# Cycles  By Trevor Smith



## learner (Jul 16, 2010)

Cycles

By Trevor Smith

I am quite sure that most, if not all, of you now reading this article are expecting another combination of drugs, training and diet to be delved into for the sole purpose of obtaining maximal muscle mass. I have to say that I am sorry. This article has nothing to do with steroid cycles in the purest sense, although after you are finished reading it, you should walk away with a generalized theme that can be applied to EVERY facet of you life. Your work, your relationships, your training, your diet, your recreational time, your thoughts, your dreams your everything .and yes .even your steroid cycles if you so choose. 

What is a cycle? What exactly is it and why does it occur in every single solitary aspect of the universe at all times? What is its purpose? What does it all mean? These are questions that have weighed heavy on the minds of man (that is to say men and women) since the dawn of our existence as life forms on this planet we call Earth. I have come to realize the answer and it is so ridiculously simple that many will dismiss it instantaneously. After all, how can a "stupid" 350lbs. Bodybuilder know anything about life's bigger questions. Well not to get sidetracked hear, but for those of you asking that very questions understand that I do not limit myself by any single definition. I am the all and the everything and the nothing just as everyone who are reading these words is. This much I have come to learn: I am The Great I am! That will be the title of a separate article, the point I am trying to make is not to rush to judgment because of how you perceive the physical manifestation of the source. As Yoda once said: "judge me by my size do you?" and even though he was only two feet tall the point is the same and hopefully you have all grasped what I am getting at.

So now back to the answer I have come to learn and wish to share with you all in this article. The answer to the question of cycles is: Relationship and Relativity.

Hold onto your hats, cause I am going to dive down to deeper depths. Now what does that mean? What is it about relationship and relativity that is intrinsically linked and responsible for cycles? To answer this question we first have to take a look at the concept of cycles. What are they exactly? 

Well, they are a rhythm. The natural order of the universe. They are active examples of the Yin and the Yang, the good and the bad, the black and the white, the here and the there. All of life and all of everything goes through cycles. "A hard rain never lasts." This is a quite famous Zen expression and what it means is that nothing can be continuous whether it be hard or soft, fast or slow, weak or strong, good or bad, black or white etc. In order for the hard rain to exist, there must be periods of soft rain or no rain. In order for there to be sunshine as we understand it, there must be darkness. In order for there to be greatness, there must also be periods of less than great or "UN"-greatness. In order for there to be a "here" there must be a "away from here" and hence give birth to that which is neither "here nor "away from here"

I can go on for hours with this mind-boggling concept and wind up losing most of you in the process (not because you are incapable of understanding, but because the topic might not be of interest in a broader sense) as we are trying to understand the marriage of relationship and cycles and how they can apply to every single aspect of your life and in particular, for the purpose of this article, your bodybuilding. 

The cycle and the relationship it breeds is the tool that affords us to know ourselves and events and "things" in both their grandest and not so grandest incarnation. Since we are talking about bodybuilding and training here, I am going to use them as the sole examples from this point on. 

Often times I encounter many people that have a very hard time with the thought of giving themselves and their bodies a break from the rigors of bodybuilding. They have a hard time taking time off from training, taking time off from craming in the calories, nutrients and supplements and most often, taking time off from using performance enhancing pharmaceuticals. "I am going to get small ..I don't like the feeling of "not being on" or not training hard or not eating for maximal size" All these statements are essentially saying the same thing: "Why can't I make a continual climb to excellence? ..I don't want to have to stop and regroup along with way ..why must I go down in order to get higher up" The answer is simply because that is the way all of life and everything in the universe was designed to work. If you think about it, everything in your life or anyone else's functions in the rhythm of cycles. You spend a certain amount of time awake each day, and then you must spend a certain amount of time a sleep each day. This is a great example because if you short change yourself on your "downtime" (in this case sleep) .your "on-time" (being awake) will suffer as you will NOT perform at optimal levels. If you take nothing else away from this article .remember that last sentence and apply it to every facet of you existence and you will totally change your life! 

My suggestion then to any one that is looking to achieve their highest vision of themselves (and we will limit this right now to bodybuilding) is to learn to live by the rules of the universe that have been set forth about 20 billion years ago. Learn about the natural order of cycles and rhythms and work within their constraints .not against them.

I can think of many, many, many bodybuilders that were poised for ultimate greatness and success in the sport who simply burned out before their star lit to its brightest potential. The reason for this is almost always because they were not able to to see the bigger picture and live by the law of cycles. The great Mat Mendenhall and Phil Hill come to mind here. Mendenhall was considered by most everyone, including the great Lee Haney, to be the most complete and potentially greatest bodybuilder of all time. By attempting to continual climb higher and higher without stepping back and taking some down time, I believe Mat burned himself out way before his time. The same goes for Phil Hill. 

Let's apply the universal law of cycles to the 4 main aspects of bodybuilding. If you recall my previous articles you will remember them as 1. Training 2. Diet 3. Supplements and or Pharmaceutical use and most important 4. Mental Attitude. 

1. Training: Now everyone who has read my writings clearly understands my approach and thoughts to training. Train as hard as you humanly can ..then go BEYOND that level and transcend your perceived limits. Do this and training will take on a whole new meaning as will the results you achieve. But living within the constraints of the law of cycles, one must understand that they CANNOT do this continually ..if they are doing it correctly! All out maniacal training cannot go on indefinitely. Sooner or later the body will resists because it intuitively understands that you are attempting to go against the law of cycles. Usually when this happens the body breaks down in one form or another to insure that you will stop and fall in line with the law of cycles and have some much needed down time. The wise trainer will understand that this will happen and will not put himself or herself in jeopardy of injury or illness and will therefore train in cyclical spurts of extremely intense training and much less intense training and therefore make continual, injury free progress.

2. Diet: Now diet is often overlooked by people who somewhat pay attention to the law of cycles. Eating "clean" all the time or eating "sh*t" all the time are both incorrect approaches. Being extremely strict with what is going into your body at all times and making sure you eat 6-8 times per day all the time is just as bad as slacking on the number meals and the types of nutrients you are required to eat each day all the time. Striking a balance between the two and incorporating them into cycles is worlds better for you in terms of reaching your goals. It gives your system a break from repetition and your mind a break as well. With myself I can say that after a 6 week period of getting in 700-900 grams of protein per day .300-400 grams of carbs and 40-50 grams of fat I am mentally and physically drained. I don't want to look at another protein drink or plate of chicken or cup of rice. So, since I cycle my training in six week spurts, I also keep my diet in the same cycle. 6 weeks on and 3-4 weeks off (sometimes more if I feel the need to get and extra recharge). During the 3 weeks off, I cut back on my nutrient intake, cut back on meal frequency and cut back on the regimented nature of my diet. In short I take the required down time so that I can make another jump during my next up time.
3. Supplements and or Pharmaceutical use: I make the distinction here because there are bodybuilders who are natural and those who make the decision to use performance enhancing pharmaceuticals. In both cases, the rule is the same. Abide by the law of cycles or else! If I had a dime for every bodybuilder that I encountered who cannot grasp this concept, I would be a rich man. The fear of "losing my size" the fear of "feeling small" and the fear of "not feeling on" causes these narrow minded and insecure individuals to either stay on gear all the time and completely destroy their bodies and limit their growth potential, or it causes them to use one set of compounds during their "on time" and a different set of compounds during their delusional "off time". I get questions like "Hey Trevor, I was thinking on doing a 12 week cycle of sustenon, deca, anadrol, GH, insulin etc.. and then I will take 4 weeks off and I will use anavar, clenbuterol and insulin during those 4 weeks to "bridge" me over until my next cycle." Your next cycle? When the hell did your first cycle end? Even if this approach did not result in eventual health problems, you would think these individuals would want to do whatever was going to make them grow more, but if you tell them it is following the law of cycles ..they simply laugh at you and cannot follow it. They are doomed to wallow in mediocrity and wonder why their favorite pro is 75lbs. of pure muscle bigger than they are even though they are using double the amounts of gear!

4. Mental Attitude: Now unfortunately it has been my experience that this is the area that is most lacking in people whether they are bodybuilders or not. The proper mental attitude is the prerequisite that allows everything else to exist. Focus, dedication, intensity, concentration and the ability to continue are what separates the men from the boys. But, alas, even mental attitude must be cycled. In order for you to truly be able to focused, dedicated, intense, concentrated and continue, you must occasionally give the mind a rest in the form of mindless downtime. Take a vacation from the mind (no this is not an excuse to blast yourself to the moon with nubain or some other drug). Do something that doesn't cause you to think, focus, or concentrate to much. Again it would be wise to coincide this with your down time from diet, training and pharmaceuticals and or supplements.

In closing, I would just like to repeat myself in saying that those of you who are not listening to the call of the universe and fighting the natural law and order of cycles .WAKE UP! You are short changing yourself in so many ways. Take away from this article, the generalized theory of cycles and learn to apply it to all facets of your life. Trust me you will walk a wiser and more satisfied path if you do so. Good luck


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## ASHOP (Jul 17, 2010)

I've always enjoyed reading Trevor's work. Nice read.


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