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1. Mark,

   I am not certain if this would make for worthy blog fodder, but I will throw it out there for future consideration. I am asking you because you’re a guy who is first and foremost about proper assessment, detailed and intelligent programming specific to goals, and above all promoting structural balance and integrity.

   These days, it seems like training for the sake of bodybuilding/building the leanest and most muscular physique possible, gets thrown under the bus, by all but a very isolated subset of the population. The disdain for this endeavor is often palpable when you listen to many strength coaches speak or read their writing. Now in some respects, bodybuilding likely deserves it, but it likely also receives a lot of criticism that could be considered dubious and possibly even undue.

   Do you think that it is possible to successfully mesh bodybuilding aspirations/building the most aesthetic physique possible with the elements that go into keeping the body healthy over the long haul, or do you think that the former would merely perpetually impinge upon the latter?

   Obviously you need to be as healthy as possible to avoid being “on the shelf” for extended periods of time and sacrificing results on account of an inability to train (either to your fullest potential or even at all) due to being injured.

   Bodybuilders often use exercises that are considered unfriendly to the joints and passive structures (some examples being a “guillotine” bench press; sissy squats; lateral raises; upright rows- although I don’t necessarily think these are a must for development but that fit the bill for this category in terms of risk, and perhaps the one that garners the most criticism either from choice or volume; and a fair bit of dyanamic ab work featuring side bends and flexion/reverse flexion movements) or considered useless by those who tend to focus on performance (leg curls, lateral raises, a much higher volume of direct arm work along with some of the specific exercise choices for that work), but I am wondering if, barring any major issues, some of these can still be employed sparingly in the context of an overall program aimed at being maximally muscular and lean (so long as you pay attention to aspects like proper warm-up, mobility, regeneration, regular professional soft tissue work, mindful posture the “other 23″ hours of the day, and so on).

   I still recognize that there are many ways to use joint-friendly options to progress toward this type of goal, but I am wondering if the rules (such as don’t use movement “x or y” because it is worthless or potentially deleterious) change a bit when developing the physique is a main goal versus physical development merely being a nice by-product of efforts directed elsewhere. While life will still take its toll on a body (as can grossly-imbalanced training programs), someone strictly focusing on the physique doesn’t have to contend with the stresses that certain sports often impose, so I am not sure to what degree this may or may not give the aesthetic-minded trainee a bit more of a buffer zone (in terms of program design and exercise selection, especially vis-a-vis a risk:reward analysis) than an athlete, who is routinely subjected to some very high and very specific stresses in his chosen sport.

   I suppose the heart of what I am asking is whether or not you can build the leanest, most muscular, and balanced/symmetrical physique possible without sacrificing structural balance and joint health (or at least keeping any downside to a bare minimum)? In this case, I am not merely talking about being “kind of lean and having a better-than-average amount of muscle”, nor am I talking about having an athlete’s physique. I say this not to knock athletic physiques, but to point out that while the physiques of many athletes are admirable and would be gladly had by many folks in the public, I am specifically talking about a person seeking to develop maximal muscularity and leanness within the context of his own unique biomechanical and physiological “framework”, while attempting to keep on eye on structural balance, joint health, etc.

   Comment by Rob Difilipo — February 19, 2010 @ 11:01 PM

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