Bodybuilding is indeed in its prime coming on the heels of
Arnold's Mr. Olympia triumphs. Scores of youngsters flock to their local Golds
to pair chest and tris and back and bis.
Swolled out, bro, they shout to one another, being sure to "catch
the pump." Unfortunately, “It was
the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was
the age of foolishness . . . ,” as Charles Dickens writes in A Tale of Two Cities, for bodybuilding
was about to enter the Lee Haney era, a time when sheer size would trump
balance and symmetry. Fast forward
thirty years and bodybuilding finds itself a pariah amid the "functional
fitness" craze. Millions of
adolescents still pass through the turnstiles at Golds, 24-Hour Fitness and
other commercial gyms, but their efforts for increased muscularity now carry an
unfavorable social stigma. Pass the
Crystal Lite, would you?
But here's the rub – in spurring the bodybuilding style of
training, strength and conditioning coaches threw out the baby with the bath
water. Yes, there is a time and place
for higher repetitions, and no, isolation exercises do not reflect the Devil's
work. Sets of seven, for example, are
useful in back squats periodically, prescribed perhaps as back-off sets around
70-75 percent of a one-rep maximum. Higher repetition maximums, ranging
anywhere from eight to twenty, are powerful hypertrophy and conditioning tools,
too, though their use should be intermittent.
What makes Hercules look so damn athletic in this statute? It's his truck. The abdominals and obliques are thick and dense. Notice also the muscularity of his legs compared to his arms. Good proportions. Now let's see those spinal erectors . . .
And hypertrophy is not a dirty word. Increasing the diameter of a muscle correlates
often to gains in absolute strength, but as Louie Simmons says, "big isn't
strong, strong is strong,” meaning don’t blindly accrue muscle mass without
seeing a corresponding increase in one-, two-or three-rep maximums. Given this understanding, no program is
complete without select applications of bodybuilding-style training. Indeed, exercises like strict pullups (and
chins), Pendlay or dumbell rows, glute-ham raises, hyperextensions, reverse
hypers and even bicep curls lend themselves to repetition ranges of 8-12, but
maybe even higher depending on the athlete or their capacities. Sets of ten repetitions in the glute-ham
raise might be too taxing on an intermediate athlete; therefore, the repetition
scheme should be modified to fit their capabilities. Similarly, an advanced or elite athlete might
be capable of performing a set of twenty or more repetitions of strict
pullups. A strength coach can add
external resistance, i.e. a weight
vest, dumbell or kettlebell, to limit his total number of repetitions, if
deemed appropriate. Finally, additional
lean muscle mass carries increased metabolic demands, meaning the athlete will
burn more calories over a 24-hour window.
A few words of caution regarding hypertrophy. Athletes competing in sports where they must “carry
their engine,” i.e. swimming, track and
speedskating, to name a few, should be wary of accruing excess lean muscle
mass. Strengthening the quadriceps, hamstrings,
upper back, posterior chain and abdominals will likely result in increased levels
of performance, but the law of diminishing returns still applies, thus strength
coaches should think twice before prescribing large volumes of bodybuilding-style
training. One or two exercises for three
sets of eight to ten is sufficient most often.
