Thread: How low did some of the old pros go?

From Bryan Krahn.

Most pro physique photos on social media and in magazines have been filtered, doctored, or at least "favorably lit."

Most physique models lie about their diet and drug use. Even their training info is often a fabrication.

And yet many people use the images as inspiration, or worse readily attainable, and the accompanying info unimpeachable.

But I'll indulge this doozie to make a point.

Everyone knows this old dude, Helmut Strebl. One of the most shredded guys on the internet. Don't believe me, Google him. Just prepare to feel like a fat bastard.

So a flimsy article ran with Helmut's image and the usual "see his secret diet and training."

Neither of which are probably legit, much less helpful ... except I was happy to see that, bull**** or not, at least they show ol' Helmut ain't eating much in order to look like an anatomy chart. Which I reckon is 100% true, at least when he's peaking.

When I speak to other coaches we all say the same thing:

- people don't eat enough to build muscle (not just gain weight, big difference)

- on the flip side, people expect to be able to get lean eating too much food, and not have to suffer to get close to shredded

- they also don't appreciate the most important phase -- maintenance -- which should ALWAYS land between those two. Thats another post though.

Guys who've never been lean before have similar stories:

- they say they're currently 210 and 12% body fat, but it's really 210 and closer to 20%, or more succinctly, too fat to worry about a body fat percentage

- they expect to be ripped in 14 weeks and peak at 190, but they usually need that long just to get to visible abs, and if they do make it all the way they'll likely be under 170.

- throughout the diet they expect to never go below 2400 calories, but don't start dropping until under 2000 and towards the end (if they stick it out) many will be under 1500.

Yes 1500. The amount Arnold had to diet at because he didn't have a metabolism like Franco.

Hell, big Ronnie Coleman was under 1000 calories towards the end when winning his first of 8 Olympias.

Ask John Meadows how low his calories were before he turned Pro. I think it was a whopping 800, all egg whites and a teaspoon of ketchup.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the men I just listed are among the best in the world. They're gifted, dedicated, enhanced, and just really good at this stuff.

And so if they have to suffer towards the end doing hours of cardio eating little more than vapour and regret ... can you really expect to get anywhere close to that eating 2400 calories a day and pizza twice a week?

Yeah, there are exceptions. But not many. Most of the tales you hear of getting super lean on even moderate calories are more like tall tales, or faerie tales, or plain old bull****.

Or they just confuse "in shape" with "very lean" or the even more extreme but WAY overused "shredded."

Just ask Helmut. If he's not too busy doing whatever the heck he does most of the year.

Which likely ain't eating.

Coach Bryan