to me it's been a constant learning process. through my various preps and off seasons i always learn something new about the way my body reacts to certain things - whether this be food, training stimulus, or drug protocol.

personally it took me 3 contest preps to get a good handle on nailing my conditioning - still though i feel i have much to learn.

in my eyes a lot of bodybuilding IS trial and error, figuring out what works for you personally. which is why it's important to only change up one variable at a time - add in or remove one compound, introduce one change to your diet. doing this you will know what EXACTLY it is that is responsible for the change you're seeing.

all the best with your prep if youre doing one, and remember most of us are just learning as we go along! ;)

I agree with gear head below me. Once I HIRED a coach is when I really started to see things I had never seen before. I put hired in caps because I have worked with a coach who I've paid and who I haven't. The coach who I didn't pay had no idea wtf he was doing and my body was malnourished during one of my preps because of it. Don't waste your time looking for the free way out. If someone is charging money it usually means they're skills are worth the price.

Not until I hired both a trainer and coach at Viking's experience level (not to kiss your ass Vike I don't need any karma LOL ). So I was training about 4 years before I started spending the money on experts. It also takes time to find real experts not wannabes. Once I got with the right people around me, they got just about every nuance of my bodybuilding lifestyle fixed. That didn't take more than a few months then winning a show I couldn't even place in to confirm they knew their shit.

I don't think I've ever said this on here but bodybuilding costs a lot of dang money if you seriously want to take yourself to the highest level you can be at. Stuff you don't even know about at the beginning like deep tissue work to scrape the scar tissue and loosen the muscle fascia to allow further growth, chiropractic work to correct issues you don't even know you have like my lats were incredibly powerful in all but one kind of motion - it was a pinched nerve in my neck that had to be fixed. All different guys, lots of money.

when did the lightbulb click on?

Every day for the last several years...

Little LED night lights, and I'm still standing in a warehouse of darkness. But hey, at least now I can see my feet.

its a constant learning process, as true master is never done learning. i have ALOT more knowledge now than i did when i started lifting of course, but i am still open to new ideas. this is key with anything. you should always remain teachable and open to new ideas. knowledge about how your body works and what works best for you will take time, and lots of trial and errors. sure there are some rules that hold constant for everyone, for example if you want to gain weight eat more calories than you burn, if you want to loose weight eat less calories than you burn daily.

but there are alot of different ways to go about doing this, and finding out what works best for you is a matter of trial and error. some guys train like dorian yates with 1 set per movement of all out intensity for 40mins in the gym 4x a week and blow up. some guys train like jay cutler with loads of volume and 2 hour workouts 6x a week. neither is wrong, they are just different. this type of stuff takes years of trial and error to learn. the same goes for diet and gear.

i would consider myself to be experienced with steroids and bodybuilding, and i am still learning. I have competed in quite a few shows, won a few local shows, and i still dont have it down 100%. you can always improve.

as far as maintaining homeostasis, that is sort of not comparable with bodybuilding, powerlifting, and steroids. of course we do everything we can to make it as safe as possible, but the whole point of steroids is to push past our natural capacity. we use steroids to push past what our bodies are comfortable with in order to maximize strength and muscle size. our bodies wernt made to hold 240-260lbs of lean tissue, deadlift 700lbs, or be 3% body fat with paper thin skin and full round muscles and will often fight us in this process. you can use steroids and be healthy if you cycle properly, but i dont know if homeostasis is the right word to describe what steroids do to your body.

i am much more confident in the way i do things now than i have been in the past, but i am not afraid to try something new if it makes sense to me. read and learn all you can.

I think it takes the amount of time that you get tired of pissing money and time away on doing this half azzed. As soon as you take the time to figure out what you want to achieve. Get your diet set to your goals, set your workouts to your goals,
I have worked out with people who lost 20lbs in about 2 months NO (juice) just diet and cardio
REMMEBER. You will only achieve what you are willing to put into it.

"Slow and steady wins the race" because it works.

Sure, you can "do more drugs, eat more food, spend more hours in the gym," but why? So you can compete with Phil Heath and win the next Olympia? If that's you, then by all means, do it up.

But if you wanna be a body builder FOR REAL, then chances are good that you have amazing discipline to begin with. "LESS IS MORE" works. Countless interviews show that the guys who are actually competing in the Olympia use friggin HALF (or less) of the gear that your wannabe tough guys in New Jersey gyms are using. It's not flashy. It's boring. They eat clean, train hard as fuck, and rest.

So, for anyone reading criticism of "slow and steady," and you're getting "impatient and want gains right now..." I'd urge you to be real with yourself.

Do you have the genetics to be the next champion?

Yes? Then go for it.

No? Just wanna be the best looking version of you? Be consistent. Get to the gym, week in and week out. Don't go get shitfaced on weekends. Live a little, sure, but if you're committed to a goal that includes using AAS, then for fucks sake, USE it, don't abuse or misuse it.

I'd rather take five years to look awesome, being smart, going slowly and conservatively, than blow up like a balloon on the outside with the potential to blow up on the inside as well. But what do I know? I'm just an old cranky yank who's seen people fuck themselves up time and time again with impatience.

So if you're a dumbass, do what you will.

If you want success, emulate what successful people do, learn from them and you'll get there.