ok, so I don't normally update mid-week, but today is quite the exception. I was able to catch up with a friend of mine despite his busy schedule, and sit him down for an interview. His name is Lawrence Hosannah. He is a fitness professional in the Northeast, a very well-rounded individual, and someone I am deeply indebted to for the amount of knowledge he has poured into me. To all of my wonderful lovers and friends, sit back and enjoy getting to know a lil' bit about Lawrence Hosannah...
JC)Lawrence, give me a brief intro about yourself.LH) Yeah, I was born in London, England. I moved to the states when I was a wee lad (13 years old). I have 3 brothers. My mum and dad are from Guyana a country in the north of South America. When I got to the states my interest turned towards graffiti art, for about 5 years I ran around Queens, NY doing pieces where ever I could. At 17 I started to lift weights to attract girls and make bullies think twice about messing with me...chuckle. Most of my efforts before the age of 17 were focused on my art work, after 17 I began to focus more on building my body and learning about how to get stronger and bigger. I went to Hunter College for 2 years, but quit because I was bored out of my mind. After that I focused on learning and applying as much as I could on the aspects of strength and muscular development. I have an interest in philosophy, art, nature, science, culture. I'm a chronic thinker and I need to be doing something that keeps me engaged or I get neurotic... chuckle. I've done a little bit of everything in regards to fitness, modeling, writing books and articles, program design, training of athletes and body building competition.
JC) What is your training background? When did you first become interested in shaping your body?
LH) I have been interested in being strong and muscular for a long time, when I was about 10 years old I remember being the strongman in the school play; I had the classic bear skin old time strong man get up, sandals, a wooden club and a fake curled mustache...funny stuff. I always took part in sports that were explosive and strength orientated such as rugby and gymnastics; the endurance stuff bored the hell out of me. I began weight training in my friends garage when I was 17 in order put some muscle on for looks. I actually started of with the old school Weider bench press and sand filled barbell set, but I was all heart and managed to build a good body fairly quickly. After training the garage I started training with my other friend at his crib, he had 2 bench presses, more weight, assorted barbell handles... how could I pass that up. This dude was strong at 17 he was benching 250 like it was a broomstick, so I had a positive influence in terms of someone to challenge me. In the beginning I tried all types of routines, once I trained for 12 hours, doing 24 workouts in that period. As I advanced I got more interested in reading so spent a lot of time in the muscle magazines, nutrition books, training books, etc. After I while I got known around the area as the muscle guy so people would come to me for advice on building their bodies. I would train my friends and give them programs in order to make everyone bigger and stronger. After a while I joined a commercial gym and was able to get a lot stronger and bigger, as a result of being in the gym I began to train more people and it kind of snowballed from there. After a while I was training athletes, people coming back from injury, dudes and girls wanting to show off on the beach, etc...
JC) I believe you have an athletic background, care to tell us a bit about it?
LH) Most of my sports background comes from when I was in England. In England I went to a school that encouraged the building of a strong body and mind; the students were pushed through intense, almost boot camp type PE classes... I remember thinking what hell, are they trying to kill us? I took part in cross country running, soccer, gymnastics, cricket and rugby. I played rugby competitively for my school team before heading to the states, I really enjoyed rugby and think that if I would of stayed in England I would have pursued it as a profession. When I got to NYC there wasn't much in terms of inner city sports besides basketball and handball, so I began to spend more time on my art work. The art work on paper pushed me into graffiti art which is actually very physical because you're climbing fire escapes, fences, running away from cops, etc. so I stayed in good shape despite the lack of organized sports around me.
JC) In your experience, what came easy to you, and what posed as a challenge when building your physique?
LH) Nothing came easy... ha, ha
The easy part for me was being lean, when I started I weighed 155 lbs. with a 27 inch waist, I have always been much cut. The harder part was gaining the mass, I remember carrying chicken sandwiches, home made weight gain shakes, meat and pasta dishes, gallons of milk every where I went. At one point I was drinking 1-2 gallons of milk each day. I would estimate I was consuming around 7000 calories in order to build the mass. Honey buns, ice cream, cake, hamburgers, weight gain powder, bread, pasta, potatoes have been my friend. I discovered as I trained that I had a natural ability to focus extremely well, this focus allowed me to get extremely strong... lifts of 600 lb. lunges, 1100 lb. smith machine squats, rock bottom squats with 500 lbs. and one arm rows with 275 lbs. that I attribute to extreme focus.
JC) In a nutshell, what is your basic philosophy on training/nutrition?
LH) My basic philosophy is to do the bare minimum to get the maximal result. I believe that training, particularly for the drug-free training must be brief and brutal to produce the best in results (i.e. muscle mass and strength gains). I believe that volume training can be effective for increasing glycogen stores, vascularity and burning body fat, but this can compromise muscle retention...besides you can acquire all those things without resorting to high volume. For an exercise program to produce the best results it should be made up of basic exercises, these exercises should be dome at or close to muscular failure, and they should be dome infrequently enough to allow for full recovery and growth. I think that where most people get it wrong is that they focus on going into the gym and getting a good pump, as a result they perform a lot of exercises that produce very little in progress for lots and lots of sets. Most of the time they end up spinning their wheels and getting very little in the way of progress. Nutrition wise I believe in eating a well balanced diet first to ensure health; health must always come first. After that, depending upon a person's goal they should eat in specified ways. Basically if a person wants to gain muscle size predominantly they would need to ensure that they are getting surplus calories, not so much to get fat, but enough to support gains. Protein intake is very important for building new muscle, but I don't subscribe to excesses like 2 grams per pound. The bottom line is that physical progress in building muscle, getting stronger, building endurance or getting leaner is an equation... you have to have all the elements on point to arrive at the correct answer (ie. quick and rapid progress). The most important factors are proper exercise, healthy and optimal nutrition, proper recovery and rest, and mental aspects such as goals, drive, etc... When you have the elements in correct balance you can create incredible progress.
JC) Have you ever competed? Do you have plans to compete?
LH) Yeah I have competed before, in bodybuilding. My first competition was in 1999, it was an NGA natural show where I won my division. The second show in 2000 was an NPC natural state show where I won my division which qualified me for the nationals, the third show I came in 3rd place at an untested NPC show which qualified me again for the nationals. In all I've done about 6 shows. Competing can be fun, do I plan to do it again, and yes I plan to do the NPC Team U which I'll have to re-qualify for. I'm aiming at a show some time in May- June to re-qualify.
JC) What first attracted you to fitness/bodybuilding?
LH) I basically wanted to be big, strong and handsome... I wasn't too happy with my looks back in the day and figured this would be a good way to handle it. The funny thing is that as I got in better shape I became more of a perfectionist which can be injurious to self-esteem. As you progress you have to give yourself credit for what you have achieved so far, that way you are enjoying the whole process not some preconceived idea of I'll be happy when I get there. I was overcoming an injury at birth which left my right arm with slight atrophy, I figured by strengthening it I would feel better about having it. I had to learn to except it and make it the best I could, and focus on the whole instead of some little, preconceived inadequacy. I would my attraction has been the sum part of being an artist (building the body is an art), being in love with strength, overcome personal demons, being addicted to progression and having an inquisitive mind.
JC) How many times a week do you train? What methods have worked the best for you?
LH) I train 3-4 times a week. I train on nonconsecutive days during the week to allow for recover. Each muscle group is trained directly once per week but also receives some indirect work during the rest of the week. My training session start with 20-30 minutes of warming up and stretching, my actual workout takes 45-60 mins to accomplish. I use basic compound movements done with a variety of equipment to work each muscle. I also use some isolation movements for bodybuilding purposes. I'm a big advocate and barbell squats in fact my body growths in direct proportion to my strength on those movements. I typically perform 1-2 work sets per exercise after warming up. Larger areas get more total work sets, but not much more. I train for strength to get bigger. My rep ranges are between 4-20 typically, even though I sometimes hit 60 reps. I make use of drop sets, forced reps, negatives, static holds, giant sets, etc. during each workout. The most potent factor has been high rep squatting for muscle gains in my opinion.
JC) What comes easy for you with regards to this lifestyle? What is not so easy?
LH) It's all easy. (chuckle) It really depends on my mindset, if I have an exciting goal them it's all easy, I get caught up in the process. If I'm feeling bored then my training is lax in comparison; up to this point I have been an all or nothing person in my life.
JC) How do you feel about all of the confusion/complications that the common people are baffled with when it comes to learning about fitness and nutrition?
LH) It keeps me working...chuckle
I think that the confusion exists due to a lot of really bad advice out there. A lot of stuff made up by so called experts is nonsense in my opinion, just stuff to appear smart or different. Another problem is the use of steroids which has warped the understanding of what actually works for the drug free person, a lot of the advice given is that used my enhanced people, programs that are worthless to most people. There is literally an excess of info out there, I personally weeded through piles of info for years to arrive at the methods that I use, and most people don't have that type of patience or insanity to carry on that long, hence most people giving up. On one hand I think the free flow of ideas is good, after all I'm and artist, on the other hand certain ideas are truly nonsense.
JC) What are your personal goals for your physique in the future? Are you content with your current level of development?
LH) Right now I have had resurgence in interest in realizing my true potential in terms of my physique and strength. For a while I lost a bit of drive in getting bigger, stronger, better, etc. I started to feel what is this all for... one of those profound questions you know. Now it's not only about getting bigger and stronger but perfecting my body --oh brother there goes that word again-- I'm also focusing on doing more in the way of teaching, modeling, possibly acting, writing, instruction, the skies the limit in this regard. Right now I'm helping people not have to weed through all the nonsense through program design and personal training, I also teach a group fitness class in the park which is pretty brutal. I'm promoting my book 12 Weeks to Beach Body Abs, which is an excellent book on applying the key variables to getting ripped.
JC) How can people contact you for fitness consultation, purchasing your book, or anything regarding fitness and bodybuilding?
LH) Interested people can contact me via my website www.lawrencehosannah.com or by sending an email to lhosannah@yahoo.com
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JC)Lawrence, give me a brief intro about yourself.
LH) Yeah, I was born in London, England. I moved to the states when I was a wee lad (13 years old). I have 3 brothers. My mum and dad are from Guyana a country in the north of South America. When I got to the states my interest turned towards graffiti art, for about 5 years I ran around Queens, NY doing pieces where ever I could. At 17 I started to lift weights to attract girls and make bullies think twice about messing with me...chuckle. Most of my efforts before the age of 17 were focused on my art work, after 17 I began to focus more on building my body and learning about how to get stronger and bigger. I went to Hunter College for 2 years, but quit because I was bored out of my mind. After that I focused on learning and applying as much as I could on the aspects of strength and muscular development. I have an interest in philosophy, art, nature, science, culture. I'm a chronic thinker and I need to be doing something that keeps me engaged or I get neurotic... chuckle. I've done a little bit of everything in regards to fitness, modeling, writing books and articles, program design, training of athletes and body building competition.
JC) What is your training background? When did you first become interested in shaping your body?
LH) I have been interested in being strong and muscular for a long time, when I was about 10 years old I remember being the strongman in the school play; I had the classic bear skin old time strong man get up, sandals, a wooden club and a fake curled mustache...funny stuff. I always took part in sports that were explosive and strength orientated such as rugby and gymnastics; the endurance stuff bored the hell out of me. I began weight training in my friends garage when I was 17 in order put some muscle on for looks. I actually started of with the old school Weider bench press and sand filled barbell set, but I was all heart and managed to build a good body fairly quickly. After training the garage I started training with my other friend at his crib, he had 2 bench presses, more weight, assorted barbell handles... how could I pass that up. This dude was strong at 17 he was benching 250 like it was a broomstick, so I had a positive influence in terms of someone to challenge me. In the beginning I tried all types of routines, once I trained for 12 hours, doing 24 workouts in that period. As I advanced I got more interested in reading so spent a lot of time in the muscle magazines, nutrition books, training books, etc. After I while I got known around the area as the muscle guy so people would come to me for advice on building their bodies. I would train my friends and give them programs in order to make everyone bigger and stronger. After a while I joined a commercial gym and was able to get a lot stronger and bigger, as a result of being in the gym I began to train more people and it kind of snowballed from there. After a while I was training athletes, people coming back from injury, dudes and girls wanting to show off on the beach, etc...
JC) I believe you have an athletic background, care to tell us a bit about it?
LH) Most of my sports background comes from when I was in England. In England I went to a school that encouraged the building of a strong body and mind; the students were pushed through intense, almost boot camp type PE classes... I remember thinking what hell, are they trying to kill us? I took part in cross country running, soccer, gymnastics, cricket and rugby. I played rugby competitively for my school team before heading to the states, I really enjoyed rugby and think that if I would of stayed in England I would have pursued it as a profession. When I got to NYC there wasn't much in terms of inner city sports besides basketball and handball, so I began to spend more time on my art work. The art work on paper pushed me into graffiti art which is actually very physical because you're climbing fire escapes, fences, running away from cops, etc. so I stayed in good shape despite the lack of organized sports around me.
JC) In your experience, what came easy to you, and what posed as a challenge when building your physique?
LH) Nothing came easy... ha, ha
The easy part for me was being lean, when I started I weighed 155 lbs. with a 27 inch waist, I have always been much cut. The harder part was gaining the mass, I remember carrying chicken sandwiches, home made weight gain shakes, meat and pasta dishes, gallons of milk every where I went. At one point I was drinking 1-2 gallons of milk each day. I would estimate I was consuming around 7000 calories in order to build the mass. Honey buns, ice cream, cake, hamburgers, weight gain powder, bread, pasta, potatoes have been my friend. I discovered as I trained that I had a natural ability to focus extremely well, this focus allowed me to get extremely strong... lifts of 600 lb. lunges, 1100 lb. smith machine squats, rock bottom squats with 500 lbs. and one arm rows with 275 lbs. that I attribute to extreme focus.
JC) In a nutshell, what is your basic philosophy on training/nutrition?
LH) My basic philosophy is to do the bare minimum to get the maximal result. I believe that training, particularly for the drug-free training must be brief and brutal to produce the best in results (i.e. muscle mass and strength gains). I believe that volume training can be effective for increasing glycogen stores, vascularity and burning body fat, but this can compromise muscle retention...besides you can acquire all those things without resorting to high volume. For an exercise program to produce the best results it should be made up of basic exercises, these exercises should be dome at or close to muscular failure, and they should be dome infrequently enough to allow for full recovery and growth. I think that where most people get it wrong is that they focus on going into the gym and getting a good pump, as a result they perform a lot of exercises that produce very little in progress for lots and lots of sets. Most of the time they end up spinning their wheels and getting very little in the way of progress. Nutrition wise I believe in eating a well balanced diet first to ensure health; health must always come first. After that, depending upon a person's goal they should eat in specified ways. Basically if a person wants to gain muscle size predominantly they would need to ensure that they are getting surplus calories, not so much to get fat, but enough to support gains. Protein intake is very important for building new muscle, but I don't subscribe to excesses like 2 grams per pound. The bottom line is that physical progress in building muscle, getting stronger, building endurance or getting leaner is an equation... you have to have all the elements on point to arrive at the correct answer (ie. quick and rapid progress). The most important factors are proper exercise, healthy and optimal nutrition, proper recovery and rest, and mental aspects such as goals, drive, etc... When you have the elements in correct balance you can create incredible progress.
JC) Have you ever competed? Do you have plans to compete?
LH) Yeah I have competed before, in bodybuilding. My first competition was in 1999, it was an NGA natural show where I won my division. The second show in 2000 was an NPC natural state show where I won my division which qualified me for the nationals, the third show I came in 3rd place at an untested NPC show which qualified me again for the nationals. In all I've done about 6 shows. Competing can be fun, do I plan to do it again, and yes I plan to do the NPC Team U which I'll have to re-qualify for. I'm aiming at a show some time in May- June to re-qualify.
JC) What first attracted you to fitness/bodybuilding?
LH) I basically wanted to be big, strong and handsome... I wasn't too happy with my looks back in the day and figured this would be a good way to handle it. The funny thing is that as I got in better shape I became more of a perfectionist which can be injurious to self-esteem. As you progress you have to give yourself credit for what you have achieved so far, that way you are enjoying the whole process not some preconceived idea of I'll be happy when I get there. I was overcoming an injury at birth which left my right arm with slight atrophy, I figured by strengthening it I would feel better about having it. I had to learn to except it and make it the best I could, and focus on the whole instead of some little, preconceived inadequacy. I would my attraction has been the sum part of being an artist (building the body is an art), being in love with strength, overcome personal demons, being addicted to progression and having an inquisitive mind.
JC) How many times a week do you train? What methods have worked the best for you?
LH) I train 3-4 times a week. I train on nonconsecutive days during the week to allow for recover. Each muscle group is trained directly once per week but also receives some indirect work during the rest of the week. My training session start with 20-30 minutes of warming up and stretching, my actual workout takes 45-60 mins to accomplish. I use basic compound movements done with a variety of equipment to work each muscle. I also use some isolation movements for bodybuilding purposes. I'm a big advocate and barbell squats in fact my body growths in direct proportion to my strength on those movements. I typically perform 1-2 work sets per exercise after warming up. Larger areas get more total work sets, but not much more. I train for strength to get bigger. My rep ranges are between 4-20 typically, even though I sometimes hit 60 reps. I make use of drop sets, forced reps, negatives, static holds, giant sets, etc. during each workout. The most potent factor has been high rep squatting for muscle gains in my opinion.
JC) What comes easy for you with regards to this lifestyle? What is not so easy?
LH) It's all easy. (chuckle) It really depends on my mindset, if I have an exciting goal them it's all easy, I get caught up in the process. If I'm feeling bored then my training is lax in comparison; up to this point I have been an all or nothing person in my life.
JC) How do you feel about all of the confusion/complications that the common people are baffled with when it comes to learning about fitness and nutrition?
LH) It keeps me working...chuckle
I think that the confusion exists due to a lot of really bad advice out there. A lot of stuff made up by so called experts is nonsense in my opinion, just stuff to appear smart or different. Another problem is the use of steroids which has warped the understanding of what actually works for the drug free person, a lot of the advice given is that used my enhanced people, programs that are worthless to most people. There is literally an excess of info out there, I personally weeded through piles of info for years to arrive at the methods that I use, and most people don't have that type of patience or insanity to carry on that long, hence most people giving up. On one hand I think the free flow of ideas is good, after all I'm and artist, on the other hand certain ideas are truly nonsense.
JC) What are your personal goals for your physique in the future? Are you content with your current level of development?
LH) Right now I have had resurgence in interest in realizing my true potential in terms of my physique and strength. For a while I lost a bit of drive in getting bigger, stronger, better, etc. I started to feel what is this all for... one of those profound questions you know. Now it's not only about getting bigger and stronger but perfecting my body --oh brother there goes that word again-- I'm also focusing on doing more in the way of teaching, modeling, possibly acting, writing, instruction, the skies the limit in this regard. Right now I'm helping people not have to weed through all the nonsense through program design and personal training, I also teach a group fitness class in the park which is pretty brutal. I'm promoting my book 12 Weeks to Beach Body Abs, which is an excellent book on applying the key variables to getting ripped.
JC) How can people contact you for fitness consultation, purchasing your book, or anything regarding fitness and bodybuilding?
LH) Interested people can contact me via my website www.lawrencehosannah.com or by sending an email to lhosannah@yahoo.com
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