BodybuildingGold Mine

Free sampler: Chapters 4 and 10Edited by Stuart McRobert

Please copy and distribute this sampler freely.

BODYBUILDING GOLD MINE is the digital version of HARDGAINER print magazine. It’savailable for immediate downloading, for a fraction of the cost of the print issues. Eachvolume contains five issues of HARDGAINER magazine.

This sampler has Chapters 4 and 10 of BODYBUILDING GOLD MINE, which correspondto issues 34 and 40 of HARDGAINER print magazine. (Issue 34 is from Volume 1 ofBODYBUILDING GOLD MINE, and issue 40 is from Volume 2.)

This sampler is a PDF. The actual volumes of BODYBUILDING GOLD MINE are ePubs,which are much more versatile and user-friendly than PDFs. They can be read on adesktop or laptop computer, on a hand-held eBook reader, and on some smart phones;they have indexes and hyperlinks that enable you to move instantly from article to articleand chapter to chapter; and they have bookmarking.

The articles have been fine-tuned, re-formatted, and given an all-new layout forBODYBUILDING GOLD MINE. But the content is every bit as relevant, helpful andinspiring today as it was when first published as HARDGAINER print magazine.

Nearly all of the original photographs have been removed, and new pictures have beenadded. And although there were few ads in the print edition, all have been removed.

This is a special body of work. No other publication has ever focused so sharply on hardgainers, in such detail, with such care, and for so long.

It’s arguably the best ever magazine for instruction that really works for drug-freebodybuilders and strength trainees.

Although the entire 1,100 articles will be published in 18 volumes, the articles can beread in any order whatsoever and still be tremendously helpful.

The more volumes you read, the more expert you’ll become as your own personal trainer.

But BODYBUILDING GOLD MINE is free of anything to do withtoday’s bodybuilding champions, and has none of theirphotographs, routines, stories, or contests. Instead, it has rolemodels and success stories that really teach typical bodybuildersand strength trainees how to realize their own goals.

And it has no advertorials for food supplements, or any ads whatsoever, so it’s free of anyvested interest with the food supplement industry.

2

But it’s jam-packed with training instruction that really works.

And it has inspirational photographs of terrific physiques (but none of the mass monsters).

Apply what BODYBUILDING GOLD MINE teaches, and you may no longer consideryourself a hard gainer.

The authors who made the largest number of contributions are among the mostexperienced and knowledgeable men in the entire world of drug-free bodybuilding andstrength training. Each of them has decades of real-world, face-to-face experience ofcoaching trainees who have ordinary genetics yet want extraordinary achievements.

Follow the guidance of these coaches, to become an extraordinary success yourself.

Furthermore, the number of real-world success stories in BODYBUILDING GOLD MINE(and HARDGAINER) is unparalleled in any other publication.

The first volume of BODYBUILDING GOLD MINE covers HARDGAINER issues 31 to 35.That’s 5 issues of exceptional bodybuilding information—62 articles and about 300 pages.

The second volume covers issues 36 through 40. That’s a further 5 issues of exceptionalbodybuilding information—68 articles and about 300 pages.

These are among the best value-for-money bodybuilding publications you’ll come across.

Issues 31 through 40 were the first to be re-formatted because only the issues from #31onward were already in digital form, although without the formatting and style requiredfor BODYBUILDING GOLD MINE.

Volume 3 is well underway—issues 41 through 45.

If you’re unfamiliar with HARDGAINER, just a single volume of BODYBUILDING GOLDMINE will be a revelation, and capable of transforming your progress.

But the entire collection of 1,100 articles constitutes an extraordinary treasury ofinstruction and information, and an amazing education in drug-free bodybuildingand strength training.

This is the May 2014 edition of the sampler.

To buy individual volumes of BODYBUILDING GOLD MINE,please visit www.hardgainer.com.

3

Sample testimonials“Super magazine! One of the few training magazines that provides honest informationfor the average non-drug-using trainee.”

– Bill Starr, former strength and conditioning coach at Johns Hopkins University, MD, USA

“HARDGAINER is the greatest physical culture magazine in history.”

– Bob Whelan, Whelan Strength Training, Washington, DC (for 22 years), and now at FortPierce, Florida, USA

“For me, the good ole days of my strength training youth occurred in the early 1990swhen I was fortunate enough to stumble across HARDGAINER magazine. I was about20 years old and had been doing just about everything wrong with my training. In anutshell, I had been following the advice of the popular bodybuilding magazines ofthe time and had achieved very few results for my efforts. HARDGAINER set mestraight in a hurry, with a formula for success that’s as relevant today as when Stuartintroduced it over 20 years ago. He changed the focus from purely aesthetics to onethat is easier to measure and more fun to pursue by introducing the 300/400/500benchmarks for the squat, bench press, and deadlift.

“By working toward achieving those numbers while also eating a healthy diet and notletting my body fat get out of control, I saw almost immediate improvement in myphysique. What a concept! You mean, stronger muscles are actually bigger muscles?Wow! This was fun stuff. Needless to say, I was hooked, and for good reason . . . thetraining advice Stuart and his regular contributors offered worked. I found myselfrunning to my mailbox in anticipation of each bimonthly issue, and not to makewholesale program changes as the muscle rags often advocated, but to reinforce thecentral theme of training on basic, compound movements with moderate to lowvolume and always with an eye toward adding more weight to the bar in good form.

“Over the years I continued to progress with my training by working hard andconsistently on simple programs. As my training weights climbed well beyond the300/400/500 targets, I ventured into the sport of powerlifting and have competedsuccessfully for nearly 20 years. On April 20, 2013, at age 43 and at a bodyweight of216 pounds, I achieved my best powerlifting total to date—1,600 pounds—with a600-pound squat, 380-pound bench press, and 620-pound deadlift. I made these liftsusing no supportive gear other than a lifting belt.”

– Chuck Miller, Hagerstown, Maryland, USA

“For several decades, Stuart McRobert has been the most rational, articulate, andcompassionate leader in the bodybuilding and strength-training field. HARDGAINER

4

offers an inspiring account of that story, told in a warm, friendly style. It includes theworks of renowned trainers, who were influenced by Stuart, as were the rest of us.HARDGAINER is about getting each of us better, safely, whether using basement gymsor modern palaces. Stuart’s editorials alone are worth the price of the publication.

“And now this can be had five issues at a time, rather than by eagerly awaiting oneissue at a time as original subscribers did. The recommendations made inHARDGAINER are as valid today as they were from its inaugural issue.

“No other authority has had as much impact on my own results, or the way I thoughtabout the processes of training. All of that was made possible by the way Stuart hasled from the front, in his books and in HARDGAINER.”

– Arty Conliffe, Bronx, New York, USA

“I recently purchased a few copies of HARDGAINER, looking for a specific topic.Instantly I found myself reading every article in the issues. The magazines are densewith information and hardly any space is wasted with anything other than good solidinformation. This is in deep contrast to other muscle mags that feature only a fewuseful articles and the rest is nothing but fluff and advertising. I look forward toadding all copies of HARDGAINER to my Iron Game collection.”

– Eric Ramos, El Paso, Texas, USA

“Your magazine is by far the greatest thing that has ever happened to my training.Words cannot express how important it has been to me. HARDGAINER is the greatesttraining resource anywhere! When I go to most gyms, I am usually the strongest guythere. I have you to thank for that. The group of writers in HARDGAINER are the bestout there. If you want to get bigger and stronger, get this magazine.”

– Jeff Myers, Nashport, Ohio, USA

“The unique factor that differentiates HARDGAINER magazine, BRAWN, and Stuart’sother publications from the heap of usual photo-crammed, airbrushed, bottled-tan,supplement-catalogue magazines on the retail rack is focus. I mean the deliberate,tight focus on a particular target population; specifically, the non-pharmaceutically-enhanced, genetically-average trainee desiring no less than the maximum realizationof his or her inherent potential in muscular development, strength, health, and cardiofitness. That’s it—a simple and straightforward mission statement, although prior toHARDGAINER, one that I had never encountered in 40 years of reading.

“With HARDGAINER, quality is the guide word. Small in format, you say? Remove theadvertisements, photo shoots, and pseudoscientific ‘research’ from the bloatedmuscle magazines, and the usable information for the quintessential hard gainerwould be a good deal less than he or she would find in HARDGAINER. HARDGAINER,unlike the other muscle mags, does not pretend to be all things to all people. But it is

5

the linchpin, the keystone, the illuminated path, for drug-free, genetically-averagetrainees desiring the fulfillment of their physical potential while simultaneouslyenjoying a relatively balanced, rich and satisfying lifestyle.”

– Rich Abbott, Santa Paula, CA, USA, 500-pound deadlifter at 65 years old and 164-pounds bodyweight

“I’ve now completed my collection of HARDGAINER. The quantity of worthwhileinformation for genetically normal trainees (about 90% of the population) is withoutcompare. Stuart and all the other contributing authors have been in the trainingtrenches, have mostly been misled by the popular muscle media and the trainingmethods of the champions (and all of their deception and lies), and through trial anderror have discovered sensible training methods for the average- to hard-gainingindividual. Each issue is full of essential and meaningful information and guidance.

“Although the training methods vary somewhat from author to author, thefundamentals are common to all, as are the goals. The methods presented in eachissue will help anyone to reach his or her potential in strength and physicaldevelopment. And there’s plenty of attention given to development of robust health,flexibility, agility, training for the older trainee, and improvement of the mind—it’s atrue journal of physical culture. Even though you modified or changed some of yourviews over the years, most of even the earliest articles still stand the test of time andare as useful and relevant today as when first written.

“I would encourage anyone who wants the very best in training guidance andinformation to own the complete collection of HARDGAINER, and read them overand over again. The only negative thing I have to say is that there are no brand newissues. But there’s now the digital edition, which makes the magazine available for awhole new readership. Thank you for publishing the very best physical culturemagazine of all time.”

– Peter Yates, Huntington, New York, USA

“HARDGAINER magazine was a game changer. For 15 years, bodybuilders andstrength seekers were supplied with information everyone could benefit from: smallpeople, big people, and everyone in between. Little was required other than abarbell, a steady supply of decent food, and a bed.

“Before 1989, a steady, reliable source of information about barbell exercise didn’texist. The closest thing was Peary Rader’s Iron Man, and even that mixed real pearlswith odd pebbles. Peary’s stated intention was to offer the whole spectrum of advice.

“But Peary started publishing in the 1930s. By the 1960s, the period that anothermagazine termed ‘the Dianabol Decade,’ it was possible for guys with the potentialof Hercules to gain on routines nobody else could, now that they were on anabolicsteroids—and ghost writers wrote up these routines and presented them as modelsfor the rest of us.

6

“What it did, of course, was create a market for food supplements. From the 1960sto now, most bodybuilding magazines evolved into glorified supplement catalogues,selling pills that the bodybuilding stars didn’t even take. (They had what they neededin the needle they got stuck with.)

“Stuart McRobert suffered a disappointment similar to mine in the 1980s, afterfollowing high-intensity training as it was presented by Arthur Jones. It didn’t seemto work, even if the theory made sense. Stuart’s conclusion was borne out in hisworkouts. Rather than taking every set to utter failure, he began borrowing fromthe wisdom not of the very strong guys who worked out in their garages and cellarsall over the world. One of the most important notions he began to use wasintensity cycling.

“And he gained! I remember reading his articles in Iron Man in the early 1980s. Itreasured my magazines and took very good care of them. Despite that care, Iunderlined and put check marks in the margins of Stuart’s articles. I’d never done thatwith any other bodybuilding writer, and I haven’t since. That’s the chord he struck withthose first articles.

“I wasn’t alone. Stuart found out after he began publishing HARDGAINER thatpeople in nations all over the world recognized sound advice when they read it.

“I contributed some thoughts to the magazine over the years, along with five otherbodybuilding magazines (and other publications). HARDGAINER remains the onlyone of those magazines I would classify as vital for the non-drug-using weighttrainee to possess: possess and read and go back to.

“If you don’t have the original print magazines, fear not: They’re now beingpublished in digital form. I hope you send for them . . . and use them. As abodybuilding resource, they’re pure gold.”

– Steve Wedan, Franklin, Tennessee, USA

“HARDGAINER provides serious training information for drug-free trainees—nosugar coating, just honest information.”

– Ted Lambrinides, Ph.D., former editor, HARD TRAINING newsletter, Cincinnati, OH, USA

“I’ve been a voracious reader of strength and bodybuilding publications over thelast 25 years. I had at one time subscribed to seven different publications (and readfar more). And out of all of them, HARDGAINER was my favorite.

“In it I’d find the most sensible training advice mixed with some very inspirationalstuff. Reading about other trainees making success without drugs on abbreviated,yet intense, training just constantly fired me up. I couldn’t get enough of it.

“The issues came every two months and I couldn’t wait to rip open the packaging tostart reading when they came in.

7

“Recently I wanted to read them all again. I had lost a bunch of issues and hadothers damaged due to water damage in my basement. I was ecstatic to find thatStuart still had a few nearly mint copies of all of them. I ordered around 70 HGmagazines just the other day. They came shipped expertly and I received themquickly (considering that they had to come air mail). And re-reading (or reading forthe first time, in some cases) the magazines brought back great memories and hasme anxious for my next workout.

“Anyone, and I mean anyone, would benefit from reading HARDGAINER.”

– Craig K of Pittsburgh, PA, USA

“For anyone involved in weight training (or considering taking it up) you need tofamiliarize yourself with HARDGAINER. I can’t recommend it highly enough. I spentalmost four years of my life wasting so much time and energy on inappropriatetraining routines that were promoted in the mainstream bodybuilding magazines.HARDGAINER is not like your typical bodybuilding magazine. Instead, you’ll findreal information in it on what it really takes to build an impressive physique. I onlywish I’d come across it earlier in my training career.”

– Luke Shackleton, New Farnley, Leeds, England

“I’m in the military, and everywhere I go, exercising is a big deal. I hear all the timehow, in order to ‘get big,’ or ‘get hard,’ you have to take all kinds of supplementsand train every day. It’s all just a scam for supplement companies to make as muchmoney as they can. Many of the supplements they talk about are hot for a while,and then disappear.

“Everything I’ve read in CS Publishing’s books is followed up and proven in theHARDGAINER. I don’t want a magazine that has little but ads about the productsthat support the magazine itself. I don’t want a magazine that tells me that I needto not only purchase the magazine itself but also hundreds of dollars ofsupplements to go with it. I need a magazine that is to the point, tells it like it is,and is free of crap—HARDGAINER.”

– Ken Holt, Ft. Bragg, NC, USA

To buy individual volumes of BODYBUILDING GOLD MINE,please visit www.hardgainer.com.

8

Chapter 4Editorial, by Stuart McRobert 190Focus, and the training high. How to make the most of your training.

A Visit to the USA: Part 1, by Mike Thompson 191Iron Island Gym in New York; detailed account of Brooks Kubik training in Louisville.

The Growing Edge, by Dave Maurice & Rich Rydin 199Training cycles, cycle termination, rate of progress, repetition-conversion tables.

The Training Methods of Joseph C. Hise, by Arnold M. Spector 204Hise’s training doctrine, practical training, “growing exercises,” and strength training.

Asking Dr. Ken, by Dr. Ken E. Leistner 209Equipment, soreness; rep speed; very high reps; “getting up” for training; dietary tips.

Sixteen Years On: Part 1, by Casey J. Ramas 213Author’s success story. Guidance on weight training, aerobics and nutrition.

Barbells Up, Dumbbells Down, by John McKean & Bob Karhan 218A wealth of guidance on training with dumbbells.

Magnum Opus, by Mark Marowitz 224Author’s success story. High-intensity training under Dr. Ken Leistner’s supervision.

Concentrate! by Brooks D. Kubik 230Ten-point plan for making your training more effective.

Chiropractic, by Dr. R. Keith Hartman 236Youth training; early-morning training; hydration.

Forum, edited by Stuart McRobert 240Sources of advice; discipline and the qualities of disciplined people; seeing the light.

189

EDITORIALFocus, and the training highby Stuart McRobert

I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep on saying it: Hardly anyone really makes the most of their chance totrain. Consequently, too few trainees experience the training high.

While it can sometimes be helpful learning about what others are doing, and keeping in touch withsupposed advances here and there, what matters most is the practical application of knowledge.

We provide you with different interpretations of basic and abbreviated training because just onerendition doesn’t suit everyone. Find an interpretation that works well for you, and this involvesexperimentation, then get on with doing it, and doing it, and doing it—again, and again, and again.

Don’t agonize over your training not being “perfect.” Don’t intellectualize things excessively. Andnever drop a productive program just because you’re tempted to try something else.

Watch out for seeking the “perfect” routine. Once on that slippery slope you’ll almost certainly jointhe great mass of trainees who are buried in all the peripheral, marginal, and even downrightirrelevant if not destructive (not to mention the financial ripoffs), rather than knuckle down, long-term,to paying the necessary dues on a basic, proven program.

Had food supplements never been invented, had there never been any bodybuilding drugs, and hadthere never been any equipment innovations beyond the basics of what a gym needs, the unswervingapplication of what we teach in this magazine would deliver much more progress for the masses thanwhat’s actually being delivered today, despite the plethora of supposed (and even actual) advances.

Don’t waste chunks of your life before finally learning this truth. So few people learn it, and nearly allwho do must first waste years, if not decades of their lives, before finally grasping it. What usuallyhappens, though, is people assume resistance training can’t work for them, and thus give it up.

Determined, dedicated, abbreviated, focused and basics-first training doesn’t just deliver muscle andstrength which are, in themselves, hugely satisfying. The training is a joy to perform because it bringsworkout-by-workout satisfaction from realizing small bits of progress again and again and again . . .

Effective training makes you feel better. You revel in it, and thus apply even more zeal. Then you getbetter gains. The confidence developed may carry over to other areas of your life. And the enormousvalue of focus and organization in the gym show you the way to go outside of the gym.

While corners often have to be cut to accommodate the circumstances of life, schedule one of yourweekly workouts at the weekend, when you probably have fewer demands on your time.

When you make time for your training, then train well, shower and eat, you’ll walk on water andexperience the training high. Make the most of your training!

190

A Visit to the USA: Part 1 by Mike Thompson

A phone call from Ian Campbell, at around the end of April 1994, elicited my snap decision toaccompany Ian and his friend, Doug, on a trip to the USA. We intended to absorb the sights of NewYork City for a couple of days. Then we’d head out to Louisville, Kentucky, where we would visit myfriend, Brooks Kubik. Doug had some people to link up with in Cincinnati, which is the home town ofanother friend of mine, and also a contributor to HARDGAINER, Greg Pickett. Taking all these pointsinto consideration, we had the framework of a loose itinerary.

On informing Brooks of my intentions, he suggested I whip myself into condition to try out a benchpress shirt on a limit bench attempt at the gym he uses in Louisville. Busying myself in preparation, Inever gave a thought to the old adage, “the best laid plans . . .” A motorcycle accident two daysbefore departure to the US rendered my left triceps out of action for the duration of the trip.

New YorkWe arrived in New York City on Monday, June 27. It was larger than life, and extremely interestingin spite of its midsummer heat and humidity. The couple of days we intended spending theremelted into a few, leaving Ian and Doug itching to take a workout. During a late-evening stroll inmidtown Manhattan, Doug spotted a basement gym where he and Ian were determined to flexsome muscle. After about ten minutes inside this “haven of health,” I was reflecting on why I’dopted for my own home gym.

The Manhattan establishment, while being well equipped, possessed an atmosphere somewherebetween a railway station and a rave disco. The clientele ranged from the weird, to the lost, and tothe downright disinterested. This I put down in part to the lack of instruction, competent or otherwise.The training floor was strewn with exercise plates amongst which a bloated and acne-ridden individualwas heaving up reps on cheating curls, using a plain exercise bar loaded with Olympic discs. Nursing abusted triceps, I didn’t venture too close for fear of an airborne small Olympic plate.

Sitting on a seemingly redundant Nautilus pullover machine—observing all the exotic exercise formson display, and whilst being deafened by the driving rap beat—I found myself pondering on the stateof mind of the individuals there. At the same time I couldn’t help reflect on how easy it would be toturn matters around via a tidy gym floor, a positive attitude, and some competent instruction. Theswapping of the mega-watt sounds for the more industrious clanking of barbell plates would haveimproved matters no end. As the visitors’ training tariff per workout stood at $12.50 per head, Icouldn’t resist inquiring if that price included the on-going “entertainment.” Finally, common senseprevailed. We were once again out on the sidewalk in the high 80-degree midnight Manhattan heat.

Over a late-night supper at a small Italian diner, I suggested a visit next day to Dr. Ken Leistner’s IronIsland Gym in Oceanside, Long Island. Agreement was reached, along with the mutual hope ofreceiving a much-welcome blast of fresh sea air.

Iron Island GymOceanside is a world removed from Manhattan, in terms of atmosphere and structural layout. Thisgeographical difference, however, was nothing relative to the contrast between the training dive we’dbeen in the previous evening, and Ken’s Iron Isle Gym.

191

In my opinion, the benchmark for how a gymnasium should be was up and running in LawsonBoulevard, Oceanside, New York. On entering the gym foyer we were greeted by Ann Tuite, KathyLeistner’s sister. She gave us some forms to record personal details, also telling us that the firstworkout was free of charge, to allow prospective members to “get the feel of the gym.”

As with every square inch of this establishment, the changing rooms were immaculate. A wall picturedisplaying Kevin Tolbert’s massive muscularity really fired up Ian and Doug for training. Despite myinjured arm, I was determined to try something irrespective of how light it would have to be.

Leaving the changing quarters, we passed an aerobic conditioning bay complete with steppingmachines and stationary bikes. Ken’s foster son, Greg, greeted us on the training floor. Greg, anotherHARDGAINER fan, has a very thick-muscled build for such a young man. I’m referring to naturalmuscularity, not the drug-bloated variety. Greg assists with the training instruction. He informed usthat although Ken was busy for the time being, he’d be with us as soon as possible.

Before commencing the workout we decided to examine the gym’s apparatus. Everything was well-laid out. Each piece of equipment was state of the art—no compromises whatsoever. There were alsoa few special items such as thickened bars. One of these was a heavy globe-ended version featured inHARDGAINER issue #13, with Ken performing a standing press with it. On the gym lifting platform Inoticed a 2-inch-diameter trap bar with sleeves for Olympic plates.

In about the center of the gym stands a huge pulley-wheeled lat machine, the likes of which I’ve onlyseen illustrated in photographs of the old Zuver’s Hall of Fame Gym. I couldn’t resist trying it out. Itwas very smooth and effective. In spite of my injury, I could feel the beginnings of a back pump afteronly a few light reps.

A heavy-gauge steel power rack was available for sectionalized strength training. To accommodatethe power moves there were a couple of terrific support racks, the likes of which I’ve never seenbefore. The dumbbell department ranged in increments of 5 pounds from around 5 pounders to 200pounds each.

The training atmosphere at the Iron Isle is highly infectious. The gym walls are a veritablephotographic gallery of physical culture, ranging from early exponents of muscle control and old-timelifting, through to the modern stars of power and Olympic lifting. Tentatively stretching the injuredtriceps, I decided on some light curling. While easing the biceps through a few reps, I received a tapon my shoulder.

I turned round to a handshake from Ken, who admonished me for not advising him of my plannedvisit, as I’d allowed him no opportunity to organize a proper reception. We had a conversation and agreat laugh together. I know he’d enjoy a visit to Scotland as he possesses a Scots sense of humor.

Although no longer maintaining large muscle bulk, Ken is muscular and fit in appearance. His strengthis well in evidence. He produced a box of hefty iron spikes. Doug, who sports a muscular 16-inchupper arm and 13.5-inch forearm, managed to bend one of these after a struggle. Ken, who has smallhands and wrists, bent one of these bars into a horse-shoe shape with such ease that I reckon hecould have worked through a dozen of them without any trouble, and in short order. His grip must bethat of a vice, demonstrating how such a small-boned man could generate the strength to pull over600 pounds in the deadlift.

192

Before we left, Ken gave each of us an Iron Isle T-shirt plus a miniature York dumbbell. I also receivedas many copies of THE STEEL TIP as Ken could lay his hands on. I’ve read these from cover to coverand was very impressed with their honest and straightforward training information. I regretted havingto leave such hospitality, and not being able to meet more of Iron Island Gym’s crew. The Iron IslandGym is a sterling credit to Ken and everyone involved in its creation. Without doubt it’s one of theworld’s finest training establishments. I saw no evidence of steroid use, and I have a keen eye forfinding it. All the trainees I met were highly interested and well-built through natural means. I’mconvinced that the sheer atmosphere of this gym has much to do with its success.

LouisvilleOur next port of call was Louisville, Kentucky, home of Brooks Kubik. The timing of our arrival waspoor, on the Friday of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The local hotels were full and we had tosettle for a motel about seven miles out of town. Brooks and his wife, Ginnie, drove out to meet us onthe evening of our arrival. After brief formalities we discovered a common bond, hunger. Brooks andGinnie had been at work all day whilst we three had spent a day’s travel via jet planes andunderground trains. Fatigue soon dissipated amidst conversation over an excellent dinner.

Next day, Saturday, Brooks collected us in the evening for a workout at Bud’s Gym. Brooks wasgoing heavy on rack bench presses. Again, I had occasion to curse my injured triceps.

Bud’s Gym is situated in the basement of a shopping mall in Louisville. Its main feature is that it hasloads of well-constructed, basic and functional equipment.

Bench pressingBrooks’ rack was one of the sturdiest I’ve seen, but it has to be to withstand the poundages he movesoff its pins. For a man who has a never even tasted a slug of “metabolic optimizer,” let alone anythingremotely anabolic, Brooks would shock the drug fraternity. He possesses a physique of the caliber ofthat once owned by John Grimek. His muscle groups are thick, hard, dense and almost maximallydeveloped. His thigh adductor, and arm, shoulder and chest regions are almost freakishly developed.There’s no evidence of “pumped” tissue anywhere, just rock-hard muscularity. The reason for suchdevelopment will unfold itself as you follow Brooks through his training.

Brooks’ other gym “possession” is a perfectly-functioning Eleiko power bar, which no one in the gymdrops, abuses or scratches. When Brooks lifts heavy, all the pumpers and casual trainees disappearfrom where he trains.

The bench workout was very simple. With the bar set on pins so it just grazed his chest in the startingposition, Brooks took 154 pounds for 5 very precise warm-up reps, followed by 242 for a single. Asingle with 330 came next, then Brooks prepared for the serious stuff.

With the bar now at 402 pounds, he donned a bench shirt, heavy-duty wrist wraps, and a powerbelt—the same gear he uses in powerlifting competition. Brooks sustained a serious shoulder injuryseveral years ago while performing a heavy press behind neck, and started wearing the bench shirt tokeep from re-injuring his shoulder.

During the past year, however, he has tried heavy benching without the shirt, starting with close-gripbenches in the power rack, bar starting at his chest. This is an exercise that typically places less strainon the shoulder joints than does his typical medium-grip bench press. Without injury, he worked up

193

to a 418-pound single in this style. This caused him to reevaluate the whole idea of the bench shirt.The two times he hit bench presses during my visit were the last times he wore the bench shirt intraining, and he has no present intention of using the shirt in the future. One of his creative ways ofprotecting the shoulder joint involves the use of a 3-inch-diameter bar for bench pressing (whichBrooks currently uses in his newly-established home gym). This necessarily reduces the totalpoundage, and thus, the stress on the joints.

But what did a guy who was genuinely capable of a strict 200-pound curl want with heavy wrist wraps?For the answer, Brooks’ bench press technique needs to be understood. I’ve doubled 370 pounds inthe bench press using no supports, the rub being that my double was pressed vertically. Brooksdoesn’t press vertically. We’re now getting to the “secret” of maximizing bench pressing ability, alongwith total torso development.

When Brooks benches, his body placement is tight, lats tensed beneath the upper arms with elbowsclose to the sides. On explosion of all the torso muscles, the bar is driven around two inches verticallyfrom above the lower sternum. (The starting position has the bar at the lower chest, right across thenipples or a bit lower—almost exactly where the pectoral muscles tie into the breastbone and ribcage.) It’s then pressed at an incline up and back to lockout directly above his eyes. At approximatelythe halfway stage of this manoeuver, his elbows are flared out almost push-pulling the bar tocompletion. Brooks notes that the upper arms should follow a similar path to that taken if you weredoing a version of an upright rowing motion. Such is the practiced force of the second half of hisbench press, that Brooks has to snap his wrists and hands forward to arrest the travel of the bar thatweighs in the region of 200 kg, hence the requirement for substantial wrist protection and support.

The 402 steadily accelerated to lockout, followed by 420. During these lifts it was plain to see almostevery fiber from wrist through arms, shoulders and neck, plus upper back to lumbar muscles, workingright down to their core. A heavy swelling (not pump in the accepted sense) became very apparentduring the heavier singles. Brooks subtly appeared to be even more “carved out of granite.” Ian and Islipped on a pair of tens, bringing the bar to 440.

With controlled breathing and deliberate concentration, Brooks tightened his wrist wraps and thepower belt. Precisely placing his feet, he contracted his torso into position under the bar. Taking hisgrip, he pulled his chest up to the bar, and tightened his shoulder down to pressing position on thebench. On a vicious but controlled torso explosion, the bar was instantly 2-3 inches into the presswhich moved slowly and smoothly to lockout over his face. Brooks lowered the bar via the same routeback to the pins—440 pounds, and all that was heard was a soft “clink.”

When I saw him train, Brooks used a “competition arch” in his bench press training. He kept his hipsand shoulders solidly on the bench but flexed his lower back muscles hard in order to maintain atightly arched position throughout the bench press movement. He now trains with much less of anarch, and finds that it’s much easier on his lower back. Ken Leistner has noted that the competition-style bench press can cause lower back problems, and Brooks heartily agrees. Brooks notes thatwearing a belt doesn’t really protect the lifter against strain caused by the arched style of benching.The only way to avoid it is to train your benches with the entire back flat on the bench.

This workout was concluded by four sets of parallel-grip lat pulldowns. The final set of 5 reps wasdone with 240 pounds. He can use more than this but has had problems with the machine (once thecable snapped, and another time the hook that attached the pulldown bar to the cable broke), so hekeeps the poundage down a bit.

194

Summary of workout #11. A few minutes limbering up with some light stretching2. Rack bench press from the chest: 154 x 5, 242 x 1, 330 x 1, 402 x 1, 420 x 1, 440 x 13. Pulldown: 4 x 5, working up to a final set with 240 pounds

If anyone thinks such a limited workout couldn’t contain much in the way of work, you must witnessfirst hand the muscular effort involved, plus the effect of a strongman bench pressing in excess of 400pounds for a few single lifts, to appreciate fully the magnitude of such strength. Remember, Brooksisn’t a product of anabolic drug abuse. Implementation of his training system, based solely onpoundage progression combined with provision for proper recuperation, has allowed him to realizehis training ambitions.

Concentration techniqueBrooks believes that serious training requires intensely-focused concentration. He always uses atraining diary, always knows what he did the last time he trained a particular movement, and alwayssets goals for each upcoming session. His technique for applying concentration is ritualized in amanner that allows him to progressively intensify his focus before every set he performs (includingwarm-ups).

In the bench press, for example, he loads the bar, then walks away from the rack, calming hisbreathing and leveling his concentration. He allows no talking, but probably wouldn’t hear it anyway.Brooks turns, faces the bar, and focuses on it, and it alone. His breathing deepens, and his bodyseems to expand with muscular tension. He later told me he was “rehearsing” the upcoming set atthat time. Clearly, he was oblivious to his surroundings.

He then steps purposefully and deliberately to the bar, stops, turns, focuses even more intently, thenlays back on the bench, assumes the pressing position, breathes deeply, and explodes.

The white-hot concentration doesn’t waiver one iota during both the explosive pressing of the bar,and its controlled descent to the rack pins.

SquattingNext day, Sunday, the workout schedule was to be squats in the power rack from two inches aboveparallel, followed by EZ-bar curls. The squat was worked via the same set/rep format as the benchpress. This may seem simple until, once again, sheer poundage is taken into consideration.

Brooks employs a consummate power squatting technique. A wide stance brings quads, adductors,hips, glutes and lumbar muscles into full play. I’ve always found the squat an easy lift owing tofavorable leverages. (I’ve done a 490 high-bar close-stance Olympic-style squat, using a training beltalong with a pair of 4-inch crepe bandages.) My squatting attitude was irrevocably changed afterwatching Brooks in action. The first time I tried a rough approximation of this power style, and despitehaving not squatted heavily for a while, 300 pounds literally jumped from parallel to lockout with verylittle impression of poundage on my shoulders.

Through the same precise warm-up as in the bench press, Brooks moved through four progressivesingles to 540 pounds. From a dead stop he pushed it to full lockout using sheer brute strength. Onceagain his muscles were assuming that subtle deep-fiber swell, which only comes from work withmassive poundages.

195

Raising the bar to 570 pounds, Brooks hooked on the suit’s shoulder straps, tightened the power belt,then squeezed under his final single. Setting himself to benefit from maximum leverage, his wholebody contracted in effort. Slowly, the bar moved away from the pins and all the way to the standingposition. Such is the leverage afforded through this squatting style—as with the power benchtechnique—that any mechanical sticking point is minimized. I was astounded to watch such hugeweights steadily accelerating until braking just before lockout.

I was also taken aback with the degree to which the adductors and hamstrings seemed to have thesame amount of mass and protrusion as his quads. Indeed, I could only align the standard of Brooks’thigh development to that of the modern drug-built physique stars. This is truly remarkable since heuses no drugs whatsoever, “merely” these massive-poundage power squats, once per week for atotal of around 10 reps.

Brooks wore a squat suit on these sets, with the straps down until he tried his final set of the day with570. He used knee wraps on his final two sets (540 and 570). As with the bench shirt, at present he hasgotten away from the suit and wraps and is exploring different training approaches that work themuscles extremely hard while imposing much less strain on the joints, hence minimizing the need forsupport gear. I suspect that these training ideas will be covered by Brooks himself in future issues ofHARDGAINER, so I won’t say anything more about them now.

CurlingThrough exercise style, poundage application and sheer determination, Brooks has transformed his curlinto a true power movement. Using an Eleiko Olympic-sleeved EZ-curl bar for both quality andsmoothness of operation, he has progressed to almost bodyweight for a strict curl. This bar is six incheslonger than standard EZ-curl bars, and allows a wider hand grip than other bars. Brooks never uses astandard EZ-curl bar because he has to place his hands too close together for maximum benefit.

Over three progressive sets of 5 reps he arrived at 185 pounds for a very intensive final set. Chalkinghis palms, then securing the heavy-duty wrist wraps, Brooks set a strong shoulder-width stance beforepulling the bar to starting position. Now comes the difference between the Kubik-power-style and therun-of-the-mill variety. He sets a vicious tension in his thighs, abdominals, lats and arms. Taking aninhalation resembling that used on a limit squat, and with every muscle in his frame giving 100%effort, Brooks curled the bar to below his chin. Psyching and tensing himself during the loweringphase, he prepared for the next rep. On completion of 5 reps, the 185 pounds returned to the floor,leaving Brooks almost as spent as he was with the 570 squat effort.

When Brooks related in HARDGAINER issue #22, regarding his top set of curls, that another set or repwould be impossible even if his life depended upon it, you can believe him. From this eye-witnessexperience, he wasn’t kidding. Only this special kind of poundage application and effort willeventually enable the interested trainee to curl weights that most men can barely press.

Summary of workout #21. A few minutes limbering up2. Rack squat from 2 inches above parallel: 154 x 5, 242 x 1, 330 x 1, 418 x 1, 506 x 1, 540 x 1, 570 x 13. Curl: 99 x 5, 121 x 5, 151 x 5, 185 x 5

In the next installment of this report I’ll cover Brooks’ three further workouts of the week of my visit. Ihasten to add that this week’s training was not typical of Brooks’ usual schedule. Due to my stay, and

196

our visits to three different gyms in that week, Brooks overdid his training. After I left, he was wipedout and needed nearly a week off before getting back into the gym.

In Part 2, I’ll also describe Brooks’ unique practice of the seated press and how this has related to hisbenching prowess. There will also be a detailed account of Brooks and I visiting one of America’s classicgyms, situated in Evansville, Indiana, created and run by a fine gentleman called Dick Conner. There willalso be a meeting with Greg Pickett, in Cincinnati. Also in Cincinnati, we visited the Hammerheadquarters where we met its bear-like director, Kim Wood. Kim is an encyclopedia of physical culturelore as well as strength coach for the Cincinnati Bengals football team, and a big fan of HARDGAINER.Along the way I encountered and contended with a superbly-crafted globe-style barbell, the water-filled barrel that appears on the cover of HARDGAINER issue #30, an 80-pound cannonball, the Roark“challenge” dumbbell, and several antique barbells and dumbbells used by famous strongmen of daysgone by, including a huge dumbbell owned by the great Apollon, Louis Uni.

197

198

The Growing Edgeby Rich Rydin & Dave Maurice

We received a letter from a reader of HARDGAINER, asking these questions:

1. When initiating a new cycle of 8-10 weeks, starting at 30% less in weights from the end of theprevious cycle, what week should you reach the preceding cycle’s heaviest weights?

2. What type of gains (percentage or pounds) should one expect from cycle to cycle when doingthe squat, dip and chin on Mondays, and deadlift, press and pull-up on Fridays, for a total offive work sets on each training day? (We assume our reader means chin-ups performed with asupinated grip, and pull-ups done with a pronated grip.)

These are interesting questions that provide a forum to discuss several issues about planning effectivecycles. To begin with, a 30% reduction in poundage is extreme. We wouldn’t advocate such areduction unless a month has transpired since your last lifting session. If you’ve taken a more typicalone-week break, a reduction of 20% is sufficient. So, your weekly progression might look like this:

Week 1 with 80% poundage, week 2 with 85%, week 3 with 90%, week 4 with 92.5%, week 5 with95%, week 6 with 97.5%, and week 7 with 100%. This is based upon a routine with two separateworkouts, such as given above, and on a cycle with no set terminal date. We recommend that cyclesare “planned” as open ended as possible, with respect to a finish date. If you aren’t competing, anddon’t have any other externally imposed deadline, you shouldn’t plan on terminating your cycle. Youshould continue as long as even slight progress is made. Here’s where we get a lot of questions onhow a cycle is executed.

Progression and effortLet’s return to the poundage progression just given. While the poundages are less than your previousmaximums, that doesn’t mean you need to reduce your level of effort. As a general rule, starting inthe third week you should go all out, and sets should be terminated only when positive failure occurs,i.e., if you’re still capable of moving against the resistance, you should continue to do so. This willresult in exceeding your rep targets, and in fact, when you reach your previous best—i.e., the 100%level—you should be able to get a rep or two more than you did in your previous routine. At the least,you should match your previous performance.

In subsequent weeks you can achieve new benchmarks of performance in one of two ways. If you havea good assortment of small discs at your disposal, you can increase weight very slowly while maintainingyour reps. Alternatively, you can increase the resistance by a small, convenient increment, and remain ata weight for a few weeks in order to get the target reps. Please note that as the cycle progresses, evenwith the use of small plates, it may be necessary to remain at a weight for a few weeks in order to getthe target reps. Don’t be discouraged by this. Sometimes, progress is discontinuous, and it may notmanifest itself in additional reps. Maybe you’ll only be able to move the resistance an extra inch on therep at which you repeatedly fail. Persevere! Think of this level of effort as “the growing edge.”

Cycle terminationEventually you’ll reach the point where no progress is being made, or is forthcoming. Thisrepresents the end of the cycle for that exercise. As a general rule, the “smaller” the exercise the

199

earlier this will occur. As an example, we would expect a trainee to peak on curls well beforepeaking on deadlifts. When this happens, drop the exercise you’ve reached a plateau on. Selectanother movement which works the same muscle functions, though perhaps in a different way, andstart it at an 80-90% effort level.

Let’s look at some likely examples based upon the routine given by our reader. When progress ishalted on overhead presses, our trainee should, on his next Friday, simply perform another pressingmovement of his choice. This might be another variant of overhead pressing, or a dumbbell benchexercise, for example. If he feels that his progress is nearing an end on his larger exercises, he can ofcourse continue his program without the presses. Likewise, if he stalls on pull-ups, he might try somedumbbell rows, or some shrugs, or again, drop the exercise.

What if he stalls on a “big” exercise? It really shouldn’t change the procedure. If squats stall andprogress is still being made on deadlifts, he should do front squats in place of squats, or “restart” hissquat cycle, perhaps with a different rep target. As long as progress is being made on just one majormovement, then a lack of progress on the other movements shouldn’t be considered indicative ofanything more profound than just that—a lack of progress on those movements. If you’re stillprogressing on either squats or deadlifts, then gross overtraining shouldn’t be a concern. If you thinkabout this philosophy, you’ll see that it’s conceivable to finish a cycle performing an entirely differentset of exercises than those used at the start of the cycle.

Another way of maintaining progress has been well discussed in HARDGAINER before, but it meritsrepeating. Extend the period between workouts. Go every fourth or fifth day. This can be difficult forsome to do, and we recognize that, for many people, a fixed schedule is necessary, but look foroptions. Perhaps try a Monday-Friday-Wednesday-Monday, etc., schedule, alternating between thetwo routines. This type of schedule can work very well for a person who works extremely hard on bothsquats and deadlifts. It’s a rare individual who won’t be adequately recovered after the period of 96-120 hours between workouts that this schedule offers.

So when should a cycle be terminated? If you feel constant fatigue, or are experiencing a reductionin performance, then a layoff is in order. If you follow the procedures we have discussed in theprevious paragraphs, you should be able to avoid any reduction in performance (though dorecognize that you’ll have “bad days” on occasion—learn to recognize them as such when theyoccur, and don’t let them concern you). Likewise, factors outside the gym can lead to chronic fatigue,resulting in the need for a layoff.

All this has been based upon a cycle without an externally imposed end date. Many trainees mayhave external circumstances, planned or unplanned, which prevent cycle extension. College studentsmay not have access to a gym during school vacations, for example. And as an extreme example, weknow a trainee whose position requires frequent and often unplanned travel. During one recent yearhis longest cycle lasted only seven weeks.

Under these circumstances, we suggest a different strategy. Rather than performing two differentworkouts each week, do just one routine for both days. Start at 80% of your previous best andincrease the resistance every workout. If you make the increase one of 2.5%, you’ll reach yourprevious 100% poundage at the start of the fifth week.

With such a short cycle, it’s not very likely that you’ll burn out, so after a short break-in period, go allout. Make all the progress you can, and when your time for that cycle runs out, you’ll still have made a

200

few percent worth of progress. This can be slow and frustrating, but if you make a few percent ofprogress every two months, it can really add up at the end of the year. Later, we’ll give you an exampleof just how much it can add up.

What rate of progress to expect?How much progress can be reasonably expected from cycle to cycle? It’s difficult to give firmguidelines, because progress can be very dependent upon an individual’s training history,biomechanical factors, and other activities the individual is involved in.

Your improvement from cycle to cycle is largely dependent upon how long you manage to maintainthe cycle after reaching your previous best. How long you’re able to maintain a given cycle isdetermined by physical and psychological factors.

Psychological momentum can play a vital role in determining the final outcome of a cycle. Considerthe possible result of attempting a set well above your current capabilities. This “failure” canadversely effect the remainder of your workout, and this is just in a single day. Imagine the momentumthat can build up over weeks or months when unrealistic goals are repeatedly under-achieved. Thereason we bring this up is that consistently demanding and expecting a specified rate of strength orsize gain may be a recipe for disaster. You must work to realize what’s realistic and healthy—training isan activity that can and should be enjoyed for your entire lifetime.

But let’s look at what even a small rate of improvement can yield. Suppose you’re capable of increasingyour strength by a meager (achievable) 1% every two months. Taking the bench press as an example,let’s assume you can bench press 185 pounds today. In two months you’ll have improved your bench by1% or 1.85 pounds. Now you can bench 186.85 pounds. In a year you would be able to bench press196 pounds. Again, this is reasonable. If you’re consistent, and maintain this slow rate of progress forfive years, you’ll be pressing 249 pounds. Ten years down the road you would be pressing 336; after 15years, 453. All from a minimal bimonthly gain of only 1%. (Note that maintaining a constant rate ofimprovement percentage-wise means an increasing rate of improvement poundage-wise.)

Is this possible? How many hard gainers do you think can bench over 400 pounds? In 20 years youwould be at 610 pounds on your bench. How many people in the world are capable of this? While it isin fact probable that you’ll exceed this rate of improvement in your first couple of years of training,your rate of improvement will decrease with time. Okay, maybe we shouldn’t be so concerned aboutthe exact growth per month or cycle interval, especially if it leads to the point of becoming a “failure”when you just can’t keep up with unrealistic expectations. So let’s look at three possible scenarios:

1. You actually are the one living mutant who steadily increases his bench press to 610 over the courseof 20 years. You have no further need for encouraging articles in this or any other magazine.

2. You toss in the towel and decide simply to maintain a constant level of strength. But, as wediscussed in HARDGAINER issue #32, “maintaining” requires the same effort level as striving forgains (unless you set very low goals).

3. You actually cycle from weaker to stronger in non-rigid cycles that can be repeated over and overagain in the course of your lifetime. You’re not so full of expectations, and tied to your emotionalstate, that missing a few goals along the way will forever hinder your enjoyment of training.

We recommend the third option, of course.

201

Determining starting poundagesThere’s a question we’re frequently asked which is appropriate to discuss here: When changingexercises or reps, what resistance should I start at?

When discussing exercises, we prefer to think of them in terms of functions worked. As examples,squats and deadlifts both work knee extension and hip extension, and all forms of bench pressingwork the functions of humerus adduction and elbow extension. (For a discussion of this subject, seeour article in HARDGAINER #23.) Any improvements in strength in a movement should be manifestedin improvements in strength in the functions that make up that movement. When changing exercises,the change is usually made between exercises which share common functions, i.e., between exercisesthat have a lot of overlap. How do improvements in performance in a given movement translate toperformance in a different movement with overlapping functionality?

Performance benefits are specific to a movement, but strengthening isn’t. That is, if you chin heavily,the muscles involved will become stronger. If then you switch to rowing, which uses the samemuscles, your increased strength may not immediately result in enhanced rowing performance. Aftera period of motor learning, however, it will. If you’re experienced with rowing, this period shouldn’tlast more than a few sessions. Since you’re not training to demonstrate performance, this learningshouldn’t affect your training. You should generally be able to start at a resistance commensuratewith your recent efforts.

If you’ve just completed a cycle with chins that resulted in a 10% increase in chinning strength, it’susually safe to assume that your rowing strength potential has increased by 10% as well. So add10% to your previous best at rowing, and use that number as a basis for determining your newstarting point. While this is a very specific example, you should feel comfortable applying thisprinciple to any pair of exercises that have considerable overlap. The greater the overlap, thegreater the strength transference.

A caveat is in order here. As the number of reps in a set is reduced, the importance of motor learningbecomes more important. Be very cautious when moving into a new exercise if using low reps.

Monitoring progressThis leads to a suggestion for monitoring long-term progress. Rather than test your one-repmaximum on the three powerlifts or any other exercises, consider tracking your performance at a repnumber which reduces the importance of motor learning. Select a few exercises which work well foryou, and that work the major muscular functions of the body. Then, if you test, you’ll be lessinfluenced by the exact program you’ve recently followed.

As an example, we suggest total number of dips and chins, and maximum reps with 125% ofbodyweight in the deadlift or squat, whichever suits you best, as sound strength measures. These canbe performed for testing purposes at the end of almost any cycle, even if these exercises were notpracticed during the cycle. (If you’re capable of performing the dip or chin for a very high number ofreps, you might consider tracking your performance with a standard amount of weight hanging fromyour waist. Likewise, the exact percentage of bodyweight used for the squat or deadlift should beadjusted to meet your needs.)

Alternatively, you may not even bother to test. Instead, consider “projecting” how much weight youcould use for a chosen benchmark number of reps. To aid you in this, see the charts accompanying

202

this article. As you can see, these charts also allow you to estimate starting poundage for a givenexercise when you change your rep target number.

To use one of the charts, look in the left column to find the rep number you’ve been performing (i.e.,your current reps). Move across the row until you’re under the rep number to which you wish toproject your performance (i.e., your desired reps).

For example, if you’ve been bench pressing for 10 reps, and want to try 6 reps, multiply your best 10-rep poundage by 1.13 to estimate your best 6-rep poundage. Similarly, if you’ve been squatting for 6reps and now wish to try 20 reps, estimate the weight by multiplying your best 6-rep poundage by 0.81.

This article offers some insights as to how to make your cycles more effective and more enjoyable.Staying interested in training over a lifetime is infinitely more valuable than tracking the peaks andvalleys of individual cycles.

203

Repetition-conversion tables for upper-body exercisesDesired ð 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 15ò Current1 1.00 0.97 0.94 0.91 0.89 0.86 0.83 0.81 0.78 0.76 0.72 0.652 1.03 1.00 0.97 0.94 0.91 0.89 0.86 0.83 0.81 0.78 0.74 0.673 1.06 1.03 1.00 0.97 0.94 0.91 0.89 0.86 0.83 0.81 0.76 0.694 1.10 1.06 1.03 1.00 0.97 0.94 0.91 0.89 0.86 0.83 0.78 0.725 1.13 1.10 1.06 1.03 1.00 0.97 0.94 0.91 0.89 0.86 0.81 0.746 1.16 1.12 1.10 1.06 1.03 1.00 0.97 0.94 0.91 0.89 0.83 0.767 1.20 1.16 1.13 1.10 1.06 1.03 1.00 0.97 0.94 0.91 0.86 0.788 1.24 1.20 1.16 1.13 1.10 1.06 1.03 1.00 0.97 0.94 0.89 0.819 1.28 1.24 1.20 1.16 1.13 1.10 1.06 1.03 1.00 0.97 0.91 0.8310 1.32 1.28 1.24 1.20 1.16 1.13 1.10 1.06 1.03 1.00 0.94 0.8612 1.40 1.36 1.32 1.28 1.24 1.20 1.16 1.13 1.10 1.06 1.00 0.9115 1.53 1.49 1.44 1.40 1.36 1.32 1.28 1.24 1.20 1.16 1.10 1.00

Repetition-conversion tables for lower-body exercisesDesired ð1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 15 20ò Current1 1.00 0.99 0.97 0.96 0.94 0.93 0.91 0.90 0.89 0.87 0.85 0.81 0.75 2 1.02 1.00 0.99 0.97 0.96 0.94 0.93 0.91 0.90 0.89 0.86 0.82 0.76 3 1.03 1.02 1.00 0.99 0.97 0.96 0.94 0.93 0.91 0.90 0.87 0.83 0.77 4 1.05 1.03 1.02 1.00 0.99 0.97 0.96 0.94 0.93 0.91 0.89 0.85 0.79 5 1.06 1.05 1.03 1.02 1.00 0.99 0.97 0.96 0.94 0.93 0.90 0.86 0.80 6 1.08 1.06 1.05 1.03 1.02 1.00 0.99 0.97 0.96 0.94 0.91 0.87 0.81 7 1.09 1.08 1.06 1.05 1.03 1.02 1.00 0.99 0.97 0.96 0.93 0.89 0.82 8 1.11 1.09 1.08 1.06 1.05 1.03 1.02 1.00 0.99 0.97 0.94 0.90 0.83 9 1.13 1.11 1.09 1.08 1.06 1.05 1.03 1.02 1.00 0.99 0.96 0.91 0.85 10 1.15 1.13 1.11 1.09 1.08 1.06 1.05 1.03 1.02 1.00 0.97 0.93 0.86 12 1.18 1.16 1.15 1.13 1.11 1.09 1.08 1.06 1.05 1.03 1.00 0.96 0.89 15 1.24 1.22 1.20 1.18 1.16 1.15 1.13 1.11 1.09 1.08 1.05 1.00 0.93 20 1.33 1.31 1.29 1.27 1.25 1.24 1.22 1.20 1.18 1.16 1.13 1.08 1.00

Training Methods of Joseph C. Hiseby Arnold M. Spector

In September 1972, in a small town in South Missouri, an elderly ex-miner called Joseph Curtis Hisedied of pneumonia. He had also been suffering from diabetes, a condition exacerbated by the hard lifehe had led. Born in August 1905, Hise was a complex person. He was self-educated, having read widelyin everything from philosophy and mysticism, to psychology and physiology (a textbook on humanphysiology accompanied him on all his travels). He was also an original thinker in the field of physicaleducation. He had little respect for the accepted theories and customary practices of weight training.

For much of his life he travelled across America, often by freight train, taking jobs wherever he could—jobs which usually involved hard, physical work in uncongenial surroundings, and sometimes working adouble shift so he could earn enough money to give up work for a month or so when he wouldexperiment with his innovational training methods. It was during these periods that Hise developed thetheories of cartilage mass training that are associated with his name. The most fundamental form ofweight training, he proposed, would stimulate the body in the profoundest and most thorough way,and would involve exercises which stimulated the hip-hinge, namely the squat and the deadlift, andthose which had a general physiological effect, namely the shrug in all its variations.

Many of Hise’s novel training theories haven’t yet been published. Hise carried out research, forinstance, into the development of the supportive muscles of the body. On his account, the supportivefunction of the skeletal muscles (e.g., those involved in holding a glass of water to one’s lips) is radicallydifferent from their motor function, and requires a completely different kind of exercise stimulus.

There were other calls on Hise’s time and energy. He cared for a number of elderly relatives for manyyears. He was generous with his time when strangers wrote asking for training advice, and he wouldreply at length in his characteristic racy style. His letters would contain, in addition to valuable traininginformation, his opinions on a wide range of topics including music, the philosophy of history, andeven spiritualism.

Hise never married. When I started to correspond with him (in 1949) he was operating an ore-crusherin a copper mine in Cripple Creek, Colorado. I frequently asked him for a photograph. Eventually headded a laconic postscript to one of his letters: “There are no cameras on this hill and if there were,the boys would turn same into whisky.”

Hise’s training doctrineHise’s doctrine of weight training contains two important propositions. First, the novice who hasn’t yet“learned to grow” will respond best to few and easy exercises that are designed particularly todevelop the postural muscles. Second, the essential prerequisites for increasing strength, on the otherhand, are exercises which are few and heavy. Hise opposed excessive multi-set workouts lasting up totwo hours or more, which he believed brought all gains in size and strength to an end. For very hardgainers, Hise maintained that just one set of 20 reps was needed of leg exercises, and just one set of10 reps for upper-body movements.

It’s essential to grasp that Hise’s conception of weight training is what may be called “top-down” asopposed to “bottom-up.” In other words, the aim of exercise is to bring about a change in the entirephysiological system of the body. Muscle hypertrophy will be a secondary consequence, a by-product,

204

of this effect. “Bottom-up” training, by contrast, is focused on some part of the skeleto-muscularsystem (e.g., concentration curls or leg extensions). Any resultant improvement in health will besubordinate to the chief goal, which is an increase in muscle size.

I’m not qualified to comment on the physiological basis of Hise’s theories of exercise. I understandhim to be proposing that endurance exercise (for instance, multiple sets per body part, excessivelysqueezing out the reps) has an adverse effect on the connective tissue system of the body, which inturn inhibits muscle growth. The connective tissue system consists of connective tissue proper,adipose tissue, cartilage, bone, blood, lymph and the tissues that produce blood cells. Connectivetissue develops from an embryonic tissue called mesenchyme, and mesenchyme cells are theancestors of most connective tissue cells. According to some authorities, a number of mesenchymecells persist in adult connective tissue. These unspecialized cells can give rise, with the appropriatestimulus, to other cell types.

On Hise’s account, correct methods of exercise take effect on the connective tissue, either indirectlyby causing change in the mesenchyme cells, or, directly, on the cartilage, which responds and adaptsto such mechanical stimulus by proliferating and hence providing the basis for muscle hypertrophy.Hise shrugs, deadlifts, breathing squats and round-bench pullovers are capable, it’s suggested, ofstimulating the growth of hyaline cartilage (the most common kind) which forms the ends of bones atthe joints and makes up the anterior ends of the ribs (costal cartilage). This in turn results in increase ingirth of the rib cage and general hypertrophy of the skeletal muscular system.

Good body mechanicsPrior to any other muscle group, the muscles that control posture will gain in size and strength underthe influence of Hise-style training. These postural muscles are in the calf, thigh, back, neck,intercostals, etc., and as they grow stronger, the spine straightens and posture is improved.

A perfectly erect posture is both a symptom and means of achieving what Hise used to call “goodbody mechanics.” Hise held John Grimek in high esteem: “Grimek excelled all men because hepossessed superior body mechanics and had the greatest cartilage mass.” Grimek excelled in bothphysique and strength; in his forties and fifties he still had fullness of muscle; and his skin had alustrous, almost luminous quality which Hise called the “Grimek glow.”

Practical trainingThus far theory. Before specifying the exercises Hise recommended, it’s in point to say something ofHise himself. Starting off as a young man of average physique, he gained over 100 pounds ofbodyweight, putting on, famously, 30 pounds in 30 days. It’s plausible to assume that, of these gains,about 75% would have been lean tissue. Hise went up to around 300 pounds, but stabilized his weightat 250 because of problems with buying clothes. At this bodyweight he deadlifted 702 pounds whenthe official world record was less than 650.

The achievements of George Irving Nathanson, whose training methods resembled those of Hise,were just as outstanding. A smaller man than Hise, he performed a standing press of over 300 poundsand a strict curl of over 200 pounds, at a bodyweight of 190.

Hise would have recommended—for the beginner, who hasn’t yet managed to make any gains—anapparently undemanding schedule of eight exercises, one set each and mostly 10-12 repetitions perset. Exercises can be rejected and replaced by others until the body begins to respond. Threeexercises, however, must never be discarded—breathing squats, shrugs, and round-bench pullovers. A

205

typical Hise program would consist of just one set (of 10-12 reps, unless noted otherwise) of barbellcurls, alternate dumbbell presses, deadlifts (20-25 reps) immediately followed by pullovers, uprightbarbell rows, bent-over rows with head supported, towel exercise for the neck, shrugs (20-25 reps),and breathing squats (20-25 reps) followed immediately by round-bench pullovers. The weights usedfor each exercise should be around 60% of one’s single maximum in that exercise (but considerablyless for the pullover).

The poundage for breathing squats varied, on Hise’s account, between 60 pounds and bodyweight,depending on the recalcitrance of the subject, but never more than bodyweight. Hise advised that thefirst 6 reps be done with one breath per rep, and the rest with 3-4 breaths for each. Each set of squatsmust be followed immediately by a set of light, bent-arm pullovers on a hump bench.

WarningIt’s unhealthy, and potentially dangerous, to indulge in deep breathing if the body doesn’t require extraoxygen. Before performing breathing squats, shrugs and pullovers, the exerciser must be thoroughlywarmed up. Whether the subject runs on a treadmill, cycles on an exercise bike, or performs repetitionpower cleans or snatches, he or she must be breathing vigorously before starting a Hise workout.People who simply stand and take in more oxygen than they need will grow dizzy, and may even fallover. If you feel dizzy, stop.

Furthermore, nobody should attempt any squats without a safety rack, or without a training partnerstanding by.

To repeat, never perform breathing squats, shrugs or pullovers unless the body is crying out for moreair. It is, however, in this condition that the body derives maximum benefit from these exercises.

The “growing exercises”Hise believed that shrugs, squats and pullovers had the power to cause radical change in the body.Shrugs should be varied—across the shoulders, held in front of the shoulders, at arm’s lengthoverhead (more effective if done seated), and held in the deadlift finishing position. Hise frequentlydrew attention to a common error in performing the shrug, i.e., rocking the hips. It’s essential that thehips be immobile—one should concentrate above all on raising the chest as high as possible with eachinhalation. In order to prevent any movement in the hips, Hise would advise his trainees to leanforward slightly and maintain balance by pressing down hard with the toes. Shrugs should beperformed only if one is already breathing hard from the preceding exercise.

The round-bench pullover is, on Hise’s account, the chief instrument for reshaping the chest, which isin turn the indispensable condition for general growth. The secret of the round-bench version is that,even before one starts to perform the pullovers, one can feel tension in the area of the sternum—justfrom lying on the bench. The performance of round-bench pullovers immediately after a set of squatsor deadlifts will, according to Hise, stimulate the growth of costal cartilage, which is the foundation ofgeneral muscle growth. In the pullover, the arms should be kept unlocked. Some experimentation willbe needed until one finds the exact position on the bench, and the precise position of the weight,that cause the maximum pull at the sternum. Nobody should need a weight of more than 40 pounds,with 20-30 pounds being better in most cases—this is a stretching, not a strengthening exercise.

Hise called shrugs, breathing squats and round-bench pullovers the “growing exercises.” He believedin setting aside after one month all exercises that didn’t seem to produce results, with the exception ofthe “growing exercises,” which are never to be relinquished.

206

Hise allowed 20-25 reps for growing exercises, but otherwise thought high reps counter productive.

Strength trainingIt’s necessary at this point to be clear about Hise’s and Nathanson’s views on strength training. There’sa place for high reps in strength training, but such training isn’t to be confused with endurance, multi-set, excessively-forced-repetitions type of training. Nathanson increased his standing press from 230pounds to 290 in just six workouts. He performed 100 single repetitions with one minute’s rest beforeeach one. Each rep felt heavy but could be done smoothly. The poundage was not such that there wasany slow and grim struggle with the bar. Even hard work must be strictly rationed. Nathanson trainedjust once a week, and rested as much as possible between workouts.

It was Hise’s conviction that the primary aim of training was to achieve maximum gains in size andstrength with just the right amount of stimulus.

In the letter in which he informed me of Nathanson’s training methods, Dr. G.W. Kelling made someinteresting and instructive observations:

“Since exercise reps are not necessary for life, the ancestral brain revolts when repetition demands aremade on it . . . In single reps a weight can almost be suggested up instead of lifted. It goes up so fastyou hardly know you’ve lifted it. Rest 1-1.5 minutes between reps and tell yourself this weight is easy;you can lift it once with ease. Then proceed to do about 50 to 100 single reps. It really takes timethough and muscles don’t become flushed but really worked.”

A holistic training philosophyThis has been just a sketch of Hise’s philosophy of weight training. It’s a holistic training philosophy—itinvolves the entire physiological system and it bears upon every waking (and sleeping) moment.Everything the athlete does when he or she isn’t training touches the effectiveness of the exercises.Erect posture is to be maintained at all times (posture and exercise are interdependent—correctexercise results in correct posture, and an erect, high-chested posture consolidates the gains of theexercise). Normal breathing should be deep and slow. I quote from Hise:

“My breathing speed is from four to seldom over eight times per minute. This slow breathing is ahabit and easy to acquire by a strong man; but takes a very long time for Physical Yoga students tomaster . . . The Physical Yogi breathes long and slowly and keeps everything out of his head in orderto keep it purified of . . . nonsense . . .”

Only with the sense of physical well-being, of bodily efficiency, and of emotional calm that comeswith good body mechanics can one consider oneself truly alive. That’s why Hise used to say, “Doshrugs and live.”

ReferencesThis article is based chiefly on private correspondence between the author and J.C. Hise and Dr. G.W.Kelling. Reference is also made to an article by Hise, “The Cartilage Mass Theory of Growth,” in IRONMAN Vol. 8, No. 2, July 1948. (This is a very valuable issue of IRON MAN, which contains several relevantarticles.) Hise’s dates of birth and death are as given by Joe Roark, in IRON GAME HISTORY, June 1990.

207

208

Asking Dr. Kenby Dr. Ken. E. Leistner

EquipmentFor most at-home trainees, the question “which is better, machines or so-called free weights?” isn’tapplicable. Most who train at home can’t afford anything past the basic equipment. Of course, unlessone is dealing with extreme leverage disadvantages or previous injury, nothing past the basicequipment is necessary to build one’s physique to the ultimate possible level as determined bygenetics. I’ve heard it many times: “If I could train at the Iron Island Gym I would make greatprogress.” While this is flattering, I would say: “Yes, but you would make great progress because ofthe training atmosphere more than anything else, not the equipment.”

I love equipment and spend a lot of time designing, tinkering, welding, thinking about, and usingequipment that’s designed to make one bigger and stronger. At our gym, Ralph and I have what’sarguably the best array of effective muscle-building equipment. We don’t deny that some other gymshave more, but we believe we have what’s best for the purposes of our trainees. Flex, Hammer, Kell,Jim Sutherland, and some homemade units are on display daily, and all get used. However, one canaccomplish the same (in the absence of the aforementioned limitations,) with a barbell set, dumbbells,chin and dip bars, bench, and squat rack. Believe it or not, this is a true statement.

Despite the benefits that some machines give in terms of variable resistance and ease of use (and theearly Nautilus machines and the recent Hammer ones are the best examples), they are advantages only,not necessities. If you speak with the honest guys in the business, they will tell you this. In one’s homegym, squats, deadlifts, stiff-legged deadlifts, rows, chins, dips, overhead presses, curls, and “isolationmovements” when warranted like lateral raises, triceps work, and similar movements, give more thanenough variety and means to work the body from every necessary angle. Perhaps it’s the excuse thatmany are looking for when they say that they can’t progress as they wish, but a so-called limitation ofequipment shouldn’t be a stumbling block, not once the bar, rack and bench have been purchased.

SorenessSome trainees seem to think that you’re supposed to wait between workouts until there’s no musclesoreness anywhere. If this was so, I wouldn’t have trained at all. I probably spent every day of myexistence muscularly sore somewhere for a period of about seven or eight years. One shouldn’t feel rundown all the time. Soreness is funny—some never get sore, some always get sore, some sometimes getsore. I don’t know if it’s indicative of anything relative to effective training. I do know that if one isexhausted, legitimately, they should take an extra day of rest. Sore? No way that’s a reason not to train.

Rep speedThe speed of movement “controversy” seems to have invaded the pages of HARDGAINER. I’m laughingat this one. Like everything else, Superslow-type training can and should be tried. This experimentationis part of the journey of becoming stronger and larger. If it works and you’re comfortable doing it thisway, you’ve found something you can keep. If for whatever reason it isn’t for you, don’t agonize over thedecision to train more conventionally. The determining factor in the long run in achieving trainingsuccess will be the intensity put into training, and doing so consistently over time. If you can’t find atraining methodology that allows this, it doesn’t matter what you do. You’ll be doomed to frustrationand failure relative to your goals.

209

It’s like explosive training. I’ve often stated that if doing fast, jerky, explosive movements like powercleans was the only proper way to get stronger, I still wouldn’t do it—I wouldn’t be comfortablerisking injury that comes with exposing the soft tissues to unnecessary ballistic movement. I wouldn’tbe able to train “well.” Thus, I would choose to use a less effective method, but one I could go allout with. I know I would do better if I did this. Doing fast, explosive movements isn’t safe, anddoesn’t produce maximal tension in the working muscles—a requisite for growth stimulation—butthe point is made I believe.

Don’t put so much energy into worrying about how your reps will be done. Just make sure you’redoing all the reps you can in any set, safely, and until your eyeballs fall out!

Very high repsAn insightful reader from Scotland noted I made the statement that when the squat, bench press anddeadlift became competitive lifts, they were no longer trained and utilized as the superb result-producing exercises they truly are. He also noted the high-rep competition that Dick Conner held atThe Event in Indiana the last two years, and then stated that these fixed-weight, maximum-repcontests are safer, healthier, and allow for almost anyone to compete and enjoy themselves, ratherthan having competitive lifting being left to the realm of the gorillas.

Hey, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Certainly, squatting sixty reps with 225 in competition, andtraining to do so over weeks and months is potentially less damaging, more results producing, and alot more fun than struggling with singles with body-numbing weights, at least in my opinion. If one dida single set of fifty reps in the squat, fifteen in the stiff-legged deadlift, and one or two sets of apressing movement, that would be a heck of a workout. It would also “move” your body to grow ifyou would continue to be progressive week to week. Then switch to high-rep deadlifts, moremoderate reps in the squat, and another pressing movement.

Do one of those combinations every few days, throw in some forearm work, and you get a strongperson when it’s all said and done. Try squatting singles and doubles week after week, struggled intoyour super-tight supportive suit and wraps, and then tell me how much fun it was, how many injuriesyou got, and if the results were as good as the intensive, higher-rep work.

ConcentrationMore than one trainee has indicated that they are able to put forth a great effort in their training, andafterwards feel really good about themselves and their confidence levels. Despite the fact that theycan “get up” for their training week to week, they still have what has variously been described as a“queasy feeling,” “apprehension,” or a “clammy feeling throughout my body.” This isn’t a strangegroup of comments. It may be physical excitation, as well as psychological excitement that accounts,at least in part, for these comments.

I know that I’ll start muttering to myself before my workout starts, and I can feel my body “comingtogether.” This is no small feat for someone who usually trains anywhere between 10 pm and 1 am.During the workout, when it gets close to squat time, it almost feels as if I’m on amphetamines. I geta real surge and at times even quake a bit, get nauseous or queasy, and feel my powers ofconcentration increasing. It’s no doubt physical brought on by the psychological, but I get this often.If it was detrimental, I’d be dead my now because it’s happened so often over so many years(decades at this point).

210

I’ve always been known as a competitive lifter who would do much better in a meet relative to mytraining. I always felt this was a compliment and indicative that, when it was time to perform, I couldfocus my energies and do a reasonably good job of it. Past concentrating on the task at hand, I don’tbelieve in getting “psyched up” for or during a workout if one is a competitive lifter. I believe it shouldbe “saved” for meets, but this doesn’t mean one shouldn’t lift with concentration and enthusiasm.

A letter of dietary tips to a competitive lifterLet me make a few general comments regarding the gaining of muscle. Almost everything works forsomeone, but that’s no guarantee that you can benefit from their advice. I still believe it’s healthiestto add complex carbohydrates and protein to the diet for increasing muscle tissue mass. Evenunsaturated/vegetable fats, while being a more efficient means of consuming calories, overloadsboth the digestive system and the liver. Again, this is only an opinion, but [brand name product](which is primarily a fat, any way you look at it, and despite the manufacturer’s admonitions to thecontrary), spoonfuls of canola and safflower oil, and other similar increases in fat intake, over a point,aren’t beneficial.

You indicated that it has been difficult to eat enough to gain weight. First things first. I apologize if itseems that I’m giving you any training advice. As successful as you’ve been, and with your vastknowledge, I don’t want to seem to be doing that because you don’t need any training advice fromme. However, don’t forget this reminder that before gaining any muscle, one first has to turn the cellmachinery on for growth. This is done relative to intensity, not volume of training. If you don’t wantto do anything different prior to your next meet, wait until afterward, but you might want to try aback-off set of higher reps taken all out, for the squat, and every two weeks or so for the deadlift.The all-out set of 15 reps for either is meant to do no more than stimulate local tissue growth andaffect your metabolic response. If you haven’t yet tried this, it might be effective.

Assuming that the training is sufficient to stimulate tissue response, it’s usually easier to drink caloriesthan eat them. Before anyone knew much about cholesterol and things like that, I would have a dozeneggs for breakfast when I was 220-230 pounds. I found that I could put them in a blender, whip themup and drink them a lot easier than facing a plate full of one dozen scrambled eggs. Especially if youcan tolerate things that might not usually go into the blender, it’s an easier means of getting caloriesin, and you have the advantage of reducing food preparation time—you can make a few quarts worthin the morning and sip it all day long.

I used to carry thermos flasks in the car to take to school or work, and to the gym for post-workoutnutrition. I found that I could take in a lot more if I drank 2-4 ounces every half hour or so, andsometimes more often than that. I would literally do this all day long, in addition to a few meals, andwould often, daily, go through four quarts of drink in addition to 2-4 decent-sized, though not overlylarge meals. Weekends, I would really pack the nutrition in if I wasn’t working.

I would like to suggest that you mix the blender drinks fairly thick, i.e., put lots of stuff in and expect itto be more like a light pudding than a soup stock in consistency. A lot of people get turned off by thefact that potent blender drinks aren’t the same texture as the malt at the corner store.

Milk-based drinks, using skim milk, are generally more effective than those with a juice base, eventhough the calories are similar. Milk has more nutritive value per ounce. I usually see juice as sugars(primarily fructose) and water, with minor mineral and vitamin content. Stick with egg whites in thedrinks, just as you would if you were eating eggs. Keep the yolks limited per week. Use non-fat milkpowder—it’s relatively inexpensive and mixes easily. I used to put a few spoonfuls into every glass of

211

milk I drank, even if I wasn’t blending things up. Stick in lots of it too. Add a few bananas. If you addother fruit, it’s strictly for flavor. Add ice milk (instead of ice cream) for additional calories and flavor.Peanut butter, if you like it, mixes well. Its flavor dominates the drink, but you can work upprogressively, adding more each day or two. The powder and peanut butter will give you a very thickdrink, but that’s the idea, as long as it’s drinkable. Some of the gain-weight powders are grainpolymers, primarily, with oil extracts, They have lots of calories and can also be thrown into the drink ifyou want a commercial powder to use in addition to the non-fat milk powder. A few ice cubes orcrushed ice blended in adds texture.

You may have to use more than one blender, or split this up into a few full blenders while mixing all ofit. The egg whites especially fluff it up, and trap air. It will settle if you let it sit for a few minutes. Justhit at this all day long.

I don’t know if you eat red meat, but if your diet is low in fat (especially saturated fat), relative to youractivity and calories you’re consuming, I would suggest that you eat red meat two or three times perweek, but ensure that it’s not at Burger King. Most lifters feel that they can eat anything if they’retraining “hard,” but use the meat constructively. It has a lot of things that other forms of protein don’toffer, but keep the fat content down. The leaner cuts usually aren’t the more expensive ones. You canbuy and grind your own round steak, or have the butcher do it. I grew up, believe it or not, eating rawmeat in my house and have always eaten it that way when possible. I also found it easier to eat half apound of freshly-ground round steak, or some other very lean cut of beef, than to sit and eat a steakor burger (with all of the accessories).

Half a pound of ground beef with some tomato a few times per day, every third day, shouldn’tsignificantly affect your lipid profile in a negative way, but will add nutrients and a psychological boostthat can be helpful.

My recent liftsOne reader asked about my recent lifts. Well, very recently, I haven’t lifted anything. In mid-September 1994 I underwent reconstruction and bone remodelling of my left shoulder. The work wasextensive and I am, as I write this two weeks later, in the midst of recovery. For those who have aninterest, I plan to rehabilitate using Hammer equipment primarily, for both isolated and multi-jointmovements, as follows:

1. Hammer rear deltoid2. Hammer lateral raise3. Dumbbell front raise4. Hammer high row5. Hammer iso-lateral front press6. Hammer bicep7. Hammer pullover

After this has been done, I’ll resume overhead barbell presses, squats (can’t get my arm back tosupport bar at present), deadlifts/stiff-legged deadlifts, bench presses, and forearm work, which isbasically my standard program most of the time.

But to answer the question, I can’t press my arm, lateral raise my arm, and can barely front raise my arm.

212

Sixteen Years On: Part 1by Casey J. Ramas

From my perspective as a hard gainer and drug-free bodybuilder, I would like to share my experiencesof what I’ve done to gain size and strength, and to prepare for bodybuilding competition.

BackgroundI’ve been involved in weight training for the past 16 years, have been competing in bodybuildingcontests for about 10 years, and have competed in about 15 contests. My last two competitions inlate 1993 were the AAU Mr. Illinois and the NPC Natural Mid States Muscle Classic. I won my class(the Master’s, age category 35-39) in the former, and placed second overall. One week later, I placedthird in my class in the NPC contest. This was a large regional contest, with nine different statesrepresented, so I was satisfied with my placing. I turned 35 years old two weeks prior to thosecontests. My latest competition was in August 1994. This was the NPC Natural Illinois Championships,held in Elgin. This is a natural, drug-tested regional show which is popular. I won the 35-39 age classand was very pleased with the result.

Although I categorize myself as a hard gainer, I was never the archetypal thin person who found itextremely difficult to gain strength and muscle size. But I’m not genetically gifted. The gains I’ve madecame about as the result of hard work and careful attention to good nutrition. I possess a mediumbone structure at a height of 6-1.5, with a 33-inch waist and a current off-season bodyweight of 215pounds. My wrist is 6.875 and ankle 9.5.

I’m firmly against the use of anabolic steroids and other bodybuilding drugs, and compete mainly innatural bodybuilding contests. Reading articles about the training routines and nutritional programs ofthe “champions” in some bodybuilding magazines is an insult to your intelligence. For example, onewell-known bodybuilder claimed to take in 10,000 calories on a daily basis when cutting up andpreparing for a contest. One area that didn’t receive coverage was the drug program this man usedprior to the contest. Without the aid of drugs, the excess calories would be stored as body fat.

Although I compete mainly in “natural” bodybuilding contests, I know that some of the competitors,even in the “natural” events, use steroids and other drugs. Even though these contests are tested bypolygraph or urinalysis, some people do cheat these tests in order to win a trophy or a title. This typeof “victory,” at least to me, is a hollow one.

MotivationMy main motivation for competing is to have a goal to strive for. I’ve never had any desire or delusionof becoming a world-class bodybuilding champion. I compete because I enjoy the training andpreparation that’s involved, but especially because of the challenge. The challenge involved entailsgetting yourself in the best shape you possibly can—being in better shape now than you were lasttime. It involves a process culminating with stepping on a stage and showing others what you’vedone. In essence you’re not competing with the people standing next to you on stage; you’recompeting with yourself and the contest is the result of your training.

In competing I’ve experienced some success and learned a great deal. Each competition has been alearning experience. The more I compete, the more I learn.

213

Weight trainingI’ve been fortunate in that I’ve never subscribed to the “six-days-a-week, three-hours-per-day”schedule that a lot of people in commercial health clubs and gyms employ. Part of the reason was thatI didn’t have the time, given that I work full time and have also gone to graduate school and earnedtwo Master’s degrees while working full time. The other part of the reason was that I didn’t see thesense in training that much. The only people I saw making gains on that type of program were thosewho used anabolic steroids. A drug-free person would never make gains on that type of program.

Even before subscribing to the abbreviated training programs found in HARDGAINER, I kept my totalwork sets per body part low, compared to other people; and I only worked each body part once aweek while training four days per week. I did, however, spend time using what I now considerunproductive exercises, such as the machine hack squat, and dumbbell rear raises, to name a couple.

At one time I did fall prey to the articles promoting the belief that, in order to fully develop a musclegroup, a variety of exercises has to be performed. In order to develop the rear deltoids, for example,you had to do bent-over rear dumbbell raises. I now realize that heavy back training, on basicexercises, will fully develop the rear deltoids. The only thing performing a movement such as the rearraise will do is impair recuperative ability.

Using the type of abbreviated workout advocated by this magazine, I cut back my training days fromfour to three, typically working out on alternate days, e.g., Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I also cutback on exercises and sets, used heavy weights for lower repetitions on the basic exercises, and stillwork each body part only once a week. I find this works best for me. I cycle my workouts, allow plentyof time for recuperation, and use the little discs I’ve found to be invaluable in my training progress. Ifeel this type of training is necessary in order for the natural bodybuilder to get results.

Here’s an example of a “before and after” training program focusing on thighs. The “before”represents the way I trained previously. The “after” represents an example of an abbreviated workoutI’ve used. In both cases, the number of sets includes warm-ups.

BeforeLeg extension: 5 setsSquat: 5 setsHack squat: 4 setsLying leg curl: 5 sets

Total of 19 sets (12 of them work sets)

AfterSquat: 5 setsStiff-legged deadlift: 5 sets

Total of 10 sets (6 of them work sets)

The result of switching to an abbreviated program was increased strength and muscle mass. I’d madesome gains on the previous type of training, but noticed accelerated strength and muscle mass gainswhen I cut back and concentrated on the basic exercises. I think the reason I was made some gainson the previous workout was because I worked each body part only once a week. If I’d used thepopular program of “train each body part twice a week” I definitely would have overtrained, and nothave made any gains.

214

It’s important to remember that you have to build a good base of size and strength before evenconsidering entering a bodybuilding contest. The best way to accomplish this is to focus on basic andabbreviated training as expounded in HARDGAINER.

Here’s an example of how I train when focusing on building size and strength:

Monday1. Deadlift: 6 x 5 (3 warm-ups, 3 work sets)2. Close-grip parallel pulldown: 5 x 6 (2 warm-ups, 3 work sets)3. Barbell shrug: 5 x 6 (2 warm-ups, 3 work sets)4. Barbell curl: 5 x 6 (2 warm-ups, 3 work sets)

Wednesday1. Bench press: 5 x 6 (2 warm-ups, 3 work sets)2. Incline bench press: 4 x 6 (1 warm-up, 3 work sets)3. Seated behind-neck barbell press: 5 x 6 (2 warm-ups, 3 work sets)4. Close-grip bench press: 5 x 6 (2 warm-ups, 3 work sets)

Friday1. Squat: 6 x 6 (3 warm-ups, 3 work sets)2. Standing calf raise: 4 x 15 (1 warm-up, 3 work sets)3. Weighted abdominal crunch: 3 x 15

I start each training cycle with a weight that’s 80% of my previous cycle’s best (comparing the samerep count); and add weight each week until I’m within about 10 pounds of my previous best. From thispoint on the little discs enter the picture and I try to add a pound or two each week until I surpass myprevious best. Once I’ve reached a new maximum weight goal, or feel that my strength gains havestopped for the time being, I take a week off from both weight training and aerobic exercise, to restand recuperate. An average cycle for me can last anywhere from 12 to 18 weeks.

Aerobic trainingEven when training for size and strength, I include aerobic exercise on the average of three times perweek for 30-45 minutes per session. I do this not only to help keep my body fat under control, but tohelp ensure my cardiovascular system remains in good condition, as I’m also concerned with overallfitness and conditioning. The aerobic exercises I do are mainly moderate intensity cycling on astationary bicycle, walking on a treadmill, or walking outside. By moderate intensity, I mean about 70-75% of my age-adjusted maximum heart rate, i.e., 70-75% of (220 - 35), or 130-139 beats per minute.

There’s a big difference between riding a stationary cycle for 30-45 minutes at a moderate intensity,and going outside and running to the point of exhaustion for the same period. The latter willdefinitely make inroads into your recovery ability, while the former shouldn’t. I also enjoy riding mybicycle outside when the weather permits, but again this is done at an moderate intensity. My aerobicexercise usually takes place on weight training days (after my weights workout) since I want my offdays to be totally set aside for rest and recuperation. (In addition to the post-workout aerobic work, Ido 5-10 minutes prior to my weights workout, as a general warm-up.)

Dietary factorsI endeavor to remain in good shape year round by following a sound nutritional plan coupled withweight training and aerobic exercise. This being the case, I don’t have much body fat to lose when

215

starting to train and diet for competition. I don’t believe in “bulking up” and then having to lose 50-60 pounds of body fat in order to bring out muscular definition. This isn’t a healthy practice.

When training for size and strength, I follow a good nutritional program. I try to take in at least onegram of protein per pound of bodyweight, mainly from chicken, turkey, lean meat, fish, eggs (mainlyegg whites), low-fat dairy products and a good quality protein powder. Additionally, I eat plenty of freshfruits and vegetables, and pasta, potatoes, whole grain bread, rice and legumes for my complexcarbohydrate needs. I try to take in a variety of nutritious foods to ensure I get all the nutrients my bodyneeds, especially during the period of intensive training taking place in the latter portion of the cycle.

I try to eat five or six smaller meals a day as opposed to three large ones. This gives my body thenutrients it needs spaced evenly throughout the day, and also helps keep body fat under bettercontrol since it’s easier for my body to digest and properly assimilate the smaller meals.

A tip that I’ve found helpful is to have a protein drink as soon as possible after training. After myworkout, as soon as I return home, I immediately mix up a protein drink. I mix a cup of grape or applejuice with one cup of water and two large scoops of protein powder (the two scoops of proteinpowder provide 50 grams of protein). There’s reputed to be a two-hour “window of opportunity”after a workout, during which it’s imperative to get a combination of protein and carbohydrates intoyour system, to help start the body on the road to recovery as soon as possible.

It’s thought that during this period immediately after a workout a good amount of recovery andmuscle growth takes place. A protein powder (or skimmed milk powder, for a cheaper alternative) isused instead of eating a solid high-protein meal such as chicken breast. The latter takes longer todigest and have the protein/amino acids available for recovery. The protein powder is mixed witheither grape or apple juice to take advantage of the simple carbohydrates that are present in thejuice. After a tough workout, the muscles are depleted of glycogen. The juice quickly allows the bodyto replace the glycogen. It may be at this point that the body’s muscles are analogous to a sponge.They have been depleted by the tough workout and will absorb the protein and carbohydrate that’sprovided. I’ve noticed a definite improvement in recovery ability ever since I started this practice.

After I’ve had this protein and juice drink, I wait about an hour and a half and then have a normal dinner.I only have the protein/juice drink on training days. On a few occasions, for one reason or another, I’vemissed having this drink and noticed that my muscles stay sore longer, and I don’t seem to have asmuch strength at my next training session. I firmly believe this is due to missing the drink.

DedicationThere are no secrets in trying to develop the size necessary to compete in bodybuilding contest. Hardwork on the basic exercises, adequate rest and recuperation time, and a sound nutritional programwill work wonders.

The only other factor that’s involved is time. It takes time to develop a strong, fit and muscularphysique. It takes time to benefit from a good wholesome nutritional program. But once you put inthe time, you’ll reap the rewards—permanent muscle gains and not the fleeting size, strength andmuscularity that steroid users gain, and just as quickly lose when they go off the drugs.

In Part 2 I’ll focus on preparation for bodybuilding competition—training and nutrition.

216

217

Barbells Up, Dumbbells Downby John McKean & Bob Karhan

Paul Anderson, Louis Cyr, Arthur Saxon, Hermann Goerner, Doug Hepburn, and John McKean. Thequestion behind this answer is, “Name five all-time superstars of strength training who extensivelyemployed heavy dumbbells in training, and one other guy!” Of course, yours truly is the lowly otherguy, but I enjoy standing on the shoulders of these giants to seek some of the progress they foundthrough brutally-intensive dumbbell work.

Unfortunately, most dumbbell work today is relegated to lightweight shaping movements or, at most,higher-rep, non-goal-orientated exercise with poundages that are “comfortable.” I don’t even like torecall how many gyms I’ve visited where the heavy half of the dumbbell rack is dusty and untouched.

Why is this? Simple—dumbbells hurt. That is, in exactly the opposite manner to how exercise machinesease and rob the work of a similar barbell move, dumbbells call for even more total body involvementthan a long bar. Where machines isolate and, therefore, are largely ineffective for a hard gainer,dumbbells on the other hand require extreme control, utilization of many stabilizing muscles,coordination between muscle groups, and total concentration. They have a longer range of motionthan barbells or machines, and bombard deep-lying muscle fibers from many different angles. Mostimportantly, with some intensive effort, seriously-heavy dumbbells eventually adapt to our ownpersonal groove—we’re forced to learn to control the weighty little beasts, and best compensate forour individual leverages. Eventually, then, we discover (perhaps even subconsciously) our own optimumangles of push or pull, to capitalize on innermost strengths.

Many of the old-time strongmen never seemed to lack incentive to go to limit poundages ondumbbell lifts. Of course, back then they regularly contested dumbbell clean and jerks, presses,snatches, swings, and the crucifix. A look at US and British record lists printed in magazines from the1920s and ‘30s will show a slew of dumbbell marks which were recorded under official conditions. Dowe have any such incentive today? You bet! Under the auspices of the IAWA we currently have 27registered dumbbell lifts to go after. And, brother, if you thought my insistence on training barbelllimits in past articles was taxing, I’m really setting you up for a wonderful world of pain this time.

No, you may not have interest in jumping into one of our dumbbell competitions—the British callthese “single arm championships”—but you sure can obtain huge overall strength gains whilebringing out previously unnoticed lumps, bumps, and strands of muscles. All that’s required is thedesire to see just how heavy a single rep you can eventually achieve with one or more dumbbell lifts.Specialize if you care to, or build a total routine on 4-10 dumbbell moves per week.

A lesson in abbreviationA good friend of mine—our US National All-Round President, Howard Prechtel—relates how he oncespecialized for a one-year period on the dumbbell clean and press as his only upper-body exercise.His only other exercise was the half squat in a power rack. He stayed away from his regular gym at thetime, to increase his concentration on these two movements (and to avoid unnecessary “advice” fromtraining partners who would have chided him for such limited training).

When the year was up, a muscularly massive Howard Prechtel confidently strode into the training hallto easily clean and strictly press over 300 pounds on a barbell—at least 50 pounds more than he had

218

ever done before. Teammates were literally flabbergasted—this was way before the days of steroids,and they couldn’t figure out how this gym “drop out” pulled it off. You can bet, tho’, that ole Howiedidn’t wave around lightweight ‘bells during his escape time from conventional stale routines.

The nuts and boltsSort of a surprise for any who have read my previous articles expounding the use of heavy single-replifts, but dumbbell strength training is best done in sets of 3-6 reps. At least a triple seems necessaryto develop coordination and groove, absolutely essential to successful dumbbell work. In many gymexperiments I’ve discovered I could take a particular poundage and do three good but fairly taxingreps with the dumbbell, then go but 5 pounds heavier only to find the stubborn ‘bells just wouldn’tbudge an inch. Friends related exactly the same experience. So if a “gym limit” can usually bepumped for 3-4 reps instead of only one, you might as well shoot for this number.

Singles can be attempted on widely spaced occasions—you need something to shoot for. But withdumbbells there’s a lot more control factors against you, and conditions won’t always be as regulatedas with a barbell. Your mood, drive, groove, coordination, incentive, and a well-rested, ready bodyhave to be exactly in tune for that new dumbbell record. Plus, as any experienced dumbbellaficionado will tell you, it’s all to easy to mentally burn out on the short bars if you attempt too manymaxes too frequently. Sad to report, misses with even previous marks occur a lot. Seems you mustlose a little occasionally before your body allows you to advance. But take heart. When you do hit anew limit you’ll discover a unique exhilaration, ‘cause the dumbbells will let you know that you’vereally worked for and deserve it.

Many of us find that our top dumbbell weights are most easily achieved when done for a single set of3-5 reps performed directly following a short session of singles with a similar barbell move. Forinstance, we work a standard barbell press for 70% x 1, 80% x 1, 90% x 1, 100% x 1, then finish—almost a “backdown set”—with a dumbbell press for, say, a set of 4 reps. Since the dumbbell move istougher and always lighter than its big brother barbell exercise, the body, and especially the mind, arebetter prepared (tricked) for dumbbell intensity when backing down to it instead of progressivelybuilding up in sets. It’s just so important to allow that first dumbbell rep to go smoothly and seemfairly light. Following that, reps 2, 3, 4 and, maybe, 5, almost always flow easily. But there’s no secondchance if the first one sticks.

A few barbell-up, dumbbell-down combos you may wish to try include snatches-swings, barbell hacksquat-dumbbell deadlifts, push presses-one arm jerks, barbell curls-incline dumbbell curls, powerclean-dumbbell pullups, etc. Again, not that dumbbell lifts can’t be trained by themselves—some,such as all-round’s tortuous two-hands anyhow, can’t be trained any other way. It’s just that quickeradvances in poundages and better quality training come when the dumbbell lifts are combined withheavy single barbell movements. Just remember the formula of 4 sets of 1 with the barbell, 1 set of 4with the dumbbell.

Progression can best be summed up this way—don’t be in too much of a hurry. Keep plugging at thatset of 3-5 reps with a consistent poundage, workout after workout, until it starts to feel light and easy.Then just nudge the dumbbells up by 5 pounds the next session. Some may prefer to gradually raisereps, starting at 4 and eventually achieving 7 with a given weight before upping the poundage andstarting over at 3 or 4. Regardless of which progression you prefer, always be a bit cautious duringthat next workout with the weight jump—attack it ‘cause that addition of a mere 5 pounds may provefar heavier than you expect.

219

Although those who train in a gym are somewhat limited to available equipment, the home trainee inparticular can use another form of dumbbell progression, utilizing smaller weight increases. Borrowingfrom a concept of my British all-round brethren, plate-loaded dumbbells can be increased a mere 1.25pounds (each) per session, or even less if smaller plates are available. British dumbbell specialistsemploy a “backhang” on swinging-type lifts. That is, they purposely load more on only the back endof a dumbbell so balance is enhanced and the ‘bell will turn over more quickly. For progressionpurposes we simply add a plate to just one end of a dumbbell each session (then a plate on theopposite end for the next workout, or when possible, etc.) Believe me, you’ll never even detect abalance problem on any lift.

A problem with dumbbells for home training—and a huge reason for my suggestion to employ themfor just one backdown set—is they’re such a pain in the ass to take apart and reload. (Probably a bigreason, too, why dumbbell contests aren’t real popular here in the US—we’d have to promise loadersalmost anything to suffer through all this work. On our “record days,” in fact, each of us is responsiblefor our own loading for dumbbell records. My less-than-energetic son Robbie often complains thatloading for his dumbbell deadlift record attempts is harder than the actual lift itself.)

Art Montini’s non-collar dumbbell. The handles are 8 inches long and 5 inches deep.

Years ago, Art Montini, my old training partner, solved many of my problems in this regard. Look atthe sketch of Art’s handiwork—a special, no-collar, heavy-duty dumbbell. Notice how either standardor Olympic plates up to 25 pounders can simply be slid into place onto the angled handles withgravity holding them in place. Balance is a little touchy, however. These ‘bells can’t be cleaned,snatched, or swung, but they’re pretty decent for heavy presses, curls, pulls, and deadlifts. Almost anylocal machine shop should be able to form one-inch bars into these shapes at very little cost.

Especially with dumbbell training, let’s not skimp on the pre-workout warm-up. Some odd angles ofpush and pull will be employed, certain obscure small muscles will be forced to assist, and the totalbody will be involved. Thus, it’s vital to warm every possible fiber of your being. As described inprevious articles, select a pair of 3-5 pound dumbbells and do 15-20 minutes of serious “heavy-handing” before touching anything heavy. The warm-up, remember, is the time for little weights andhigh reps. In addition to things such as my personal favorite, shadow boxing, you might considermimicking some of the actual heavy dumbbell lifts you’ll be performing later. On these aerobicmaneuvers the intent is to zing through very speedy sets of 50-100 reps with the tiny ‘bells. Forexample, if you plan to train the dumbbell press later on, then, as part of your warm-up, bouncearound the gym floor while knocking out a lightening-like set of 100 alternate dumbbell presses with 3pounders, almost as if you were punching up at the ceiling.

220

Bob KarhanMy all-round cohort and good buddy from Cleveland, Ohio, 45-year-old Bob Karhan, has done moredumbbell home training than most. Very few trainees these days can match big Bob’s pure pressingpower, the result of many years of concentrated work with various forms of dumbbell pressing. He’skindly agreed to share with HARDGAINER readers many of his findings. Here’s Bob:

When training dumbbells I usually do 1-2 sets after my barbell exercises. For example, after a sessionof heavy barbell pressing I take a heavy pair of dumbbells and do a set of 5-6 reps in the dumbbellpress. If this is fairly easy, I’ll add weight and go for one more set, of 3-5 reps. If the first set proves tobe a gut buster, I’ll skip the second set.

I prefer sticking to a rep scheme of 3-8. The first reps always prove to be essential to jockey for idealdumbbell positioning and establish coordination between muscle groups. Repetitions eventuallyenable one to discover a personal groove and fine tune it over the course of time. Only dumbbellspermit this minute adjustment of positioning. In fact, I seriously doubt whether any two individualscould possible have the exact same degree of push.

In IAWA competition, the center of the ‘bell handles for presses can’t be higher than the clavicles. Thispresents a new level of difficulty because the initial drive requires a shoulder and elbow rotation toget the ‘bells started. This motion has a tendency to get the dumbbells out of one’s groove. By doingthe exercise this way, the amount of weight is reduced by about 10-15% while shoulder aggravation isincreased by 50%. Needless to say, I don’t normally press in this manner. It’s always important withdumbbells to work a lift in the most comfortable manner.

One other way to develop dumbbell power is to employ 2-inch dumbbell handles. These are hard tocontrol and they’re tremendous for developing the grip. Mostly, when you go back to standard 1-inchdumbbell handles they feel like mere toys in your hands.

Here are the principles of pressing dumbbells I adhere to:

1. Principles of cleaning and pressing barbells apply. You need an easy clean. If you’re stumbling allover as you rack the dumbbells, or have to muscle them in over the last few inches, your chances ofmaking a maximum single, triple, or even a set of five, are slim.

2. Concentrate on speed when you clean dumbbells. You have to turn the dumbbells over fast whichrequires getting the elbows to move rapidly. Remember, you’re not doing hammer curls.

3. Dumbbell cleans are easier if one uses ‘bells with thin, flat plates. I prefer 12.5s myself, the fewerplates the better. Hexagon-shaped dumbbells are noticeably harder to clean, at least 90s and up.

4. For home training, spiral-lock dumbbells are best. They can be changed quickly, and you neverhave to worry about the collars falling off to cause potential injury.

5. For pressing heavy dumbbells it’s essential to have a solid base. Total-body work comes into playhere as you must maintain tight thighs and hips.

6. When pressing the heaviest dumbbells, I prefer palms facing each other, with elbows facing forwardand angled slightly outward (as opposed to elbows to the sides).

221

7. Keep dumbbells directly over the shoulders and concentrate on driving them straight up, alwaysbeing attentive to prevent the ‘bells from wandering out to the sides.

Now for some comments on dumbbell curls:

I prefer them to a barbell primarily because the hand position can be altered easily to affect the feelon the biceps.

Any noticeable pain can be easily eliminated with a simple change in wrist position. Neither barbellsnor machines provide this unique advantage.

Dumbbells supply almost endless curl variations—alternate curls, one-arm curls, seated curls, etc.

And to finish with, two comments on hammer curls:

They give the forearms fantastic work.

They have a positive effect on the dumbbell clean.

The routineHere’s a sample routine Bob and I think you may enjoy. Substitute similar exercises if you can’t safely dothe ones listed—in particular, the power clean isn’t suitable for everyone.

MondayHeavyhands warm-up—all with 3-pound ‘bells, except for the walk and curl

Shadowboxing: 12 minutesAlternate press: 50 repsWalk and curl: 5 minutesSquat and lateral raise: 50 repsTwo-dumbbell swing: 50 reps

Barbell press70% x 1, 80% x 1, 90% x 1, 100% x 1

One-arm dumbbell press4 reps each arm

Barbell curl70% x 1, 80% x 1, 90% x 1, 100% x 1

Hammer curl4 reps

Squat70% x 1, 80% x 1, 90% x 1, 100% x 1

Dumbbell deadlift4 reps

222

ThursdayHeavyhands warm-up—with 3-pound ‘bells except for squat pulls (see my article in issue #27)

Shadowboxing: 12 minutesTwo-arm dumbbell row: 50 repsHigh pull: 50 repsSquat pulls: 50 pullsDumbbell swing: 50 reps

Barbell row70% x 1, 80% x 1, 90% x 1, 100% x 1

One-arm dumbbell row4 reps each arm

Power clean70% x 1, 80% x 1, 90% x 1, 100% x 1

Dumbbell high pull4 reps

Barbell hack lift70% x 1, 80% x 1, 90% x 1, 100% x 1

Dumbbell hack lift4 reps

Oh your poor muscles! When you begin using two huge mitts full of iron, your muscles are going towake up in a hurry. But don’t feel sorry for them—after they get better they’ll be bigger and stronger.

223

Magnum Opusby Mark Marowitz

I’m a 43-year-old hard gainer. In June 1994, Stuart asked me to relate some of my trainingexperiences, but I had no intention of doing so until I read Eric Bryan’s article in issue #33 ofHARDGAINER. Dr. Ken’s threats to stop disappointing the readers, and instead to allow others tobenefit from my experience, helped to convince me to take pen in hand. Being able to train injuryfree and progressively at the Iron Island Gym, without any aids such as drugs and lifting straps—andwhile keeping Ralph’s and Dr. Ken’s attitude that it’s “man or woman against iron, period”—hasallowed me to achieve a lot more than I thought would ever be possible.

My story meanders, so be patient with me. The story is bigger than me, and is also about the IronIsland Gym and the amazing people there. I would be lost without the generous assistance of RalphRaiola, Dr. Ken and his wife, Kathy, and sons, Greg and Sol, and my excellent friend, Drew Israel.Jamie LaBelle and Frank DeMarco who work there have been supportive. They helped change mylife, and mine is only one story from the gym’s annals.

The beginningFive years ago, I was on the way to my office when I went up the subway stairs and found myself outof breath. My father passed away from a heart attack at the age of 29, so I resolved then and there toimprove my physical condition.

I found the Vertical Club, a glitzy Manhattan club known for its glamorous clientele. It was also nearthe office, clean, and catered to the business person. There were many starlets, politicians, and otherfamous names there, but also, Ralph Raiola, who was director of operations there. He was a little outof place with the chrome and glass lifting area. I imitated the beautiful people to the best of myability, copying the training that I saw.

I asked Ralph what I could do to make gains, but he would laugh, not taking me seriously. “Youwouldn’t do what you have to do,” he said. Finally, he suggested that I look at one of the glossymagazines, in part to stop my pestering. I couldn’t take this pulp fiction too seriously, but I did see anad for something called HARDGAINER, sent for my free copy, loved it, and subscribed. This was thereal deal, especially Dr. Ken’s column. He mentioned in print that Ralph Raiola—the Ralph Raiola Iknew well—was his best lifelong friend, and he also referred to THE STEEL TIP.

Ralph was now in for another round of pestering. “What was Dr. Ken like?” “What kind of trainingdoes he have you do?” “What about THE STEEL TIP?” Ralph was responsible, as the head trainer, for25,000 square feet of gym, and I tagged after him as he taught others and swept clean the indoortrack. He suggested I give Dr. Ted Lambrinides a call, and have him send me the set of THE STEEL TIP,and his own newsletter, HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING. Dr. Ken has a column in there too. Now I wasgetting somewhere except I still had no idea what hard training really was.

Six months later, Dr. Ken took Ralph the thirty miles out of New York City, and the two of them fulfilledtheir adolescent promise to have a gym together.

I’d been at the Vertical Club for two years, had progressed minimally past increasing my social contacts,and at 40 years of age had committed to the self discovery it would take to become bigger and stronger.

224

Getting seriousMy life truly began at 40. I took what I had and began what has been the happiest and most fulfillingpart of my life. I was “blessed” with a narrow chest, long and thin arms tapering to small wrists, andno muscularity to speak of. Dr. Ken talked with me at the gym, and suggested that he train me for awhile—until I understood what was expected of me. This has now stretched to over two years of Dr.Ken’s personal training.

I’d negotiated with many clever men, but never had I met anyone like Dr. Ken. I believed him when hesaid I was really in for it. Just the equipment there would let you know that. The tons of weights,dumbbells, plate-loading and selectorized machines, the power rack that Shaquille O’Neal wouldeasily fit into, homemade weird things, and machines built by Dr. Ken and Jim Sutherland that no oneelse has or has even thought of yet, would let anyone know that this was going to be a seriousendeavor. And anyone with purple equipment you just know doesn’t care about anyone else’sopinion. Usually a gym will boast two or three very strong men, but the Iron Island Gym has at least 20or 30 extraordinarily strong men and women, some who compete in various sports and lifting events,some who don’t but surely could. The inspiration is just great.

The gaining formulaFor all the time I’ve lifted at the Iron Island Gym, I haven’t had the same workout twice. Each isunique, but you in the strength community who train at home shouldn’t despair, because they aresimple—simple programs, simple basic equipment.

When I arrived for my first workout, Doc said I should plan on gaining weight. While my semi-sedentary lifestyle had me fat, I never could put on any muscle weight. When I asked how to gain, Docsaid, “Eat and train.” So I ate. From a quasi-vegetarian, I devoured steak, burgers, bread, potatoes,fruit, vegetables, and the occasional really-high-in-fat soul food that Dr. Ken’s neighborhood offers.(Doc says that ribs, collard greens, macaroni, and pecan pie were the secret ingredients that got hisdeadlift over 600 pounds.) I started to gain weight—some fat as usual but, remarkably, muscle! I wastold that we would deal with the fat later. The theory, in my case anyway, was that I would perhaps eata diet that was higher in fat than usual, but it would be for a short time and, generally, the diet washealthy and low in fat. I eventually gained about 50 pounds.

The trainingMy early training sessions were memorable and, at the same time, forgettable. The jeers and verbalinsults were unbearable. My manhood, sexuality, and anything else you could think of werequestioned again and again. Little did I know at the time, but like many people, I thought I wasmotivated. Ralph and Dr. Ken were going to make sure I was truly motivated. The staff and entire gymmembership stayed on my case for 18 months. My attitude became, “Screw all of you, I’m staying andI will succeed, if only because you don’t think I will.” Of course, this was Dr. Ken’s plan the entire time,only I didn’t realize it then. I didn’t care what they said or thought, and believe me, we’ve got somereally rough guys (and girls) in the gym. Nice people, but definitely not Park Avenue types.

Only Drew Israel stood with me, and had me come to his home to watch him train. He had trained inDr. Ken’s basement for years, and really knew how to train hard. Drew would train in his great homegym until he collapsed, rise as if from the dead, and train some more until he again dropped. Doctaught him well and the results, well, if you saw Drew in person, you’d understand what a living wallwas. I listened for hours on end to Drew about training, stories of Dr. Ken’s basement sessions, and

225

took seriously his encouragement to eat (if you eat with Drew, you would really eat). I can say that,without Drew’s encouragement, I wouldn’t have made it through the early sessions.

All was not well at first. Ken wanted to quit. I wanted to quit. He wanted to throw me out of the gymfor not training hard enough. Sometimes, I wished he would throw me out so I could lay down in theparking lot and be left alone. Between me and Doc’s ulcer, it was an even fight. I wasn’t used to thelevel of concentration demanded of me. Ken would sometimes walk away from me in the middle ofthe set, muttering to himself. The first time I lost control of a bar in a set, he quietly told me that Icould have hurt myself terribly, could have hurt the spotter—which was him—and that if I did it again,he would kill me. I believed him. Then he blew up and stormed off. I found a corner in the locker roombetween the shower stalls and wall, and sat in despair. I would never again allow this to happen. Ralphcame looking for me, laughed heartily, and promised me he would fix things up so that Dr. Ken wouldcontinue to train me.

Two other times when Doc stormed off, Ralph discreetly placed himself between us, walked Doc away,and finished training me. Ralph saved my ass again, and again, always smoothing things over. It wasmeant to be, and with Ralph’s vigilance, Dr. Ken was, one way or the other, going to train me.

Sessions were twice a week for about thirty minutes. I’ve never told Dr. Ken, “I can’t.” He has neverasked me to do something that he honestly believed I couldn’t do, even if he was the only one whoknew that. Our first six weeks got worse and worse. I tried two sets of some movements, one ofothers, 8-10 sets total. No real progress, and Doc was hoarse, hurting, and frustrated. I feared for myphysical safety.

We cut back on the work, week after week, until he found a winning formula. I overtrain very easily. Hedecided to err on the side of severe undertraining. I never knew what I was doing. I would just liftwhat he said to lift. I left the thinking to him. He decided to make up for lost time. He dragged me tothe squat rack and said, “Okay, today you’re a man. Do 100 reps!”

I knew I shouldn’t say anything and I began to squat. I gulped, faced the bar, got under it, and lifted itoff the rack. Ten, twenty, thirty. I was huffing and puffing. “Keep your form, descend under control,”he said. Why am I doing this? I thought. Forty, and not even half way there. The bar was hurting myback and I wanted to bend over under the load. His hand slapped the back of my head. “Big breath,chest up; come on!” Fifty. I could hardly control my breathing; my back and feet were hurting badly.Sixty. “Come on, Mark!” I thought my shoulders and arms were going numb. They were numb. Thebar was slipping down my back. He was cursing, rolling the bar up my back. “You will do this!” hebellowed. Seventy. Everything hurt, hurt badly. I couldn’t hear him anymore. Seventy-one. My handsand shoulders were numb. Seventy-two. I couldn’t breathe. Seventy-three. He again rolled the bar upmy back. Seventy-four, and seventy-five. I fell to one knee. He caught the bar and helped me up andyelled, “Keep going; you’ve come too far!”

Ralph was there. “Let’s go, Mark, do this.” I finished the remaining reps. One hundred squats. Only135 on the bar, but what an accomplishment for me. I don’t remember how I did it. Everything was onfire, and Ken left me lying on the platform as he unloaded the bar. Ralph looked down and laughedthat big hearty laugh of his.

Twenty minutes later, I was still down and couldn’t get comfortable. Another thirty and I shuffled intothe shower. I fell down and lay there. I think people felt sorry for me. I was able to leave the gym 90minutes later, and no one said goodbye.

226

We stayed away from lower body movements for a week, but after more workouts, I would be leftlying where I dropped. I was getting bigger. He would load up the Hammer leg press. “Do forty reps.”I would start and he would go, “Six. Six! Hey, I won’t count them if they’re not perfect reps. Should Iorder lunch, or will this get done today?” My legs would shake. It was like the hundred-rep squats allover again. I became well acquainted with the red vomit buckets that are placed strategically aroundthe gym, mainly next to where the squats, deadlifts and leg presses are done.

Ken taught me the deadlift. My long arms make this a favorite lift. I would leave the deadlift session withbleeding palms and shins, but Doc was careful not to overtrain me on this or anything else. He knewwhen to cut back or back off. Weeks turned into months, and I was making gains and felt stronger.

CompetitionRalph approached me about joining the gym’s powerlifting team, and lifting at the New York StateADFPA (drug-free) Championships. He asked Ken, who replied, “As a team member?” Doc almost felloff his chair. I think he was kidding, though. Ralph took me through an Iron Island “foundationworkout” for powerlifters. Ralph is the best squatting coach around, and I learned. I also did 25 squatsfollowed by 25 deadlifts. We upped the weight and did 15 squats followed immediately by 15deadlifts. Didn’t powerlifters do low reps? We added more weight, and then it was 10 squats and 10deadlifts done back to back. I could ignore the pain and discomfort better, but I was starting to weave.Ralph got the reps out of me. For months, soreness was my constant companion. The “sympathy” I gotfrom Ralph and Dr. Ken was, “Shut up and go lift; don’t worry about being sore.”

I kept eating. Drew taught me to visualize my lifts on the drive out to the gym. I still do this. Gregtaught me to clear my mind five minutes before the start of training. It’s almost like sleep, sittingquietly and focusing. Ken taught Greg well. Have a mind filled with excitement and rage, butnothing else. It works.

When I squatted with 200 pounds, Doc said, “It will be uncomfortable. Anything over 200 isuncomfortable. It’s a given, so don’t worry about it.” I dealt with it. Ralph got me a lifting belt andsuit. I tripled 300 in the deadlift. I think Dr. Ken was happier than I was, as he dragged everyone in thegym over to tell them of my feat. He even called his wife. Ralph wrapped my knees. I tripled 300 inthe squat. I couldn’t believe I could do these things, not when I would be crushed and my form wouldcollapse under 150 pounds not many months before. We spent the summer practicing thecompetition lifts and training hard in our usual manner.

At the contest, I was more than nervous. I’d never lifted in front of anyone except at the Iron IslandGym. Ralph got the entire team around me to wish me luck, and they kept cheering right throughevery lift. We did this for everyone, but I needed it the most. There’s no one like Ralph. He wrappedeveryone, tearing his hands up in the process. He stood on the side of the platform, and yelled for allof us. Drew was cheering, too. I missed my first squat on depth. Typical beginner mistake. Ralph waspatient, and I got to go again. It was fine from there, and hard to believe that I actually was the NewYork State Masters Champion in my weight class. My teammates laughed at my total, but respectedmy victory. I placed in every contest I entered after that, and received a trophy for each one. I hadheart, and I proved it. Ralph and Doc made me prove it.

More time passed, and I made my first 400-pound deadlift. I learned to finish every set I started, atleast doing all I was capable of. I think they wanted me to learn that too.

227

In the spring of 1993, Drew and I drove to Evansville, Indiana, for The Event, and even met DickConner. What a great individual. We went to hear Doc lecture with others, but Doc always encouragesus to lift and compete for the fun of it. So, with close to 16 or 17 hours of driving, no sleep, and onespeeding ticket, we entered the various events. We were called the Iron Island Muscle Mafia by theuniversity president and his wife.

Drew finished first in the bench press. In the deadlift contest, I finished third and Drew fourth (his badlow back locked up and he had to be carried off the platform). To celebrate, Doc made me do 100reps in the deadlift when I returned for my first workout. He was making the most of my abundantslow-twitch fibers. I entered one more meet and came to appreciate that, at the Iron Island Gym, it’sthe effort, not the weight, that everyone respects.

Change of directionI went to California to relax. I missed the gym and my friends, but I was being pulled in anotherdirection, one that I finally had the confidence to pursue. I decided to study martial arts. Why not? Atmy age, I’d proven I could do many things I never thought possible. Doc had said that would be oneof the many benefits from training properly.

I’ve been studying Ju Jitsu with Grandmaster Moses Powell, in Brooklyn, the Dr. Ken of martial artists.We still train at the gym, but the emphasis is now on maintaining my bodyweight (at 185-190), stayingstrong for the martial arts, and flexible. I think, for my age, I’m quick, agile, and strong. There’snothing that someone my junior can do that I can’t. I tumble and fly all over the dojo. I’m 10 or 20pounds heavier now than when I came to Iron Island, but have probably gained 35 pounds of muscle.

Thank you, Dr. Ken, for everything. Thanks for the 50- and 60-rep squat sets and the unusual thingswe do to improve punching power. While Doc rarely flattens me any longer, my workouts areaggressive. My form and concentration are good, and most workouts now end with, “Good job,Mark.” I’m mastering the rhythms of high-rep schemes, finishing sets quicker and with fewer breathsbetween sets. Doc talks about things like this all the time, and while he thinks he’s boring, he sure hasa lot of information we all could use. Ralph, too.

In almost three years, I think I’ve become a fair-to-good trainee. Consistency and patience are thekeys. Hard gainers, don’t get hung up on the numbers. Just train hard, get enough rest, and trainconsistently. I’m yours in safe and intensive training.

228

229

Concentrate!by Brooks D. Kubik

The ability to concentrate when you train is critical to your success. Why? Because it’s the glue thatholds everything else together.

When you go to the gym, you go there to train. You don’t go there to socialize.

When you perform any set of any exercise, you’re doing something that has a specific purpose. Ifyou’re doing a warm-up set, the purpose of your exertions is to prepare yourself, mentally andphysically, for the heavier set or sets that follow. You also are priming the motor pathways of thenervous system, to allow your body to work in perfect form once you begin to pile weight on the bar.

If you’re doing a heavy set, your goal is to meet or exceed the number of reps you’ve targeted toachieve with that particular poundage in that specific training session. You’re not merely performing 4sets of 8, or 5 sets of 5 simply because that’s what’s scheduled in your training program. Every set hasa definite purpose, and when you perform a set, the achievement of its purpose should be the solefocus of your attention.

Each rep has its own unique purpose. Remember, a set is nothing but a series of reps. In any set ofmultiple reps, the initial reps—the relatively easy ones—must be completed in perfect form. They helpyou maintain that all-critical form during the final rep or reps of the set—the ones where the bar feelslike it’s going to drive you through the floor, and it takes every bit of determination you possess tomeet the targeted number of reps while maintaining proper form. The very final reps, the incrediblyhard ones, serve a different purpose—that of triggering increases in muscle size and strength.

Whenever you go to the gym, you must go with a sense of purpose. You must know exactly what youplan to do. The exercises, weights, sets and reps—all must be selected in advance. Everything you domust be pre-determined.

All of this requires concentration. If there’s any sort of training “secret” I can offer you, it’s this—thesecret of concentration. Developing the ability to concentrate when you go to the gym is one of thekeys to success for a hard gainer. If you develop this ability, you’re guaranteed to succeed. If you failto develop this ability, your results will be far less than you desire.

And don’t think this is some sort of mumbo-jumbo or the brainchild of an arm-chair theorizer. In myown case, the ability to train or compete in a state of deep, focused, almost hypnotic intensity—astate of total concentration—has led to national championships and national records in drug-freepowerlifting competition. This stuff really works—more than anything else I know. Parts of what followmay seem a little strange or esoteric, but the system works.

Fortunately, the ability to concentrate isn’t an innate gift. Anyone who is able to read this magazinecan develop the ability to concentrate during his or her training sessions. All it requires is desire,focused effort, and the implementation of a systematic approach to concentration. The system I useand teach involves the ten elements detailed below. If you study these elements, and work hard toimplement them in your training, you’ll develop the ability to concentrate like a master within 15 to 20workouts. This may sound like a lot of work with little in the way of tangible rewards, but let me assure

230

you that developing the ability to concentrate will do more for your progress than anything moneycould buy, and that includes all the designer supplements, the gimmicky training devices, the latestexercise machines, and all the super-duper training programs ever invented.

#1: GoalsThe ability to concentrate begins with the formation of clearly-defined training goals. You mustdetermine exactly what it is that you wish to achieve from your training. Your goals should be statedas clearly and specifically as possible. Don’t merely decide “I want to get stronger,” or, “I want todevelop a good physique.” Those are general goals, not specific ones. Instead of deciding you wantto “get stronger,” decide, for example, that you want to develop the ability to bench 300 pounds,squat 400 and deadlift 500, all for one rep in good form, with no training aids other than a lifting belt.Instead of deciding you want to develop “a good build,” take your wrist measurement and determinedevelopment girths for your body structure according to Stuart’s discussion of this on pages 31-32 ofBRAWN. Then set a goal of achieving these girths.

The goals detailed in the previous paragraph are long-term goals. Long-term goals are criticallyimportant to your training success. Equally important, however, are short-term goals. An example of ashort-term goal is the desire to add 20 pounds to your maximum bench press during the course of a12-week training cycle. Another example of a short-term goal is the goal of adding one pound perweek to your bench press poundage during the heavy portion of a training cycle. For those of youinterested in measurements, a short-term goal might be putting half an inch of muscle on your upperarms during the course of a 12-week specialization program. This is in contrast to a long-term goal ofeventually building a 16-inch or 17-inch upper arm.

Goals are an aid to concentration because they focus your attention on what you’re trying to achieve.It’s much easier to develop the ability to concentrate on your training if you go to the gym with adefinite idea of your short-term and long-term goals. If you go to the gym with nothing more than ageneral idea that you want to get bigger and stronger, there’s a much greater tendency for the mindto wander. Your mind is like a locomotive engine. It needs a track to run upon or else it will roamhelter-skelter across the countryside. Your long-term and short-term goals are the track upon whichyour mental engine must run.

#2: Your training journalStuart keeps a training journal. Mike Thompson keeps a training journal, and I keep one, too. Weneed a journal. So do you. I mean every one of you. Developing the ability to concentrate in yourtraining sessions without keeping a training journal is a little like cooking bacon and eggs for breakfastwithout having any eggs in the house.

Your training journal ties in to your short-term goals. Before you go to the gym, you need to reviewexactly what you did during your previous training session. This tells you what you’re capable of doingthe next time you visit the gym. Your short-term goal will be to exceed what you accomplished in theprevious training session. For example, if you handled 200 pounds for 3 sets of 5 reps in the benchpress when you trained your chest last Monday, your goal will be to add one or two pounds to the barand still perform 3 sets of 5 reps. If you get only 4 reps on your final set, then the goal in your nextbench workout will be to use the same weight but get 5 reps in all 3 sets.

Your training diary also allows you to compete with yourself from year to year. Here’s an example: I dopower rack bench presses from different heights. I also do them with three different grips: wide,medium, and narrow. Obviously, I can’t do all heights and all grips during the course of any one

231

workout. What I typically do is work one style for a particular training cycle and then switch to anotherin the following cycle. This means, for example, that it may be six months or more between cycles of“close-grip bench presses beginning with the bar at chest height.” Given the passage of so muchtime, I’ve no way of remembering what weights I used when I started my training cycle the last time Idid the exercise in that fashion, or how my progress went. Using my training journal allows me tocompete by comparing myself with that previous cycle, rep for rep, and pound for pound. Without atraining diary to guide me, I would have no way of remembering my previous best in this style ofperformance, and no idea what weights and reps to shoot for.

#3: Pre-training focusTo be most effective, your concentration needs to begin 30 to 60 minutes before you even set foot inthe gym. If you concentrate on your workout only after you reach the gym, you’re selling yourselfshort. The better approach is to start thinking about your workout long before you arrive at the gym.Take your training diary, review it, and write out the exercises, reps and sets that you’re scheduled toperform during the coming training session. Think about your workout. If you drive to the gym, turnoff your car radio or change to a music channel—you don’t need to be distracted by some talk showor babbling newscaster. If you can, drive over by yourself. No need to be impolite, but conversation atthis stage of the game is against doctor’s orders.

As you travel to the gym, mentally review the exercises, poundages, sets and reps you’ll performduring your training session. Pretend you have a movie projector running in the center of yourimagination. The feature is your upcoming workout. Picture the gym, the equipment, the loaded bars,and, as the star of the film, yourself. Watch yourself perform the scheduled sets and reps. Focus on thelittle things—the details. Imagine the way the bar feels when you grip it. Smell the sweat, stale air, andliniment. Imagine the way your abs push against your training belt as you tighten it for a heavy set ofsquats. Feel the sweat trickling down your face as you grind your way through a heavy set of deadlifts.

By the time you get to the gym, you’ll have experienced your training session several times. You’ll knowexactly what you’re to do, and how you’re to do it. There will be no questions in your mind, becauseyou’ll have reviewed a video history of what’s about to transpire. You also will feel an enormous sense ofconfidence. You won’t wonder whether or not you’ll be able to hit three sets of five with 300 pounds inthe squat, for example—you’ve already seen yourself manage the feat several times.

For those who train at home, the principle is the same. All you need is 20 or 30 minutes withoutdistraction in order to mentally rehearse your training session. If family or friends are too distracting atyour house, walk around the block and do your visualization that way. This also serves as a mildaerobic warm-up. If it’s the middle of winter, and there’s snow on the ground, go to your trainingquarters and do 20 or 30 minutes of light aerobic work followed by light stretching before you hit theweights. Use this time primarily as an opportunity to mentally rehearse the upcoming battle with theiron.

#4: Warm-up setsIf you’re a regular reader, you know that I favor training systems that involve several progressivelyheavier warm-up sets prior to the performance of the one or more heavy sets of any particularexercise. For example, I often recommend the 5 x 5 training system, where you do 2 progressivelyheavier warm-up sets of 5 reps, and then do 3 sets of 5 with your top weight. (Or do 3 warm-up setsand 2 heavy sets; or 4 warm-ups and a single heavy set.) One of the reasons I favor this system is thatit allows you to develop the ability to concentrate to the maximum degree. You do this by practicingthe art of concentration during your warm-up sets.

232

Using a maximum weight for a given number of reps in any set is very taxing. It’s painful work. Thesheer weight of the bar alone can be a distraction. So can the pain. If you tend to forget aboutconcentration during your warm-up sets and then try to concentrate “out of the blue” when theweight is at its heaviest, and distraction is greatest, you’re doing yourself a grave disservice.

A far better approach is to use intense, focused concentration on each rep of every set you perform,including the warm-up sets. Remember, concentration and proper exercise form go together. Youneed to concentrate on what you’re doing in order to maintain proper form. If you perform yourwarm-up sets in letter-perfect form, it’s much easier to maintain your form when there’s a maximumweight on the bar. The same is true of the art of concentration. If you concentrate as you perform yourwarm-up sets, maintaining your concentration and focus during a heavy set is much easier.

My mentor, Bradley J. Steiner, often wrote about the importance of concentration in training. Hesometimes said you needed to “think into your muscles” as you performed a particular exercise.Other times he said you needed to “become the muscle” that you’re exercising. This concept isdifficult to describe, but you really need to give it a try. Trial and error will teach you what we mean.But you need to do this on every set you perform. You can develop the ability to “become yourbiceps” much more easily when you’re doing a warm-up set with 80 pounds than when you’re guttingout five reps with 120 pounds, for example. As in most other endeavors, the principle of repetition iscritical to your success. The more you concentrate, the better you’ll become at it. Any set performedwithout maximum focus and intense mental concentration is a wasted opportunity to further developyour powers of concentration. In contrast, any set you perform with maximum focus, even if it’s awarm-up set, will be a significant step on the road to training success.

#5: The no-talking ruleI always train alone. Those with a training partner need to impose the “no-talking rule.”

This rule applies to anybody who is beginning to concentrate or focus upon an upcoming set. The ruleis simply this: Any lifter who is beginning to focus on an upcoming set needs to be given theopportunity to do so in complete silence. If the training partners know from experience that a word ortwo of encouragement is beneficial, then words of encouragement are permitted. Other than this, thetraining partners aren’t allowed to talk to the lifter, and in no circumstances are the training partnersallowed to stand around “shooting the breeze.” Talking about politics, girls, movies, or any othertopic of chatter is strictly forbidden. The gym is a serious place. It doesn’t have to be a silent place,but it needs to be treated as “sacred ground.” Chitchat belongs in other venues.

Any training partner who talks to you during the middle of a set, even a warm-up set, has ruined anopportunity to advance a step on the road of self-actualization. Tell him not to do it again. If he persists,find another training partner. This may seem unsociable, but weight training is a serious endeavor, andyou need to surround yourself with serious people. So-called “friends” who can’t keep quiet during atraining session will poison your progress, and bring a halt to any hope of impressive gains.

#6: More mental rehearsalImmediately before each set you perform, use an abbreviated form of the pre-workout mentalrehearsal technique. Take at least 30 seconds before you begin your set (including warm-ups) and gooff by yourself—close your eyes, breathe deeply and rhythmically, shut out all sounds and alldistractions, and visualize the performance of the coming set. Begin with a mental image of yourselfas you approach the bar. Watch yourself get into position. Experience the feelings, smells, noises and

233

sensations as you perform the set. Perform the same number of reps you’ll perform in real life. Pausebetween reps, just as you would in real life. Make the sequence as authentic as possible.

As you become better at this technique, fine tune it to increase your ability to concentrate. One wayto do this is to employ what I call the “tunnel vision” technique. Begin your mental movie by watchingyourself stand at one end of a long, narrow corridor. The barbell is at the other end of the corridor.Nothing else exists in the entire universe. There’s only you, the corridor, and the barbell. As you walktoward the barbell, the walls of the corridor narrow, mimicking the focus with which you’ll bring yourconcentration to a level of pinpoint intensity. As you grasp the bar, the walls of the tunnel close in,fold into themselves and disappear. There’s nothing left but you and the bar. Now begin the set.

Strange as it seems, this technique will work wonders for your ability to eliminate distractions andconcentrate entirely, exclusively and totally on whatever exercise you’re doing when it’s actually timeto begin your set. This is particularly true if you do your mental rehearsal 10 or 20 feet away from thebar, so that the second the movie goes off you can begin walking towards the bar—mimicking themovie sequence where you’re walking down the isolated corridor.

#7: Switching it onAnother trick that sounds strange but works wonders is what I refer to as a “pre-set activator.”Imagine that your powers of concentration can be switched on or off exactly the same as you switchon a light when you enter a room. Your pre-set activator is the mental equivalent of flipping the switchto the on position. It can be any sort of physical or verbal command you wish to use. You can say(either silently or out loud) “go” or “on.” You can clap your hands. You can do something a little moreritualistic if you wish: slap your left shoulder, slap your right shoulder, clap your hands, and say “go.”You can cross yourself if you’re religious.

I like to tap my forehead with my right hand—always three times. Don’t ask me why I do this, I just do.It has no purpose at all other than serving as my personal means of “switching on” the power ofconcentration. Once the switch goes on, you could fire a gun in the air and I wouldn’t hear it.

For best results, combine the “switching it on” technique with the pre-set visualization of element #6.Include whatever it is you do as a pre-set activator in the beginning sequence of your mental movie.This sounds a little crazy, but it’s a terrific way of enhancing the remarkable benefits of both of thesesubtle performance enhancers.

#8: Focused concentration in a setImmediately after your pre-set activator, begin to move toward the bar. Look directly at the bar. It’scritical that your gaze be focused directly on the bar to the total exclusion of anything and everythingelse in the world. The entire universe should boil down to a single point of reference—the barbell.Visually, things should be exactly the same as if you were in a long, narrow corridor with bare walls,striding purposefully toward the barbell.

When you reach the bar, close your eyes, summon all of your determination, focus and mental energy,take a deep breath, assume the correct position for whatever exercise it is that you’re doing, and thenbegin your set. At this point, it doesn’t really matter if your eyes are open or shut. In either case, youreally shouldn’t be able to see anything at all. If you’re looking in a mirror, it should be as thoughyou’re not actually watching yourself, but rather, as though you’re standing outside of your bodywatching it go through the motions of the particular exercise you’re doing. If you don’t use a mirror,you should be literally blind to your surroundings.

234

Your entire focus should be on the performance of the exercise. Pay attention to your body’sfeedback. Your muscles constantly send signals to you. Are you on target as you perform each rep?Are you “in the groove”? Your body knows, even if you don’t. Listen to your body!

You should count reps, but should do so almost automatically, without diverting your attention fromthe performance of the reps. As you approach the end of the set and the reps get harder and harder,your brain should be flashing an urgent signal over and over—push, push, PUSH, PUSH! It’s exactlythe same as if there was a physical link between your determination to complete the required numberof reps in a set, and the muscles that are moving the bar. You want the link between yourdetermination and your muscles to be crowded with messages telling the muscles to give all that theyhave got. As you reach the sticking point of the final rep of the set, your mind should literallybombard the muscles with repeated messages urging the bar upward.

#9: Taking it rep by repIf you’re doing multiple reps in a set, break each one down and make it stand entirely on its own as faras your concentration goes. Don’t worry about performing the next rep. The next rep will always takecare of itself. Focus entirely on the rep you’re actually performing. Feel the muscles working all theway up and all the way down. As I mentioned earlier, try to “become” your muscles.

Too many people rush their reps in order to complete a set as quickly as possible. This is the oppositeof what you want to do. You need to make each rep as productive as possible. For all practicalpurposes, each rep you perform becomes an entire workout unto itself. This doesn’t mean that youraise and lower at some artificially predetermined speed. It does mean that you give each rep youperform your undivided attention. Remember, no matter what you do you’ll never have anotheropportunity to perform that repetition. You only have one opportunity to do it right. Take advantageof it. Make the most of it. Perform each rep as though it were the last that you would ever perform.

#10: Cycling and the success habitEarlier in this article I discussed the importance of performing all of your sets, including your warm-upsets, with the same focused concentration with which you would approach your hardest, heaviest setof the day. This is an example of what I refer to as the proper use of the “success habit.” If you’re ableto successfully concentrate on the performance of the lighter, warm-up sets, then you dramaticallyincrease your ability to concentrate properly during the performance of your heaviest, hardest set.

Cycling programs enhance this process. During the first portion of a training cycle you should useweights that are well within your existing capabilities. Over time, you gradually build up to weightsthat require a maximum effort. During the building up process you should always be able to meet thenumber of reps targeted for any particular exercise in any given training session. You should be ableto give each set the focus and concentration I’ve described throughout this article. All of this willdevelop a significant sense of self-confidence. When you get to the more difficult stage of yourtraining cycle, you’ll approach each heavy set with a firm belief in your ability to meet or exceed thetargeted number of reps for a particular exercise on that particular day. You also will have fullconfidence in your ability to give undivided and absolute mental focus to each rep you perform.

Make the most of your next training cycle. Work at developing not only your physical abilitiesthroughout the course of the cycle but, in addition, your mental abilities.

235

Chiropracticby Dr. R. Keith Hartman

Old businessA reader inquired about the results, if any, of a proposed study I mentioned in a previous column. Itwas postulated that masters lifters would have less degenerative joint disease in the low-back areacompared to their peer group, because of the former’s regular routine of squatting and deadlifting.

As background information, degenerative joint disease in the discs of the lumbar spine (low back), is,generally speaking, a condition that shows on X-rays as a thinning or reduction of the disc spacebetween the vertebrae of the low back—usually between L4-L5 and L5-S1, i.e., fourth and fifth lumbarvertebrae, and fifth lumbar and first sacral vertebra. This is frequently found in the general populationin people over 40 years of age, especially in the over-50, over-60 and over-70 groups.

When we squat, deadlift or bear any kind of weight in a vertical plane on the spine, the discs don’t getthinner. Instead, they imbibe water from the tissue around them, so that the discs are the same sizeeven though they are being “squeezed” by the pressure of the weight being brought to bear onthem. When the load is removed, the water leaves these disc tissues. So, the distance between thevertebrae remains the same either under load or at normal non-stressed conditions. It was postulatedthat this pumping action on a regular basis was very good for the health and maintenance of disctissue integrity.

I was really excited about the potential of this study since the obvious benefits of regular weighttraining with free weights—and most particularly the squat and the deadlift—might be proven toimprove spinal health in the older adult.

The drawback, and ultimately the damning factor of this proposed study, was the need to establishand track films (X-rays) of participants and control group subjects. Since most people don’t have X-rays of their spine unless symptomatology presents itself, subjects and data were very hard to comeby. At this writing I can’t find information regarding the funding, or actual evidence that the study hastaken place. This is a shame, because I feel that the hypothesis it would have been based on is valid.

Youth trainingHerbert Hilsen wrote in and reflected on what has been stated in this column about the potential forpermanent injury to the spine by putting weight on a very young man’s back, and to squat longbefore the vertebrae are hard enough or formed sufficiently enough from cartilage to bone. Heoverlays this accepted information with his particular interest of training, without injury, potentialOlympic-style lifters early enough in their development to begin to gain strength, flexibility, andcorrect neuromuscular motor pathways. His question is complicated by the press information thegeneral public has received that prior to the break up of the Soviet Union, trainers and coaches inBulgaria and Russia were identifying and training their lifters at a very early age. So, the question is,how do they do this without damaging their young people, and achieve incredible results? Nostunted or distorted physiques appear on the lifting platform wearing these nations’ colors.

I deferred this subject to a man I’ve trained with and around for the nine years I’ve been in practiceand residing in Cary, North Carolina. Lee James was, in the minds of many Olympic-liftingaficionados’ minds, the only odds-on American favorite to beat the Russians, after his silver medal in

236

the 1976 Olympics. The US boycott of the 1980 Olympics ended that possibility. We both train atthe Powerhouse Fitness Center in Raleigh.

Here are Lee’s comments:

Dr. Hartman referred your letter to me since I was at one time an Olympic lifter, and still train today.

I agree with both Dr. Hartman and yourself that much damage to joints and soft tissues can bedone when improper weight training is incorporated into a youth’s activities. Again, as you statedin your letter, the bones aren’t fully formed until young adulthood; and considerable damage couldbe done to the joints and spine. In addition, the muscles can develop at a faster rate than thetendons and ligaments can safely handle, and serious soft-tissue injury could occur that wouldcarry over into adulthood.

I’ve read about the training methods of the Russians and Bulgarians, but I haven’t concentrated on thetraining of the youth other than their testing to determine predisposition to perform well at a certainsport. I believe you answered your own question when you wondered if the Russian and Bulgarianyouth training may take a much milder form of physical activity such as calisthenics.

When I was in the (then) Soviet Union in 1974, I met some of the youth trainers who statedspecifically that they did train their youth in explosive movements, and flexibility. This may take theform of broad jumps, jumping for height, sprints, shot put, etc. In addition, they did train theOlympic lifts, concentrating on technique. After all, the technique of the jump is very close to theOlympic pulling movement.

I do believe in some bodybuilding-type movements for youth interested in Olympic lifting, but onlyfor the purposes of strengthening the entire body. Caution should be taken, however, to stress onlyfull movements, and flexibility. One should already be doing some exercises which duplicate theproper Olympic pull, since technique is the highest priority in youth training.

I must also take some exception with the statement that we can’t become more flexible in youngadulthood. I know of numerous instances where adults have become more flexible than they were intheir youth, when a sensible stretching program was incorporate into their daily training regimen.

Early-morning trainingHerbert also had comments and questions regarding early-morning training, what to eat prior to it,and what kind of response and results I thought could be achieved.

My experiences here are nothing but positive. Until about March 1994, I’d been training in the mid-afternoon, from three until five. I changed my office hours and now I get up at 3.30 am in order totrain four days a week. My routine follows this course: After rising, I prepare some lemon tea followedby two cups of coffee during which time I do light stretching exercises and then ice my lower back for30 minutes. I use this half-hour time space for my morning spiritual meditation in preparation for theday. After meditation, while I’m getting dressed, I eat one banana and begin drinking water.

I arrive at the gym usually around 5.15 am. I hit the floor five minutes later, cycle for five minutes,stretch some more, and hit it. My workouts are very productive and I don’t feel weak unless I haven’tslept sufficiently. I must say that the rest factor usually plays a more important role toward the middleof the afternoon than during my training.

237

After the workout, and I mean immediately after it, I eat another banana and continue drinking water.I’m consuming water all during the workout and by the time I arrive back at my apartment I’veconsumed half a gallon of water. I shower, eat breakfast and hit the office by 9 am. As I said, I reallydon’t have any energy lag until around three or four in the afternoon, and that doesn’t happen daily.Of course, I’m in the sack by 9.30 or 10 pm at the latest. So, for me, early-morning training works.

Lee James had some comments too on early-morning training: “I too train in the mornings and,frankly, I find it better. I have a high-stress job, and get more out of my training when I train in themornings before anyone has the opportunity to mess the day up. I’m mentally fresher in the morningsthan in the afternoons or evenings after having a day at work.”

HydrationIt has recently been determined that the average male at rest requires 1.2 liters of water to hydrate thesystem sufficiently for all organs to function normally. Have that guy get up and move around normally,and the requirement doubles to 2.4 liters. If our man is walking around in 90+% humidity, the figurebecomes 4.8 liters. Add the variable of possibly working construction during the day, or welding, andcycling or jogging after work, and then 8-10 liters of water per day becomes the amount necessary tokeep our man hydrated. Here’s how to be sure you’re fully hydrated at the end of a day:

When you’ve completed your day’s activities, drink water slowly, a glass at a time, until you void. Thencontinue to drink water until you void a second time. You should then be fully hydrated. This is a time-tested way of judging rehydration, used by some special military outfits who do a lot of their work inarid climates. After then, if you want a brew, help yourself. Coffee, tea, beer, sodas and juices can befigured in, but you must bear in mind that caffeine and alcohol are diuretic and cause you to losewater. Most juices don’t create negatives when it comes to total liquid consumption.

I use this double-voiding method after weigh-in at meets, because I’m usually partially dehydratedfrom sauna and diet changes that draw water out of my system.

If you don’t go to bed fully hydrated, it’s too late to get up the next morning and hope to be fullyhydrated by the time you get to work. Drinking fluids all day will keep you even, maybe, but you mustrehydrate in the evening. Many of my patients who begin hydrating themselves properly, initiallycomplain of the increased frequency of urination. That minor inconvenience is no price to pay at all forthe beneficial effects of full hydration, whether you’re competing or working. No cotton-mouth thirst,and a clear head. It feels good.

238

239

ForumEdited by Stuart McRobert

In reply, by Greg PickettI must comment on the article by Eric Bryan in HARDGAINER issue #33. I admit that I’m not a hardgainer in the very strictest sense. Although I’m short-limbed, I disagree with Mr. Bryan’s statementsthat, “A stocky, relatively short-limbed lifter isn’t likely to be a hard gainer” and, “HARDGAINER is theplace where many of the misfits have come—the weight-training laughingstocks, the discarded.”

With regard to the short-limbed lifter, such a lifter may have terrific power potential in the squat andthe bench press. In my own case, I’ve always had trouble with the bench press, even with short arms.Even with a 300+ bench press, I consider myself a poor bencher because my torso thickness wouldindicate a much higher (400-pound) lift. Am I a hard gainer on this lift? You’d better believe it! Thereare several HARDGAINER authors who are capable of outlifting me on the bench press (and by quitea bit, I may add). I don’t feel, however, that these men have nothing to contribute even though theyare genetically “set up” as superior pressers. I’m inspired by their examples; I don’t dismiss them ashaving nothing to contribute.

The deadlift is an example of an obstacle a short-limbed lifter must overcome. My article inHARDGAINER issue #31 shows how I worked to improve the deadlift in spite of structuraldisadvantages for this lift—a relatively long torso and short arms. Just because a lifter is stockydoesn’t mean that he’ll have zero hard-gainer traits.

HARDGAINER isn’t only a place where many of the weight-training world’s discarded have come, butalso a place where those who are genetically average have come for the truth on proper training. Inmy own case, until I was introduced to HARDGAINER, at a NASA powerlifting meet in November1992, I thought that advanced training had to consist of the potpourri of trash that filled most musclemagazines each month. After reading articles by Kubik, Thompson, McRobert and Temple, I realizedthat advanced training can be abbreviated but highly productive.

A final point: As Mr. Bryan states, being drug-free doesn’t qualify one as a hard gainer. I agree. Buttaking this a step further, it’s possible that the sensible advice given in HARDGAINER can keep thedrug-free, above-average trainee from crossing the dangerous line to steroid use.

On another matter, I know that Brooks has submitted an article on concentration. Concentration hasalways been an important part of my training. In my early days of training, those I trained with alwaysjoked about my insistence on quiet (with the exception of the grunts and groans of training), i.e., verylimited talking while lifting. To me, training is to be taken seriously if you want gains in size and power.My mind must not be distracted by anything if I’m to get the most out of every session. This is a majorreason why, in 1990, I switched training quarters from a local big-name gym, to my basement.

The importance of concentration was rammed home by two recent training sessions. I’ve begun doingrest-pause curls after some discussions with Brooks Kubik. (Brooks, and Mike Thompson, have had astrong influence on my training in the past year or so.) In my first rest-pause curl session, I did foursingles with 140 pounds, with two minutes between singles. Then I was distracted by a family-relatedmatter for several minutes, after which I attempted a fifth single, and missed it badly.

240

After six days of rest, I again did rest-pause curls. With 140.5 pounds (love those small discs) I did sixstrict singles, again with two minutes rest between lifts. There were no distractions this time. Myability to do two more reps with half a pound more was, in my opinion, due to an undisturbedtraining environment. Concentration isn’t just important, it’s critical.

Discipline, by Bill HinbernOf all the qualities necessary for your success in weight training, discipline has got to be the mostimportant. Why? Simply because it’s one of those qualities that gets things done. Just look at anyonearound you who is good at what he or she does, and you’ll observe someone who is disciplined.

If you think you just can’t be that way, you’re only kidding yourself. You can learn discipline. In fact, theLatin root of the word discipline is “to learn.” So let’s try and learn how to develop it.

What’s the best way to get started? You can adopt a role model. This can be a disciplined friend ormember of your family. If you’re fortunate and are close to this person, maybe you can ask for a fewtips, much the same way that you would ask a fellow trainee or authority about training routines.Otherwise, you can just observe how your role model operates, and begin to emulate that behavior.

Your role model will probably tell you that he’s driven by purpose, values, and short- and long-termgoals. Discipline is related to the word disciple—a person devoted to a set of values or beliefs. It’spossible to maintain discipline without purpose, but it’s a hollow and mechanical skill if is serves nogreater purpose.

Think of the ancient monks who spent their days copying manuscripts by hand. Day after day they saton hard benches in dark, damp monasteries, writing word after painstaking word until they hadcopied one book. Then they started all over again.

What makes people go on under these circumstances? Well, the monks no doubt believed theywere copying those books for the greater glory of God and the advancement of human knowledge.On a more mundane level, copying books was probably easier than manual labor, and it providedsteady work with room and board. Reasons for discipline don’t have to be grand, as long as theykeep you going.

Rewards are as important as goals. When you’re wavering, remind yourself what you’ll get if you stickto your training—look better, more strength, improve at your favorite sport, better health, etc.

What else can we learn from disciplined people?

1. They’re consistent. Consistency is almost a synonym for discipline. Doing something once has littlemeaning compared to doing something over and over, as many times as it needs to be done. It’sthe difference between the amateur and the professional.

2. They’re organized. At any given moment, they know what they’re doing and what they have to donext to reach their goal.

3. They’re focused. Once they’ve developed their goals, they don’t take their eyes off them. You mayadmire their ability to concentrate on a task, and their insistence on sticking to business, no matterwhat the distractions.

241

4. They don’t try to do everything. Surprised? Disciplined people may seem to do everything, becausethey accomplish so much. But they are able to set priorities. They are wise enough to know thattrying to do everything would distract them from attaining their goals.

5. They’re committed. You won’t find a disciplined person drifting away from a task, getting bored,losing interest. Disciplined people stick with it through the boring parts, because one of their aimsis to achieve mastery and skill.

6. They’re resourceful. They are smart enough to know there’s always another way around an obstacle,and they find it. Whatever it takes!

7. They’re optimists. They remain positive-minded enough to find solutions that others may not see.

8. They keep on keepin’ on. When everyone else has given up, disciplined people do what needs to bedone. That’s because doing has become a habit for them. When all else fails, they rely on that habit.

ValidationMany of us got good advice right from the start of our training, but because it seemed too simple tobe true, and because the hyped-up distractions and alternatives were so appealing, we got confusedand misled. Here’s how a new subscriber succinctly put it, although be aware that many hard gainerswill gain more from the bent-legged deadlift than the squat.

After following the training routines of the genetic mega-superiors for 17 solid years—with littlebenefit—I’ve found your work only to validate what I was told by an Iron Game old timer when I firststarted to train seriously, in 1977. He advised, “Stick to the very basic exercises for each body part,drink lots of milk, squat religiously, spend more time at the beach, and less time in the gym.”

Did I get off the track! Thanks for getting me back on the road to reality.

Seeing the light, by Dean HileyBefore I made the decision to add your book to my otherwise useless but extensive library ofbodybuilding literature, I’d spent the best part of 15 years front raising and dumbbell flying my waythrough non-productive routines.

I’ve spent many years in further and adult education whilst holding down a skilled job. But inhindsight, I can hardly believe just how dense I’ve been with regard to my training.

I knew the first time I thumbed through BRAWN that this was going to be the gem in my library, andthe other books would remain forever shut and ignored. By the time I’d reached the third chapter I’dsent off my subscription for HARDGAINER, and quickly found my place in this sport—home at last.

Now, it’s as if I’m a rank beginner again, and have to study the truth of drug-free bodybuilding. Withmy newly-acquired power rack in my garage in a quiet suburb of Plymouth, England, I feel born again.

I train alone and always have done, and came to terms with the difficulties long ago, but now feel astrong helping hand from you and your colleagues.

I find it incredible to believe that during those long years I never understood the reasons or recognizedthe symptoms of overtraining. The never-ending repetition of the errors of too much and too often.

242

The countless times I would eagerly start a new routine, only to run out of steam a few weeks later, andbe forced to stop while I devised another unproductive routine. It never occurred to me that I mustreduce my sets and concentrate on the big movements. The closest I came to a productive routineduring those years was when I used a Platz power routine, but even that was too much.

Now, at the age of 34, I no longer give up after a few weeks. Instead, I can milk a cycle for all it’sworth, savoring the gains that come. The benefits to my training, and indeed the whole spectrum ofmy life, have been enormous, and I wish, like yourself, I’d found in my teenage years the truth behindproductive training.

243

244

Chapter 10Editorial, by Stuart McRobert 543Not just bigger and stronger. How to add life to your years, and perhaps years to your life.

Form and Technique: The Deadlift, by Brooks D. Kubik 544The 10 components of how to deadlift with correct technique.

The White Moment, by John Christy 552How to train aggressively and intensively.

Asking Dr. Ken, by Dr. Ken E. Leistner 555Farmer’s walk; training for rugby; training variety; iso-lateral training; squat substitutes.

From Experience, by Dick Conner 559Neck work; squat alternative (“handle squat”).

The Quarter-Ton Hacklift: Strong at Last, by Eric Bryan 560Barbell hacklift; single-rep chin-ups.

Training the Old-Fashioned Way, by Bob Whelan 566No-bull high-intensity training, and a training routine.

How Not to Wreck Your Lower Back, by Stuart McRobert 569Forty points to apply in order to keep a healthy lower back.

From the Grassroots, by John Leschinski 574How to set up your own home-gym: a real-life detailed account.

Factors of Success, by Wesley Silveira 577Eleven factors to implement for bodybuilding and strength-training success.

The Odds for a Super Physique, by John McKean 581Odd lifts including the incline bench press, bent-arm pullover, parallel bar dip, pullover,reverse curl, and weighted push-up.

High-Intensity Workouts at Home, by Drew Israel 586Training flat out at Drew’s home-gym.

Chiropractic, by Dr. R. Keith Hartman 589How to find chiropractic help; bursitis and tendinitis; sternum noises; death of Dr. Hartman.

Forum, edited by Stuart McRobert 592Kettlebell handles; split routine for hard gainers; nutrition tips; 12 weeks of gains.

542

EDITORIALNot just bigger and strongerby Stuart McRobert

While our primary mission is the provision of practical and productive bodybuilding and strength-building information for drug-free typical trainees, there’s much more to training than that.

I’m all for big and strong muscles. They have dominated much of my life. But being totally focused onthem can lead to neglect of factors central to long-term well-being. There’s much more to lookinggood, feeling great and being healthy than having big, strong muscles.

Always being locked into the bigger and stronger mode, even after you’ve built impressive size andstrength, is something to avoid. Once you’re over 35, the heavy diet and the training program free ofcardio work that packed on size and strength in your youth will make you bigger and stronger still, butat a cost. Poor cardiovascular fitness takes its toll as you get into middle age and older. Excess body fatis harder to take off the older you get. Decreasing flexibility will become increasingly apparent.

After you’ve reached age 35 you need to balance your total program and give serious attention to yournutrition, cardiorespiratory training, and flexibility work. If you’re already into your middle years, but area training novice, you need to build bigger and much stronger muscles but by using a balanced trainingprogram right from the start.

I’ve known many trainees who have recognized the value of aerobic work, a healthier diet, andreducing body fat, but yet forever put off making changes in their lifestyles because they first wantedto get even bigger and stronger.

A healthy and appearance-conscious goal at, say, age 40, for the experienced male trainee, is to bench300 and squat 400 at 190 pounds and 12% body fat, while being able to sustain 80% of age-adjustedmaximum heart rate for 20+ minutes three times a week, and be flexible to boot. Compare that with,for example, a 350 bench and 500 squat at 220 pounds and 20+% body fat, but without theconditioning needed to be able to run up a mere two flights of steps without being winded.

As you age, move away from a diet that’s heavily dominated by animal products. Get a better balancebetween animal and plant foods, and eat much more raw food.

A balanced exercise program that includes aerobic work and stretching will involve training timeoutside of your weights workouts. Do just 15 minutes of stretching on alternate days. Add 30 minutesof aerobic work (including the warm-up and cool-down phases) three times each week. All that, plustwo abbreviated but intensive weight-training sessions of about 90 minutes each, totals less than sixhours a week training time. But consider that the stretching and aerobic work can be done at home,perhaps while watching TV. Because you would probably be watching TV anyway, you wouldn’t have tocut out anything to fit in the home exercise. But even if you had to, that would just be part of thediscipline needed to stick to a long-term exercise program.

The reward will be extra life to your years and perhaps years to your life.

543

FORM AND TECHNIQUEThe Deadliftby Brooks D. Kubik

For my money, the squat, bench press and deadlift are the big three for hard gainers. Of the three,the deadlift is by far the easiest from a technical point of view. That doesn’t mean it’s an easy exercise.As all serious lifters are well aware, the deadlift is sheer torture when performed for a maximum singleor a hard set of reps with a heavy poundage.

If you think about it, these factors make the deadlift a perfect exercise for a hard gainer’s trainingprogram. It’s relatively simple to perform and easy to learn, yet it’s one of the most demanding ofmovements. In contrast, the squat is a tremendously demanding exercise, but one that’s difficult toperform and hard to learn. That doesn’t make the deadlift a better exercise than the squat, but it doesmean that the deadlift should be included in a lot more training programs than is presently the case.

In this article, I’ll discuss the proper performance of the deadlift as an exercise rather than as acompetitive lift. As Ken Leistner has noted repeatedly, there’s a world of difference between thedeadlift as an exercise and the deadlift as it’s performed in powerlifting competition.

In competition, your goal is to make things as easy as possible. For example, a competitive powerliftermight use the sumo-style deadlift because it reduces his range of motion and allows him to elevate hismaximum poundage. However, that doesn’t mean that you should use the sumo style in the gym. Asan exercise, the sumo-style deadlift ranks far behind the regular style of performance because theconventional style requires a greater range of movement, involves more muscle groups moreintensively, and makes you work harder.

Since I’m focussing on the deadlift as an exercise rather than as a competitive lift, I’ll not discuss thesumo-style deadlift. Nor will I discuss any of the other manifold aspects of competition-styledeadlifting, e.g., whether to wear wrestling shoes or ballet slippers instead of a regular athletic shoe,whether to wear a squat suit for deadlifting, how to use baby powder on the thighs to reduce frictionas the bar is pulled upward in the final stages of the lift.

For using the deadlift as an exercise, there are ten points that require discussion.

1. Trap barIf you’re going to work hard on deadlifts as part of your exercise program, use a trap bar [or otherparallel-grip deadlift bar]. The trap bar makes the deadlift a safer, more efficient and more productiveexercise. It doesn’t make it an easy exercise, and it won’t add hundreds of pounds to your personalrecord, but it will make the deadlift a much better movement for you.

You may have noticed that one area where virtually all HARDGAINER authors are in unanimousagreement is the value of the trap bar. Stuart McRobert, Ken Leistner, Jan Dellinger and KeithHartman alone have written about the value of the trap bar. Mike Thompson has a trap bar in hishome gym. So does Stuart. So does Jan. So do I. Ken Leistner has several of them at the Iron IslandGym. Dick Conner has one at The Pit. Bob Whelan has one at his gym in Washington, D.C.

544

We all use and recommend the trap bar because it works. It’s one of the best purchases you canmake—and it’s not expensive. The current price for a Gerard trap bar is about $150. If you deadliftonce a week, that amounts to three dollars a week for the next year. If you’re serious about weighttraining, three dollars a week is a small price to pay to pack some significant power into your lowerback, hips and thighs.

Several readers have complained that their gym doesn’t have a trap bar, and they don’t want to buyone and carry it to the gym because doing so makes them self-conscious. If this is your excuse for notbuying a trap bar, I have four suggestions:

a. Find a new gym.

b. Buy a bar and leave it at the gym. Perhaps the owners will give you a break on your membershipfees in exchange for “leasing” the bar to the gym.

c. Buy a bar and plates and train your trap bar deadlifts at home.

d. Take your own bar to the gym whenever you do deadlifts, and ignore any comments from thepeanut gallery.

2. Lifting surfaceAlways deadlift on a non-slip surface. Lifting on a slick surface is a real danger when you deadlift. Ifyour foot slips during a heavy lift, you’re in trouble. Moreover, a slick surface will make it almostimpossible to position the bar properly between reps. The bar will roll out of position.

The easiest way to assure a proper surface for your deadlifting is to buy two matching pieces of left-over carpeting. They should be 1-foot x 2-feet or 2-feet x 2-feet. Place these under the plates and thebar won’t roll so easily. A third but larger piece of carpeting can go under your feet so that you have anon-slip surface to stand on. Much better, buy a heavy piece of plywood—7 x 4 should suffice—andglue the carpet remnants onto the plywood. This will give you your own deadlifting platform.

3. Foot placementMost lifters will do best when they place their feet with the heels about shoulder-width apart or a littlebit wider. Turn the toes out at an angle of about 45 degrees. If you deadlift with your feet pointingstraight ahead, you place unnecessary shearing forces on your knees. In addition, you minimize theinvolvement of your hip muscles. This results in a loss of strength because you have to rely on yourback to do more of the work, instead of spreading the effort over your thighs, hips and back together.

If you use the trap bar, position your feet so that the center of the handles runs through the center ofyour ankles. This will give you the most efficient lifting position. If you use a straight bar, your shinsshould be brushing the bar or almost brushing it. Many people position themselves with their shinstoo far away from the bar. This causes a tremendous leverage disadvantage when they pull the bar.For maximum lifting efficiency with the straight bar, as well as maximum safety, you must position yourfeet so your shins are up against the bar at the bottom. Then you must pull the bar up along yourlegs. The bar should be in contact with your legs (or almost touching them) during the entire lift.

Foot positioning may sound like a minor detail. But the little things add up when it comes to strengthtraining. Pay attention to the details—they make a difference!

545

Here’s an example of the great importance of correct foot positioning: I recall an occasion when I wasjudging a powerlifting meet and one of the guys missed his opener on the deadlift after a terrificstruggle. It was a terribly hot day in July, and the air conditioning unit in the room where the meet washeld was broken. The heat sapped your strength worse than a 20-rep set of breathing squats. Hardlyanyone was making his third attempt on any lift, and most lifters were missing their second attemptsas well. Given these conditions, I figured the lifter would have a tough time coming back for asuccessful lift after so hard an effort on his opener.

The lifter came out for a second attempt. Again, there was a ferocious struggle. He made it half wayup to the finish position, then stalled out but continued to fight for about ten seconds. His arms andlegs were shaking with effort. Finally, the bar dropped out of his hands and crashed to the platform.

History repeated itself on the third lift—except the bar had been incorrectly loaded by 20 pounds.Consequently, the lifter was allowed a fourth attempt. After three misses, each a tremendousstruggle, and the third fighting an overloaded bar, it appeared impossible for the lifter to pull theweight. However, the meet director and I’d noticed that he was lifting with his toes pointing straightahead. I spoke to the meet director, and he ran back stage to give the lifter a few minutes of quickcoaching on just one topic—foot placement.

The lifter came out for his fourth and final attempt, turned his feet out at a 45-degree angle, reacheddown, grabbed the bar, set himself, and pulled it all the way up. The simple procedure of turning hisfeet out had increased his pulling power substantially. Why? Because it allowed him to bring hispowerful hip muscles into play to a far greater extent than the “toes ahead” position.

I know what some of you are thinking. “I don’t want to involve my hip muscles in the deadlift. I wantsmall hips so my thighs and upper body will look bigger.” Guys, that sort of thinking will do more tohold you back than almost any other idea you could put in your head. Sure, the deadlift builds the hipmuscles. So does the squat. So what? A man is supposed to have strong hips. You can’t play gameswith the human body. You can’t expect to blow your arms and thighs to big proportions whilemaintaining hips that belong on a 145-pound teenager. It just doesn’t work that way. If you’reobsessed with keeping your hip muscles small, the rest of you is also going to remain small.

Moreover, if you train hard and heavy on your deadlifts you’ll grow all over—not just in the hipmuscles. Everything will develop in a natural, harmonious proportion. Large and powerful hip musclesdon’t look out of place on a large and powerful physique. In fact, they fit in just fine. What looksridiculous is a man who tries to pump up the “showy” muscles while deliberately not working his hips,lower back, abdominals, external obliques, and traps. This is precisely what many trainers urge you todo in order to make your thighs and upper body appear as if they are larger than they actually are.

If you’re interested in getting really big and strong, you’re going to have to do squats or deadlifts, orpreferably both. The end result of heavy work on those movements will be an enormously impressivelevel of development throughout your entire body. You’ll be much larger and much more powerful ifyou do squats and deadlifts than you’ll be if you avoid those movements in order to keep frombuilding the hips. It’s your decision: real strength and development, or the beach-boy look.

4. Locking your upper bodyDeadlifting is primarily a lower-body exercise, but that doesn’t mean you relax your upper body. Whenyou stand above the bar before beginning a rep, flex your lats and brace your arms against them.

546

Tighten your abs. Contract your triceps to pull your elbows as straight as possible. Your upper bodyshould be as tight as a coiled spring when you deadlift.

5. Set-up and descentStanding inside the trap bar, lock your upper body, breathe deeply, hold the breath, and squat downin exactly the same manner as if you were performing the descent of a regular squat. Bend at yourknees first and then you’ll naturally bend forward as you descend. Keep your back straight. Neitherarch nor round your back. Maintain a straight line from your shoulders to your hips. Deadlifting witheither an arched or rounded back can be a crippler. Why? Because either position exposes the lowerportion of the spine to dangerous shearing forces. A straight back—the same position described inmy articles dealing with the squat—is what you want.

Please don’t point to powerlifters who use a round-back style for their deadlifts. I know that there havebeen powerlifting champs who used that style to elevate huge weights in the deadlift. I also know thatsome of the most famous names to practice that style of performance have had operations to fuse theirspines after their lifting days were over. It makes no sense to try to use the deadlift as an exercise tobuild your lower back while employing a style of performance that can cripple your lower back.

There’s a place for “round-back” lifting for those who are training for size and strength. Round-backlifting was one of the secrets of the old time strongmen—Hackenschmidt, Saxon, and others of theirera. My training partners and I specialize in round-back movements and it’s making us tremendouslystrong—as reflected by my current best of 400 pounds in the bent-legged good morning and 420pounds for 5 reps in the Hammer row. But we use special exercises on special types of equipment forour round-back work. We deadlift with flat backs. Do your deadlifts with a straight back.

What happens if your back insists on rounding when you’re in the bottom (starting) position of thedeadlift? One of three culprits is causing the problem. First, you’re not flexible enough for deadliftingand need to work on your flexibility for at least six weeks before training the movement. Second,you’re losing concentration and not focusing on proper form, in which case you need to practice themovement in a serious manner for a month or two until good form becomes second nature. Third, yourbody structure doesn’t permit you to go low enough to deadlift a barbell placed on the floor withoutyour back rounding. In this case you need to elevate the height of the bar by 2-6 inches to achieve astarting position that permits you to maintain the all-important straight-back position.

Much has been written in recent issues of HARDGAINER about the need to revise standard ortraditional methods of exercise performance to accommodate certain body types. This advice isextremely valuable for certain lifters—primarily very tall and long-limbed trainees, or those who haveunusually long torsos compared to the length of their legs. The number of readers who fall into one ofthe categories where a shortened range of movement on either the squat or deadlift is necessary, isfairly small. The majority of readers can and should do full-range movements. Unless, for example, youhave very long legs yourself, don’t sell yourself short by applying training advice aimed at a man whowears pants with a 36-inch inseam. There’s a danger that people who have no actual need to modifyexercise performance may do so for a way to avoid learning proper form in the full-range movement,or to avoid having to work on their flexibility, or just to make the exercise easier.

We expect our readers to train very hard and cultivate a “no excuses” attitude. We expect our readersto be mentally tough—to take pride in their training and their accomplishments, and to approachevery training session with ferocious determination, intensity and focus.

547

Don’t complain to others or to yourself about “bad leverages,” “poor genetics” or being the “world’shardest hard gainer.” Take what you have and make the most of it. You can never do more than that,but you can do far less. If you need to elevate the bar to prevent rounding of your lower back whenyou deadlift, do so. But if you can perform the full-range movement, then do so.

Back to the descent. As in the squat, keep your jaw parallel to the floor as you descend. This meansyou must look straight ahead. How do you see where to grab the handles of the trap bar? You don’t.You do it without looking. All it takes is practice. Of course, you must be sure to grab the center ofeach handle, but if you practice the movement for a while, your positioning will become secondnature and your hands will always hit the center of the handles.

By practicing with light weights, you can also learn to lower yourself into position and grab a straightbar without looking to check your hand position. Use your knees and lower legs to “guide” yourhands into the proper position.

Keep your shins as close to vertical as possible when you descend. Again, the position is the same asin the squat (see my articles in last two issues). If your knees drive too far forward, you place lots ofstress on the knee joints, and over time this can add up to big problems. With the straight bar, if yourknees drive too far forward, you’ll have to pull the bar up and around them. In other words, you won’tbe able to pull the bar in a straight line. This will substantially reduce your poundages as well as setthe stage for troublesome back problems in the future.

If you consciously attempt to lower your hips and “sit back” into the starting position, you’ll find it’smuch easier to maintain the “close to vertical” lower leg position. If you can’t keep your lower leg at aclose-to-vertical position, then you’re probably one of those trainees who needs to elevate the bar inorder to perform the deadlift in a safe and productive manner.

6. GripYou may have noticed that my description of how to get into position makes it impossible to usestraps or hooks to attach yourself to the deadlift bar. There’s a good reason for this. Straps and hooksreduce the results you get from your deadlifting.

As Ken Leistner noted in THE STEEL TIP, you tend to train more intensively on the deadlift when youdo the exercise without straps or hooks and have to rely entirely on the strength of your grip to hangonto the bar. Why? I’m not sure, but I have a theory. I believe that high-intensity training demands avery strong link between the brain and the muscles—and gripping the barbell activates the “mind-muscle link” throughout the entire body. If your hands don’t have to work as hard during an exercise,the rest of your body automatically eases up a little bit. Consequently, using artificial aids to help holdonto the bar when you do deadlifts is self-defeating. It will reduce, not increase your training intensity.

On the straight-bar deadlift, use an overhand grip, i.e., one where the knuckles of both hands arefacing forward. Competitive powerlifters use a reversed grip, with the knuckles of one hand facingforward and the knuckles of the other hand facing the opposite direction. But this isn’t a good idea forregular training. The reverse grip causes the body to twist slightly when you deadlift, and over time,pulling a heavy bar with a slight twist can cause serious lower-back or hip problems.

If you have trouble holding onto the bar, use chalk. If you still have trouble, start doing some seriousgrip work along the lines suggested by David Horne in his articles in HARDGAINER. With someserious grip work anyone can develop the strength to hold onto a deadlift bar.

548

Here’s a specific grip exercise I recommend: Get a 2-inch-diameter barbell and use it to finish everydeadlift session, with one or two sets of the maximum reps you can do in the regular deadlift with50% of your top working weight when you use the regular-diameter bar. (Do these after yourscheduled sets with the regular-diameter bar.) With time, your hands will grow so strong that using theregular bar will seem like child’s play.

7. AscentAs soon as your hands are grasping the straight bar, or handles of your trap bar, start to ascend. Beginthe ascent by shrugging your shoulders as hard as possible. This helps to position your body for therest of the lift, and helps “break” the bar off the ground.

The second movement is a coordinated leg and hip drive. When you do this, push through your heels.If you push through your toes or balls of your feet, you’re going to be out of the groove.

With the trap bar, it’s designed to move the bar’s center of gravity back through your heels. This isone of the main reasons why it’s superior to an ordinary bar. Take advantage of the bar’s design bydriving through your heels, which are lined up to be centered with your hands, i.e., lined up with thecenter of the ends of the bar. This is the most efficient pulling position for the deadlift. It also reducesshearing forces on the knees, hips and lower back.

The lower back remains rigid at the beginning of the ascent. You must keep the back straight andmaintain the “flat back” position discussed in section five of this article. Don’t attempt to pull withyour lower back at the start of the movement. In other words, make the beginning of the lift (after theshoulder shrug) a leg and hip drive as opposed to a pulling movement where only the lower back isproviding the force.

8. MidpointAs the bar reaches knee height, your legs will approach a fully-straightened position. Exactly wherethis happens will vary from lifter to lifter. For everyone, however, there’s a point where it becomesnecessary to begin a hard pull with the back muscles to finish the lift. To do this, imagine that an 800-pound gorilla has one hand on your hips and one hand on your shoulders. To guide you through themidpoint of the lift, the gorilla pushes your hips forward and pulls your shoulders back. The result willbe that the bar moves straight up and you pop into the fully-vertical finishing position.

The trap bar is ideal for teaching the proper combination of hip thrust and back pull. With an ordinarybar, the bar hits your thighs when you try to drive the hips forward. With the trap bar, the hips can moveforward in a natural and unimpeded movement. This is one of the primary benefits of the trap bar.

9. The finishThe finish of the movement will have you standing perfectly straight. Don’t lean back to complete themovement. Leaning back is a waste of time as far as building any muscle goes. You’re not workingagainst gravity because you’re moving horizontally rather than vertically. You’re not going to build anyextra muscle by leaning back. What you’re going to do is hurt yourself.

The spine was not intended to bend backwards like a pretzel while you’re holding a heavy poundagein your hands. Forget the backwards lean. Stop once your upper body is in the vertical position.

549

10. Doing repsI prefer to do reps in the deadlift in the manner described by Stuart in HARDGAINER issue #38—byresting the bar on the floor between reps. This style of performance allows the lifter to set up properlybetween reps. Consecutive reps often lead to a situation where the lifter gets out of the groove andfinally injures himself on one of the later reps. This is particularly likely when the lifter bounces the baroff the floor. A non-stop series of bounced reps will make it impossible to maintain the proper groove.In addition, you can breathe much easier between reps if you stand while the bar is on the floor.

If you must do consecutive reps, lower the bar until it’s about one inch above the floor. Don’t actuallyhit the floor. Pretend you’re lifting in a room with a sleeping baby and try not to wake the child (otherthan through screams, groans and moans as the set progresses).

550

551

The White Momentby John R. Christy

Berserker (noun):An ancient Norse warrior who worked himself into a frenzy before battle.

Do you understand what I’m getting at? It’s aggression, pure 100% focused effort. You can use the“perfect” routine, sleep eight hours a night, eat great, concentrate, visualize, feel the movement, anddo everything “right,” but get minimal results unless you experience what, at my gym, we call “thewhite moment.” You’ll never come close to reaching your potential without it, no matter how perfectyou do everything else.

Ken Leistner calls it “going balls to the wall.” Brooks Kubik describes it as “approaching it as though itwere a life or death situation.” Mike Thompson describes it as “committing homicide on a loadedbarbell.” Bob Whelan describes it as “going all out as if you have a gun to your head.” OtherHARDGAINER authors have also mentioned the importance of giving it your all. At my gym, what wecall the white moment is the time immediately before you approach the barbell. A time when themind is filled with white-hot aggression, with pure rage, ready to attack the barbell to get that newmax or that extra rep.

Dr. Ken has mentioned, and I agree, that most properly-designed weight-training programs (like thosein HARDGAINER) fail or fail prematurely not because of the program, or because you’ve “plateaued,”but simply because you’re not trying hard enough! I’ve prevented many training cycles from coming toa close by simply demanding more effort.

We aren’t machines. You can’t continually put your one pound on the bar every week and expect toget your reps by just going through the motions, with no spirit, without a burning desire to excel. Youhave to be fired up with emotion. You have to want it worse than anything. I’m not saying you have tobounce around the gym yelling, and pounding your head against the bar until it bleeds. Although I’veseen this work for some, I feel it wastes too much energy, and you could get seriously hurt. Everybodyis different. Personally, my white moment looks outwardly calm, but if you look into my eyes you’ll seea tiger ready to attack.

It doesn’t matter how you get that internal rage going, as long as you don’t hurt yourself, waste toomuch energy, or lose focus on good technique.

While a focused rage is a must to achieve one’s ultimate goals, a wild rage will destroy you. Like a fireout of control burns all the trees of the forest and not just a select few, unfocused aggression destroysthe body (through poor form, resulting in injuries) instead of building it. Your aggression must befocused like a laser beam. A laser is a focused concentration of light that can cut through anything.

Staying aggressive is not only important when you’re moving your biggest weights. It’s importantevery time you train. You must not get complacent! You must monitor yourself so that you never fallinto complacency.

Over the past ten years of personally training hundreds of athletes, I’ve recognized that there areseveral times when you become vulnerable to the dreaded disease called complacency.

552

Early part of a training cycleDuring the very early stage of a new training cycle, when the weights are at 80% or so of yourprevious best, it doesn’t take 100% effort to move the weights and get your prescribed reps. I’ve seentrainees “cruise” their way through this early phase of a training cycle, not giving it their all. They getto about 90% of their previous best and then fail to get the target reps. They wonder what happened.Well what happened was that they trained their minds and bodies to operate at less than 100%. Beingaggressive is a learned skill. It must be practiced if you’re to become good at it.

When you start a new training cycle it’s critical that you don’t let down mentally. Since the weights arelight you may feel you don’t have to push or pull as hard as possible. This spells training disaster.

Let me further illustrate my point. If it requires you to give 100% effort to press 200 pounds withrelative ease, at 95% effort it will be extremely difficult, but at 90% effort it won’t go. This is just anexample. I don’t know at exactly what percentage it will get tough, but I do know that anything lessthan 100% will make it harder than it should be. What you should do is approach the bar as if you’regoing to exceed your previous max, and rip the bar apart with 100% effort. You should concentrateand get psyched up for the set. Now the weight will feel like it’s only 85% or whatever of your best, asit should early on in a cycle. Don’t misunderstand me though—you’re not to throw the weight, or getout of control with it. Just push or pull as hard as you can while maintaining perfect form. You want todominate the rep, not just complete it.

Before continuing, I want to make it perfectly clear that I’m not an advocate of or tolerant of sloppyform, ever!

When “cleaning up” your techniqueThis is another time when I see a “let down” in effort. For instance, let’s say you read one of BrooksKubik’s fine articles on improving your bench press technique. You’re ready to apply a one-secondpause at your chest because you realize that you’ve been bouncing the bar off your chest. (Thebruises on your chest, the pain in your shoulders, plus the lack of pec improvement made you decide.)After the pause on your chest, make sure you push the bar as hard as possible. Drive it with maximumforce! Just because you’re improving your technique, and initially using reduced weights, is no reasonto let down in the effort department. But be sure to brake the speed of the rep near completion.Don’t keep accelerating so that you slam into the lockout.

Concentration on perfect form without concentration on giving 100% effort will fail to bring theresults that improved technique should deliver. Aggression, 100% effort, is a constant—it always hasto be there.

After breaking a long-sought-after goalSo you finally did it: 300 x 5 in the bench press. You’ve been training for six years and you finally madeit. Next week, the 301 x 5 feels unbelievably hard. You just don’t feel motivated. Then the excuses setin. You say to yourself, “Well, maybe I’ve reached the end of the cycle. I hit the 300, now it’s time for arest.” Wrong, wrong, WRONG! If you’re not experiencing any of the symptoms of overtraining (seemy article in HARDGAINER issue #37), then you need to keep pushing to derive all this cycle has tooffer. You have to drain it dry. What you need to do is to set a new goal, immediately. Start thinkingabout getting 315 pounds—three big plates on each end of an Olympic bar. If you don’t set the newgoals right away, complacency will get you, I promise.

553

The new weight traineeSome trainees crash through the front door of the gym with so much fire they could burn the placedown. But many more come through the door with barely a glimmer of a pilot light burning. But that’sokay because if there’s a trickle of a flame you can create a tremendous blaze. I often hear, “I’m justnot an aggressive person.”

My response to that is, “Yes you are. You just don’t know it yet.” Just as a good coach puts hischarges on a good program, and teaches them how to eat right, I feel he also needs to teach themhow to give 100%. “Getting up” for training is a learned skill (behavior) just as is learning the properway to squat. Just as it takes most beginners time to learn to squat, it also takes time to learn to getaggressive, to give 100%. You have to practice it every time you lift. What I do is constantly remindthem (sometimes calmly, other times by getting in their faces) to get aggressive, to try hard. Thateffort is one of the most essential parts of good technique!

One way I teach aggression is to shock them into it. I have them think of something that really rilesthem. That’s right, I want them to get mad—REAL MAD. The set that was once hard to complete isnow completed with ease. Now I know this may sound radical to some, but it has never failed to getthe response I’m after. Once they experience this (not the “getting mad” part, but the aggression thatwas the result of getting “mad”) there’s a complete understanding of the importance of “getting up”and giving it all they’ve got.

Most of the time, though, I don’t have to get this radical. All I have to do is get them to follow one ofthe basic principles that’s constantly promoted in HARDGAINER: Start the trainee out slow byhandling weights within his capabilities, and then add a small dose of iron to the bar each workout.As he sees the bar “grow” it fuels his desire, which in turn makes him want to put out more effort.His motivation then grows from within, instead of relying on me, or anyone else to provide it. Hegains confidence that he can get bigger and stronger. What was once a “pilot light” has grown into asmall but strong flame. This “spirit flame” will grow stronger each year and he’ll want to put outmore and more effort.

I believe effort is the product of desire. If you want something bad enough you’ll put forth everypossible effort to get it.

I want to leave you with a quote from a man I consider one of the greatest coaches of all time. VinceLombardi, the legendary coach of the World Champion Green Bay Packers football teams, had this tosay about effort:

“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a goodcause and lies exhausted on the field of battle, victorious.”

Enough talking. Enough analyzing your program. Go and get your butt into the gym; and when yousink your fingers onto the metal, commit yourself to trying as hard as humanly possible on every rep ofevery set you perform. Learn a lesson from the Berserker, and get fully prepared for your next battle.

554

Asking Dr. Kenby Dr. Ken E. Leistner

The farmer’s walkOne of our readers noted the effectiveness of the farmer’s walk. I couldn’t agree more. If you didnothing but squats, some form of deadlift, the farmer’s walk, a press and a “pull,” and not necessarilyall in one workout, you wouldn’t have to do much more. The farmer’s walk will really stimulate overallbody growth. When some of our members ask what it works, I laugh and tell them, “Your body!” Theforearms, traps, shoulders, upper and lower back, hips and thighs scream when you really work hardon it. Use it as your last exercise and it’s a great way to end a workout. We have 75-pound old andbeat up Jackson dumbbells made in 1936 for this exercise, a pair of 125-pound bombs made by JimSutherland, and, of course, the 169-pounds-each pair of I-beams. For those needing more, ourdumbbells go up to 200 pounds, but to get a good workout we haven’t had to use them too often.

Training for rugbyWe seem to have a lot of rugby enthusiasts who read HARDGAINER, at least in the UK. When trainingfor rugby, or any other sport, the emphasis should, of course, be on the skill work of one’s sport andspecific position. You have to know how to play! One needs a certain amount of aerobic andanaerobic conditioning. I’ve found that one way to cut down on the need for so much running is touse the squat and the trap bar deadlift for higher reps, or “timed sets” so that one’s anaerobicconditioning is benefitted as well as strength improvement. With the weights, one has to train themajor muscles involved in the sport. In rugby, this is obviously “everything,” so like American football,one should place the emphasis on the “big groups.” Squat, deadlift or stiff-legged deadlift, shrug,press, row, bench press, and chin or pulldown should be the basis of the program, with additionalshoulder, calf, and/or forearm work as the need demands. As always, it isn’t necessary to do “much”work if it’s hard work.

Training varietyWe vary our trainees’ programs often. In any particular “program” they may train two times per weekand both workouts differ. The next week, one or both of the workouts may differ from those done theweek before. It’s an individual thing. We do enough of the “same” things so that over a few weeks ormonths we have a real idea of improvement, but variety is important for most.

I’m one of the few who can do the same small group of movements month after month, year afteryear. I’ve found what works for me. For pressing strength I do the overhead press, press lockout,bench press and almost nothing else. I may occasionally use dumbbells for a change of pace for aworkout or two, but that’s it. For “pulling” I do the deadlift or stiff-legged deadlift, a row (I vary theuse of the Hammer and Flex machines), and an occasional pulldown. The pulldown is one of theexercises that I have “freak” strength on and most of the time, without help, I can’t get the resistancedown by myself to do the movement, so can’t do it unless there are others around. For the lowerbody (besides the deadlifts), I squat. I do shrugs when my brachial plexus neuropathy isn’t too bad,and lots of different forearm work. That’s really it. Others need more things to do, but I can rotate oruse these movements to have a productive lifetime of training. No one says that there’s a “rule” thatdictates one must use certain movements or do them a certain number of times a week or month.That’s BS. Sometimes, an entire workout may be lifting the log, running with our cannonball behindthe gym, and then doing bomb deadlifts. Scientific? No. Effective? Definitely.

555

Benefits out of the gymI’ve had many questions regarding the benefits “out of the gym” of weight training and competitionlifting. I can only say that in working with kids on the street for many, many years, most of these youngpeople will benefit from anything that gives them a greater sense of self, and more confidence. We allknow that bullies are bullies in order to bolster their own self esteem. Most of the toughest gang kidscling to the gangs because of the sense of worth and “family” the gang provides. Simply put, withgreater self awareness, and the confidence that they can function productively within society, many ofthese young men and women do very well in time. Weight training often is one of those things thatcan really help them towards the quest for greater self esteem. This obviously applies to almostanyone, gang member or professional person.

MotivationWe continuously try to remind our trainees that they are at the Iron Island Gym in order to fosterimprovement. For those, like Stephen Boyd who signed with the Detroit Lions, and Fritz Fequierewho signed with the Denver Broncos, a professional football career is a very good motivator. For ourstrongman competitors and lifters, the competitions ahead keep them training hard. For the averagenon-competitive individual, the goal of increasing strength, daily function and appearance is usuallyenough to keep them going workout to workout, especially because we give them constantreminders to that effect.

Deadlift change of paceFor those who can’t deadlift weekly due to fatigue or recurring injury, 45-degree or regularhyperextensions can be a good off-week substitute. I don’t like good mornings because of the injurypotential. Lighter, or sub-maximal stiff-legged deadlifts on alternate weeks may also maintain thestrength built by heavy all-out deadlifts every other week, without overly fatiguing the low-back area.

Iso-lateral trainingI’ve been asked a number of questions about iso-lateral training. In 1988, Gary Jones stayed with usfor a while. Gary, of course, used to be known as Arthur Jones’ son, but in the past number of yearshas established his own reputation. Gary was the driving force behind many innovations at Nautiluswhen Nautilus was in fact the leader in the field devoted to making machines that effectively workedthe body. With Kim Wood and Pete Brown, Gary formed Hammer Strength Corporation. I think it’ssafe to say that, in what has become a tired industry, despite the protestations of those in it, Hammeris the hot item on the market today.

During Gary’s short visit, we spent a lot of time talking about machine design, and watching Garynoodle around on what was then a “new” computer-aided design and manufacturing system. Basedon a statement made by Kevin Tolbert, we essentially came up with what because a series of iso-lateral machines. Kevin had looked at the Nautilus Leverage Leg Press (a design of Gary’s) and said,“It might be good if we could use that with either one leg or two.” Based on that statement, Garyand I came up with a row, a press, a decline press, and a bench press. Now, to be accurate, I didn’tdo that much, as Gary handled all the technical stuff. I made a few suggestions based uponorthopedic recommendations and the practical experience of being in the gym for many years. Garydid the “genius” work.

When it was time to name them, Kim said, “Well, what do we call them?”

556

I suggested, “iso lateral” because one could work ipsilaterally, bilaterally and simultaneously, and indoing so, with a properly designed machine, isolate the muscle or muscle group that one wanted towork. This was all done in less than five minutes and, of course, Gary and Kim have continued toinnovate and fine-tune the equipment to make it better and better.

The best way to use iso-lateral equipment will vary from one person to another. Some will do bestgoing one arm or leg at a time. This will allow for a greater range of motion and stricter form. Otherswill be able to get a better workout using the specific machine both limbs together, as they might nothave the muscular endurance or “firing ability” to do more than one total set vs. one set for eachindividual limb. Injury may dictate that one do one or two legs at a time on the leg press as one waymay feel more comfortable than the other. The advantage of the equipment is that you have theoption(s) of performing the exercises in a variety of ways to accommodate all these circumstances.

The appeal of Hammer is the “feel” that the equipment has. The ability to use each of the iso-lateralpieces in a variety of ways makes it possible to tune in to the needs of the body in a particularworkout and do what you think needs to be done. You may do leg extension, one legged-Hammer legpress, and squats one day. The next week you might pile the plates on and go both legs at the sametime. You might want to hold one limb in the contracted position while doing a rep with the otherlimb, and then alternate those positions. You can mess yourself up in many ways and this is whatmakes the equipment so versatile and desirable.

Squat substitutesMore questions about doing squats, or more accurately, not doing squats. Should they be done on aSmith Machine? Why, if you can do barbell squats full range and without injury? This is an example oftrying to make squats easier. Try to make them more difficult. Try to make any exercise more difficult,for best results. Don’t arch on the bench press, don’t use a very wide grip, go slower (within reason)not faster to complete reps. Knock yourself out each and every workout, and you’ll respond.

It’s so frustrating to listen to guys write with, “I’m doing my squats on a Smith machine . . .” and theygive every reason but the truth—”. . . because barbell squats for high reps done until my hamstringssit on my calves are so uncomfortable I could cry, and I don’t really want to train that hard.”

Take the Smith machine, Manta Ray device, Safety Squat Bar and all the other devices designed tomake the squat easier, cut it all up, weld it to the front, rear and sides of your car, and know in yourheart that you can park in New York City without having your vehicle destroyed.

557

558

From Experienceby Dick Conner

Neck workRegular neck work can save you all kinds of problems, from headaches to even helping the wholespine. It can help in a car wreck like nothing else, and as far as the athlete, wrestler and football playerare concerned, could save much pain and even death.

All you need is a $4.00 soft playground ball and work it with very slow reps, twice a week, front,back and sides. Stand next to a wall, and position the ball between your head and the wall. Applypressure through your head against the ball. First do four reps as a warm-up, and then continue toadd pressure to the ball as you slowly roll it up and down. The last 5-6 reps of each set should bedone with high intensity, but still done with slow speed. This builds super strength in the neck.

Manual resistance is one of the best forms of neck work if you have the right person working on you.That person must be very sensitive to your resistance needs.

Squat alternativeI saw a picture of the “handle squat” in PLUSA and then with what we had at the gym I put a set-uptogether in about 10 minutes. It’s one of the easiest ways to squat with correct style I’ve seen, andalso the easiest to teach. This is great for assisting the squat and the wide-stance deadlift.

Note from Stuart: This exercise is akin to a hip-belt squat, but while holding the resistance with yourhands rather than attaching it to your hips. Attach a handle to a loading pin, stand on two sturdyboxes with enough space between them for the resistance to travel in—avoid full-size plates if youprefer a closer stance. With both hands, hold the handle between your legs, and do a deadlift motionbut with the knee flexion of that of a squat. Minimize forward lean, and perform as great a range ofmotion as is safe for you. Once you’ve mastered the exercise, and have adjusted the length of theattachment between the handle and the loading pin to suit your range of motion, gradually addplates to the pin.

The movement is safe when done properly, and is especially great for home training. But we still makeroom for it at The Pit. In my mind it’s better than a trap bar deadlift because it’s so easy to keep goodform. It can be a squat or a deadlift.

The whole set-up is homemade and can be put together by anyone who wants to. It’s one of the besttools for home training I’ve seen in years.

Even a tall man who can’t do the barbell squat safely and effectively can do the handle squat safelyand effectively.

559

The Quarter-Ton Hacklift: Strong at lastby Eric Bryan

Weights have been a part of my life for probably 25 years. As a boy I fiddled around with a 42-poundbarbell and a pair of 8-pound dumbbells in the basement of our California home. Back then I wantedto become the strongest man in the world. As I got older I simply wanted to get really strong. Littledid I know that the lean and lanky asthmatic hypoglycemic that I was destined to become was notexactly prime material for developing super strength.

As I got older I had to rely on mainstream bodybuilding literature for instruction. I was unaware of anyother source. My routines were the usual madness complete with lateral raises, leg extensions and allthe rest. Pumping-style training mostly gave my muscles a nice tight feeling the following day. Theresult was that I’d limp from workout to workout in pursuit of that pump, but rarely if ever gained anystrength. I was devoted, though, exercising four times per week on a split routine.

After I subscribed to HARDGAINER it took me a long while to become convinced that abbreviatedtraining was for me. You could say that this happened incrementally, with the little exercises droppingoff one by one. I said farewell to lateral raises, then wrist curls, followed by superfluous ab work. Idismantled my leg extension attachment, and dropped flyes and concentration curls. This was a giantleap in the right direction, but my pernicious lower-back trouble and leverage disadvantages stillstymied my progress.

After doing hip-belt squats for a couple of years I itched for a change. I tried partial deadlifts from justbelow the knees. I tried this using a pair of canisters to bring my barbell up to the proper startingheight, but it spelled disaster for my lower back. But I intuitively spun around and tried the same liftwith the bar behind me—a partial hacklift. Success. It felt good. I could get right over the weight andpull straight up with minimal forward bend.

I played around with my version of the hacklift for high reps, but it wasn’t until I read John McKean’s“Record Day” article in HARDGAINER issue #30 that my stagnated strength career suddenly andcrazily lurched forward into life. I was skeptical of singles training, let alone doing only one lift perworkout, so it took me some time to be convinced. But once I tried John’s suggested pattern ofincreasingly-heavier singles, I became surprised at the power I could generate. I started my cycle onSeptember 23, 1994, with the hacklift looking like this:

205 x 1, 235 x 1, 270 x 1, 300 x 1

It was a mental boost to handle the 300 so well, because 300+ deadlifts from the floor had grippedmy lower back in spasms of sciatica. September 28 saw me doing this:

220 x 1, 255 x 1, 285 x 1, 315 x 1

Now the 300 barrier was behind me forever. The next few workouts were:Oct 2: 245 x 1, 275 x 1, 305 x 1, 335 x 1Oct 7: 265 x 1, 295 x 1, 325 x 1, 355 x 1Oct 11: 275 x 1, 305 x 1, 335 x 1, 365 x 1

560

At this stage I realized that a long-time dream of lifting 400 pounds was a stone’s throw away. I wasflabbergasted, unable to believe the rapidity of my progress. I was still fooling around with other liftsat this point, usually following my hacks with a set of dumbbell deadlifts and either dumbbell pressesor rows. Inspired, I decided to chuck it all and follow the precise directions laid out in “Record Day.”This meant that I did an aerobic or “Longstrength” warm-up, then the hacklift (adding the iso set andspeed singles), followed by a Longstrength finish. Since I was only 35 pounds away from my new goal Idecided to jump right in and set it up as my iso set for that day, rather than trying to reach it a fewpounds at a time. I would have been content with 400 as an iso set for several workouts, but to mydelight I pulled the barbell for a complete rep. A years-old dream brought to fruition. I stepped backand looked with satisfaction at the stacks of plates on each end of the bar. What a confidence-builderto know I could now handle 400 pounds. Here’s that day’s routine:

240 x 1, 280 x 1, 320 x 1, 360 x 1, 400 x 1speed singles: 300 x 1, 300 x 1, 300 x 1

I loved the speed singles (only 20 seconds rest between them) because after the 400, 300 seemedpaltry. This was so invigorating that I felt like I could have thrown the 300 across the room. I nowentertained thoughts of exceeding 400. The cycle continued:

Oct 25260 x 1, 300 x 1, 340 x 1, 380 x 1, 420 x 1speed singles: 315 x 1, 315 x 1, 315 x 1

Nov 3280 x 1, 320 x 1, 360 x 1, 400 x 1, 440 x iso holdspeed singles: 330 x 1, 330 x 1, 330 x 1

Nov 11280 x 1, 320 x 1, 360 x 1, 400 x 1, 440 x iso holdspeed singles: 330 x 1, 330 x 1, 330 x 1

At 440 I started to have grip problems. I grew depressed about stalling out here, though I was nowwell beyond 400. On November 27 I tried the 440 again, but with a hook grip, and succeeded. I usedthis method for two more workouts:

Dec 1300 x 1, 340 x 1, 380 x 1, 420 x 1, 460 x so holdspeed singles: 345 x 1, 345 x 1, 345 x 1

Dec 5300 x 1, 340 x 1, 380 x 1, 420 x 1, 460 x iso hold

I couldn’t get comfortable with the hook grip, so I was now stuck at 460. I now started to use a mixedgrip. I wasn’t prepared for the contrast. Even heavy weights were now a breeze to hang on to. Iresumed my hacklift cycle, backtracking slightly to ease into it. For some reason, at this point Idropped the speed singles, probably because the one heavy limit lift was enough work for me. I wasalso fiddling around with some dumbbell presses on the same training day, but in retrospect I shouldhave just stuck with the hacklift, saving any extra lifts for non-hacklift days.

561

My cycle recommenced:Dec 24300 x 1, 340 x 1, 380 x 1, 420 x 1

I was encouraged by how easy the 420 was.

Dec 27320 x 1, 360 x 1, 400 x 1, 440 x 1

The 440 felt good. I kept on.

Dec 30340 x 1, 380 x 1, 420 x 1, 460 x 1

At 460 I had to pinch myself. Remember, this was after years of toil, with anything over 300 a fantasy,let alone 400. With the mythical 500 in sight, I could scarcely believe it was me lifting such weights. Ihad for so long associated these high numbers with other guys. The cycle continued:

Jan 5, 1995360 x 1, 400 x 1, 440 x 1, 480 x 1

The 480 felt ponderous, but now I was so close to 500, I couldn’t not get it. I got a little nervous,however, and put it off, making sure I was completely recovered. On January 17, I did the following:

350 x 1, 400 x 1, 450 x 1, 500 x 1

Years of stagnation and frustration had come to an end.

On my heaviest single of each day I would hold onto the weight for a few seconds rather than put itdown immediately. I was enjoying my newly-discovered power, revelling in how easy some of the bigweights felt.

As far as physical gains go, heavy singles in the hacklift have done more for my traps than shrugs everdid. They have also done more for my forearms than direct work for that area has. My neck, back,hips, and thighs all got great exercise. Unexpectedly, my calves also were worked, and not justindirectly—really worked. I haven’t undergone any miracle transformation. I’m still relatively lean andlanky, and always will be. But I’m getting strong and building muscle apropos to my genetic type.

This was a lesson in the value of total-body work. A few heavy lifts in a big exercise are better thanbreaking the body down into pieces and training each section with an isolation or little exercise. Itwould take five or six small exercises to cover the ground I did with the hacklift, without the rewards instrength or development.

This was also my first real experiment with singles. I never reaped the same benefits with high-repwork. I think singles are perfect for the hard gainer, because the work is both concentrated and cutback to its bare minimum. The possibility of overtraining is reduced, and as John McKean has noted,singles encourage good form.

Some say that constant singles training is too hard on the body and mind, but cycling and adjustingpoundages to how one feels on any particular day negates any ill-effects. Some will warn that a

562

trainee should start a cycle with fives, then threes, and finally twos and ones. Why not start with onesin the first place? A lifter could begin with the same poundage he or she would use for fives, but onlydo one for each set. This saves energy, and promotes concentration on lifting form. On my hackliftlead-in sets, I could have done multiple reps, but that would have only detracted from the topsingle—the one that requires and builds the most strength and power. John McKean suggests savingreps for a back-down set, certain dumbbell lifts, or a Longstrength finish, using singles on just abouteverything else. Please see John’s articles in issues 23, 25, 27, 30, 31, 34, and 35. People can go crazytrying to discover the ideal rep scheme. Why not forget such confusion and just carefully lift a weight?

I wish that I’d known about partial lifts ages ago, and stopped trying to force my body into unsafepositions. My lower back would be in better shape today if I’d never done the full-range back squat.The distance a person lifts or pulls a weight is relative to their height, limb lengths, etc. My partial liftmay move the bar the same distance as another’s full-range lift. Hard gainers who have problems withfull-range movements might save themselves years of injury by altering their range of motion onmovements like squats, deadlifts, straddle lifts, dumbbell deadlifts, and hacklifts. It doesn’t follow thatpeople of all shapes and sizes should have to lift a weight the same relative distance. After all, we’remore or less stuck with the one-size-fits-all barbell.

The point I’m trying to make here is that to compare strength, a weight should be lifted the sameactual distance by each lifter. As it is, a super-tall guy may have to pull a deadlift over 30 incheswhereas an average-sized lifter’s deadlift range of motion might only be 20-25 inches. Tall and lankylifters might want to decrease their range of motion by a few inches on lifts like squats and deadlifts,to avoid injury and to equalize or make up for one’s body’s incompatibility with a full-range lift or thesize of equipment used.

Perhaps the greatest reward for me now is that I regularly handle at least 400 pounds in my workouts.A weight that used to make me wince to even look at is no longer a big deal. Not only has this givenme a cheery training outlook, but lifting 400-500 pounds habitually is taking me closer to my geneticpotential than repping out ever did. And it’s fun.

Single-rep chin-upsIf you’re anything like me, you’re lousy at chins. I find that after a few reps the movement restricts mybreathing—a big minus when it comes to weight training.

It was after burning out again on dumbbell rows that my thoughts returned to the old pull-up/chin-up.I decided to approach chins differently. Instead of one or two all-out sets, I tried a few sets of 3-4 reps.This was an improvement. Fewer reps meant less gasping for air. But after adding weight to these setsI began to go nowhere again. Lack of progression was the problem. Just as I could never get an extrarep on a high-rep set, I reached the point where I couldn’t add any more weight to the low-rep sets.

Then it hit me. Why couldn’t I apply the “McKean singles system” to chins? For some reason I hadn’tviewed chins as a lift. I’d falsely thought they were somehow different, as if they weren’t the kind ofexercise which could be approached with the singles philosophy. Wrong!

AdvantagesI recognized the advantages of single chins right away: The breathing problem was eliminated,progression was achievable, and, most importantly, I could approach the bar optimistically, knowing Ionly had to make one good pull. There were no reps to dread. Also, I could work my back and armsheavily without injury.

563

Back-down setTo swipe another McKeanism, if you’re not happy with only a few singles, try a lighter back-down setafter your single chins. Sometimes, I do one of 5-6 reps, which seems easy after the heavy pulls.Another option, inspired by “Barbells Up, Dumbbells Down” in HARDGAINER issue #34, is to do a setof dumbbell rows for 3-7 reps as a back-down set. The heavy chins will transfer power to the dumbbelllift, making it seem easier.

FormI find a supinated grip a few inches narrower than shoulder width the strongest and mostcomfortable for chins. I don’t think very narrow or wide grips are a good idea—too much strain onwrists and elbows. I like to get a few preparatory breaths before I jump for the rafter/bar. The lastbreath I hold until exhalation at or near the top of the pull. I also like a bar high enough so that mylegs can hang loosely. This lets me focus all of my effort into the pull, without having to hold my feetclear of the floor.

Comments on single chinsSingles allow me to concentrate on pure strength and progression without the complications of repsor getting enough air. Most systems call for progression of both weight and reps, e.g., build to 5 reps,add 5 pounds, build to 5 reps, etc. With singles, progression is restricted to poundage only. There areno distracting reps. I can clear my mind and center all my attention on the one single. It’s the simplest,most pared down progressive training system there is.

I recommend single chins to other lifters who have had bad luck with the old chin, and/or want analternative to dumbbell rows that won’t harm the lower back. Sometimes, when lifts become old andtired, it’s not just the lift itself, but how it’s done that causes staleness. Approach it with a differentphilosophy, do it a new way, adapt it to your needs, and your gains and cheerful outlook will return.

Editor’s note: In the USA, a ton is usually considered as 2,000 pounds (i.e., the “short” ton), but inGreat Britain a ton is usually considered as 2,240 pounds (i.e., the “long” ton). Eric’s “quarter ton” liftis relative to USA conventions.

564

565

Training the Old-Fashioned Wayby Bob Whelan

Downtown Washington was quiet and still dark as I walked through the Gallery Place Metro Station.My gym’s front door was only about 50 feet away, in the heart of China Town. I arrived to open for anearly morning training session with Vernon Veldekens. I’ve been training Vern for about eight monthsand he’s about to achieve 300-400-500 status any day now. He’s knocking on the door in all three lifts.He trained for a few years before I met him, so he was not a beginner when I took him on. For the lasteight months he has been training at a new level of intensity, just what he was looking for.

Vern is the type of guy I especially love to train. He’s a young (24) tough kid from Texas, 5-8, and nowweighs a solid 195 pounds. He’s a “throw-back” type, not a sensitive 1990s reader of a “fitness”magazine. He listens, loves to work hard, gives no excuses, and takes no prisoners. He doesn’t uselifting gloves or other wimpy supportive or decorative gear. He doesn’t let minor aches and pains stophim. He eats endless cans of tuna and drinks gallons of skim milk. He does everything I tell him,without complaints or arguments. He spends far more time talking about his training poundages thanhe does his body fat percentage. I like that. Guys who are more concerned with their body fatpercentage (when they aren’t fat) than they are with their training poundages have missed the boat.No matter what I dish out, Vern never complains and always comes back for more.

Vern arrived a few minutes after I did. “Yo Vern! Ready to kick some ass?” Vern’s growl let me know hewas ready. We started the warm-up routine. We’d both already had coffee and big breakfasts.Aerosmith was blasting out high-energy music and the atmosphere was good. We quickly forgot thatit was 6am. After he was fully warm and stretched, he began with inclines. After a warm-up set, Verndid out a set of 5 with 185 pounds using a 2.5-inch-thick bar. After incline presses he quickly moved topreacher curls using a custom 2-inch-thick EZ-curl bar made by Bob Hise of Mav-Rik. Vern willed hisenergy to get sets of 5 reps with 85 pounds. After a short rest it was over to front pulldowns with 155pounds, and Vern took it to failure.

Vern did three work sets for all three exercises. For the first two sets he used the controlled-failuremethod, stopping at the rep goal even if he could do more. On the third work set of each set he wentall out to total failure and held nothing back.

After finishing the third set of pulldowns he was dripping with sweat. The black rubber floor lookedlike it had been raining and there was a hole in the ceiling. He took just enough rest to recover, but Ididn’t let him waste time. We had a lot of work to do in a little over one hour.

I kept him busy doing a set of 20 reps in the good morning exercise while I changed some plates. Westarted the next round and I was screaming in his ear. “You’re on national television. Hit the roof!”Vern pushed through 3 sets of 5 reps in the seated military press with 145 pounds using a 2.5-inch-thick bar. “Good work! You’re moving up 5 pounds next time!” I shouted. He was breathing steam,with piercing eyes. With good focus he headed across the room for pushdowns. Two sets of 5 with 95pounds. On the third set Vern looked like he had been struck by lightning as his whole body shookand he went to failure doing 7 reps. “Moving up again, Vern.”

Vern recently switched to a 5-rep routine after spending about six months building a solid foundationwith 8-10 reps for upper body and 10-20 for legs. I believe in periodization or cycles, but don’t want

566

to have a long build-up period. We make a few minor changes and back down a little, but are back tofull-force effort in a few weeks. I believe that long build-ups waste productive training time. In anyevent, Vern has been going like a rocket since I made the switch. We’ll ride this wave for as long as itwill go. But I’ll make minor changes for mental purposes along the way. If he gets stuck on a particularpoundage for several workouts, I’ll take the pressure off by making a change, like using 5-3-1 insteadof 3 sets of 5. There’s always something you can do to get a mental edge.

Sometimes, when you’re stuck at a certain poundage, the best thing to do is to add weight. If youmiss it, you have nothing to lose and you can say that you got the feel of a heavier weight. But youmight get it. In the mid 1970s, when I was stationed at Castle AFB in California, I got 300 pounds forthe first time on the bench press. I remember I was stuck at 295 for months. I finally put on 305, hadno pressure, and got it.

We were heading down the home stretch and Vern was slightly nauseous. I let him take a few extraminutes to rest and drink some water. “Are you okay, Vern?”

“Let’s do it!” he replied. Next was the seated cable row for 3 sets with 165 pounds, and then 3 sets of5 reps in the squat with 325 pounds. I yelled in his ear so that he got the final reps in the last set. Hegot them, but collapsed after the last rep. I was about to call 911 but felt reassured when Iremembered that Vern was only 24 years old. Some of my other clients would have been dead if I’dpushed them that hard. The nauseousness reappeared with a vengeance. I got the puke bucket.Puking is nothing to be proud of, but sometimes it happens to the best of us.

Vern was still keen, and the workout was not over. A little puking wasn’t going to stop him. He feltbetter after a few minutes and said, “I feel good. Let’s finish!” (My kind of guy.) He did some wristrolling with a 2-inch pipe and a 15-foot rope that I hung over the balcony. Some people in thebuilding were watching, and thought we were crazy. They can’t believe that people pay me to dothis to them.

After the wrist roller and a set with the Weaver stick, the final challenge was for Vern to transport a200-pound sand bag around the building, keeping it at chest height. It’s a bitch and even harder than20-rep squats. You can’t believe how hard this is until you try it, especially at the end of a workout.About six months ago Brooks Kubik advised me to add this to the routine. At first I thought, “Yeah,right.” But I decided to try it, and it was brutal.

I now have four 50-pound bags and can adjust the weight by putting them in a larger canvas dufflebag. The sand shifts and it’s hard to grab. Your whole body struggles to grip, squeeze, balance andcontrol the bag just to get it to chest level, bear-hug style. Vern had previously got 150 pounds andtoday he was going for 200. When anyone can get 200 around the building, they get a free workoutand their names and date put on the bag, like the Stanley Cup. Vern collapsed about five times and ittook him about ten minutes to get around the building. Each time he collapsed he had to wrestle thebag back in position in a sort of clean, which is no simple matter with 200 pounds. He made it, but if Ihadn’t been yelling “Free workout!” he wouldn’t have got it.

He made it around and collapsed. “Good work, Vern. Free workout. See you Saturday. Today, youbuilt muscle the old-fashioned way. You earned it!”

Here’s Vern’s weekly training program:

567

Wednesday1. Incline press2. Preacher curl3. Pulldown4. Good morning5. Overhead press6. Pushdown7. Seated cable row8. Squat9. Grip and sandbag work as time permits

Saturday1. Bench press2. Standing barbell curl3. Pulldown4. Leg press5. Overhead press6. Pushdown7. Seated cable row8. Trap bar deadlift9. Grip and sandbag work as time permits

Since we have the equipment to ourselves, and we have a time limit, I group the exercises and usuallyhave Vern doing three different exercises in a row, taking about 30 seconds rest after each of the firsttwo. Then he takes about 90 seconds rest after the final exercise in the group. This gives him aboutfour minutes rest between repeat sets for the same exercise.

A workout lasts between 60 and 80 minutes, depending on if someone is scheduled after Vern. If noone is coming during the next hour, I hold Vern “hostage” for an extra 10-20 minutes for grip andsandbag work. Between workouts he does abdominal work, aerobic work and additional stretching.

568

How Not to Wreck Your Lower Backby Stuart McRobert

Lower-back problems are among the most common complaints among bodybuilders and lifters. This isno surprise when you consider how many abusive training practices are rampant in gyms. Clean upyour training, and extend your training longevity. Without a strong and injury-free lower back youcan’t do some of the most productive exercises. And if you can’t do the most productive exercises,you substantially reduce the size and strength potential you can achieve.

Due to individual variation in hardiness of structure, leverages, training experience, and age, differentpeople are affected to differing degrees by the same lower-back abuse. Some people can apparentlyget away with the abuse for a long time before paying the heavy price, but others start paying theprice almost immediately.

Act on all of the following, and help spare yourself from having to travel the path of frustration,despair and waste of training time that accompanies lower-back injury. The points that follow aren’tgiven in any particular order.

Deadlifting1. If you can’t finish a deadlift, never let your shoulders slump. If you do, your back will crumple and

round massively, and you could be out of training for a long time.

2. If you can’t keep your shoulders pulled back in the final stage of a deadlift, dump the bar.

3. Never lean back when at the top position of any deadlift. Finish at the vertical standing position.

4. Don’t descend in any type of deadlift to a depth that causes your lower back to round. If need be,elevate the plates an inch or two or three, so that you can maintain a flat back. Do this by puttingplates or blocks of wood under the plates that are loaded on the bar.

(A flat back actually has a slightly arched lower spine, but the muscle there fills out the slight hollow.)

5. During a deadlift’s ascent and descent, never let the bar drift forward out of the groove.

6. A reverse grip when deadlifting can produce rotational stress. Use an overhand grip. If you mustuse a reverse grip, vary which hand is the pronated one so that the rotational stress isn’t alwaysapplied in the same way.

7. Don’t do any type of deadlift to absolute failure. Keep the “do or die” rep in you.

8. Use a trap bar for deadlifting—it’s superior to a straight bar.

Squatting9. Don’t descend in the squat to a depth that causes your lower back to round. Only go down as deep

as you can while maintaining a flat back. While it’s best if you can safely squat to parallel or justbelow parallel, you don’t have to squat to that depth. What you have to do, if you’re to benefitfrom the exercise, is to squat safely over the long-term.

569

10. Between reps of the squat, while you’re standing, don’t flatten your lower back by moving yourhips forward. Maintain your natural degree of inward curvature in your lower back by keeping yourhips pushed to the rear somewhat (but without exaggeration). If you flatten the natural curvatureby bringing your hips forward, you’ll greatly reduce your lower-back strength. Keep your hips inthe position that maintains the natural curvature.

11. While standing between reps of the squat, don’t shuffle around and take more of the stress onone side of your body than the other, or rotate at your hips. And never try to reposition the bar byjerking it up after a sharp lockout. If the bar is out of position, rack it and reposition it properly.

12. Never squat without rack pins or safety bars positioned to catch the bar if you fail on a rep.

13. Never hump or round your upper back when squatting. Stop a set if you feel your back is aboutto start rounding.

14. Never let a squat turn into a good morning. If you fall forward or lose the groove, don’t push onwith the rep. Descend immediately and dump the bar on the supports.

Deadlifting and squatting15. Never do any squatting or deadlifting with anything other than a perfectly level bar. You must

apply balanced stress to both sides of your body. If you get out of the groove, tip the bar, andlean to one side, you hugely increase the stress on that side. If you lose the groove on a rep,immediately set the bar down on the safety bars/pins (for the squat) or floor (for the deadlift).Battle through a skewed rep and you may not be battling any reps for a long time.

16. Avoid one end of the bar moving forward and the other moving back. This produces a dangerouscorkscrew-like effect on your motion.

17. Be sure you know and can apply good form in the squat and deadlift before you work hard onthem. Apply Brooks Kubik’s guidance on deadlifting technique in this issue, and that on squattingtechnique in the previous two issues.

18. Developing and then maintaining good flexibility in your hamstrings, glutes, calves and quadricepswill help you maintain safe form in the squat and deadlift.

19. Deadlifting one day a week and squatting on another means two heavy workouts for your lowerback each week. That may be too much for many of you. It may be better to squat and deadlift onthe same day each week, and train both of them just once a week. This will give your lower back afull week of rest before you squat and deadlift again.

20. High-rep and low-rep squats and deadlifts can injure your lower back. It’s not the rep count that’sthe most critical factor, but the form you use.

21. Never squat or deadlift heavily if you have lower-back soreness.

22. Never do forced reps or negatives in the squat or deadlift. They are fraught with a very high riskof injury. Stick to regular sets where you do reps under your own steam, but with aggression,passion and zeal.

570

Pressing motions23. Don’t arch your back when doing any type of bench pressing, including inclines and declines. Your

lower back has a natural degree of curvature that will take it a little off the bench, but neverexaggerate the arch. Keep your hips glued to the bench and never intentionally shorten thedistance between your shoulders and hips. In the regular bench press, put a platform about 4inches tall under your feet, to help force you to maintain an almost-flat back while you bench press.

24. On overhead pressing, avoid leaning back excessively. What’s “excessively”? When does safebecome dangerous? Do your overhead pressing while seated against a high-incline bench andthere will be no variation in how much you lean back. Keep your hips in place, don’t exaggeratethe natural curvature in your lower back, and use a seat that’s adjustable so that it can be inclineda little to help prevent you slipping out of position.

Other areas25. Avoid cheating curls. They are murder on the lower back (and shoulders). And avoid leaning back

to get a final curl that won’t go by itself. Get a partner to apply just enough assistance so you canget the bar up, or hold an isometric at the highest point you can get the bar to.

26. Regular hyperextensions are good, but never do them with any jerking or thrusting into the topposition. Ease carefully into the top position. Going up to parallel or just above parallel, is safe,but going any higher may cause problems, so don’t go higher.

27. Reverse hyperextensions may provide better therapy and supplementary work for your back andsupporting muscles than do regular hyperextensions. But do them with control and no thrustinginto the top position.

28. Avoid carrying a single heavy object or weight on one side of your body only. Better to lift thesingle object with both hands in front of your body, or to hold a heavy object in each hand.

29. Be sure you always take a grip spacing the same distance from the center of the bar on both sides.Uneven grips apply uneven stress to your body. And uneven stress can cause problems.

30. Do your lifting on a horizontal surface. If where you lift has a slope, albeit just a slight one, you’llincrease your chance of sustaining an injury.

31. Don’t do the T-bar row. And don’t do the barbell row unless your torso is braced. Instead, use thedumbbell row, pulley row, or any chest-supported row.

32. When using a calf machine for standing calf raises, never hump your upper back or thrust yourhips forward. Preserve the strong natural inward curvature of your lower spine.

33. Avoid the good morning exercise. While some people can do it productively, the exercise isfraught with potential dangers. There are safer alternatives.

34. Even good exercises done in perfect form will wear you down and damage you if you do toomuch of them, do them too often, or do them full-bore for too long at a single stretch. Don’tovertrain your lower back!

571

35. Use excellent exercise technique at all times. Resist the temptation to do any final rep with lousyform. Just a single rep done that way can be enough to devastate your training for a long time.Keep the imperfect rep in you, and come back next time and try to get it in correct form.

36. Don’t do maximum-possible-range leg presses. Cut the depth enough so that your lower back isalways kept flat against the back support.

37. Develop strong abdominal and oblique muscles. They will help to keep your lower back strongand resistant to injury. Take crunch sit-ups or crunch pulldowns seriously, and build up toimpressive poundages. Do the same for side bends. But never overstretch in the side bend, andbe especially careful to use controlled form free of any jerking or twisting.

38. Get your back checked by a chiropractor to see if have a structural problem (e.g., scoliosis, ordifferent leg lengths) that could predispose you to a lower-back problem. By knowing of astructural defect you may be able to tailor your training so as not to exaggerate the potentialproblem that the defect predisposes you to.

39. Keep your brain a step ahead of your heart. Many lower-back injuries occur because reason andsanity are overwhelmed by misdirected enthusiasm. Don’t risk sacrificing many workouts bysuccumbing to a moment of temporary madness in your current workout.

40. If you suffer from apparently minor aches and pains in your lower back, get a professionalopinion to be sure that you’re not setting yourself up for serious injury. Never adopt a machoattitude and battle on through aches and pains. If you’re hurting, something is wrong. Find whatit is, and stop doing it.

572

573

FROM THE GRASSROOTSHow to set up your own home-gymby John Leschinski

No matter where you live, if you’re serious about your training you should be serious about the placewhere you train. Whether you’re housed on the tundra, or in a hut in the tropics, you can set up ahigh-quality home gym. If you’ve got some unused floor space you’ve already met the firstrequirement. Though the saying “more is better” applies to space, don’t view this as a hard and fastrule. You can still set up a first-class spot even if you only have minimum space.

I live in eastern Washington State. My home is situated many miles from civilization, circled by endlessrolling fields of wheat. My gym is located in a garage separate from the house. In spite of theisolation, I’ve got a set-up most hardcore trainees would probably respect and even envy. If I’m ableto make the best of my circumstances, you can too.

Equipment needsIn order to get the most from your workouts, there’s a minimum amount of equipment you shouldhave. This, of course, depends on several things, including the amount of room you have available,how much you can afford to spend, and your personal preferences.

There are three items that will always be the core of any dedicated trainee’s quarters. The first wouldbe several hundred pounds of weights and bar(s) that can endure the abuse of guerilla warfare. If youplan on going for your best, you’ll need plates that are properly machined, a bar that can hold someserious weight, and a pair of locking collars. It’s not really important whether you use a standard or anOlympic-style set. I use a combination of both, but mostly center my sessions with the Olympic barand plates. A set of durable dumbbell handles makes a useful addition, but they aren’t essential.

The second core piece would be a multi-positional bench that goes from a horizontal position to anear or completely-vertical adjustment. This isn’t a piece to skimp on quality. Get the best you canswing, for the money. You don’t want a bench that’s going to collapse on you. Sturdy flat benches areusually easier to come across than sturdy adjustable ones.

The third central item is a power rack. An alternative is a pair of adjustable squat stands together witha pair of adjustable safety-spotter racks. Before you buy a power rack, make sure the one you’reconsidering will fit through the intended entrance door, and that you’ll have ceiling clearance.

The first two homes that sheltered my gym coincidentally had room to fit the rack through the door. Iwasn’t so lucky in my present home, though. The day we moved in and tried to squeeze it in I sadlydiscovered it just wasn’t going to happen, under any circumstances (at least without tearing the wallsdown). My alternative was to set up shop in the garage. Luckily I did have an alternative available.Without pre-investigation you may not be so fortunate.

Also, make sure your power rack comes supplied with two pairs of cold-rolled steel pins at least aninch thick, a set of hooks for your bar, and holes drilled close enough in the uprights to makepositional changes possible without a big jump from one position to another.

574

If your budget and space are limited, with only this equipment and a properly planned program andbags of enthusiasm you could go very far. But for most of us, this equipment list would be far fromideal. Equipment variety will give you more options for keeping you motivated.

The word “ideal” is subjective. You’d be hard pressed to find two identical opinions on what’s ideal.But as someone who’s been training for over 15 years, I feel qualified to paint a decent picture for youof what “ideal” would be.

In addition to the three central components, the following would complete my ideal home gym: a trapbar, a set of dipping bars, a chinning bar, a lat machine, a calf machine (though a dumbbell and ablock of wood will serve your calves well), a wrist roller, a grip machine, some sort of device forworking your neck, and weight trees to hold weight plates. A non-vertical leg press machine could behandy, for a change of pace. But many a set of rippling thighs were built without ever touching a legpress. So, actually, this piece leans more toward luxury. Some other useful items are chalk, a belt, adipping belt, and a variety of different bars.

You may need assurance in the financial department. In my opinion you definitely don’t need to spenda fortune to equip your gym. But you do need quality tools. Keep in mind, when it comes to gymequipment you usually get what you pay for. If you’re looking at buying new stuff, focus on ruggedness.

I purchased most of my equipment from a now-defunct company, at very reasonable prices. Andjudging from its eight years of heavy-duty service I’ll probably be passing it on to my children when Ileave this world. You may also want to investigate some of the bargains sold as “used.”

When it comes to weight plates you should have lots, in various sizes. And it’s extremely important tohave a decent supply of “little gems”—those one, half and quarter-pound plates (and even washers)so valuable when plowing well into a cycle.

Also keep in mind that when training HARDGAINER-style, simplicity works best. The same applies toequipment. It’s not necessary to pay for useless luxuries. Go with the basic and functional, as well aswhat will be comfortable and not potentially injurious. If you have access to “see before you buy,” doso. Inspect your potential purchase for technically correct welds, durable pulleys, bearings and paint,and thick vinyl filled with firm padding. Thick gauge steel is also a must. I’d advise going with 14-gauge tubing or better.

If you happen to buy all the equipment mentioned here, and take care of it, you’ll probably neverhave to get another piece of gear. You’ll have some other considerations in setting up a place too, inaddition to equipment alone.

Your environmentOxygen is essential in sustaining life. So more of it is used during workouts. That’s why picking anarea that’s well ventilated is very important. You’ve got to be able to breathe through the demandsof hard training. Make sure you’ve always got a fresh supply of air. You need windows you can openthat will let in fresh air.

Cleanliness is another factor. Sweat breeds fungus and germs, and so does dirt. It’s advised that fromtime to time you wipe down the surfaces you make contact with, and occasionally run a broom orvacuum cleaner across the floor.

575

Depending on what part of the world you’re living in, temperature control is something you shouldthink about. In warmer climates you may not have to concern yourself with supplying heat. But airconditioning may be necessary to avoid heat stroke during the hotter months. And in the coldnorthern climates, the winter months may offer a real challenge. Your gym should be insulated andheated. Unfortunately, my own place is neither. But I dress very warmly, and use a small space heaterwhile looking forward to the milder months ahead.

It’s very easy to pull muscles in cold weather. So whatever you’re stuck with, keep yourself warm.

Your potential spot should also have adequate lighting. It’s natural for the physiology and metabolismof many animals to become sluggish when less light is available. Humans are no exception.Drowsiness under low or no light conditions is typical for us. The last thing you’d want to do whenlifting, especially heavy weights, is to lose your alertness. This can lead to serious injury, which caneasily be prevented. So plenty of light is the answer.

What many people find energizing, in addition to bright light, are music, and posters with vibrantcolors or motivating images.

SafetyThe last, yet one of the most important things you should take into account, is safety. It’s somethingoften taken for granted, but without it your lifting days could be over indefinitely. Here are a fewsimple tips that, if followed, will make your spot a sound haven:

1. Don’t cram or clutter things in so tight that you can’t move. Steel corners and edges notoriously ripskin open. And to avoid tripping and possibly breaking bones or spraining muscles, don’t spreadthings all across the floor.

2. If you’ll be lifting on wooden floors, be sure the beams and floorboards can support you, yourweights, and all your equipment. Just imagine the severity of injury, or possibly fatality, if the floorcollapsed with you on it, holding several hundred pounds on your back or over your chest.

3. Hang up one or more mirrors to monitor your exercise form. When squeezing out heavy sets,proper form can mean the difference between positive achievement or paralysis.

4. If you’ve got the appropriate temperament, a training partner can be a real plus. But not everyoneis cut out for this type of relationship (myself included).

5. If you’ll be training in your area alone, let a family member or friend know where you’ll be. Havethem occasionally check on you. And work out some sort of system or plan on how you’ll contactsomeone for help, if the need arises. People have died waiting for a rescue with a bench press barpinning their necks to the bench.

With all this information at hand, you’re now well prepared to put together one mighty-fine muscleden. Keep in mind that this is only one person’s view on what an “ideal” set-up would be. Butremember, it doesn’t need to be fancy, sophisticated, or very expensive. Let common sense be yourgreatest guiding force here. Give or take some, yours can still be ideal. But your home gym should bejust that—a place where you feel confident, comfortable, and at home.

576

Factors of Successby Wesley Silveira

There are many factors that combine to determine if your training strategy is a successful one, or, ifyou’re wasting your time. Now is a good time to do yourself a favor, especially if your currenttraining and nutritional program isn’t producing for you. Stop right now and analyze what you’redoing. Are you headed in the right direction? If not, don’t continue down a road going in the wrongdirection, or to nowhere.

I sat down recently and looked at my training diary. Since resuming training in 1990 I have a writtenaccount of every set and rep I’ve done. This includes how I felt during each workout, brief notes onhow each cycle was going, notes on any injuries or unusual soreness, dietary notes, and plannedprogression schemes to get me back to my previous best poundages, and beyond. This diary hasbeen one of the key factors in my training success.

I looked back and saw my humble beginnings at 20-rep squatting. I was using 110 pounds. I don’tknow what my current 20-rep limit is, as I haven’t done twenties in a while. I’ve been using sets of 5-10reps recently, with around 350 pounds. The deadlift is about the only lift I feel I’m naturally good at.My usual work sets are with over 450 pounds.

My rate of progress over the last few years has been wonderful. I’ve racked up slow but steadyincreases on every cycle since I found the combination of factors that works for me. It really is true thatall those little increases add up to a lot of iron on the bar over the long-term.

Am I a hard gainer? Well, anyone who can only work out twice a week at most, can only train bodyparts/lifts once a week each, and must do a very limited amount of movements for only one or twosets each, while paying strict attention to nutrition and rest habits in order to make gains, woulddefinitely qualify as a hard gainer. This describes me perfectly. In spite of all this, my gains have beenconsistently good since I started training in an abbreviated style.

To make good progress, here are some of the factors a hard gainer needs to have in good order.

Nutrition1. Find the dietary requirements that must be fulfilled in order for you to make gains. Be methodical.

Write down everything you eat for a few weeks and get a book listing calories, protein and carbs.Are you really getting enough nutrition to pack on muscle?

2. Getting enough protein is crucial for growth. Are your needs satisfied? By counting grams ofprotein consumed per day over the course of a couple of cycles, I found out that I need at least200 grams of protein a day, and do better on about 250. Consuming more than 250 doesn’t seemto have any more beneficial effect. This is a lot of protein, more than I can comfortably consumeby eating plain food. Let’s assume a trainee is working at the proper frequency and duration forhim. His caloric intake is sufficient, he makes sure he’s getting enough rest, and he isn’t draininghimself with outside-the-gym activities that would cut into his ability to grow. All is well except heneeds 225 grams of protein a day to grow on, but is getting only 125-150. What happens?Nothing, and by nothing I mean no gains. This is exactly how it works for me. As long as my intakeis above 200 grams per day, all is well. Much below that and I can kiss any potential gains

577

goodbye. Your requirement may be higher or lower. Only you can determine it. The importantthing is finding the level that your body needs, and consistently providing yourself with thisamount. I often wonder where I would be today had I not discovered this key.

3. With training, less is more. But with nutrition, more is usually better. Without getting carried away,make sure your body has in abundance all the nutrients it needs. In most cases, the average personwho is having a difficult time trying to gain size and strength isn’t consuming enough wholesomefoods and supplements. Beware of mega-calorie weight gainers. For most people, thosesupplements are more appropriately termed “mega waist gainers.” I’m not saying that weight-gain-type supplements are useless, but for most people, adding a couple of very high calorie liquidmeals a day will make one fat very fast indeed. Be moderate. I almost always use a weight-gain-type supplement towards the end of a cycle when I’m in new poundage territory. But I use a 1,000calorie drink, and break it up into two servings of 500 calories each. This, combined with one or twolow-calorie milk or egg-based drinks of 200-250 calories each, provides the additional carbs,calories and protein I need when training at high intensity in the heavy part of a cycle.

4. As far as supplements go, stick to the basics. A good protein or carb/protein mix and a goodvitamin and mineral mix should be enough for anyone who is eating a reasonably balanced diet.You don’t need a bunch of pseudo metabolic-amino-optimizers to make good progress. Many willfind that good wholesome food in the right quantity together with lots of extra milk is all that’sneeded for optimum gains.

Training5. Find the training volume and frequency that works for you, and train within those limits. Don’t

waste your time trying to do a routine that has you doing too much, and too frequently. Eventhough this is one of the most basic of the principles of effective training, I’m convinced that evenmany readers of HARDGAINER use programs that are well beyond their optimum level for bestgains. Hard gainers can’t work on detail and size at the same time. Concentrate on getting strongin the big movements. Who cares if your rear delt, or outer thigh, or whatever, isn’t up to par? Allthis means nothing if you aren’t already big and strong.

6. Train for strength in the powerlifts. This statement is intended for those who are more focused onbodybuilding, because the powerlifters reading this already know. Spend the majority of your timefocused on the big lifts, using the rep range that suits you best. It doesn’t make any difference ifyou want to be a powerlifter or not, the three powerlifts are the answer for overall size andstrength gains for all who use them. Of course, there are some trainees who aren’t structurallysuited for these movements. For those people, good substitutes must be found. No matter what,you must be doing one of the big full-body movements if you expect to make real progress. Can’tsquat? Focus on the deadlift. Can’t do the conventional deadlift? Try the trap bar deadlift, orheavy dumbbell deadlifting. Make sure that you’re doing at least one of the big full-bodymovements. Without them, most hard gainers are doomed to failure.

7. Have a sound cycling strategy that works for you mentally as well as physically. To a certain extent,your training should fit your personality as well as your physical structure. If you’re someone whothrives on change, it probably won’t do you much good to set up a six- or eight-month cycle witha very slow progression on movements that you don’t plan on changing until the cycle’s end. Ifyou’re just the opposite and are the type that likes to do things the same way all the time, and areblessed with a generous amount of patience, the long and slow cycle may be well suited for you.

578

8. Keep a training diary. It’s much easier to figure out how to get where you’re going if you knowwhere you’ve been. Not only should your training diary list what you’ve done, it should also have alist of goals and planned progression for your next training cycle. You’ll have a much better chanceof getting to your goals if they have been written out and you’ve spent some time coming up witha strategy that will work for you. Don’t just copy a program out of a magazine and follow it blindly.

9. Have faith in the abbreviated and basic style of training. Never be swayed by others. Abbreviatedtraining is the only way the average trainee will ever get to his genetic potential. Turn a deaf ear tothose who try to convince you otherwise. They either have much better genetics than you, and/oruse bodybuilding drugs, or just plain don’t know what they are talking about. Stay the course!

10. Safety is of the utmost importance. If you’re injured, you can’t train. It doesn’t make any differenceif you have the perfect training routine, the best dietary intake, and all the rest you need. If you’reinjured and can’t train, all those factors are meaningless.

11. How big and strong you can get depends on your genetics. Never let anyone tell you different.What will make you successful is how well you’re able to make the best of what you have, andthen, most importantly, how well you accept your limitations. Don’t fall into the trap of comparingyourself with others, especially drug-using genetic superiors. This will only lead to frustration andgrief. I have almost too many structural faults to count, and even after building up to some fairpoundages I still don’t look real impressive by the standards of competitive bodybuilding. Yet I’ma success. Believe in yourself, and enjoy your achievements. Compare yourself with how you werewhen you started lifting, or with where you were before your last cycle, not with other trainees.Then you’ll become one of weight training’s success stories.

579

580

The Odds for a Super Physiqueby John McKean

What excitement for an enthusiastic young trainee! I was 16 at the time and about to witness my veryfirst physique contest. As a home-based practitioner I’d never yet had the opportunity to meet or seeanyone in the “real” Iron Game, but felt that the big annual Mr. Pittsburgh show would allow me toeyeball local stars.

As the contestants marched on stage for the introductory lineup, I was impressed with their shape anddefinition, but disappointed in their overall body size. Well, this wasn’t the big leagues of California orNew York, I thought. But just then a tremendously thick fellow, with the largest thighs I’d ever seen ona human, walked into view. Moments later another absolutely awesome individual, equally impressivein the leg area but possessing unbelievably deep total body cuts, strode onto the platform. To myyoung wide eyes these two men were far better than anyone I’d ever seen pictured in mags. It was nosurprise to see one win the contest and the other copping the most muscular award.

What was a surprise was to hear the announcer mention that these two were actually weightlifters, notstrictly physique men, and that each had just won a major award in something back then (early 1960s)called an “odd lift” meet. In fact, it seems the first fellow had just achieved the milestone feat ofperforming a 500-pound squat—almost unheard of in those pre-powerlifting days. Immediately, a500-pound squat and those huge thighs became a personal goal—well, at least I eventually achievedthe squat. The second guy was a state champion Olympic lifter in addition to being an “odd” lifter.

The odd-lift meets proved to be unofficial contests that a few years later evolved into powerlifting.Since Olympic lifting was “the only game in town” back then, the odd lifts offered variety and achance for men strong in other areas to strut their stuff. And these meets were usually more diversethan the three eventual powerlifts—sometimes such things as curls, bent-arm pullovers, hack lifts,presses and other lifts were contested. Even bodyweight chins and dips for reps were featured. Theseaffairs were very similar to our present day IAWA all-round events.

I’ve always maintained that the most powerfully built men I’ve seen through the years were alwaysthose who concentrated on strength with basic exercises. Some really strong guys don’t look tooimpressive to the average eye, yet whenever I actually witness a slimly-built lightweight push 250pounds overhead, or deadlift 500+, he immediately looks as good as any Mr. Universe. Conversely, Ionce watched a local physique star struggle to press 140 pounds overhead (he weighed 180).Instantly, my mind reduced his big arms and cuts to absolute zero. All his formerly impressive bulkmight just as well have been pure fat. But for the most part, when I run into someone who hasdevoted years to acquiring strength, he looks genuinely rugged and impressive to everyone—you canalways tell he’s a lifter.

With all this in mind, come down memory lane with me as I recall some fantastically built “odd” liftersand the key exercises which helped form them. The approach that helped build them may help buildyou. Just choose odd lifts you can perform safely and in consistently good form.

Odd lifts always had a way of surfacing at the famous York Barbell Club picnics, which Bob Hoffmanhosted the day after big lifting meets in his home town. Generally, the staff of the old STRENGTHAND HEALTH magazine would circulate and ask those in the visiting crowd if anyone would like to

581

demonstrate any strength feat on the big open-air stage. We were always treated to amazingperformances by unknowns as well as the current lifting stars. It was a rather loose atmosphere amidstthe picnic-style eating and drinking. And it was always amazing to see a few of those super staunchhealth food advocates gobbling a hot dog and drinking a beer. But such relaxation often led to worldrecord (but unofficial) performances.

Incline bench pressAt one of these picnics we coerced a few of our home-town buddies to take the stage. Neither hadever been in anything but small Pittsburgh events. One of them, whose nickname was “Pig,” stood 5-6 and weighed nearly 300 pounds, decided to show the crowd his bench pressing technique. Whenhe warmed up with more weight than any superheavyweight had done at the previous night’s NationalPowerlifting Championship, the normally boisterous picnic became very quiet. Oblivious to theattention, Pig quietly called for heavier and heavier singles, casually approaching the then-currentworld record held by Pat Casey. Each lift was done in picture-perfect form complete with a long pauseof the bar at his chest. Never breaking a sweat, he ignored the enthusiastic chant to attempt theworld record, instead quietly commenting to his buddy, “Say, Doug, I’m gonna take a break. Whydon’t you do something easy for the guys like a strict curl with 250 or so?”

Doug, dressed in his long-sleeved plaid shirt, was as huge as the mythical Paul Bunyan who heresembled, and could have curled such a weight with ease, but was painfully shy.

Both Pig and Doug always trained hard on their favorite odd lift—the incline bench press. Theyacquired huge upper-body size by merely performing five or six progressive heavy singles on this lifteach workout. Amazingly, they both achieved weights in excess of 500 pounds on the incline press.Pig did some regular benching but very limited work (almost never) on the squat or the deadlift, andtherefore never made much of a dent in the annals of powerlifting. On the other hand, big Doug usedhis huge frame to bull up high poundages in the squat and the deadlift, entered one national powermeet, took the superheavyweight division easily, then disappeared from the scene.

Bent-arm pulloverOne guy I occasionally saw training during my late teens was a bona fide physique star. Charlie wouldsuddenly appear, do several very heavy sets of half squats, weighted parallel bar dips, or bent-armpullovers, then leave—usually just one exercise per session. We often wondered when he did his“actual” bodybuilding routine with all the super sets, pumping, and concentration-style movements.After all, the guy was phenomenal. Though only 4-11 tall he had superb muscle size in all major areas,long muscle bellies, and mind-blowing definition. His arms were especially impressive.

As it proved over several years of observation, Charlie never did standard pumping routines, only thequick heavy moves we got to see every so often. His favorite exercise seemed to be the bent-armpullover. I once saw him load an Olympic bar to nearly 300 pounds (close to double his bodyweight)for a couple of sets of 2 or 3 reps. What was hilarious that day were the taller and heavierbodybuilders who were also performing pullovers, but with a “toy” barbell—off the fixed-weight rackand a weight of perhaps 60 pounds.

One-arm barbell cleanAnother intense individual trained at our large downtown YMCA. We nicknamed him “Nasser.” Weyoung trainees were afraid to ask this huge unsmiling Syrian for any personal details. This wide-shouldered man never seemed to push himself but easily handled sets of progressively heavier bench

582

presses, and big seated presses behind the neck with around 275 pounds. Most impressive was hisunusual closing exercise—the one-arm barbell clean. Nasser did this so easily that he required nocollars to keep the pair of 45s on each end of the Olympic bar. That’s right, he used 225 pounds! Heflipped up a few quick singles with about the same effort with which modern bodybuilders expend toupend their cans of mega-super-special fast-gain drink. Of course, Nasser’s upper forearms wereabout the circumference of an average 16-pound bowling ball.

Reverse curlIn an unusual twist of fate, the benefits of an odd lift possibly saved my life one time. A local younglifter who I know only as “South Side Stan” competed in a little of everything but specialized on thereverse curl. He got big all over from squats, military presses, pulls and the Olympic lifts, but hadespecially striking forearms from the strength he built from palms-down curling.

A bunch of us teens who trained together ventured to a popular lakeside resort during a summerholiday one year. We were joined by 75,000 other teens, college people, bikers, and general partygoers. My small group of friends ran into South Side Stan and his lifting buddies one evening. Whilebar hopping we spotted one of those sledge hammer, ring-the-bell carnival towers and Stan couldn’tresist it. Using those massive, reverse-curl-built forearms, he one-armed the hefty sledge andproceeded to ring the bell about a dozen times in quick succession. A crowd formed and Stan keptslamming, spurred on by both the cheers and the beer in his system. Other kids our age startednoticing that the rest of us were lifters (rare, back then) and requested us to flex and show off ingeneral. We were all a little tipsy and had a good time obliging them.

About a year later I visited a buddy in a neighboring big city, not too far from the small resort town.The friend called some college chums and we eventually located a neat looking little bar. As we sat inthe club talking for a while, everyone else suddenly grew quiet. It seems this nightspot was the main“turf” of the most rugged street gang in the city, and they had just arrived. Their leader promptlycame to our table, started jawboning to the biggest guy among us, a football player, with the generaltheme being that our peace-loving group was about to be escorted outside for a very bad time. Wewere outnumbered about three to one. Then one fellow began vigorously pointing at me and talkingquickly to his leader. I was petrified. The two approached me and asked, “Hey, aren’t you the guy whodid that big chest pose in Geneva-on-the-Lake last summer?” After coercing me into an impromptudemo (yeah, like I was going to refuse) they forgot all about fighting and just wanted to talk lifting.(So, Stan, a much belated thanks for working so hard on your reverse curls. Your acquired hammeringstrength indirectly saved me from being really hammered.)

Weighted floor push-upAnother outstanding Pittsburgh odd lift competitor may be well known to many readers.Professional wrestling’s long-time world champion, Bruno Sammartino, lifted in many of those earlyevents. Every now and then I get the opportunity to discuss his lifting days with him, because helives about a mile away. I’ve taught his sons in junior high school, and often see him jogging thelocal roads on my way to work. Incidentally, at nearly 60 years old, he still looks like he can bodyslam a bus. Of course, Bruno always was, and still is, a huge proponent of total body conditioningexercise prior to actual lifting. Even from his humble beginnings as a thin frail teenager his flairtowards athletics saw him doing extensive road work, calisthenics, and wrestling. But when he gotto lifting it was rarely lightweight stuff—just fierce determination to always pick up somethingheavy, then heavier. He established records in all of our locally-contested odd lifts—squats, curls,bench presses, deadlifts, presses, etc. As his strength moved up he acquired unbelievable muscledensity on a 260-pound frame.

583

A facet of Bruno’s early strength-conditioning training was an unusual exercise that can be termed anodd lift. He’d get a heavy training partner to sit on his back and then he would perform as many repsas possible in the standard floor dip (push-up). I still recall a photo in a local newspaper showing a 19-year-old Bruno supporting five pretty young ladies in this manner.

The weighted floor dip is almost a forgotten exercise these days despite its huge potential. Forinteresting variety from bench pressing, with much more total body involvement, try a cycle of these,having partners safely stack progressively more 45-pound plates (or even 100s) on your back. You maynot build the ability to shoulder and slam a 600-pound wrestler as Sammartino once did, but weighteddips will add slabs of muscle to your triceps, pecs and delts.

Parallel bar dipSpeaking of dipping, let’s not forget the benefits offered by the parallel bar version. One of myfriends, Antonio Fratto, used this as his only “official” bodybuilding exercise. He won every physiquecontest in Western Pennsylvania. He was also a top caliber powerlifter who won the National andWorld Championship at 198 pounds back when powerlifting was one big happy organization andsupersuits hadn’t yet been invented. I’m sure Fratto’s routine of super-heavy singles on the three lifts,and a youthful preoccupation with the clean and press (he did over 300 pounds officially at 181pounds) had a great deal to do with his muscularity. Still, he always snuck into the “Mr.” eventsscheduled directly after his meets. He felt his thrice weekly 4 sets of 50 reps in freeform parallel bardips kept his upper body sharp.

John GrimekPerhaps the most heralded odd lift practitioner was mighty John Grimek. Seems, in his building years,whenever there was any strange form of seriously heavy barbell, dumbbell, apparatus or chain lifteven remotely mentioned, John would train with a vengeance to best it. In fact, for his pioneeringefforts and prowess in so many odd lifts, Grimek was awarded the first lifetime achievement awardgranted by the International All-Round Weightlifting Association. A permanent plaque verifying thisaward resides on the wall of the famous End Zone Sports Hotel (official meet site for FrankCiavattone’s 1996 USAWA National Championship) in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

An assortment of liftsOne time I was competing at a large powerlifting meet in Buffalo, New York. As was customary duringthe 1960s, a major physique contest was to be held directly after the lifting. Powerlifters andbodybuilders shared the warm-up room. At that time Buffalo was famous for its physique men, withseveral having acquired top placings in Mr. America contest.

The guys pumped and chattered, wondering aloud who among them would take the title that night. Iwas surprised to spy what I knew would soon spell their doom. A little guy dressed in shabby, cheap,plain gray sweats sat quietly in a dimly lit corner, half asleep. It was Federal Street Tony—anothertraining mate from the early days at the Pittsburgh YMCA.

Tony was unknown outside the Pittsburgh area and at 150 pounds was not real noticeable, beingwithout the genetics to ever become muscularly huge. Though short, Tony was blessed with nearly-perfect symmetry. The late Peary Rader once described Tony as having the best shape and razor-sharpdefinition he’d ever seen in his long career as a top official. I’d have to agree—even in all the timesince, Tony would make my top five list. Oh yeah, Tony easily dominated the Buffalo event.

584

Tony’s training was as unconventional as his show preparation. A true bodybuilder by anyone’sstandards, he nevertheless preferred heavy, low-rep basic movements for the bulk of his training. Heemployed Olympic lifts, powerlifts, and odd lifts, not for competition but for muscular enhancementthrough strength training.

Once, he was unjustly accused by jealous local lifters as being nothing more than a wasp-waistedweak bodybuilder. So, he entered an Olympic meet, just once. Though he could hardly deny that hiswaist measured a paltry 26 inches, he shut up critics with a magnificent 235-pound clean and press,and an easy victory in a tough middleweight division.

Olympic-related liftsMy wife and I traveled to Columbus, Ohio some years back, mostly to see the pro Mr. World contest,which was to be contested directly after the World Weightlifting Championship. We were anxious tosee the superstars who were entered in the physique show, but the superb Olympic lifting captivatedour attention. This was the meet where Alexeev became the first person to officially clean and jerk 500pounds. When we got a glimpse of the gigantic muscle bulk of Belgium’s superheavyweight, SergeReding, we instantly forgot any need to watch mere bodybuilders. This man’s shoulders, arms, chestand thighs were huge beyond belief. Seeing him deftly move in the snatch and the clean and jerk suretopped any static muscle pose. Marilyn and I left exhilarated at seeing the largest muscular human wecould ever expect to see. We didn’t bother staying for the physique meet.

I remember reading that Reding concentrated on very heavy front squats, high pulls, and various strictforms of presses—odd lifts in the truest sense. Magazine photos of him performing these exerciseswith wide stacks of 45-pound Olympic plates on the bar demonstrated clearly exactly what it takes toreally develop size.

Do you want the best shot at achieving your ultimate physique? Well, train for peak strength—you justcan’t beat the ODDS.

585

High-Intensity Workouts at Homeby Drew Israel

In HARDGAINER issue #36 I wrote about a workout I had at Iron Island Gym. While I always havegreat workouts at the gym, I also take some of my workouts at home. Over the years I’ve had lots ofequipment come into my house. When I no longer wanted a particular piece I would sell it. For methere are few differences between working out at home and at the gym, except for the level ofvariety that’s greater at the gym.

If it were not for Dr. Leistner opening a gym in the area I would probably do all my workouts at home.Iron Island Gym, unlike most New York gyms, has a great training environment, so for me, training athome and at the gym is a nice combination.

In the middle of one room of my house I have a Hammer leg press. On the far side away from thedoor there’s a Hammer shrug machine. When you first enter the room there’s a Hammer inclinebench press. Against the back wall are squat racks and a utility bench for my dumbbells, which gofrom 120 pounds up to 200 using 10-pound jumps. I also have a Hammer four-way neck machinenext to my television set. In one corner I have a thick bar, cambered squat bar, a Sutherland bar, andtwo different-sized trap bars. I’ve always liked to keep other items such as a wrist roller, handgrippers and a leverage bar.

I had to pull my sink out to have room for comfort and collapsing on the floor. I’ve about 3,000pounds of weight in my room.

The front of the garage also has equipment. I have a bench press unit made by Jim Sutherland thatcould survive a bomb dropped on it. Against the opposite wall I have a seated free-weight front pressset-up. Towards the back of the garage I have a Nautilus plate-loaded pullover machine. I also keep alot of weight in the garage to keep me from carrying plates back and forth from house to garage.

A workoutDean Trifari is a New York City policeman who has trained with me for about two years. He stands 5-11 and weighs 260 pounds. Dean has lots of strength and could become much stronger if he putsome uninterrupted training time in. Dean loves high-intensity training, so we always have greattraining sessions together.

On this particular day everything was preset for Dean, who would be training first. Dean, like myself,tends to get punchy if not reminded of hand, feet and body positioning. His first exercise today wasgoing to be the squat, using a cambered squat bar. I set the squat stands up and we were ready togo. Dean stepped out of the rack with 330 pounds and began doing the reps, which were being doneeasily. At about the fifteenth rep he began working. At number 20 he was shaking and trying tocontrol his breathing. I was trying to push him through for another 10 reps. At rep 23 I had to keeptelling him to lift his head and keep the bar from rolling down his back. When he got to the final rep,and completed it, he wasn’t looking too good. I told him to rack the weight but not go down becausethere was a lot of work to be done.

We went out to the garage and no more than 30 seconds had passed but he was ready to benchpress. We were lucky it was only 30 degrees out. Dean took 225 pounds and did 16 reps.

586

We quickly moved to pullovers. I would break the weight down three or four times until he couldhardly move any weight at all. Next up was outdoor standing shoulder presses using a super-thick-handled trap bar. Dean had no color in his face and looked like he was going down. I stood next tohim and made him complete the set, but he was not a happy person. I then had him do trap barshrugs with 275 pounds for about 15 reps. He was one sick person, but was having a great workout. Itold him the final exercise would be the squat, again with 330 pounds, and I wondered if Dean had hisgun with him. He didn’t, and I felt relieved. He had an angry look as he ground out the reps. When hegot to the seventeenth rep he wanted desperately to rack the weight, but he stayed with it. I almosthad to block his way back to the rack so he would complete the set. As Dean racked the weight onthe squat rack after doing the rep number 21, I told him he did a great job. He gave me anexpressionless stare moments before he went down. He looked like a giant bleached whale whohadn’t a clue where he was or why he was there.

Now it was my turn to train. I had a quick passing thought before Dean had recovered, in case he hada lot of vindictive thoughts about trying to destroy me during my workout. But I was there to have abrutally hard and productive workout, so I waited for Dean to regain his feet.

Recently, my focus has been on deadlifting for super-high-rep sets, giving myself two weeks inbetween deadlift sessions. I began the deadlift set with a goal of 260 pounds for 100 reps. Iknocked the first 35 reps off. While squatting down and holding the bar I took five breaths and didanother 10 reps. I was only at 45 reps but my brain wanted no part of it. I took another 10 reps,bringing me up to 55. I was very nauseous and I knew I had to dig in deep. I let a scream out andtook 5 more reps, and then another 5, bringing my total up to 65. As dedicated as I felt before theworkout, my resolve was really being tested, but I kept going, taking the reps 5 at a time, getting to90 reps. At this point I took 2 reps at a time. I felt like the end was near, but completed my target100 reps in about nine minutes.

Next was the seated shoulder press. Dean mentioned that I was moving too slowly, and I had somenasty thoughts for him. I took 165 pounds and did about 22 reps. I felt like I’d nothing left, butonward I went. Hammer seated shrug came next. I took about 500 pounds and did 7 or 8 reps. I wastrying super hard to keep on my feet and not to vomit. Hammer iso-lateral bench pressing followed. Iused 200 pounds for 20 reps. Dean stood me up for manual lateral raises and then front raises. Theworkout was over and, like Dean had been, I was down for about half an hour.

For the rest of the day I walked around like a zombie. Later in the day I got together with friends butcould barely utter more than one or two sentences; but I felt great because both Dean and I had greattraining sessions that day.

Motivation is absolutely essential for this type of training, as more reps or weight, or both, must beadded from workout to workout. This type of training has a great carryover effect for powerlifting andother types of strength demonstrations. All that’s necessary is to give yourself enough time to getconditioned to the skills associated with low-rep training.

For those who love training as I do, I hope this article has presented new, exciting ways to work out.

587

588

Chiropracticby Dr. R. Keith Hartman

Getting helpI keep getting asked how to find a chiropractor who understands the stress that weight traininggives the body. I’ve done this before, but will do so again. Look in the Yellow Pages under theheading of chiropractic. Look for a DC who advertises that he or she is a CCSP (certifiedchiropractic sports physician). Call the doctor’s office, request to speak to the doctor, and ask if heor she trains with weights.

If the doctor doesn’t train with weights, the advice he or she can give people who do lift weights andwho have injured themselves training, is very limited and palliative at best. This applies even to myfellow doctors who have the CCSP qualification, no matter how much they have read, how well theyscored on the qualifying exams, how well they did in professional school, or how successful a practicethey have. Treating the injury with chiropractic techniques is no problem, but for being able to advisethe patient on what to do to prevent the problem from reappearing, they just don’t know. Keep on inthe quest to find someone who does train.

Most of the doctors who have the CCSP qualification and train have lifting equipment in their officesto observe how the injury occurred, and to critique lifting form once the injury has healed. Or, theyare willing to meet you where you train to help you lift correctly so that you minimize reoccurrence ofthe same injury.

Even when all precautions are taken, please remember that we have decided to participate in a sportthat includes exposure to an element of risk at all times. We all must think carefully and focus duringtraining, and never just bull the weights around. Technique, technique, technique; form, form, form.

Bursitis and tendinitisA readers asked about training with bursitis and tendinitis. My answer is short and sweet: don’t! Ifyou truly have been diagnosed as having an acute bursitis or tendinitis, that joint area doesn’t needfurther traumatization. It needs rest, treatment, therapy (ultrasound, galvanic stimulation, ice) andrehab, not active strength training. The injury must be healed before you begin to depend on thearea for strength. If the physician you’ve gone to is an MD, and the injury warrants a cortisoneinjection, remember that in order for that medication to work most effectively you must rest thearea for a week before training again. That word “rest” is inclusive of heavy labor that would involvethe joint injected.

I have many patients whose MD just administered the injection and sent them on their way withoutthese instructions. The results that they paid for didn’t then occur. I tell you this from personalexperience. Also, it’s important that the MD you choose to administer the cortisone therapy knowsenough to take his time and be certain that the needle is placed so as not to create more problems.If care isn’t taken, the injection can perforate the tendon the physician is intending to relieve andheal with the medication. My experience has taught me that interdisciplinary treatment of shouldersand elbows is in the best interest of the patient. By that I mean an MD administering cortisone whencalled for, and me using chiropractic techniques and ancillary physiotherapy modalities. Quicker andmore complete results can be obtained this way, and the patient is back in the gym sooner.

589

Sternum noisesA reader asked about the seriousness of a crackling sound he gets from his sternum when he stretcheshis chest and shoulders. As long as the crackling sound isn’t accompanied by pain, and there are nosymptoms of aches or pains in the sternum, don’t worry about it.

Rep selectionI was asked if there’s any connection between bone structure and rep range preference andproductivity. I would like to be able to rattle off an answer that I could back up with empiricalevidence, but I can’t. What I can state from my personal and coaching experience is that, in the end,the trainee has to determine what’s best for whatever is the immediate training goal. It’s a result oftrying different rep and set schemes, and using them in combination at different times in the trainingyear that I believes achieves the best results. The bottom line is trial and error within the guidelinesof a philosophy of intensive training.

Gender recovery variationI was asked if I thought that women have a faster recovery time than men, all other variables beingequal. I don’t think so, but that’s just my opinion. To my knowledge there are no studies thatdefinitively prove it one way or the other. My logic tells me that recovery time among females wouldbe just like it is among males—a function of genetics, rest schedules, work regimen, personal andwork stress, and nutritional habits. Those, in my mind, are more likely candidates for different recoveryrates than is gender. But perhaps gender is an influencing factor.

Knee careIf you’ve found that when you squat your knees just can’t take it, either from past injuries or geneticanomalies, I recommend either the Tru-Squat machine or the trap bar. Both of these pieces ofequipment will reduce the stress on your knees and back. You may ask about leg press machines. I’mskittish and leery of leg press equipment. I’ve seen many guys in the gym hurt their backs on a legpress machine and I’m one who has done that. The injuries range from a simple strain, to serious discbulges, to one female who herniated a disc. But, of course, these were injuries from not using theequipment properly and/or not using a safe machine to begin with. I recommend you don’t use a legpress machine unless you have someone to coach you who knows what he’s doing, and that theprogram you follow is conservative. The problem is the temptation to stack as much as you can onthe machine and go for it. This will get a trainee into trouble quickly. But using the machine properlyis another matter.

Neck careA patient of mine called the office for care out of the regular schedule he keeps for maintenance. Hehad hurt his neck during the course of an exercise for his shoulders. When I picked at him with enoughquestions I found out that the mechanism of injury was the movement of his head during the exercise.Whenever you do an exercise, find a spot to focus on and don’t move your eyes or your head untilyou’ve set the weight down. Other than for neck work, it’s very easy to hurt your neck if you move itduring the course of an exercise.

Dr. Hartman, dead!Note from Stuart: With great regret I inform you that Dr. Keith Hartman died on September 8, 1995,from what police believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 50 years old. Keith had atraumatic last couple of years and apparently succumbed to depression.

590

Keith was a multi-talented man. He was born in 1945, and as a boy he was given a classical vaudevillemusical education. He was the youngest member of the American Guild of Variety Artists. After 25years of being in the entertainment business, he made a career change. At age 32 he started trainingto be a chiropractor. He had been lifting weights since age 16.

Keith contributed to HARDGAINER since issue #5. He was also a friend, and I’ll miss him.

Keith, may you rest in peace.

591

ForumEdited by Stuart McRobert

Kettlebell handles, by Tony PattisonIn HARDGAINER issue #39 there was an article on the back, extolling the virtues of the prone rowexercise but ignoring its main shortcoming, i.e., limited range. Modern benches are usually paddedwith a strong steel base frame. The padding is good for cushioning the chest, but the thickness of thebench cuts inches off the movement.

I’ve used this exercise since Stuart promoted it as the “modified bent-over row” way back inHARDGAINER issue #2. I tried it with the bent bar that some people use for the bench press (wronglydescribed as a cambered bar by some). This, however, restricts the grip because it must be wide. Also,the bent bar has a tendency to twist if it’s pulled at an angle to the lower chest. The solution is to usekettlebell handles. It took me months to find a pair. Some of the lads had never seen them previously.

If you can obtain an old long bar, four collars and the kettlebell “museum pieces,” you can take a gripon the bar as wide or as narrow as you wish. Fix the kettlebell handles in position on the long bar asdesired. The effect is tremendous.

One-arm rowing with a kettlebell handle on the dumbbell is a vastly superior movement to the regulardumbbell version. In the latter, as the plates get bigger you have to hold the dumbbell out away fromyour body, at an awkward angle. A kettlebell is far easier to control. A prone row with two dumbbellsfitted with kettlebell handles is another fantastic back movement. It allows a palms-parallel grip.

Bradley J. Steiner used to write much of kettlebell rowing. He believed that once you’d used it you’dnever bother with the limited dumbbell version again.

The combination of the bent-arm pullover and the prone row gives a tremendous upper-bodyworkout. If, however, the bent-arm pullover becomes a pullover and press, followed by the prone rowand the parallel bar dip, you have a superb upper-body routine and an alternative to the bench press.

I found a use for the Smith machine additional to the one noted by Maurice and Rydin inHARDGAINER issue #39: It’s excellent for hooking your knees under when doing bent-arm pullovers.

I appreciated the advice in HARDGAINER issue #37 on shoulder care. I hurt my rotator cuff area yearsago, with lockout squats on the power rack. The bar bounced, with 600 pounds. I developed “wingedscapulae.” It took months to rectify. I now use the lying L-fly and it has helped my shoulders a lot.

Split routine for hard gainers, by Ned ByrneI want to share my training routine that will work wonders for you. It’s “rotation for recuperation,” atraining principle promoted by Frank Calta years ago. Basically, it’s a split routine but instead offollowing the routines of champion bodybuilders, you work out three times a week and alternate twodifferent workouts. Here’s my current program:

Tuesday1. Seated press: 1 x 5 light warm-up set, 1 x 5 heavy work set2. Bent-over row: 1 x 6 light warm-up set, 1 x 6 heavy work set

592

Thursday1. Breathing squat: 1 x 10 light warm-up set, 1 x 20 heavy work set2. Rader chest pull

On Saturday I do what I did on Tuesday. Then on Tuesday I’ll do the routine I did on Thursday, then onthe following Thursday I’ll do the press and row workout, and so forth.

It makes sense to follow a split routine as Hank Hammons stated in his article, “Split Routines for HardGainers,” in a 1977 issue of IRON MAN, Volume 36 No. 2. Hammons wrote, “If the squats are doneproperly a true hard gainer will have nothing left when it comes time to work the upper body. If theexercises for the upper body are done first, then the hard gainer will be very fatigued when it’s time todo the squats . . .”

I used to do seated presses and squats in the same workout, but it was too much of a strain on mylower back. That’s when I knew I had to make a change. Another thing is that I don’t do the pressbehind neck anymore. It was bugging my shoulders so I stick to the regular press.

For the extreme hard gainer I would recommend training no more than twice a week, say Monday andThursday, or Tuesday and Friday—whatever schedule suits you best—and alternate the two workouts.

You can do bench presses or incline presses in lieu of seated presses, and chins or deadlifts in placeof rows. Maybe add curls to your upper-body workout. But the main thing is to keep pushingyourself in the squat.

This schedule has worked for me, so what do you have to lose? Give it a try. You’ll be glad you did.

Weight-loss, by Steve StockerOne of the most crucial aspects that the drug-free hard gainer has sometimes to contend with is thereduction of surplus body fat. Theoretically this shouldn’t be a big problem because we’re oftenreminded that all we need to do is reduce our caloric intake and simultaneously increase our energyoutput. This will result in overall weight loss. I wouldn’t dispute this, but I think a different approach isneeded for the hard gainer.

I’ve been on and off the diet bandwagon for many years. I’ve tried almost every conceivable diet, allwith hardly any success. I remember reading an article supposedly written by a big-name bodybuilderwho said that he regularly followed a diet of tuna fish, runner beans and water. In my naivety I wasfollowing that diet the very next day. I stayed with it for weeks on end until I got sick from lack ofnutrition. After that incident I never believed much of what was written on nutrition.

Now I take a much more sensible approach when I feel the need to shed a few pounds of fat. I still seemany hard gainers make one of the biggest mistakes in their quest for fat loss. They severely restricttheir caloric intake with the hope of losing weight much quicker. These crash diets are physicallydangerous and are always guaranteed to fail.

I’ve just recently reduced my bodyweight by 14 pounds. This was done without losing any musclesize. For the duration of the diet I continued to increase my working poundages in all of the majorcompound exercises. And what’s more, I didn’t suffer from any diet-related fatigue that’s often asymptom of diets.

593

I decided to take 12 months to reach my goal of a 14-pound weight reduction. I don’t believe in thetwo-pounds-a-week weight-loss type of diet. I feel that this is far too much for the hard gainer andwould quickly lead to serious muscle loss.

In the past I’ve tried the small but frequent meals approach to dieting, but this method never seemedto suit me. It always left me feeling hungry, deprived of food, and continually thinking about my nextsmall meal. I decided to use the traditional three-meals-a-day plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Frommy early training days I’ve always been led to believe that this way of eating was inferior and servedlittle purpose for the serious bodybuilder. As it turned out, this method has been the best of them all.The one proviso that I made whilst using this method was that my last meal of the day was no laterthan six o’clock. Having no food after this hour did a hatchet job on my surplus fat.

During this period I can honestly say that I never had the urge to binge. My energy levels remainedhigh because I included all of the essential foods.

What normally happens is that as soon as a hard gainer starts to diet he immediately turns his traininginto maintenance workouts, automatically assuming he’ll lose strength. I didn’t even consider thisapproach because I was adamant I was going to progress throughout the diet plan. As far as aerobictraining was concerned, I just did my normal quota for my cardiovascular needs. I’ve seen plenty ofhard gainers lose lots of muscle size because of the overambitious use of aerobics.

I believe the success of the weight-loss program was due to my patience in spreading my efforts overa long period. Also, eating my last meal of the day before six o’clock was very important.

Nutrition tips, by Eric Serrano, MDNutrition is a specific science. I called it specific because it’s different for each individual. The generalinformation provided in most magazines is just that, generic baselines that we need to create aspecific diet program for each individual. As a physician I’ve discovered that most people have a goodidea of what they should eat, but unless you spell it out they won’t follow it.

You need your height, body type, age, activity level, sex, and, most importantly, your goals. All thesevariants affect one’s nutrition.

After all the variants are known, I calculate the basal metabolic rate (BMR) of the individual. For thisthere are many ways. Here’s one:

For men, add a zero to your weight (in pounds) and then add your bodyweight twice. For women, adda zero to your weight and then add your weight.

To your BMR add an allowance to cover the number of calories you’re burning a day from exercisingor doing any kind of activity. This gives you the total needed to maintain your bodyweight.

Alternatively, to avoid having to make an allowance for caloric expenditure during your daily activities,write down everything you eat for seven days. If you don’t gain or lose weight, the daily average givesyou a rough idea of how much you need to eat to keep your current weight.

Decide what your goal is. If you want to lose weight, decrease your caloric intake. If you want to gainweight, increase your caloric intake. Most people don’t need a lot of extra calories a day to gain

594

muscle. Eat fat to gain muscle; you need it. Every time I cut the amount of fat below 15-20% for myclients, they don’t gain as much muscle as if they do I keep it at 20%.

Keep a diary of everything you eat and drink. Don’t guess. Eat 40%, 40%, 20% (protein, carbohydrates,fat) if you want to lose fat and keep muscle. Eat 50%, 30%, 20% if you want to gain muscle but minimalfat. Never eat less than 1,000 calories a day. It’s not healthy, and you’ll lower your BMR.

Vary your caloric intake day to day. If you want to lose weight, one day consume 100% of the caloriesneeded to maintain your bodyweight, and the next day consume only 70%. Over time this will produceweight loss without changing your BMR. To gain weight, consume 100% some days and 120% on others.How many days? Four days a week at 70% if you want to lose weight, or four days at 120% if you wantto gain weight. The rest of the week in both cases, consume at the 100% level. Eat four meals a day, ormore, but don’t eat after 7.30pm because your metabolic rate starts going down after about 7pm.

Twelve weeks of gains, by John WealthyA blend of high reps and singles has produced my best period of gains yet. I train alone in my garagegym dedicated to the 300-400-500 principle. This routine was derived from Mike Thompson’s “Why300, 400 and 500?” in HARDGAINER issue #29, and a super-abbreviated 20-rep squat routine.

MondayRack bench press 2 inches above chest: 5 progressively heavier singles working up to 100%, andadding 2 pounds each week

WednesdayRack squat 2 inches above parallel: 5 progressively heavier singles working up to 100%, and adding 5pounds each week

FridayTrap bar deadlift: 5 progressively heavier singles working up to 100%, and adding 5 pounds each week

After six weeks of the singles I switched to a routine that used plenty of reps, done twice weekly, onMonday and Thursday:

Rack bench press: 2 x 12Squat: 1 x 20Pull-up: 2 x 12

On this second part of the cycle, progression was still the key word. In the squat I started at 264pounds x 20 and finished at 297 x 20. Getting the final 5 reps on the 20-rep squat sets was the mostsignificant factor in my gains. Everybody in my street knew I was training on those nights. But if I hadn’tdone the heavy rack singles from the pins during the first six weeks I wouldn’t have developed the gritand drive at the bottom to shift “meaningful” poundages. The trap bar deadlift strengthened my lowerback and produced growth in my traps that forced me to throw away five shirts that no longer fit.

From just 12 weeks I increased my chest by 2 inches, my thighs by 1.5 inches, and my arms by almostan inch. And I did this without any isolation work for my arms.

To buy individual volumes of BODYBUILDING GOLD MINE,please visit www.hardgainer.com.

595

AppendixHere’s a summary of the contents of four of Stuart’s bodybuilding books. For more information,book excerpts, and many articles, please visit www.hardgainer.com.

BEYOND BRAWNBEYOND BRAWN is 512 pages of information about every facet of bodybuilding, and weight trainingin general. Now in a third edition.

This book is not just for novices. It can save you years of wasted toil regardless of your level oftraining experience. It will propel you into the detailed, practical know-how needed to turn you intoan expertly informed bodybuilder or strength trainee. BEYOND BRAWN will take you right “inside”weight training, to study the practical reality of applying knowledge. It’s not a theoretical treatise, ora pack of pseudo-scientific hokum.

“BEYOND BRAWN is the most comprehensive, helpful and honest book on natural strength trainingtoday. With great care and in extraordinary detail this book covers every training-related topic youcan imagine, and without any hype.”

– Bob Whelan, MS, MS, President, Whelan Strength Training, Washington, DC, USA

“BEYOND BRAWN is the bible of rational strength training . . . Page after page is jam-packed withpractical, real-world training information you just cannot find anywhere else . . . This book has myhighest endorsement—it’s without a doubt the very best book on strength training I’ve ever read.”

– Kevin R. Fontaine, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School ofMedicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

“For bodybuilding instruction, BEYOND BRAWN is par excellence, featuring an unprecedented depthof practical, relevant and readily applicable training information. Even more than that, the book is atraining partner, companion, friend, and labor of love. A truly exceptional book!”

– Jan Dellinger, York Barbell Company, York, PA, USA

TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction 8How this book will help you 10

SECTION 1: Establishing a secure foundation1. Setting the scene for building muscle and might 212. General philosophy for outstanding development 473. All-time #1 practical priorities 634. Expectations—how much muscle and might you can expect 755. How to plan your growth 996. Where to train, and the equipment you need 117

SECTION 2: How to train7. How to set up your training cycles for big returns 1398. How to achieve your fastest gains 167

596

9. Hard work—the biggest test of training character 17110. Exercise selection and technique 18911. How to perform your reps 22312. How to design your own training programs 23313. How to personalize your training programs 25514. How to avoid the plague of overtraining 28315. How to milk your training cycles dry of gains 29716. Twenty-three extras for maximizing training productivity 305

Summary of how to ensure a successful training cycle 332What if you’re an extreme hard gainer? 333

SECTION 3: Special issues17. A real-life training cycle for you to learn from 33718. How a training nightmare was silenced 35519. How to never let your age hold back your training 39120. Your how-to of practical bodybuilding nutrition 40121. Additional important training information 44322. Beyond the exterior 45923. How to get a grip on your life, and put all that you’ve learned

from this book into action, now! 465Postscript: Did you deliver? 476

About the author 479Index 487

BUILD MUSCLE, LOSE FAT, LOOK GREATNow in a second edition, with an all-new Chapter 17. With 640 pages and nearly 400 photos, thisbook has an extraordinary quality and quantity of instruction and information, most of it additional towhat’s in BEYOND BRAWN. This guide is for men and women of all ages, and it’s for you if you’re abeginner or even if you have many years of training experience.

About 200 pages of this book (Chapter 12) are devoted to exercise technique, but that still leavesover 400 pages to cover other practical, usable information on bodybuilding and related topics.

“Stuart’s authoritative book is crammed with responsible, safe, and highly effective instruction. It hasmy unreserved, professional endorsement.”

– Dr. Gregory Steiner, DC, MA, Allen, Texas, USA

“A brilliant book! Follow the program developed by Stuart and you’ll reach your potential forstrength, muscle mass, fitness, and health.”

– Richard Winett, Ph.D.Professor at Virginia Tech, USA, publisher of Master Trainer, and award-winning health researcher

“Utterly complete, a book for men and women who want to ‘be in shape,’ or to compete at thehighest level. All the required information is here.”

– Kathy Leistner, BA, MA, MSExercise physiologist, past competitor at national and world powerlifting championships, and aformer Ms. California, USA

597

“Use this unique book as your own expert personal trainer. It’s packed with wise advice.”– Rachael E. Picone, MS

Exercise physiologist, speaker, and author, from New Jersey, USA

TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction 1Four Preliminaries 4

PART 1: The Foundation1. Of first importance 132. How to get training immediately 173. The truth on age and exercise 714. How to optimize your recuperative powers 755. How to lose body fat 976. Physical restrictions, and their correction or management 1057. Gym savvy, where to train, and gym conduct 123

PART 2: How to Train8. The essential terminology of training 1379. Cardio training 159

10. How to avoid injuries 17311. Rep speed and control 18912. How to master exercise technique 19313. How to handle weights between exercises 40314. Seven extras for effective workouts 40915. How progressive resistance can help or hinder progress 41716. How to optimize your exercise selection from the gang of eight 42317. How to design your own training programs 44118. Call to arms! 49719. Beyond the programs of Chapter 17 501

PART 3: Supplementary Material20. Forewarned is forearmed 51521. What scientific studies really mean to you 52322. Burning issues 52723. A primer on anatomy 53124. The lexicon of muscle-building, and training 543

About the author 611Resources 614Index 621

BRAWNBRAWN is the classic guide that started a bodybuilding revolution. It’s Stuart’s first title, and focuses ongenetic realities, appropriate role models, and most of the ins and outs of successful training. It’sespecially strong in the philosophical underpinning behind rational training. It also details precisely how

598

the genetically blessed are gifted, and shows why conventional training methods are so unproductivefor typical bodybuilders. BRAWN is now in a 230-page, third edition.

There are millions of people slaving away in gyms today who are living testimony to the utter futility ofconventional bodybuilding methods. Many of these misguided trainees are walking encyclopedias oneverything related to bodybuilding except that which will actually make them bigger and stronger.

Stop wasting time on routines that don’t work. Apply instruction that’s designed for people like you.

BRAWN is a wake up call to the ailing, and a “get real” cue to all bodybuilders who are wasting timeand energy on typical mainstream training routines. BRAWN shows you all the ins and outs on how tomake terrific bodybuilding progress.

“BRAWN bowled me over. It’s an exceptional nuts and bolts compilation of productive trainingpractices; so exceptional, in fact, that it’s avant-garde.”

– Jan Dellinger, York Barbell Company, York, PA, USA

“If you thought Arnold Schwarzenegger put Graz, Austria on the bodybuilding map, how about StuartMcRobert and Nicosia, Cyprus? Imagine, one man, on a Mediterranean island, who has the audacity todirectly challenge most contemporary bodybuilding advice. Instead of being yet another me-toobodybuilding book, McRobert’s BRAWN is unique: Its tone is serious, its manner evangelical, but mostimportant, its focus is on things that actually work for the average trainee. ‘Drugs are evil and thescourge of bodybuilding,’ says McRobert, in effect, ‘and forget about Mr. O-type training—it just won’twork for most people. I’ll tell you about some things that do work.’ ”

– Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D., Publisher of Milo, California, USA

“BRAWN has no hype, no bull, and no commercial messages. It’s the real thing.”– Dr. Ken E. Leistner, Co-founder of Iron Island Gym, New York, USA

“BRAWN cuts through the hokum of the current scene and revives a grand tradition of productive training.”– Paul Kelso, Japan

TABLE OF CONTENTS1. The Need: A different approach 72. Genetic Variation: How we differ 153. Expectations: Size and strength goals 294. PPP: Progression, performance, persistence 415. Variations on a Theme: No single, universal approach 516. Effort and Dedication: Bedrock of success 597. Intensity Variation: Cycling training intensity 678. Rest and Recovery: Recuperation and training frequency 819. The Squat: The “growth exercise,” and productive variations 97

10. Routines: Training schedules 12111. Getting it Right: Injury prevention 14912. Specialization: Focusing on specific body parts 17313. More Diversity: Enriching the training armory 18914. Nutrition: Food and supplements 203

Index 227

599

New BRAWN Series, Book 1Are you having a difficult time building muscle? If so, the legendary bodybuilding routine taught inthis book is tailor-made for you. It has 216 large-format pages, and over 200 photographs.

The guidance in this book teaches what Stuart calls “Course #1.” Before anabolic steroids started toinfest the bodybuilding world, variations of Course #1 were famous, popular, and responsible forbuilding tons of muscle. But in the 1960s, when the use of steroids became popular amongcompetitive bodybuilders, the popularity of Course #1 began to wane. Since then, the trainingroutines most commonly promoted in the bodybuilding world have been those used by physique starswho were genetically gifted for bodybuilding and on steroids. But those training routines don’t workwell, if at all, for most other bodybuilders.

This book is founded on the amazing progress that Peary Rader made—around 50 pounds of naturalmuscle growth following 12 years of failure on other training routines. Here are the three primarycharacteristics of Course #1:

1) Its track record for producing lots of muscle growth is illustrious, even for hard gainers.

2) It’s up to date. The routine that Peary used has been modernized in this book. The version you canapply is even better than the original one. (There are better training tools today, and knowledge ofnutrition and the other components of recuperation is much greater nowadays.)

3) It’s personalized. You’ll be taught how to modify the routine so that it suits you perfectly.

When applied properly, this may be the #1 muscle-building routine for drug-free, genetically typicalbodybuilders. And because this legendary routine doesn’t require long or overly frequent workouts,it’s suitable even for busy people.

This book provides the most complete, up-to-date and useful guidance ever published on thisfabulous bodybuilding routine. It includes the routine’s background and history, the modernization ofit, the essential foundation phase, the special training schedules, how to train (including exercisetechnique in great detail), the components of recuperation, and two inspiring illustrations of how toput Course #1 into practice (from Peary and Stuart).

TABLE OF CONTENTS1: The Revelations: Foundation understanding 102: The Procedures: The essentials of proper implementation of Course #1 323: The Recuperation: How to permit growth 664: The Foundation Phase: What you must do to be ready to implement The Growth Phase 805: The Exercise Technique: How to master the correct form of Course #1’s exercises 946: The Growth Phase: Course #1’s training schedules, and how to apply them 176

Index 212

For more information, book excerpts, and many articles, pleasevisit www.hardgainer.com.

600