Old-School Iron

Walking through the gate of Pearl

I thought I’d make this headline one with a dual meaning, for some unwarranted fun on my part.

The first meaning of course referring to the recent server problem, which I will allow Kris to describe in full detail. This is to say he’s the computer wiz, and I’m the nearly computer illiterate dude happy with getting the most basic functions right. Such as blogging and smurfing the net. Using Word and such. I feel I have learned a great deal about computers over the last two months. Namely, about how webservers can crash without valid reason. But as previously stated, I’ll allow Kris to go over the details of that one. It was NOT, however, of our doing.

Anyway, since the subsequent loss of a number of posts, I have adopted a whole different way of blogging. I write everything out in Word first and copy paste them onto the blog. That way, even if the we have another server meltdown, which Kris is relatively sure will not happen, I’ll still have everything on my own computer. I’m feeling safe.

The second meaning being that pre-crash but post-virtualmeet I said on this very blog and over on Virtualmeet.net (should be back online anytime now) as well that I was to embark on a real old-school training scheme concocted by the legendary Bill Pearl. The program is totally free, and is available on his website as a read-only page. It contains a full program from beginner to advanced powerbuilder (my term (?) for old-school bodybuilding) in 20 months.
The funny thing is, he only splits it up near the advanced level. Until then, you’re pumping the entire body 2-4 times a week! Yeah, that’s right, the whole body, every time.

Just a few months ago I would’ve said that this kind of training would be insane and likely result rapidly in overtraining symptoms (headaches, sleepiness, loss of apetite, loss of results gained…).
However, now I’d say it’s more what you get used to than anything else. Yes, the volume is high but hey, it worked then, why not now? Human physiology hasn’t changed in ten thousand years, why would it suddenly have changed over the last couple of decades?

The program (which I started from month 8, intermediate level), is a nice mix of stuff. Basically it’s just a lot of volume in comparison to anything I’ve ever done before, and with an order of exercises I may not (read: would never) have chosen myself. But, since Bill Pearl is a legend known to most that’ve lifted a weight or read a magazine such as Flex, MuscleMag or Muscular Development, and has over 50 years of bodybuilding experience, I figure I may as well trust he knows what he’s doing.

And so my first workout was quite horrendous. I tried taking it way easy, but I was nearly puking by the time I was almost half-way through… After all, 48 sets with 30 sec - 2 min rest is rather tough to someone not used to it.
However - and this is where it gets interesting; the second workout felt like a breeze. I sailed through, tired and wiped yes but still not even close to puking. I’m thinking I might have eaten better that time, because I can’t see the body getting used to something like this in two days. Along with his training suggestions, Pearl recommends around 60% of one’s calories come from carbs. I can now say with experience and some confidence; it is next to necessary for this type of training. No way could you complete a workout like this on any type of ketogenic diet. Or, maybe on a TKD… (targeted ketogenic diet). Interested readers should refer to Kris’ excellent review on ketogenic diets.

Another new idea is to NOT train to failure.
I’ve basically always gone to the edge, aka positive failure (=can’t raise the weight another time, even at gunpoint). This new, pumping style I like. It feels good, and for some reason, I don’t really get sore anymore. This is good, considering my current job of lugging wooden furniture around. And, as Ronnie Coleman once is said to have said: “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get the same results you always got”. In this deep and cryptic thought (note tongue-in-cheek demeanor) I read: vary your training from time to time.

Having never done anything remotely like this, because I figured it would lead to overtraining in a week, I must say I’m very positively surprised. Not only am I getting stronger, but my weight is back up to 93-94kgs. My virtualmeet weigh-in clocked me in at 91kgs just about a month ago. No sign of overtraining. Besides, Pearl has you changing the whole thing each month. Not a single exercise is the same (mostly) and even the order in which you train them changes.
It’s nice, because you get to try training ideas that may not have entered your wildest dreams, such as doing legs at the end of your workout after having blasted through the entire upper body first.

So, now that I’m clear of month 8, I’m supposed to start doing abs 4 times per workout, dispersed throughout. It’s going to be interesting… And, as suspected, none of the exercises are the same and even the order in which one trains the bodyparts is completely different. I’m expecting some soreness for tomorrow…

This has been interesting.

After having gotten through weeks 1 and 2 of month 9, I came down with the flu and have been down for a whole week, displaying an odd array of symptoms. Day 1 consisted of fever, and associated chills and sweats. Day 2, however, had me clear of the fever all day, but come evening I had serious nausea. Day 3 had me feeling otherwise okay, but having a wild case of diarrhea. And the fever returned in a chilling matinee performance where my temp went up by 2 degrees centigrade in an hour. NO fun, let me tell you. Anyway, interested to see what day 4 might bring, I wake up the next morning with no diarrhea, no nausea, no fever…but a severely sore right hip joint. Walking was very painful… I just had to laugh. Who’s ever heard of a stomach flu like this? Hip pain? I mean come on…

Today, however, I’m fine and going to go to work tomorrow unless something freaky occurs again.
Hopefully I’ll be back to lifting as well real soon.

Oh yeah, and welcome back to my blog!!

This entry was posted on Friday, March 30th, 2007 at 8:17 am and is filed under Training, Miscallenous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.