Death Match: You vs. Your Body

by Mike Roussell



You've just finished a mass phase and added 25 solid pounds to the scale, most of which is muscle. It was hell trying to get bigger, but you finally laid the smack-down on your body and forced it to pack on weight by lifting heavy and shoveling anything deemed edible into your face.

"Do you like this second-helping of potatoes? What about this huge glass of milk? That'll teach you to defy me! I own you!"

Now it's time to strip away the fat that's covering your hard-earned muscle. But your body is one pissed off, vindictive beast who's not ready to work with you. In fact, if you let it, it's going to walk all over you, kick you in the balls, and take your precious muscle back with it.

You must tame the beast.

Losing muscle while dieting doesn't have to happen. In fact, it can easily be avoided,if you take the right steps to counteract your body's innate survival mechanism.


The Three Problems
Why-oh-why does your body break down muscle to use as fuel while dieting?

Problem Number One: Your body needs (or thinks it needs) the energy.

Problem Number Two: Your body thinks it needs the amino acids in your muscles for more important things like making enzymes and repairing essential tissues. So it breaks down the muscle, harvests the amino acids, and uses them elsewhere in the body. How cruel.

Problem Number Three: Your body wants to break down muscle for fuel because muscle is calorically expensive to keep around. Your body-fat, on the other hand, just sits there. When you're dieting, your body sees all calories as very important (since they're limited) and thus only wants to expend energy on things that are absolutely necessary like thinking, breathing, bowel movements, and searching for Internet porn.

Although you see your muscle as absolutely necessary, your body has a different opinion.


Time to Tame the Beast
So now that we've outlined the three problems, what can we do to make your body happy, keep your muscle mass, and shed the fat?

Let's look back at the first set.

Your body's problem: Needs energy.

Your solution: You want your body to specifically use stored fat to fill the energy void.

The truth is that you have enough stored energy in the form of body-fat to last a very long time. Lack of energy isn't the issue. What we need to do is show your body how to access the energy that it has stored up. However, last time I checked, you can't sit down and have a one-on-one conversation with your gut about how it needs to go away. Not without a few raised eyebrows and a trip to the local psychiatrist, at least. The only option is brute force.

By cutting carbs we force your body to find another fuel source. First up is fat. Once you cut your carbs down to 20-50 grams a day, keep them there. As soon as your body starts efficiently using fat as its primary fuel source, it will realize that you have an abundant amount of energy ready for utilization and will not as readily catabolize your muscle.

This protective effect of low carbohydrate diets is illustrated by the findings of soon-to-be published research from the University of Connecticut. In a 12-week weight-loss study, they compared a low-carb diet with a low-fat diet. Individuals on a low-fat diet lost more lean body mass during the course of the study.

Your body's problem: Needs enough amino acids to maintain important bodily functions.

Your solution: You want the body to get amino acids from places other than your muscle.

Now that we have the fuel issue solved, we need to deal with your body's next problem: getting enough amino acids to maintain important bodily functions. The truly important aminos your body cares about are the essential amino acids (EAA).

Studies from the University of Illinois by Dr. Donald Layman, one of the world's leading protein researchers, have shown ample protein and essential amino acids (specifically leucine) are key when it comes to protecting lean tissues while dieting.

A 2008 study by Dr. Layman showed that doubling people's protein intake from 0.8 grams per kilogram (the current RDA for protein) to 1.6 grams per kilogram led to greater reductions in body-fat percentage and improved insulin response without even having the subjects exercise. While this is an important concept, I feel safe in my assumption that everyone reading this article is eating 1.6 grams per kilogram of protein or more. So getting adequate protein shouldn't be an issue.

But let's take it one step further by supplementing your diet with either BCAA, or pure Leucine between meals. This will not only hammer the point home to your body that there are ample amounts of precious amino acids, but the Leucine will start flipping anabolic switches throughout your muscle building system.

(If you haven't already, you should read Dr. Lowery's most recent article on protein.

Researcher Dr. Stephen Bird showed that supplementing with seven grams of EAA prior to weight training prevented muscle breakdown over the 48-hour post-workout period while the group that didn't use any type of workout shake experienced a 56 percent increase in urinary 3-methly Histidine levels, which is a marker indicative of skeletal muscle breakdown.

Your body's problem: Energy is low so the body only wants to keep around essential parts that require calories.

Your solution: You need to convince your body that lean muscle is essential.

Your body functions from an evolutionary perspective. We used to build muscle for survival reasons like moving stones, carrying trees, and snapping necks of wild boars. If your body needed muscle to do those things now, it wouldn't even consider catabolizing it for fuel. Unfortunately for us, there aren't too many necks to snap.

So how can we mimic that experience for our body? Alwyn Cosgrove had the answer for me: heavy lifting while dieting.

While sets of 8, 12, 15, and even 20 reps are perfect for eliciting a calorie burning metabolic stimulus, heavier sets of 4 to 6 reps give your body the message that if it doesn't keep the muscle around, it'll be crushed.

When you first get to the gym add 3 to 4 sets of squats, deadlifts, RDLs, bench presses, and bent-over rows in the 4 to 6 rep range before you move into your complexes, metabolic circuits, and supersets.

This will not only force your body to hold onto your muscle, but will accelerate your fat loss as well.


Losing Muscle is No Longer An Option
Let's keep it simple and recap the key points to preventing muscle loss while dieting:

• Cut your carbs and keep them low.
• Increase your protein intake.
• Add supplemental amino acids (BCAA, EAA, or just Leucine) to your diet.
• Start each workout with 3 to 4 sets of 4 to 6 reps of a compound movement.

Do these four things and you'll never have to worry about losing muscle while dieting, and the beast that is your body will work with you instead of against you.

Grip Training for the Deadlift

by Andy Bolton and Elliot Newman

Ever grasp the bar with such might that you swear you heard it scream?

Okay, maybe, just maybe, that was a daydream about strangling one of those "deadlifts are the devil" yahoos who found themselves on the wrong side of the stacks.

But whether you're a powerlifter, bodybuilder, or an athlete from another sport, a cast-iron grip is the connection between you and a massive deadlift.


Get a Grip
Whilst the grip training methods we'll describe are predominately performed to improve deadlift performance, they'll help every single exercise you do in the gym. The Law of Irradiation states that: "A muscle working hard recruits the neighborhood muscles, and if they are already a part of the action, it amplifies their strength!"(1)

The bench press is a great example; the harder you can squeeze the bar, the harder you'll be able to activate your triceps and the stronger your bench will be.

Also, with a stronger grip, we've found that deadlifts can be pulled faster from the floor because you aren't worrying about your hands coming open and missing the lift. Therefore, we can conclude that huge grip strength is essential to reaching your potential in terms of explosive power and absolute strength.


Still Need Convincing?
Between the historic 1003-pound and 1008-pound competition deadlifts, Andy Bolton missed pulls of 1000-plus pounds five times. The reason was the same every time: He couldn't hold onto the bar. In the approximately 30 months between these two pulls, the only thing that was dramatically changed in his training was his grip work.

What follows is the method that contributed to a weakness becoming a strength. If you watch videos of the 1008-pounder, you'll see that it's held at lockout for a few seconds with no problem.

Weak grip no more, or, as Pavel would say, "Grip power to you."


Frequency of Grip Training
We train four times per week. The deadlift is trained on Wednesday, and grip work is performed on Saturday. We advise you to do something similar by keeping 72 hours between your deadlift and grip training. This keeps the hands fresh for both activities and allows you to maximize strength gains. Make no mistake, the grip training we'll describe involves total body exercises that are physically and mentally demanding.

We've tried performing these exercises after specific deadlift training on Wednesday and found it too taxing to do all in one session.



Methodology Behind Grip Training
For powerlifting, various set and rep schemes can be highly effective when training grip. To make continuous physical progress and prevent boredom the hands must be subjected to a variety of stimuli. This means that neither one exercise, nor one set and rep scheme will work forever.

With that in mind, for grip training, the following methods are highly effective:

• Timed holds (short duration, medium duration, and long duration)
• Multiple low rep sets (3's and 5's)
• A few high rep sets (3 sets of 10)
• A mixture of the above (eg: work up to a hard set of 3, then drop the weight by 30% and hold for max time)

A powerlifting competition requires three attempts on the deadlift, and possibly a fourth if you're attempting a world record. Each attempt lasts only a few seconds. For this reason, out of the methods listed above, we've found that time holds for a short duration (10 seconds) and multiple low rep sets, produce the best gains for increasing grip strength on the deadlift.

If you compete in a different sport, such as strongman, which requires you to perform events that rely on strength endurance, then timed holds for longer durations (such as one minute) and higher rep sets can be very useful.


Grip Training Exercises for Hands of Steel
Two-Inch Fat Bar Partial Deadlifts

The obvious prerequisite for performing this exercise is a fat bar! If you don't have a fat bar, we highly recommend buying a pair of FatGripz. These will enable you to make a regular Olympic bar much thicker. They are also very easy to use, durable, and cheap.

Set the bar up on blocks or on power rack pins so that you're pulling from just below knee height. Then simply perform the movement as you would a conventional deadlift. The only difference being that you'll take a double overhand grip on all reps.

You can use any of the aforementioned set and rep schemes for this exercise. You can also perform it with or without chalk, the latter being far harder. For even more variety you can wrap a t-shirt or foam around the bar to make it thicker. This ramps up the difficulty even more.

Two-Handed Pinch Grip Deadlift

To set up this exercise take an Olympic bar and rest one end on a bench. There must be a small weight plate on this end to prevent the bar from falling over the bench when you deadlift it (see picture for set up).

On the other end of the bar, place two Olympic plates with the smooth side facing outwards. Don't get it the other way around as it totally defeats the purpose of the exercise! You'll need a collar to stop the plates from moving.

People with a fairly strong grip may be able to start with two 45-pound plates, but we recommend that the average person starts with 35 pounders.

To add weight, use a 10-pound plate first. Then add whatever you want on top of that. This setup is essential for lifters with large hands. You'll realize why when you try the exercise.

To perform the movement, take a semi-sumo stance (feet just outside the plates). Set up as you would normally for your deadlift: arched lower back, relaxed upper back, and perform your desired number of reps and sets/timed holds.


Getting the Most from These Exercises
On both grip exercises, it's imperative that you squeeze the bar/plates as hard as possible throughout each and every rep. We've found that most people don't do this, and it actually helps if they get verbal cues to do so. Over the weeks, this skill becomes more instinctive, and when you come back to a regular bar, it'll feel like a toy.

We also like to alternate between fat bar partial deadlifts and two-handed pinch grip deadlifts on a weekly basis. This prevents boredom and keeps the hands fresh. We also change the set and rep scheme each week. This allows us to break records on a weekly basis.


8 Week Grip Program
Week 1: Fat bar partial deadlift; work up to 5RM

Week 2: Two-handed pinch grip deadlift; work up to max 10-second hold

Week 3: Fat bar partial deadlift with no chalk; work up to hard set of 3, then drop down and do one set of 8

Week 4: Two-handed pinch grip deadlift; work up to a max single, then drop the weight and do two 10-second holds

Week 5: Fat bar partial deadlift with t-shirt around the bar; 3 x 8

Week 6: Two-handed pinch grip deadlift; 3 x 6, then one max hold for time

Week 7: No grip work

Week 8: Fat bar partial deadlift; work up to max single, then 20RM

As you can see, with a little imagination you can make and break many personal records on these two exercises.

For variety, don't be afraid to occasionally use grippers, hang from a pull-up bar, or perform any other grip work you like, such as high-rep dumbbell rows or high-rep shrugs. Oh, and of course, the odd week off from grip training may be called for from time to time to allow your hands to recover. Just make sure you use fat bar partial deadlifts and two- handed pinch grip deadlifts most of the time.


Summary
There are many ways to get a strong grip. However, the two exercises highlighted in this article are the ones that have enabled a dream like a 1008-pound deadlift to become a reality.

They've also been used by the entire team at Rall's Gym in Leeds, England, where our powerlifting team trains. This team comprises one 1008-pound deadlifter, one 800-pound deadlifter, and over ten athletes who have deadlifted between 600 and 799 pounds in competition.

According to Professor Verkhoshansky, "Special physical preparation must...have similarity to the competition exercises." (2) And what better way to get specific strength for the deadlift than by performing a deadlift movement with a far harder object to hold than a regular deadlift or Olympic bar.

[Editor's note: Andy Bolton and Elliot Newman will be conducting a Strength Training Seminar on Sunday, January 31st in Harrogate, England. For more information, check out their website.


References
1. Tsatsouline, P. 2000. Power to the People: Russian Strength Training Secrets for every American. Dragon Door Publications

2. Tsatsouline, P. 2009. Power to the People Professional: How to Add 100s of Pounds to your Squat, Bench and Deadlift with Advanced Russian Techniques. Dragon Door Publications

Ten Killer Splits

by the World's Most Dangerous Editors

Not this kind of split :)

Splits: Change You Can Believe In
Muscle gains at a standstill? Bored to death with your current training program?

Then you need a change and a challenge.

There are four very powerful changes you can make in the gym to solve these problems:

1) Change your exercises. Our Exercises You've Never Tried and "Best of" series have you covered there.

2) Change your set/rep scheme. Been doing three sets of ten since the 8th grade? Try 5 x 5, 2 x 15, or 8 x 3.

3) Obey the 3rd Law of Muscle and optimize your peri-workout nutrition.

4) Adopt a fresh training split.

Let's take a closer look at number four.

Some people train their whole body — every major muscle group — in a single workout. Others divide their muscle groups up so much that every other Friday is "pubococcygeus day."

But talk to most experienced trainers and they'll tell you the same thing: there is no best split! Christian Thibaudeau sums it up best:

"There's no universal training split that's ideal for all purposes. The potential efficacy of a mode of training organization will be highly dependant on goals, schedule, experience, and individual physical make-up."

And we'll add this: Sometimes the "best" split for you is simply the one that you haven't used in a while. Change — at least the kind that stimulates new adaptations — is a good thing.

So let's review some basic splits and talk about the advantages of each. Whether you're a snot-nosed newbie who needs a plan to get started or a grungy veteran who needs a new challenge, think of this as your quick and dirty guide to training splits.

The Full Body Split
This first split, well, isn't. Basically you just train the whole body in one workout session. Typically, you take a day off, then do it again. So it looks like this:

Monday: Full body training
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Full body training
Thursday: Off
Friday: Full body training

You can then keep the sequence going, taking Saturday off then starting over on Sunday, or you can take the weekend off.

Now, with full body training you obviously can't do five different exercises just for chest. You'd be in there for three hours by the time you worked your way down to calves... or you'd die of exhaustion. And that causes atrophy, don't ya know? So you'd only hit the chest with one big compound exercise (usually) then move on to the other muscle groups.

But the cool thing is, you'll be hitting the chest again very soon. So, volume per workout is low for chest, but frequency is high i.e. you'll be training chest three times per week instead of once every three to five days as some split routines would have you do. Plus, you can always do different chest exercises each time.

Good for: Athletes, beginners, those with only a few days per week to train, and those seeking mainly fat loss. For example, the Velocity Diet training program, custom-designed by Chad Waterbury for those on extreme cutting diets, has worked especially well, with dieters reporting muscle mass retention and even gains.

A good, time-proven plan, but most hypertrophy-focused lifters eventually move on to one of the following true splits.


The Upper/Lower Split
Even fans of full body training like Alwyn Cosgrove like the upper/lower split. Cosgrove notes: "Maybe 90-95% of the population, 90-95% of the time, will respond best to either total body or an upper and lower split."

A standard upper/lower split would look something like this:

Day 1: Upper body training only (chest, back, shoulders, arms)
Day 2: Lower body training only (legs and sometimes abs)
Day 3: Off or cardio
Day 4: Upper body again
Day 5: Lower body again

One nice thing about the upper/lower split verses a full-body split is that legs get a day all to their own. Lower body training is taxing and — if you're doing it right — pretty damn brutal. Hit your legs hard enough and you won't have much energy left for upper body work. The upper/lower split solves that problem for many.


The Other Two-Way Split
You can split your body two ways without using the ol' upper/lower routine. Here's an alternative:

Day 1: Chest, shoulders, and triceps
Day 2: Legs, back, and biceps
Day 3: Off
Day 4: Repeat


The Opposing Muscle Group Split
In this split you'll pair the muscles on the opposite or opposing side of the body. So, train chest with back for example. This allows you to use antagonist training, where you superset between chest and back instead of doing, say, three straight sets for chest, then three straight sets for back. Waterbury explains the benefits:

"Antagonist training allows you to recover more quickly between sets due to the arrangement of the nervous system. When you maximally activate a muscle group, the nervous system inhibits the opposing muscle group for greater movement efficiency. This phenomenon decreases the time necessary for recovery and it helps restore strength."

This "loop" within the nervous system structure can be used to your advantage. If you alternate exercises for opposing muscle groups, the nervous system will inhibit the muscles that aren't being worked and you'll recover your strength more quickly.

That said, this is a fine split even if you don't use antagonistic training. Here's the typical breakdown:

Day 1: Chest/Back
Day 2: Quads/Hams
Day 3: Biceps/Triceps
Day 4: Off
Day 5: Repeat

Calves can be tossed in on leg day and abs can be trained on the less-taxing biceps/triceps day. Or you can do both on your "off" day... which kinda means it's not an off day, you gym junkie you.

Shoulders are tricky with this set-up though. Some prefer to train them on chest/back day, others prefer biceps/triceps day. And a few believe that not much direct shoulder training is even needed since the delts are hit pretty well with the other muscle groups. Folks from this camp often do a few sets of lateral raises and call it a day for shoulder training.


Primary/Secondary Mover Splits
Primary movers and secondary movers are old-school terms that are useful when describing these splits. To illustrate, when training chest, your pecs are the primary movers. They should be doing most of the work. The triceps help out though, so they're the secondary movers.

With back training, the various muscles of the back do most of the work as primary movers; the biceps would be the secondary movers.


Simple enough, but why is it important when considering your split? Well, as noted in the examples, the arms are secondary movers for chest and back. That gives you two options:

Option #1:

Day 1: Back/triceps
Day 2: Chest/biceps
Day 3: Legs, shoulders, abs
Day 4: Off or repeat

The idea here is to keep your biceps and triceps "fresh." For example, on Day #1 the triceps will be fresh since the back needs the biceps, not the triceps, as secondary movers. You'll find that you'll feel very strong when training arms using this split and can use more weight for arm work than if you paired chest with triceps and back with biceps.

Option #2

Day 1: Back/biceps
Day 2: Chest/triceps
Day 3: Legs, shoulders, abs
Day 4: Off or repeat

With this option, you purposefully pair the secondary movers with their primary movers. After all, if you're already fatiguing the arms from training chest and back, you may as well "finish them off" with direct work.

As with most of these splits, we wouldn't say one is better than the other, just different. So choose one that best fits your needs or pick the option you've used the least if you need a rut-breaker.


The Shock Week Split
Listen to the way many successful bodybuilders describe their training:

"Man, I annihilated legs today!"
"I'm going to destroy my bi's!"
"I couldn't brush my teeth for three days. It was a great workout!"

This isn't that surprising. After all, hypertrophy is all about damaging muscles so they can then rebuild themselves a little bigger. This next split takes that idea to the extreme, splitting the body into seven training sessions. Why? So you can obliterate each muscle group and "shock it into growth," as the Golden Age bodybuilders used to say.



Here's one way to do it:

Monday: Quads
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Chest
Thursday: Hamstrings (posterior chain)
Friday: Biceps and calves
Saturday: Triceps and abs
Sunday: Shoulders

Now, on each day your plan is to absolutely raze that target muscle group. You're going to perform every exercise you know for that muscle group, hit it "from all angles," and use intensity techniques like drop sets and forced negatives.

There are no rules. Your mission is to obliterate, plain and simple, then give that muscle group a whole week to recoup before you train it again.

Crazy? Why yes. Yes, it is. So don't do it often. Instead use it as an occasional waker-upper — the nuclear option for breaking a plateau.


The "Legs Suck" Split
Do you think leg training sucks? Do you just hate the nausea and lactic acid burn that an effective leg workout always seems to cause?

Well, then chances are if Coach Charles Poliquin saw you he'd get to make his infamous joke: "Hey, are those your legs or are you riding a stork?" Because if you hate leg day then your lower half probably reflects it.

Don't sweat it. Here's a Poliquin split that not only makes leg training somewhat more bearable, it also makes them bigger since you can focus on quads and hams in separate sessions:

Day 1: Hamstrings and calves
Day 2: Back and shoulders
Day 3: Off
Day 4: Quads and calves
Day 5: Chest and arms
Day 6: Off

Not only is leg training divided, but calves get trashed twice a week. And admit it: you need it.

Note: This idea has also been described as hip-dominant day and quad-dominant day. Pretty much the same thing: a day for deadlifts and the like, and a day for squats and their evil cousins.


The Push/Pull Split
Some coaches and trainers like to think in movements, not muscles. When placed into a weekly program, this comes in somewhere between a full body and a standard split program, making it a favorite transition for many TMuscle readers.

A split could look like this:

Day 1: Push
Day 2: Pull
Day 3: Off
Day 4: Push
Day 5: Pull

The "push" body parts are chest, quads, shoulders, triceps, and calves.

Conversely, the "pull" body parts are the back, hamstrings, biceps, and forearms.

Sample "push" exercises include the bench press, squat, overhead press, dip, lateral raise, and triceps extension.

Sample "pull" exercises include the deadlift, pull-up, curl, shrug, and row.


The Ol' Standby
A very popular bodybuilding split and probably one of the first most of us ever used. It's an effective plan and it really keeps the primary/secondary mover issues in mind.

Only problem? It contributes to Monday being International Chest Day.

Oh well, start your week with back if you can't find an open bench!

Day 1: Chest
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Arms and shoulders
Day 5: Off


What's Your "Best" Split?
We can't cover every possible training split in one article, but hopefully we've given you a place to start or some new ideas.

Have a favorite we didn't mention? Hit "discuss" and lay it on us!

The Secrets to Body Transformation

Remembering the Forgotten Ingredients
by Dr. John Berardi



Nowadays, when a guy gets interested in bodybuilding, body transformation, or building size and strength, all he has to do is pop open his internet browser and type in a few select keywords. Within seconds he's transported to a world of training programs, diet programs, and more.

However, it's a huge mistake to think that finding an awesome training program and diet plan online is all it takes to build the ultimate body. In this article Dr. Berardi shares two intangibles that go beyond sets and reps, calories and proteins; two intangibles that will absolutely make or break your progress.


Pumping Iron

In 1975, George Culp and Wes Brown, aspiring bodybuilders in their mid-20s, decided to take a road trip. You see, George and Wes lived in New London, North Carolina and, well, New London isn't exactly a body-transformation haven. In fact, in the mid-1970s, New London didn't even have a gym. Yet that wasn't going to stop them; George and Wes built their own modest gyms and trained at home.

So one day, toward the end of harvest season, Wes, a tobacco farmer at the time, called up his buddy George and told him to pack his bags.

"Hey buddy, we just got all the tobacco in the barns, let's go to Gold's."

Now, for those of you who don't know anything about "Gold's", Wes was referring to Gold's Gym, at the time the most well-known gym in perhaps all the world. Gold's Gym, located in Venice Beach, California, was owned and operated by Joe Gold and had become the place to train.

In fact, some of the top competitors of the time had moved to Venice just to train in what seemed to be the ultimate bodybuilding environment. Guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, Robbie Robinson, Ed Corny, and many other bodybuilding greats could all be found training at Gold's, eating at one of the local restaurants, or lounging on Venice Beach. Talk about creating the right environment for success!

So, although George and Wes trained regularly, had developed pretty impressive physiques, and actually had both competed at the Mr. North Carolina bodybuilding contest, they both knew that if they really wanted to take their physiques to the next level, they would need to learn from and train with guys better and more experienced than themselves. So, at the end of the 1975 harvest, they traveled the 2500+ miles from New London to Venice Beach. They were determined to enlist the best in the world to take them to the next level.

Interestingly, although they only planned to stay in California for about 2 weeks, not only did they get to train with the best in the world, they ended up walking into Gold's Gym at the same time that George Butler and his crew were filming the classic bodybuilding flick Pumping Iron.



According to George Culp, "Until we got out there, we had no idea that Pumping Iron was being filmed. George Butler couldn't believe that two country boys from North Carolina came all the way across the country to train with Arnold. So they included us in a lot of scenes. Of course, many of our shots ended up on the cutting room floor. However, we did end up in two scenes. You may remember the one in which Arnold was teaching a smaller blonde guy how to pose."

Well, that blonde guy was Wes. And the guy with the moustache in the scene was George, standing along side and learning from the master.


Also, according to George; "Arnold and Ed Corny took us to lunch one day. It was so cool; it was myself, Wes, Arnold, Ed Corny, Robby Robinson, and Ken Waller. We all ate steak and eggs and Arnold told us he was going to retire from bodybuilding that year. It's funny; Arnold still calls us 'the stars of Pumping Iron'."

Now, 31 years later, George is 56 years old and is still Pumping Iron. And he's still training with the best. (Said with tongue in cheek; George worked with me and my Science Link team last year and still follows our principles today.)


Back in the 70's they got most of their training advice from word of mouth and from reading the old Iron Man magazine. The rest, they figured out themselves. Of course, after they got back from Venice Beach, they had a lot of great new information to try out.

"It was like a dream come true. Everyone was very nice to us and offered lots of help if we asked... Wes and I were both already 'committed' to training... Yet training along side Arnold impacted us in the long run, specifically the focus that he had for training. He would joke around quite a bit; but when he trained, the intensity of focus on what he was doing was extremely impacting, almost paralyzing."



Arnold's Intensity Was Almost Paralyzing

Back in 1975, George and Wes sought out mentorship from their legends, their heroes and in doing so, they not only learned how to build muscle, they also learned intangible lessons, lessons about commitment, intensity, mentorship, and social support.

Oh yea, and they also became "the stars of Pumping Iron" along the way. Not a bad road trip, eh?


My Journey

My own body transformation journey began when I graduated high school. Tipping the scales at a fairly unimpressive 135lbs (at 5'8"), I was fed up of being one of the scrawniest guys around. So I committed myself to learning how to get big.

I bought all the muscle magazines (just like George, I read Ironman too, about 15 years later). I regularly visited supplement shops. I joined 2 gyms. And I exercised daily, doing bench presses and biceps curls until I couldn't lift my arms any longer.

Needless to say, I REALLY wanted to change.

Of course, with my new found commitment, although my program wasn't optimal, I did start to get some results. My first year of training produced a 15lb weight gain. And while some folks started to notice my new development, I realized that at the pace I was going, I'd never have the physique I was after (or so I thought). As some of the guys at the gym were my height and around 200lbs, I knew that it would take nearly 4 more years the break the 200lb barrier. I needed a faster way!

I considered steroids. But, to be honest, I was 18 and much too scared of them to actually go through with it. Fortunately for me, my salvation didn't come in a bottle; it came in the form of a mentor.


The 6AM Test

I still remember the fateful day. I was at the gym, struggling away on the leg press machine. There wasn't much weight on the machine but it sure felt like a heavy load. With a few reps to go and my strength diminishing, one of the gym owners, Craig, came over to offer a spot.

Now, let me just say this. Craig wasn't just a "gym owner". At my height and over 230 impressive pounds, he was also the guy that every guy in town wanted to look like. We had never spoken before but after I racked the weight and got up, he offered me a few tips on improving my body.

For a few minutes, we discussed our goals, talked about our training programs, and he shared some valuable wisdom. I was determined to give his advice a try – after all, it worked pretty well for him.

About a week later, Craig approached me again during one of my leg workouts. He told me that he noticed I was taking his suggestions and putting them to good use. Then, surprise of all surprises, he actually invited me to work out with him the next day!

"What time?" was my only question.

At this point, he busted out with what I affectionately call, the "6 AM test."

Craig said he'd be training legs at 6:00 AM the next morning and I should meet him at the gym around 5:50 AM for warm-up.

Uh, oh. My head was swimming with excuses. I had just finished a leg day. And besides, I hadn't been up before 9 AM in a long, long time! There was no way I would be feeling ready to train with this guy.

But I pushed the excuses outta my head and I told him I'd be there.

The next morning we trained legs. It was harder than I had imagined it would be. Yet I did it. Limping out of the gym, Craig mentioned that I could work out with him the next day if I liked. However, we wouldn't be training at 6 AM; that was just a little test. And I had passed.


Mentorship and Commitment

I truly believe that the right people are placed in our paths when we need them most. Yet only if we remain open-minded and willing to learn can these mentors help us reach new levels of development.

Now, I'm not just talking physique development. This works in business, relationships, and any other endeavor.

Seriously, if a great mentor comes along, shut the ego down and listen – you might just learn something important!

Craig turned out to be an important mentor in my life. Heck, in that first workout alone I learned something very important. Lots of people say they want certain things from life, they say that they're interested in specific goals, yet they're unwilling to make the commitment to really go after those things, to really accomplish those goals.

In the case of Craig's 6 AM test, he had posed it lots of times. And lots of people failed the test. I wasn't going to be one of them. From that day on, I realized that there's a difference between interest and accomplishment. People say they're interested, but that's often all talk. Those who are chasing accomplishment get up at 5:30 so that they can be squatting by 6:00.


Step By Step

Of course, Craig taught me a hell of a lot more than how to squat. But, like any great coach, he taught these lessons as I was ready to learn them. In the beginning I learned how to make the commitment to training. After that was solidified, I learned how to do the movements properly. Once I had that down, we experimented with loading parameters and set/rep schemes. It was a step-wise process in which Craig navigated me swiftly toward the stuff that worked, while away from the stuff that didn't.

And I loved the step-wise approach. You see, I'm a relatively impatient person. I like action. So, if I had spent months reading, researching, etc I would have gone nuts. I didn't want, nor did I need, to be a master of exercise programming to walk the path toward "bigness." I didn't need to read 5 books from the exercise masters to know how to drive my lazy butt to the gym and bust it once I was there.

I just needed to get to the gym and learn how to work out. Then, once I knew how to work out, I needed to learn how to work out hard. Then, once I knew how to work out hard, I needed to learn how to work out smart. I didn't need to be a 2 year process either. It just needed to be step-wise; each lesson coming at the time I needed it most. And that's what a good coach or mentor is best at – delivering lessons when they're needed most.

Of course, there was a lot more to my instruction than training.

I learned all about nutrition and supplements, too. After a few months of training together, Craig noticed that I wasn't able to recover like he was. I was getting run-down. So he did a dietary analysis on me. Turns out my diet needed some work too! So instead of making me read 8 books on nutrition or launching into the science of nutrient timing, glycemic indices, biological values of protein, he simply told me what to eat for the next 4 weeks.

There were no compromises, no excuses, no whining about which foods I like and which I didn't. He simply took the hard-line approach. The relationship and the process were simple. He told me what to eat, I ate it, and I got results. No whining, no why this or why that, no excuses. I just did it. I knew I'd figure out why later.

Now, this is a good time for a bit of a tangent. I know that some of you reading this won't like the "do this" approach. You'll say that you need to know "why" before you'll do something.

Well, I argue that you're the person who will have the hardest time with physique change because physique change starts with doing, not analyzing. Although I wanted to know why, Craig told me to shut up and do. In fact, I remember one day he sat me down and told me this:

"You're not entering a classroom to learn nuclear biophysics here; you're trying to build muscle at the gym. Your body doesn't care why something's working. So shut up, do what I tell you and you can learn why later."

So, to be honest, I just shut up and did. After all, the guy was 230lbs and I was 150. And later on, once my adherence was set, he began to teach me how to create my own meal plans and how to find good nutrition resources.

Funny how that works – I had to learn to crawl before learning to walk.


Beyond Exercise and Nutrition

Of course, for many of you, this might be the point where you're ready to check out. Great, I learned how to train and what to eat. Isn't that enough?

Hell no!

The lessons I learned beyond the food and workout stuff were infinitely more valuable. During Craig's mentorship, he took me to the grocery store and to supplement shops. He showed me how to set up my kitchen for optimal results. We went out to eat and he showed me how to cleverly find the right muscle building foods at restaurants, ensuring that I was making the best choices for my goals.

You see, through this process I quickly learned that a written or typed meal plan stuck to the fridge is useless unless you have the right environment surrounding you, an environment designed for success.

What happens to that meal plan if you go out to eat at restaurants and you don't know how to order? What happens if you buy the foods at the grocery store and your kitchen is stocked up with garbage? What happens if you're pressed for time and don't know how to quickly and efficiently prepare your muscle-building meals?

You fail.

Craig had seen lots of people fail and wanted to be sure that I wasn't going to be one of them. So he went beyond the food and the workouts and he showed me how to create the right environment for success. This makes all the difference!


The Power of Social Support

Ok, at this point it should be clear that I owe a debt of gratitude to this guy for taking me under his wing and helping me avoid the pitfalls all around me, for ushering me into a world in which my scrawny butt could build muscle! So don't think for a minute that I don't still owe this guy big-time – I do.

After all, Craig and I ended up sticking together as training partners for 3 straight years. At an average of 5 workouts a week, that means we worked out at least 750 times together, spending more than 1,000 hours together over those 3 years – and that was just in the gym.

Beyond the gym, I also learned a ton. Craig and I started to hang out all the time and he introduced me to his circle of friends. His girlfriend (now wife) would make us muscle-friendly meals. She also happened to be into working out, go figure. And although he did have a diverse group of friends, a lot of them were also into working out. Most of my friends at the time weren't, so it was really cool to have a new social group that I could talk shop with, learn from, and share successes with.

After talking with quite a few people over the years, one thing that has become very clear is that social support matters. According to one reader of T-nation: "Having a training partner keeps me motivated. Many times I've not wanted to get out of bed come training time. But knowing that my partner was there getting stronger made me get out of bed and get to the gym."

TC likes training around others too: "If I'm at the gym, I can't dog it! People can say, 'Isn't that TC over there? Man, he's not training very hard, is he? God, he's a pansy!' Next thing I know, it's reported on a rival website or in the gossip section of MuscleMag. Call me shallow, but I sometimes need the fear of ridicule to motivate me."

Further, in a recent study of over 1000 respondents, Gary Homann of the University of Wyoming found that those who end up exercising for life tend to be involved in what he calls an "exercise community." According to Gary's definition, exercise community involvement means that people become involved with other people, activities, contests and events tied to their regular exercise activities. From Gary's work, it's clear that to those who exercise is more than just a passing fling, exercise communities are critical.

Chris Shugart, assistant editor of T-nation, wrote this:

"It reminds me of a study conducted by a group of psychologists a few years back. They decided to figure out what factors contribute most to a person's success or failure. In other words, person 'A' turns out happy with a satisfying job and a strong family. Person 'B' ends up a crackhead in the clink where he's forced to be some guy's 'catcher' in exchange for cigarettes. The question is, why? What factor in their lives played the biggest role in how they turned out?

"The psychologists assumed that where a person ends up in life is determined largely by socioeconomic level or perhaps intelligence. What they found surprised them. It turns out that while the above factors do play a role, they're not all that important. The real determining factor to your potential success or failure is "the people that surround you."

"Let's face the facts, if you hang out with a bunch of drunks, you'll most likely drink more. If you surround yourself with people who don't train and don't care about what they eat, then they will influence you. You may not quit entirely, but you'll likely alter your behavior and make a few bad choices.

"So, what kind of people do you surround yourself with? Are they rubbing off on you? If so, is that a good or bad thing?"

And yet another well-know coach, strength coach Charles Poliquin, stated it this way: "You're the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with."

Take these comments to heart, folks. They're powerful statements that I also corroborate. During my time training with Craig, I went from a scrawny 18 year old, to a pretty big guy – weighing in at 230 and 12% body fat. And, after hitting my maximum weight, I dieted down to compete in and win the Mr. Jr. USA title. Amazingly, my Mr. Jr. USA victory happened almost 3 years to the day after Craig approached me during that one fateful leg workout.


And I harbor no illusions that I could have ever made the progress I did without Craig's mentorship and the social support network we surrounded ourselves with. There's just no way. When my commitment failed, Craig picked up the slack. And vice versa.

Every day we challenged each other, competed against each other, and pushed each other to new lifting heights. I still remember the day we squatted 405lbs for 20 reps each. No one in our gym had ever seen such a thing.

And it wasn't only the two of us supporting each other. We had a whole group of friends creating the right environment for success. Just like Arnold, Franco, Robby, Ed and friends had. Just like George and Wes were looking for.


Your Social Support

In the end, as you can see, there's so much more to building a great body than just the exercise and food. There are those intangibles you can't record in a food log - commitment and hard work, creating a lifestyle that supports your goals, creating the right environment for good training and good eating, measuring results and appropriately interpreting those measurements, mentorship and social support.

You can buy books, read the web, pick up a few tips, try new programs, and follow different diets. But if you want to really progress, if you really want to learn how to transform your body, you've gotta find the right mentors and enlist a group of individuals who you can feed off of, and who can feed off of you.

Very few individuals can lone-ranger their way to a tremendous body. And even those who can don't enjoy the journey as much. Don't make it harder than it needs to be, find the right group of people to learn from and learn with.

Test Your Metal: Introducing Valeria

by Tim Henriques




Before you adjust your dials, please take note that this is a test. This is NOT a workout program. This is only a test. One bad ass test of strength and conditioning.

Many lifters go their entire training careers without ever testing their mettle (or is it metal?). Virtually every athletic endeavor has a benchmark of some kind to evaluate where you stand against your peers. If you want to test pure strength, you compete in powerlifting. If you want to test your aerobic capacity, you run a marathon.

Even bodybuilding contests are a benchmark of sorts, although the subjective nature of what judges consider a winning physique muddies the waters somewhat. But in the strength and conditioning world, unless you compete in Strongman events, you're kind of on your own.

Strength Coach and competitive powerlifter Tim Henriques has the answer, and her name is Valeria. But be warned, although she might look easier than a Lou Ferrigno spelling bee, taking on Valeria is no Sunday drive in the Poconos. You best be bringing your A-game to the party (and your ralphing pail).

Give this witch a run for her money and post your results in the discussion thread to follow.

— BK



Considering I'm a powerlifter by trade, you might assume that I don't like CrossFit, but that's actually not the case.

I like CrossFit, or at least I like aspects of it. Like many strength trainers who've given the CrossFit system an honest shot over the years, I think it has a lot of positive attributes to offer the fitness community. But it also has a number of significant negatives that due to my powerlifter roots prevents me from blindly endorsing the infamous Glassman Kool-Aid.

So what do I like about it?

I like how it gets people to work hard, which is probably the main element lacking in most recreational lifter's programs. It doesn't just sneak hard work into the workout; it slaps you in the face with it from the get-go. As a coach, I like and respect that.

I like how the entire workout is often timed. One way CrossFit attempts to separate the very fit from the not-so-fit is by tracking how long the workout takes to complete rather than just focusing on simple load or rep progression. That's an interesting and enlightening way of doing things. More on this later.

I like how the system focuses on big, compound lifts. I give tall props to CrossFit for re-introducing the "scary" Olympic lifts like the snatch and power clean back into the recreational lifter's exercise repertoire while deep-sixing the pink dumbbell triceps kickbacks.

I like how CrossFit trains all of the energy systems, which is another thing lacking in many lifters' programs and is great for improving overall fitness and reducing bodyfat.

And finally, I like how everyone can do the same workout so that each lifter can compare themselves to one another. This promotes competition, which is widely regarded to be a major factor in increasing motivation and performance. As a competitive guy myself, it's fun to do a workout and then log in and see where you stand and what times other people are doing. It's nice for the ego when you do well; it's humbling and motivating when you don't.

But as stated in my introduction, CrossFit has a number of weaknesses I just can't get past. The programming is a little haphazard for my taste. Sometimes there is too much load on the shoulder girdle, the knees, and the lower back. It may be okay when you're lifting lighter weights, but ask anyone who can push some serious poundage and they'll tell you that as you get stronger, recovery becomes more of an issue.

Along similar lines, although I like the Olympic lifts a lot, for many lifters that are too old, too inflexible, too big, or perhaps a bit of all of the above, it may not be worth it (or even feasible) to learn how to do things like cleans and overhead squats effectively enough to get a productive training stimulus.

I also think the workouts are a little too intense. I know that may make me sound like a pansy, but once you're skilled at the things you're trying to do, you can take yourself to pure exhaustion relatively easily. Sometimes that's a good thing, but doing energy system work at or near failure 1-3 days a week, combined with heavy lifting 1-3 days a week, is rough to do long term if you have a reasonable level of experience.

And finally, while I like the idea of emphasizing the compound lifts, the idea of doing no isolation exercises at all if you're trying to shape your body or improve weak points is a flaw to me. Call me a meathead bodybuilder, but no forearms (no arms at all for that matter), no knee flexion, etc. is not a positive programming note in my mind.


Introducing the Ultimate Test of Strength and Conditioning
Although the CrossFit system has too many limitations for me to endorse it as stand-alone system, there are too many good things about it for me to abandon it entirely. In particular, I've become a fan of the timed-workout approach, but in a specific application. It's not something I'd use day-to-day to train or develop strength, but it's fantastic for the establishment of training benchmarks, something sorely missing in many strength and conditioning programs.

CrossFitters constantly chew up bandwidth by challenging one another to beat their best Fran time, as it's one of the benchmark workouts that many CrossFitters use to measure themselves by. As strength and conditioning enthusiasts, what would our benchmark be? The old school football standard of a 225lb bench press repetition test? What if you can't bench 225? What if you weigh 400lbs and can bench 225lbs 56 times but can't walk around the block without wheezing? I think we can do better.

So my idea was this: come up with a good, solid CrossFit-style benchmark workout, but geared toward strength athletes, that you could do in almost any gym (no special equipment required). The weights would be heavy enough to challenge even strong folks, but light enough so that almost any lifter could at least get through it, albeit at a slower pace.

CrossFit has their 'Fran', well now we have our 'Valeria'.

Here is the workout: simple, brutal, and if you're perverse enough in the head, fun.

Valeria - Workout for Time (Elite Level):
Bench Press: 275 x 21 reps
Deadlift: 405 x 21 reps
Pull-ups: +50 lbs x 21 reps
EZ Bar Curls: 135 x 21 reps

There are other levels of intensity listed below.

In this workout, you perform all the reps of one exercise before moving on to the next exercise. You can rest whenever necessary for as long as necessary, but the goal is to do the total workout in as short a time as possible.

Another thing I like about CrossFit workouts is that they're scalable. The Elite level is designed to be very challenging, so listed below are 3 different levels for both men and women that you might work up to as you progress. These levels also account for bodyweight. Remember though, this is written for strength athletes, so the expectations of what you can lift will be reasonably high.

Men (220 lbs)

Good (<30:00) Level 1 Very Good (<30:00) Level 2 Elite (<30:00) Level 3
Bench 185 or .8xBW 225 or BW 275 or 1.25xBW
Deadlift 315 or 1.5xBW 365 or 1.75xBW 405 or 2xBW
Pull-ups BW BW + 25 lbs (x.125BW) BW + 50 lbs (x.25BW)
EZ Curls 85 or .4xBW 110 or .5xBW 135 or .6xBW

Women (135 lbs)

Good (<30:00) Level 1 Very Good (<30:00) Level 2 Elite (<30:00) Level 3
Bench 75 or .5xBW 105 or .75xBW 135 or BW
Deadlift 135 or BW 185 or 1.5xBW 225 or 2xBW
Pull-ups 5 15 21
EZ Curls 45 or .3xBW 55 or .4xBW 65 or .5xBW

Remember, you're to do 21 reps of bench, 21 deadlifts, 21 pull-ups, and 21 curls.

A note about the exercises: I chose these exercise for a number of reasons—they cover the majority of the body, they can highlight different weak points a person might have, and minus the curls they're big, compound lifts that most people know how to do with little instruction.

The Bench Press: I chose the bench press because most CrossFitters don't like the bench press. I can respect the idea of the bench press getting too much publicity and liking the shoulder press more, but simply not doing the bench press is a flaw in my opinion. It hits more muscles, improves push-ups and dip performance more, and it's arguably the most popular exercise in the world.

I've seen way too many CrossFitters with a crappy bench fail to make progress in the bench because CrossFit workouts rarely include the bench press. I can see not over emphasizing it, but I can't see basically ignoring it.

Execution: Pretty self explanatory, but just to be clear- bring the bar down to your chest, lightly touch your chest, and then press back up to full or near full extension. That's one rep.

The Deadlift: In this workout, the deadlift reps do not have to be dead stop reps, but they're not loud, bounce reps either. Lightly touch the ground and come back up. I imagine CrossFitters and non-CrossFitters alike will agree on how cool and beneficial the deadlift is.

Execution: Again, pretty self-explanatory: load up the bar, pick it up (whatever style you prefer) to lockout, lower the bar, touch the ground, and do it again.

Pull-ups: Another CrossFit classic, although this is the non-kipping variety (it's hard to kip with weights attached). Pull-ups will also help separate the fat, strong souls who might coast through the other 3 exercises from the in-shape strong souls whom can handle all 4 exercises.

Execution: Pull-ups are pronated; pull yourself up so that your chin is above the bar, then lower yourself down. Go to full or near full extension. I'm not expecting dead stop pull-ups here but half reps don't count either. A little leg movement is fine but you shouldn't look like a flailing inchworm on the pull-up bar.

Curls: I'm sure some of you won't like the addition of curls to the workout, and curls certainly haven't gotten much love lately. Honestly, I don't understand it. I love curls. I loved curls when I was 15 and I still love them today. It's good that the pendulum has started to swing away from people just doing bench and bis 3 times a week like they did back in high school, but in my opinion it's swung way too far to the other side.

Curls are a great exercise for developing your arms and I'll say that using your biceps in relative isolation (elbow flexion) is one of the most functional things (I just said the F-word) that you can do. We do basic biceps curls and holds all day, like lifting something out of the trunk of your car, holding grocery bags or kids in your arms, and carrying the laundry up the stairs.

But whether you like curls or not doesn't really matter to me, the more important question is, how good are you at curls? If you suck at curls, then that's a signal that the compound movements that you thought were doing such a great job of hitting your biceps perhaps aren't doing what you intended.

Curls were also included to prove a point to the CrossFitters that you usually need to do some isolation stuff to get good at the isolation stuff. If you want to whine about including curls but you aren't good at curls (i.e. you can't get through the reps), then honestly I'm not interested in your opinion.

Please note that I'm not saying that curls alone make you strong. I'm saying that if you suck at curls, how can you consider yourself strong?

Execution: Form wise, I'm not expecting a strict curl so this doesn't have to be performed up against a wall, but it should still look like a curl. I call it a power curl where a little bit of swing is acceptable, but if you start leaning forward or backward more than 20 degrees in either direction, you're probably cheating too much.

Having said that, by the time you get to curls you'll be exhausted, so I'll be a little more forgiving on the form than if you were just doing a single set of curls.

One other thing to mention, most EZ curl bars are either 15 or 20 lbs (actually they're often 16 or 22 lbs because they're usually 7.5 or 10 kg), rarely the 25 lbs many people assume they are. Weigh yours if you're not sure. You can do this exercise with the straight bar if you prefer.

(It was suggested to me that dips might be a better exercise than a biceps curl, but I disagree. While that may stem from a long-term programming perspective, don't forget that this is a test of your strength, conditioning, and mental toughness. I like biceps curls here because they target a potential weak point, and doing curls after pull-ups and deadlifts is just extra brutal, which adds to the toughness of the workout).

For all of the exercises in this workout, feel free to use a belt and/or wrist wraps, and chalk is fine as well. No wrist straps, and no other gear like bench shirts, knee wraps, or anything like that are allowed.

Remember, you must finish one exercise completely before you start the next one. No super-setting is allowed.


My Own Experiences With Valeria
My goal is for TMUSCLE readers to give this workout a shot, but I couldn't suggest you perform this workout if I hadn't tried it myself.

Brutal sums it up nicely.

I forced myself to do a cool-down on the treadmill to bring my heart rate down (after lying on the ground for 2 minutes) and then just sat in a chair with my head down for 30 minutes before I even started to feel normal. At a bodyweight of 198, I did it in 14:36 with the Elite weights.

I felt confident I could do it in less than 20 minutes and had dreams of doing it in 12:30, but obviously Valeria had other plans for me. The fatigue built up quickly and the deadlifts and curls were harder than I expected, so I needed 3 sets to complete each one of them instead of 2. That added a minute to each one of those exercises, and is why I was 2 minutes over my ultimate goal.

I think anything under 10 minutes is exceptional, although there are likely some freaks out there that could do it in less than 5 minutes, which I'd consider to be world class.


Final Thoughts
Anyone else brave enough to test their strength and conditioning levels? Why not take a break from your program and give this workout a shot over the holiday? Please post your time in the discussions forum along with your bodyweight and the weights you used. (Note: any ass-kicking times performed with the Elite weights will require video verification.)

Can't (or never could) complete the Good level with the weight and reps suggested in under 30 minutes? Sorry, you're not a strength athlete, but keep training and you should be able to do that in a few months. (But please, until you can at least complete the Good level, go easy on dispensing strength-training advice, especially to non-beginners.)



Finding it too easy? Either move up a level or use the weights listed and/or bodyweight ratios provided, whichever gives you a higher number. The Elite level is what you're after if you want to consider yourself a bad ass. Once you hit the Elite level and the maximum weights, just try to go faster with the same weight.

Just so we're clear, my goal is for people to do this once. Hit it hard, post your time in the discussion thread and see how you measure up. Then, whenever your fitness/strength levels have improved enough that you think you can perform better (by following whatever program you choose like CrossFit, Sheiko, I Bodybuilder, powerlifting, total body, etc.), test it again.

Do NOT repeat this program weekly, even monthly. A couple times a year would be about right. This workout is intended to test your strength and conditioning, not develop it. If you find that in six months your Valeria performance has improved, then you're onto something. If your progress has stagnated or re-lapsed, it may be time to re-work your program so you don't waste another six months of lifting.

So many strength athletes punish themselves for years without ever knowing how well they match up. So if you a want a true challenge of strength and conditioning, give this a try. Valeria awaits.

"Do you want to live forever?"



Do you want to live forever?


To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the CrossFitters.


How do you measure up?




Weighted pull-ups.


The bench press.


The deadlift.


Anything under 10 minutes is exceptional, although there are likely some out there that could do it in less than 5 minutes, which I'd consider to be world class.

About Tim Henriques

Tim Henriques is the Director of the National Personal Training Institute of VA (www.nptifitness.com). NPTI is a 500-hour, 6-12 month long school for personal trainers. He has been devoted to fitness for the past 15 years, in college he was a collegiate All-American Powerlifter, he has competed in several local strongman and arm wrestling events, and he currently holds the USAPL VA state record for the deadlift of 700 lbs at 198. He attended James Madison University where he got his degree in Kinesiology with minors in psychology and coaching. He is lifetime drug free. He can be reached via email: NPTITim@aol.com

30 Foods that builds muscle

30 Foods That Build Muscle

(1) Sunflower Seeds – High in protein at 25grams per 100g and a great little snack.

(2) Mackerel - High in omega 3 fats and protein.

(3) Pineapple - strange choice, they said it’s good post-workout.

(4) Edamame Beans – Another name for soy beans. Not a bad source of protein but also contains 10grams of carbohydrate per 100grams with only 14 grams of protein. They do contain all essential amino acids and are a complete protein but animal sources of protein are better for MANS dieters i.e. higher protein, less carbs.

(5) Olive Oil – The monounsaturated fat in olive oil helps prevent muscle breakdown and protects joints



(6) Venison - High protein and vitamin B12 content

(7) Broccoli - I’ve blogged about the greatness of these miniature bonsai trees before in ‘Top 10 Reasons you Need Broccoli in Your Diet‘. I was glad to see it included!

(8) Eggs - Cheap, high in protein, fat and vitamin D which is essential for maintaining healthy muscle tissue! One of the best foods on earth. Go here to learn the top 10 reason you should have eggs in your diet.

(9) Coffee - They stated that caffeine improves endurance by easing muscle pain. I would agree with that and recently wrote about the benefit of a little pre-workout caffeine blast!



(10) Anchovies - Another protein and omega 3 rich food

(11) Turmeric. The explanation is that the curcumin found in turmeric promotes muscle growth and repair. Add a pinch to your chicken curry recipe for added flavor and to experience the benefits.

(12) Full-Fat Organic Milk – Wow! They actually opted for the full-fat version . I’m not a big milk lover but when I do drink it, I take full-fat. Use sparingly on MANS

(13) Ginger - Alleviates muscle pain.

(14) Grass-Fed Organic Beef. Again, I’m impressed! They state, “Nothing beats pure beef protein for building muscles” – exactly right! They also recommend grass-fed beef as it is higher in CLA (conjugated Linoleic Acid) – this is correct.

(15) Live Natural Yogurt - Helps increase good bacteria in the gut which aids protein digestion

(16) Watercress - High in iron and vitamin C.



(17) Quinoa - (pronounced keen-wah) Again, a complete protein and a good choice for high-carb bodybuilders. Men’s health state, “Forget your usual starchy carbs” – good advice!

(18) Ricotta Cheese – Made from whey protein which, of course, aids muscle growth

(19) Kiwi Fruit – Because of the vitamin C apparently – choose broccoli instead and have some kiwi at the weekends if you like.

(20) Tahini - (made from sesame seeds) High in zinc which plays a role in cell growth and protein synthesis.



(21) Cucumber- contains silica which is a component of your connective tissue

(22) Turkey - Protein and glutamine which regulates protein synthesis

(23) Almond Nut Butter. I use this to make my low-carb homemade protein bars. High in protein and also magnesium!

(24) Papaya - Contains papain which breaks dietary protein into easily absorbable compounds


(25) Wheatgerm - Contains chromium, which improves glucose intake into muscle cells.

(26) Red Peppers – Red specifically as they contain more vitamin C than their green brothers. My recipes for taco salad and beef chilli both include red peppers.



(27) Spirulina - 65% protein. It’s also about 20% carbohydrate and not needed by MANS dieters. Could come in handy for vegetarians and vegans though.



(28) Water - Definitely too far down on the list for my liking. Water is crucial for peak strength, aiding digestion and maximizing the effectiveness of creatine monohydrate. Read my article ‘Why you Need Water to Build Muscle.’

(29) Cherry Juice – Reduces Muscle Pain

(30) Spinach - Octacosanol, found in spinach, improves muscular strength and endurance.

This is a great list of foods and I really believe that it demonstrates the changing opinion of the mainstream Heck, the low-carb, high fat TNT Diet is a Men’s Health book!

Enjoy these foods even if your friends or family look at you like you’re crazy. When you reach your goal and look fantastic you can say, “I told you so”

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