Serious and Silliness Bodybuilding · John Livia

Anabolic Academy: Old School vs. New School lifting

February 11, 2026·36 min·2 clips

Time under tension only works after a lifter learns to control weight with natural body mechanics.

1. Serious and Silliness Bodybuilding frames this episode around old school versus new school lifting in bodybuilding. 2. Jason Arns joins as the recurring bodybuilder, supplement-company owner, and future judge whose training history shapes the discussion. 3. The episode asks whether Branch Warren-style heavy lifting or Phil Heath-style controlled training works better for bodybuilding. 4. Jason names Branch Warren, Johnny Jackson, Ronnie Coleman, Dorian Yates, King Kamali, Phil Heath, Jay Cutler, Andrew Jacked, Nick Walker, and Lee Priest as examples. 5. He says free weights built the mass of the old-school era and that machines were added later rather than replacing them. 6. He describes Hammer Strength arriving in the mid-1990s and changing options for training. 7. Jason argues that heavy rows, presses, squats, deadlifts, curls, and skull crushers still matter because they involve stabilizers and secondary muscles. 8. He says machines can be useful, but they give the lifter the motion instead of the body controlling the motion. 9. Jason compares the difference between a barbell and a Smith machine by saying a beginner may move weight on one and lose control on the other. 10. He says a person has to build coordination, form, and muscle control before time under tension becomes useful. 11. Jason uses Lee Priest’s lighter dumbbell curling style to show how squeezing can make 25-pound weights feel like 50. 12. He says the mind-muscle connection takes years to develop and is easier to teach through free weights first. 13. The episode turns to longevity when Jason says Vinnie Galanti extended his bodybuilding career by staying on mind-muscle connection and time under tension. 14. Jason says some younger athletes try to copy pro workouts before they have the base to handle them. 15. He says Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman kept training hard because that mindset helped make them champions. 16. Jason says Steve Weinberger told Dorian he needed to stop training like a psycho if he wanted to stay healthy. 17. The conversation shifts to steroids, with Jason saying the IFBB does not supply drugs and that other sports face similar issues. 18. Jason says the MLB, football, college sports, and Olympic testing all show how hard it is to ban every banned substance. 19. The tone is conversational, argumentative, and full of bodybuilding examples, with both speakers talking over each other at points. 20. People who like bodybuilding training debates and pro-era references will like this episode, while listeners wanting a clean beginner guide may skip it.

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