Summary statement: Symmetry and proportion are best achieved by the man who thinks that overtraining is a myth. Arnold was the best because he attacked his weakpoints with determination, imagination, and enthusiasm. He was famous for his high volume style of training. He would say “attack every muscle from every angle.” He viewed the body as not just some lumps on some bones, but a living, breathing work of art. To sculpt the statue to perfection you must work every angle. This ends up taking more time, but does not necessarily lead to overtraining. His calves where something that he worked 4-6 days per week for 45 minutes for 3 years. That’s basically an extra hour of training per day on top of his regular workouts. This is something that truly made him the best. It set the frame for him to display his peaked biceps, magnificent ribcage, and otherworldly deep and full chest, that was additionally so broad that it practically touched his biceps when standing relaxed and made him look a very imposing countenance. Imagine how his side chest shot would have looked without calves. Or imagine a front-double biceps without the lower-leg sweep. Without the calves and the legs, no Olympia.

The problem with most guys physiques is more easily corrected by putting a little more time into weak points than to simply adding size for the sake of size. You may think it matters that you are now 190 instead of 180, but you still look a lot smaller than big guys. What you can have over a lot of big guys is symmetry and proportion. Lets face it. For most people, trying to compete with Markus Ruhl is going to get you nowhere. Both these men have been called the most symmetrical of all time. They got that way because they thought overtraining is a myth. Shawn Ray used to do 2 and 4 hours of cardio per day, while on a low carb diet. During that time, what do you think was happening? Do you think he was improving the circulation to his muscles, funneling nutrients to them and speeding his recuperation? Of course he was. Recuperation comes from places other than the bottle.  But most people just don’t have the work ethic, discipline or patience for it…the vision or the determination. It takes time to build up one’s work capacity. It takes patience, and discipline. It takes determination and vision when you feel you are worked to the bone but know that if you keep on plugging and don’t back off, the work that seems impossible for you now will soon be your new baseline, and to trust that you are on the right track, over the feeling of pain and difficulty. Now they use science to justify American Laziness.