I started the blog as an outlet for myself more than anything. Everything I have put out is free. Even when we had 3 guest bloggers (Theo Burggraaff, Steve Shafley and Rick Walker) no one paid to be a part of the site. All three put out some great content and kept things busy when I was working long hours and had little time to write anything.
The blog is now moving on and will partly promote my future projects. It will still be FREE, all I ask is that people SHARE and SUPPORT my projects which include the following:
Seminars/Workshops - strength and conditioning based with some really fantastic authors and athletes.
Documentaries - these are both strength based, one is based a round a road trip and the other a more well known subject.
Movies - story driven action movies a la my short film FAITH.
Writing - including the BS Blog, books and articles (I have an article coming out on T-Nation very soon)
As always I'll also be juggling my day job as a stuntman and stunt coordinator. I just finished working on the latest Sacha Baron Cohen movie Grimsby, and I have a small part on the latest Tarzan film in the coming weeks.
After 18 years in the film industry I can honestly say I love my work. Like any job it has it's ups and downs and the film industry is full of internal politics but I am starting to make my projects a part of my work and that is what I truly love.
Beyond Strong will continue to be the outlet for my writing for the time being. I will be amalgamating all the other sites (faith-movie, nickmckinless.com and Iron Dog Films) into one main site for easy access.
As for the cheat meals...I don't do them! I eat mostly what I want. If I need to lose weight I up my cardio (which basically means I do 10-15 minutes of conditioning work at the end of my normal workouts) and I eat a little less (usually skipping the odd meal and cutting out carbs after 4pm is enough). I see no reason right now to be super lean. Not that I won't at some point make it a goal I just think trying to stay sub 10% bodyfat makes people boring and miserable!
So WELCOME to the new and improved and streamlined blog...the futue is bright...have FAITH!!!
Arnold and Bill Kazmaier never used bands or chains
I guess the counter argument here is, if they had been available would they have used them?
Now I could ask them. I probably can have access to them both but I am sure they would both say unequivocally, 'Of course!"
When they were training at the heights of their careers, the 70's for Arnold and the 80's for Bill, they would have used ANYTHING to get better.
How did they train?
Now Bill was predominantly a Powerlifter and of course Arnold was a bodybuilder. Interestingly enough, Bill used a ton of bodybuilding exercises to get bigger and stronger and Arnold was a Powerlifter before specializing on building his massive physique. In many ways they trained the same except that for Bill his main aim was strength and mass and for Arnold it was size and symmetry. For Bill, looking good was very much secondary and for Arnold strength was less important.
So having established that they basically trained the same and didn't have fancy equipment and yet built massive strength and size without bands and chains what exactly did they use.
Well if you watch these videos you'll see they used basic barbells, dumbbells and pulley systems.
Bill Kazmaier training and seminar from 1988
Arnold and Co with some rarely seen footage from Gold's Gym.
You may think that Powerlifting thanks to Louie Simmons utilizes chains and bands more to accomodate the resistance of the strength curve in a particular movement. However, in recent times coaches like John Meadows have introduced them into bodybuilding with spectacular results. Chains and bands certainly have their places in weight training these days and rightly so.
Dave Tate wrote this great article about them for Powerlifting HERE
John Meadows wrote about them for Bodybuilding HERE
I've actually used them myself many times. For me the jury is out as to how much I gain from using them but they are fun, look cool and make you really think about your lifting. Anything that makes lifting harder has to be better as far as I'm concerned.
One version that is easy to do in any gym is Chaos or Stability/Unstable Bench Presses.
Simply attach two bands to the bar and hang weights off the end. You have to fight to control the bar as it wobbles and you have to maintain good form or you'll lose control. I'm putting my feet on the bench to to make it just that tad harder.
Here's a video of yours truly doing 160kg/350lbs bench press with this set up (140kg straight weight plus 20kg hanging on bands)
The point here is that you don't NEED bands and chains but sure they are a nice variation from time to time and certainly may have an impact on the training of some people. Bill and Arnold probably would have utilized both but they never had them and they did pretty good with just good old barbells, dumbbells and pulleys...
Actually this is cardio for anyone that hates cardio...like me!
Plus my BMI (Body Mass Index) says I am super fat and I am 43 1/2 so I am getting old which must mean I am fat and old too...anyway...
Cardiovascular training or Aerobic Exercise is boring. It does however have it's benefits and if all you do is lift heavy weights, take long rest intervals and eat to get massive then your heart and lungs are gonna suffer. Of course, being massive can be cool but being dead is not so cool. Ladies for you this is simply a way to eat ice cream or cakes and still have a bikini body.
The physiology and science behind raising your heart rate to 60-80% of your maximum heart rate for 20-40 minutes can be found anywhere with a quick google search. I'm not here to lecture you. Instead I want to give you some less boring ways to stimulate that important muscle (the heart) and stop from getting a fat butt and bingo wings (ladies) or a fat gut and double chins (gents).
Slow Loading
This works well for gyms equipped with heavy objects like barrels, sacks, tyres, anvils etc. However, it can be improvised in a normal gym using dumbbells, 20kg/45lb plates held two at a time, loading e-z curl bar and people!
Get 3-5 heavy object. For example, a 150lb Barrel, a 150lb sack, a 50kg weight plate and two 100lb dumbbells. Ladies, half those numbers.
Now pick a distance to be covered. Could be a trip across the gym, across your garden or a set distance of 50-100ft.
Pick up the barrel and carry it to the mark you laid out.
Walk back and grab the sack and take it to the mark.
Continue until all the items are carried over.
No carry them back!
Keep doing this for 20-40 minutes.
You can mix it up in many ways. Maybe you carry one dumbbell at a time. Maybe both together. Maybe you take the weight plate first. Maybe you shoulder the sack. It doesn't matter. Just keep moving and loading for the set time period.
Your options are limited only by your imagination.
Concept 2 Rower
Rowing uses lots of muscle and has the body moving through space. Make sure you get someone to correct your form if you decide to use a Concept 2 rower.
Pull smooth and long
Recover fast by punching the hands forward
The chain should spin the wheel smoothly with no jerking and you should 'catch' the pull
It's generally better to be long and strong than short and fast with your pulls.
I like 4 types of rows. Actually I don't like them but they seem to work nicely and are fairly standard.
2000m timed. One maximum timed 2000m row. Aim for 8 minutes or less.
3x1000m timed. 3 timed 1000m rows with a 2-3 minute recovery in between.
5x500m timed. 5 timed 500m rows with a 1 minute recovery between sets. Aim for 2 to 2.15 minute rows.
5000m timed. Not often I do this one. 20-21 minutes is your aim.
Now you can make these up yourself or try some of the workouts on the concept 2 website. I like to take the 500m rows to 10 sets when I am at my fittest and get each row under 1min 50 seconds.
I tend to rotate these when I am rowing. So I might do 5-10 x 500m rows one session, then 3 x 1000m rows then a test row of either 2000m or 5000m.
Rowing is used by some of the World's Strongest Men and they are awfully good at it too. Why? Because despite their size they are massively strong in the pulling muscles (400kg/880lb Deadlifts) and have decent cardio from repeated bouts of strongman events training. Here's Britain's Strongest Man, Laurence Shahlaei rowing 500m in a fast 1min 19seconds!
The Cross Trainer
I know it looks like the most unmanly thing in the world piece of apparatus BUT it is really a decent bit of kit.
Apart from some nice variations of programs and levels, the cross trainer is about as low impact as you can get and since we are talking FAT and OLD that's a good thing.
This one I do 'old school' - 20-45 mins of old fashioned steady state aerobic work.
Input your weight and time period and choose HILLS.
By choosing HILLS you give yourself little bursts of harder work to lessen the dull nature of the exercise.
Increase the LEVEL you work out each workout. Level 10 then 11 then 12 and so on.
Only use the handles for the HILLS. I tend to 'sprint' up the hills and then back off on the flat.
Build up and then drop back. I like to start with a low level at the start of the week and build up to a harder level at the end of the week.
If you want to up the intensity without upping the levels too much (after level 17 on most machines it can become like treading in and out of mud) simply add a weighted vest.
Rhianna likes the Cross Trainer apparently.
Boxing Training
A good boxing class should have you doing variations of the following:
Basic warm up of bodyweight exercises (pushups, situps) or possibly a 1-2 mile run
Shadow boxing concentrating on technique
Light punchbag work
Heavy punchbag work
Possibly pad work
Possibly Light sparring
Another option is to train with a friend or even on your own.
Boxing is fantastic all round training. Make sure you are taught how to do the basics before punching anything (jab, cross, hooks, uppercuts, bob, weave, slip etc). You will sweat and move and that is all you need to know.
Boxing is one of my favourite forms of cardio/aerobic exercise.
Other forms of cardio
Prowler - I find the Prowler is a hard conditioning tool rather than a softer aerobic tool. If you're already fit then it's great and I love it but it's not easy and therefore not something you want to do if just starting out. That said I have some wicked variations for this tool.
Sprinting - Once again this is hard conditioning and the potential for injury is high also. You need good technique, a solid structured warm up and to understand the programming for even a basic sprint programme. I do sprint but not often and I build back into it CAREFULLY.
Jogging - useless. If you want to pound away on your joints then that's up to you. I have no problem with anyone wanting to increase their 1 mile time using 2-400m intervals running on a track or including some running into a circuit but jogging is a waste of time and effort.
Walking - up hills and at a brisk pace has it's benefits but realistically unless your power walking it's about as good as jogging.
Circuits - done correctly circuits are some of the best ways to lose bodyfat and do cardio. I have written hundreds of them and they will be included in the book eventually. Oh, this by the way is what all the kids today call Crossfit. It's just circuits for heavens sake!
Weight training - cardio based weight training...that little beauty is coming soon. I need to think up a fancy name first. Hah!
Placing any of these into a program is pretty simple.
If you're weight training 3-4 times a week simply choosing two of these is enough. With what I've given you above you have a ton of variation and can do different cardio each week. One week do a slow load and a cross trainer session. The next week do two rowing workouts. Maybe you want to try the boxing and add in the slow load at the weekend. Options galore.
You only need to do 2 sessions a week to see some results. Build up the intensity slowly.
Hopefully I've stirred up enough interest for you to try a little cardio so you can stop being so fat and old!
Boy am I giving you some weight training gold here!
To avoid just about every problem in lifting weights from injuries to certain body parts being to big or too small or for creating athletic success here is your answer. The problem though is that just like an airplane you will be constantly be off course with obstacles in the way the whole journey.
There will always be problems. Injuries no matter how hard you try will be unavoidable. Especially if you start pushing your limits. Genetics will, to a certain extent, determine which muscles develop faster and stronger. Lifestyle inconsistencies are inevitible. Training is training. It's important but it's not the be all end all.
For balanced strength and develop look at yourself with wide open eyes. Be honest. Throw away your ego. Here's a an idea of what I mean.
Legs then back then shoulders.
Unless you have the genes of an Olympic Speed Skater make your leg training a priority. If you want all round leg development, full range of motion, below parallel, high bar squats. Simple. You hit every muscle group in the lower body. Then isolate the posterior chain with an exercises that hits the hamstrings. If you have tiny calves train them - train them everyday if you have to - they will grow eventually. All other exercises are simply for variety. Yes, I know Dorian Yates built his legs with leg presses but this was after years of doing squats.
The back, all of the back, is your next priority area. The back is your second engine. The back responds to every rep range - low and very high. Make heavy rows your priority. Make them strict whether they are seated cable or barbell or one arm. Row hard and heavy. As a by product your bicep tendons, hands and supporting muscles will get super strong if you row hard and heavy in good style. Chins and pulldowns are your next key exercise. Not necessarily in the same workout. Heavy guys (250lbs plus) should still be able to do some chins. For the lightweights, don't dismiss the power of strict and heavy pulldowns. After this the one area that is majorly lacking is rear delt power. I say power because if they are weak you will lose power. I like to think that whatever you can DB fly you can Bent over DB Raise. Can you do that? Not many can. After that, whatever takes your fancy.
Shoulder strength and development will do more for the look of your physique than anything else. Take a skinny dweeb and give him shoulders and he will automatically look more athletic. Now shoulders just need strict overhead pressing exercises. Seated or standing. Standing looks more impressive but may not give you the development you need. Try seated. Try a high angled bench rather than a 90 degree one. There are lots of nuances to shoulder training so experiment. Shoulders need heavy weights. After that do what you like.
The same rules apply for what's left. Chest would be next then arms. Abs are tricky. They should be worked hard and heavy from time to time just like any other bodypart and they should easily be as strong if not more so than the lower back. Ahh, the lower back.
What about deadlifts? This will send shock waves but I don't think the deadlift is a necessary exercise. I think the current trend of just deadlifting super heavy weights in bad form, with hitching and dipping under the weight and whatever else it takes to stand up with a heavy weight are just plain stupid. The best deadlift for development is the Romanian Deadlift. It's strict, works a ton of muscle and is useful for overall development in the posterior chain. The regular deadlift has become nothing more than a test of strength. Done correctly like in Powerlifting with a regular stance it is beautiful but when bastardized the lift is ugly, dangerous and counter productive. If you want to test your strength then fine. If you want development then not so good. More in another article.
In short.
Train the legs, back and shoulders as your priority muscles.
Train the chest, arms and abs as secondary muscle groups.
If a muscle group lags behind then put in extra effort to 'catch up'.
Don't sacrifice good form just to lift a heavy weight - it'll bite you eventually.
Balance out any glaring strengths and weaknesses in development and strength.
BST
The great Larry Scott wasn't born with perfect genetics but he sure made the most of them. Along with Vince Girodnda they balanced out his physique perfectly and he became the first and second Mr. Olympia.
It's debatable as to just how strong Paul Anderson was but there is no doubt he did things that very few man can do today. If you are a fan of strength and you don't know who Paul is then I suggest you watch the following documentary. You can fast forward through the Christian faith work if that's not your thing but seriously...this is strength gold!
I'll get back to the 29 explanations soon, as I have a little time on my hands.
However, having recently been spoiled by the diversity of equipment at the gym I use, one day I'd like to strip it all away to literally just an Olympic Bar and 4-500lbs of weights and see what happens. There's a ton of exercises you could perform for the entire body such as:
Squat - Steinborn Lunges Power Clean Military Push Jerk Deadlift One Arm Deads (with and without hook) Double Overhand Deads Curls Bench/Floor Press One Arm Press Power Snatch One Arm Snatch Shovel Deadlift Low Lat Rows Angled Press Cyplenkovs Pinch on end of Barbell Finger Deadlifts Pinch Deadlift Heavy Planks
There's MANY more. The point is equipment or lack of it, is never an excuse.
Whilst I was thinking about this and where it might take me in the future I came across this video. These boys just get it done!
I have touched on this one before and as controversial or politically incorrect as it is to mention the 'F' word, telling someone they are too skinny can be just as psychologically destructive whether it's true or not. The dangers of being too skinny are obvious but it doesn't seem to stop people, particularly women, starving themselves or going to other extremes for a look that most people are not overly excited about.
The days of Jane Fonda and Aerobics Oz Style have come and gone but that shouldn't mean we have forgotten how attractive it is to be slim (not skinny, slim) and muscular.
Whilst am not a huge fan of Crossfit, one thing it has done which is VERY positive, is to provide positive images of females with muscles. This is a good thing and to be applauded. Of course, apart from the elite crossfitters (who actually lift weights), it also produces SKINNY MEN! That is not so good.
For women though the validity of using weights as a part of their everyday training is something to admire and encourage. Aiming to be super skinny and look like a clothes horse is fine I guess if you are making thousands of dollars a week. However, it's a look perpetrated by the fashion industry and enhanced in some ways by the music business that is neither healthy or normal. In the film and television business it is prevalent to stay skinny and that goes for men and women. The advent of the super hero movie has had a partially positive effect but don't be fooled, muscles are enhanced with CGI, clever make-up and suits containing fake muscles!
You may also be surprised to hear that very few actors will continue to train after the movie has finished. It's just not in their blood, they are literally doing it for the MONEY. There are exceptions such as Dwayne Johnson, Hugh Jackman and the indominatable Sylvestor Stallone but the majority will peak for a film and then avoid the gym like the plague.
Now what we view as skinny is very subjective and I don't just mean from an aesthetic point of view. We literally see everyone different.
So what is too skinny?
It's hard to say but anyone who has a bony spine and ribs showing is a candidate for being too skinny in my book. If you have 'some' muscle on your frame you won't have either of these things unless you have a super low bodyfat level. If you're too skinny you will be weak as a kitten, your bones will weaken, everyday tasks will become harder and you'll generally feel lack lustre. And that is just the start of how unhealthy being too skinny is.
For some reasons this gets everyone's knickers in a twist, especially fat people.
If you are fat, you are unhealthy. It is a medical FACT. Fat can cause everything from heart disease to diabetes to gout and everything in between. There is nothing good about being fat. Ask your doctor or any medical professional.
Being fat is not a disease as many would have you believe. You can catch a cold or measles but you can't catch fat. Fat is a human disorder where people put too much food into their mouth for weeks, months and years and don't exercise. Yes, some people are more predisposed to being fat than others just like some people are extremely skinny.
I am not 'fattist'. However, I am also not going to praise a fat person for losing weight. You shouldn't have gained so much in the first place. The fact you lost it is great and good for your health. Keep it going.
Nobody credits all the consistently heathy and fit people in the world. And nobody should either. It's a health choice to live like that but in the same vain nobody should credit a fat person for losing weight.
If you are fat and reading this you probably hate me. However, I am going to do you a favour. Do this and you will not be fat anymore.
Stop overeating.
Cut your portion size.
Eat mainly foods that are grown or killed.
Exercise for 3 hours per week in total. That can be 30 minutes six times
a week or 45 minutes four times a week or even an hour three times a
week. Most of you spend longer watching crap TV in ONE NIGHT!
You can't catch fat!
BST
I couldn't bring myself to post a fat or skinny picture so instead...more Cory...
I don't care how ridiculous that statement sounds because it's true whether people know it or not.
For people that do any form of physical performance, having a solid, muscular frame built through consistent weight training will give you an advantage in almost every sport or activity. Not to mention the by product of having a decent looking body which has the added effect of improving your own self esteem and hopefully your attractiveness to the opposite sex (or same sex I guess!).
Now how much muscle you have is going to differ from person to person. Not everyone wants to look like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson but no one can deny that he looks incredible. Some would rather have that lean and ripped look of a Ryan Reynolds but for many, especially strength aficionados that is just too skinny. For ladies, I would guess that top figure and fitness models would be the high end of muscularity and the lower end would be the likes of Jessica Biel who is more 'athletic'. Somewhere in between is where everyone else wants to be.
Now a small minority will want to be ultra thin. Makes no sense. It's unhealthy, you will be weak and you look sick. At the other end of the spectrum and I don't know for sure but I don't think anyone wants to be fat! Also a very small minority wants the extreme muscularity of a high end, professional bodybuilder, male or female. I would guess that even the 70's bodybuilder shape is too much for most guys and that Cory Everson's 80's almost, figure/fitness body may be too much for most girls. However, you can't not admire those physiques.
It makes no difference what level of muscle you want to attain whether it be skinny muscles, massive muscles or somewhere in between. I stand by my original statement - EVERYONE wants muscles!
I'm basing this explanation on the guys and girls that go to the gym and want to do a few good feats of strength AND look good. At the end of the day that's 90% or more of gym goers today. You want muscles, a little functionality and some definition. Tell me I'm wrong!
Strength
Strength should be your number one priority throughout your training life. You don't have to think powerlifting or strongman but without strength everything suffers and with it everything is easier. Strength comes in many forms - maximum strength (1RM), strength endurance (the ability to do multiple repetitions without fatigue) and power (strength x speed) and if you look at Powerlifting there are things like speed strength, strength speed, Maximum Effort (ME) and sometimes you have elastic and static strength too. It can get very confusing.
For what most people need though strength is based around 1RM and strength endurance. This means what you can lift for a maximum lift and what you can lift for repetitions. Some people will be better at one more than another and vice versa. This is because fast and slow twitch muscle fibres make up the human body. Everyone is different. For example, I am predominantly fast twitch. I am quite fast and explosive and find endurance much harder. Someone with slow twitch fibres would be great at endurance but not so good at one rep maxes. It doesn't matter what you are, use what you have and play to your strengths.
Once you have a good level of strength (more on this in another article) you can then use that strength to build size.
Size
Trying to build size without having built strength first is pointless. Big muscles require big weights and even if huge bulk isn't your bag, getting clearly defined muscles won't happen unless you are strong first. Plus why would you want to be big but not strong? It would be really strange to see a big, muscular man who was lifting tiny weights wouldn't it. Of course, some people do get very strong without putting on lots of excess mass but that's usually because they need to stay lighter for their sport. Those that can't put on weight are simply not eating enough.
To get bigger you have to use heavy weights that you can now use because you are strong. Combine that with heavy eating and you will grow. Now whether you put on fat as well will depend on what you eat, your age, your physical make-up and how you train but rest assured that if you eat more than you need to and train hard you will gain muscle. It is that simple.
Conditioning
Conditioning is a general term I use for fitness, athleticism and/or the quality of muscle that has been built. If you are strong enough and big enough then the icing on the cake is conditioning.
Now conditioning, like all three of these subjects is a huge area. It can involve diet, general fitness or general physical preparedness (GPP), jumping and mobility work (athleticism), circuit training and sports specific training or special physical preparedness (SPP). As you can see it is a huge area of training.
However, for most people, you would never need to do all of these things all of the time. I tend to utilize parts of them into my training. For example, I might do a weight training workout and then do a fast paced abdominal circuit mixed with some jumping onto boxes. That in itself would be enough for one workout. Another way would be to finish your weights workouts with 5 x 500m rows on the Concept 2 rower with 1 minute rests in between. That's another way of getting 'some' conditioning into your training. Another way would be simply cleaning up your diet.
You have to be careful as conditioning can become very intense and will affect your recovery and add to your weekly workload. In some ways you could get conditioned first as a good level of all of the conditioning methods would make you pretty awesome but without strength you would begin to struggle I feel. Or you might not want to be massively muscular and would instead rather be strong and conditioned. If your sport is boxing or MMA then that might make sense but I can guarantee that building some quality muscle will help most sports as well. And ladies, muscle is sexy. You will not get too big, ask the men, it is NOT easy to get big even with testosterone running through your veins. So get strong and add some muscle.
I could write tons of conditioning workouts but again they will be saved for another time.
For now remember...
BUILD STRENGTH FIRST - Strength is King.
BUILD SIZE NEXT - As much as you need.
BUILD CONDITIONING LAST - The icing on the cake.
BST
Serge Reding - Strong (and big and conditioned for his sport despite the belly!)
Huge (and VERY strong) Reg Park posing in the 1950's
Disclaimer
The views and articles expressed on the Beyond Blogs section are those of the authors and BEYOND STRONG accepts no responsibility for their comments and writings.
(C) 2007-2014 Beyond Strong, Nick Mckinless
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