or caveats.

Presenting some outstanding success stories as men whoonce were “ordinary” hard-gaining people is a travesty ofthe truth that has been used many times. The truth is thatthese people are usually genetically gifted and, at leastduring the last forty years or so, drug assisted.

I’m not calling all trainers and coaches liars. Neither am Isaying that all examples of stellar results are from geneticstandouts and/or drug abusers, but I can confidently saythat most are. Only part of the truth is usually used inpromotional writing, in order to increase the trainer’s statusand kudos, in order to kid the ignorant and gullible masses.

This method of conning the masses has been used for manyyears. But what you don’t find out about are the failuresfrom applying the methods that supposedly account for the success stories, and the injuries and damage that wereproduced among typical trainees.

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Conning the training masses takes many forms, such as...

1. It’s a fact that some people who have never used a giventrainer’s program actually endorse it and even claim tohave used it.

2. It’s a fact that some people who have never used thetouted food supplements, endorse them.

3. It’s a fact that some people who have been takingsteroids for many years claim to be drug-free examplesof what a certain coach’s training and food supplementregimen can do.

4. It’s a fact that “research” referred to by some people inthe training world is fictitious.

5. It’s a fact that the benefits of food supplements areusually exaggerated big time, or even made up.

I’m not saying that all claims are packs of lies, but I amsaying that the bodybuilding world is notorious forexaggeration and deception, especially when foodsupplements are involved.

There are often facts that are hidden—perhaps the traineeconcerned was coming back after a long layoff, perhapshe’s a very easy gainer, perhaps he was on steroids,

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perhaps the time period involved was much longer thanreported, or perhaps there’s been some creative touchingup of the photos concerned. I’ve even seen the same headput on different bodies! But an expert can merge a headwith someone else’s body and you would never be able todetect it. There are almost no limits on what can be donetoday when working with photographs.

Some people have no scruples, and will dowhatever they can get away with in order tocon people. This behavior is ever worseningbecause an ever increasing number ofindividuals are digging their hands in thecoffers of the bodybuilding world.

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While I actually have a vested interest in theshortcomings of the training mainstream—because I‘ve made a career out of providing analternative viewpoint—I’d much prefer that themainstream hadn’t been defective and deficientin the first place. Then the success rate frommainstream instruction would have been sowonderfully high that there would have beenlittle or nothing to protest about, and no need foran alternative approach.

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Fraud and the commercial imperativeThe “train like a champion to become a champion”mentality carries a great deal of marketing clout, and evenworks very well for the elite of the bodybuilding andpowerlifting worlds. These people—who are often creditedwith having written articles and books—promote the sortof training that worked for them. They never had theexperience of being bona fide hard gainers, so can neverget in the shoes of typical trainees. So the training massescontinue to be led astray.

Some of the ghost writers do know the real score, however,but because they are the lackeys of the big names they arewriting on behalf of, they have to fuel the flames of bull,nonsense and fraud.

In some ways it’s in the best interests ofmany companies that people fail in theirtraining. This failure creates the reservoir offrustrated masses that produces the fodderfor those making exaggerated or fraudulentclaims for food supplements. The foodsupplement industry is where serious moneyis made, not the training instruction industry.

Most mainstream magazines don’t exist to promote practicaltraining information that works for typical trainees. Theyexist largely to maintain the high circulation figures needed

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for obtaining a lot of high-priced advertising. Also, keep inmind that some magazines are used as catalogs for the sisteror master food supplement companies that are associatedwith those publications.

Sensible training information that works for the masses won’tsell hundreds of thousands of copies of magazines or books.Photographs are the prime factor behind big sales ofbodybuilding magazines and books. In many cases, the more awesome the photographs, the better. This leads toglorification of drug-fed excesses, and a glaring contradictionwith any espoused principles of good health.

The focus on the visual has also led to the presentation of as much female flesh as possible (whether trained oruntrained), and as much use of sex as possible. Considerhow often that word crops up in cover blurb. The use of theword “sex” seems to have greater importance than the word“muscle” on the covers of some bodybuilding magazines.This has nothing to do with training instruction, or the bestinterests of readers, but simply the commercial imperativeof attracting buyers in sufficient numbers to make anewsstand magazine economically viable.

When numbers are the bottom line, publication content willbe tailored to meet the primary need, not the best interests ofreaders. And that, in the bodybuilding world in particular,usually means a focus on the elite, the freaks and the most

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awesome, along with as frequent as possible connectionswith sex. Of course, the use of sex as a sales technique is notunique to bodybuilding. It’s used in many other fields too.

The failure rate of bodybuilding is enormous, and not justbecause of the lousy results that conventional trainingmethods deliver for most people. The number of peoplewho get turned off by the dishonesty, clear contradictionsand nonsensical training advice that abound in most of themainstream publications, is vast.

Additionally, the drug-fed muscular monstrosities (maleand female) that some magazines publicize and admirerepel many people from bodybuilding, and make theactivity a freak show and laughing-stock.

So long as there are plenty of gullible newcomers—usuallyyoung men—to replace the former “discarded” readers, all is well on the numbers front. And why change a provenformula? It has “worked” for decades.

The training mainstream is very adept at presenting bull,nonsense and deception as truth. Even people who are welleducated and very discriminating in their professional livesoften become utterly irrational in what they accept as truthin the training world; until, that is, they’ve invested a yearor two of training and learned that conventional routinesdon’t work well for conventional people. But by then most

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of them have given up, and written off bodybuilding (andperhaps exercise in general) as something that doesn’t workfor them. Thus they fail to obtain the wonderful benefitsthat accrue from a lifetime of regular exercise.

So continues the old and familiar story of thetraining masses getting shafted by swallowingthe mentality of “train like a champion if youwant to become a champion.”

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There’s quite a bit of information andadvice in the mainstream that isaccurate, but the promotion of accurateinformation is a vital part of the gameof deception. An illusion of credibilityis produced through presenting accurateinformation and drawing upon peoplewith apparently impressive academicqualifications and “reputations.” This“softens up” the readers so that theyare easily conned by the lies, deceitand bull which are mixed in with theaccurate material.

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The current state of affairsIt’s over 25 years since I started bodybuilding. But the grimreality is that mainstream popular training instruction is nobetter now than it was back then. And in fact, it’s worse. Iam, however, only concerned with drug-free and geneticallytypical (and disadvantaged) trainees—i.e., the trainingmasses. As far as the elite are concerned, it’s a “better”world today—more drugs, more effective drugs, morecompetitions, more publicity, more money and more fame.

Part of me wants to wash my hands of the training worldbecause of its nauseating deception, bull, dishonesty, hypeand drugs. I’m not just directing my comments atbodybuilding. Strength sports are riddled with the samemess. But another part of me gets very angry at the hokumthat’s rampant in the training world, and drives me to makean effort to present some truth and honesty.

The word “success” is often used incorrectly. Kidding themasses, selling training misinformation, and leading peopleastray is not “success” no matter how many millions ofitems of “product” are sold, how much profit is earned, orhow many tributes for business “excellence” are awarded.

Appropriate, practical and safe training instruction fortypical trainees is what I’m into, and what should be theheart and soul of bodybuilding and strength training—mainstream and otherwise.

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Photographs sell training magazines andbooks, not articles and workout instruction.In many cases the articles are just thepadding needed to provide the spaces for photographs and ads.

For photographs to do the job of grabbing the bodybuildingmasses—who, to their cost, are usually into a publication’sappearance before its content—they need to be arresting. This inevitably leads to the publication of the mostawesome physiques.

Today’s most awesome physiques belong to the geneticallygifted and drug-enhanced. They are light years away fromwhat the genetically typical drug-free person can achieve.

But the drugs component is either understated or, morecommonly, ignored—for reasons of not downgrading thephysiques and reputations concerned, to avoid law suits,and to try to give bodybuilding a “clean” image.

The training methods used by the drug-fed geneticphenomena—which are often embellished with a hefty dose of fiction—are promoted without any caveats. Theyshould be accompanied by this sort of warning:

“But these routines only work if you havephenomenal genetics or drug assistance, and

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preferably both in spades. Sane andgenetically typical people must train in atotally different way. We only provide over-the-top instruction for entertainment and toattract buyers. Don’t try to use the instructionyourself! What worked for the champions willnot only not work for you, but may destroyyour chances of achieving your potential. Notonly that, but it will yield huge frustrationand disappointment from so much time andeffort being invested in achieving trainingfailure, along with accumulating injuries thatcould scar you for life.”

To finish “the current state of affairs,” here’s what a publisher ofa foreign language edition of a big US bodybuilding magazinetold me recently: “One [city]-based sports nutrition trader...hasundertaken to publish a US bodybuilding magazine...The solepurpose of this project is clearly to use it as a promotion vehiclefor nutrition products.” The same can be said of some of theoriginal US-published magazines. The job of the publication is topull in readers, and then feed them information that “softens”them up for the sales pitches for supplements embedded inarticles, or in the ads themselves. Training “information” andphotographs are just the padding around which thesupplements promotion is arranged. What hope is there fordecent training instruction or objective nutritional information?

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Bad beyond beliefI was recently leafing through a series of books from afamous bodybuilding author. The content was bad beyondbelief. It was one awful book after another, preaching thesame bull—training instruction totally inappropriate for thedrug-free and genetically typical masses, “decorated” withgenetic phenomena largely if not wholly bolstered withdrugs to further enhance their already great advantages.

The naive, gullible and ignorant masses—especially youngmen—are attracted by the photographs in these books, buythe books, and follow the abysmal “instruction” that wasused to fill the spaces between the photographs. Thesebooks are not being published to help the average drug-freebodybuilder. There’s another agenda.

Relative to 1973 (when I started training), nothing has reallychanged instruction wise in the bodybuilding world otherthan a greatly increased number of photograph albums thatpose as instruction manuals. So the mess is actually worsetoday than it was when I started out.

Even worse, and I’m not saying that this isintentional, but promoting training routineswhich don’t work for 95-plus percent oftrainees actually encourages drug abuse.Without drug assistance those trainingmethods just don’t work.

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No matter how awesome something looks or is packaged,and no matter who says it or endorses it, never bepersuaded that any workout instruction used by drug-fedgenetic phenomena—even a watered-down version—hasany real relevance to you.

Think things out for yourself, be true to yourself, and onlyfollow routines that are appropriate for you, practical, andpersonalized to your individual situation.

If you don’t do all of this you’ll follow the same route oftraining misery that millions already have, and furthermillions will as they apply themselves to training methodsthat haven’t a hope of yielding success unless drugs areused to compensate for the lack of phenomenal genetics.

Trading your soul and health for fleeting physical rewards is no sane way to go. Don’t wait until you no longer have your health before you appreciate itspriceless value.

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Role models that misleadIn the pre-drug era, before I was born, the genetically supergifted, including the late John Grimek, were inspiring eventhough their achievements were out of reach for typicalpeople. Their training routines, too, were out of line for“average” people, and needed to be heavily pruned back.

But the physique achievements of today’s drug-enhancedgenetic freaks are in a different world to the achievements ofthe super gifted of the pre-drug era.

Even John Grimek in his prime wouldn’thave been able to gain on what the moderncrop of drug-fed mega achievers grow on. If a fantastically blessed superman like Grimekcouldn’t have gained on this modern stuff,what hope is there for regular mortals?

All drug-assisted and drug-free genetic phenomena don’thave a clue how to train drug-free genetically typicalpeople. But they know much about how to mislead anddeceive. Always keep that in mind when you hunt for rolemodels or help with your own training.

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What about the legitimate drug-free elite?Aren’t they worthy role models?There are some drug-free top-level bodybuilders, though notas freakish as the drug-fed crop. While many of these elite“naturals” are as drug-fed as the monsters, there probably area few who are clean (but astonishingly gifted genetically).Some of them even claim to be hard gainers. After all, theydid struggle a bit to get from 18-inch to 19-inch arms. Butanyone who could get huge without drugs was never a hardgainer. Even the elite’s progress grinds to a halt eventually,and then they find gains hard to come by. But that doesn’tqualify them as hard gainers. And just because they are drug-free doesn’t mean they are genetically typical and thereforesuitable role models for the rest of us.

Some of the near-freakishly developed “naturals” boast theyare examples for what can be done sans drugs. Then they layout a training program for readers to follow that evenSchwarzenegger in his prime would have been proud of.(Schwarzenegger was absolutely no example of a drug-freehard gainer for typical trainees to follow!)

There’s remarkably little difference between the elite naturals’routines and the drug-fed’s routines. Perhaps the former needa bit more recovery time, and fewer sets, but still theirtraining methods are far removed from what typical traineesneed, such are the former’s tremendous genetic advantages.So, paradoxically, the mainstream deception “machine” has found

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allies in some natural “champs.” No one—whether drug-free ordrug-fed—who has great genetics for building muscle andmight can ever get in the shoes of the typical hard gainer.Anyone who promotes long routines, and more training daysthan rest days, is promoting an approach that only works forthe genetically gifted and/or drug fed. It never worked fortypical drug-free trainees in the past, and it will never workfor them in the future, no matter how many food supplementsare taken, or which brand name is chosen.

Dedication, food supplements, attitude and hard work can’timprove one’s genetic inheritance. They are, however,essential for realizing one’s potential, but only if combined witha training program that’s appropriate for genetically average people.

Some food supplement companies use a “tested” drug-free near-freakish physique to endorse their products. A big thing may bemade of the “drug-free” condition, but no mention is made ofthe tremendous genetic good fortune the man has. Supplementsare promoted as the big “equalizer.” So once again, the typicaltrainee gets shafted as the establishment hides truths, makes itsown “truths,” and distorts things to suit its own ends—endswhich are not in the best interests of the training masses.

The way that much of the training establishment has deceivedthe masses is akin to how the tobacco industry has spun itswicked web over the years. A glossy picture is presented inorder to hide the squalid abuse of economic power.

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Why’s nothing done to put things right?With the bodybuilding world in particular being in such amess—though you’d never realize it if you only read themainstream magazines—you might wonder why nothing is done to put things right.

Despite drugs being so endemic in bodybuilding, and withthe elite competitive physiques (male and female) beingjuiced up to the hilt, no serious action is taken against drugabuse. Instead the “stars” are presented as role models,given tremendous publicity and opportunities to line theirpockets, and some of them are made into icons.

Drug testing, as scarce as it is, is pathetically inadequate. No serious action is taken against drug abusers because theconsequences could be so dire for the powers that be. If alegitimate and rigorous surprise test was performed at a bigcontest, or on the big guys who endorse food supplements,they would all test positive for drug abuse.

If all the beans were spilled, that would rubbish the public“credibility” of the many organizations and companies thathave built their success on the edifice of lies, drugs anddeceit that makes up much of mainstream bodybuilding.There’s simply no strong and principled leadership at thetop to do anything about the problem. So the drug issue islargely swept under the carpet, and a pretense made thatthere really isn’t such a big problem after all.

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Stand up and be counted!In my teens in particular I fell prey to the siren calls of thosewho sold fraudulent products and used scurrilous tactics todeceive the ignorant but gullible masses. Today the sirencalls are even more attractive and deceptive.

I recently discovered some antics of a very big name in theworld of competitive bodybuilding. Exploiting his fame,he’s offering “personal” (and very expensive!) trainingcourses through correspondence.

Based on minimal information that can never get even closeto understanding the strengths, limitations, goals, individualcircumstances and lifestyle of the individual—all of whichcan hugely influence the design of a training program—BigName provides a non-individualized “personal” trainingprogram along with supplement advice. It probably won’t belong before he has his own line of food supplements, inorder to pillage the market even more.

No mention is made to prospective “clients” of the freakishgenetics and tremendous drug support Big Name has, andof how he’s utterly unqualified to instruct typical trainees.His training philosophy for the masses is pretty much “trainlike I did to become like me.”

Big Name has an accomplice for the scam—another juiced-to-the-eyeballs genetic marvel. What hope is there that this

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duo will offer responsible training for typical trainees?Zilch! These two scam artists are just two of many, such isthe state of the training world. This sort of mess is not new,but there’s far more of it around today than in the past.

That so many people are ripe for being ripped off is largelya reflection of the mainstream propaganda that intentionallymisleads people, or at least hides the truth. This leaves thetraining masses prime prospects for ripoff merchants.

The mainstream misinformation and deception “machine” iswrong. But doing what’s right isn’t the bottom line for mostmainstream interests—the numbers game and end-of-yearfinancial statements are what count most of all.

Stand up and be counted by turning your backon what’s wrong in the training world. Nevermind if having scruples and doing the rightthing is unfashionable in some people’s books.

Rid yourself of all the crud that produces so much failureand exploitation in the training world; and rid yourself ofthose who propagate the crud. This means cutting yourselfoff from drugs, liars, cheats, hypocrites, and unrealisticexpectations that can only be realized through freakishgenetics and buckets of drugs.

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Educate yourself, become your own expert personal trainer,take charge of your own training, never surrender control toanother person (especially a drug-fed genetic phenomenon),train yourself safely, sensibly and productively, and acceptthat you can never match the drug-fed monsters.

Dedicate yourself to achieving your own potential, andknuckle down to years of consistent intelligent training thathas been personalized to suit you. And always keep yourhealth as your number one priority.

Do all of this and you’ll achieve your ownphysical excellence, enjoy the journey there,and be a credit to the true and honorablestandards of the Iron Game, and be a creditto yourself.

Be challenged by this call to arms to stand firm against thestench of drugs, lies, bull, fraud, hidden agendas andirresponsible training advice that besmirch the Iron Game.Together, we really can make a difference.

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The success formulaContrary to what conventional bodybuilding methods wouldhave you believe, in order to build a terrific physique...

1. you don’t have to weight train even three times per week,let alone four, five or six times;

2. you don’t have to use a great variety of exercises, or highvolume training;

3. you don’t have to take “bodybuilding supplements,”though some other supplements can have health benefitsand be very valuable;

4. you don’t have to get caught up in all the hoopla andhype of the bodybuilding world;

5. you don’t have to use high-risk exercises or techniques, orany foolish macho bravado;

6. you don’t have to copy drug-abusing habits of the big guys.

But you do have to adopt a totally different approach toyour training and whole outlook on bodybuilding. There is ahuge bonus on top of improved results—reduced time spentin the gym, and a more practical approach for busy people.So you can achieve your exercise goals without sacrificingimportant aspects of your work or family life.

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Shortly I’ll provide a summary of what would havedelivered the goods for building a big, very strong andimpressive drug-free physique when I was a beginner, givena few years of consistent application. It still delivers thegoods today, over 25 years on. In fact, it’s the only type oftraining that produces decent results for most people.

Don’t waste years of your life, like millions of others alreadyhave, trying to prove to the contrary.

I realize that most of the prescriptions that follow shortlyare radical or even downright blasphemous relative to theedicts of conventional training. Have the courage to swimagainst the training tide. Always remember that popular trainingmethods simply don’t deliver the goods for most people. Sowhy would you want to use conventional training methods?

Because I’m only interested in drug-freetraining, and primarily concerned withsatisfying the needs of the hard-gainingmasses, it’s inevitable that most of the values and methods promoted in this bookare heretical relative to what’s customary inmost gyms today.

There’s no other approach to take if training methods thatare practical and helpful for drug-free typical people areto be promoted.

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What follows is an outline only, to lay a foundation.There’s much to learn about how to implement theframework in a way that’s personalized and appropriatefor a given individual.

Training program design needs to accommodateindividual factors including goals, age, training historyand experience, strengths and limitations, injurybackground, equipment availability, and recovery ability.In addition, exercise selection and form must be perfect.This is no simple matter. A look around almost any gymwill provide a litany of poor exercise selection and lousyform, and demonstrate the gross ignorance that aboundson exercise selection and form. Also, recovery abilityneeds to be enhanced, and nutrition optimized.

While my focus has always been on meetingthe needs of the drug-free and geneticallytypical—hard gainers (who are really“normal” gainers)—the training methods Ipromote are also appropriate for easygainers, i.e., people who have naturally veryresponsive bodies. Even easy gainers want tomake progress as fast as they can, withoutinjuries, and without becoming slaves to agym. This is precisely what sensible andpersonalized abbreviated training delivers.

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I know that the framework promotes a simple and basicapproach to bodybuilding and strength training, butthat’s exactly what most people need. One of the biggestand most destructive myths of the training world is thatsimple, basics-first routines are for novices only.

It’s important to get to the root of productive weighttraining—building up to handling impressive weights in thebig exercises in consistently perfect form. If you want to builda terrific physique, you absolutely must build up to usingbig weights in the major movements. Just what is “big”varies according to the individual, due to a number offactors including goals, age, gender and trainingexperience; but “little” weights only build little muscles.Incrementally and consistently increasing your exercisepoundages is the name of the muscle-building game.

Training, nutrition and recovery all need to be geared toassist your body to build additional strength pound bypound, to work up, over a period of years, to big weights.The best way to achieve this, training wise, is to useabbreviated routines, safe exercise selection and perfectform. That’s why abbreviated training is the way to go.

Getting caught up in the small exercises like most traineesdo—leg extensions, leg curls, pec deck work, cablecrossovers, pec flyes, lateral raises, concentration curls,triceps kickbacks, etc.—hinders progress on the big

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exercises that really matter. Why bother with those littleexercises if you want to build bigger and strongermuscles? Why train in a way that hinders progress on the exercises that really matter?

There are, however, a few very important small exercises thathave vital assistance value for keeping you injury resistantfor the big exercises. But these small exercises don’t includethe aforementioned ones that are so popular today.

You can’t refine a physique until you’ve first built therequired muscular size. Drug-fed genetic freaks can buildand refine, but drug-free genetically typical trainees can’t.

Here’s the outline of sensible abbreviated training that’sappropriate for anyone—male or female, young or not soyoung, hard gainer or easy gainer, beginner or veryadvanced. And it applies whether you want to train in ahome gym, or in a public gym.

1. Simple routines of 6–8 exercises maximum per workout,and better still for many hard gainers, only 3–5exercises. No single program is best—there are manyinterpretations that can work well.

2. Most of your exercises should be big compoundmovements—e.g., squat, deadlift, parallel bar dip andchin—if you’re at the upper end of the number of

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exercises, and all of them should be big movements ifyou’re at the lower end of the spectrum. The harder youfind it is to progress, the more you need to prune backon the exercises you perform.

3. Weight train no more than twice a week.

4. Alternate two different workouts.

5. Add an extra day or two of rest between workouts, ifnecessary, for full recovery.

6. Master exercise form, and always use impeccableexercise technique.

7. Use a controlled rep speed of about 2–3 seconds for thepositive and at least 3 seconds for the negative. Put theemphasis on keeping your reps smooth. Explosivetraining greatly increases the risk of injury, so avoid it.

8. Warm up very well—better too much than not enough.

9. Perform no more than three work sets per exercise.

10. Make poundage progression in perfect form yourtraining creed. Add a little weight to each exercise everyweek or two—a little weight means a pound or so oneach big exercise, and no more than half of that on the

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smaller exercises. Use “little gems”—i.e., fractionalplates or microloads. This applies during the hard stageof a training cycle. During the earlier “breaking in”stage you should be able to add weight faster.

11. Follow a high-quality protein-rich diet every day thatprovides a caloric and nutrient surplus. You can’t buildmuscle without enough of the required raw materials.

12. Spread your dietary intake over five or preferably sixfeeds a day.

13. Experiment with protein intake—you may need largequantities to maximize results.

14. Sleep well every night—at least eight quality hours.

15. Conserve your energy on your off days.

Fine-tune most of this outline based on experimentationthat’s governed by sticking with what helps, and droppingwhat doesn’t—to personalize the template for you toproduce month-by-month progress.

Some factors, however, aren’t open for modification—don’tcompromise on perfect form, for example, though youshould tweak grips and stances to find what works best foryou. And for as long as you want to get stronger and bigger

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muscles, never compromise on the need to keep adding alittle poundage to each exercise whenever possible.

With the “adjustable” factors, individual modification canmake a big difference. Perhaps you need a lot more proteinthan most people do, perhaps you need ten hours of sleepdaily rather than eight, perhaps you’re better off training threetimes every two weeks rather than twice a week, and perhapsyou’re better off deadlifting only once every two weeks.

Make this proven fifteen-point plan work for you byapplying it with resolute dedication. Do it for a few yearsand then you’ll be so big, strong and impressive that you’llmake most people gape when they see you for the first time.

I wish a wise mentor had grabbed me by the scruff of myneck as a beginner, and forced me to follow nothing otherthan simple and abbreviated training programs, with thepriority being to increase my exercise poundages whilealways using impeccable form. I wish that mentor hadensured I never wavered from the sure way.

Had this happened, I’d have developed a better andstronger physique by age 20 (after five years of training)than over 95% of drug-free bodybuilders the world over.

As it happened, I gave my absolute all to bodybuilding forfive years, but had little to show for it. Application and

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motivation are only part of the battle. Appropriate traininginstruction is essential. No amount of dedication andmotivation (or food supplements) can make lousy trainingprograms work.

If I’d had this imaginary mentor, and had hebeen an uncompromising dictator when itcame to the use of perfect exercise form andabbreviated routines, and insistent on theneed to keep adding a little iron to each bigexercise every week or two, for year after year after year, I’d have made gains soconsistently, and without injuries, that I’d have thought I was an easy gainer.

I’d have been adding a tad of iron everyweek or two without any perceived increasein effort needed, such would have been thegradual and intelligent nature of myprogression. I’d have accumulated gains onan almost linear basis for year after year.

Having discovered The Golden Fleece, I’d have beenscratching my head wondering why so many people had trouble developing bigger muscles.

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All of this doesn’t apply just to me, but toall hard gainers who want to build strongerand better physiques, though the specificinterpretation of exercises, training volumeand frequency, caloric and nutritionalintake, sleep needs and rate of progress vary among individuals.

Live for the moment and don’t harp on aboutwhat you should have been doing in formeryears. No matter how many mistakes you’vemade, no matter how much training timeyou’ve wasted, and no matter how much youwish you could turn the clock back, what’sdone is done. But stop repeating pastmistakes, and stop letting people cheat you!

Today is the start of the rest of your life.You’ll never be as young as you are now.There’ll never be a better time than today to start getting your training-related life inperfect order. So start today to get in chargeof your physique!

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If you would like to learn moreThis book provides just a summary of how to achieve yourexercise-related goals. To learn a lot more free of charge,please visit www.hardgainer.com, where a great deal ofvaluable information and insight is available gratis.

For the full scoop on how to train, how to perform eachexercise with perfect technique, and how to fully satisfy allthe components of recovery, please see my books.

Cynics will say that I’m only promoting my own books herebecause I want to make money; but people who know mytrack record also understand that my focus has always beento promote sensible training methods free of the hoopla,drugs and baloney that blight the mainstream. To do this inthe most complete way possible, I invested several years ofmy life to produce a set of interrelated books—there’s ahuge amount of material that needs to be covered in orderto provide a thorough education. If you’re interested in thebooks, please go to http://www.hardgainer.com/mmm/

To your training success,

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Stuart [email protected] www.hardgainer.com

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73and the alternative approach that really delivers

Please distribute this book Please distribute this book FREELYFREELY,,to spread a message that can helpto spread a message that can helpmany people. many people. Direct people to go toDirect people to go tohttp://www.hardgainer.com/suckshttp://www.hardgainer.com/sucks//to download the book to download the book FREEFREE.. If youIf youprefer to email an attached copyprefer to email an attached copyof this book, you may want to letof this book, you may want to letthe recipients know in advance ofthe recipients know in advance ofthe 4-8 minutes downloading time.the 4-8 minutes downloading time.

Learn from the costly experiences of those who’vebeen through the mill of desperate frustration withconventional training advice. This book is not basedon only one man’s journey. It’s a distillation of theexperiences and acquired wisdom of generations ofpeople (but which have been largely hidden orignored by the training mainstream).

Stuart McRobertCS Publishing Ltd.P.O. Box 20390CY-2151 [email protected]

www.hardgainer.com

US officeCS Publishing Ltd.P.O. Box 1002Connell, WA 99326tel [email protected]

www.hardgainer.com