Q: training

[Aar0n]

Hey P, I wanted to congratulate you on your competition and pictures.

I have a quick question for you.

Do you train alone or with a partner?

If you do or did train with a buddie, did you make better gains - muscle or weight. with your partner's assistance? Or, do you feel that working out alone is much more beneficial to your growth?

[Praetorian]

I had a training partner for the first ten years I trained seriously...it was very important at that time because i needed to develop alot of mass and strength....this is difficult without a good training partner to spot you and to drive you (competition) to push through plateaus. Now i train alone and prefer it because i no longer need to get stronger...it becomes to risky using those extreme weights and thus i do not need a spot as much not do i need to break through these strength barriers.
P

[Aar0n]

I read many posts about guys who will go on a cycle for 12-20 weeks. Through observation, I read that many will hit a plateau around the 10-14 week mark- Whether it be strength or weight or perhaps both. Let's say you have a person on the opposite side of the spectrum who is just reaching an end of their cycle. The mass is still increasing monthly along with strength. Through your knowledge, do you think it would benefit the person to incorporate an extended cycle so the individual will hit that growth barrier? Or, do you feel that when the cycle is up, it is time to get off and time to recover?

Thanks in advance for sharing your opinion

[Praetorian]

The issue is are these gains significant lean mass post 14 or 16 weeks or a just weight. Generally a 16 week cycle is about the standard for off season and pre-contest which is a relatively decent amount of time to make sinificant gains...very few except the genetically gifted would continue to make significant lean mass gains past that point...and how much of those gains will be maintained being that if the cycle is continued HPTA is depressed further making PCT much more difficult and longer. You have to remember everything comes with a price...extended cycle equal higher risk, more stress on the body, require more aggressive or longer PCT.
IMO the ideal cycle is the shortest and most moderate that produces relatively the most gains.
P