BEYOND STRONG

Back in the day

Normally reminiscing is not high on my agenda. I would rather think to the future rather than glorifying days gone by. However, the internet crowd of wannabe trainers, keyboard tough guys and 'I can do anything' athletes has really got me thinking.

Before the internet we got our information from books and magazines and from talking to each other on the phone, in person or via letters (yes, we actually used to write to people with a pen and paper!). Now the internet has everything you could possibly need to get better with regards to health and strength. If you need to know about Westside it's all there, if you need to know about grip training it's all there and if you want to know about healthy eating, it too is all there.

The trouble is I don't think people are getting it. Reading about training is all well and good but the most important thing is the doing. Trying a routine or training style once isn't enough. You have to go through trial and error, making mistakes and learning from them yourself. No one can tell you how hard a PROPER set of HARD 20 reps squats is going to be. And you will never know how hard you can work them until you have tried them many, many times.

What makes a champion?

I have travelled to many places all over the world and I believe I have seen the very best athletes in sports ranging from martial arts to strongman to athletics. I have trained them and trained with them and I know where I stand personally. The elite are truly on another planet. They have it all. Great genetics, superior levels of recovery, near perfect joints, tendons and ligaments and most importantly high standards of discipline and work ethics. Truly great athletes, like Michael Johnson or Ed Coan or Mariusz Pudzianowski have all this. This is why they are great multiple time champions.

Below them you have the champions that get it right once and achieve greatness. Not many people have won more than one Olympic or World Title but a lot have one them once. They are still great champions but they are below the true greats.

Underneath them you have the also rans. This is an unfortunate term. These men and women are superb athletes but have one of the main factors that is not quite in check. They may not recover so well and are riddled with injuries. They may not be quite as strong mentally and so break under pressure. Whatever it is, they are missing just one element of greatness to become a champion.

The next section is where I put myself. The athletes here were great at county or state level. They may have even competed at National level. A lot of these guys and girls get overtaken by the world around them. They get married, have kids, travel, live life, get careers and move on from their original greatness. This is perfectly normal. Many great athletes might have gone on to further greatness had they not been distracted by life.

In my own case I was lucky enough to live life, go wild, come back and still enter into a career that was physically demanding and required at least (if not more) of the dedication it takes to become a great athlete. For me, being a stuntman meant I could be a jack of all trades rather than a master of one. That suits me very well.

The Internet Hero Phenomenon

I remember the first time I went 'on' the internet. It would have been around 1996 in an internet cafe with a friend. I can't remember what we were looking up but I do remember not having a clue what to do. I think we used google or something but I let him type as I had no idea. When I went to Australia in 1998 I kept in touch with friends via letters and phone calls. Then I found an internet cafe and was amazed at the information on hand. It changed my life and yours forever.

Now, going back some years to around 1993 or 1994 I remember sending Stuart McRobert my first article for Hardgainer magazine. This was all done via letter and was typed on a typewriter. Around the same time I took an interest in an advertisement in the back of Hardgainer for 'David Horne's Iron Grip Course'. I ordered the course and then started communicating with David. At the time I was also in touch with other people all over the world who were interested in strength and health, again via snail mail.

I met David at an IAWA competition where I was competing and he was coaching. Later I travelled to Stafford to train with David. I competed at his Grip Competitions and a friendship was formed and remains to this day. I got to know a great coach through reading about their accomplishments and repsecting them for it. We still talk most weeks, usually via Messenger, discussing training and life and catch in person 3 or 4 times a year in person.

This is how things were done 'back in the day'.

What seems to have happened since the internet is a very different way of getting to know people and learning what to do to become a better athlete no matter what your sport. Anyone can become 'famous' on the internet through YouTube today. It would seem that anyone can become a 'coach' or an 'expert' in any field just by starting a website and writing about it. That's all very good but there is one MAJOR problem. Who are these people?

SO many of these 'experts' have really never even done what they are writing about. Have they competed in sports? Have they been successful? Do they look the part? Is their writing original or is it just a rehash of someone elses? What is their motive for selling their products?

VERY FEW are totally original, bringing out new innovative products, offering up effective tried and tested knowledge without over sensationalizing their products. You know the ones. I know I do.

Forums are a breeding ground for even worse behaviour because the internet moves so fast. What was new yesterday is old today. The forum geeks seem to have forgotton everything that happened before the internet was created. Before the internet there were great athletes doing amazing things, far greater and far more original than much of the antics seen today. Even worse are the 'gurus' passing off this old, pre-internet information as their own ideas. Or worse again, passing off ideas of other people and not giving AT LEAST, the credit to where the idea originally came from.

The future

Having had a rant about the past and the present I see the future in a bright light. Here are some ideas to getting the most out of the future of your training.

1. We are always going to have the bad things with the internet but you can use it to your advantage. If you need information make sure you cross reference it. Eventually you will find out where the original information was written.
2. Read books. I know, that's a little bit radical but much of the internet comes from books.
3. Read it. DO IT!
4. Actually train.
5. Ignore anyone that hasn't actually been there and done it. That includes me. If I start writing about how to win at golf you can tell me where to go!
6. Check out the forums and blogs written by peope who have experience of life. I really have trouble with 20 year old Personal Trainers who have taken a 6 week course telling me how to squat!

Here's a list of people you can trust and get excellent information out of. They have been there and done it. It's a short list and there are others of course.

Dan John
Steve Maxwell
David Horne
Ross Enamait
Joe DeFranco
Dave Draper
Louie Simmons

Nick

The INCREDIBLE John Gallacher Deadlifts 200kg/441lbs at age 77!

What's HIT?

Mike asked this question...

"Nick, can you please describe HIT training in a posting, or can you redirect me to a posting you may have already done on it? Thanks!"

As some of you know I was doing HIT workouts recently in a bid to lose weight but maintain strength. In the past I have used HIT style training intermittently and have always found it a great change of pace in my training.

HIT is a HUGE subject and one that I am not going to delve into too deeply. My friend, Jay Trigg, could tell you much more about it's origins and who espoused it's use over the years but this is not a history lesson. This is my take in HIT.

The way I began doing HIT was from the writings of Dr. Ken Leistner. Dr. Ken, as he is fondly known, would write accounts of brutally hard workout in his articles in Hard Training, HIT Newsletter, The Steel Tip, MILO and Hardgainer. At the time I discovered Dr. Ken's training methods in 1990-91 I had already been training for 5 years. My routines were not great and I really knew very little. What I learned over the next few years was how to train truly hard. During this time I put together brief, intense routines of 4-8 exercises twice per week and trained - HARD! All that I knew back then was the harder the better. I pushed others through such ferocious training sessions too. Some stayed but many went. This is not a training method for the weak of mind or body.

Here's a quote from Dr. Ken from the 1994 edition of HIT Newsletter (Vol 5 No1+2),

"Training has to be purposeful to be effective. Every rep and every set has to count for something. I believe that one can make progress on almost any type of routine if he or she works hard at it, but training should be efficient, providing maximal gains in the briefest period of time."

I believe that HIT training is about getting the most bang for your buck. Read the quote above again and then simply pick the best compound movements you can to achieve the results you desire. Now go to the gym. Warm up with a light set of each exercise. Then start your workout. Go to failure on each exercises. If you can do a few forced reps or negatives. This will increase the intensity and the overall difficulty of the routine. Go through each exercise like this. Rest MINIMALLY. Ideally there should be no rest but this is hard, if not impossible, if you are not conditioned for it. It is better to take an adequate rest than to not have anything left in the tank to correctly and safely perform the next exercise(s).

One exercise you will find throughout the history of weight training and gym culture is the king of exercises, the squat. Indeed the squat has been written about time and time again and for good reason. It truly will make you into a better athlete no matter what your sport or goals. Dr. Ken writes about the squat so often and has performed the exercises even more often that you will find it in 99% of his routines. I am no different.

I recently was performing my exercises in superset fashion for two and occasionally three sets. I like to pick groups of exercises that either appose each other or compliment each other. For example, I may choose a squat and a leg curl and a calf raise to fry my legs with. Or, I may choose a bench press with an apposing muscle group exercise such as the dumbbell row. I would do these two or three exercises back to back with only the time it takes me to get from one exercise to the next. I would already have the dumbbell or bench or whatever I need ready.

The first workouts are extremely difficult. You may feel sick. You may  feel dizzy. Your muscles will cry with pain. You may even want to sleep as soon as you finish. So, why would you do this to yourself? It is nothing more than a challenge and a way of conditioning your body and mind to withstand extreme amounts of physical discomfort. I think the reason that HIT was so popular with training teams of players is because it forced them into nasty places they wouldn't normally go. The athlete will not want to give up in front of his peers or his coach and so he pushes himself to the limit. The workouts are usually over within 30-40 minutes too which is another bonus of this type of training. Again, go and read the quote above and you'll see just why HIT and this type of training is worth doing from time to time.

However, I also believe you can do too much HIT training. Due to the ball busting, mind numbing nature of HIT, you can and will get mentally and physically worn out if you do too much HIT. If you look back I did less than 3 weeks of HIT recently. I would have loved to have done more. My weight was dropping and I was getting better conditioned. However, I was also beginning to feel tired a lot. You must be careful of doing this too much, especially when you are a 37 year old trainee trying to lose weight and working long hours like I was during that period. 

For me HIT is exactly what Dr. Ken says in the quote above. It's not about exercises or machines verses barbells or one set to failure any other specific thing to do with training. HIT is about brief, intense and purposeful HARD WORK.

Nick

Randall J. Strossen

I have known Randall Strossen now for over 10 years. We first spoke when David Horne, Lee Morrison, Mike Thompson and myself took the first trip to Scotland to lift the Dinnie Stones in 1998. Randy is a man who understands strength in all forms and someone who has helped changed the face of strength over the last 20 years with Ironmind strength equipment and his hugely successful MILO magazine. If you've heard of grippers, neck harnesses or axles you'll have heard the brand name Ironmind mentioned. He also wrote one of the best books on strength training ever written in his classic text 'Super Squats'. Here's a rare interview from the man himself.

Randall Strossen interview

Nick

Bruce V Arnold...part III

Iconic Status

Enter Bruce

I can remember images of Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon from around the age of 8 or 9. I remember marveling at his abs and ripped physique and wondering why he made those high pitched screams and whoops in between beating someone to a pulp. Of course this was some 5 or 6 years after Bruce had passed away and the film must have been on TV or Video.

Bruce always portrayed a coolness which I know was influenced by his friends Steve McQueen and James Coburn who were both served chilled themselves. However, with any great athlete who is confident in their abilities, a coolness creeps into their persona that cannot be faked. Bruce had that from his martial arts and it showed greatly in his supreme on screen presence. He's one of those rare actors that can remain still and yet you're still riveted by his performance.

However, what Bruce did in his action sequences is what made him the man we remember so fondly today and who was revered in the 60's and 70's. He was an enormous hit with the Asian communities and was mobbed during the screenings of The Big Boss. Ironically his greatest success with Hollywood came after his death and only then did the west really embrace Bruce for the action star he was. His incredible athleticism and  leaping jump kicks inspired many a martial arts actor and his weapons work, especially his most famous nunchaku work, was a revelation to the western world.

Today Bruce Lee's image is seen on t-shirts, posters, mugs, jewelery, you name it Bruce is on it! Not only that he is still on the cover of magazines and books are still being written about him. In 1993, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story opened to much success. Although the movie was highly inaccurate, it was extremely entertaining and was endorsed by Bruce's widow Linda Lee. More recently I heard there was an Untitled Bruce Lee biopic in development. We await in anticipation.

Bruce Lee remains an icon and someone to admire and emulate. His iconic status is intact and he will remain that way for lifetimes to come. There was only one Bruce lee.

The Terminator!

My first recollections of Mr. Schwarzenegger were from the bull worker or Weider Spring Exercise ads in the early 80's. Not long after that it was Conan and soon after that was The Terminator. It wasn't until the string of films that he had such as Commando, Raw Deal, Predator, The Running Man, Twins, Total Recall and Kindergarten Cop that Arnold became such a household name. The revolutionary T2 sealed his fate even more and Arnold never needed that strange surname again.

The first gym I ever went to was Bodyshapers in Cheltenham (around 1984) and in there a full size image of Arnold would be hanging on the wall for inspiration. Total Rebuild (His comeback video) was free with some protein powder at the time and I soon got hold of Pumping Iron. That film just mesmerized me from start to finish. Not just because of the way he looked but because of the way he talked. This guy was star quality from day one. I bought The Education of a Bodybuilder, his biographies and of course watched all his movies like thousands of others. We helped make him what he is today but you just couldn't help watching the guy.

Shrewd in every way, Arnold was not always a nice guy. He was cruel at times to fellow competitors and if you showed a weakness he would dive on it. Everyone I have met who has had contact with Arnold though says his sense of humour was infectious. He was known to play practical jokes on a daily basis and you can see, even in Pumping Iron, that although deadly serious about his work, he also was ready for fun at any moment.

If you're a gym nut then no doubt you've quoted Arnold many times. If you're a film goer you must have said "I'll be back!" at least once. I could probably write the scripts to the whole of Pumping Iron and Predator down on paper I have watched them so many times. I'm sure many a bodybuilder or business man and even actors have modeled themselves on parts of Arnold. I know he is still considered the best bodybuilder of all time by many despite his obvious weak points. He was smart enough to invest in much of Los Angeles real estate in the 70's and boy did that pay off. Of course the biggest investment he made was in himself. His drive and enthusiasm coupled with quick wit, charming character and immense presence has made Arnold a one man amusement park.

Right now Arnold is the Governor of California and who know what next. His movie career may be over but he certainly isn't done with his 'master plan'. Whatever the man does next the world awaits. Till then I will leave you with a small snippet of the man himself from one of my top ten films of all time.

Bruce V Arnold...part II

Functionality
Now many of you might think that Arnold was all show but that isn't the case. He was a pretty decent athlete and performed many of his own stunts during his film career. Sure he had at least 4 different stunt doubles over the years and they performed the hard and nasty stuff but he was more than just muscle. He would run or rather hike hills most mornings, then workout and usually workout again after a day of filming.

My friend Danial Donai was Arnold's stunt double for a bunch of films and he said watching him train was like watching balloons being pumped up! He literally grew on the spot. Ok, so there were obviously some 'chemical enhancements' but we are talking about a genetic marvel and a man who loved to train.

He learned to ride a horse, use weaponry, ride big motorbikes, fight choreography, performed high falls, dive rolls and much more in the pursuit of the perfect action star. Like almost everything he has done in his life he did it well and pulled it off when it counted.

However, when we're talking about functional physiques, Bruce Lee is an altogether different kettle of fish!

Although his book collection was full of physical culture and bodybuilding writings, Bruce's main focus was on speed and strength for his martial art. He was using that buzzword functionality way before the fitness industry got a hold of it. All of this training was evident in his lightning fast performances and by the feats of strength he was doing.

This brings us to a huge part of why Bruce was as successful as he was...injury! Whilst performing the good morning exercise Bruce severely injured his 4th sacral nerve. There has been a great deal written about the injury and his rehab. He was bed ridden for a period of time and it was here that he began to break down the martial arts and put together some of his writings for Jeet Kune Do.

I believe the injury made Bruce even better. He had no choice but to get stronger and smarter with his training if he wanted to become the man he envisioned. He went back to the drawing board and came up with a routine to make him stronger than before. He was doing plyometric jumps, HIIT (high intensity interval training), backwards running, rope climbing, weight training, sprinting, extreme abdominal work, bodybuilding, squatting and everything else he could to make himself a better athlete for his chosen discipline, the martial arts.

Although Arnold was a decent athlete capable of adapting to any situation there's no doubt in my mind that Bruce had the more functional physique. He could run, jump, fight, twist, turn, teach, adapt and basically was able to make himself into a living super hero!

One famous quote from the little dragon sums it up, "If you're talking about combat -- as it is -- well then, baby you'd better train every part of your body!

Nick

Part 3...coming soon.

Bruce v Arnold

Two of my favourite icons of the 20th century are Bruce Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Although Bruce left us over 35 years ago he is still one of the most revered martial artists and film stars of our time. Arnold is still with us and still proving himself as a man on a mission. This is my hypothetical, means nothing comparison of two incredible individuals.

Physique
If you're a muscle man, someone who wants to be as big as possible then you're going to think Arnold is the main man here. Let's be honest, some 27 years have passed since Arnold was a professional bodybuilder and yet he till tops many people's lists for the best bodybuilder of all time. Check out the photo below...

 

 

 

 

His arms were awesome. The shot of him in Pumping Iron after he does the set of concentration curls shows just how enormous his arms were.

 

They really do look as big as melons. The triceps just hang off the back like meat hanging in a cold room. The biceps are off the scale. Huge, peaking biceps with the perfect amount of veins running down the middle of them. They were cool arms! Not many people can truly pull off the straight arm pose like Arnold did.

His chest is legendary too. Thick, striated and fully  developed with a ribcage to match. He was one of those lucky ones that have chest muscles that sweep into the armpit all the way thus looking good even from the side. I know the 'booby' look isn't everyone's cup of tea but Arnold's chest development was top draw.

Matching his chest was his back. Often I felt his back was overlooked because of Franco's unreal development in that area. You can't overlook it. As Ken Waller said 'It's got fingers all over it. It's like a road map back there'. Now that's a compliment!

Perhaps his weak points, his legs let him down a little. Being around 6ft 1" Arnold was never a big squatter. Not that tall men can't squat because they can. He certainly was able to bring weak points up as he did with his calves (or did he?) but maybe he liked the look of a rather freaky upper body sat on big but not enormous thighs and hamstrings and then having large calves to accentuate the whole look even more. Whatever it was he certainly had one of the most influential physiques in history and one that I am not afraid to admire.

Bruce Lee was as obsessed as any bodybuilder is about his physique. He was constantly dieting, exercising and refining not just the art of Jeet Kune Do but also his exercise regime.

He was of average height (5'7") with a small wiry bone structure. He instinctively knew that a muscular man in lean physical condition was just as impressive on screen as a larger less defined man. Actors and directors use this trick even today, making sure actors are leaner rather than bigger has far more impact on the big screen. Bruce's physique though was way beyond what anyone had seen up to that time in the 60's and into the 70's.

He may have been small but he was magnificently developed. He had the original washboard abs with serratus muscles to compliment them. His lat flare was as good as any top bodybuilder, sweeping from the top of his back down to his waist. He may not have had big legs but boy could he jump! Despite the serious back injury (more on that later) he built himself up with weights, simplified plyometrics and of course his martial arts.

If you look at some of the poses from famous pictures you'll see tremendous forearm development.

It was seeing pictures of Bruce doing pronation, supination, levering exercises and heavy wrist and reverse curls that initially got me into grip training. The man simply trained every part of his body and it showed.

Not only that here's a man who relied on agility and speed and yet he was training with weights when the term 'muscle bound' was still being mentioned by the general public. He knew that progressive weight training as well as his other physical conditioning work was the way to put the real muscle on his small but perfectly honed frame.

 

So who wins? Well, I can't choose myself. I do enjoy being a little bigger than the average Joe but you can't deny the awesome appeal of Bruce's shredded look. As a strength athlete though I probably have to go with Arnold if I was forced too.  Not only that there's been too many good shots of him in movies where his physique has made such an impact.  Conan the Barbarian, Predator, Commando, Terminator and even Twins used his physique to their advantage making Arnold a truly original action hero.

In Part II we'll natter about the fitness buzz word 'functionality' with your two masters of muscle.