The best training system by Rober Castellano and Raúl Carrasco

In a Face to Face held some time ago, our experts and bodybuilders Rober Castellano and Raúl Carrasco discuss the best training system.

When we ask what the theory is behind the most effective training system, many refer to techniques such as HST, HIT, Rest-Pause, Hybrid, 5×5, Max-OT, and GVT, among others. However, there are sufficient reasons to discuss the options before making decisions, and in that context we analyze what the best bodybuilders on the Iberian Peninsula propose.

To understand how to analyze these systems, it is worth asking:

• Who uses or has used them?
• What kind of results should you expect?
• Which is the most advanced?
• Or, how does it work?

Before enjoying Rober and Raúl’s experiences, we summarize the most popular training systems, including those with a scientific basis.

The training system: which one should you use?

After reading some of the many articles here or on any other website, it is clear that there are a variety of training systems people use to increase muscle size.

Now, this creates a problem for the reader who wants to gain a significant amount of muscle mass, but which training system should they follow?

Raúl Carrasco discusses some of them in the following video, summarizing them and explaining how to train each one.

But this is where everything comes down to the trial and error each bodybuilder goes through, because everyone’s body is different, and this means that the most effective training system for one person can certainly be less effective for another, even for two bodybuilders with similar physiques.

However, there are basic principles that no system can overlook, such as:

• Neuromuscular adaptation and coordination,
• Mind-muscle connection,
• Training progression,
• Time under tension,
• Peri-workout nutrition,
• Recovery.

In the end, all these factors are key to obtaining results, regardless of which training system you use.

Starting Heavy

Starting with the Face to Face, let’s begin with some history:

Raúl Carrasco: “Well, at the beginning, back then, particularly in the 1990s, we basically went with what was available.” In short, it was more or less about lifting weights, and I even fractured my arm with Heavy Duty. Raúl tells us that one of his idols was Dorian Yates, the Mr. Olympia of that era.

Rober Castellano: “We agree on that; I love Heavy Duty, Dorian Yates, and his philosophy.”

It was practically a training philosophy that was entirely consistent and logical—completely logical—for the kind of hypertrophy focused on muscle growth, which was ultimately what we were seeking… more muscle mass, better quality…

The point is that when you start out, you want to look incredibly strong—in other words, not just appear to be strong, but actually be strong. But when you start and think you will become a “giant” bodybuilder, you follow the training system of your era, and whether it goes well or badly, it is clear that the first of these, Heavy Duty, can take you from around 60–70 kg to a maximum weight that can range from 103–106 kg, as it did for Raúl Carrasco.

Rául: “Heavy Duty helped me grow, and then, when I became a professional, I had to refine it so I could fit in.”

Although people like these little things, “those heavy-weight systems” are what made them famous; but in the case of Heavy Duty, it is the edge of a knife.

Analyzing things

Although it is very effective, if you do not perform it properly or sensibly, you can injure yourself and be sidelined forever. Raúl tells us that he worked with incredible, even epic, weights, including deadlifts with 270 and 280 kg, and standing barbell biceps curls with 70 kg, taking advantage of neural activation and gaining a great deal of strength.

Raúl tells us that he has been one of the few athletes to think this way: “Today, Here, All or Nothing,” because I have always wanted to be a great bodybuilder in the long term.

So, being able to fulfill that dream of becoming a professional and competing in Mr. Olympia meant not adding another plate; instead, he stuck with what he believed would be effective for him.

Why did he not continue with Heavy Duty? Well, because at the time he did not believe it would be suitable for becoming a great bodybuilder in the long term, since injuries eventually start to appear.

Bodybuilders at certain times look for a training system that:

• They take you to the goal you want
• Avoid injuries as much as possible, so they return home healthy without tearing a quad, biceps, or triceps, or suffering a muscle strain.
• They should be able to enjoy bodybuilding rather than their egos. This includes using good judgment when adding plates, because “adding one more plate” can be fatal and even shatter their dream of becoming bodybuilders overnight.

Therefore, although Heavy Duty may work well for someone in principle, Raúl would not recommend it to anyone inexperienced or lacking sufficient judgment, or without a good enough trainer.

Do not cross the line

Rober says that you should reach the line but not cross it, and Raúl shares that view, because the person who knew how to manage it, such as Dorian Yates (who was extremely strict), was the one who took the lead. Being meticulous about things, rest, or concentration (something not everyone has) is what determines whether a training system is effective or not.

In contrast to Raúl's view, Rober follows a somewhat different philosophy: he pushes himself to the limit in the gym (he loves Heavy Duty) and enjoys his life, going to the gym to have fun and then competing as a side effect.

The point is to stay motivated day after day and reach your limit. However, when it comes to basic training, depending on personal goals or even a “personal ego,” which may or may not be beneficial, you add weight to a set.

Regarding a particular training system, Rober tells us that people nowadays ask whether they should train every three days because protein synthesis lasts 72 hours.

However, he makes it clear that he has maintained that this is not true, and that protein synthesis depends, among other things, on the amount of prior muscle damage.

The point is that every month, dozens of magazines offer a new training system to maximize gains. They do this as if there were one theory that works better for everyone than any other—but why keep publishing?

The answer lies in the fact that one system may bring great benefits to one person, while being of no help at all to another.

Frequency, according to Raúl

But what system, or what type of frequency, do you think should be used, or which one is appropriate? Raúl says that, as always, he has never advocated anything, even though many people think he has.

He argues that there is a training system that is better for each person, and the principle of individuality always applies. So, like everyone else, we started out and do not advocate anything until we have proven it.

He makes it clear—and this is definitive—that he is one of the few Spanish bodybuilders who has competed, demonstrated, carried it out, preached it, and, above all, proven it.

He simply started with a higher frequency and was always guided by the greats: in that past era, Ronnie Coleman, who made a major difference among all the bodybuilders in the world, was one of the few bodybuilders to start incorporating frequency 2, and from then on, people have increasingly followed that approach.

But what does all this mean? In terms of individuality, when Raúl tried frequency 2, he realized that perhaps he did not have more size, but he did have more detail, which is what professionals need, in his view.

So I proved to myself that perhaps I did not have a greater sarcomeric response—a functional hypertrophy—but I did have more detail, more separation, and more depth, and for Raúl, that is what training frequency provides.

He has even recommended it, while of course insisting on the principle of individuality; he even trained three times a week for his second Mr. Olympia and almost won the Toronto Pro.

We look at Raúl’s photos and, “well,” he looked more refined, with a narrower waist because he did not use extremely heavy weights. According to him, where does this lead me? To trust.

Frequency, according to Rober

One of the differences between the 1970s and 1980s and today is that back then, 100% of training was functional, sarcomeric: weight and long rest periods. But nowadays the difference is that there are larger, less rounded physiques… in short, 50% sarcomeric and 50% sarcoplasmic…

For Raúl, someone can train at frequency 3—which he considers excessive—but frequency 2 is the maximum, provided you have exceptionally professional rest and the only thing you worry about is whether the sun has come out or whether you are going to get wet and need to take an umbrella when leaving the house.

But Rober, just like Raúl, says that because people do not understand these things very well, they think everything has to be taken to muscular failure, metabolic stress, or muscle pumps.

He does not advocate training frequency 2. In fact, he has even said that training a muscle once every 10 days can be beneficial, which was also the old Heavy Duty approach. The problem is that people become obsessed with the idea that protein synthesis lasts 72 hours and compare themselves with Coleman.

In his opinion, according to, for example, training-planning theories or a sports training system, you should always move from the general to the specific.

What does he mean by this? When a person starts training, during their first years and first months, what they mainly work on is neuromuscular efficiency.

You can afford to train more frequently because you are not capable of generating enough muscle intensity for the damage to last a long time.

According to Rober, when you are starting out, you can train more frequently because the intensity is lower.

Progressing in frequency

As you progress over time—let's say as you gain more experience and muscle mass—it is not the same to recover a body with 30 kg of muscle as one with 60 kg.

Frequency 1, which almost everyone has used, works for everyone, for example.

It now seems to be fashionable because some YouTubers say frequency 2, but they are YouTubers who specialize in strength sports, and people have a habit of extrapolating between strength training and bodybuilding.

It is like saying that the training system is the same for athletes who do “javelin throwing and sprinting” simply because they both do athletics.

According to Rober, the more advanced you become, the more frequently you can train, meaning you can move away from frequency 1; he even believes that with very brutal Heavy Duty workouts, you could train a muscle every 10 days, because he has done so and it worked well for him.

Conclusions

Because, according to Rober and Raúl, there is something people do not understand:

• You may do a very heavy squat, and although your quadriceps may have recovered after four days, the knee structure, cartilage, and so on may still hurt six days later.
• So it is not based solely on muscle recovery, as they say in the videos about protein synthesis (there is a 72-hour study); rather, it is thought that protein synthesis depends on the calories consumed, the substances used, and various other factors.

In short, once you are capable of generating such high intensity that your joints suffer a great deal, you can space out your training sessions more.

At a certain point, bodybuilders are worn out and everything hurts, so they should train more frequently and with less intensity.

In short, our experts do not advocate a frequency of 1, 2, or 3. What they do argue is that it is stupid to think that dividing 10 effective sets into two sessions of 5 is the same as doing 10 in one session. At least for Rober, that is nonsense.

For us and many experts, the idea that protein synthesis lasts 72 hours and that you could train again after that is nonsense.

Below is the full-length video of this Face to Face featuring Rober Castellano and Raúl Carrasco, which has been shared by tens of thousands of fans of what we love: bodybuilding.