Deformed Deadlifter Franco Columbu

Hey Guys,

Ever see Franco? Isn't this amazing?  He could supposedly deadlift 750 lbs and never did any abdominal exercises. Dave

He was certainly genetically gifted.  But the steroids didn't hurt, either.

Great Article!

Yeah, he might only be 2/3's that size without the 'roids. Wonder how much of that he built prior to juicing up?

He sure looks like he still lifts, but it says he and Arnie only do court sports like tennis and stuff.

Seems like his heart was in chiro and sports medicine even while he was bodybuilding.

Dave

yep, he autographed one of his books for me. he's a chiro here in town. super nice guy. he and arnold trained at golds all the time. franco was a super power lifter. i thought he should have won the olympia a few more times myself.....carbonblob

CB!

How are you feeling?  Franco just seems like a nice guy, for some reason, just from pictures. There's a lesson to be learned from those guys' not following any of the fad diets of the day. Wonder if I should be eating more egg protein? I kind of naturally shed bad cholesterol anyway, so it's probably not an issue for me. Everyone nowadays says whey protein is the thing. I remember one guy way back saying that they only way to preserve the true nutritional integrity of the eggs was to poach them.

And, he recommends HCL acid and enzymes for anyone over 26 to utilize (why don't I just say "use"?) protein. I guess that means anyone with a bypass REALLY needs these two. Hydrochloric Acid? Sounds like a real gut burner. Bet that would make some great farts, too!

Get Well Soon,

Dave

 

Funny how internal wisdom told Franco and Arnie that eating pizza and candy were good given that these days it's common knowledge that at least a little but of insulin secretion (follows carb intake) is necessary for workout energy and muscle growth. That's the whole basis of the modern "recovery" drinks isn't it? (that and ATP storage within the muscles for energy)

Dave

That's funny, Dave. I remember when I was training seriously the summer after high school. I ate a large pizza every day for dinner the entire summer! I also ran 40 miles a week and lifted for about two hours every night. I wrestled at 186 my senior year and went into college at 240, with a 32 inch waist at 5' 10".  I worked so hard to keep under the unlimited weight class in high school, that once it was over I was determined to see how far I could go. Ah, the glory days. In hindsight, I wish I had never touched a weight, or the pizza, and just worked on cardio and isometrics. 20/20, you now. I'm down over 110 pounds now (in less than 6 months), at about 235. I had originally planned to start weight training at this point, but find myself reluctant. I have always been the type that could put pounds on jus****ching other people lift weights. I think I am going to just stick with the cardio for now. It is working. Perhaps you could help me put together a program to help with my strength and toning, without putting on the beef. Of course, I have never trained before without taking in a ****load of calories, so the weight gain fears are probably unfounded, but very real in my brain. I also have concerns about my appetite soaring if I start lifting, it always did before. Of course, again, that was years ago. At 42, things are probably a lot different now. What has your experience been? Has your appetite surged with training? I have seen from your photos that you are very lean, and while putting on good weight you are not "bulking up" as to say. I know you are big on the dead lifts, squats, etc, but with my left knee (which has officially been condemned) those are out of the question for me. Any other ideas? Thank. JP

Hi JP,

I think it's an age thing, as you say. If you look in my profile in the photos you can see a before and after. The before picture has me at 27 years, 305 and bulked like a truck driver. That's with no exercise or weights. My guess is that what you were getting was, like me at 27, a lot of fat.

Now, you add in the RNY and I doubt you get extremely bulked, even doing 3-5 reps to failure with heavy weight. You'll get muscular, but as long as you count your calories, you'll lose weight or at least maintain. I haven't noticed any excess hunger since the RNY.

Deadlifts and squats are out for many people, so you'll probably have to do compound exercises like pullovers, lat pulls, overhead presses in order to get the effect. CB's listed compound exercises that are good.

If you want to depend on cardio, I noticed good full body effects swimming all four strokes about equal time. Maybe join a team if you can - one where the teacher will kick your azzes, make you do sprints and stuff. Of course, you'll naturally get your back and abs if you swim for an hour or more.

Hope This Helps,

Dave

Hi JP,

I just posted this to Doug as a recommended alternative to deadlifting and leg exercises, since he found an abstract saying that WLS people were losing a lot of trunk muscle:

"You know one type of exercise I forgot to recommend for the trunk is swimming (duh! I only used to swim 8 hours a week! How could I have overlooked that?). If people can't do trunk or leg exercises, then an excellent alternative is swimming to exhaustion at least two times a week. 

One precaution: I don't do any single stroke for more than 400 yards (meters) nonstop. I find that doing freestyle (crawl) or backstroke for more than that can cause shoulder problems. Also, continuing breast stroke for more than that might cause knee or hip problems. So, it's good to break them up, both for injury prevention and for balanced muscle development.

If I only have a half hour, what I'll do is:

Freestyle 400 + Breast 400 then Freestyle 400

If I have a little more time, then I'll add in Backstroke and Butterfly too.

Breast stroke gets the legs in ways that few other exercises can, while doing equal amounts of freestyle and backstroke (maybe 20 minutes of *actual* swimming on each) will provide a phenomenal workout for the trunk muscles.

I think what you have is the legs, kicking and the shoulders doing their reaching and pushing motion, so the trunk, which is stuck in between, has to stabilize and support all of this.

Don't know why I didn't think of this before.

Well, my swimming partner just called. He wants to swim one day early. So off to the pool!"

Dave

Verrrry interesting reading and logic there NotDoctorToadlatsBmiBaby. So I should try some poached eggs in a whey protein omellette or smoothie with ATP? Sounds like a rush. For the record, I did have to incorporate more natural protein to overcome some of my pre 10K training deficits.  And race morning I made a protein smoothie for breakfast consisting of 4 oz OJ, 4 large egg whites, and 2 scoops (25 gms each) Whey protein.  I also drank a Glaceau brand energy Vitamin Water on the 30 minute ride to the event then had to whiz 4 times during the 1-1.5 hour wait before my group actually started the course.  But Man I felt good.