THE OVERKILL METHOD: THE PURIST VS THE UBERMENSCH

where the hell did the idea of a "purist" come from? when i look at how lifters trained and looked back 30-40 years ago..its amazing. you be hard pressed to find the difference between powerlifting and bodybuilding back then. probably cause at most gyms back then..they trained at the same place damn near. and it showed. if you trained with freaks...you became one pretty much. then somehow down the road...here comes the "purist"...that big dark line that separates which shouldn't of been separated in the first place but in its emergence came another...a group that would be the rendition of how lifters were but taken to the next level...





the idea of a purist came from the need to seperate the difference between powerlifting and bodybuilding. you see...powerlifters have a "certain" way they train which includes training to the absolute max on the big three every week leading up to a meet where they go for all the marbles as lou ferrigno's father would say. bodybuilders were training with light weights and higher reps to get that "pump" to force muscular growth by expanding the muscles creating the illusion of being bigger than they were. the physiques of both sports are night and day as well as diet too. bodybuilders were eating clean...both in and off season while powerlifters didn't just eat dirty but diet had no structure whatsoever outside of contest prep. one group trained the fast twitch while the other trained the slow twitch. powerlifters trained mostly to strength test while bodybuilders trained for physical perfection. the purist idea came from the usage of  "equipment" in powerlifting to justify the different approach to training...now for the "grain of salt". where the hell did this "purist" come from? sure as hell didnt' come from russia cause they love waxing our asses and rightly so..they work waay fuckin harder than we do and outwork us any day of the week...twice on sunday if necessary. they were programmed with the idea that physical perfection and unrivaled strength required the constant resolve to make a weakness into a strength.



purist came from the idea that you don't have to train a certain way just cause its not "practical". years ago i was called out by someone who is a well-known lifter now(i won't mention names)...who called me out on the reasoning behind my high rep heavy barbell shrugs and how it served NO purpose. funny how now he preaches the same concept now. it blasphemy to train high reps...pre-exhaust...drop sets...or even rep outs while getting ready for a meet as much as it was the same when using bands or chains and training to muscular failure for a bodybuilding show. the idea of a purist to me is BULLSHIT. its a reason to be fkin lazy about the work needed to be done. i would say that bodybuilders are more open to powerlifter ideas than the other way around simply cause of the direction of the sport. but powerlifting is a bit hard-headed. the reason why the idea of a purist is bullshit is cause it negates the PRIMARY focus of being in the damn gym in the first place...to get fkin big and strong. ever notice how a powerlifter can peak to a meet but cannot train for the next few weeks? their CNS is beyond taxed and cannot push harder. the way they train is to build up the CNS to handle heavier loads than normal. rep ranges under 5 were and still common. problem. you build only strength there. and also you can only stay under 5 for a limited time much like a bodybuilder who can only maintain a low BF for a limited time. training to muscular failure has no place in a powerlifting regimen...yet...

alot of your lifters 30-40 years ago...that was the only way to get stronger...by getting bigger muscles. every workout from back then whether it be powerlifting or bodybuilding showed me that these guys trained their asses off to get FREAKY BIG AND NASTY STRONG. if your a raw powerlifter..this is how you had and still have to train. no gear to move the weight..just your own muscles. so what did you do? u got freaky big and nasty strong! lifters back then adovcated high volume...high intensity training...or variation thereof. now the re-emergence of these fr3aks have come into light. guys who look like bodybuilders but have the physical dominating strength of a powerlifter. its unheard of. look at the WORLD RAW RECORDS. most of them were set by the same fr3aks who trained in a while that would have a purist crap in their pants without some tampon being used. my former coach at NGBB showed me alot of the ideas i now use. he was a fr3ak himself and did things differently. showed me how to apply pre-exhaustion to powerlifting and not only did i get stronger IN AND OUT of gear..i got bigger as well. of course...my former coach was one of these breed of freaks when he competed in his time.

dorian yates. ronnie coleman. bill kazmaier. mariusz pudianowski. matt kroczaleski. ed coan. ryan kennelly. roger estep. doug young. stan efferding....list goes on of guys who changed the game when they changed the way they trained. it was unheard of to see guys like Jamie Lewis step onto the platform and put up a big raw total while having abs still visible. brantley thornton literally trained balls to the wall comes out and destroys the all-time raw total at 181 looking like an absolute freak. none of these guys took ideas of a purist yet pretty much took a dump on them by doing things outside of what they did. look at it like this...if your competition trained a certain way...why not train "outside" of what they did. bodybuilding and powerlifting share one simliarity. if you have a weak muscle...you made it stronger. in powerlifting...if you have weak hamstrings..they will be not only non existent but small as well...so it makes for a weak deadlift and hard time goin deep on squats. if you have weak hamstrings in bodybuilding...your side chest looks embarassing standing next to someone who's hams hang to the damn floor. in other words...like a stick figure. so taking posing pics helps evaluate the progression of these weaknesses. raw powelifting and bodybuilding share the concept of having weak muscles effect performance in competition. the idea of a "ubermensch" or a fr3ak...one who strives for physical perfection and superior strength by constantly making weaknesses into strengths. a purist would believe that if a guy didn't have a "chest" he couldn't be a bencher. a ubermensch would believe that if they build a bigger chest they can be a bencher. the difference between the two extremes...mindset.


to quote from an article about how mel hennessey approached his training by vernon hollister:
"When Mel Hennessey steps onto a platform to compete, he doesn’t look like a typical 242-pound powerlifter. Not that Mel looks anything but strong and powerful, because he certainly does, it’s just that he is so incredibly and massively muscled that he could be a competitor for the most muscular title in a physique contest, as well as the champion bench presser he is.

Mel’s musculature and development is not accidental; the reason, in part, is how he trains. He does not restrict himself to training only for the power lifts. Mel also bodybuilds, believing strongly that the appearance of a lifter is also important. The heavy weights come on Tuesdays and Saturdays, the lighter bodybuilding weights on Thursdays and Sundays." 

now keep in mind...this man's "light" days didn't mean "light" work. he still worked his ass off on those light days. the "bodybuilding" training benefited him with strong tendons and ligaments that are necessary to support muscular growth and size which in turn becomes pure physical strength. to the ubermensch the perfection of physical appearance of a lifter should match that of his pure physical strength. why the hell does a purist not want to do go this route? yea..some purist do have "bodybuild" days but they don't work nowhere near as hard as they do on their max days cause their CNS is taxed. here's the thing...if you improve your physical muscular endurance...your CNS is never taxed which will allow uninterrupted gains in physical strength and size. your always ready for a competition and never having to "get ready" cause your always training your weaknesses to be stronger...

to sum up everything...a purist is someone who trains only ONE way to achieve a goal and anything outside of that isn't the same nor accomplishing the same goal. an ubermensch or in this case a freak is someone who  trains to eliminate weaknesses and shortcomings to strive for greater perfection physically in EVERY way. purist are close-minded to the thoughts and ideas of training any other way just cause of one of two reasons. 1. someone else did it that way and/or 2. its the "right" way. ubermensch however trains the way the need to train to achieve that perfection they seek...whatever is necessary to eliminate weaknesses and make them stronger. simply put...to get stronger you have to have stronger muscles. you don't neglect weakness or make excuses for shortcomings...you take them and you make them stronger. i once saw a guy who came into a powerlifting meet back in 2000 in athens, alabama that looked like a fkin freak. pulled 777 and benched 523. his name was bob vessels. i talked to him to pick his brain...wanna know what he JUST got done doing? he did a bodybuilding show more than a month and half before that meet...where the hell are these fr3aks now and why have we gotten away from the main goal of being a lifter? answer. complacency.

your in the gym...you train for competition to be bigger and stronger than the last. to strive for greater physical perfection and unrivaled physical strength each day and every way...ANY WAY. not saying being a purist is "bad" just being closed minded to only demonstrating and displaying as supposed to really training it. that is til some fr3ak comes out and waxes your ass and takes a dump on your day with a smile...with a eight-pack to spare. either be a fr3ak or be collateral damage to one...your choice.