PUBLISHER’ S LETTER
KEEP IT SIMPLE
M aybe it’ s just me, but the older I get, the more I seem to hark back to the past for motivation and inspiration. I feel there’ s little originality in music and bodybuilding these days. What I find truly authentic resides in the past, which means I often turn to YouTube to watch the athletes of old – the greatest to have ever roamed the planet, in my opinion – to draw inspiration and absorb as much as I can about their mindsets and their attitudes.
Bodybuilding today seems to be a watereddown version of the hardcore lifestyle it was a decade ago. I really miss the nobullshit, hard and heavy approach to training that the golden era of bodybuilding used. Back then things were simple. A deadlift meant a heavy-ass weight on the floor that you either picked up properly, or not at all. There weren’ t 50 ways to get creative with this simple movement, which forms the foundation of muscle growth. Today there are ways around hard and heavy training that people swear by. Everything seems to have been made easier and more accessible in the modern era, to make training more“ adventurous
“ THE MAIN THING I’ VE LEARNT IN MY LIFE IS THAT THE MORE ADVANCED THE ATHLETE, THE SIMPLER IS HIS APPROACH. NOVICES TEND TO OVERCOMPLICATE THINGS.” and fun”. No wonder hardcore bodybuilders are on the endangered species list.
Coleman stated it best when he said:“ Everyone wants to be a bodybuilder, but no one wants to lift no heavyass weights.” And that applies to everyday life, too. Everyone wants to be successful and wealthy, but very few seem to want to put in the hard work.
I don’ t expect things to return to what they were in the past – what’ s done is done – and bodybuilding and fitness has never been more popular and accessible to the average guy and girl, which is great to see. However, I’ d like athletes to be more honest with themselves, especially when it comes to training. One of the biggest lies people tell themselves is that they’ re training hard enough, or that they’ re eating enough. The more you transform your physique, the harder it gets to keep adding solid, quality muscle. The same shit you’ re doing to maintain your current weight and look isn’ t going to achieve a better body in six months. If you want to pack on more meat, you need to keep pushing. Every new phase of physique development will require a different approach. And it never gets easier, it only gets harder.
So don’ t be fooled by new training techniques, new movements, new rep ranges or new training styles. Look at the era of Dorian, Paul, Kevin, Flex and Shawn and ask yourself if there are better bodybuilders on stage today than those from the‘ 80s and early‘ 90s. If you think there are then you might need to re-evaluate your bodybuilding ideals. But if you agree, then go back and watch a few YouTube videos of how these guys trained, and witness the kind of intensity they used. Movements were pure; they were simple; they were intense.
Meals were simple, too. There were no shortcuts and none of the“ special” ingredients that we see today.
If you really want to stand out from the crowd, don’ t follow the crowd at all. Bodybuilding is a simple yet multifaceted sport: it’ s painful, challenging, daunting, overwhelming, and it requires a massive amount of personal sacrifice, and blood, sweat and tears. But one thing it is not is complicated. People make it complicated and then don’ t understand why they’ re not advancing. Peak week, as it’ s known, has become a 180-degree change in protocol from the 18-20 week period that gets athletes into shape. People then step on stage not understanding why they don’ t look the way they did a week before. If you didn’ t look right a week before your“ peak week” then no amount of water depletion, carb induction, diuretics, sodium loading and depleting, or any other“ revolutionary” shit you put into your body is going to make you look any better. The main thing I’ ve learnt in my life is that the more advanced the athlete, the simpler is his approach. Novices tend to overcomplicate things. I’ ve travelled the globe and toured with Ronnie Coleman, Shawn Ray, Dexter Jackson, Flex Wheeler, and Gary Strydom, and I’ ve spent time with many great fitness athletes, and it never ceases to amaze me how the finest athletes always use the simplest approach to training and prep( and in life).
Simplicity is, without a doubt, the most underrated element in bodybuilding today. If you really want progress, keep things simple. You’ ll be amazed at just how far this approach will get you. Enjoy the mag!
Andrew Editor-In-Chief
MY FAVOURITE THIS ISSUE:
PAGE
36
IN PURSUIT OF BEEFIER GAINS
OVER 82 000 MAGAZINES PRINTED( COMBINED)
10
Muscle Evolution