. . . and over the next 14 years gained only 10-14 lbs so over 14 years he did ALL those workouts to gain .73 to 1 lb per year? If thats the route you want to take in your bodybuilding career, to do upwards of 260-312 workouts per year to gain less than a pound of muscle per year be my guest. Train 5 years to gain 4lbs of muscle? Screw that. You better look like a physical specimen at 17 years old like Shawn Ray did to make it work for you, because virtually everyone else who gains muscle mass at a sloths pace like that is not going to amount to a hill of beans as a bodybuilder.
alfresco likes it when you chime in.
Excellent point, and one that it not mentioned, talked about enough. It really puts things
in perspective. Is all this training (even if you like . . . could you be something more helpful?),
drugs, dieting, supplements, heavy weights really worth these measly gains?
I am not the best example but I made my best gains in the first 4 years of training and within
that time period, my best gains were made in 6 months, tops. And the gains after that were
slow to imperceptible (no PEDS) so I realized a treadmill when I was on one and got off and
trained for other reasons, essentially had fun, no stress, no injuries. I was still competitive
and disciplined within myself but I knew a different routine, a different exercise, a change in
my diet; yes, for fat loss, not muscle gain. During my best years I grew no matter what or
when I grew and you will too if the stress, the signal is there to grow and you can grow . . .
but I digress.
To wrap things up, I think the hardest part is being happy with what you have and what you
were born with. We can't pick our parents so 'settling' my be the only logical answer, the only
sensible option available having tried everything else short of letting a rattlesnake bit me in
the arm to gain some size, which it would and no doubt some people would be willing to try
this even if the gain are only temporary. Settling is not a bad word. It means (to me) that
you have taken a mental and physical inventory of your strengths and weaknesses and
determined how and where you want to spend your time and what are you will to give up
if you chose to, attempt to, change something that is really out of your control. Again, is
it worth the time and effort.
Only you can answer that. And there is no right or wrong answer.