By Rob Wilkins, Special Assistant to the
International Federation of Bodybuilders
Published in Natural Muscle Magazine, Dec
2000, Vol 5:12(30-30-31); and in
www.femalemuscle.com
In sports there are
coaches of legendary proportions. In football there is
celebrated Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi. In
basketball, Pat Riley orchestrated the LA Lakers during
their championship years. And in baseball, New York
Yankees manager Joe Torre's teams have captured 3 of the
last 4 World Series Titles. What makes each of these
coaches so unique is that time and time again they have
produced results and contended for championships. They
were able to motivate and teach their players how to
become winners and achieve success.
For nearly two decades when the world's top athletes
were searching for the man with the answers in regard to
athletic preparation, Ian King is the person they most
sought out. King has developed the training programs for
hundreds of elite athletes in over 20 sports and from
more than 10 countries. King has prepared athletes for
every winter and summer Olympic Games since 1988, and
every Commonwealth Games since 1984, as well as World
Championships and World Cups in numerous sports.
When not instructing athletes on how to reach their
maximum physical potential, King is also an educator and
contributing writer to a number of magazines to include
Men's Health, Mind and Muscle Power, and Testosterone.
The following are questions I recently addressed to
King.
RW - Ian, thanks for taking the time out of your
busy schedule for this interview. Please provide us with
a brief background on yourself (where you are from,
formal education, how you became interested in
training).
KING - I was born on an island in the Pacific
Ocean and in the absence of television, consistent with
island tradition, we played a lot of sport! I first
started weight training at the age of 7 years, and used
it to support competing in other sports until my early
20's when I specialized more so in powerlifting. I
studied sport science at university simply because of my
interest in my own training and this interest turned
into a business! I simply met the demand. Athletes like
to be trained by people who they respect because they
know they have paid their dues in training and
competition.
RW - What do you consider three of the biggest
mistakes "natural bodybuilders" make in their training?
KING - Simple - overtrain, overtrain, and
overtrain. They are not the "lone rangers," but in the
absence of drugs, the price to be paid is greater! Only
when full recovery from each training session is
achieved do you see the peak of the training effect.
RW - If you had to choose between volume and
intensity which would you choose and why?
KING - No competition - intensity is more
important. I sacrifice volume before intensity. I do
believe that some can grow on volume alone, but
generally speaking, I believe that intensity (in all
forms of athletic pursuit) is a more important training
variable. The additional reality that has been concluded
by those who study multi-year periodization, is that
over time there is a limit to the benefits of increasing
volume, whilst pursuit of increased intensity is still
possible and valid.
RW - What are the major differences between
muscle fiber types (slow and fast-twitch) and do you
feel these differences make a major difference in
determining one's athletic potential?
KING - This is an over-rated concept and has been
a bit of a trend lately. Like any trend it comes and
goes. Arthur Jones was popularizing this many years ago
so it is a trend that has come back! Yes, there are
differences, but it is not the only or dominant variable
that should influence training. Training age, maturation
rate, chronological age, psychological traits are all
examples of things that are equally important, if not
more important in influencing program design. I stress
this - no matter what your fiber type - strength
training aims to shift you functionally to more fast
twitch, especially strength training for sport. The
concept of training "like a slow twitch person" for an
athlete is ludicrous!
RW - In the Nov 00 issue of Scientific American,
an article titled, "Deconstructing the Taboo," asked the
question, "Is there a genetic difference between the
races which allows blacks to dominate certain sports
(i.e., sprinting, NBA basketball, NFL football)?" Last
year's top 5 IFBB Mr. Olympia contenders (Ronnie
Coleman, Flex Wheeler, Chris Cormier, Kevin Levrone, and
Shawn Ray) are black. Do you feel there is a genetic
factor in the abilities of Asians, Blacks, and Whites to
develop muscle?
KING - Yes, I suspect there are genetic
predispositions, but ultimately it was perhaps an
adaptation to survival needs, and I think if we train
"white" athletes in similar environments (e.g. remote
Africa) from birth, we may get some of these similar
adaptations. A few generations in that environment would
help. Alternatively, put a "black" kid in an environment
from birth where TV and fast food and computer games
dominate, you may get an adaptation towards less
athleticism. In summary, the cultural and environmental
issues cannot be overlooked.
RW - How effective do you feel ergogenic aids (creatine,
amino acids, protein powders, glutamine, etc.) are on a
natural athlete's ability to develop muscle?
KING - Simple - if you have a need that is not
being met, and a supplement meets that need - it is
effective. Generally speaking creatine is the most
effective, being what I call the greatest supplement
breakthrough in my lifetime. But it can over time lose
its impact. At the end of the day, I would be as
interested, if not more so in knowing what foods were
being consumed, so supplements need to kept in
perspective. Speaking from an international perspective,
the capitalistic nature of the US has resulted in 2
industries having an incredible influence on attitudes
and behavior in US strength training - the supplement
industry and the equipment industry. I appreciate this
environment, but the reality from my perspective is that
both these tend to be over-rated in America. Training
and food are more important than equipment and
supplements.
