FULL NAME: Lawrence Hosannah
BIRTHDATE: 15-August-1964
BIRTHPLACE: London, UK
BROTHERS AND SISTERS: 3 brothers
one is an artist, black historian, scholar,
one is a jewelry designer and historian,
one is a poet (rapper) and engineer
PRESENT HOME: New York City, USA
MARITAL STATUS: Dating
HEIGHT: 1.80 m (5'11'')
WEIGHT: 90-93 kg (200-205 lbs)
biceps: 50cm (19.75''), chest: 127cm (50''), thighs: 68.6cm (27''), waist: 75cm (29.5'')
Lawrence is a drug-free athlete, artist, author and strength consultant who has been involved in health, fitness and athletics since an early age. In 2005 he founded Hosannahdiesel.com as a haven for people who wanted to learn a no-nonsense approach to building a rugged, strong and/or beautiful body without the drugs, without living in the gym and without following workout protocols that produce little or no results. Click here to read a complete bio of Lawrence.
Have you been to Africa or do you have any African friends?
I have not traveled to Africa yet but it is on my list of places I will visit, that's for sure. I have friends from all over the world, and as you know African people have traveled far and wide, so to answer your question I know people whose heritage started in Africa.
What are your training and nutrition methods?
I've tried a variety of training and nutritional methods over the years, some effective and some not so effective, but all the methods that I have tried I have learned from. As a drug free athlete the importance of precision in training and eating cannot be overemphasized. I subscribe to a method of basic synergy, that getting the basics right adds up to a greater sum than the whole, in other words I believe that through proper application of tried and true basic principles that everyone can achieve their personal best, which is much more than most of us imagine.
To be brief, training wise I believe that training is actually a negative, a stress that your body encounters and guards against by building new muscle mass and strength. With this understanding I subscribe to intense but short and infrequent training. I basically hit a muscle really intensely with the least amount of sets I can and then leave it undisturbed to rest and over compensate (growth). The body requires rest to grow, a fact that is often ignored by enthusiastic trainees, a fact that I once ignored myself.
After I'm warmed up I take my work sets to the limit, completing as many reps as I can in decent form. I often include advanced intensity enhancing techniques such as drop sets, negatives, forced negatives, forced repetitions, etc to increase positive stress on a muscle group. I train progressive, meaning that I train to get stronger; if you want to get bigger naturally you have to get stronger.
Nutrition wise, I consume food about five times a day, nothing special just plenty of grains, eggs, fish, pasta, greens, fruits, milk products and water. Supplement wise I use Creatine, Protein powder, and a multivitamin for enhancing recovery and power out put.
Many people in Africa do not have access to modern gyms; do you think that your training methods can still be applied?
In the United States, particularly in the big cities such as New York and Los Angles there are gyms that are equipped to the hilt. On the other end of the spectrum there are a lot of gyms in the states that are basic to say the least, not much more than a few barbells or dumbbells, a chin up set up, and a bench. I personally think that the best physiques come out of the most rugged no frills gyms. This is so for a variety of reasons, the major ones being that no frills means that a trainee must stick to the basic exercises that account for the majority of positive gains. There are less distractions around. Less showy but nonsensical equipment to use. Less unnecessary comforts. Less people who come in to the gym to just hang out. More of a blue collar type mentality that expects that hard physical work produces results, the list goes on. I have had the fortune of training in expensive spa type faculties and rugged and rusted facilities, and I will say without no doubt that I made the best gains of my life in the rugged no frills locations. The rugged gyms also tend to encourage a greater sense of camaraderie that definitely lacks in the less rugged gyms. Also no one complains if you grunt between sets, put the weights down a bit hard, scream at your workout partner, or do deadlifts. I definitely recommend that trainees interested in being making their best gains train in a rugged, basically but solidly equipped facility.
The training methods that I use are intertwined with principles of simplicity, in other words I know that best results are produced with the application of the basics, so my methodology will produce its fruit with the most basic of equipment. Equipment wise, all you would need to progress on the system would be a squat cage or racks, a chin up and dip bar set up, an adjustable bench, a chin up belt to attach weights, an adjustable barbell, dumbbells, a calf raise block, and enough raw plates to challenge you. This type of equipment can be easily built or brought for cheap if a few people pooled their money together.
Proteins and nutritional supplements are very expensive in Africa. Do you think they are really necessary or can we get results without them?
Yeah I noticed that when I travel abroad (out of the U.S.) that food supplements are expensive in other places, it's not much of a loss really. Food supplements are definitely over-rated in my opinion when it comes down to the hierarchy of importance in building a stronger physique. Do supplements work? Yes some of them do. Are there times where they can be a huge benefit? definitely. That being said, things such as correct application of training variables, eating a balanced nutritional plan, getting enough rest, drinking enough water, and leading a positive life hold more weight when it comes to building a physique. I actually think that its to the African bodybuilders benefit that things such as supplements, growth drugs, and exotic training faculties are harder to afford or get to because it encourages reliance on the things that actually produce the best results, the basics. Along with the strong genetic material of Africans I expect some of the best bodybuilders to come out of Africa in the near future due to considerations in the prior paragraph.
What about your competition history? are you still competing?
I am currently not competing for a host of reasons, the main one being that I have lost interest in competing; I guess I don't feel that I have anything to prove. I still train aggressively though and enjoy pushing my body to achieve new levels of development.
Competition history wise I have competed in a the NGA, NPC and the Musclemania organizations. My first show was in 1999, it was a NGA show I won first place Heavy weight in the Novice division, and I think it was called the NGA Natural Nationals. The next few shows that I did were NPC shows, some drug tested and some not drug tested, I placed anywhere from 2nd to 3rd in these shows which qualified me for the Nationals. I then rested for a few years and came back and did a few more shows in various organizations.
What do you prefer in bodybuilding, the physical benefits or the pleasure of competing?
Hands down the physical benefits; competition was never what drove me to expect the best from my body. I have always enjoyed seeing if I could make it through a pain threshold, conquer a certain weight, out lift my previous best, that's what I enjoyed and continue to enjoy. I also enjoy the enhanced sense of living that building the body brings the ability to withstand more stress, recover from stress, be faster, healthier, you name it. Bodybuilding is very therapeutic when practiced properly, meaning for ones self.
What are your next plans?
Well I've produced a lot for myself from exercising and nutritious eating now I want to share my knowledge on a universal scale. So I'm currently working towards having my books published (I wrote a few books on various aspects of fitness) and marketed to a greater population, heaven knows that we need good books on the topics of building the body. I recently had some footage taken of my workouts along with some instructional footage and will be making these available at my website hosannahdiesel.com. What else? I am working towards teaching what I have learned via seminars, traveling the world and teaching. So most of my current goals in fitness revolve around giving my knowledge back and building others.
My book the Ultimate Abs Bulletin is available at my website hosannahdiesel.com this book covers the principles designed to build a solid, ripped midsection in less time. In the book I cover factors such as the best exercises for creating results, how to get more from less, how to eat for awesome results. The book covers all factors that impact building abs and includes a total workout program and nutritional plan. Also included are exercise schematics that I personally illustrated, these show optimal exercise form for best results. I am also an artist, and have done a variety of things. In this area I have just completed the illustrations for a book on golf which should be coming out at the end of 2006. I have some other work in this area coming up as well, and will have a website up soon with my art work; the name of the website will be www.myseone.com
Any advice to encourage your African brothers to train?
Yes I do. The first thing I will say is not advice but a fact. Africans in my strong opinion have some of the most resilient genetics for building a strong, healthy looking body; in fact I would go so far that they build great bodies easily. So if you are African and want to get into building your body you are starting from an exceptionally strong base. Advice wise,
Train intensely: meaning train in a manner that requires you to exceed what you are currently doing. Not so much the addition of more sets, or longer workouts, but pushing yourself harder with each set that you do.
Train briefly: meaning don't live in the gym, your muscles grow at rest, I recommend training no more than 3 times a week for most, 4 times a week during some parts of the year, and twice a week if you tend to grow slowly.
When you rest, rest: This means take full days off from training, don't think that if you're resting your chest you can do your arms. The body requires full days to optimally recover and grow rapidly. Sleep enough to feel rested when you wake.
Train progressively: Try to get a little bit stronger form workout to workout. You should be adding a little weight to the bar or doing an extra repetition or two every time you train. You will not get bigger if you are not getting stronger.
Stay drug free: It takes longer to get to your goal but you will get further in the long run. Remember the tortoise and the Hare story.
Eat well: If you want to get bigger eat to get big, which means eat often, eat till you're satisfied. If you wish to lose weight eat a little less and exercise. Drink plenty of water.
Train using the basic exercises: The foundation of your program should be built on basic compound exercises. The tried and true exercises are the squat, deadlift, chin up, dip, bent row, bench press, shoulder press and upright row. So these and add a few extra exercises like salt on a meal and you will grow and get ripped faster.
Be patient: Expect you best but realize that it takes time to achieve anything of value. This does not mean that you cannot achieve rapid progress; you can if you train wisely. Understand that the body grows in waves, gains are followed by plateaus, keep at it adjusting when needed and you will achieve awesome results.
Do this for yourself: If you are training to impress girls, show off to your friends or the people in town, you're traveling down a slippery slope. If you really train for yourself you will achieve awesome and ongoing results, and will be immune to the comments and desires of others.
We know that vote is secret but... just between you and us! who should win our Online Contest among Local Gyms?
I can't say I'm impartial really. All the gyms show people who are making the best of the environment, all show good physiques, all are good, and I hope that I have a chance to train in one of them.
How can people contact you?
People can contact me by visiting my website hosannahdiesel.com and sending an email to [email protected]
I also send out a regular newsletter containing information on training, nutrition, mind set and other topics on building a better body, to receive it for free contact me at [email protected]. I also have a yahoo site the address is http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/LawrenceHosannahFanClub/
I used to believe that the workout itself was responsible for growth, but in truth the workout itself is a message you send to the muscle, something along the lines of "Listen I'm going to destroy you!" The body and muscles adapt by saying "Wow I barely survived that (the workout), I'm going to get stronger and bigger so next this bonehead tries to do this I'll be prepared!" So the body builds up surplus muscle, strength and endurance for future bouts of exercise stress. In a very real sense you are battling against yourself.
Of course it takes time to recover and grow just like it takes time to heal from a cut; you shouldn't pick at a scab, you must let it heal properly. In a very real sense training before a muscle has fully recovered and grown is like picking at a scab and will cause a break down in muscle instead of a building up.
Generally I workout 2-3 times a week for 1/2 hour each session, and this is not to maintain its to produce muscle growth. My workouts are very intense and I don't rest much between sets, so I'm going all out for that half hour period. My training is based primarily on basic compound exercises such as the squat, leg press, deadlift, bent row, chin-up, dip, lat pulldown, bench press, shoulder press and upright row along with a few direct exercises for specific regions.
Fitness & Bodybuilding African Style
