Weight Training Recommendations (August, 2001) by Michael Mooney

Recommended for people who are trying to learn the best ways to lift weights to gain muscle are two very different training modalities: 

1. Hardgainer Magazine and books by Stuart McRobert;

2. Charles Poliquin's books and magazine columns.

Hardgainer Magazine - Michael Mooney wrote regularly for Stuart McRobert's Hardgainer, perhaps the most devoted all-natural bodybuilding magazine, many years ago.

It may seem odd to some HIV(+) people who feel that anabolic steroids have saved their life that we recommend Hardgainer. Hardgainer is dedicated to promoting a completely natural, anti-steroid approach to building bodies, and its anti-steroid message sometimes comes across as old-fashioned preaching, which can be somewhat off-putting.

Medibolics is an organization that advocates the appropriate medical use of natural hormones like testosterone, and its synthetic analogs, the anabolic steroids, for building bodies and rebuilding overall health, but the approach to training and nutrition we promote clearly includes Hardgainer's recommendations.

Those of you who are HIV(+) who have had to struggle to get your doctor to prescribe appropriate anabolic steroid therapy and feel that anabolic steroids have greatly improved your health or saved your life should try to look past Hardgainer's anti-steroid message and study its approach to weight training with an open mind. HG provides some of the best advice anywhere, and its no-nonsense approach should be considered by anyone who is trying to get bigger and stronger.

Most people make the mistake of overtraining, that is training too long, using too many sets and reps, and/or training too often. Overtraining often accompanies an improperly designed workout program that never develops enough intensity to stimulate optimal muscle growth. Brief intense workouts that are performed only a few times per week, and for some people only once or twice per week, will usually build the most muscle the quickest. This is the "less is more" approach.

While anabolic steroids can improve recovery tremendously so that overtraining may be somewhat less of a problem, the truth is, even with the help of anabolic steroids overtraining still rates as one of the most powerful factors that limit optimal muscle growth. HIV often compromises metabolism so that overtraining can be even more of a problem.

Hardgainer's number one message is train hard, but train smart --- DON'T OVERTRAIN.

Most people are completely unaware of how much training is optimal for their own muscle growth. HG's approach can help you learn what's best for you so that you'll gain useful, functional muscle at a much faster rate.

Recommended books that are available from Hardgainer's web site: Beyond Brawn, and The Insider's Tell All Handbook on Weight Training Technique. The author, Stuart McRobert, is among the very best at describing proper exercise form and technique. His insights especially cater to building strength and power, foundation essentials that are often missing from weight training books. (To learn more about overtraining be sure to study Chapter 14 of Beyond Brawn.)

My only critique is that I'd like to see specific training advice about targeting side and rear deltoids in McRobert's books. Building side and especially rear deltoids add depth, width and power to the appearance of your musculature. This is a minor point though, as the tremendously useful and honest information McRobert produces is hard to find anywhere else.

Charles Poliquin's Web Site - Charles Poliquin is a world class training expert who has trained over 400 Olympic competitors, World Championship medalists in alpine skiing, bobsled, biathlon, cycling, judo, kayak, luge, speed skating, women's powerlifting and swimming, as well as numerous professional athletes, and athletic teams. 

Poliquin knows how to unlock the body's true potential, and there are few elite trainers who have his knowledge and skill. People who train with him are consistently surprised that small changes he makes in their training produce tremendous results. If you are a serious athlete or are just serious about your training, one-on-one training with him at his new Poliquin Performance Center in Tempe, Arizona may do more to improve your training efforts than anything else you can do.

His methods are more complex and varied than Hardgainer's fundamentalist approach, so Poliquin provides the other side of the training equation, a tremendous variety and a very creative, but extremely scientific approach. 

Additionally, his books are written laced with Poliquin's unique personal sense of humor. His style stimulates you to remember what you read.

Visit his web site and consider reading any of his books, especially The Poliquin Principles, and his newest books, Modern Trends in Strength Training, and Winning the Arms Race.