triage and bodybuilding

[alfresco]

I was driving home from the gym this morning, listening to the last CD of a audio
book called Simplexity: Why Simple Things Become Complex, by Jeffrey Kluger.
The author touched upon the theme of triage. And seeing as how it's a slow time in
my business right now, and having some time to write, I thought it might be fun to
share my opinions on how triage could be applied to bodybuilding. For what it is
worth, here goes.

The word triage got my attention because during my days as an EMT, and doing volunteer
work for the local Sheriffs Dept. Search and Rescue where I was man tracker, we were
trained in triage. For those unfamiliar with the term, it goes something like this; you divide
people that are in need of medical attention into categories.

1. those who will live regardless of what you do
2. those who will die regardless of what you do
3. those who will benefit from your immediate attention

My opinion is that the same thing could possible be applied to the training of your
various body parts. I am simplifying things here I know, but for discussion purposes,
let's start with his:

1. those body parts that will grow regardless of what you do
2. those body parts that will not grow regardless of what you do
3. those body parts that will most benefit most from training

Arguable, the successful bodybuilders, the cream of the crop, the ones winning the top
shows, the genetic freaks probably fall into category 1. The great ones have this in spades,
equally in all body parts. Clearly they must do some training to reach their current condition,
but to us mortals, they just seem to grow, symmetrically, equally all over, like a weed,
regardless of how they train or what exercises they perform and what they eat. We know
who they are and to those aspiring to be like them, we wish we had those qualities. Or
at least some of us do.

Calves, mine especially, come to mind when talking about category 2. I think you either
have them or you don't. While everybody can make noticeable improvement in this
department, eventually, it comes down to genetics. We all can improve, but some will
improve more than others and some will literally have no real meaningful, noticeable improve-
ment at all. We see guys and gals on the stage every day like this. Great in all other respects,
but it's those damn calves again. We know they train the dog piss out of them, but regardless
of what they do, they will never measure up.

This is somewhat off topic for this category but I think it ties in via the genetic factor above;
examples are from what I believe to be a very reliable source . . . Chris Dickerson had a pair of
calves that at one point in time, ranked among the best. What most people don't know is that
he has a twin brother who's calves were arguable better than Chris's and he never trained them.
So Chris, if he did train them, and I have reason to believe that he did, may actually have made
his calves worse by training them (I have no way of knowing this), training them too much when
they quite possible have been better if he just left them alone and let them go along for the ride,
grown on their own. Casey Viator is another example that comes to mind. And not because of
Casey, but because of his sister, who has never trained her calves, and has a pair of calves that
most bodybuilders would probably give their left gonad for.

I think category number 3 is where most successful bodybuilders fall. They must train all body
parts equally hard, ignoring nothing, paying attention to sticking points and know how to work
past them, paying special attention to their diet, supplements, attitude, consistency, etc . . .
The good ones are the ones where all body parts benefit equally from this and do not have any
genetic inequalities or limitation. But again, they must really train hard to grow, and they do,
and it shows.

But in reality, most of us are stuck with a body part or two that responds extremely well to
whatever type training we do for it, and other body parts that are very poor responders, or
maybe even zero responders when contrasted to other body parts that grow distortional.
Generally speaking, we hope the good responders are legs, calves, and sometimes arms.
That way we can focus on the other body parts, and don't let the easy responders get too far
ahead, because it is easier for them to play catch up than it is for the others.

The bottom line . . . make the most of what you have and be happy with it.

 

[smootheavy]

The bottom line . . . make the most of what you have and be happy with it.

This reminds me of a story I read about one of Bruce Lee's students...He was older and got frustrated that his lack of ability (age related) to head kick was frustrating him to the point that he felt he could never be a good martial artist...he was too busy comparing himself to others, to Bruce. Bruce talked with him about this one day and mentioned to him: instead of being concerned with what you cant do, why not develop what you can do to its fullest potential.

 

[mrsoul]

very interesting. i enjoyed reading this.

 

[richie34]

thankyou also, it makes me feel guilty that sonone goes to the trouble of posting things up like this!

 

[w8tlifterty]

Alfresco, always enjoy your insight on all topics...GREAT read

 

[Fa Seeshus]

for years i thought i had really really lousy calf and bicep genetics. then i realized that i was training both of these muscle groups at the end of long workouts. once i put them first in my workouts they began to grow just fine.

just a thought.