3 Lessons From Bodybuilding Legend Bill Pearl

Who Is Bill Pearl? You may not know who Bill Pearl is, or realize his impact on the whole industry. I like to explain it this way: Bill Pearl was Arnold, before there was Arnold. Bill Pearl was bodybuilding’s first true crossover superstar. And his early books should be considered required reading even today, especially “Keys to the Inner Universe.” I met Bill in the summer of 1989 while I was working at the prestigious Muscle Camp in Los Angeles. My job was to open up the one-of-a-kind gym every morning. I’d get there at 4:30 AM and I can still remember how it took the floodlights about 15 minutes to fully kick on. Half the time I’d be warming up in darkness. I pretty much had the place to myself… until Bill Pearl started coming in right about the same time. When I introduced myself, he shook my hand and said, “It’s been a pleasure watching you work out.” That was something that stood out about Bill Pearl. Even with the enormity of the shadow he cast, he always made you feel like YOU were the most important person in every conversation. I told Bill that if he had any advice for me I’d love to hear it. Luckily, he had plenty. He imparted the following lessons to me over 30 years ago, but they’re lessons you can and should put to use today. 1 – Stop training like you have something to prove.Instead, train like you have something to accomplish. The next morning Bill pulled me aside and asked me, “Scott, what are you trying to accomplish in your workout?” To this day I remember not being able to give Bill a reasonable answer beyond some sheepish, kindergarten-level reference to what body part I was training. He told me I looked like I was working out like I had something to prove, but each workout should instead be about accomplishing something specific, beyond numbers and beyond efforts expended. He was right. I did train like I had something to prove. Since I wasn’t as strong as other bodybuilders of my size and caliber, I always aimed to out-train them. It was something Bill spotted right away. Rather than working out to build my pecs, for example, I acted like I was working to increase my max bench. It was a lot like the guys you see in the gym every week who start with bench press with the same weight, same reps, and same bad form – one guy holding the bar pretty much doing upright rows while the bencher does a hip bridge with every rep. And all their follow-up exercises are chest exercises. Ask them what the hell they’re trying to accomplish and they can’t tell you. And we’ve all seen the guy with pipe cleaners for legs load up the leg press with 10 plates per side and move the sled an inch or two. That’s training with something to prove (exactly what, I’m not sure) instead of wanting to accomplish a specific goal. I can’t tell you how many career-ending torn biceps, torn pecs, torn ACL’s, blown quad tendons, and herniated discs I’ve seen, all because lifters were training with something to prove rather than training with something to accomplish. It might have been because of training partners encouraging them to get more reps, even though their form was breaking down; or lifters adding more weight to the bench or squat or other risky exercises just to keep up with a training partner or a bad personal trainer’s expectations. All of that stuff led to bad outcomes. Training with something to accomplish instead of training with something to prove puts you in a much more mature headspace. Start by thinking about your workout and what you aim to accomplish within it, beyond a numbers game. Leave your ego at the door. 2 – Learn by doing, but also by observing. At that time, the Mr. Olympia contest was right around the corner and top pros were coming into Muscle Camp to work out. One morning Bill asked me to meet him at the gym when it was the busiest. Puzzled, I agreed. I met Bill and the gym was packed with people and some top pros, including the reigning Mr. Olympia, Lee Haney. I remember wondering what kind of workout Bill was going to put me through, but when I got there he told me that we were just going to watch – watch everyone – from the regular gym goers to the top-tier pros and amateurs. At first, this was a disappointment, but I gradually saw his intent. Bill would point out someone training and ask me to explain what I saw. At one end of the gym was a top wannabe Olympia competitor bench pressing with a training partner. He was struggling, like really struggling, to get up a couple of reps of 305 pounds. His form was horrible and his training partner helped him eke out a couple of forced reps. This already had me shaking my head because just a couple months earlier, one of the top magazines had shown this same guy benching four plates per side – obviously some fake weights were involved there. In another corner of the gym, Lee Haney was training back and shoulders, and I’ll never forget the image. I hadn’t really ever seen anything quite like that before. With Haney, there seemed
Origin: 3 Lessons From Bodybuilding Legend Bill Pearl