I am sorry that I have not been in touch for a while, as I like to, but sadly I recently lost a good friend to cancer and to be honest with you, it hit me hard, it hit us all pretty hard. To see such a big man as he was, a gentle giant, stripped down to for all of us to see our friends and family suffer such things but thankfully this is not something that we see every day. So, for now, I have been digging my head into some serious carpentry, wiring up and old workshop and basically keeping my head cluttered up with some “off normal” projects – it has helped, I think.

I feel that it is important to break off the normal day to day tasks in life sometimes as it helps to clear away the cob webs and in many ways helps us focus on the main tasks we have such as training and dieting. You have to take a break occasionally whether you like it or not. It may not seem right but it really does help to sort the wheat from the chaff amongst us.

Being able to do this and return to our bodybuilding training can be tough for some, but if you are so serious about what you are doing then you will realise that there can be a build-up of tension and frustration simply because there can be blockages that will eventually screw up your mind and block out the real tasks that seemed so simple at one time. You don’t need such a tragic event as a bereavement to make you understand the importance of breaks, you just need to set a few days aside and take the rest that is needed.

During my younger days I would train through just about ANYTHING and stay on course, nothing would deter me from my training or indeed my diet, but this did on so many occasions lead to bigger problems down the line. The pump became harder to achieve, my willpower became less and less to even go into the gym on a cold winter’s day , yep it certainly became easier to sit in front of the fire and curl up, so I knew something was telling me, once a gain, to take a break!

Even now, the completion of my latest book has been affected because I have not taken the breaks that I should have but to be honest and fair to myself, my friends passing has affected that but I can forgive myself for this period in time – as I have said before, it has hit me more than I could have imagined.

The book contains instruction, of course it does, it also contains many examples of inspiration that I feel is as much a help as any steroid combination as you will see. It is most certainly a different approach that I hope will help boost you and your outlook that other books haven’t given.

Bodybuilding training is NOT all about how much we can take and in as little time as possible, it is also about the foundations that we dig in order to build a long and lasting training period of time in our lives. Bodybuilding/weight- training, call it what you will, it can give us so much if we set these foundations based on good solid beliefs in ourselves and understand what importance’s they are to others before we progress.

These foundations, if set well, will also allow us to look back to the mistakes we have made in our time of training. We can see just how safe and/or UNSAFE we have been with our approach. If we feel that we have made mistakes, then we should be honest with ourselves and admit we may have gone a little too far over the line and put ourselves at risk where there should have been no risk at all. There is also an added bonus to this too.

If we have made mistakes and I can admit that I have on SO many occasions, then if we look to ourselves as not only trainers but also teachers due to our experiences, then we should indeed feel proud to be able to pass on the “be careful” factors to others in order that they tread more carefully. This is a good thing and it has been the basis of my WHOLE career that it should be done. Should you feel that you can do the same, then do so and feel proud of it!

I am not saying that these breaks have to be long and lengthy periods, in fact just a couple of days off completely will suffice until you feel that you need more, of course if you feel that you do need longer and longer periods of time off, then you should look deeper as I feel that if this happens then something is seriously wrong. This would be a time to think here big time I feel.

Take a break if you need it but don’t feel too bad about it, in fact, enjoy it. Grab a beer, sit back and be grateful that you have the ability to carry on because God forbid you lose that chance, then you will look back and realise just what you have lost.

Train hard and be strong,
Mick Hart.

“For anyone considering steroid use” This is a MUST READ… Layman’s Guides to Steroids I and II

WARNING: Don’t read this unless you are ready to GAIN Serious Lean Muscle> “Layman’s Guides to Steroids 3.0“

Well let’s continue to see what Alan has to say about bodybuilding over 60, and I must say I was well impressed with his diet tips…

“My weakest body part by far is my chest; I have made very little progress, weight-wise, with pecs exercises – hence the alternative exercises for extra stimulus. The osteopath believes this “weakness” is related to the condition of my cervical (upper) spine, where vertebrae have boney edges, causing engagement with the radial and other major nerves in the upper arm.

However, he has given me clearance to do squats, which I am now introducing to my training after an interval of over 20 years! My strongest body parts, by virtue of weight used, are my quads; I can handle 300 kg + for 10 reps on the leg press.

Training is the “fun” part of the action. The hardest part of the total bodybuilding over 60 package is, without doubt, nutrition for me. I know that I have eaten “cleanly” for an entire year, with little or no cheating or resort to processed (unhealthy!) food. I have to cater for myself, so can be really hard on myself -

But … am I getting enough? I have no idea!! Before I started training, I had weighed 158lbs for as long as I could remember. My top weight, – about now, in fact – has been 177lbs (80.2kg), so I guess I’m doing SOMETHING right! Try as I might, I don’t seem to be able to go much beyond 80kg, at a height of 69’’.

Measuring percentages of carbs/protein/fats intake isn’t exactly rocket science, I know, but I have NO IDEA how to do this for myself. This is where a personal trainer SHOULD be able to advise AND produce the figures to determine my optimum food intake. I have never had a bodyfat measurement taken either.

These are serious omissions, I believe, where I MUST get good advice and guidance for me to make a very REAL impression next time around. Dieting down for that competition was sheer guesswork and absolutely horrific, as I didn’t know what I was heading for. I tried proprietary fat reducers … but couldn’t sleep!! I did lose 4 – 5 lbs though but I was by no means “cut”! As it is, my daily diet is roughly as follows:

Breakfast: Always the same, every day! Half grapefruit, bowl of sugar-free muesli with skimmed milk, 2 whole boiled eggs, wholemeal bread with olive margarine. And … my life saver, to set me up for the day – a pot of tea (skimmed milk, no sugar) and a glass of water.

Mid morning / pre-workout:
250 ml skimmed milk, 60g whey protein powder (75%), banana, dessert-spoon flaxseed oil – all in blender.
Glass of water.

Lunch:
Various options on cold meats (3 slices ham, corned beef, or similar) OR small tin tuna, with hard-boiled egg, mixed salad, French dressing. Two glasses water.

Mid afternoon (OR IMMEDIATELY post workout)
250 ml skimmed milk, 75g whey powder, teaspoon creatine, 2 teaspoons raw brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cocoa – all in blender.

Dinner:
Various combinations of chicken fillets or joints – oven-cooked or in casserole. Potatoes, green vegetable OR fish fillets, beef casserole, spag bol … other pasta. Water.

Late evening:
Fat-reduced yoghurt with 30g whey protein. Water.

Supplements taken daily: 1 multivit tablet (for the over 50′s!) 2 tablets glucosamine with chondroitin. 1 capsule vit E. 1g vit C. 4 dessicated liver tablets. Creatine as above (4 week cycle, then one week off). Then 4 capsules ZMA before bed.

So … now you know ! And, if I can do it, then anyone can. Just my example has prompted three young and up-and-coming guys at the gym to say that they want to try their luck and will be competing next year – and I hope I’m around to see that they do!

At least, I’d have someone to oil up my back, wouldn’t I ?”

Cheers Alan for this excellent contribution as an introduction to my Layman’s Steroid Guides 1V, that will include a special chapter for bodybuilding over 60.

Train Hard, Learn & Be Strong,
Mick Hart.

“For anyone considering steroid use” This is a MUST READ… Layman’s Guides to Steroids I and II

WARNING: Don’t read this unless you are ready to GAIN Serious Lean Muscle> “Layman’s Guides to Steroids 3.0“

There are one or two things I want to talk about this month; things which have been churning around in the brain box for a week or two. These are judging Bodybuilding Contests – can audiences do it better? Also, the matter of learning about gear before that first cycle which we will take a look at in next weeks article.

First the question of using audiences for the judging of bodybuilding contests. This idea comes up every so often but in the last few months I have heard the suggestion coming from several quarters. It’s a daft idea and needs to be shot down for good. I know that we have all complained about bad judging, competitors and audiences alike and we have all at some time or other jeered at some ludicrous placings at contests at all levels from local open shows to major Pro shows – and watched disgruntled competitors smash their trophies.

I have seen some contests where my selection of the winner has been placed 6th and vice versa. I cannot claim that I have a greater ability to judge than the official judges and there have been occasions when my position in the hall was such that my view was not good enough to be completely sure in my selections but still there have been many times when I and many others wondered what was going on.

Were the judges biased or just incompetent? Many people would like to have a better system which could get more consistent results. Every competitor has a right to expect competent judging and a fair crack of the whip. These days the physique standards are so high that a serious competitor will have spent lots of money and shed blood, toil, tears and sweat to get ready for the show.

He or she deserves the best of treatment. But unfortunately there are no absolutes in bodybuilding; it’s all a matter of opinion. Generally, the complaints about judging are centred on Men’s Classes. This is because when it comes to judging Women’s Classes there are additional nebulous factors involved in selecting the winner. The criteria for judging women are changed quite regularly and then need to be re-interpreted. The fundamental question is, “How much muscle should a woman carry without looking non-feminine?” There is, of course, no answer to this.

Any woman competitor carries much more muscle than any average woman – they are bodybuilders after all – just as somebody like Marcus Ruhl carries much more muscle than any average man. In fact the difference between Marcus Ruhl and the average man is greater than the difference between any Ms. Olympia competitor and an average woman. But he is still undoubtedly a man. Convention says that a woman should be a stick insect with big tits! I would not have much confidence in a mainly male audience selecting the winners in women’s events.

At a recent EFBB Finals the judges chose a well built but smoother type physique for the winner of the Women’s Middleweight Class yet chose the most muscular woman in the class as the heavy-weight winner. But the middle-weight took the Overall Title. I am not saying this was wrong, it is just another complication. Competence in judging is something that comes from experience – and on-going experience at that.

Judges must attend contests regularly throughout every year and keep up-to-date with the standards of physiques. Audiences are often well informed and can make good judgements of the quality of physiques on display and this is the basis of the idea of getting audiences involved in the judging. But audiences can make reasonable judgements only because, ultimately, their decisions do not matter.

No audience is specially selected and most of the time they will cheer their favourites, be he from their own gym in a local contest or representing Britain in an international show; but they will still recognise that a Ronnie Coleman is better than a Gary Lister – this is not a slight on Gary Lister, it’s just that Coleman is accepted as being the best in the world at the present time.

But if the judging was made by the audience, how do you ensure that the audience really is impartial? And how will they behave when they know that they are selecting the winners and losers?

Last year I went to one show at which one of the competitors – a man with a good quality physique and one who would be expected to do well – brought along a massive number of supporters from his gym. It was good that he got such support for the show but then a good portion of the audience could no longer be considered impartial.

When their man was on stage they cheered him all the time but unfortunately his was not the best physique on the day and he didn’t win. Had the audience been voting, the wrong man would probably have won. But even if he had been the best man on stage other competitors could have complained, accusing the audience of being biased.

If a very large number of supporters comes from one gym it is likely also that many of them are not experienced in judging physiques and would decide the winner for all kinds of arbitrary reasons – like he comes from our gym. In a major contest it would be possible for a competitor to arrange to pack the audience with supporters and if they really wanted to fix things, to bribe them to take the right decisions.

If audiences are to be the judges then a system has to be devised for selecting a truly impartial audience. This is how judges should always be selected, the difference now is only that instead of say 6 to 10 judges you have to find a few hundred, all of whom will agree to turn up on the day when chosen and stop anybody else getting into the hall. No this idea of having audiences as judges is a non-starter and should be forgotten for good.

What do you think? – Please leave a comment below!!!

Train Hard, Learn & Be Strong,
Mick Hart.

“For anyone considering steroid use” This is a MUST READ… Layman’s Guides to Steroids I and II

WARNING: Don’t read this unless you are ready to GAIN Serious Lean Muscle> “Layman’s Guides to Steroids 3.0“

So when you are a hardcore bodybuilder, and training becomes part of your daily life, only injury is likely to stop you. Here is a list of common bodybuilding injuries that will stop you from training, and that will mean a trip to your local Osteopath.

The Lower Back
You can imagine what it’s like at our gym can’t you? There I am training and one of the lads wants an instant diagnosis on a long standing lower back problem. Now listen boys (of Pinks Gym), the lower back is a complex piece of kit, and things don’t just slip out as you imagine. Diagnosing a lumbar problem takes time and experience, what’s more, the problem can be related to a foot, knee, hip or any distant body part and that’s just talking postural problems.

There is a plethora of orthopaedic (or bloody serious) lumbar problems, such as spondylolisthesis, disc prolapse, etc. etc. (see your mum’s medical dictionary), I’m not going to bore you with the medical details!) One thing for sure, if a back problem persists past a small ache, for a couple of days after hitting the iron, get to your Osteopath.

You see one thing that really pisses us off; is when people who know their body, such as bodybuilders, leave the pain for months on end then come to us and expect us to fix the bugger in five minutes! In short the quicker you catch the problem, the quicker we can fix it and the less wonga it will cost you -easy eh? Now let’s have a look at a few individual problems that can hit your old lumbar spine

JOINT LOCKING
This is the one your doctor calls “lumbago”, a total fictional condition to get you out of his office with a script for pain killers. This usually occurs as an ongoing problem that happens every now and again. It’s bloody painful, but the problem is where inflammation occurs on the surrounding tissue, and doesn’t actually involve a disc as such. Yes it’s painful but we can usually relieve it quite quickly.

OSTEOARTHRITIS
This is basically wear and tear on the joints, and is not associated with the crippling multi-jointed Rheumatoid Arthritis, (so you’ll get no free Deca with this one!) You will probably have had an x-ray at the local hospital and osteoarthritis will show up, it’s not tragic we all get it to a certain degree in our poor old joints, but the important thing here is stretching and movement. Keep the thing moving or it will seize up. And don’t forget that the more muscle you have in your back, the more support your spine has, so don’t neglect those back exercises.

DISC PROLAPSE
Or what your Granny calls slipped disc! Now this is luckily, a fairly rare one, but can be a very painful one. The discs are like cushions in-between each spinal vertebrae. In that cushion is a sack of jelly. Now I won’t go into the whys and wherefores, but basically that jelly gets squeezed out of the disc and wakes your nerves up, like ice down your posing briefs. I’m not going to say don’t train when you have a disc prolapse – even it you are Ronnie Coleman, you won’t be able to bloody train!

PELVIS OR SACRO-ILIAIC
This is the most common back problem, and can be very painful. It involves the misplacing of the pelvis or sacrum. This also has all the nice effects of nerve pain, and often crippling effects. From an Osteopathic point of view this misplacing of the pelvis will go on to affect the rest of the spine, simply by twisting it to compensate for the pelvic problem.

SPONDYLOLISTHESIS
Will Mick spell this one correctly? Ha ha! This is quite common amongst power-lifters, so also springs up with the body builders, basically, it’s a little fracture of the part that holds your vertebrae where it should be – it then slips out. Osteopathy can usually keep it under control, unless it gets past a certain point.

Well, these are a few of the things that can affect the old lumbars, and I’m sure you’ll see why swift action is necessary in order to keep you training. lf you have a Lumbar problem, don’t work through it, if it affects you, (pain wise), get some advice from your local Osteopath. Oh, and yes I do like to see people wear weight lifting belts – put on correctly they do support the back.

If you really must train through back pain, stick with machines where you’ll get more support for the back, and less general strain on it. Common sense though eh?

Train Hard, Learn & Be Strong,
Mick Hart.

“For anyone considering steroid use” This is a MUST READ… Layman’s Guides to Steroids I and II

WARNING: Don’t read this unless you are ready to GAIN Serious Lean Muscle> “Layman’s Guides to Steroids 3.0“

“Osteo what?” I hear you say! Well, Osteopaths have been around since about 1850. It was developed by a guy named Andrew Taylor in the U.S.A. Basically he was sick of the medical profession’s weaknesses in treating illness. They were the days when arsenic and leeches were the norm in medical circles, and he concluded that most of mans maladies came from misalignment of the spine. He went on to develop a range of manipulative techniques to correct these misalignments.

Anyway history lesson over. Let’s have a butchers at what the modern osteopath does. Firstly we now know that not all sickness comes from the ‘Misaligned Spine’. However Osteopaths can play a large role in many illnesses, that the public have no perception of. It is generally thought that we only treat lower back pain. This actually counts for about 2% of our work.

A brief list may read as follows: Migraine, neck pain, shoulder pain, elbow pain, back, hips, feet and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all. In short your Osteopath is the person to see for all your joint pains.

Let’s clear up some misconceptions…

1. Osteopathy is not ‘alternative medicine’. It is now state registered and is overseen by the General Osteopathy Council (G.O.S.C). As from May 2000 only Osteopaths registered by G.O.S.C can be called ‘Osteopaths.’

2. Osteopathy is extremely safe and won’t break bones (despite the fact they click when manipulated).

3. It is not generally painful.

4. You don’t have to ask your G.P. whether you can see an Osteopath, it’s up to you. (Some G.P’s still live in the dark ages and hate Osteopaths!).

5. Not all Osteopaths dress smart and talk posh (especially me). You won’t usually find they talk down to you, like you’re a bloody idiot, you go to the hospital consultants for that.

6. No, it’s not the same as a physio therapist or chiropractor.

So how does all this affect the bodybuilder? Well, as an Osteopath and part time bodybuilder, I get to treat a lot of problems associated with bodybuilding, and the success rate is excellent.

Bodybuilders are a pretty healthy lot and recovery is generally very quick. Obviously the quicker we can get to an injury, the better the prognosis. (that’s long-term view to you Mick) – (Eds. Note: Thanks mate, now bollocks! Ahem…..). Look at it another way, you go to the Doctor, he refers you to a physio, this takes months and in the meantime you get worse. So you phone your Osteopath and usually get in the same day or soon after, then it’s back to pumping iron.

To find your nearest registered UK Osteopath phone the General Osteopathic Council on 0171 357 6655. However, should you need to ask any questions or contact me personally, please just leave a comment below…

Train Hard, Learn & Be Strong,
Mick Hart.

“For anyone considering steroid use” This is a MUST READ… Layman’s Guides to Steroids I and II

WARNING: Don’t read this unless you are ready to GAIN Serious Lean Muscle> “Layman’s Guides to Steroids 3.0“

So it had come to the point that I really did need urgent pain relief, and I was suddenly willing to listen to other people, and this is what eventually happened to me, and I’ll never look back again…

OSTEOPATH BOUND
My mate said that he went to a guy in the next town, a highly qualified osteopath that apparently was very good at his job. I made an appointment AND I was shitting myself silly. I had an idea as to what happened, but although I was a bit apprehensive, I was getting to the point where I was in so much pain – well it hurt!

I arrived at the clinic and was impressed at the place – verrrrrry posh, suited me fine as I am one of the worst kind of snobs that you can get – a working class self made snob- yep, I love it to – fuck em!

I was shown into the guys treatment room by this lovely girl, who I might add wanted to sleep with me, in fact all of her mates wanted to sleep with me, even the post woman wanted to sleep with me, even ……. I woke up to be shown to a nice treatment room and was introduced to the guy.

He asked quite a few questions, as apparently is the case on your first visit, and then he asked me to strip down to my shorts. Now fuck off and remember that I am awake here – ahem! Well, after he got over his shock at my fantastic physique and him stopping himself from wishing he was me a million times, he then got to work!

He twisted, pulled, bent, stretched, massaged and literally threw me about the room (well almost) and his diagnosis was this. He said that it could have been quite a few years ago, but he said that what I had done, through squatting, was that because I always had the bar fairly low on my shoulders (which you could have), at some stage during a session, he said that I must have jumped or threw the weighted bar higher on my back, you know to get it comfortable. OR, during a squat, I must have twisted my hips as I was straining – result – now get this…………

My right leg WAS nearly ONE INCH shorter than my LEFT leg due to my hip joint being twisted near out of joint – can you believe that! Not only that, on my upper spine, just below my neck, I had no less than FIVE vertebrae out of place, which must have been thrown out during said squatting! Now do I hear you say -load a bollocks!

Not a prayer me old mates, no way. My back, before I went in was absolutely killing me, the pain was so much I had to sit down a few times whilst on my way to the Osteo – it was that bad! After the visit? I walked out of there WITH NO PAIN ! All I could feel was a little aching where he had put back the bones. The man had done it. I could stand without pain and that in itself was great!

CHECK IT OUT
I wonder how many of you out there have had a similar problem like mine and been sent the wrong way either by your own ignorance or simply by putting up with the pain. I can tell you that it was such a surprise to find out that I was so “out of shape” – literally, and to be able to just click it back into place was, to me, quite amazing. The pain relief was actually that quick.

I do realise that there will be so many people out there who have been, and will be, putting up with the pains of such injuries and afflictions that can be so easily sorted (in many cases) in such a short time.

Actually, I consulted our resident osteopath, Les Bailey and he outlined the ease of fixing such a problem. He also explained that there are so many different types that were not so quick, but took a period of treatments before they could be sorted.

HOWEVER…
If you have any similar problems with your lower back, then please write in to us and we will try and assist if possible. You never know, you could be on the way to a very quick “mend” before you know it – I know I was.

Train Hard, Learn & Be Strong,
Mick Hart.

“For anyone considering steroid use” This is a MUST READ… Layman’s Guides to Steroids I and II

WARNING: Don’t read this unless you are ready to GAIN Serious Lean Muscle> “Layman’s Guides to Steroids 3.0“

On a recent visit to London I visited a number of gyms while doing some research for my new book. In one £600 a year establishment I saw a beginner being waltzed through the gym by an instructress. Her manner and her movements were exactly those of a po-faced air stewardess indicating,with a languidly waved arm, where the passengers might find the oxygen masks and the escape doors, in the event of disaster. The pupil was then left to get on with it.

These places are run in such a business like manner that It’s hard to believe that the directors do not know that any exercise, whether performed on a machine or with free weights, has to be done properly and so has the breathing. Difficult to say, as you never see the directors of these places; faceless creatures hidden in their boardrooms.

I would say that these punters, who are paying top wack, are being ripped off. The young man behind the reception desk did tell me that a personal trainer was available at £35 a session and that clients were recommended to avail themselves of this service from time to time. Of course, these chain health clubs are run like supermarkets.

They are there to make money and the men in the ivory towers have probably never seen a free weight in their lives. This is where your privately owned, or owner-driven, gym will score every time. There is no substitute for the personal touch. In these places real instruction is given and included in the normal membership.

These small privately owned gyms are not the ‘corner shops ‘ of the health and fitness industry and unlike the deceased small grocer, they will continue to flourish. Why? Because when you take away all the glitz and hype of the giants you’ll find that the local lad is offering more for less!

A century of inspiration has been provided for those in search of muscle and might. From Sandow right through the spectrum to men like today’s Dorian Yates there have been men who have supplied the inspiration which has produced the drive which, in turn, has produced their successors.

Sandow was really a spin-off from the nineteenth century was still an inspiration in the twentieth. The first really mass cult figure, whose name became a household word, must have been Charles Atlas. His was certainly the first P.C. name I ever knew. His courses were sold in millions in the thirties and continued well into the sixties.

The post-war physical culture boom, fired by Grimek and Reeves and kept rolling by stars like Pearl, Park and Scott, coasted on to produce men like Arnold, who incidentally, was inspired by Reg Park. And so the story goes on till we reach the present crop of Olympians. We’ve all seen this list before, or others very similar but I’d like to point out that there’s one name that always gets missed out and I don’t think the guy’s got a title to his name, Sylvester Stallione!

I’ve got a suspicion that Sly has inspired just a many youngsters as any of the Olympians. Why? Well he has a good muscular athletic body but he’s no giant. He’s something with which the man, or boy, in the street can, more easily identify. He is perhaps more human and therefore more within reach. Oh yeah, and he’s a bloody good actor too.

Thought for today. Don’t take the Mickey out of somebody who can’t do something that you can. He may be able to do something that you can’t.

Train Hard, Learn & Be Strong,
Mick Hart.

“For anyone considering steroid use” This is a MUST READ… Layman’s Guides to Steroids I and II

WARNING: Don’t read this unless you are ready to GAIN Serious Lean Muscle> “Layman’s Guides to Steroids 3.0“

Reading, as we do these days, of 24 and even 27 inch arms, I wonder where it’s all going to stop. Is a 27inch arm human? I ask myself? 27 would be a terrific measurement even for a thigh. I suppose some would say it’s progress. Years ago, in the pre-anabolic, so called Golden Era of bodybuilding, an eighteen inch upper arm was something only talked of in hushed tones.

It was also something that usually came from across the Atlantic. I think it’s safe to say that the first home grown arms to top this magic figure were those of Reg Park. In those days even 17inches was something rarely seen in a British finalists line up. In the ‘Fifties there were courses on offer with titles like “How to build the Fifteen Inch Arm”. Nowadays even wimps can better that. Where is it all leading?

To achieve the same proportions as his old-time 18 inch counterpart, your guy with the 24 inch guns would have to have a chest measurement of at least 60″. That’s 2.5 times the arm size. On a man with a height of less than 8 feet I think this would look rather grotesque. I think this would put bodybuilders firmly in the freak category. Let’s hope that common sense prevails and that bestiality is kept where it belongs, in the zoo.

“I don’t work, I’m a bodybuilder.” A well known London body made this declaration to me as he basked in the sun at Hyde Park’s Serpentine. Now this was back in the sixties and the man in question was by no means rich. In fact he could have been described in the local vernacular, as barbaric. Bodybuilders, apart from a very select chosen few, don’t make any money out of the game.

Still, your man seemed quite happy with his lot. It turned out that as he lived with his parents his dole money was sufficient to finance his training and nutritional needs. (Protein tablets, wheat germ and gallons of milk, was the norm at the time). I don’t know if this kind of existence is viable these days, given the present supplement scene and with bodybuilders paying nearly fifty quid for a hundred nutritional capsules. Perhaps a man could send his granny out to work in a strip club?

I hope you have enjoyed today’s chat about bodybuilding, and next week I will be going over muscle building in the UK with a very fine tooth comb.

Train Hard, Learn & Be Strong,
Mick Hart.

WARNING: Don’t read this unless you are ready to GAIN Serious Lean Muscle> “Layman’s Guides to Steroids 3.0“

To get optimum muscle growth results from your bodybuilding training, it is necessary to supply your body with all the correct vitamins and minerals as well as enough major components of our diet, such as proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

These are called the ‘macro-nutrients’ of the diet as they are needed in much larger amounts compared to the micro-nutrients’ being the vitamins, minerals and other biological substances which are needed in much smaller amounts in the diet than are the ‘macro-nutrients’, but are found present in varying amounts within the macro-nutrients in food.

It is true that the majority of the micro-nutrients are already present in the food types that make up the macro-nutrients, but hard-training bodybuilders do require much more than food can provide in terms of micro-nutrients which can be eliminated from foods through cooking.

In addition, with the stresses of bodybuildng training, the body feeds on a large amount of the micro-nutrients in growth and repair of body tissues, and higher levels are required at amounts that could not be supplied by food alone, and so additional vitamin supplements are required.

The main question is what to take and when during the day. A good time in the day to take a multi-vitamin and mineral supplement is along with the first meal of the day and this meal SHOULD be breakfast. If you are inclined to skip breakfast then you really are working against yourself in terms of any lean muscle mass gains that you would otherwise make if you had a good breakfast every day.

After you have been asleep for a number of hours, then when you awake your blood sugar level is low, and the body is at the point where it has to start accessing materials to raise blood sugar and this ALSO means that your muscles can be accessed to raise blood sugar i.e. the muscles are being broken down (catabolised) in such a situation which is the exact opposite to what we want which is building muscles (anabolism) i.e. BODYBUILDING!

Therefore, as you can see, a good breakfast is an extremely important meal, which should include milk, an egg-white omelette and complex carbohydrates including rice, which boost blood sugar levels steadily as they are digested. So make sure you give yourself sufficient time in the morning for breakfast otherwise visible results on training will be slow.

Some people may not have much of an appetite at first, but as long as you eat something good for breakfast (even if it’s only a banana), then don’t worry, because your appetite can be your guide, and will probably increase along with gains from your training. Why the appetite increase?

Because your body has more muscle tissue to nourish as your training progresses.Many people may benefit greatly from extra vitamin B-complex supplementation, and also extra vitamin C. The B-complex vitamins and vitamin C are water soluble vitamins and so are not stored to any great extent within the body, but are used up quickly in general tissue metabolism and VERY much so when your muscles are growing !!!

So, it would be a ideal to have a go at supplementing with additional B-complex and C vitamins in the morning and before going to sleep, and prior to your daily workout. When using high levels of vitamins like these, remember to consume extra fluids such as bottled water on its own or mixed to make up sports drinks. And remember that optimum hydration is a must to get rid of waste products from the body tissues that lower levels of fluid intake may not accomplish.

Train Hard, Learn & Be Strong,
Mick Hart.

WARNING: Don’t read this unless you are ready to GAIN Serious Lean Muscle> “Layman’s Guides to Steroids 3.0“

Dear Mick,

In your Steroid books you suggest the cycle lengths of about 8 weeks or thereabouts 12 in some cases which i have used with no problems and have had good results over the years.

But of late I have seen cycles on the net as long as 6 months, a year and on one occasion that was suggested that a guy stayed on for almost a year and a half! why has the length of cycles grown so much and are they safe? Confusing to say the least I’d say.

If you don’t mind me asking what is your opinion?
Lister

Hi Lister,

The scary thing about this is that your question has indeed fact and that cycle’s of 12 months and 18 months are I am afraid around and in use at this time. The short answer in my opinion is that I am saddened to see it although I did predict it a few years ago.

There are so many reasons as to why this has happened and one of those has been initiated by a few of these impatient nob cheeses that simply cannot wait and have to have the results like NOW! With this impatience we only have to look back to their diet and gear intake. You could ask that I didn’t mention training?

Well there was good reason for this. I have seen so many different cycles over the years from impatient men and women who have simply put ALL of the emphasis on the amount of gear that they put in regardless of the consequences and as the gear got weaker and weaker, their sources got less and less with no real questions asked about where the gear came from in the first place. So a lot of them were forced to increase cycle length in the vain hope that this would compensate ever decreasing gear level quality.

This has obviously proliferated into a fad that I am afraid has seen some fatal consequences this last year past and more. Bodybuilders who were said to have died of direct steroid use at one time had, nine times out of ten, created other problems that were related to the pressures of training, diet and so forth – the ins and outs of bodybuilding pressures. It happened…

Pressures of training regimes and strictly controlled diets channelled bodybuilders into other forms of stress relief that took away the monotony, the repetitiveness of same old same odds etc. I myself was guilty of this at one time and most of us if we admit it would say the same.

So to summarize I would say with the most utmost seriousness that to use steroids based on tried and tested SAFE methods for years on years and to have no problems with an 8-10 week cycle as an example only to change that proven method to push one’s body into a minimum 12 month cycle is beyond me and should be beyond you.

I know that we can only progress by trial and error, test and record, self experimentation etc, I have no argument with that but when the changes are SO vast as in a 10 week cycle to just to a 52 or even worse a 78 WEEK one is absolutely fucking out of this world on the “MAKE ME UNDERSTAND” scale especially when people are dying as a direct result! FFS these total nob heads that announce these cycles do so not only risking their own lives but that of the ignorant that search out and read them.

I ask that anyone please consider the vast changes that such time length increases can bring in the form of damage and even before that the problems of major shut-down such cycle lengths can give. My God think of the dick shrinkage Your balls would be pea size and any chance of a hard on would be most probably be where the erection goes backwards! I shudder to think.

Stay where you know you are safe. Let these twats get on with their year long ON cycles. Question all and everything until YOU know that you are sure and feel safe. Last thing is most important in my opinion: Do NOT be worried what the IN crowd does, be bothered what YOU do.

Mark my words, seriously because your life could depend on the decisions you make after reading these stupid shit length cycles.

Train Hard, Learn & Be Strong,
Mick Hart.

WARNING: Don’t read this unless you are ready to GAIN Serious Lean Muscle> “Layman’s Guides to Steroids 3.0“