Bill Kazmaier is without a doubt one of the strongest human beings to have ever lived. Back in the 80's with limited support gear*, Bill posted a 420kg (925.9 lbs) SQUAT, an enormous 300 kg (661.4 lbs) BENCH PRESS and 402 kg (886.7 lbs) DEADLIFT.
In STRONGMAN he won World's Strongest Man 3 times (1980,81 and 82) and had immense shoulder strength, pressing a 170kg (375lbs) LOG and gym lifts of 202kg (445lbs) SEATED PRESS and STRICT MILITARY PRESS of 225kg (495lbs).
Indeed, Bill was STRONG!
Even today those lifts are ridiculous but they have all been surpassed. At one time Bill himself would confidently have called himself the Strongest Man Who Ever Lived. Or so you'd think.
In the 70's Don Reinholdt Deadlift 400k (881lbs), a mere 2kg less than Kaz. Also in the 70's Jim Williams Bench Press a ridiculous 306.2kg (675lbs), a tad more than Kazmaier. And then earlier still in the 50's and 60's Paul Anderson Squatted 540kg (1200lbs).
Today many men can Deadlift over 400kg. Not so many can Bench more than Bill or Squat more than Bill but they are out there and those lifts have been long surpassed.
Now we are talking about Bill Kazmaier here, not you and your buddies down your local gym.
Whoever, the strongest guy in your gym is, probably less than a 20 miles away is a gym with someone MUCH stronger than them training. Go another 20 miles and there'll be someone else stronger than that guy. And so on.
It's nice to show your lifts, I've done it myself, especially when it's something I've worked hard for or think will help people in an educational way. But have a little decorum and understand that there will always be someone stronger. Attempting to show off doesn't sit well with those who really lift and know the game.
So next time you post your little YouTubes or LookAtMe video remember, someone did it before you, they didn't shout and scream about it and someone not far away can do it for easy reps as a warm up.
Nick
*(wraps, super suits etc have advanced HUGELY in recent times to allow massive weights to be used by moderately strong lifters)
"That's the classic nature of people, though. We'll skip the basics and get pissed when the sexy stuff doesn't work." - Martin Rooney
"Did you ever notice those who criticize the strong or the elite are usually weaker or less successful than those they pass judgment on. And those who are strong or elite in their respective sports rarely condemn those who are not as strong or as successful as they are." - Louie Simmons
"Far too many bodybuilders spend too much time exercising the smaller muscle groups such as the biceps at the expense of the larger muscle groups such as the thighs, and then they wonder why it is that they never make gains in overall size and strength" - Reg Park
When it comes to training, the guy who's been in the gym for 10, 20, 30 or more years AND who is still in good shape, lifting heavy weights, in perfect form is almost certainly someone you should be talking to if you have only been lifting for 1-9 years.
The guys who have been lifting for 1-5 years and look amazing, lift crazy heavy weights or both, are genetically gifted and can do almost ANYTHING and get results. These guys are impressive but have no bearing on the majority of us. Admire from afar.
Here's a little 'chart'.
Under 6 months - Just do the basics. Nothing more. You know nothing so simply squats, deadlifts, bench press, chins, dips, shoulder press, rows, curls and abs is all you need. Your probably between 15-25 anyway so let youth do it's job. Just learn perfect form and add some weight now and again.
1-2 Years - Same but up the intensity. You should be beginning to understand hard work and have done some 20 rep squats, know what 5x5 is and how to use single and double progression. Hopefully 20-30lbs heavier.
3-5 Years - Should have gained 50lbs of muscle by year 5. If not get another hobby. Hopefully you are approaching the 3/4/5 mark for the big 3.
5-9 Years - Begin to experiment on yourself whilst progressing on the key lifts. This is the time to 'add your own twist'. Sometimes you'll hit and sometimes you'll miss.
10+ Years - Hopefully you know what you're doing but MANY don't. If not. Go back to the BASICS. 3/4/5 is your minimum at this stage.
For those of you young fools taking steroids to short cut this process between the ages of 18-30 then good luck looking good (inside and out) when your 35-100! You are damaging you endocrine system which may or may not recover.
This is from a steroid site.
"There is a risk of permanently damaging your HPTA (editor note: basically your balls, your physical growth and how much test/estrogen you produce) if you take AAS too young, you could end up with symptoms of andropause and HRT for life. Symptoms could be Limp dick, low libido, depression, low energy, low endurance, erection problems and many more.......are these the types of symptoms you want to have in your 20's?.''
Not only that, why are you taking them when you have no where near reached your own genetic limits. It takes 10 years at least to max out your own genetic limits. For some much, much longer. And really, who knows your genetic limits.
I know many, many high level strength athletes from strongman to weightlifting to track and field take them in their 20's BUT...and I am not condoning them...they are making their living from their strength. Most of you are NOT!
Yes I know some people get away with it. Arnold was supposed to be taking them when he was 15-16 but Arnold WAS a genetic freak and no doubt had the ability to sustain his steroid use. Some can. MOST can't.
Steroids after 30. Make your own choice but if the goverments wanted to legalise them I would suggest they make them legal after the age of 30. That's when T Levels begin to drop for most and when people (men) tend to get somehwta more responsible.
Going back to respecting those who have trained for a long time with success. There are of course the other ones you should ignore. These are the USE'DA crowd.
"I use'da bench 500 for reps" "I use'da know a guy who squatted for 4 days straight" "I use'da know a guy bigger than Dorian Yates"
These guys should be avoided because they never did anything. They probably knew a a few guys who did do something, probably trained for a few years and then gave up for various reasons.
So stick to the basics. Listen to old guys in good shape who can still bench 300lbs and squat 400lbs for reps. And stay away from Use'da guys.
Nick
PS...If you don't know who those men are who made those quotes then go and find out!
Reg Park, Arnold's IDOL, bench pressing 500lbs a LONG, LONG TIME AGO!!!
Have limited equipment and only 30-45 minutes to train? You can still get a killer workout.
Heavy sets combined with back-off and finisher sets are the key to building both strength and functional muscle mass.
For abs that can take a pounding (literally), you need excruciating heavy planks and ab-wheel work.
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico The set of TROY, circa 2003
I'd been in the hospital for a few days. Special effects accident. We'd been shooting the epic night sequence on the beach and there was an explosion that engulfed me. I ran out of the ball of flames and put myself out on the sand by rolling, or rather, writhing, around in it. My right arm, shoulder, and back were badly burned and I was on a morphine drip. I was only mildly coherent when the phone next to my bed began ringing.
"Nick! It's Wade. Simon wants to shoot that horse fall you rehearsed a few months ago. You're good, right?" "Uh, yeah, I should be okay. I'm a bit drugged up right now and my arm..." "Great! You're on second unit. 7 AM call-time on set."
Click. The phone went dead. The next day I had the nurses cover my arm in gauze and bandages. I then had the make-up crew touch it up with flesh colored make-up so that it wasn't noticeable for the remaining scenes. I met with Simon, the Second Unit Director, who's responsible for directing all the action.
"How's your arm?" he said. "Fine. I got a bit fried." "I'll get you out of here as fast as possible today." "Thanks, 'cuz the worst thing is not my arm."
He looked at me quizzically.
"I've managed to pick up a stomach infection and I've got the shits really bad." "Alright," he said, grimacing. "Get on the horse. Let's get this done."
I ended up doing the fall three times. Each one was more painful than the last. Each time, after I hit the deck, 20 horses would gallop past me. They could've run over me for all I cared. I was weak, in pain, and desperately hoping I didn't soil myself in front of 100 cast and crew members. Simon thanked me and I went straight back to hospital. Thankfully, the gag (stunt) made it into the movie. Brad Pitt throws a spear at Hector's general (the guy I was doubling) and I - I mean he - gets thrown off the horse and killed.
Every stuntman has these stories, but Troy was a game changer for me. Not just because of how I had to adapt my training to the constraints of a hectic schedule, but also because I had to do my job whilst badly injured, in extreme heat, and still give a top action performance.
Time Efficient Training
Blockbuster movies are relentless. You end up working a minimum of 12 hours a day, often 7 days a week. Very few jobs give you enough time to train once filming begins. Therefore, training has to be incredibly time-efficient. It also has to ensure that you get the most out of each workout. There are times I've literally done 30-minute training sessions three times a week and still made progress because I had clear goals, solid progressions, and total focus during those short, intense sessions.
The job itself is highly physical, but unlike an athlete or an actor, we're often asked to perform at a high-caliber on the spot with no warm up. You have to spring into action time and time again from a dead stop. It's virtually guaranteed you'll be performing these while nursing an injury, whether it's a bad knee, bad back, twisted ankle, whiplash, or burn. Sounds fun, doesn't it?
Special Requirements
Stunt work requires extreme physicality and short bursts of energy. The excruciatingly long days take their toll but they're something you eventually adapt to. Doing the actual stunts is more about preparation than anything else. When you do a stunt it's over quickly and then repeated a number of times until every department is in sync (camera, sound, lighting, etc.), so you'll have to get up for a stunt time and time again even though you're exhausted and injured.
So How Do Stuntmen Train?
Frankly, everybody trains a bit differently because of the vast skill set that's involved in stunt work. We have champions in every sport from free-running and gymnastics to fighting sports like boxing and MMA. We have professional rally drivers and motocross riders, scuba divers, high diving champions, horseback riders, and rock climbers. You name it, someone in stunts does it!
My skills came from all-round weightlifting, rock climbing, track and field, and swimming. By the time I was qualified, I had national level qualifications and successful competition experience in fighting (boxing and ju jitsu), gymnastics, trampoline, scuba, swimming, and industrial rigging. The rest of what I know I learned on the job. Car work in particular is highly specialized and it takes a lot of trust to let someone roll a car over for a crash sequence.
During the 2010 movie, Clash of the Titans, the actors and the stuntmen had the following equipment available to us in our rehearsal area:
Barbell and weights Adjustable bench Dumbbells up to 100 pounds Chin and dip station Bands Ab wheel Climbing rope
That was all I needed to set up an effective training routine and schedule that was based on building strength, a steel core, and agility.
Building Strength
I used a modified version of 5/3/1 and added a back-off set and a 50% set (a set where you attempt to do half the reps you did on the previous set).
Heavy Squat OR Deadlift
I prefer anyone who isn't a powerlifter to choose either the squat or the deadlift. Most stuntmen seem to prefer the deadlift. Me? I prefer the squat. As a stuntman the lower back takes a pounding. The last thing I need is a sore back before I even start work, so I squat hard and heavy most weeks unless my hips get really sore.
Week 1: 5x5 plus a back off set of 8-15, followed by a set about 1 minute later trying to get half the reps I got the first time (a 50% set) Week 2: 5x3 plus the same back off and 50% set Week 3: 5x1 plus the back off and 50% set Week 4: Sets of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 (heavy single)
I prefer this approach and start my cycles low enough so that I can usually push through to new records over the course of the training cycle. As with any training program, realistic progression is the key to results. However, being able to move your own bodyweight with ease is really important in our job. Often you're hanging in harnesses, climbing at height, or manhandling another stuntman or actor, so it's incredibly important to be able to move your body through space with strength and explosiveness.
Even so, I've never been a fan of really high-rep work for bodyweight. I prefer to be explosive, as that looks better on screen. No one has ever asked me to do 100 push-ups, but they have asked me to move faster, often with heavy costumes on whilst climbing or crawling. As such, I prefer to do weighted body-weight movements like chins and dips instead of higher rep work. We go as heavy as possible and I often use the same modified 5/3/1 for chins and dips until it gets too heavy and things start aching, reps gets missed, or form falls apart.
If you choose to try this routine, you'll want to use at least 50% of bodyweight for both exercises and include the back-off set and the 50% set.
Chins and Dips with added weight
Week 1: 5x5 plus a back-off set of 8-15, followed by a set about 1 minute later trying to get half the reps I got the first time (a 50% set) Week 2: 5x3 plus the same back off and 50% set Week 3: 5x1 plus the back off and 50% set Week 4: Sets of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1
Another really simple way to get a lot of volume done quickly is to attach a weight to your body, say 20 kilograms (45 pounds), and do as many reps as possible in 10 minutes. You try to surpass what you did the last time.
The other things I often include for building strength are:
Rope Climbs: 4-5 sets of 15-20 feet Plyo Pushups: 4-5 sets of various plyometric pushups
If you have access to a climbing rope, use it. Climbing a rope is harder than chin-ups or pull-ups and far more impressive. You'll get a great upper-body workout if you combine these plyometric pushups where you do a clap or two in between reps.
Dumbbell Curl and Clean and Press: 4 sets of 8-12 reps
This is an underrated movement. Plus, since we had plenty of dumbbells and only one bar, it became a mainstay. I actually had everyone "cheat curl" the dumbbells to the shoulders and press them in one motion. You can do one arm at a time or do both together. Some of us were using the 80-pound dumbbells for sets of 12 on this and believe me, the whole upper body works. It's not unlike doing a strongman log clean and press in one motion.
Building a Steel Core
Heavy Planks: 3 sets of 30-45 seconds
I mean really heavy! Screw all that 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5-minute rubbish. Abs need to be strong. Even in rehearsals we take full-blown hits to the stomach from kicks and punches. Yes, you can "pull" your punch and that's what we're trained to do, but actors aren't. They usually just hit you.
Train planks with 30-45 second sets and work up to at least 40 kilograms (90 pounds) on your lower back. I've done over 100 kilograms (220 pounds) for sets of 30 seconds. Even better is to get someone to push, pull, and kick you whilst in the plank position. See how hard your abs, obliques, glutes, hip flexors, etc. have to work when someone's stomping or standing on your back! This is an awesome exercise for all combat athletes as well as powerlifters and strongmen.
Wheel Barrow Ab Wheel: 1-2 sets of 30-50 feet
You'll need a partner for this one. Remember when you were kids and you picked up your friend's feet and he walked around on his hands? Well, do the same thing but use an ab wheel. Hold just the feet or ankles and push them along until they're ready to drop. Make sure you're in sync with each other though as this one can get ugly if they drop and you keep pushing!
Building Agility
Knee Jumps: 5 sets of 2-3 jumps
This is my go-to jumping exercise that can be done in any gym. There are a ton of variations. Choose one or two and think fast. Try not to pre-load. Instead, start from a dead stop.
Sprints: 3-5 hard sets
You can do them one of three ways:
Band Resisted Sprints Sprints on Treadmill Regular Sprints from different start positions
The Workouts
We had 30-45 minutes in the morning to get all of this done during Clash of the Titans. Here's an example of how we did this over 3 days:
Day 1
A. Squat or Deadlift Modified 5/3/1 plus back off and 50% set B. Chin Same as Deadlift C. Dip Same as Deadlift D. Dumbbell Curl and Press 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps E. Sprints 3-5 sets of band-resisted sprints
Day 2
A. Hard Circuit Total Body Conditioning Circuit B. Abs Heavy Planks supersetted with Ab Wheel C. Jumps 4-5 doubles from the knees
Day 3
A. Rope Climb 4-5 sets working for speed and timing on each one B. Sprints Starting in different positions C. Sparring or Pad work 5-8 2-minute rounds
This is just a brief example of how you could train under difficult conditions with limited time periods and still get stronger, faster, and better conditioned. We would stretch and do mobility work or rehab work in any spare moments. Film sets are notoriously all or nothing. Either everyone is running around like crazy or sitting around waiting for the director to line up a shot. You take the quiet moments to fit in any extra training. As I said before, you rarely get time to warm up before a stunt or action sequence.
As stuntmen, we have to find time to train because our bodies are how we make our money. There are no shortcuts and no excuses. If you're injured or not feeling well, trust me, on a film set, nobody cares. When a daily activity might mean walking through fire or jumping from a building, you had better be prepared.
Generally this is a problem only the 'newbie, inexperienced or just plain dumb tend to get involved in.
Because weights don't hit back, many people abuse them and their bodies with their misuse. If you've ever done any fight sports (boxing, MMA, wrestling, judo etc) you will know first hand that training with your ego is a no no. Unless you are off the chart talented (Floyd Mayweather, Rhonda Rousey, Aleksandr Karelin) you have no rights showboating in the ring or on the mat. You WILL get your ass handed to you. Confidence is good but cockiness leads to knockouts.
Weights however are just big and heavy and unless you drop them on yourself (very possible) they don't hit back. For some reason people start going to the gym and think they are all of a sudden 'tough' because they have put half an inch on their biceps and can quarter squat 300lbs. Well, let me just say that a half decent, light weight boxer will knock the biggest bodybuilder or powerlifter out with no fight training any day of the week. Weights don't make you tough, tough makes you tough and that means knowing what it's like to get hit, get choked and get kicked in the head!
But I digress...
What else constitutes ego training? Well simply lifting heavy week in week out with no plan. This will always get you niggles and nagging injuries.
Are you one of those people who has weeks when they feel good and lift heavy only to come back the next week and have less strength? Then you are an ego trainer and you are stupid.
Do you lift heavy because your friends are there and you want to try and outlift them no matter what? Then you are stupid.
Do hitch every heavy deadlift? Then you are stupid.
Do you cut short every rep of squats, bit by bit each week to make that 400lbs squat into a partial squat but, 'hey bro, now you squat 400lbs'. Then you are stupid.
Do you bench press with a massive bounce off your chest, lift your butt, squiggle and squirm, flare your arms wildly and get your 'bros' to do forced reps and negatives every session. Then you too are stupid.
Crossfit...meh...too easy a target...
I could go on.
I rarely fail heavy weights. This year I may have failed one repetition possibly two on my top end sets. The reason is I have a plan which I generally stick to. It is realistic, has consistent but sensible progress and allows me to build into to top weights and intensity over time. I rarely get injuries from weight training. My form is good on all reps of any given exercise, it's a full range of motion and very few sets are 'grinders' where the weight is moving slowly.
You have no right to be maxing out every week. There is no need to show off in the gym every week. There is no need to throw weights down for no reason (they've done nothing to you and the gym owner will appreciate it). You owe it to your longevity in the gym to PERFECT your form on EVERY exercise. You would be advised to work through a full range of motion to maintain mobility.
Another thing. Screaming and shouting and getting psyched. Stop it! Unless your competing or going for a personal best (once a month at the VERY MOST) there is no need. Most of you don't train very hard anyway. So STOP screaming it's embarrassing. And psyching up. There's no need to do it very often. You should save 'adrenalin' lifting for your maximum effort attempts and competition. There are little chinese women who lift more than you anyway.
In short. Ego training is uneccessary. It looks silly. It is silly. It will get you injured and it does not make you tough.
Nick
For those of you who don't know...this is Karelin and he is proper tough!
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(C) 2007-2014 Beyond Strong, Nick Mckinless
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