Fouad interviews Brad Schoenfeld

[jeroendebleser]

Very well said.

Yep, a nice conclusion from one of the wiser guys on this board!

 

[jeroendebleser]

You see underdeveloped bodybuilders lift big weights because they don't actually know how to lift with their muscles - that's why they're underdeveloped. It's why 175lb. powerlifters bench 405lbs. Their CNS / skeletal system / tendons / etc. are well-trained but their muscles aren't. This is the majority of guys in any gym - they train movements, not muscles.

Nobody comes out of the womb at 250-300lbs. The biggest guys got that way because they kept lifting more and more weight.

True. But wouldn't you agree that trying to always beat your previous weights by forcing the process would lead to exactly this, not optimally training the target muscle (s)? (Which we both agree I think should always be the goal)

 

[danieltx]

True. But wouldn't you agree that trying to always beat your previous weights by forcing the process would lead to exactly this, not optimally training the target muscle (s)? (Which we both agree I think should always be the goal)

Not really.

Say an advanced trainee makes a 15lb. jump from his previous highest attempted weight on incline bench - he goes from 390 for 10 to 405 for 8. He can very likely use his muscles for 99% of the 390 for 10, but maybe that drops to 80% on the 405 for 8. Because he has a good mind-muscle connection and knows how to lift properly, he'll advance to 85%-90%-etc. over the next few weeks as his body acclimates to 405.

A true bodybuilder should in general disregard the weight used - it's just a tool. The muscle doesn't know the poundage it lifts, it only knows how hard it works. Underdeveloped lifters know how to make their CNS / tendons / etc. work hard; developed bodybuilders know how to make their muscles work hard. This is why Kai Greene would say 'I'll never be a weight lifter, I'm a bodybuilder'. This is why we have techniques like rest-pause, dropsets, supersets, etc. - we simply can't keep adding poundage to every movement indefinitely, we need other ways to overload the muscle.

That said, huge size requires huge strength - show me a guy who's 250+ lean that can't bench 315 for 10+ with relative ease. But huge strength that doesn't involve the target muscle does little for muscular hypertrophy.