— ...consistently, and conscientiously attends to fully satisfying recovery needs, I
would say he or she can get to the “terrific” level (relative to age, gender and
bodyweight) in – years.. While one very responsive person may go from ground zero to the “terrific”
level in under three years, someone else may need three years to go from a
nearly “very good” level to the “terrific” mark. Some of you, due to age, physi-
cal limitations or other reasons will never get to the “terrific” mark.. What matters the most to you is your progress, and comparing yourself with
yourself. Everything you study and apply related to training should be geared
to this.Beyond “terrific”
. Once you have reached the “terrific” poundages and measurements that clas-
sify you as an advanced bodybuilder or lifter by drug-free criteria, you can
explore avenues of advanced training that were previously out-of-bounds.
But progress in size, age permitting, will still boil down to getting stronger
and then stronger still—then your muscles will keep on growing. It is that
simple. e routines that made you big and strong will make you bigger
and stronger, so long as you deliver the required hard work, persistence and
patience, and fully satisfy recovery needs.. At this advanced level you may not have a strong desire to get bigger and
stronger, or to target “outstanding” as defined by the given poundages. If
you are primarily a bodybuilder you may opt to focus on muscular detail,
symmetry and definition, to produce the full outstanding aesthetic package.
As far as muscle shape is concerned, the best way to improve it is to develop
bigger muscles. Never forget this, especially if you start getting so carried
away with details that you forget about substance.. Alternatively you may prefer to settle with the size and strength you have,
and maintain it while focusing on developing a higher level of aerobic fitness
at a leaner bodyweight.. Long-term trainees cannot continue to get bigger and stronger muscles
indefinitely. If you only started training in middle age then of course you can
get bigger and stronger for quite a few years before Nature takes its toll and
things start to reverse. But if you have trained consistently since you were
, you cannot expect to keep making progress in muscle and might into