More than a few people have brought this point up to me over the last couple of weeks while I have been chatting on various message boards and Facebook groups. And it’s an interesting topic because we often hear about the importance of diet and supplementation. It seems that the sport of bodybuilding has become rather fixated on these two approaches to building winning physiques. But what about training? Training actually is the topic of today’s article when it comes to one of the top bodybuilders on the planet. When you look at Andrew Jacked you see a bodybuilder that has it all. He has the height, the mass, the proportions and the separation. He knows how to come dialed in and he presents a beautiful physique on stage. It’s not often that I describe a bodybuilder’s physique that way because of the fact that we are inundated with physiques that honestly do not meet the standard in my opinion. These are not guys that have aesthetically pleasing looks. These are guys that are just large slabs of muscle, just some kind of walking science experiment. But Andrew is one of the guys that I would call an exception. It’s the exceptions that create the best lineups at the Mr Olympia, the Arnold Classic, the New York Pro and other great bodybuilding shows around the world. It’s those guys that are able to put together something that is artistically beautiful to the eye to see that makes me love bodybuilding. In order to win a contest like the Arnold or the Olympia you have to be firing on all cylinders. And training is definitely one of those cylinders when it comes to bodybuilding.
Training is really one of those elements in bodybuilding that gets overlooked a lot. People downplay its importance because so much of mainstream society thinks that bodybuilders live in the gym. While it is true that most successful competitors only train about 45 minutes to an hour out of each training day, that does not mean that it is a rather trivial activity. There’s this misconception that if you have enough quality macronutrients and enough drugs that you’re going to build a winning physique. And that’s simply not the case.
How you train makes a big difference in my humble opinion. If you rely primarily on junk machines you’re not going to see results. If you use Nautilus machines, on the other hand, you will. If you do low intensity workouts and you don’t tear the tissue up, I don’t think you’re going to build new tissue no matter how great the protein you ingest may be. I don’t even think it matters how good the drugs are, either. If the body is not put through stress, if the workouts are not challenging, I don’t see how the individual is going to build quality muscle tissue. Not only that but we’re talking about sustainability. We’re talking about avoiding injuries. We’re talking about an awful lot that goes into 60 minutes three or four times a week. And the problem with downplaying training or the value of a good trainer, is that it opens up the competitor to a great vulnerability. I’m going to tell you that if the training skips a beat, it’s going to show on stage.
Again, we’re not talking about winning the Mr Maple Street here folks. We’re talking about winning a big three contest. Whether it’s the New York Pro, the Arnold Classic, or the Olympia. And in Andrew’s case he had Kamal by his side the whole time. I don’t know if Kamal had to drag him to the gym like happens to be the case with Big Ramy – or – Kamal oversaw it from a distance. But the reality of the matter is, I would have to say based on the pictures, the videos, and what so many people have told me, is that Kamal was in the thick of it all. He was right there in the trenches the whole time. I’m not going to weigh in on compensation, contracts – none of that. I’m just here to point something out. I’m here to talk about the 10,000 lb elephant in the room that nobody wants to address but everybody knows is there. Training does matter. Is Andrew going to be able to hit the ground running with a different trainer? And it’s not like we’re talking about a trainer at the YMCA.
Kamal is an accomplished champion. He is an Olympia champion in the 212 division. He is respected by everyone. And he happens to really understand the dynamics and the fundamentals of training, especially as it relates to helping Andrew build the best physique possible. I’m not saying that Andrew owes it all to Kamal, but to say he owes him nothing, is a big stretch. When you think about it in terms of what Andrew has been able to accomplish with Kamal in his corner, it really makes you wonder if he’s going to be able to continue on that path without him.
I think there’s a temptation in wanting to overlook who in fact is your trainer. As I write this article I am wrestling with it as well. Because you would think that somebody on Andrew’s level could just recreate the workouts, right? I mean they were working out with Kamal, they saw what Kamal did and what Kamal instructed and whatnot, right? What’s to say they just keep doing that workout just without Kamal? I mean surely Andrew can do that right? But that would only apply if that one workout was the one workout for the rest of his life. I have a feeling that Kamal switched it up, I have a feeling that he tried to be creative with workouts and came up with training approaches that applied to Andrew at his current state. I don’t think training is just picking up weights and putting them down. I think that there’s a lot more to it than that and I think that the oversimplification of the role of training in the building of a great physique is a colossal mistake that should never be made.
I don’t know who Andrew’s new training partner is and I don’t know if that training partner is going to have the same influence over him in building the best possible version of his physique. I’m going to say that whoever tries to fill Kamal’s shoes is going to have their work cut out for them. I don’t think anyone can fill Kamal’s shoes. And that right there is a major reason why maybe Andrew and Kamal need to try to reconcile because if Andrew’s going to win the Olympia, he needs to have the same team that helped him get Top 3 at the Olympia last year and at the Arnold Classic this year. I know that it wasn’t planned, and I know that it is very impractical, but they need to mend fences and get to work!!
If these guys can’t patch it up, if they can’t mend fences, then I would say that Andrew is at a substantial disadvantage. I wish him the best and I want to see him win the Olympia, but if you want to read an article about downplaying the value of training and a training partner, then this is not your article.
What do you think will happen to Andrew at the Olympia without Kamal in his corner all those months during the prep? Do you think it will make a difference? As always, I hope you enjoyed reading my article here at IronMag. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. Please be sure to copy and paste a link to this article on all your social media feeds. It is bound to generate lively conversation.
Author Bio:
Christian I. Duque is the owner of StrengthAddicts.com, a physique and strength website founded in 2008. He has worked for a number of bodybuilding websites, including RX Muscle and Muscular Development. Christian has written nearly 1,000 published articles for IronMag Blog, as well as articles for StrengthAddicts, RX Muscle, and others. By day, he is also a licensed attorney practicing in the areas of family law, immigration, and criminal defense.
