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Hi all,
Long overdue for another instalment of our regular Q&A series.
For this one we sat down with our new coach @Beyond Limits.
Enjoy.
Q: How and when did body building and power lifting start for you and how many years have you been training now? How many of those enhanced?
At Beyond Limits there are two of us – I specialise in the PED/Supplement side of things, my partner specialises in the training side and we both have input into nutrition.
From my perspective, I started training when I was 14 as a fat teenager who wanted to have abs and bigger arms to attract girls – typical teenage body image issues. After a couple of years training and achieving a relatively decent look around 16/17, I started to develop an interest in bodybuilding (who doesn’t want to look like Zyzz)!
I trained for a natural for about 10 years (slowly getting more interested in becoming enhanced), before I switched over to the enhanced world about 5 years ago.
I was lucky enough to find my coach who I have now been with for 5 years, all of which enhanced. He is great – keeps me in check, makes sure my health is always priority and keeps me growing! All up, I have been training for about 15/16 years, 10 years or so as a natural and 5 years as mildly enhanced.
My partner, also started training when he was about 14 and around the time Zyzz was blowing up! originally started with bodybuilding, before transitioning into powerlifting and eventually weightlifting, competing at the highest levels in Australia (as a natural).
Q: What would you say is your training philosophy? Does it differ between power and strength, and training for hypertrophy?
Our training philosophy is rooted in strength and sport science. Having completed PT and strength and conditioning qualifications we place a great emphasis on progressive overload and tracking as many metrics as possible. This way we can create a wide overview of progress.
The main difference between powerlifting and bodybuilding (hypertrophy) comes back to exercise selection and periodisation. Powerlifters in-season training is centred around squat, bench, and deadlift. There are more working sets in general for them and lower rep ranges to elicit greater neurological stimulation. Whereas a powerlifters off season and bodybuilders program would look very similar, big focus on compound movements, slightly higher rep ranges overall, higher relative intensity, and big focus on progressive overload.
Q: What’s your advice in terms of diet programming?
The best diet is the one that matches your personality and lifestyle. If you aren't the type of person to track and measure your food then counting calories wont work. Instead a flexible eating protocol would be better. If you're happy eating the same thing every day then a meal plan with options is your best bet. Regardless of the approach just like in the gym there needs to be progression with your diet. Simply sitting at maintenance forever is a waste of potential gains. Progression underpins everything.
We work with our clients to build habits that will last them a lifetime.
Q: What’s your philosophy on PEDs? And does it change in relation to power lifting vs body building?
In a few words, less is more. We want to maximise every milligram that we put forward and before any dose escalation, we always look at your other inputs (sleep, training, diet etc) and check if we can increase any of those inputs before we escalate dosage. PEDs should be the icing on the cake – if you have a shit diet, shit training and use drugs as a bandaid your not going to be very successful at any level.
We like to plan out in longer time periods and phases of training / diet / PEDs. I don’t really believe in a blast and cruise model, rather periods where we will slowly modulate food, training and drugs to achieve the outcome desired – be it gain muscle, lose fat, increase strength or just improve overall health. Unless we are prepping for a specific competition or show, the underlying principles are the same:
- What do we need to improve?
- How long do we have to do it?
- What tools are best suited to achieve the outcome?
- Do we need to lean you out for a lighter weight class that you may be more competitive in
- Do we need to move up a weight class and therefore is undertaking a slow growth phase more appropriate here
- Do we just need to maintain your body comp and make technique changes
In terms of “cycle” design, vast amounts of my knowledge come from my coach and Victor Black. Ultimately what drugs we choose and when will really flow from the conversation we have when you come on board and what you want to achieve. In terms of drug selection, we majority of the time will always stick with human approved drugs.
At a high level where the drug selection will differ is typically powerlifters will lean into more toxic compounds (such as anadrol) for short periods of time because they have the best outcome for strength. When its bodybuildng / body composition goals the drug choices will usually be more benign for longer periods of time (e.g. primo), however over time we will find what compounds “speak to you”.
Q: When did you start coaching and what motivated you to start?
I started coaching approximately 3 years ago as I believed I could make a difference in the health of the enhanced community. I don’t dispute that what has typically been done works – I just try to get the same result in the safest way possible. I want you to have a long life, running around after grand kids, not dead at 50 or have dementia at 60.
My partner started coaching 10 years ago, driven by his competitive experience in weightlifting. Coaching initially appealed to me as a way to deepen my own knowledge and support my athletic career, but it quickly grew into a passion for helping others achieve their best. I enjoy working with people from all levels, guiding them to peak performance, and I thrive on the challenge of tailoring my approach to each client’s unique circumstances.
We partnered together to bring our combined experience to the enhanced world and deliver amazing strength / body comp outcomes but without compromising health.
Q: Tell us a bit about your coaching style and what you think makes a good coach?
We see it as having two sides. There is the data driven back by science approach, and the human element. A common fault of most coaches is the lack of emphasis on the individual and their personal needs. Whether that's emotional support, individualised approach, or education alongside coaching. It's better you understand why you're doing something as opposed to just following orders. Too many coach's fall into the trap of cookie cutter plans, they give you a generic program alongside some macros and wish you all the best. That's simply a stereotype that needs to end. If things got busy at work we would amend the program to something more realistic at the time. If you've been blasting gear and blood work is trash we would make sure you're optimising health before adding in more gear.
Q: Have your enhancement compounds changed over time?
Honestly, they haven’t massively changed as I come from the safer use team. The only thing I lean less into these days is trenbolone due to its neurotoxicity. My key philosophy is - modulate multiple pathways to deliver the goal, rather than take a sledgehammer to the androgen receptor.
Q: How important is recovery in the body building process and what do you do in particular to recover? Any compounds or supplements you use for this process?
Without recovery, how do you expect to fucking grow!
Recovery is just as important as any other aspect of bodybuilding. This is why having a structured program makes all the difference. We also place a large emphasis on the 'low hanging fruit', optimising sleep hygiene, stress management, digestive health, and cardiovascular health, including suggesting supplements that can help manage these components.
Once the low hanging fruit is taken care of let’s talk about PEDs and how they can help with recovery and your goals. If you are sleeping 5 hours a night, eating takeout every day and stressed, PEDs should be the last thing on your list!
Q: What do you consider the most common mistakes many less experienced body builders make?
They don't periodise or track their program, no deloads, lack of corrective exercises, lack of focus on sleep, lack of stress management, poor digestive health, not enough variety with diet, and crap metabolic health, relying too heavily on PEDs and not properly understanding what playing with the endocrine system can do for long term health, just to name a few.
Q: Any overall advice for anyone starting out with body building and potential use of PEDs
Yes, two pieces:
- work with a coach – If you want to maximise your most precious commodity, your time, find a coach.
- train as a natural for a few years – learn how to diet, learn how to train, learn how to sleep and then walk in PEDs.
If anyone is wanting to take their training and progress to a whole new level message Beyond Limits and see what they can do for you.
Mav
Author: Maverick
Article Title: Official ASF Industry Expert Q&A - Beyond Limits
Source URL: ASF - Australia's Premier Fitness Forum-https://aus-sf.org
Quote & Share Rules: Short quotations can be made from the article provided that the source is included, but the entire article cannot be copied to another site or published elsewhere without permission of the author.
Article Title: Official ASF Industry Expert Q&A - Beyond Limits
Source URL: ASF - Australia's Premier Fitness Forum-https://aus-sf.org
Quote & Share Rules: Short quotations can be made from the article provided that the source is included, but the entire article cannot be copied to another site or published elsewhere without permission of the author.
