5 Thing That Drive me Nuts
by Scott Abel


There are actually hundreds of things that drive Scott Abel nuts, but
for the sake of relative brevity and our own sanity, we'd like to
present just 5 of the things that make Scott chew his liver.
Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Chemical Solutions to Biological Problems This
one is a societal problem in general perpetuated by the powerful drug
company lobbies that control politics and manipulate media.
Specifically. It's a real crucial issue in the bodybuilding industry
that has gone to insane levels. I've had people write me with questions
like, "I started dieting 3 weeks ago, so when should I start using
thyroid?" Say what? And the way such questions are written so
matter-of-factly illustrates an ongoing problem with bodybuilding and
bodybuilders. The fact is the body prefers biology over chemistry in
working out its own issues. Of course I'm not talking about a medical
need for intervention. I'm talking about an "attitude" toward blatant
chemical abuse in the name of what used to be a culture of health and
wellness. What I've witnessed in the last 5 years is frightening to me.
Testosterone dosages have increased to multiple grams per week
and this has led directly to the use of many medications totally
unrelated to performance enhancement. Escalating Testosterone use has
led to a real need for anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs,
anti-inflammatory drugs, cholesterol lowering medication, blood
pressure lowering medication, muscle relaxants, and sleep medication.
Many are using these meds on top of their ridiculous stacks. The expense to human physiology is huge. This
idiocy may make you sound intelligent in certain circles, but really it
just means being part of a drug subculture similar to the
heroin/crystal meth subculture. Right now certain web sites and experts
would have you believe you need to combat every effect of one drug with
another. Now they use Benadryl to open receptors from clen
use that has desensitized Beta 2 receptors. They use another drug to
combat the increase in prolactin levels from Deca. And on it goes. It's
ridiculous. You aren't chemists and you aren't pharmacists, and you
certainly aren't doctors. An amateur training for the World
Drug Tested Championships wanted to hire me as a coach. He sent me a
list of his stack — it included 16 different drugs. I turned him down. Champions
aren't forged from a syringe! You may win a show, but so what? Of
course I know I'm only speaking to people here who want to listen, but
this mentality is not only dangerous but fruitless long term. A
few weeks ago Testosterone featured a photo of the original giant
killer, Danny Padilla. Most who saw that pic saw him as a complete
physique, hard as nails and in better shape than most of the
polypharmacy drug users representing the masses out there in the modern
era. Danny was from a bygone era. In those early days, an
off-season stack consisted of Deca and D-bol, while an on season stack
consisted of Deca and Anavar. That was it.
Danny Padilla, just a little Deca and a little D-bol.

2. Training Heavy! I
will say again, and you will see me say this repeatedly in articles,
"Heavy is not how much is on the bar; Heavy is how much stress a muscle
is under." The former is an external queue that has no
meaning in and of itself. The latter is an internal performance
indicator that bears fruit short and long term. As experts and trainees
we need to stop being so one dimensional in our thinking. The
second problem with this assumption is that somehow people then equate
load with intensity. In other words, I get letters where people
"assume" they're training hardbecause they're training with heavy loads. Wrong,
wrong, wrong. And there's also an expert bias that "strength training"
is CNS training; hypertrophy training is myofibril training; and
conditioning training is metabolic. These are only categories
of reference and they're not mutually exclusive. There exists this bias
that high volume training is somehow lower intensity. Untrue. Workload
capacity can be improved to a point where tremendous volumes can be
handled at high intensities. Once again, these need not be mutually
exclusive, and to think that way is to misrepresent research and
decades of real life, in-the-trenches experience. Case in point: Eric Heiden. I
always use this example when doing seminars for people interested in
Hypertrophy Training. Eric Heiden was a very special athlete. He won
multiple gold medals for the US in speed skating. He also accomplished
what most exercise physiologists would say is impossible. He won Gold
in all the sprint events and the endurance events as well; kind of like
winning a marathon and the 100-meter sprint in the same Olympics. What
he accomplished was truly spectacular. Eric's physique was also well
known. At about 185 lbs he had 28-inch thighs at a time when no one
even in bodybuilding could come close. The sweep on his thighs was just
incredible and something any bodybuilder would kill to have. Because
Eric was training for speed, power, and endurance, he developed
a very unique training style that's been ignored to this day, I think
merely because it's so hard, and goes against the grain of thought,
that heavy is a matter of load only.
Twenty-eight inch thighs. Eric
was known for what I call ultra heavy training. Remember that I said
earlier that heavy is not how much load is on the bar, but rather how
much stress the muscle is under. Eric was known to do leg presses with
500lbs. No big deal. However, Eric did sets of 100s reps with 500lbs! Now
that's heavy, if you understand load, overload, and time under tension
in an explosive sense, and not with this crazy tempo interpretation of
such. Eric was also known to squat 205 pounds, butt to
heels...for 300 reps. His leg size, shape, density, and sweep were what
every bodybuilder dreams of. Yet no one trains like this because they
equate "heavy" with load, rather than stress. The only guy
that came close to adapting that kind of training for legs was Tom
Platz, and I guess he didn't train heavy either, since he didn't do low
rep percent max's near his absolute strength base. I trained
at home all summer and I did sets of squats with only a "Bodyblade"
behind my neck for 5 sets of 100 reps, and then single leg BW lunges
for 4 sets of 50 reps. That was the beginning of my leg workout every other workout — no weights, and my legs have never been better.

3. Eat Less on Off Days
I'm
not sure where this one comes from, but it reflects a bias toward
seeing our body as being on the same man made 24-hour clock that guides
us from one day to the next. Quite simply our bodies do not work this
way, on this time schedule.
This
assumption draws two conclusions that are faulty at best. One is that
you can somehow get fat in a day. Not true. Once we've re-programmed
the body to be a fat burning machine, then you won't get fat in a day.
The
other assumption is a negation of the hypertrophy process. This process
is complex and metabolically expensive. Satellite cells will only fuse
with the myocyte to create a bigger cell when very specific conditions
are met. These involve a supercompensation effect. Cells must have full
storage of nutrients and energy.
Smooth muscle cells.
Only
at this point will the body build up actin/myosin components triggered
from a training effect. This takes time and an understanding of
creating supercompensation to energy stores within the cell. Once this
happens and cells are properly hydrated, only then will there by a
signal for higher concentrations of IGF 1 and 2, which will then,
combined with other growth factors, create a bigger cell.
What
all this means is that concentrating on always 'burning off' nutrients,
neglects proper storage essential to real growth. Most dieting
bodybuilders will tell you they're always hungriest on off days of
training. This is essential biofeedback.
Hunger
means two things — fat is being burned (hence the hunger signal), and
the body is in "need" of something. This is a very simplistic
extrapolation, but true none the less. On the Cycle Diet, my clients
and athletes are instructed to take their cheat days, or spike meals on
off days from training, and the reason is simple. It's so they can eat
MORE, and store MORE.