How To Build A

Classic Physique

Published by Fitness Under Oath

Copyright 2014

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Title: How To Build A Classic Physique

Published By: Fitness Under Oath

No part of this manual may be reproduced or distributed without the

expressed written consent of Fitness Under Oath

Every word of this manual is protected by U.S. Copyright Laws, 2014.

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 Legal Notices
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying or

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, or

transmitted by email without permission in writing from the publisher.

While all attempts have been made to verify the information provided in

this publication, neither the author nor the publisher assumes any

responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretations of the

subject matter herein.

This publication is not intended for use as any source of advice such as

legal, medical, or accounting. The publisher wants to stress that the

information contained herein may be subject to varying international,

federal, state, and/or local laws or regulations.

The purchaser or reader of this publication assumes responsibility for the

use of these materials and information.

Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, including international,

federal, state and local governing professional licensing, business

practices, advertising, and all other aspects of doing business in the US,

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Canada or any other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the purchaser

or reader.

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 Medical Advisory
The information and workout procedures provided in this guide are very

intense and should not be attempted by anyone unless a doctor has

cleared you for such an intense workout.

If you have any existing health problems that would prohibit you from

taking part in any of these activities, you should refrain.

As always, you should clear this program with your doctor before you

begin.

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 Table Of Contents

Introduction...............................................................................................8

Chapter 1: Everything You've Been Told Is Wrong!.........................17

Chapter 2: A Lean, Muscular & Healthy Physique Is Your

Birthright.............................................................................................21

Chapter 3: The Four Cornerstones of Health & Fitness....................29

Chapter 4: The First Cornerstone: Nutrition.....................................34

Chapter 5: The Second Cornerstone: Lifestyle..................................71

Chapter 6: The Third Cornerstone: Strength Training....................86

Chapter 7: The Fourth Cornerstone: Conditioning........................161

Chapter 8: Realistic Results................................................................176

Chapter 9: Parting Words...................................................................192

About The Author.................................................................................201

Recommended Reading.......................................................................202

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 Introduction

Congratulations! You've made a

wise decision to purchase this book.

Because within these pages,

you're going to discover the lost
secrets of gaining muscle, burning
fat, and developing a classic physique.

Eugene Sandow in 1898.

These are the techniques and tactics developed long before the
invention of steroids... so you can be sure this system will work for
regular, drug-free guys like you and me.

I'll give you my story in a minute. But first, let's talk about you.
Let's talk about how YOU can have a classic physique with far less effort
than you might think and how you will look when you achieve your
classic physique.

So What Exactly Is A “Classic Physique?”

Take a look at the photo above. That's Eugene Sandow and that
photo was snapped way back in 1898. That is a prime example of a
“Classic Physique.” He's lean & muscular. He didn't just look strong, he
was strong (more on this in a minute.)

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 He's proportionate and symmetrical – no single muscle group
stands out more than the other. Rather, the entire body is developed in
perfect unison. And because he sculpted his physique way back in the
late 1800's, we know he was a drug-free trainer.

Compare the classic physique

of Eugene Sandow to that of today's
modern bodybuilder. The modern
bodybuilder looks bloated and soft.

And while the modern

bodybuilder is certainly bigger and
more muscular than Sandow....
most guys (myself included) would
much rather look like Sandow.

And most women would be

far more attracted to a guy with
Sandow's physique. While the
modern bodybuilder might bench
press more than Sandow, you can Today's modern bodybuilder: Over-
developed, droopy pecs and a swollen
bet Sandow would be in better all-
belly caused by steroid use.
around shape.

Sandow could easily beat the modern bodybuilder in a foot race, a

grip competition – you name it and 9 times out of 10 Sandow would
prevail over today's modern bodybuilder.

Plus, it's obvious that today's modern bodybuilder is on all kinds of

illegal and dangerous steroids. In stark contrast, Sandow built his
physique with nothing more than hard work and smart training.

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 Sandow Is Just ONE example of a classic physique...

When I first found that photo of Sandow, I was intrigued. But I

was also skeptical. Maybe Sandow was a genetic freak? Maybe Sandow
was the only guy who managed to build a lean and muscular physique
with these ancient principles?

But then I started digging deeper. And I found MULTIPLE

examples of regular guys who built phenomenal physiques... decades
before steroids were even invented.

Here are just a few more examples:

Max Sick – Photo from 1903 Sig Klein, 1924

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 Hermann Goerner, 1920

George Hackenschmidt, 1911

Marvin Eder, 1942

Edward Aston, 1921

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 As you can see, each of these men built strong, lean & muscular
physiques long before steroids were even invented.

Here's why this is so important:

If there was only one example of a old-time guy who built a lean &
muscular physique without drugs, then it could be considered an isolated
incident.

If there were only two examples of old-time guys who built lean &
muscular physiques without drugs, then it could be considered a
coincidence.

But because I was able to track down MULTIPLE examples of

regular guys who managed to build lean & muscular physiques without
drugs, then it must be considered a pattern.

And PATTERNS can be copied and mirrored. Which means if you

can discover what these old time trainers ate & drank... how they trained...
and how they lived... then you too can mimic their actions and you too
can have a lean & muscular physique.

Luckily, I've done all the hard work for you. I've done the research,
spent hours tracking down the long lost methods of these old time
trainers. And I turned myself into a human guinea pig – meticulously
testing each method, each strategy and each technique to figure out what
REALLY works for genetically average drug-free trainers like you and me.

And if you follow along with this method, you too can have a
Classic Physique.

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 A Glimpse Into Your Future...

Before I ask you to trust me... before I ask you to try this method...
let me show you what's possible. Let me show you the end result.

Eugene Sandow, 1898 Me, 2011

This is me after discovering these ancient fitness secrets. As you

can see, my body bears a striking resemblance to Eugene Sandow. This
was NOT by accident. This was by design. I saw the photo of Sandow,
decided I wanted to look like that and then followed a specific program to
make that happen.

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 I can't predict exactly how you will look when you complete this
program. But I can paint a picture for you.

Imagine waking up each morning feeling full of energy and vigor.

Imagine walking into the bathroom, looking at yourself in the mirror and
absolutely loving the way you look. While your friends and family
assume you work out for hours each day and starve yourself... you'll
know the secret.

You'll know you got this body with just a few short & simple
workouts each week And you'll know you got this body by enjoying rich,
delicious foods and eating heartily at every meal.

Imagine laughing at the bodybuilders on the magazine covers –

knowing now that you've mastered your physique and you know exactly
how to get (and stay) in top physical condition.

Imagine easily bounding up flights of stairs without any trouble

whatsoever – even though you never do any cardio. Imagine pulling up
your shirt to reveal a rock-solid six pack – even though you never do any
sit-ups or crunches.

Sound too good to be true? That's what I USED to think. But if

you'll try my system for just 30 days I think you'll quickly become a
believer.

A Special Note To Women

Although this book was written by a man and in a male voice, I

want the women reading this book to know there's no reason why they
can't follow this program as well.

Women following this program will not gain anywhere near as

much muscle as a man. A woman following this program will simply

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shed fat, lean out and develop curves in all the right places. She'll also
enjoy useful strength and energy.

For example, consider the following examples:

Abbye “Pudgy” Stockton

didn't train like a girl. She trained
like a man. She tossed around a
heavy barbell – just like a man.
(Although she obviously used less
weight – but she did the same
exercises.)

And it paid off – giving her an

enviable 34-24-34 measurements at
115 pounds on a 5'2 inch frame.

Abbey Stockton, 1931

Or how about Kate “Vulcana” Roberts?

Beautiful, slender... and

stronger than most men.

In fact, legend has it she could press

180 pounds over her head!

Believe it or not, it's vitally

important for a woman to build
strength. Because the process of
building strength helps to cut body
fat.

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 I once heard someone in the fitness community say when a woman
has what most would consider to be a “hot body” she can almost always
do 3 pull-ups and squat/deadlift 135 pounds for 5 reps.

Here's the problem: Most women don't DO pull-ups, squats or

deadlifts. Well, on my program you will. So now you've got something to
shoot for.

So if you're a woman and you're bold enough to give this program

a try (most women won't try this program since it's not very “girly”) you
can expect amazing results. Please drop me a line with your results as I'm
always interested in helping my clients succeed. Ok, let's jump in...

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 Chapter One: Everything You've Been
Told Is WRONG

“Whenever you find yourself on the side

of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect.”
– Mark Twain.

Mark Twain was right. Because when

you start to closely examine many of the
commonly believed “rules” of health and
fitness, you start to see them unravel
right before your eyes.

Floyd Page, 1948

See for yourself. How many of these “rules” have you heard in the
past?

 Don't eat late at night or it will make you fat.

 Don't skip meals or it will slow down your metabolism.

 Don't drink beer or alcohol as it kills any hope of losing fat.

 Don't eat fatty foods or red meat because it's bad for your heart.

 You need to do plenty of cardio to lose weight.

 Eat plenty of fruits and whole grains for health and weight loss.

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 You need to do 1,000 sit-ups a day to get great abs.

 You need tons of protein to gain muscle mass.

 You must exercise in your “fat burning heart rate zone” to burn
body fat.

 You should always strive for “lean” protein.

 There's no such thing as “big-boned” individuals as our skeletons

are all about the same size.

 Eat plenty of fiber because fiber helps prevent colon cancer.

 It's ok to drink diet soda because diet soda doesn't contain any
calories.

 Butter, eggs and creamy foods are bad because they contain too
many calories and can raise your cholesterol levels.

 Be sure to wear sunscreen every single time you go out in the sun.

 The reason we're fatter today is because we're lazy – ancient people
were more active and would run everywhere.

 A vegetarian diet is the healthiest way to eat.

 You don't need to lift heavy weights to get strong.

 You should lift weights slowly, under control and through a full
range of motion.

 You must count calories to lose weight.

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  Orange juice, apple juice and other fruit juices are healthy drinks.

 It's dangerous to maintain an ultra-low bodyfat level (sub 8%

bodyfat for men, sub 15% for women) for extended periods of time.
And it's nearly impossible anyway.

 Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

 If you don't eat protein before bed, your body will “eat” your
muscle while you sleep.

 Walking is a good form of cardiovascular exercise.

 You must get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.

 And on and on and on...

This is just a partial list of all the “rules” of health and fitness I've
heard over the years. And in this book, I'm going to shatter every single
one of these commonly-held beliefs.

Because – believe it or not – these myths are probably keeping you

fat, weak and unhealthy.

If you're like I was just a short while ago, you are probably
embarrassed to take off your shirt in public because you still don't have
the lean & muscular physique you want. And yet, it's not for lack of
trying. You probably eat “right” most days. You work out more than the
average Joe. And you probably take a few popular supplements as well.

Yet, you're still not as lean & muscular as you'd like. What gives?

The problem is simple. You've been listening to conventional

wisdom. You've found yourself – as Mark Twain put it – on the side with
the majority.

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 And the majority is ALWAYS wrong. The majority of people are
soft, fat and weak. So by following conventional wisdom, by following
the majority, you too will end up soft, fat and weak.

But fear not. Because this book will open your eyes. This book will
show you a little-known, easy-to-follow method – created over a hundred
years ago – that can give you a lean & muscular physique AND boost
your quality of life.

In the next chapter, we'll take a trip back in time and examine why
modern day health and fitness information is so far off base.

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 Chapter Two: A Lean, Muscular & Healthy
Physique Is Your Birthright

Say “hello” to your great-great-

great-great-great-great-great-
great-great-great-Uncle Lee.

While he's a long-lost ancestor,

you two have more in common
than you might think.

He wandered the planet around 200,000 years ago. And before he

started walking upright and cooking with fire, there were even earlier
forms of humans wandering the earth as far back as two million years ago.

Let me give you a brief glimpse inside an average day in Uncle

Lee's life.

Lee most likely woke up with the sun. He didn't sleep on a Craft-
O-matic mattress. He slept on a pile of leaves or other material gathered
to give him a few inches of separation between his body and the cold
ground. Despite the accommodations, he wakes up feeling healthy and
strong.

He takes his time getting up – the sun is just barely peeking over the
horizon and Lee is in no rush.

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 He stands up and wanders over to the smoldering remains from
last night's fire. Some of the women in the tribe are already awake – and
they're sitting lazily around the fire whispering in hushed tones.

Eventually, Lee's male counterparts join the rest of the tribe at the
fire. The kids are waking up now, sleepily rubbing their eyes and
wandering down to find their mothers. The group is quiet, but content.
Today's activities will look much like yesterday's activities. Everyone
knows the plan, everyone knows their role and everyone participates
fully.

The men will spend the day hunting while the woman and children
will stay closer to the “home base” while searching for edible greens and
berries.

It's the height of summer, and so to beat the heat the men start out
early. There's no leftovers from last night so no breakfast for anybody, but
they don't seem to mind as they know they'll find a few munchies during
the hunt.

The men head out, walking slowly but purposefully. They'll have
their best chance of success once they get a few miles away from the rest
of the group. As they walk, they keep their eyes open for snacks. A few
random berries, some leaves and wild grass, and a few sparse handfuls of
nuts are acquired along the way. It's not a full meal, but just enough to
keep the mind sharp.

The men nab some smaller prey in the cool of the early morning –
tossing spears at rabbits and killing a couple. But they're in search of
bigger game so they press on.

Still no sign of bigger game and as the sun peaks the men decide to
relax for a while under the shade of a large oak tree. They snack on some

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wild vegetables, laugh...and ultimately snooze. The midday heat lends
itself well to a brief afternoon nap.

After a few hours rest, the men are back up and on the move.
Before long, they spot a herd of buffalo. The hunt is on. Quickly splitting
up into small teams, they separate a young buffalo from the herd and
chase him down. The entire ordeal, takes less than a few minutes, but in
that short time they men have sprinted hundreds of yards, changed
directions, tumbled, rolled... and wrestled the powerful buffalo to the
ground.

Victory cheers erupt from the group. And they string up the
buffalo so they can drag it back to camp. It's hard work – dragging the
300 pound load over miles of rough terrain. But the men don't mind as
this fresh kill will feed the entire group for days.

When they finally arrive back at camp, the children run out to see
the buffalo and the women eagerly greet their men. The women had a
successful day as well – gathering plenty of vegetables, berries, nuts and
even some turtle eggs for the night's feast.

The tribe gets to work preparing for dinner. The fire is stoked, the
buffalo is skinned and prepped. The heart, brains, liver and other fatty
organ meats are the most prized possessions from the kill and each child
fights for a piece of the fatty meat. The bones are handed out for each
child to scoop out the fatty marrow.

The meat is cooked over the fire and everyone eats well. There's
even a bit of wine passed around – made by fermenting berries. A few of
the boys in the tribe take turns trying to lift a heavy rock located near the
campsite. None of the boys can make it budge so eventually the men give
in and try their hand. The strongest warriors are able to pick up the rock
and lift it over their heads in a powerful display of full body strength.

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 As the sun goes down and the fire starts to smolder, the tribe
gathers around the fire for warmth. Some of the elder tribes members
share stories about harder times – many springs ago. Before long, tribe
members start to grow sleepy and head off to bed. They're asleep
relatively early by our standards – but with no artificial light there isn't
much to do but sleep.

Despite what many believe, they don't sleep through the night.
Because of the surroundings, they may wake up a few times during the
night and may even enjoy some leftovers during the night.

Anthropologists and other experts who've studied the bones and

fossil records of prehistoric man tell us that these early humans were lean,
healthy and strong. They didn't suffer from the modern diseases that
plague us now in the 21st century.

MYTH: “Pre-historic man died young in life and that's why they didn't
suffer from the modern ailments that we face later in life.”

Here's The Truth: Yes, the average lifespan of prehistoric man was about
36 years old. Some people look at that and think that means most people
died around 36 years of age. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Let me give you an example. If we take 100 people, and 50 of them

died at birth and 50 of them died at age 72... what would be the average
lifespan of that group? It would be 36 years... even though not a single
person died at 36.

That's why the AVERAGE lifespan of pre-historic man makes it

appear that pre-historic man died young. Because of a higher infant
mortality rate (more infants died young because of famines, inclement
weather, wars, accidents, etc...) it makes the average lifespan of pre-
historic man appear shorter than it really was.

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 For those who survived infancy, many if not most lived into their
70's and they were still healthy and strong. Those who perished earlier
often died due to accident or injury. But those that survived were healthy,
strong and full of vitality.

So if research tells us that pre-historic man lived long, healthy lives

– free of modern diseases – and if our genetic foundation is still nearly
identical to these early day humans... then doesn't it make perfect sense
that we should do our best to imitate their diet and lifestyle?

Using the “day in the life” example from above, here are few
characteristics of modern man that we can strive to imitate:

 They got plenty of sleep. With no artificial light or technological

distractions, early man slept when it was dark and probably
napped frequently as well.

 They did plenty of walking. While we spend much of our time

slumped at a desk or glued to the couch, early man walked to get
around.

 They sprinted daily. Sprinting is one the single best activities you
can do for health and fitness. And clearly early man spent plenty
of time sprinting.

 They lifted heavy things. Put a big rock in the middle of a group of
young men and in just a few seconds an impromptu weightlifting
competition will break out. So it's easy to see how prehistoric man
would find ways to lift heavy things during the day.

 They push/pulled/dragged heavy things: This is another great

conditioning exercise and clearly early man did his share of
pushing, pulling and dragging.

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  They ate a high fat, moderate protein, low carbohydrate diet.

 They had little stress. Sure, there were tiger attacks, food shortages
and wars with other tribes. But they didn't have the kind of day-in-
day-out round-the-clock gnawing stress we deal with today.

For nearly two million years, this was man's lifestyle. This was
their diet and this was their way of life. Sure, there were certainly some
geographic variations – those in colder climates ate fewer fruits and
vegetables than those in the jungle areas. In fact, Eskimo natives from
many years ago survived almost exclusively on fat with virtually zero
vegetables, fruits or grains.

But even with seasonal and geographic variations, the common

theme remains: High intake of animal fat, heavy lifting, sprinting, plenty
of sleep and very few carbohydrates.

MYTH: “Animal Fat is bad for you.”

Here's The Truth: For decades now, the medical establishment has been
pushing their theory of heart disease down our throats. You know how it
goes. “Don't eat fat” they say “Or you'll get fat.” “Don't eat cholesterol or
animal fat because it clogs your arteries.”

And the dreaded saturated fat is just about the worst thing you
could possibly eat. It's practically poison... right?

Actually... no.

“Even though the focus of dietary recommendations is usually a reduction of

saturated fat intake, no relation between saturated fat intake and risk of coronary
heart disease was observed in the most informative prospective study to date.”
– Walter Willett, Nutritional Epidemiology.

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 “The idea that saturated fats cause heart disease is completely wrong, but the
statement has been “published” so many times over the last three or more decades
that it is very difficult to convince people otherwise unless they are willing to take
the time to read and learn what produced the “anti-saturated fat agenda.”
– Dr. Mary Enig, Consulting Editor to The Journal Of The American
College of Nutrition

For hundreds of thousands if not millions of years, our ancestors

survived and thrived thanks to FAT. They ate a bit of vegetables, some
fruit, a few wild grains when they could find it but the bulk of their
nutritional energy came from animal fats.

So if – as a species – we've been thriving on animal fats for

thousands of years... why is it suddenly harmful for us now?

It's not. What IS harmful for us are vegetable-based fats (unnatural

fats created from vegetables) combined with higher than normal
carbohydrate intakes. Especially sugar.

In fact, if you want to see why humans are fatter today than ever
before, just check out the rise in sugar consumption.

Annual Refined Sugar Consumption In the United States

1750: 4 pounds per person, per year.

1850: 20 pounds per person, per year.
1994: 120 pounds per person, per year.
1996: 160 pounds per person, per year.

Sugar wreaks havoc on the body – it's the ultimate anti-nutrient.

And we're consuming more and more sugar every year. Yet somehow
saturated fats continue to get the blame.

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 Let's fast forward a few thousand years....

So we've determined that our ancestors ate mainly a high fat diet,
did a bit of heavy lifting, some sprinting, and a lot relaxing and sleeping.

Fast forward to the year 1900 and guess what you'll discover? The
muscle-men from that era ate primary a high fat diet. They did a bit of
heavy lifting, some sprinting, and a lot of relaxing and sleeping! It's no
wonder these old time trainer managed to build lean & muscular
physiques without steroids! They were following nature's laws of health
and fitness!

Now fast forward another hundred years. Today's bodybuilders

eat high carbohydrate, low fat diets. They do a lot of light lifting for
higher repetitions, they do a lot of jogging and running, and they almost
never relax and almost never get 8 hours of sleep. On top of all that,
they're pumping their bodies full of artificial steroids and hormones.

It's no wonder bodybuilders today are dropping dead at age 30...

and it's certainly no wonder why their methods don't work for drug-free
guys like you and me --- it's because they're going against nature's laws!

Building a lean & muscular physique doesn't have to be

complicated. You simply have to follow the rules of nature that were
established hundreds of thousands of years ago. It's your body's natural
state to be lean and muscular. And when you work WITH nature you can
achieve your natural state without drugs and without living in the gym.

In the next chapter, I'm going to break down the four cornerstones
of health and fitness and show you why getting a classic physique can be
easier than you ever imagined.

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 Chapter Three: The Four Cornerstones Of
Health & Fitness

If you've ever felt completely

overwhelmed by information on
your quest to get a lean & muscular
physique, then you're going to
love this chapter.

Alan Mead, 1925.

Because getting a “classic” physique really isn't all that

complicated. In this chapter, I'm going to break down the most important
aspects of health and fitness into four basic “cornerstones.” By the time
you're done reading this chapter, you'll understand why building a classic
physique can be easier than you ever imagined and why most modern
day fitness methods end up putting the cart before the horse.

Let's jump in:

I call these my four “cornerstones” of health and fitness. Each

“block” is important, but there's a clear and logical order of importance.

So let's kick things off with the first cornerstone:

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 Cornerstone #1: Nutrition

Old school bodybuilding guru Vince Gironda once said,

“Bodybuilding is 85% nutrition.”

What he meant was simple: What you eat will be responsible for
the vast majority of your results. Your diet is far more important than
your workouts, your cardio and even your supplements.

Think about it: You lift weights maybe 3 times a week. Maybe 6
times a week if you're really “hardcore.” Maybe you do some cardio 2-3
times a week.

But how many times do you eat per week? Well if you eat 3 meals
per day that's 21 different “opportunities” to improve or damage your
health. But most people eat more than 3 times per day when you add up
snacks. I'd venture that most people end up eating 6 times per day. That's
42 different opportunities each week to improve your health and fitness or
inflict damage.

Plus, because our food these days is so calorically-dense, one

simple snack can actually “undo” a workout! Here's what I mean...

A 200 pound man will burn about 150 calories by running a mile.
So if our 200 pound man runs 3 miles he'll burn about 450 calories.

Not bad, right?

Well, here's the problem with that. After his run, let's say our
hypothetical 200 pound man decides to stop into the local Jamba Juice (a
smoothie shop) for a refreshing smoothie.

After all, he's earned a “health” drink, right? And it's got fruit,
yogurt and the cute girl at the shop always “hooks him up” and tosses an
extra scoop of protein in his smoothie.

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 It's the perfect health drink, right? Unfortunately, no. Because his
Banana Berry Power Smoothie packs a whopping 560 calories, and 115
grams of SUGAR.

So this “health” drink just canceled out the three mile run – and
then some.

That's the yin and yang of nutrition – what you eat is important –
but what you do NOT eat can be just as important.

In the nutrition chapter, we'll dive into a “classic” eating plan and
show you how you can eat the foods you love to the point of gut-busting
fullness – and still get a ripped and muscular physique.

Cornerstone #2: Lifestyle

Up next in the order of importance is lifestyle. This encompasses

many different areas such as quality and amount of sleep, stress, and
general well-being.

You can eat a perfect diet and follow a perfect training program –
but if you're stressed all day long from 9-5 and you spend every evening
snorting lines of cocaine and dancing the night away – you certainly won't
be the picture of health and fitness.

Sadly, this area is frequently ignored by most fitness “gurus.”

Probably because most of the advice falls on deaf ears. But that doesn't
mean it's not effective. Don't take my word for it.

Take a week and force yourself to shut off the T.V. and be in bed by
10pm. If you can do it, you'll notice something amazing happen. You'll
be leaner and more muscular after one week with NO OTHER changes to
your diet or workout plan. That's the power of sleep. And that's the
power of a proper lifestyle.

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 In the chapter on lifestyle, we'll examine the lifestyle of our ancient
ancestors and the classic weight trainers from a hundred years ago. Then
I'll show you how you can adapt the beneficial aspects of the “classic”
lifestyle to our modern world.

Cornerstone #3: Strength

I'll come right out and say it: Strength is the single most important
aspect of physical fitness.

When I was in grade school, we had to take the Presidential

Physical Fitness test which consisted of 7 different tests of various skills
such as flexibility, cardiovascular conditioning, agility, etc.

We were told that each skill was important but that no skill was
more important than any other.

This was wrong.

Strength is the single most important aspect of physical fitness.

This is true – despite that fact the most fitness “experts” will vehemently
deny this.

But it simply makes logical sense – in any context.

“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general.”
– Mark Rippetoe

On the football field, if everything else is equal, the stronger athlete

has the advantage.

In general everyday life, strength comes into play when opening

jars, moving couches and improving your quality of life.

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 We'll tackle this topic in much greater depth in the chapter on
strength development, but I wanted to give you a heads up as to why the
classic trainers placed a premium on strength while today's modern
fitness guru's seem to think “cardio” encompasses all things fitness.

Make no mistake about it: You can do absolutely ZERO cardio or

conditioning work and still have a rock-solid physique as long as you're
engaged in some form of strength training.

The opposite isn't true. If you do ZERO strength training and

plenty of cardio you will lose strength and end-up looking (and being)
weak and emaciated.

Cornerstone #4: Conditioning

Lastly, we have the final cornerstone of fitness. Conditioning is

important, but no where near as important as the other three elements.

I can show you how to get a lean, muscular, rock-solid and

completely healthy physique without doing a single lick of cardiovascular
training or conditioning work. (I've done it.)

However, there are still some important reasons for incorporating

some form of conditioning into your training. We'll cover the classical
methods of conditioning and the reasons why conditioning is important in
the conditioning section of the book.

So while conditioning is important, it pales in comparison to the

other three cornerstone's of fitness and that's why it will appear last in
this list.

In the next chapter, we'll tackle the most important cornerstone of

health and fitness and take an exhaustive overview of nutrition and how a
simple eating plan can give you the body you want.

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 Chapter Four: The First Cornerstone: Nutrition

In this chapter, I'm going to show

you why almost everything you've
ever heard about nutrition is
flat-out wrong...

… and how a few simple tweaks to

your daily diet can help you build
muscle and burn fat almost
Jack Lalanne, 1934 effortlessly.

Some of the information in this chapter is EXTREMELY

controversial. In fact, I strongly suspect certain government agencies
would love to burn this book simply because of this chapter alone.

But I don't care. I'm sick of seeing lies and false information force-
fed down your throat by greedy lobbyists, government officials and
corporate junk food fat cats. So where to start? Nutrition is a certainly a
broad topic so let's take it from the very top...

First... What Do You Want?

Before you set out on a trip, you obviously must pick a destination.
If you want to look like a sumo wrestler, than obviously you're going to
follow a very different eating plan than someone who wants to look like a
runway model.

So here's the 3-prong “destination” I personally desire from my

eating plan:

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 First and foremost, I wanted to be healthy. There's no point in
achieving a great body if you're dead before age 30. So health goes
straight to the top of the list for me.

Next, I want to be lean. There are plenty of ways to bulk up and

build muscle if you don't care about staying lean enough to see your abs.
But I think leanness is important – not only for health reasons but also for
vanity reasons as well.

Finally, I want my eating plan to enable me to add muscle and

become more and more muscular. I have absolutely no desire to look like
an emaciated marathon runner and I'm sure you don't either.

Healthy, Lean, Muscular. That's the endpoint I was striving for

when I developed this particular eating plan after researching the dietary
habits of yesteryear.

So with our goal in mind, let's start breaking down how to get
there.

As I'm sure you're already aware, food can be broken down into 3
major elements: Protein, Carbohydrates & Fat.

However, you may never have heard that only ONE of these
elements is truly essential.

And that's FAT.

Anthropologists believe our ancient ancestors ate a high-fat diet for

hundreds of thousands of years. The rise in grain and modern agriculture
methods only sprung up over the past few hundred years – a virtual blink
of an eye compared to 200,000 – 2 million years of a high-fat diet.

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 And it's because we as a species have been eating a high fat diet for
thousands of years that the high fat diet is the healthiest way for us to eat
now.

This may come as shocking news especially when you consider that
the mainstream medical establishment has been railing against dietary fat
for the last 50 years or so.

But when you start to examine the evidence, it becomes quite clear
that eating the way we were meant to eat flat-out leads to a healthy and fit
body.

Perhaps you've seen the documentary, “Super Size Me” where

filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald's fast food meals 3
times a day for a solid month.

As you might have imagined, his health took a huge turn for the
worse over those 30 days. He gained over 24 pounds and during the
month he consumed a whopping 30 pounds of sugar and 12 pounds of fat
from the fast food meals.

Most people THINK the reason Spurlock gained all this weight and
had such massive health problems is because of all the saturated fat he
consumed.

But documentary filmmaker Tom Naughton proved otherwise. In

an effort to show that saturated fat is not the devil everyone believes it is,
Naughton repeated the 30-day all McDonald's diet with one very
important difference: He limited carbohydrate intake to 100 grams per
day and allowed himself to eat unlimited grams of fat.

(Because dietary fat is very satisfying and filling, it's difficult to eat
a great deal of fat – especially if carbohydrates are restricted.) The result?
Tom Naughton actually LOST 12 pounds over the course of the month
and his cholesterol actually went DOWN!

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 Meet Your New Best Friend: Saturated Fat!

While saturated fat has been unfairly villainized by the press and
the mainstream medical establishment for decades now, saturated fat just
might be the most important thing you can consume if it's your goal to
build a healthy, classic physique.

Before I explain why, I should point out that there are good sources
of fat and bad sources of fat.

Good (natural) sources of fat:

Animal Based:
Meat, Milk, Butter, Cheese

Tropical Oils:
Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil

Bad (unnatural) sources of fat:

Soybean, corn, cottonseed, canola, peanut,

safflower and sunflower oils.

Vegetable and grain sources of fat like those mentioned above are
created using complicated processing procedures. The end result of all
this man made interference is a final product that's very different from the
one nature intended.

Think about it: How the hell do you get oil from an ear of corn? Or
from a sunflower? Well, it takes a ton of processing and other chemical
wizardry. Contrast that with animal fat – it's completely natural and
untouched.

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 So – assuming we're talking about the good sources of saturated
fats – here's why saturated fat will be your new best friend...

 Cell membranes are composed of 50% saturated fat

 Saturated fats are required for bones to assimilate calcium and

other minerals properly

 Saturated fats help signal satiety (meaning they tell the brain “hey –
the stomach is full, stop eating!”)

 Saturated fats help kill invading organisms and boost your immune
system

 Saturated fat boost sex drive and muscle-building testosterone

levels! (Testosterone is CRUCIAL for building muscle and
stripping off body fat.)

 Perhaps most tellingly, 54% of the fat in human breast milk is

saturated. (If saturated fat were bad for you, babies who breastfeed
would be having massive heart attacks.)

And here's yet more evidence that dietary fat and saturated fat are
critical to survival and optimal health.

Let's take a look at people who eat more dietary fat than anyone
else on the planet...

Eskimos!

Typically, when we think of Eskimos we think of short, fat people.

But this is simply a lazy, inaccurate way of thinking. Most true eskimos
are actually quite lean.

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 Back in 1906, Dr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson was the undisputed expert
on all things Eskimo. He actually lived with Eskimos, eating exactly as
they did, for a full year. Eskimos in that region ate a diet of only meat and
fish – no vegetables, no fruit, no whole grain bread.

The good doctor reports:

“Eskimos, when still on their home meats, are never corpulent[fat] – at least I
have seen none who were. Eskimos in their native garments do give the
impression of fat, round faces, round bodies, but the roundness of the face is a
racial peculiarity and the rest of the effect is produced by loose and puffy
garments.

See them [eskimos] stripped and one does not find the abdominal protuberances
and folds [fat rolls] which are so in evidence on Coney Island beaches.

There is, however, among Eskimos no racial immunity to corpulance[fatness].

That is proved by the rapidity with which and the extent to which they fatten on
European diets.”

Or in other words, when Eskimos eat a high-fat traditional diet,

they stayed slim. But when they switched to a carb-heavy diet full of
starches and sugars, they got fat in a hurry.

So if saturated fat isn't quite the devil it's been made out to be...
then what's causing all the problems with obesity and diseases in our
modern society?

Meet The White Devil: Sugar.

Sugar is the ultimate anti-nutrient. Here's just a short list of how

the “sweet poison” can interfere with the quest for optimal health and a
classic physique:

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  Sugar drives up insulin levels and promotes the storage of fat

 Sugar drives up cortisol levels (cortisol is a hormone that prevents

your body from building muscle.)

 Sugar decreases leptin-production. Leptin is a powerful hormone

that helps regular appetite. This is why when you eat sugar, it
makes you hungry for more sugar.

 Sugar disrupts the travels of amino acids to muscle tissues.

 A high sugar intake over time leads to insulin resistance and the
development of type II diabetes.

But don't you NEED sugar to survive?

In a word – NO!

Plenty of mis-informed doctors and medical “experts” have been

telling people that you need to eat carbohydrates and sugar for optimal
health.

But less than 2% of your body is composed of carbohydrates and

your body is fully capable of manufacturing enough carbohydrates
without any need for dietary intake of sugar.

Besides – let me perfectly clear about this – I am NOT advocating a

zero carbohydrate diet. I have no problems with fibrous vegetables
(which contain carbs) and small amounts of fruit (which contain PLENTY
of carbs and sugar.)

But there is simply no reason why anyone needs to consume

carbohydrates in their most deadly form – sugar.

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 So far your instructions are fairly simple: Eat plenty of fat –- trying
to focus on good sources... and do your best to avoid carbohydrates while
making a special effort to avoid sugar.

What About Protein?

Proponents of the caveman-type diets will tell you to eat a high fat,
moderate protein, low carbohydrate diet.

When they talk about moderate protein, they usually mean 80-100
grams of protein per day.

And while that might be fine for the average man or woman simply
looking to lose weight, we've got different goals in mind.

Remember, not only do we want a lean & healthy physique, we

also want muscle.

And with the desire for more muscles comes a need for more
protein.

How much more? We'll tackle that in a minute. First, the benefits
of protein intake:

#1) High protein intakes are believed to be linked to higher

testosterone levels. (And testosterone is a very good thing if you're trying
to build muscle.)

#2) High protein intake is correlated with high levels of bone

density – and strong bones are a very good thing if you're planning on
getting strong.

#3) Your muscles are composed or primarily protein and water. So

if you want to build more muscle, it only makes sense to increase your

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consumption of the raw materials needed to build muscle (namely,
protein.)

So how much protein do you need? Well, I've experimented with

as little as 50 grams per day and as much as 2 grams per pound of
bodyweight (so 400 grams of protein per day for a 200-pound man.)

In rare instances where I'm using a short-term “bulking” style

protein, I'll bump up protein intake but for the most part I average
anywhere from 50 -150 grams per day. With that level, I can
build/maintain muscle but I'm not consuming so much protein that it's
turning into fat.

Some days (when I'm fasting) I'll have zero protein and other days
I'll have 150 grams or higher but the general range is about 50-150grams
daily or an average of 100 grams of protein per day.

Won't Consuming All That Protein Damage Your Kidneys?

Nope.

This myth got started because scientists discovered that people

who ALREADY had damaged kidneys shouldn't consume high levels of
protein.

Which is kind of like forcing people with broken legs to run a mile
on their busted stumps, inflicting further damage – and then using that to
justify a position stating that running a mile is bad for EVERYONE.

Wouldn't make much sense, would it? But that's exactly what they
did with the protein intake studies.

Luckily, a few studies have come out since exonerating the high-
protein diet.

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 From “The Paleo Diet”, page 18: “Scientists at the Royal Veterinary
and Agricultural University in Copenhagen put 65 people on a high protein diet
for 6 months and found that their kidneys easily adapted to increased protein
levels, and that their kidney function was perfect at the end of the experiment.”

From Protein Power, page 138: “A study from Germany showed that
kidney function actually improved with increased protein consumption.”

So don't buy into the hype – a high protein diet has NEVER been
shown to cause kidney damage EXCEPT in cases where test subjects
ALREADY had damaged kidneys.

Let's continue to build: So far we've got the following rules in

place:

#1) Eat plenty of fat.

#2) Minimize carbs – especially sugar.
#3) Prioritize protein.

Now, when we talk about protein everybody always asks the same
question...

“I should eat lean protein right?”

Answer: NO!

Once again, this might come as shocking to many people. But

remember, we're trying to closely replicate the dietary practices of our
ancient ancestors since research has shown they were lean, muscular and
healthy.

Many people believe that the types of animals our ancient ancestors
consumed were leaner than the fat cows and pigs in our modern day
feedlots.

This is TRUE.

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 However, even lean, grass—fed cattle still has plenty of fat when
you peel back the skin.

See for yourself. Here's a photo of a healthy, grass-fed, modern-

day bison (buffalo).

The yellow stuff you see is all FAT!

And because fat was such a valuable nutritional resource for our
ancient ancestors, we know they would typically eat the fattiest parts of
the kill FIRST!

So that's why the recommendation to eat “lean protein” doesn't

make much sense when you really think about. Besides, as we've already
established, animal fats are good for you.

Now, this doesn't mean you should run out and eat cheap
hamburger from McDonald's. Fast food meat is fattier yes – but that's not
why it's bad for you. It's bad because they feed the cattle an unnatural

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diet to make it fatter. This dramatically changes the ratio of Omega 3
fatty acids versus Omega 6 fatty acids in the meat.

Or in other words, the nutritional components of cheap meat are

not all similar to the nutritional components of grass-fed meat.

So whenever possible, try to get grass-fed meat because grass-fed

meat most closely resembles what our ancestors would have consumed.

Now that we've shattered the lean protein myth, let's slay a few
more myths.

You've probably heard that fruit is good for you so let me be the
first to tell you...

Fruit is Junk Food!

Now before you have me locked away in a padded room, let me

explain my position.

Millions of years ago – when our ancient ancestors populated the

planet – fruit was a health food. During those days, fruit was very
different from what our modern day fruit looks like.

For starters, fruit was SEASONAL. Meaning it was only available a

few months a year. There were no grocery stores and no airplanes so
nobody was shipping fruit in all year round. So while the government
advises you to eat some fruit every day, be aware that your ancient
ancestors probably only ate fruit a few days out of every year.

Next, fruit was a cherished commodity during ancient times. As

humans, we're hard-wired to crave sweet things – and the sugar in fruit is
what makes it sweet. But we're not the only animals on the planet that
crave sweetness.

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 So even IF it was the right season for fruit... and even IF our ancient
ancestors happened to find some, rest assured they would certainly have
some competition from other wild animals. And since many nocturnal
animals consume fruit at night – it's unreasonable to think there would
buckets and buckets of fruit just sitting and waiting for our human ancient
ancestors.

Now, let's talk about the fruit itself. Today's modern fruit has been
genetically modified to be larger, sweeter and more easily digestible than
ever before.

And while that certainly makes it taste better, it downgrades the

quality of fruit as a nutritional food item.

Bill Starr, in his groundbreaking book “The Strongest Shall

Survive” writes:

“Take our fruits for openers. Our grandparents could be fairly sure that
every orange they purchased contained about 75 mg of Vitamin C. We can't.
The grower picks the fruit green before it has had time to fully mature and
develop it's full potential of Vitamin C. It is then artificially ripened, sprayed,
colored, and shipped. It dries out on the super-market's shelf until you come
along and buy it. You're lucky if there's any Vitamin C in the orange by the time
you eat it.” – Bill Starr, 1976

And Starr wrote that way back in 1976 – things are much WORSE
now as farmers continually look for ways to grow bigger, sweeter fruit at
a faster pace.

Now do you see why I think today's modern fruit is basically junk
food? It's got more sugar than ever – with fewer vitamins, minerals and
fiber.

So should you avoid fruit all together?

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 Well, if you need to lose weight than you should be aware that fruit
is probably not HELPING your cause. If you're already lean (10% bodyfat
or less for men), then a few servings of fruit each week probably won't
make too much difference.

Key tip: When you do consume fruit – try to stick with berries. Berries
are lower in sugar, higher in fiber and higher in antioxidants than other
fruits.

Weird tip: I once heard that the favorite fruit of anorexic girls is
blueberries because blueberries provide maximum nutrients with minimal
sugar. Something to consider when shopping for fruit.

What About Fruit Juice?

Fruit juice is garbage – it's sugar water, plain and simple. If you eat
real fruit, you'll at least be getting some fiber. Plus it's difficult (but not
impossible) to eat an overabundance of fruit.

For example, a medium apple contains about 20 grams of

carbohydrates (sugar). A small glass of apple juice contains about 29
grams of sugar. While you COULD eat 3 whole apples in a row, most
people won't.

But it's quite common for people to slug back 3 or more glasses of
juice per day because they THINK they are doing themselves a favor.

Now, you might be feeling a little depressed because I just knocked the
fruit out of your hand. But don't worry, because I'm about to shatter
another myth and this one is bound to make you smile....

Myth: Alcohol Makes You Fat

Here's the truth: Many classic trainers consumed copious amounts of

alcohol and still remained lean & muscular.

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 Did you know there are only TWO absolute, sure-fire scientifically
validated ways to live longer?

The first is eating less: Time and time again, when rats are fed a
starvation diet they outlive rats who are allowed to eat as much as they
want.

Scientists believe the effort and energy required for constant

digestion eventually shortens lifespan and that by eating less you can live
longer.

(In a little bit, I'll show you how you can actually take advantage of
this phenomenon WITHOUT starving for the rest of your life.)

The second is by drinking a moderate amount of alcohol. Scientists

don't know exactly why this is true, but one theory is that a small amount
of alcohol actually strengthens the mitochondria in your cells and forces
them to get stronger and function more efficiently.

It's probably no surprise to you that moderate amounts of booze

can actually be good for you. The mainstream media has run plenty of
stories about the benefits of a few glasses of red wine.

But the fitness community as a whole still shuns alcohol – claiming

that booze will waste away all your muscle, make you gain truckloads of
fat and screw up your hormone levels.

To that I say... PUHLEASE. Sure, getting black-out drunk every

single night certainly won't help you in your pursuit of getting a lean,
muscular & healthy physique.

But a couple drinks at night won't derail your progress. I was

amazed to discover just how much alcohol many of the classic trainers

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from the turn of the century consumed – and they STILL had lean and
muscular physiques.

Case in point:

Arthur “The Iron Master” Saxon.

He was lean, muscular... and strong as hell.

He STILL holds the record for the bent press – an old time lift.

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 He hoisted a whopping 370 pounds in the bent press style. Think
he abstained from alcohol? Hardly.

Saxon enjoyed what he called his “health drink” almost every

single night.

The ingredients – a pint of dark (stout) beer, mixed with a hearty

shot of gin and a raw egg.

And Saxon wasn't the only old-time lifter to enjoy alcohol.

Thousands of years ago, ancient Greek athletes enjoyed figs and wine
with their evening meal.

Eugene Sandow was known to consume beer, the mighty Arnold

Schwarzenegger drank strong beer after his workouts and plenty of other
classic bodybuilder's enjoyed their booze while still maintaining a lean
and muscular physique.

Here's my advice on booze:

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 #1) Feel free to enjoy 1-2 glasses of red wine, beer or hard liquor a
few times a week.

#2) Remember, it's usually not the calories from alcohol that give
people trouble but rather the dietary damage they do when they are
drunk. (For example, getting drunk and then eating an entire box of
doughnuts.)

What About Diet Soda?

I get this question a lot. Diet soda technically has zero calories so
it's ok to drink it, right?

Well, the answer is not so simple. First and foremost, diet soda has
plenty of unnatural chemicals and additives and – despite the fact that the
government has deemed these chemicals safe – I don't trust the
government to make my health decisions for me.

Secondly, something funny happens when you drink a diet soda.

Because of the artificial sweeteners – it tastes sweet. And for a second,
your brain is happy. But then your body seems to realize that it's been
tricked and as a result you get ravenously hungry a short time after
drinking a diet soda.

I can't fully explain it but I started to notice that whenever I “fell off
the wagon” and ended up devouring an entire box of cookies, it was
usually because I had consumed a diet soda shortly beforehand.

So my advice is to be extremely wary of diet soda. One can a day

probably isn't a big deal but any more than that and you're asking for
trouble.

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 Magical Foods For Recovery & Fat Loss

In all of my research on the nutritional habits of the classic

bodybuilders and strength trainers, I found two food items that were
regarded with awe and reverence by nearly all old-time lifters.

And with good reason. Go back in history, find any classic

bodybuilder or old time strong man and you'll discover nearly every
single man made these two items a staple in his daily diet.

Magical Food Item #1: Whole Eggs

While many of today's modern bodybuilder's make it a practice to

throw away egg yolks and eat only the whites, the classic bodybuilders of
yesteryear would NEVER do such a thing.

They ate the whole egg – just as nature intended. The whole egg
(egg white + yolk) just might be one of the most perfect foods for building
muscle and burning off body fat.

In fact, legendary bodybuilding guru (and passionate anti-steroid

enthusiast) Vince Gironda actually said that whole eggs were actually
better than steroids!

And many other classic bodybuilders shared Gironda's enthusiasm

for the egg. For example, Arthur Saxon would eat 24 whole eggs for
breakfast.

Gironda actually had his students eating up to 36 RAW eggs per

day when they needed to gain weight and muscle.

Vince believed raw eggs provided the body with a superior form of
protein and nutrients.

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 Egg protein scores a 100 on the biological value chart – meaning
egg protein is one of the most usable sources of protein for the human
body. And eggs are a complete source of protein – meaning that eggs
provide all the amino acids required by the body.

Raw Eggs? Really?

Many classic bodybuilders would consume their eggs raw –

drinking them straight out of a glass or making high-powered protein
drinks by combining raw eggs with heavy whipping cream.

The idea of eating raw eggs sounds like suicide to most people –
after all, what about salmonella, right?

Well, not so fast.

Before Rocky was chugging raw eggs on the big screen, many
classic bodybuilders were slugging back raw eggs. As previously
mentioned, Vince Gironda and his pupils did it. So did Arnold.

I even found a nutritional guru from the 1890's – Bernarr

McFadden – who advocated raw eggs for building muscle, burning fat
and achieving optimal health.

But what about salmonella poisoning? Well, the risk is really much
lower than the media would have you believe. Only 1 egg in 30,000
carries the salmonella bacteria. And if you opt for farm-fresh, organic
eggs the risk drops even further.

Salmonella typically resides on the outside shell of the egg and

gains access to the actual egg if there are cracks in the shell.

So by purchasing farm fresh eggs (as opposed to the cheap,

commercially produced crap eggs at your local Walmart), washing the

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shells and discarding any eggs with cracked shells, your risk of salmonella
is minuscule.

Plus, farm-fresh eggs typically have larger, richer yolks. And the
yolk of the egg is what provides most of the fat and nutrients.

Magical Food Item #2: Whole Milk

When reaching for milk, most people grab the 2% or the skim milk
because they believe it's healthier than whole milk.

But classic bodybuilders and strength trainers preferred whole

milk.

I'll explain why in a second, but first let me show you something
funny.

The fat in milk comes from butterfat. Skim milk contains about
0.5% butterfat. 1% milk contains 1% butterfat content and 2% milk
contains 2% butterfat content.

So how what do you think the butterfat content in whole milk is?
Surprise – it's just 3.25%.

And it's the butterfat portion of the milk that's richest in vitamins.
So if you're opting for skim or low-fat milk, you're missing out on all the
vitamins in milk.

Milk was high-regarded by classic bodybuilders and trainers

because it's high in protein, provides plenty of fat along with a fair
amount of carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.

In short, it was a complete source of easily-consumable nutrition.

Many old-time trainers would actually sip milk during their workouts!

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 And as we've already discussed – fat and saturated fat from animal
products is NOT a threat to your health and actually most closely
resembles the way we were meant to eat.

However, milk does contain some carbohydrates and sugar (as

lactose). So you'll need to be careful with consumption. For young,
skinny males looking to gain weight, they can consume large quantities of
milk each day for a short period of time. (I recommend 4-6 weeks for
bulking.)

For those looking to lose fat, I recommend restricting milk

consumption all together or just having 1-2 glasses after training.

Raw Milk: A Classic Super Food?

Many of the classic lifters from the pre-steroid era swore by raw
milk for adding muscle and size.

Raw milk is milk that has NOT been pasteurized. Pasteurization is

the process of briefly heating up milk to around 165 degrees for about 15-
20 seconds in an effort to kill any harmful bacteria within the milk.

Proponents of raw milk say that pasteurization kills the good

bacteria and enzymes within the milk.

For example, pasteurization kills 50% of the Vitamin C in milk and

up to 80% of other vitamins.

Many people today SWEAR by raw milk, claiming the beneficial

enzymes and bacteria in raw milk have restored their health and made
them feel better than they have in years.

I know more than a few fitness professionals who drink raw milk
after their workouts because it boosts their recovery abilities.

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 Of course, the government doesn't want anyone drinking raw milk.
It's illegal or semi-illegal in many states. Transporting raw milk for sale
across state borders is treated as an act worse than drug trafficking.

So if you want to model your nutrition after the classic

bodybuilder's nutritional plans and you want to include raw milk, you'll
have find a way to get raw milk in your area.

You certainly can't just get it from the store in most spots. Many
states offer a cow-share program – where you essentially pay a farmer a
small monthly fee for his cow. This makes you part-owner of the cow
and because farmers are allowed to drink raw milk from their own cows,
you'd be allowed to drink raw milk as well.

For more information on the

benefits of raw milk and how to get
it in your area, check out
www.RealMilk.com

Check out what's in my fridge (the label

reads, “unpasteurized milk.”) This was
acquired from a local farm.

Fasting: The Final Piece Of The Nutritional Puzzle

You cannot have a chapter about nutrition without including an

overview of fasting. Typically, when we talk about nutrition the
discussion centers around consumption – what to eat and what to drink.

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 But when it comes to health, longevity, building muscle and fat –
the complete and total LACK of consumption also plays an important
part.

Fasting is a timeless tradition. And if you think about it, fasting is

deeply seated in every human's DNA. Millions of years ago, when
mankind depended on hunting & gathering for dinner – fasting was a part
of life.

Not every hunt was successful. Sometimes all available food

sources simply dried up. One way or another, humans went without food
– sometimes for a day, sometimes for much longer. Clearly, the practice
of missing a few meals won't kill you or our ancestors would have been
wiped out long ago.

Quick side note: When I talk about fasting, I mean the practice of
abstaining from ALL food and drinking only water or other nearly-zero
calorie drinks. (Such as black coffee or tea).

Some people “fast” while drinking fruit juices or eating vegetables.

And that's not quite the same thing as abstaining from all calories entirely.

The Benefits of Short-Term Fasting

While long term fasts (longer than 48 hours) certainly have their
own set of benefits, for the purposes of this chapter we're going to focus
our attention on fasts of 48 hours of less.

I've done fasts longer than 48 hours – it's no where near as difficult
as you might imagine. But to be honest, boredom sets in after 72 hours so
these days I prefer to keep my fasts to 48 hours or less.

Short term fasts...

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  Gives your digestive system a short break

 May extend lifespan

 Forces your body to burn stored body fat

 Provides mental clarity

 Improves recovery and helps combat inflammation

 Boosts immune system and overall healing

 Eliminates toxins and poisons from the body

 Boosts metabolism (surprise!)

 Increases muscle-building hormones like growth hormone and

testosterone

 Saves money on food

Many classic bodybuilders and lifters from the turn of the century
advocated periodic fasting as a means for achieving improved health,
burning body fat and creating a lean & muscular physique.

For example, consider the case of Bernarr McFadden.

A health guru from the early 1900's, he believe fasting could cure
almost any disease. He himself fasted every Monday for much of his life.

Anyone who doubts the restorative power of fasting need look no

further than McFadden's now legendary 7-day fast.

McFadden went an entire week without touching any food. He

drank only water. And while most people assume a fast leaves you with

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little energy for anything else, McFadden actually walked 10 miles per day
each and every day during his fast.

He lost 15 pounds over the course of the week long fast. And you'd
think he would have lost muscle and strength – but that's not at all the
case.

In fact, he actually grew STRONGER as the week went on.

Before beginning his fast, he lifting a 50-pound dumbbell above his

head with one hand. He – and many others of that time – felt that was an
impressive display of strength.

But after 7 days, McFadden tried to lift the 50-pound dumbbell

again – and found it to be surprisingly light. So he tried a 60-pound
dumbbell. Same result. Tried a 70-pound dumbbell. Easy. 85-pound
dumbbell. Felt light as feather. Finally, he tried to press a 100-pound
dumbbell over his head with just one hand – and succeeded.

This is an impressive display of strength – and it was a personal

record for McFadden... despite the fact that he hadn't eaten a crumb in 7
days.

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 Check out the photo: That's
Bernarr McFadden on the 7th day of
his fast. He's “bench pressing” a
200-pound man.

(Apologies for the quality of the

photo – it is over 100 years old.)

McFadden only advocated 24 hour (or longer) fasts once a week –

or even less frequently than that. But he railed against the practice of
eating 3 meals per day as he felt that was driving most people to an early
grave.

He advised most people to eat just 1-2 meals per day as he felt this
was an important key to health. By eating just 1 or 2 meals a day, you get
the benefits of fasting each day, but you don't have to go hungry because
when you do sit down to eat a meal you get to eat your fill.

McFadden wasn't the only classic fitness enthusiast to stick with

such a schedule. One of the most ripped bodybuilder's of all times, Mr.
California in 1953, Irvin “Zabo” Koszewski ate just two meals per day.

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 The man they called “Zabo” often won “best abs”
at bodybuilding competitions.

As you can see from the photo, clearly there is merit to eating just
1-2 meals per day.

While modern bodybuilders eat 6 (or more) meals per day

consisting of “lean” proteins and high-carbohydrate fillers, the classic
bodybuilders would eat larger meals consisting of meat, animals fats,
cheese, butter and milk. This method allowed them to build muscle
WITHOUT getting fat.

Plus, fasting is one of the few proven methods for improving health
and extending lifespan. Back in the 1930's, a study was performed on
earthworms. One earthworm was isolated from the group and put on a
cycle of fasting and feeding. The worm was able to survive on it's own
tissue for months. Once the size of the worm visually decreased, the
scientists would resume feeding.

This particular worm outlasted it's relatives by 19 generations!

That's the equivalent of a human living for 700 years!

Now, obviously fasting is not going to allow you to live forever.

But short doses of fasting can significantly improve longevity and boost
recovery.

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 Rather than fasting for days or weeks, I prefer daily mini-fasts.
That's right, most days I skip breakfast – even though many consider it the
“most important meal of the day.” (I suspect it was the cereal
manufacturers who started that myth.”)

And I'll even skip lunch too. I'll feast at dinner – and then feast
again before going to bed. According to the “experts”, my practice of
pigging out right before I go to bed should make me fat and unhealthy.
But instead I'm lean, muscular, healthy and fit.

It sounds crazy – skipping breakfast and lunch each day. But once
you get in the habit, it's really quite easy. And you'll be amazed at how
much money you save and how much extra time you can free up.

If you want to try these daily mini-fasts for yourself, here's a few
words of advice.

First: If you're used to eating 5 or 6 meals per day, don't expect to

make the transition in one day. Start by skipping breakfast.

Then try your best to eat a high-fat, moderate protein, low carb
lunch. Dietary fat helps you feel satisfied after a meal where
carbohydrates make you crave more food (which is why you're always
hungry after eating Chinese food – it's the rice.)

Next, start pushing your lunch hour back further and further.
When I first started this plan I was used to eating lunch at 11am so it took
a few days to push that back all the way to dinner. You might get some
severe hunger pangs, shakiness or headaches the first few days. This will
pass quickly.

Drink TONS of water during the first few days as this will help you
feel full and dull your appetite. Within a few weeks you'll find it easy to
go 18 hours or longer without any food. And you'll feel FREEDOM since

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you will no longer be a slave to the typical breakfast-snack-lunch-snack-
dinner-snack cycle.

Putting It All Together: Classic Nutrition

In A Modern World.

By now, your head must be spinning with all the new rules and
information I've given you.

Fear not. In this section I'll tie it all together for you and give you
some sample eating plans.

First, let me paint you a picture.

Here's the standard government approved food pyramid:

As you can see, the government would like you to eat 6 or more
servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta EACH DAY. Plus 2-4 servings of
fruit! And fat should be consumed only sparingly.

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 This is an absolute joke. Show me someone who eats 6 servings of
rice, bread and pasta each day along with 4 servings of fruit and I'll show
you an overweight, out-of-shape couch potato.

Millions of people followed this government-issued food pyramid

for decades and sadly, their health probably suffered due to mis-
information from the government.

The Classic Physique Pyramid Food Chart would look much

different. You'd see meats, eggs, butter and healthy oils on the bottom.
Followed by vegetables the next rung up. Then nuts, dairy and cheeses.

And at the top I'd put sugar/fruit/bread/rice/pasta and cereal –

pretty much the mirror opposite of the government's food
recommendations.

Follow this “old school” food pyramid when making your food
choices. Eat 2-4 meals per day. 2 Meals per day when trying to lose
weight. 4 meals per day when trying to gain.

Eat large meals – freeing yourself from the need for snacking in
between meals.

Focus on consuming plenty of fat from animal sources or healthy

oils (olive & coconut). Eat lots and lots of vegetables. And do your best to
minimize consumption of cereal, bread, pasta, rice and grains. And do
your damnedest to avoid sugar.

Combine this classic physique eating plan with the classic

workouts plans and you'll be well on your way to lean, muscular, healthy,
classical physique.

Sample 7-Day Classic Physique Meal Plan

Here's a “week in my life” following the classic rules of nutrition.

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 During this week, my weight remained constant. I did not gain or
lose a pound. (Although my strength increased – as it does almost every
week by following the classic rules for training.)

If I had wanted to gain weight, I would have done so by increasing

the number of meals I ate per day – perhaps including breakfast or lunch.

If I wanted to lose weight, I would have done so by fasting a little

more often or by cleaning up the diet per week. But as you can see, this
“classic” method of eating allows me to stay lean (under 10% body fat
year round), strong, healthy while still enjoying my life.

Sunday:

Breakfast: Black Coffee.

Noon: Weight Training workout, followed by protein shake. 2

scoops of chocolate protein, mixed with water and 2 ounces of cream.

Dinner: Pot Roast made with beef, gravy, carrots and potatoes.
Also had a couple slices of French bread slathered heavily with butter.
Plus 2 glasses of red wine.

Before bed snack: Raw veggies dipped in ranch plus a few mixed
nuts.

Monday:

Breakfast: Black Coffee.

Lunch: None.

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 Dinner: Chicken wings dipped in full-fat blue cheese dressing,
plus a few beers. (Monday Night Football).

Before bed snack: Protein shake made with 2 scoops of chocolate

protein, water and 2 ounces of cream.

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Black coffee.

Lunch: None.

Mid-afternoon snack: Mixed nuts.

Dinner: Steak and vegetables. Extra butter added to both.

Weight Training Workout.

Before bed: Protein shake made with 2 scoops of chocolate protein,

water and 2 ounces of cream.

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Black coffee.

Lunch meeting with clients: Cobb Salad made with lettuce,

chicken, bacon, eggs, avocado and full-fat ranch.

Dinner: 2 large pieces of fish, plus mixed vegetables cook in butter.

Small amount of almond rice on the side.

Snack: Blueberries mixed with full-fat whipped cream.

Thursday:

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 Breakfast: Black coffee.

Lunch: None.

Dinner: 3 Cheeseburgers (with the buns) plus some raw veggies in

ranch dressing. 2 beers.

(Beginning of 24 hour fast.)

Weight Training workout on fasted stomach.

Water until bed.

Friday:

Breakfast: Black coffee.

Lunch: None (fasting).

Dinner: Pizza night with the family.

Late night snack: Protein shake (2 scoop of chocolate protein

mixed with water and 2 ounces of cream.

Saturday:

Breakfast: 4 egg omelet made with full-fat cheese, onions, peppers,

ham and heavy cream. Plus coffee.

Lunch: Salad: Tuna fish, lettuce, bacon bits and full-fat Italian
dressing.

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 Dinner: Tacos: Heaping portion of ground beef, cheese, lettuce,
tomatoes, full-fat cheese and few crunchy taco shells. Beer.

Late-night snack: Protein shake (2 scoops of chocolate protein,

water, cream.)

Analysis: I get plenty of healthy fats from animal sources. Carbs

are kept fairly low and sugar intake is practically zero.

And yet, I'm perfectly happy and content eating this way. I mean
look at my food over the course of a week – tacos, chicken wings, beer,
wine, pizza, pot roast, French bread, full-fat cheeses and dips.... who
wouldn't enjoy eating like this?

Sure, not every food choice was perfect. Obviously, pizza night
shatters the “classic” rules but at the same time sometimes meals are more
about spending time with the family and less about the nutritional data
stamped on your food.

That's the great thing about incorporating a 24-hour fast once a

week. You'll notice I did mine from Thursday night at about 6pm to
Friday night at about 6pm. This 24-hour fast basically allows me to
commit a variety of dietary “sins” throughout the course of the week
without suffering the consequence of fat gain.

Again, this is just a sample week from my life. This is the plan I
follow to stay lean, muscular and healthy (I almost NEVER get sick).

And again, this is my strategy for maintaining my weight while

making consistent strength gains in the gym. I stay under 10% body fat
year round with this strategy. If I want to lose a bit more fat and drop to
6-7% body fat, I just clean up the diet a bit and maybe incorporate an
additional day of fasting.

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 If I want to gain muscular bulk, I eat 4 meals per day – but still
striving for high fat, moderate protein, low-carbohydrate choices.

I can't tell you exactly how to eat. Everyone is different and

everyone has different schedules. My days are EXTREMELY busy so
skipping breakfast and lunch makes sense for me as most days I don't
have time to sit and eat anyway.

Here are the basic tenets of “classic” nutrition. Follow these

guidelines to construct your own classic eating plan:

The Rules Of Classic Nutrition

#1) Eat 2-4 large meals per day. 2 meals if trying to lose fat and 4 if trying
to gain muscular bulk.

#2) Most meals should be high in fat, moderate in protein and low in
carbohydrates. Examples: Steak & Eggs, Fish and veggies.

#3) Devote at least a full 24-hours to fasting – no food, just water and
coffee or tea.

#4) Shoot for roughly 50-150 grams of protein per day. Use protein shakes
as needed to help up your protein intake.

#5) Avoid sugar.

#6) Eat plenty of vegetables.

#7) Consume fruit, whole grains, breads, pastas, rices and cereals
sparingly – or not at all.

#8) Drink plenty of water during the day – and don't be afraid to enjoy a
few glasses of wine or beer at night.

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#9) “Lean protein” is a joke. Consume plenty of healthy fat with your
protein. If you are eating a lean protein source (like chicken or tuna) find
a way to eat some fat with it. (Like adding ranch to your chicken or
Italian dressing to your tuna.)

#10) Enjoy your food.

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 Chapter Five: The Second Cornerstone: Lifestyle

This chapter will be ignored by

almost of all readers. And that's a
damn shame.

Because this information in this

chapter will not only help you
build muscle, burn fat and achieve
vitality, it will make you happier too.

Bernarr Macfadden,1931.

That's right, you'll enjoy life more when you follow the classic rules
of living. So put all skepticism aside and see how the classic lifestyle can
benefit you today.

Element #1 Of A Classic Lifestyle: Sleep.

Before the invention of the electric light bulb, people slept an

average of 10-12 hours a day. Our ancient ancestors slept from dusk until
dawn (because there's not much else to do in the dark) which represents
about 10 hours in the summer and even longer in the winter.

Plus, our ancient ancestors would take a mid-day nap as well. And
if you remember, their ancient practices represent the healthiest course of
action for us. So more sleep is on the order.

But you probably already know you should sleep more.

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 Here's how to make it happen:

 Shut down the gadgets. Pick a time every night and shut down
your computer, your television, your phone, etc. Read a book with
some dim lighting for 30 minutes and you'll soon find yourself
ready for sleep.

 Go to bed early. The old adage that every one hour of sleep before
midnight is worth two after midnight holds true. Try to get to bed
by 10pm to maximize natural rhythms.

 Get rid of all electrical devices in your bedroom. Electrical devices

can mess up your circadian rhythms. In our modern world, we
can't avoid electromagnetic frequency pollution (EMF) during the
day – electromagnetic waves are everywhere all the time. So the
least we can do is give our bodies and minds a complete,
restorative 8-10 hours of EMF-free sleep. This means anything
you've got to plug in should be removed from the bedroom and
your cell phone should definitely not be in the bedroom with you.
Get rid of your electrically powered alarm clock, get a battery
powered one and keep it as far from your bed as possible.

 Keep your bedroom cool and dark. Whenever possible, sleep with
the windows open. Bernarr McFadden, Eugene Sandow and many
others praised the restorative effects of sleeping with the windows
open. Not only is the fresh air good for you, but cold air can
actually help you burn body fat – even while you sleep.

 Ditch the fluffy mattress. For millions of years, our ancestors slept
on hard ground. Today, we sleep on cushy mattresses and then
wonder why our backs hurt in the morning. Get yourself a firm
mattress – or be a true spartan and sleep on the floor. This will take
some getting used to. But many who suffer from frequent back
pain found themselves completely cured after transitioning to
sleeping on the floor.

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  Finally, schedule time for naps. Legend has it the Cuban
weightlifting team would sleep for 9 hours a day AND take a 3
hour nap in the afternoon. And research shows us our ancient
ancestors would take naps whenever possible.

Of course, reading about the benefits of sleep is easy. Actually

forcing yourself to get more sleep takes herculean effort.

That's why I doubt more than one reader out a thousand will dare
undertake the following challenge...

The 10 Day Sleep Challenge

If I could show you a ZERO-COST way to gain 3.5 pounds of

muscle AND lose 10 pounds of fat in just 10 days... would you take me up
on it?

Well, let's find out:

Here's the challenge: For 10 days, you're going to do just two

things:

#1) Cut out all sugar. (By this point, you should know why.)
#2) Get 10 hours of sleep every night.

If you can do those two things, you can actually lose 10 pounds of
fat (some people drop even more) and gain 3.5 pounds of muscle in just 10
days.

That's a 13.5 pound bodyweight “swing” (-10 pounds of fat, + 3.5

pounds of muscle. ) You will LOOK dramatically different making that
kind of recomposition.

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(Note: Women will not gain 3.5 pounds of muscle – but will dramatically
improve strength none the less.)

Now, you've probably heard that it's impossible to gain muscle and
lose fat at the same time. Well, usually yes, that's true. But there are two
scenarios where it's actually quite common to gain muscle and lose fat at
the same time:

Scenario #1: Puberty. During puberty, testosterone, growth

hormones and other powerful natural chemicals spike – causing rapid
changes in muscle mass and fat.

It's quite common for a chubby boy to turn into a heavily muscled
man seemingly overnight thanks to the magic of puberty.

Scenario #2: Taking steroids. When a person decides to take

steroids, it's quite common for them to build muscle and burn fat at the
same time.

This makes sense: Popular steroids include “test” (synthetic

testosterone) and HGH (Human Growth Hormone). In other words, the
exact same natural hormones that cause an increase in muscle mass and a
reduction in body fat during puberty.

Now consider this: If our ancient ancestors slept 10-12 hours a

night for hundreds of thousands of years, and we've only just recently
begun to short-change ourselves on sleep... what do you think happens to
these powerful muscle-building & fat-burning hormones?

Answer: They get suppressed.

So what do you think happens when you restore the natural

balance in your body by A) cutting out sugar and B) getting 10 hours a
sleep a night?

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 Answer: You'll experience a massive surge in your NATURAL
muscle-building and fat-burning hormones.

And THAT'S why you can actually lose 10 pounds of fat and gain
3.5 pounds of lean mass if you successfully complete this 10 day
challenge.

If you've got the guts to attempt – and finish this challenge – it will
change your life. Not just your physique (although you will add muscle
and strip off body fat with such speed it will SCARE you)... not just your
health (although that will improve) and not just your energy (you will feel
like superman – I kid you not) but your life. You will come away from
this as a completely changed person.

Here's what happens:

Within a couple days, you'll notice an incredible surge of energy.

Your skin, muscles and joints will feel better than ever before. Without
even trying – you'll end up eating better. Cravings for carbohydrates all
but disappear after a few consecutive nights of 10 hours rest.

As a result, the fat will melt away like magic. I've seen reports of
people losing 14 pounds in one week – just by cutting back on sugar and
getting 10 hours of sleep a night!

Don't be surprised if you instantly add as much as 10% to all your

lifts after just one full week on this schedule. People at the gym will be
dying to know “what you're taking.”

It seems counter-intuitive to think sleep could do so much. But

remember – we're playing by nature's rules. Nature gave us all the
capability to be lean and strong – but only if we abide by her instructions.
And since our ancestors slept for 10+ hours a night – we need to play by
the same rules to achieve maximum health and vitality.

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 Is this challenge easy? Of course not. You'll have to nearly
eliminate all television. The computer will have to be shut down. And
hitting up the bar with friends is certainly out of the question. But in
exchange for a measly 10 days of sacrifice you'll receive the gift of
overwhelming energy, health and vitality.

If you take nothing else from this book... if you ignore every other
piece of advice but this one, than your life will still be changed in ways
you can't imagine.

Element #2 of a Classic Lifestyle: Walking

Walking is NOT exercise. Let me say that again: Walking is NOT

exercise. Walking is lifestyle choice. Walking is a mode of transportation.
Walking is a method for relaxation – but it is NOT exercise.

People who count walking as exercise are almost always fat, weak
and out-of-shape. People who walk for transportation or enjoyment are
more often fit and trim.

Our hunter-gather ancestors would walk on average 10-15 miles a

day. They did NOT walk for exercise. They did it to get around. But no
matter why they did it, they set the standard. Because generation after
generation of humans have been walking every day for millions of years,
we've adapted and now daily walking is a key component of our
physiologically.

The benefits of walking are fairly straightforward. Walking keeps

you moving, strengthens your feet, ankles and joints and “stirs the blood.”
The old-timer's believed that sitting around all day caused blood to pool
and decreased health.

There may be some truth to that practice. Our ancient ancestors

didn't sit around like we do. Sure, they spent plenty of time lounging, but

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they spent just as much time slowly walking around. In short, they stayed
in motion.

But there's another little known benefit to walking: Recovery.

People always ask me how they can recover faster from their
workouts. They expect me to name some exotic supplement or hand out
some fancy tip. So when I say “take a walk” I can see the look of
disappointment in their eyes.

It may not be sexy but going for a walk is an incredible recovery

booster. Not only does it get the blood moving and aid in muscle
recovery, but walking can have meditative effects which turn aid recovery
even more.

In fact, Russian sport scientists – with their entire arsenal of

steroids and million dollar training labs – would recommend walks on the
beach for their most overtrained weight lifters. (And Russian weight
trainers were famous for brutal 3 hour, twice per day workouts.)

If walking could help those guys recover, it can help you.

The Perfect Way To Start Each Day

When you wake up in the morning, throw on pair of sweats and

lace up your shoes. Hit the bathroom, handle your business, grab a sip of
water and then immediately get outside and walk for 10-15 minutes.

Nothing extreme – we're not trying to burn calories. Just a slow

and easy “wake up walk.” If you start your day with 10 minutes of
walking (outside) you'll be amazed at how much better you feel. You'll
have energy and your mind will be clear and alert.

Try it and you just might end up starting every day like this for the
rest of your life.

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 But whether you walk first thing in the morning or last thing at
night, find a reason to walk every day. You don't have to walk 10 miles a
day like our ancient ancestors but find a way to “stir the blood” daily.

Element #3 of a Classic Lifestyle: Sunshine

Modern day scientists are just now discover the vast benefits of
Vitamin D. Dubbed “the sunshine vitamin” your body creates Vitamin D
when sunlight interacts with your skin. You can also get Vitamin D from
certain “classic” foods such as fish, cod liver oil, milk and eggs.

Obviously, our ancient ancestors spent plenty of time in the sun.

And while we can't expect to spend all day in the sun like they did, it's
still important to get at least 15 minutes of sunshine each day.

“We are designed, cell by cell, as creatures of the sun. Virtually every organ
system in your body is dependent on sunshine for optimal performance.”
– Dr. Sears, Your Best Health Under The Sun

Now here's the interesting thing about sunshine and Vitamin D.

If you're like most people, you've been raised to fear the sun and
told to slather on sunscreen every time you step outside.

Melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – has been linked to a

deficiency in Vitamin D. And if you slather on SPF sun screen, you're
blocking your body's ability to manufacture Vitamin D!

Obviously, no one is recommending you sit in the sun for 8 hours

and burn yourself to a crisp. But if you slather on sunscreen every time
you step outside, you could actually be INCREASING your odds of
getting skin cancer.

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 Many classic bodybuilders set aside time for sunbathing. And
thanks to modern research on Vitamin D, we're starting to discover the
benefits of sunbathing.

Sunshine is good for you. Try to get 15-30 minutes of sunshine each
day for optimal health and vitality.

Element #4 of a Classic Lifestyle: Meditation

One of the major drawbacks of living in our modern society is the

level of stress most of us deal with on a daily basis.

I once heard it said that the average man today experiences more
stress in ONE week than our grandfathers experienced in a YEAR.

I believe it.

Phone calls, emails, faxes, text messages, instant message, 80-hour

work weeks, 2 hour commutes, no time for sleep... no time to blink... it
adds up. And stress can absolutely stonewall your efforts at achieving
optimal health. That's why I use my 10 minute meditation protocol on a
daily basis to help undo the high level of stress we all experience in this
modern world.

This is NOT optional.

It's crucial for your mind... your gut... your health... and your
sanity.

The exercise is simple. Sit down. Close your eyes. Breathe in,
breathe out. Focus on counting your breaths – and nothing else. Train
your mind to be quiet. (Warning: This WILL be extremely difficult at
first.) But the rewards are immense. Not only will you be healthier, but
you'll enjoy a sharper mind and a better life.

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 I know from experience that most readers will simply nod, smile
and skip ahead to the next section. So perhaps I'm talking to myself at this
point but I'm still going to try and convince you to give this a go.

We all know meditation can help relax you, but it's also been
shown to...

 Boost your immune system

 Increase your brain power

 Make you happier

 And even make you 10% stronger!

No joke on that last one. Top power lifting champions discovered

they could lift 10% more weight if they meditated for a few moments
before the lift.

When most people think about mediating, they think of Buddhist

monks in robes sitting in uncomfortable positions for hours on end.

I propose a simple, modern day meditation solution:

Once a day, take 10 minutes to meditate. You can sit on a chair, sit
on the floor, sit in your car – it doesn't matter. You can lie down if you
like but if you find yourself falling asleep then go back to the seated
position.

Draw a deep breath in through your nose... hold for a beat and then
exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat this process over and over for
the entire 10 minutes.

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 What Should You Think About?

Here's the tricky part: You should think ONLY about counting
your breaths. Count each breath up to 4 and then repeat. This will be
difficult at first as you'll find your mind racing in a million different
directions.

Don't get frustrated. This just means your mental “focusing”

muscles are weak. But like any muscle, we can make them stronger with
training.

When you notice your thoughts have drifted, just gently bring your
mind back in line and get back to counting your breaths. I belief your
mind is your most powerful asset, but power without control is useless.

Most people have absolutely no control of their mind, and as a

result they end up with no control of their thoughts. If you have no
control of your thoughts, you lose control of your actions (“I don't want to
eat this cake, but I feel powerless!”).

And when you lose control of your actions, you've lost control of
YOUR life. That's right – it's YOUR life. You should be in control.

You should be in complete control of your actions. You should be

in complete control of your thoughts. And it all starts with learning to
control your own mind.

Breath in, breath out. Count 4 breaths. Think of nothing else. When
you can do this for 10 minutes a day, you will have gained control over
your mind.

TIP: With your eyes closed, look up towards your forehead. This
seems to help you lock-in on your meditation and do a better job of
keeping your mind focused on the task of counting your breaths.

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Element #5 of a Classic Lifestyle: Cold Water

Here's another “old-school” technique you can use to boost vitality

and improve recovery. The old-timer's felt this strategy can literally
“strengthen the blood.”

In fact, the old-timer's literally referred to this practice as “the cold

water cure.” Back then, they called it “hydropathy” but today we call it
taking a cold bath/shower.

Today, modern research has caught up to this timeless tradition

and scientists are beginning to discover why cold water therapy benefits
us. It's believe that cold water taxes the bodies systems in a healthy,
natural way, forcing the body's nervous and immune system to adapt and
grow stronger.

And if you walk into any N.F.L. locker room after a practice or
game, you'll find many of these million dollar super athletes submerged in
an ice bath. Because despite every advantage these athletes have, despite
all the trainers, fancy equipment, drugs and supplements, an old-
fashioned ice bath still works wonders for recovery.

That's why the old-time bodybuilder's would recommend an ice

cold bath or shower after your workout. Not only will it invigorate and
energize you, but it will help speed recovery.

Here are a few more benefits:

 Boosts testosterone levels: Hot baths/showers kill sperm and lower

testosterone levels, while cold showers/baths may have the
opposite effect.

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  Improves mood: The sudden shock of cold water causes your brain
to release endorphins – the happiness hormones.

 Jolts your nervous system: If you're feeling sluggish or lazy, the

cold water cure can instantly “wake up” your nervous system and
make you feel energized and alert.

 Develop mental toughness: Let's be honest – forcing yourself to

take a cold shower is tough. No one's going to know if you do it or
if you wimp out. So those that force themselves to do it will
increase mental toughness.

 Burns fat: Scientists have discovered that submerging yourself in

cold water forces the body to expend energy to keep your core
temperature constant. So the body burns stored body fat to
accomplish this task.

Unless you're tough as nails, you probably won't be able to step

under a ice-cold shower right on day one. So try a gradual approach.
Start with a hot shower and then slowly make the water colder and colder.
The first few days, you'll be lucky to last a few seconds with the water on
the coldest setting. But after a month or so, shoot for 3 minutes with the
water at the coldest setting.

Element #6 of a Classic Lifestyle: Fresh, Cold Air

Did you know the reason we catch more colds and flus in the
winter has nothing to do with the cold and the snow? The reason we get
sick more often during the winter months is because we're cooped up
indoors more often and viruses spread more easily in warm, stale
environments.

The old-time trainers probably didn't know that, but they did
recommend cold, fresh air as a restorative health measure. Many old

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timer's even recommended all workouts and training sessions be done
outside in the elements to fully harness the power of cold, fresh air.

In fact, Bernarr McFadden and other old time trainers were

staunch supporters of the practice of sleeping near an open window –
even in the dead of winter.

Despite what most believed about catching a cold or flu, these old-
time trainers discovered it was nearly impossible to get sick if they were
exposed to cold air on a daily basis.

This may not be practical for everyone depending on where you

live, but it's certainly worth considering. Whenever possible, sleep with
your windows open to allow yourself cold, fresh air at night. And try to
get outside at least once per day to suck in some fresh air.

Element #7 of a Classic Lifestyle: Unplug

In my younger days, I was an apprentice for an old Jewish rabbi.

From sundown on Friday night to Sundown on Saturday night he was
forbidden by his religion to use any forms of technology. No lights, no
driving and certainly no computers, phones or televisions.

It was frustrating – certain times projects needed an immediate

answer and he was flat out unreachable during those hours.

But slowly and surely I started to see the wisdom in this practice.

Eventually, I experimented with my own block of unplugged time.

On Sunday's, I'd shut down the TV, shut down the computer and switch
off my phone. I can't even describe how refreshed and mentally alert I
was on Monday morning after truly “switching off” for a full day on
Sunday.

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 In our modern world, we're bombarded with electromagnetic
waves from all of our technological devices. Are these electromagnetic
waves harmful? Some people believe so. But whether they're harmful or
not one fact remains – our ancient ancestors certainly weren't exposed to
them at all – and now we're exposed 24/7.

That's why the 7th principle of the classic lifestyle is to simply

“unplug” for a day. Give yourself the gift of freedom from the computer,
the phone and the television. Go for a walk, read a book, cook a feast in
the kitchen, hang out with friends – anything to give your mind and your
nervous system a break from the constant pounding of electromagnetic
waves you'll experience during the other six days of the week.

In closing, the preceding 7 principles of the classic lifestyle may

seem out-dated and old-fashioned... but that's exactly the point.

Our bodies and genes are outdated and old-fashioned. Our bodies
and genes are set-up for success in a world that existed 2 million years
ago. It's only in the past 200 years we've developed lights, computers and
other modern advances.

And our bodies haven't had a chance to adapt. So anything we do

to live the classical lifestyle will be beneficial to our health, fitness and
vitality in the long run. It will take effort to put some of these ideas into
practice. And you probably won't be able to try everything at once. But I
hope you'll return to this chapter again and again over the years and put
each of these techniques into practice throughout your life.

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 Chapter Six: The Third Cornerstone: Strength

Now we've arrived at the meat of

the book.

The old-school bodybuilders and

classic trainers developed a very
simple method for building
muscle & strength.

Bobby Pandour, 1905.

In this chapter, ,I'll pull back the curtain and show you the long-lost
methods these drug-free, genetically average men used to build bone-
crushing strength and slabs of lean muscle.

The Importance Of Strength & Power

When people talk about all the different aspects of fitness –

endurance, flexibility, coordination, balance, etc.... they tend to treat them
as if they are all equally important.

They are NOT. Without a doubt, strength, muscle and power are
the most important aspects of fitness – because they are the most useful...
and they are also the hardest to develop.

There are flexibility experts who can have anyone doing the full
splits within a few weeks. You can improve your endurance and your 1-
minute mile run time rather easily.

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 But it can take YEARS to build the amount of strength, muscle and
power necessary to do a double bodyweight squat or deadlift. And it's
that kind of strength that will come in handy in everyday life.

There's a saying in athletics – “All things being equal, the stronger

athlete wins.” It's not “the most flexible athlete” or “the most talented
athlete.” Strength wins.

Strength is also the longest-lasting component of fitness. Stop

stretching for a week and your flexibility goes out the window. But once
you become strong – you stay strong. Sure, if you stop training for a year
or so you'll certainly become weaker. But once your resume training the
strength you previously acquired comes back fast.

That's why the old-timers made the pursuit of strength the key goal
of their training session. Because training for strength and power tends to
improve all other aspects of fitness as well.

Strength Is The Most Important Component Of Fitness:

A Case Study

Check out the photo to the right.

That's heavyweight lifter Paul

Anderson on the left getting set to
race world-champion sprinter Jim
Lea in a 50 yard dash.

Paul Anderson weighed over 350 The Race: 1958

pounds – so most thought he
wouldn't stand a chance against the
lighter man.

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But big Paul Anderson nearly won the race – shocking to some. Until
you consider the value of strength in all things fitness. You see, even
though Anderson weighed more than double what Lea did, he could
squat nearly 1,000 pound – meaning his legs were probably about FIVE
times as strong as the lighter mans.

Which means every time big Paul Anderson's feet hit the ground, his
mighty legs could push off the ground with five times more force than
Jim Lea's legs could.

This is a huge competitive advantage – and one that's not easily earned.
You have to spend years under the bar to build this kind of strength.
And that's why strength is the most useful – and most valuable –
component of fitness.

These days, the process of building muscle & strength is more

confusing than ever. There are quite literally thousands of different
“experts” offering to reveal the “new secrets” to gain muscle mass.

But – as it's often the case – there are no new secrets. Everything
that's been done has been done before. And as you can see from the photo
of Bobby Pandour at the beginning of this chapter, the classic
bodybuilders and old-time trainers cracked the code on building muscle
and strength well over 100 years ago.

After studying volumes of training guides created before steroids

were even invented, I started to notice some common themes. While it's
true that no two classic bodybuilder's followed exactly the same program,
there are many common elements that we can use to build an effective
program based on what works for drug-free athletes.

The common elements of an old-school training program that

works for genetically average, drug-free athletes...

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Common Element #1) Full Body Workouts

While today's modern bodybuilders and fitness gurus have nothing

better to do than putz around in the gym all day, the classic bodybuilders
and strength trainers of yesteryear couldn't afford to be in the gym a
single minute longer than necessary.

The classic trainers had full time jobs, hobbies, and families.
Training was just a PART of their lives, it was NOT their entire lives.

So they had to find a way to build muscle, strength and power in

the shortest amount of time possible.

That's why most classic trainers preferred full body workouts.

A full body workout allows you to train your entire physique in

one short (typically less than 45-60 minutes) workout.

Today's modern bodybuilders usually split up each body part and

give it it's own day. Example: Legs on Monday, Chest on Tuesday, Biceps
on Wednesday, etc. Of course, this means you end up in the gym 6-7
days a week. And even then, this method doesn't really work well unless
you're taking steroids. (You'll see why in a minute.)

But when you perform a full-body workout, you maximize your

body's own natural muscle-building hormones which allows drug-free
athletes to build muscle, size and strength as fast as possible!

Here's how it works:

In order to train your entire body in a single workout, you must

choose exercises that use a lot of muscles. Like the squat or the deadlift –
those exercises each use over 200 muscles groups in every rep!

As a result, when you train with these types of exercises, your body
responds by flooding your system with testosterone, growth hormone and
other natural hormones that signal your body to create more muscle.

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 So every time you train in a full-body fashion using these types of
exercise, it triggers your body to release all these muscle-building
hormones.

Now, compare that with today's modern bodybuilder who uses the
now famous “split” method. He might train his legs on Monday, which
will trigger the release of these powerful hormones.

But on Tuesday he might only train his forearms – this will NOT
trigger the release of these muscle-building hormones. But it doesn't
matter – because he's taking steroids and because these steroids mimic the
effect of the natural muscle-building hormones already in your body,
today's modern, juiced-up bodybuilder can get away with this method of
training and still grow.

But that method will NOT work for natural, genetically-average

guys like you and me.

Plus, it makes more sense to train your entire body as one unit.
After all, that's how your body operates in real life. If you have to help
your friend move a couch, you don't just use your arms. You use your
arms, your legs, your back, your abs – pretty much every muscle from
nose to toes.

And that's why we're going to mimic the classic, drug-free lifters
and use a full-body workout program.

Common Element #2) Train 3x per Week

The next thing I noticed while researching the training habits of the
classic bodybuilder's was that most athletes trained three times per week.

This schedule allows for a full day of rest between each training
session and two full days of rest after the last session of the week – which
will typically be the most demanding session of the three.

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 This is important because your muscles do not grow in the gym –
they grow while you're recovering!

You see, our workouts cause microscopic damage to the muscles

and the body responds by rebuilding the muscles bigger and stronger to
avoid further damage.

However, the process only works if you give your body adequate
time to rebuild and repair. The old time trainers took their rest and
recovery seriously. Full body workouts can demanding and that's why
you'll need a full day of rest in between each training session.

This is especially important for drug-free, genetically average guys.

Some people can make great gains by training 5, 6 or even 7 days a week.
But typically anyone that can make gains on that kind of schedule was
either born with great genetics or is taking steroids... or both.

The rest of us are better served by sticking with the classic 3x per
week routine.

Common Element #3) Compound Exercises

While today's modern bodybuilders and fitness “gurus” train using

a variety of disjointed “isolation” exercises, the old-time strong men took
a different approach.

They used mainly compound exercises – exercises that involve

multiple muscle groups. Not only does this save time, but these exercises
build muscle faster and burn fat too as it takes more energy to complete
these types of exercises.

Here's a short list of the classic compound exercises used by the old
time bodybuilders and strength athletes:

NOTE: I'll provide a few brief words on exercise performance but I

strongly recommend picking up a copy of “Starting Strength, 2 nd Edition”

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as that book does a fine job of teaching the proper form and technique for
each of the exercises listed below.

Squat

The undisputed king of all exercises. A true old-school movement

– the squat became a staple among classic bodybuilding routines ever
since so and so first discovered the benefits of heavy squats and high rep
squats.

Until that point, squats had mainly been done on the tip-toes using
lighter weights. But a few old-time trainers started performing flat footed
squats which allowed the use of heavier weights. Naturally, they started
adding muscle quicker when using heavier weights and the flat-footed
style of squatting caught on fast.

The squat uses more muscles than any other exercise – as a result
the squat produces a massive hormone flush each time it's performed. So
whether you want to get strong, add muscle or burn fat, the squat should
be in your routine.

There are many different types of squats, but the classic lifters stuck
with the basic barbell squat and for that reason we will too.

Although the squatting movement should be fairly simple (after all,

millions of people around the world in 3rd world countries “squat” when
going to the bathroom) the movement usually takes some practice for
many trainers.

A few tips:

First, bar placement. The bar should NOT rest on top of your
shoulders, but should be squeezed against the back of your shoulders.
This will keep you entire body rigid and tight which will increase your
power.

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 Next, eye placement. Don't look straight up at the ceiling and don't
look immediately at the floor. Look straight ahead and slightly down –
this will keep your neck in a neutral position.

Feet placement: Position your HEELS slightly closer than shoulder

width apart. Angle your toes OUT slightly.

Beginning the squat: Take a deep breath and hold it. Start by
pushing your butt BACK and bending at the hips. As you descend, focus
on keeping your knees OUT.

At the bottom: The bottom position

of the squat is achieved when the
top of your thigh is slightly lower
than your knee cap. Please read
that again. Squatting “high” (not
going all the way to bottom) is
cheating and can cause immense
knee pain over time.

Arnold and other old school

bodybuilders did plenty of heavy
squats.

To finish the movement, focus on driving your butt straight up in

the air while keeping your knees out. This will give you the most power.
Do NOT try to keep your back “straight up and down.” It is completely
natural and useful to have some forward lean. How much lean you have
will depend on your build.

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 Exhale as you pass through the “sticking point.” (The most
difficult portion of the movement – you'll know it when you experience
it.)

Front Squat

A variation of the traditional back squat is the front squat. The front squat
uses lighter weight, but is certainly not much easier than the back squat.

And many classic bodybuilders like

Steve Reeves actually preferred the
front squat as this movement helps
build up the muscles above the
knee cap better than the traditional
back squat.

Because the front squat builds core

strength and helps boost deadlift
strength, we'll also use the front
squat in our program.

Steve Reeves performing the front

squat.

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Dead lift

The deadlift builds real-world, useful strength. Picking something heavy

up off the ground is about as real as it gets. And because the deadlift uses
so many muscles, it's another favorite of the classic bodybuilders.

True story: A friends car was stuck

at the bottom of an incline with a
dead battery. The car needed to be
pushed up the hill to get it to top
where we had a car waiting to jump
the battery in the dead car.

My friend – a bodybuilder who

easily outweighs me by 25 pounds –
couldn't get the damn thing to
budge. Then I stepped up and
easily muscled the thing up the hill.

He can bench press more than I can

– but he doesn't do dead lifts and I
do. The result? I've got more
useful, real world strength.

Old school bodybuilders like Franco

Columbo used deadlifts to build
strength and size.

Most modern day trainers are afraid of the deadlift. Some believe it
will hurt your back. While others are just flat out afraid of hard work.
And believe me --- the deadlift is very hard work.

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 Because each rep is started from the floor – from a dead stop – each
rep makes you feel like your eyes are going to burst from your skull. But
it's this high level of hard work that forces your body to build new muscle
and power.

The execution of the deadlift is fairly simple: Position yourself so

that your shins are about one inch from the bar. (Most people make the
mistake of standing too far from the bar.)

Bend over --- leaving your butt high in the air. Again, most people
try to bring their butt down low in an attempt to turn the deadlift into a
squat off the floor. Don't do that.

Just bend over and grab the bar. You'll need a mixed grip – one
palm up, one palm down-- to keep the bar from slipping out of your
hands.

Then arch your back and pull the bar up along your shins (keep the
bar in contact with your body).

Keep pulling until you're standing all the way up. Then reverse the
process to lower the bar back to the floor.

Quick tip: Don't waste too much energy trying to lower the bar
super slow on the deadlift. Don't drop the damn thing, but don't fight
against gravity either. Save your energy for the next rep.

Overhead Press

While the bench press is the preferred upper body exercise of

choice, these days, this wasn't always the case. Decades ago, the overhead
press was the ultimate determinate of strength among weight lifters.

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The overhead press has since lost
favor among modern day
bodybuilders and fitness “gurus.”

But those of who train in the classic

manner still have a place in our
hearts (and our training routines)
for the overhead press.

Here's why:

Consider the following statement

from 1916...
Sig Klein performing the dumbbell
overhead press.

“The press is always slow and steady. You cannot find a better test of
pure strength than a two-arm press with a barbell. Whenever a man
starts to talk about “knack” in lifting, I give him a fairly heavy barbell
and ask him to make a two-arm press. If the legs are held straight,
nothing will send that barbell up except strength, and you need the
strength in the triceps of the arm, the small of the back, and
particularly in the deltoid muscles on the points of the shoulders. No
skill is required to press a barbell aloft after you once have it at the
chest and that is why I consider the two-arm press the best strength
test.”

Alan Calvert, “The Two-Arm Press” Strength magazine,

May 1916, page 23.

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 To make the press a true, “old school” exercise, start the first rep of
any set from the floor and “clean” the weight into position first. This
makes the exercise tougher than just starting with the weight off the rack
at shoulder level like many lifters do today.

But cleaning the first rep of each set is what helped the old-time
trainers build phenomenal strength and muscular development.

Performing the press:

Approach the loaded barbell with feet roughly shoulder width

apart. Grab the barbell with hands slightly closer together than the grip
spacing you'd use for the bench press. Clean the weight to your
shoulders. Then, whilst keeping elbows high, press the weight up. As
you clear the forehead, move forward under the bar.

Do not allow the barbell to drift back. Move your body under the
barbell. Continue pressing the barbell upwards to completion. Lock your
elbows at the top to signify a complete rep.

Bench Press

The bench press certainly needs no introduction. Modern

bodybuilders and gym rats tend to overuse the bench press to the
exclusion of other exercises. In most gyms, you won't have to wait to use
a squat rack but you may have to wait quite a long time for the bench
press.

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 This is despite the fact that the
squat is a better all-around exercise.
But alas, the squat is more difficult
so it will never be as popular as the
bench press.

This is not to say the bench press

is without merit. When used as
PART of full-body workout, the
bench press is a fine exercise for Steve Reeves bench press.
increasing upper body strength,
power and size.

In fact, the old-timers used the bench press primarily as method for
increasing overhead pressing strength. Because the old-timer's used the
bench press in a balanced way, they developed the square, gladiator-like
pec muscles common of yesteryear.

Contrast that with today's modern bodybuilder's who's over-

reliance on the bench press ends up creating over-developed pectoral
muscles – ruining any chance at a “classic” physique.

The execution of the bench press is simple, but not without it's own
unique nuances. First, grip the bar HARD. By squeezing the bar as hard
as you can, you'll fully activate your nervous system and you even
instantly add 10% to your lift with this technique.

Next, lower the bar to your chest SLOWLY. Then, gently touch the
bar on your t shirt before beginning the pressing motion. Aim to touch
just your t-shirt – not your chest. This will force you to control the barbell
fully and build additional strength.

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 From the bottom, focus on driving the bar up powerfully and
explosively. Be sure to arch your lower back – but keep your butt on the
bench.

Dips

You don't see many people

performing dips anymore. And
that's a shame because dips were a
favorite among classic bodybuilders
and trainers such as Marvin Eder.

For a time, the dip actually gained

a reputation as “the upper body
squat” because many old-time
trainers considered the dip to be the
most important exercise for building
upper body power, mass and size.

Marvin Eder set the standard on

this exercise.

At a bodyweight of around 190-

200 pounds, Eder did a dip with 434
pounds of additional resistance. (He
had two men hanging on his legs.)

Marvin Eder dipping with two grown

men holding his legs.

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 And as you can see from the photo, Marvin's hard work on the dip
bar paid off in the form of a heavily muscled upper-body. The strength he
built with dips carried over to other exercises as well – allowing Eder to
bench press a whopping 515 pounds.

Dips can bother some people's shoulders. And if the exercise is

performed too fast or with too much swing, you're asking for trouble.

But a smooth, slow dip with added resistance is one of the best old
school exercises you can do for upper body power and mass.

Key point: Make sure each rep is done below parallel – meaning
the upper arm should be at least parallel to the ground at the bottom of
the movement.

Chin-Up

The chin-up is another exercise

that's rarely seen anymore. And
again, it's a shame because the chin-
up just might be the most perfect
test of relative strength.

A great big fat man can easily

bench press 300 pounds or more.
But the chin-up is an honest test –
because to be good at chin-ups you
not only have to be strong but lean
as well.

An old school trainer performs heavy

weighted chins.

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 Excess body fat hinders the number of chins you can do. And for
that reason, many coaches are now using the chin-up as a testing tool to
measure athletic potential. Simply put, the more chin-ups an athlete can
do, the better his on-field performance.

Chin-ups can be trained for both volume (high reps with no added
resistance) and also strength (low reps with added resistance.) Marvin
Eder could do 8 one-armed chin-ups with each arm, 80 consecutive
bodyweight chin-ups and 8 weighted chin-ups with an extra 200 pounds
strapped to his waist.

Curl

While the curl might seem like a

modern day mainstay, the old-time
trainers actually performed the curl
in a very different manner.

You see, today's fitness gurus

and bodybuilders do plenty of curls
– but they usually do them with
light weights for many reps. This
builds what's called as sarcoplasmic
hypertrophy – an increase in
muscle size due to an increase in
the amount of fluid stored inside A young Reg Park performs heavy
the muscle cell. barbell curls.

It's basically “show off” muscle – bigger muscles that are NOT useful
and do NOT make you any stronger.
But the old time trainers would do heavy curls – often selecting a
maximum weight and performing just one heavy rep to see who can do

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the heaviest curl. In fact, the curl or power curl was actually one of the
contested lifts – meaning guys would compete to see who could curl the
most weight for one rep.

Again, let's use drug-free classic

bodybuilder Marvin Eder as an
example. He could curl 210
pounds – that's 10-20 pounds
MORE than his bodyweight. And
that kind of strength builds useful,
bulky muscle. As you can see from
the photo, Eder developed a pair of
massive biceps.

They even called him, “The

Biceps From The Bronx.”

Marvin Eder: “The Biceps From The

Bronx.”

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 There's no great mystery to the curl. Keep your elbows pinned to
your sides and your first few reps should be strict. But as the set
progresses, don't be afraid to use a bit of back-bend to allow you to use
more weight and get more reps.

Don't get too lax with your form

– Arnold's cheat curl pictured left is
a little looser than I'd like to see for
beginners.

But don't be afraid to loosen up

your form a bit in order to use some
heavier weights.

A Short List Of Assistance Exercises

While you can get a complete full-body workout with just the
exercises listed above, here are a few extra assistance exercises. These
exercises are used to strengthen weak body parts.

Neck Work:

The old-timers thought it extremely important to build a big, thick

neck. So they would include direct neck work in many of their routines.

There are really only a few useful neck exercises. And there are a
couple rules to keep in mind on all neck exercises.

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 First and foremost – NEVER rush when training your neck. You
want every movement to be slow and under control. Next, keep the reps
higher. While other exercises respond well to lower reps (5 or less) we
want to keep the reps higher on the neck exercises because we don't want
to use heavy weights on such a vital area.

Here are the main neck exercises:

#1) Towel Plate Lifts

For this exercise, simply lay on a weight bench with your belly
facing the sky. Place a small towel on your forehead and place a small (10
pounds or less to start) weight plate on the towel. Slide your head off the
bench, and then raise and lower your head while holding the weight plate
in place.

#2) Chain Lifts

You'll need a neck chain for this exercise. Hook up a small weight
plate to then neck chain and then slowly lift your head (and the weight
plate).

#3) Bridges

This is a great way to build up your neck without any additional

equipment. Football players and wrestlers depend on these exercises to
strengthen their necks and help avoid injury.

You can do these face down or face up – the face up variety will
also help stretch out your back but both variations will build the muscles
in your neck.

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Calf Raise

Squats and dead lifts will give your calves a tough workout but it's
good to include some direct calf work as this helps build up the lower
legs and strengthens the muscles around the ankle.

Reg Park grew his famous calves with 10 sets of 10 heavy calf raises
so don't be afraid to really pile on the weight with these. If you have
access to a standing calf raise machine, that's good. Otherwise, use
whatever machine you have access to.

No machine? Then you can improve by hanging weight off a dip

belt and doing your calf raises on a stair step.

Ab Exercises

It's crucially important to train your abs. Chinese weightlifters

actually consider the ab muscles as “a second spine.” By strengthening
your abs, you will strengthen your entire torso which allows you to lift
more weights in the big exercises like the squat and deadlift. And a bigger
squat and bigger deadlift translates to more muscle gain.

See the bonus report “Classic Abs” for my ab training

recommendations.

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Common Element #4) Progressive Resistance

The Single Greatest Key To Strength & Muscle

(From 3,000 Years Ago)

Before you ever pick up a

barbell, you should know the story
of Milo of Croton. It should be
posted on the door of every gym.

Milo of Croton was a six-time

Olympic wrestling champion nearly
3,000 years ago. The legend of Milo
and his bull is perhaps one of the
most famous weight-training stories
of all time.

As legend has it, young Milo began training by picking up a

newborn calf, placing it on his shoulders and carrying it for one mile.
Milo would do this every day. And as the newborn calf gained weight
and grew larger, Milo grew bigger and stronger.

Eventually, Milo was carrying a full grown bull on his shoulders

for a full mile. And as a result, Milo developed incredible strength and
power.

This story demonstrates one of the guiding principles of training:

The principle of progressive resistance. Adhere to this principle and you
can build super-human strength. Add just two pounds to the bar every
week and after 12 months you'll have added 104 pounds to your bench
press.

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 Get greedy and try to add 25 pounds to your bench press in one
jump and you progress will sputter and stall. The key to consistent gains
is progressive resistance.

The old-timer trainers knew this.

If you study the photos of the old
time trainers, you'll see many of
them actually preferred to train
with the old shot-loaded barbell.

There were the old barbells with

giant, spherical globes on either
end. The globes were filled with
sand or “shot.” The beauty of these
old time barbells is you could adjust
the weight in small increments by
adding or removing a bit of sand
from either end of the shot.
Hermann Goerner presses 330 pounds
overhead with a globe barbell.

By making these small, incremental gains you can make slow,

steady progress month after month. Today, we call the process of making
small, steady increases in resistance “micro-loading.”

Most gyms have no weight plate smaller than 2.5 pounds or even 5
pounds. That's no good – because it forces you to add at least 5 pounds
to the bar every time you want to increase the weight.

Let me give you an example of what happens when you try to

make 5 pound jumps:

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 Say you are able to bench press 245 pounds for five reps over three
sets. Naturally, because you were able to accomplish all your reps with
that weight you would attempt to increase the weight for your next
workout.

And here's where most guys get it wrong: Most guys will slap a
pair of 2.5 pound plates on each side of the bar (because that's the smallest
plate their gym has) and try to make a go at it with 250 pounds on the bar.

Or, if their gym's smallest plates are 5 pound plates, they'll use
those and try to make the lift with 255 pounds. Of course, here's what
happens:

A five or ten pound increase feels noticeably heavier. As soon as

you get the bar out of the uprights, you'll feel the difference. Your
confidence will start to waiver and you might unconsciously make some
adjustments (like lowering the bar faster than you usually would, or
rebounding the bar harder off your chest than usual) that change the
exercise and could ultimately lead to injury.

Because of the jump in weight, it's unlikely you'll be able to

accomplish all the reps. So while you got three sets of five reps with 245
pounds, you may only get three sets of four reps with 250 pounds. Mae
the jump to 255 pounds and it's unlikely you'll even get 4 reps.

You can try week after week but it's incredibly difficult to make the
jump from 4 reps to 5 reps with a heavy weight. (Remember, that's 20%
increase.)

Eventually, staleness will set it, progression will grind to a halt and
boredom will set in. This is where most trainers throw in the towel and
either switch programs or quit their attempts at weight lifting all together.

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 But Milo, and many of the old-time trainers knew better. They took
the smallest jumps possible in order to stave off sticking points and make
continued progress. In addition to using the shot-loaded barbell, many
old-time trainers started to manufacture their own “mini-plates” which
allowed them to make smaller jumps.

Mini-plates typically weigh about 1 pound each – allowing old-

school trainers to add tiny amounts of weight to the bar.

For example, an old-time trainer who understood the principle of

micro-loading and could bench 245 pounds for five reps for three sets
across would progress in the following manner:

Instead of adding 5 or 10 pounds to the bar he would add just 1-2

pounds to the bar for his next session. 246 pounds feels exactly the same
as 245 pounds so his confidence is high and he's once again able to
complete all the required reps.

So once again he adds a pound to the bar for the next session, and
once again he's able to complete all his reps.

He continues in this method, slowly and methodically, week after

week and before you know it he's added 50 pounds to his bench press. 50
pounds added to your bench press will result in bigger and more
muscular arms, shoulders and pec muscles. It's safe to say that most
modern day gym goes will NEVER add 50 pounds to their bench press
over the entire course of their training careers.

Because they're looking for quick gains. Big jumps. It's greed,
plain and simple. It doesn't pay off in the outside world. Almost nobody
gets rich playing the lotto – 99.9% of millionaires built their wealth by
slow and steady savings over time.

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 And the old-timers applied the same principle in the weight room.
Nobody gets big and strong overnight. 99.9% of natural, drug-free, non-
gifted trainers get strong by making slow and steady gains – week after
week, month after month, year after year.

“Training” Versus “Working Out”

Although we'll use the terms “training” and “working out”

interchangeably in this book, they actually carry two vastly different
meanings.

The old-time trainers and classic lifters would never simply “work out.”
Today we “work out” to get a sweat, to burn some calories or simply to kill
time.

“Working out” is essentially training without purpose. Many of today's

popular exercise programs are based on the idea that a bunch of random
workouts somehow give you a superior “work out.” Perhaps that's true if
your goal is simply to “get a good workout” and make yourself good and
tired.

But if your goal is to actually IMPROVE and get better/stronger/leaner

over time, than it makes far more sense to TRAIN.

Training is specific and measurable. If you're training to bench press 300

pounds, than you've got a specific goal in mind and your training will be
geared towards meeting that goal.

So stop working out. Start “training.” And watch how much faster you
build muscle and burn fat.

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 Realistic Rates Of Progress On Old School Exercises

Exercises that use more muscle groups can progress at a faster rate
than exercises that use smaller muscle groups.

For example, you'll be able to add 2.5 pounds to the bar week after
week on the squat, but trying to add that amount of weight to the bar on
the bench press would cause you stall out rather quickly.

With that in mind, here are the expected rates of progress on some
common exercises:

Squat: 2.5 pounds per week.

Dead lift: 2.5 pounds per week.
Bench Press: 1-2 pounds per week.
Overhead Press: 1-2 pounds per week.
Chins/Dips: 1-2 pounds per week.
Barbell Curl: 1-2 pounds per week.
Calf Raise: 1-2 pounds per week.
Dumbbell Exercises: 0.5 pounds per week added to each dumbbell.

It's easy to look at this list and think that adding just one pound a
week to your barbell curl is “too slow.” But just consider how much
bigger and more muscular your biceps will be if you take your barbell curl
from 110 pounds for 5 reps to 162 pounds for 5 reps over the course of a
year.

Then what if you kept things going for another year – adding just
0.5 pounds to the bar every week for another year? After two years you'd
have gone from curling 100 pounds to curling 185 pounds for reps. Let
me tell you, when you're curling 185 pounds for reps, you'll be bigger and
stronger than 99.9% of all the other guys out there.

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 And all the guys at the gym who snickered when you added just
one pound to the bar every week will most likely be stuck at the same
weight after two years.

Important Tip: Avoid Failure!

The old-time trainers and lifters considered their training sessions

“practice.” They would “practice” lifting weights. Obviously, when
you're practicing something, you do NOT want to practice failing.

I'm fairly certain basketball players don't practice missing free throws
or N.F.L. kickers don't practice missing field goals.

In much the same way, the old-time trainers thought it prudent to

complete every rep. Meaning if they didn't think they would complete
the rep – they wouldn't attempt it!

This might sound a bit unusual to the bodybuilding crowd who thrive
on “blasting and thrashing” their biceps to failure and beyond – but the
strategy of avoiding failure has been proven over time for the drug-free
genetically average trainer.

This is NOT to say that you shouldn't train hard – sorry, no getting
around hard work. But it's always better to “leave a rep in the tank” so to
speak.

Let me give you a quick example:

Let's say you just squatted 310 pounds for three sets of 5 reps. You've
been making 5 pound jumps so naturally you're excited to add 5 pounds
to the bar next time and finally hit 315 pounds (three large plates on each
side of the bar.)

But 310 pounds was no picnic – the last few reps were brutal. And
you feel like you might not make all the reps if you add 5 pounds to the

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bar at the next workout.

So – because we want to avoid missing reps (training to failure), take

the smart, conservative path and just add 2.5 pounds to the bar. Not only
does this give you a better chance at making all your reps, but then 315
pounds won't feel so heavy when that rolls around and you'll have a
better chance of completing those reps too without missing a rep.

Remember: It's impossible to avoid missing reps forever, but the

longer you can keep progress going, the better.

Micro-Loading Made Easy

One of the main reasons why most guys don't know about micro-
loading or don't use this strategy is because most gyms don't provide
micro-plates.

So you've got to bring your own to the gym with you. You'd be
surprised how much anxiety and whining this simple suggestion brings
me. The idea to create and or bring your own micro plates to the gym
seems to terrify people.

“What will others think of me?”

Relax. They won't think anything of you – until they see how
quickly you're making gains. Then they'll want to know “your secret.”

So get over your fear and commit to getting yourself some micro
plates.

You can buy custom-made micro plates online but I've prefer a
simpler approach.

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 Go to any plumbing supply store or hardware store and get some
large washers.

You want to find the washers

with a hole that's 2 inches in
diameter as these will fit nicely on
any normal-sized Olympic barbell.

You should be able to get six of

these washers for around $15 bucks
or less.

My collection of microplates.

Each washer weighs about 0.6 pounds. So two washers (one on

each side of the bar) adds 1.2 pounds. 4 washers (2 on each side) adds 2.4
pounds and 6 washers (3 on each side) is 3.6 pounds.

Which means you could go from 225 pounds on the bar to 230
pounds on the bar in the following increments.

Session #1) 225 pounds (Two 45-pound plates on each side, no washers.)

Session #2) 226.2 pounds (Two 45-pound plates on each side, plus one
washer per side.)

Session #3) 227.4 pounds (Two 45-pound plates on each side, plus two
washers per side.)

Session #4) 228.6 pounds (Two 45-pound plates on each side, plus three
washers per side.)

Session #5) 230 pounds (Two 45-pound plates on each side, plus a 2.5
pound weight plate per side.)

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 If you're having trouble locating these types of washers at the
hardware store, or if you just prefer to order online and have it shipped
right to your door, here's a plumbing supply website and the exact part
you'll need to order.

Www.McMaster.com
Part #: 90108A046

NOTE: McMaster.com ships these washers in packs of 5, and you

need 6 total so you'll have to order 2 packs.

You can always give the leftover washers away to guys at the gym
who ask you why the heck your putting those “funny little plates” on the
bar and then can't figure out why their bench presses haven't increased in
months.

Micro-Loading With Dumbbells

I use the same washers when training with dumbbells. I just take a
wrist strap, loop it through the hole in the washer, wrap the slack around
the dumbbell handle and then take my grip over the top of the strap.

Common Element #5) Five Rep Sets

The Magic of Performing

Five Rep Sets

After researching the methods and training habits of the old-time

bodybuilders and trainers, I discovered that nearly every single one of the
classic trainers spent a majority of their time training with sets of 5 reps.

And it was always exactly 5 – not 4 reps, not 6. Always 5 on the

nose.

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 I was intrigued. So I started digging. It turns out that if you are
ONLY interested in strength, training with sets of 1-3 reps is the way to
go.

And if you are ONLY interested in size, training with 8-10 reps for
most of your sets is the way to go. However, 5 reps seems to be the
“sweet spot” where you can gain both size AND strength at the same
time.

For that reason, most classic trainers would stick with 5-rep sets
most of the time. I can tell you from personal experience, I've always
made my best gains on 5-rep sets. When I stray from the path, I inevitably
end up wasting my time and it's not until I return to using 5-rep sets that I
resume making progress.

For that reason, in the upcoming Classic Body workout, we'll stick
with 5-rep sets for most of the training.

Common Element #6) Strong Joints, Tendons & Ligaments

The classic trainers were not just interested in building bigger and
stronger muscles, they wanted stronger joints, tendons and ligaments as
well.

The reason is simple: The old-timers understood the truth in the

following statement.

“A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.”

For that reason, the old-time trainers made it a practice to lift

extremely heavy weights. I'm not just talking about a weight so heavy
you can only lift it once.

I'm talking about a weight so heavy you can't even lift it once!

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 The old-timers would practice what are called “partials” – training
with a weight that is so heavy you can't complete a full rep – but you can
move the bar a few inches.

Chuck Sipes was famous for

using heavy partials on the bench
press. Not only did he bench press
over 500 pounds in just a T-shirt,
he also built a ton of upper body
musculature using this method.

Here's how it works:

Chuck Sipes “supports” a 2,450 pound

car in the bench press position.

Let's say you can bench press 300 pounds for a single rep. To do
partials, you might load the bar up to 325 pounds or even 350 pounds.
Then you're just going to unrack the bar, lower it a few inches... and then
press it back into position.

It will take every ounce of strength you have just to move this bar a
few inches. But because of increased load, your joints, ligaments and
tendons will get stronger.

Plus, you will be training your mind to be more comfortable with

heavy weights – so the next time you've got 300 pounds on the bar it won't
feel so heavy.

But Sipes and other old-time trainers would take things one step
further! They wouldn't stop with partials – they'd put even more weight
on the bar and just hold the damn thing – not moving the bar a single
inch!

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 For example, if you can do a 300 pound bench press for one full rep
in the bench press and you can do partial reps with 350 pounds, you
might load 400 pounds on the bar for a “heavy support” as the old-timers
called it.

Then you'd unrack the bar (with help from spotters), and simply
hold or “support” the bar at the top position of the bench press. You
make no effort to do a rep or a partial rep – you are just holding the bar
for approximately 10 seconds.

The reason this method works is because your joints, tendons and
ligaments are MUCH stronger than your muscles. But because we only
use weights that our muscles are capable of lifting, our joints, tendons and
ligaments rarely get any work.

But by incorporating heavy partials and heavy supports, we can

expose our joints, tendons and ligaments to heavier loads – which
strengthens these key areas and builds old school strength.

Common Element #7) Gymnastic And Strength Feats

The final common element of the classic trainers is the use of

gymnastic and strength feats to supplement their regular training.

While the classic trainers would use common exercises such as

squats, dead lifts, chin-ups and presses to build their strength, they took
pride in their ability to demonstrate their strength using unique lifts and
feats.

These “circus lifts” were not used in regular training, but were
done on occasion to help stave off boredom, test strength and boost
overall strength.

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 Here a few of the old-time “circus lifts” the old time trainers would
practice to test their strength and show off among friends:

Human Flag

A cool bodyweight trick that not

only builds core strength but also
helps strengthen stabilizer muscles.

Old time circus performers performing

the partner assisted human flag.

Handstand Push-up

Quite possibly one of the best

bodyweight exercises – similar to
the standing overhead barbell
press.

In fact, the best barbell pressers

would use this exercise to help
boost their barbell pressing.

Sig Klein (pictured right) could

do 19 consecutive handstand push-
ups.

For our purposes, we can do the

exercise with feet propped against
the wall to aid with balance. Sig Klein performing a handstand
push-up.

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One-Arm Chin-Up

While it's rare to find anyone

that can do a true 1-arm chin-up (it
takes years of training and the lift
itself is better suited for shorter,
lighter men), simply attempting the
one-arm chin or lowering oneself
slowly using just one arm will build
tremendous upper body strength.

In the photo on the right, Vince

Gironda is performing a one-arm
negative chin up with additional
resistance in the form of a
dumbbell.
Vince Gironda

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One-Arm Deadlift

An obscure lift, but one that

builds a powerful grip while
strengthening stabilization muscles.

Legendary classic strongman

Hermann Goerner actually
deadlifted an incredible 727 pounds
with one hand.

An old time lifter practices the one-arm

deadlift.

One-Arm Barbell Curl

Another rare gem. This lift

forces you to tense your biceps and
your grip more than a traditional
barbell curl.

And the increased tension can often

lead to greater size and strength.

A lifter from the early 1900's

performing the one-arm barbell curl.

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One-Finger Chin-Up

The old-timers placed a premium on grip and finger strength. So

they'd often perform chin-ups using just one finger on each hand. To
practice this lift, you start with 9 fingers and slowly remove one finger
from the bar as you strength increases.

The One-Arm Dumbbell Press

While you might occasionally see

someone in the gym performing
this lift using a light dumbbell, the
old-timers performed this lift using
the heaviest dumbbell they could
manufacture.

In fact, they would use a heavy

dumbbell and then challenge each
other to see who could press it over
their heads.

Sig Klein performing a one-arm press.

Leroy Colbert – the first man to build 19-inch arms – specialized in

this lift .

Round-Back Lifting:

In general, you want to keep your back flat when dead lifting or
picking up any item from the floor. But in real life, that's not always

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practical. So the old-timers would practice lifting awkward objects from
the floor with less than perfect form.

This would strengthen their backs making them LESS susceptible

to injury.

There are plenty more “circus lifts” but that's enough to get you
started. Just remember there are plenty of different lifts and feats you can
do to demonstrate your strength and improve your stabilization muscles.

Quick Recap Of The Old School Principles

We've covered a lot of ground so let's quickly recap. After

researching the training methods of classic bodybuilders and old-school
trainers, some common elements and principles were made obvious.

Here are the seven common attributes of effective, old-school,

drug-free workout plans:

#1) Full-Body Workouts

#2) Train 3x Per Week
#3) Use Compound Exercises
#4) Progressive Resistance
#5) The Magic of 5 Reps
#6) Strong Joints, Tendons & Ligaments
#7) Gymnastic & Strength Feats

Now, let me show you how to pull all those elements together in
my Classic Body Workout plan. This is easily the most effective workout
plan you'll ever use. It will take you just 3 hours per week (maybe even
less) but with this workout plan you can build an incredible physique.

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 The Classic Body Workout Plan

On this plan, you're going to train just three times per week. As
established by the rules above, you're going to train your full body in each
session. We're going to do all that with just a handful of exercises in each
workout.

You will build size, strength and power. And best of all, the
workouts will take only 45-60 minutes each or a total of 3 hours of LESS
each week.

Stay on this workout plan until it stops working (until you stop
getting stronger.) While most workout plans usually only work for 4-6
weeks, this one is different. You can stay on this workout plan for
MONTHS and see progress. No joke. Guys have literally DOUBLED
their strength on key exercises – while packing on over 40 pounds of solid
mass on this workout.

Don't be fooled by the simplicity of this workout. In fitness

(and in life), the simplest stuff works the best.

Note To Women: Again, this

book is written with the male
reader in mind, but don't be afraid
to try this program yourself. Many
women shun the idea that lifting
heavy weights can actually make
you leaner and curvier, but the
classical female figures of
yesteryear discovered that lifting
heavy weights was the single best
method for achieving the ideal
female form. A classic “barbell” girl.

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 Note to all readers: The classic bodybuilders and trainers believed
in the power of lifting heavy weights to stimulate maximum size and
strength gains. If you aren't interested in gaining maximum size and
strength – or if you're unable to access the necessary equipment to
complete this workout, I've provided a bodyweight-only exercise routine
after this chapter. You will not gain as much strength and power when
training exclusively with bodyweight exercises, but you can still build a
lean and muscular physique.

Ok, let's jump in:

Phase 1: Size & Skill

Phase 2: Strength & Mass

Phase 3: Advanced Strength & Mass

Phase 4: Ultra-Advanced Power Training

Here's the Phase One Workout:

Workout A:

Barbell Squats: 3 sets of 8

Bench Press: 3 sets of 8
Dead lifts: 3 sets of 8.

Workout B:

Front Squats: 3 sets of 8

Overhead Presses: 3 sets of 8.
Chin-Ups*: 3 sets of as many reps you can do.
(If you cannot do any chin-ups, you can substitute barbell rows for 3 sets
of 8.)

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 Just like the old-time bodybuilder's did, you will train 3x per week
on non-consecutive days by rotating workouts A and B.

For example:

Week One:

Monday: Workout A
Wednesday: Workout B
Friday: Workout A

Week Two:

Monday: Workout B
Wednesday: Workout A
Friday: Workout B

And so on.

That's the basic template. Here's what we're trying to accomplish:

First, you'll notice we're squatting 3x per week. This is because the
squat uses the most muscle mass and therefore gives us the most potential
for increasing strength and power. By squatting 3x a week for as long as
we can, we can make rapid progress.

Plus, the squat causes the body to release muscle-building

hormones during the entire workout. So by performing the squat first, we
can take advantage of those growth hormones.

Next, you'll notice we're kicking things off with sets of 8 reps for
most exercises. The reason we're starting off with 8 reps is because this
gives us plenty of reps to practice each exercise and nail down our
technique.

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 Plus, 3 sets of 8 reps is a good starting point for building up muscle
mass.

To help make everything as clear as possible, I'm going to show

you a real-life case study from one of my clients – Tony C.

As I do with all of my clients, I insisted that Tony choose starting

weights that were RIDICULOUSLY light for him. This is important
because we're going to “ramp” up to the heavy weights and the longer the
“ramp” the stronger you will eventually get.

Most guys don't get this and as a result they fail to ever build
appreciable muscle and strength.

Let's take a look at the first two weeks of Tony C's workout log
from the Phase One portion of the program.

Tony C's workout log:

Phase One: Week One

Monday:

Barbell Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 135 pounds x 8,8,8.

Bench Press:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 135 pounds x 8,8,8.

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Dead lifts:

Warm-ups: 135 pounds x 5.

Work Sets: 185 pounds x 8,8,8.

Wednesday:

Front Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 95 x 8,8,8.

Overhead Press:

Warm up: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 85 x 8,8,8.

Chins:
Bodyweight x 5,3,1.

Friday:

Barbell Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 145 pounds x 8,8,8.

Bench Press:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 140 pounds x 8,8,8.

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Dead lifts:

Warm-ups: 135 pounds x 5.

Work Sets: 205 pounds x 8,8,8.

Week 2

Monday:

Front Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 105 x 8,8,8.

Overhead Press:

Warm up: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 90 x 8,8,8.

Chins:
Bodyweight x 6,3,1.

Wednesday:

Barbell Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 155 pounds x 8,8,8.

Bench Press:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 145 pounds x 8,8,8.

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Dead lifts:

Warm-ups: 135 pounds x 5.

Work Sets: 215 pounds x 8,8,8.

Friday:

Front Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 115 x 8,8,8.

Overhead Press:

Warm up: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 95 x 8,8,8.

Chins:
Bodyweight x 6,3,2

Pretty straightforward, right? Here's a couple quick notes:

#1) Warm-up sets are completely individual – do as much as you

need to do without taking anything away from your work sets.

#2) Complete all reps for a given exercise before moving on to the
next exercise. So you do all your squats before moving on to the bench
press.

#3) Rest as long as you need to between sets. If you've selected

appropriate starting weights, you should be able to blaze through this
workout in under 30 minutes with very little rest between sets. As the
weights go up and the lifts get tougher, you'll need between 3-5 minutes
between sets.

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 #4) START WITH ULTRA-LIGHT WEIGHTS! I cannot say this
enough. If you start with light weights, you can make big jumps between
training sessions. If you'll notice from Tony's workout log, he's made a 20
pound jump after his first deadlift session, a 10 pound increase on all
squatting movements, and 5 pounds on pressing movements.

Eventually, this will slow down to mirror our appropriate micro

loads (2.5 pounds on big exercises each week, 1-2 pounds on smaller
exercises) but for now these big jumps help build momentum. But
AGAIN, you can only make big jumps like this if you start extremely light.

Have patience – within a few short weeks you'll be lifting heavy.

Now, let's fast forward and take a look at Tony's final week in the
Phase One.

Tony C. Workout Log:

Phase One: Week 4.

Monday:

Front Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 130 x 8,8,8.

Overhead Press:

Warm up: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 105 x 8,8,8.

Chins:
Bodyweight x 7,4,2.

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Wednesday:

Barbell Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 180 pounds x 8,8,8.

Bench Press:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 160 pounds x 8,8,8.

Dead lifts:

Warm-ups: 135 pounds x 5.

Work Sets: 245 pounds x 8,8,8.

Friday:

Front Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 135 x 8,8,8.

Overhead Press:

Warm up: Bar (45) x 10.

Work Sets: 110 x 8,8,8.

Chins:
Bodyweight x 7,4,2

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 As you can see, Tony made some good strength gains during the
first month. And this is just Phase One – the improvements that follow in
the coming months will be even more impressive.

Because Tony followed my advice and started with light weights,

he's set himself up for a long, productive training cycle.

RULE OF THUMB: As a general rule of thumb, you should select

your starting weights to be light enough to allow you to make consistent
10 pound jumps on the squats during the first month, and 5 pound jumps
on the presses.

Now here's what you must always keep in mind: Your goal is to
never miss a rep!

So for example, if you've added 10 pounds to your bench press

every session like clock work and now you're up to 155 pounds for 3 sets
of 8 and it was very difficult to get those last few reps – then don't feel you
have to add 10 pounds to the bar next time.

Just add 5 pounds – or even 2 pounds (by using micro plates)

Phase 2: Strength & Mass

Phase 1 is limited to just 4 weeks. But Phase 2 stretches on for as

long as you make it stretch. I've had clients stay in the Phase 2 zone for
almost a year. Truthfully, the longer you can stay in Phase 2, the better as
you'll be getting bigger and stronger at a frightening pace.

We'll use the same workout scheme as in Phase 1, but now we're
going to drop the rep range down to 5 for most exercises. Just because
we're dropping the rep range, that does NOT mean we're going to slap a
bunch of iron on the bar.

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 Nope. We're going to keep going with our slow and steady
increases.

We will make a couple changes at this point.

Change #1: Deadlifts will now be done for one set of 5 reps. (Because
dead lifts are so demanding, 1 heavy set of 5 is enough. Any more could
impair recovery.)

Change #2: We're going to start doing weighted chin-ups. If you can do
sets of 5 unweighted chins, than it's time to start (slowly) adding
additional resistance – while keeping the reps at 5.

Here's week 5 from client Tony C's log:

Monday:

Barbell Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10. 135 x 5.

Work Sets: 185 pounds x 5,5,5.

Bench Press:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10. 135 x 5

Work Sets: 162 pounds x 5,5,5.

Dead lifts:

Warm-ups: 135 pounds x 5. 225 x 1.

Work Sets: 265 pounds x 5.

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Wednesday:

Front Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10. 95 x 3.

Work Sets: 140 x 5,5,5.

Overhead Press:

Warm up: Bar (45) x 10. 95 x 3.

Work Sets: 112 x 5,5,5.

Chins:
Bodyweight + 5 pounds x 5,5,5.

Friday:

Barbell Squat:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10. 135 x 5.

Work Sets: 190 pounds x 5,5,5.

Bench Press:

Warm-ups: Bar (45) x 10. 135 x 5

Work Sets: 164 pounds x 5,5,5.

Dead lifts:

Warm-ups: 135 pounds x 5. 225 x 1.

Work Sets: 275 pounds x 5.

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 Phase 2 is going to be “the long haul.” This is where you'll gain
most of your size and strength. At first, you'll be able to make larger
jumps (as you can see, Tony added 10 pounds to his back squat and 4
pounds to his bench press in one week.) Obviously, that won't carry on
forever.

After a few weeks, you'll settle in to the regular micro loads (2.5
pounds a week on squats and dead lifts, 1-2 pounds a week on bench
presses, overhead presses and chins.)

And stacking many consecutive weeks of these small jumps tends

to add up.

Let's catch up with Tony's after 16 weeks:

At this point, Tony is now performing the following:

Back Squat: 277.5 lbs x 5,5,5.

Bench Press: 200 pounds x 5,5,5.
Dead lift: 360 pounds x 5.

Front Squat: 205 pounds x 3,3,3*

Overhead Press: 143 pounds x 5,5,5.
Weighted Chins: Bodyweight + 45 pounds x 5,5,5.

*When a trainee can do sets of 5 reps with 185 pounds in the Front
Squat, we switch to sets of 3 reps instead as this exercise works better with
lower reps.

At this point Tony has built a pretty respectable level of strength.

But we're just getting started. At this point, Tony is adding 1-2 pounds on
pressing exercises & chins, and 2.5 (sometimes less) on squats and deads.

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 But by patiently adding small amounts of iron to the bar for each
workout, Tony manages to squeeze out 10 more weeks in Phase 2.

So here's where Tony is at after 26 weeks (6 months).

Back Squat: 315 pounds x 5,5,5.

Bench Press: 226 pounds x 5,5,5.
Dead lift: 392.5 pounds x 5.

Front Squat: 240 pounds x 3,3,3.

Overhead Press: 157 pounds x 5,5,5.
Weighted Chins: Bodyweight + 60 Pounds x 5,5,5.

In just 6 months, Tony made incredible gains in size and strength.

Shortly after this mark, Tony missed the “3 strikes” rule which signified it
was time to go to Phase 3.

The 3 Strikes Rule

The workout plan is pretty simple and straightforward as long as

you're making consistent progress.

But what happens when you follow all the rules – when you get plenty
of sleep and plenty of wholesome food, when you've added the
appropriate micro-load to the bar and you still miss reps?

Here's how it happened with Tony.

Progress on his bench press was smooth until he hit 235 pounds. He
managed to complete all 15 reps (3 sets of 5) but it was extremely
difficult. He added just 1 pound to the bar for the next session, but he
was unable to complete all reps with 236 pounds.

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 Here's the entry from his log:

Bench Press:
236 pounds x 5,4,3. X

(The “X” signifies failure to complete the proper number of reps.)

Here's the next time he attempted the bench:

Bench Press
236 pounds x 5,5,3. XX

(The “XX” signifies two unsuccessful sessions with the same weight.)

Finally, here was his third session at 236 pounds.

Bench Press:
236 pounds x 5,4,3. XXX

As you can see, he had 3 total attempts at this weight and it just isn't
happening. His other lifts are going great – he's still adding 2.5 pounds a
week to his squat and deadlift.

But he's officially “stuck” on the bench press now so we move him to
Phase 3.

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Phase 3: Advanced Strength & Mass

Workout A:

Calf Work: 2 sets of 10.

Barbell Squats: 3 sets of 3. Back-off set of 8.
Bench Press: 3 sets of 3. Back-off set of 8.
Dead lift: 1 set of 3. Back-off set of 8.
Unweighted Chins: 5 sets of 5 (increasing by one rep each workout).

Workout B:

Neck Work: 2 sets of 10.

Front Squats: 3 sets of 3. Back-off set of 8.
Overhead Press: 3 sets of 3. Back-off set of 8.
Weighted Chins: 3 sets of 3. Back-off set of 8.
Unweighted Dips: 5 sets of 5 (increasing by one rep each workout.)

Basically, when a trainee gets stuck with 3 sets of 5, we switch

things up and start using 3 sets of 3. This allows the use of heavier
weights which in turn builds more muscle.

We're also finishing up each exercise with a “back-off” set. This is a

set down with lighter weights that allows more reps – building even more
muscle.

We're also going to incorporate calf/neck work to begin each

workout. And we're going to finish each workout with some direct arm
work. By including direct arm work, we can both build up the size &
mass of the arms, but also increase strength which leads to stronger
presses and bench presses.

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 For the direct arm work, I prefer chins and dips but you can also do
barbell curls and close grip bench presses – or many other biceps and
triceps exercises.

Another note on the direct arm work: We're shooting for 25-50
total reps as that's what works best for building size.

So we start out doing unweighted dips/chins for 5 sets of 5. The

next workout, shoot for 5 sets of 6. Then 5 sets of 7... and so on. When
you can do 5 sets of 10, start back over with 5 sets of 5 but this time add
additional resistance in the form of a dip/chin belt.

Now here are a couple important points on the sets of 3's.

First: You're going to continue to use the appropriate micro loads

So in the example above, when Tony hit the wall on his bench press at 236
pounds at 3 sets of 5 – his next session he's going to ADD a pound to the
bar (since that's the prescribed micro load for the bench press), but he's
going to do just 3 sets of 3 with 237 pounds. And then of course, he'll do
that back-off set of 8 afterward.

Typically, you'll use 25-50 pounds less weight on the back-off set.
But don't overthink it – just get the reps in.

Second: Each exercise will “arrive” at Phase 3 at different times.

You might stick with 3 sets of 5 for a long time on the squat, but you
might have to switch to 3 sets of 3 on the overhead press much sooner.

This is normal. (It's usually the overhead press that hits the wall
first for more people.) Whenever your first exercise hits the wall in Phase
2 and transitions to Phase 3, then it's time to add the direct arm work and
the neck/calf work.

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 By switching to sets of 3's (plus the back-off sets) and including the
direct arm work, most trainers can squeeze another 4-8 weeks out of the
training cycle.

But when you hit the wall three times in Phase 3 on a particular
exercise, than it's time to move that particular exercise to...

Phase 4: Ultra-Advanced Power Training

If you notice the old-timer

trainers had “the look of power.”
They don't appear soft and bloated
like today's modern drug-riddled
bodybuilders, but rather lean, hard
and rugged.

That's because the old time

trainers did plenty of heavy singles
and partial movements in their
training. And that's exactly what
we're going to do in Phase 4.

Chuck Sipes at age 50.

Still lean, hard and muscular.
Phase 4 Workout:

Workout A:

Calf Work 2 sets of 10.

Squats: 5 sets of singles, followed by a back-off set of 8.
Bench: 5 sets of singles, followed by a back-off set of 8.
Dead lift: 3 sets of singles, followed by a back-off set of 8.
Chins: 5 sets

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Workout B:

Neck work: 2 sets of 10.

Front Squats: 5 sets of singles, followed by a back-off set of 8.
Overhead Press: 5 sets of singles, followed by a back-off set of 8.
Weighted Chins: 5 singles, followed by a back-off set of 8.
Dips: 5 sets.

Let's continue with lessons from Tony's log book.

He hit the wall at 236 pounds with 3 sets of 5. But by dropping to

sets of 3, he was able to continue to add 1 pound to the bar for each
training session for quite some time.

Eventually, he hit the wall with “triples” at 264 pounds. So we

dropped him down to 5 “singles” followed by a back-off set of 8.

So he added one pound to the bar (making it 265 pounds) and just
did 5 singles. A single is a single repetition. So he bench pressed 265
pounds once, rested, did another rep, rested, did another rep... and so on
until he'd done 5 singles.

With this technique, he was able to prolong progress even longer

until finally he hit the wall on the singles as well.

Can you guess what happened after that? We switch to partials.

By adjusting the support beams in the power rack, Tony would then
perform 5 singles starting “on the pins” but only moving the bar about
half as much as a full rep.

This would allow him to use even MORE weight. After 2 weeks of
heavy partials, Tony took a week off and then started the cycle all over
again – beginning with 3 sets of 8.

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 But at this point, Tony was a completely different person. He'd
been on this program for almost 18 months – he'd packed on 40 pounds of
solid mass and his strength gains were remarkable. Long lost friends
didn't recognize him.

And thanks to his adherence to the classical method of eating along

with the classic conditioning principles (next chapter), he had not only a
strong & muscular physique but he was lean, healthy and athletic as well.

We've covered a ton of ground in this chapter so let's do a quick

summary of the classic body workout plan:

#1) We train the full body in each workout and train 3x per week.

#2) By using proper, old-school exercises and proper micro-loading

principles, we can maintain progress for months.

#3) By starting light in the beginning of the training cycle, we set

the stage for grow later on.

#4) We start training with set of 8, then drop to sets of 5, then 3's
and finally singles and partials. The entire cycle can take a year or more.
(Although you'll start seeing results right off the bat.)

While it may seem confusing at first, everything will quickly make

sense once you start putting this into practice. Don't worry about what
happens in week 26 if you haven't even started with week one yet. Just
get started and things will make sense as you go along.

Incorporating The “Circus Lifts”

Here's a shocking statement: Working out should be FUN! That's

why I insist you have a “fun day” once a month. On this fun day, you can
completely skip your regularly scheduled workout and just mess around
with the “circus lifts.”

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 Let's face it: The idea of squatting 3x a week can start to grind you
down mentally after a while. That's why giving yourself a break once a
month and allowing yourself to have some fun in the gym can make all
the difference.

So once a month, skip your regular training workout and just do

some fun circus lifts. Try the human flag – sure you'll get some stares but
when you can pull it off people will be dying to know how you're able to
do that.

Have fun with some one-arm barbell curls or one-arm dead lifts
After your warmed up, go for one-rep max barbell curl.

True story: I trained at a small commercial gym for a few years. I

did my squats and dead lifts and overhead presses like clockwork and
nobody ever said a word to me.

But one day, I decided to mess around a bit and I was doing curls
with 135 pounds (the bar plus a large plate on each side.) Almost
everyone came up to me that day wanting my advice on how to get bigger
arms.

I was squatting over 400 pounds and nobody cared – but 135
pound barbell curl seems to get everyone's attention.

Try a heavy one-arm dumbbell overhead press – it's a great old-

time lift and it's fun too.

This fun day actually serves a very important process: One, it gives
you a mental break. But two, it helps teach your body how to apply the
strength you're building in real-world situations.

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 What If You Miss A Workout?

The more consistent you are with your training, the more
impressive your results will be. I once went a full year without missing a
single scheduled training session. Needless to say, I made incredible
progress during that year.

Having said that, I understand sometimes life gets in the way. If

you miss one or two workouts, just pick up where you left off next time
you get back in the gym.

If you miss a week, consider using about 95% of the weights you
were using before you missed the week when you get back into the gym.
If you miss two weeks, consider starting back up with 90% of the weights.
And if you miss more than two weeks, you've got to go by feel. But be
sure to start with conservative weights and build up from there.

Training Two Times A Week

The majority of men will make faster gains by training 3 times per
week. However, if you're a woman... or a man over 50... or if you simply
don't have much time for training, consider taking the workout above and
simply training twice a week.

You could do workout A on a Monday, and workout B on a

Thursday.... or any other schedule that works for you.

For anyone PRIMARILY interested in fat loss, performing this

weight training workout twice a week along with two conditioning
workouts will yield rapid results.

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 A Challenge For You

I've just given you a complete, done-for-you workout with four

different phases. No here's my challenge for you: I challenge you to
actually stick with the workout and complete all 4 phases. This might
realistically take you a year or more.

I can tell you from experience, 97% of the readers of this book won't
complete all 4 phases. Probably 90% won't even start the workout, 7%
will start the workout but will end up abandoning the plan because they'll
want to try the “super-crazy-exploding-muscle-plan” they read about in
the latest issue of Steroid BodyBuilder Weekly.

Hopefully, dear reader, you're one of the 3% who will actually give
this program an honest try. And if you do, I sincerely hope you document
your results and follow up with me.

A Word About Warming-Up And Stretching

I see two common mistakes when most guys warm-up: First, they
do a super-easy cardio warm-up and then they do too much warming up
on the specific exercise.

Your pre-weight training warm-up should be brief – but intense. It

should make you break a sweat. A 10 minute walk isn't a warm-up – it's a
stroll. I'd rather see you do a 5 minute jog capped off with a 30 second all
out sprint – than your system would be warmed up and ready to go.

For my money, the single best warm-up is jumping rope. It doesn't

take much space, it's tough, and the bouncing motion really seems to get
your muscles activated and ready for the task ahead.

When it comes to warming up for a specific lift, don't do too much.

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How most guys do it:

Squats:
45 x 20
135 x 10
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5,5,5 (work sets)

That's too much! If you look at the total volume of this workout (all
sets and reps), this trainer is lifting 10,400 pounds!

Here's how I have my guys do it:

Squats:

45 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
275 x 1
300 x 1
315 x 5,5,5.

Not only do this warm-up provide less volume (thus saving more
strength for the actual work sets) but the final warm-up of 300 pounds
actually makes the weight on the work sets feel easier.

You see, as you get stronger sometimes making the jump from your
last warm-up set to your first work set can be quite a mental hurdle. If
you're squatting 400 pounds for your work sets and your last warm-up set
is 315, your first first work set is going to feel heavier than hell.

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 So that's why one rep done with a weight at 90-95% of your first
work-set can help activate your nervous system and make your work set
weight feel more manageable.

Stretching:

After your warm-up, spend a few minutes stretching. Nothing

fancy, just a few stretches to help you limber up. It's ideal to stretch after
you've done your brief warm-up because as this point your muscles are
already warm.

Do as much or as little stretching as you need to. Bare minimum,

perform a few shoulder stretches and hamstring stretches before starting
on your squats.

One thing I've discovered through experimentation: Squatting

three times a week can make your knees start to hurt a little. But it's not
the squatting – it's because your hamstrings start to tighten up over time.
Stretch your hammies hard at least every other day and you'll see any
knee pain quickly dissipate.

But What If You Can't Squat Or Dead lift?

For reasons already discussed, the squat and the deadlift are two of
the most productive and effective exercises at our disposal. Simply put,
there are no equivalent substitutions.

However, not everyone is able to squat and deadlift – at least not

right off the bat. So if someone is not yet strong enough (or flexible
enough) to do a full squat, I start them on the leg press. Start extremely
light and work on performing the leg press with a full range of motion.

When you can do 3 sets of 8 reps on the leg press with your
bodyweight (so if you weigh 200 pounds, this means pressing 200 pounds

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with your feet), then you have the raw strength necessary to do
bodyweight squats.

So at that point, I'll have a trainee work on transitioning away from

leg pressing and start with bodyweight squats. If flexibility is a concern
(trainee can't lower his/her butt all the way down), then we'll go slow and
have them practice squatting down to a chair (or toilet seat).

Once the trainee can do a few bodyweight squats with good form,
then you do squats while holding light dumbbells and progress from
there until the trainee is able to do a full squat with a standard empty
barbell (45 pounds) on his/her back.

The sooner you can get to this point, the better. Because as you
start adding weight to the bar, it gets easier to achieve proper depth.

If a trainee can't do a deadlift because of existing injuries or lack of

strength, you can substitute the barbell row or dumbbell row until the
trainee builds enough strength for dead lifts

Also, certain body types seem to have trouble with standard dead
lifts So it it acceptable to swap out conventional dead lifts in favor of
“sumo” dead lifts

For any other exercise that cannot be done safely, simply swap out
the exercise for something similar until the necessary strength is achieved.

For example, many women cannot do a standard bench press or

overhead barbell press at first because even the empty bar (45 pounds) is
too heavy.

In that case, start with dumbbell bench presses or dumbbell

overhead presses until the necessary strength is achieved. When you can
handle 25 pound dumbbells for reps, you should be able to make the
transition to the empty barbell.

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 A Word About Equipment

Provided you have access the basics (a barbell, power rack, bench,
weights), there's no reason to purchase any special equipment for the first
few weeks on this program.

One thing you will need right off the bat is a log book.

A log book is used to write down your workouts. I cannot

emphasis this point strongly enough – if you're not going to spend the $2
to get a notebook and a pen, don't bother picking up a barbell.

The logbook is a crucial piece

of equipment. You might THINK
you can remember every set and
rep of every workout, but you can't.
No one can. So get yourself the log
book and write down every detail
of every workout.

However, as you get

stronger you may eventually get to
a point where you need a few
extras.
I've always preferred the composition
notebook with the mottled cover for my
training logs.

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Weight Lifting Belt:

Used to support and protect

your lower back, the weight lifting
belt allows you to lift more weight
by giving your abs something to
push against.

In my opinion, most people use

the weight lifting belt way too soon.
In my opinion, there's no need for a
A proper weight lifting belt should be
belt until you're squatting at least
the same width all the way around.
315 pounds for reps. And even
then, save the belt for maximum
attempts.

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Dip/Chin Chain:

To increase the amount of

resistance on dips and chin-ups,
you'll need a dip/chin chain.

Exercise caution when getting into

and out of position with the belt.

When you've got 100+ pounds

swinging between your legs, any
sudden move can easily trap your
fragile knee or ankle joints between
the weight.

Arnold knocking out dips while

wearing additional resistance thanks to
the “dip belt.”

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Knee Sleeves:

Not to be confused with knee

wraps which are used by
competitive power lifters, knee
sleeves are neoprene/rubber sleeves
with keep the knee joint warm.

I use these and recommend them

for anyone with “balky” knees or
anyone who trains in an unheated
garage or basement.

These are the exact knee sleeves I use.

Shoes:

Standard tennis shoes are fine for

beginners but when you are
squatting 315 pounds or more you'll
want to upgrade to a shoe without a
squishy sole.

Some guys like Chuck Taylors as A weight lifting shoe with an elevated
they have a flat, hard sole. I prefer heel. Available at RogueFitness.com
an Olympic weight lifting shoe as
the elevate heel helps my
positioning on squats. (In my
experience, guys with long limbs
will find squatting more
comfortable with an elevated heel.)

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Chalk:

We don't want the bar slipping

out of our hands on heavy attempts,
so chalk is a must for safety.

You can buy large quantities of

chalk for practically nothing, so if
you're got a home gym buy some
and use it.

Chalk.

If you train at a commercial gym, chalk will probably be frowned

upon (unless you train at a very cool, old-school gym.)

There are few “liquid grip” type products that you can try as these
are clear and don't leave any mess so much gym owners won't notice you
using these I have not used any of these products, but there are a few you
could try.

No Gym? No Problem?

Some guys hate to go to the gym. I get it. If you don't want to go to
the gym, you've got two options.

#1) Set-up your own home gym.

This is what I've done. You just need a power rack, a barbell, a
bench, about 500 pounds of free weights and a few extra square feet and
you're in business.

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 Here's a picture of my garage gym.

I got everything – the rack, the

weights, the barbells – everything –
for about $600 bucks. I recommend
checking Craigslist or other online
swap sites to try and pick up
something used.

My garage gym.

#2) Use Bodyweight Exercises.

Although I prefer free weights for building maximum size, strength

and power, you can use bodyweight exercises too to get a lean & muscular
physique.

By combining bodyweight exercises with the classic conditioning

techniques I'm going to show you and the classical nutrition plan, you can
get ripped, athletic-looking physique.

Here's a sample bodyweight workout plan you can use at home:

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 Home Workout Plan Training

Perform the following exercise routine three times per week on

non-consecutive days.

1) Push-Ups 25 reps.
2) Bodyweight Squats: 50 reps.
3) Chin-Ups: 5 reps. (Or lower yourself 5 times if you can't do a
chin-up.
4) Jack-Knife Sit-Ups: 10 Reps.
5) Neck Bridge: 1 Minute Hold.
6) Jump Squats: 20 reps.
7) Calf Raise on steps: 20 reps.

Perform each exercise immediately after the preceding exercise. So

for example, you will do 25 push-ups and then immediately start
performing 50 bodyweight squats.

If you cannot perform the required number of reps, take a short

break and keep going until you finish all reps before moving on to the
next exercise.

To start, perform the entire circuit 3 times through for each training
day during the first week. Then do the circuit 4 times through during the
2nd week, 5 times through during the 3rd week and 6 times through on the
4th week.

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Advanced Tip: What To Eat & Drink Before, During & After
Your Workouts

Pre-Workout:

This tip is reserved exclusively for advanced trainees. Because

until you've achieved a lean & muscular physique (body fat at 10% or
less), than you don't need to worry about this stuff.

But once you've got a lean & muscular physique, here are a few
advanced tips you can use to amplify your results.

Pre-Workout Nutrition: As I said in the previous chapters, most

people would do well to avoid fruit. It's high in sugar and it's not the
“health food” everyone makes it out to be.

And dried fruit is even worse – since the lower water content
makes dried fruit more calorically dense than regular fruit.

But I will make one exception to this rule. If you're already lean,
and you're not trying to lose any more body fat, considering eating a
handful of dried prunes before your workouts.

The Ancient Greek athletes discovered that a handful of dried

prunes consumed before training allowed them to train harder and
longer. Modern scientists have discovered that prunes actually buffer
lactic acid – helping you knock out more reps and ultimately build more
muscle.

So for a truly “classic” pre-workout snack, grab a handful of dried

prunes (also called dried plums.)

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During Your Workout:

In my younger days, my buddies and I would all bring $4.50 to the

gym so we could buy those “super-duper workout drinks” that are
supposed to super-charge your workouts and turn you into a professional
bodybuilder overnight.

Needless to say, it didn't happen. Once I discovered the classic

method of fitness, I realized what a joke those workout drinks are.

And I also discovered a dirt-cheap workout drink that will give

you energy and help you build muscle.

Here's what classic bodybuilder

Steve Reeves drank during his
workouts:

½ gallon of water mixed with ½ cup of

lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of honey.

Steve Reeves

The citrus in this drink helps replace crucial minerals lost while you
sweat and the honey provides quick energy for the workout. Honey is
also a powerful digestive aid and may help break down your post
workout meal.

This drink probably costs less than twenty five cents per serving.

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 But again, remember this is just for those who have achieved a lean
& muscular physique. If you're still trying to lose fat, stick with water
during your workouts.

After Your Workout:

Many classic bodybuilders would actually drink good, old-

fashioned raw MILK after their workouts. These days we've got all kinds
of expensive protein powders (usually loaded with sugar) but studies
show that drinking milk after your workout yields faster muscle gains
than drinking a carbohydrate-sports drink.

It's a myth that you need to drink a crapload of carbs after your
workout. If you do that, all you're simply “undoing” all the work you did
in the gym.

Stick with raw, whole milk or a protein shake made with ½ and ½
or heavy whipping cream. As we've already discussed, the fat in the
cream will help boost testosterone levels and enable rapid muscle gain.

In the next chapter, I'll show you how to blowtorch body fat, build
athletic explosiveness and boost recovery in just 10 minutes...

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 Chapter Seven: The Fourth Cornerstone:
Classic Conditioning

In this chapter, I'll show you how

to get “fit” without wasting a single
second on boring cardio.

Edward Aston, 1921

With these techniques, you can get in the best shape of your life in
just 10 minutes – no joke.

But I should also let you know that you can completely skip this
entire chapter if you want! No joke. I got 6-pack abs without ever doing
any conditioning whatsoever. I think I ran down the street once when one
our pets got loose but that was it!

This is hard for most people to believe but you don't need any
cardio or conditioning to get ultra-lean. This is because
cardio/conditioning simply doesn't do that much for fat loss.

See for yourself:

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 If you run a mile – how many calories do you think you burn?
Well, for the average-sized adult male the answer is 105 measly calories.
That's it! And to burn off just ONE pound of fat you have to create a
caloric deficit of 3,500 calories! So you'd have to run 33 miles just to burn
off one pound of fat! I don't know about you, but for me that's a big “no
thanks!”

So that's why if your main goal is simply to lose body fat, than you
don't even need to worry about conditioning or cardio. Follow the
nutrition advice in the preceding chapters and let your diet create your
caloric deficit. Toss is regular weight training to help preserve existing
muscle mass and build strength, and the fat will melt away even if you
never set foot on a treadmill again.

Now, having said that, conditioning workouts are useful for a few
reasons:

#1) First and foremost, conditioning work will make your strength
training sessions EASIER. And it can make you stronger.

Look at it this way. Trainer A is 5'10, weighs 195 pounds and can
squat 315 pounds for 3 sets of 5. Trainer B is 5'10, weighs 195 pounds and
can squat 315 pounds for 3 sets of 5. On paper, these guys are identical.
But here's the difference:

Trainer A needs to huff and puff for 10 minutes in between each

set of squats. Trainer B can finish the work sets by resting just 2-3 minutes
between sets.

In my eyes, Trainer B is stronger. Plus, he'll be able to get through

his workouts quicker and I'd be willing to be he's leaner than the first guy
as well.

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 #2) You'll just FEEL better when you're well-conditioned.
Conditioning training gives your heart and lungs a good workout. It feels
great to be able to have the strength to pick up a heavy piece of furniture
and carry it single-handedly up a flight of stairs. But it feels even better to
be able to do that and without needing to catch your breath after you are
done.

#3) Finally, conditioning work helps build athletic ability. Let's face
it – looking great with no shirt on is cool. But even better than that is
looking like an athlete AND being able to perform like an athlete as well.

So let's dive in and discover...

Why “Conditioning” And NOT “Cardio”

First, let's clear some things up.

To most people, “conditioning” and “cardio” sound like identical

activities. But in my eyes, “conditioning” and “cardio” couldn't be more
different.

Typically, when people talk about “cardio” they talk about long,
slow cardio. Jogging, biking, skiing, swimming, etc.

Usually, the common advice is to train at a certain heart rate for 30-
45 minutes. Obviously, this means you're moving at a slow or medium
pace as you can't move all that fast for 30-45 minutes.

While the conventional wisdom is that this type of “cardio”

training is good for you, I disagree.

I say...

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 Cardio Can Kill You!

Again, this all goes back to our ancient ancestors. Why would our
ancient ancestors ever run or jog for long periods of time? It doesn't make
any sense.

Sure, they would probably have sprinted for short distances on a

hunt, but running for longer distances wouldn't have made much sense
because of all the energy wasted.

Plus, exercise is form of “stress” on the body. And stress on the

body can be a good thing – but only if you give the body time to rebuild
and recover from the inflicted stress.

That's why when you lift weights, you actually grow and get
stronger on your rest days. But when you run/bike/swim for long
distances, you're consistently stressing your heart and lungs over and over
for long periods of time without giving the body time to rebuild and
repair.

Think about it: If running is so good for your heart, why do a few
marathoners – guys who run 26 miles in a row – end up dropping dead
from heart attacks every year?

The 10 Minute Cure For Common Cardio

Instead of wasting hours on the treadmill, I prefer the 10 minute

approach. Instead of doing “cardio”, do “conditioning.”

Conditioning – by my own personal definition – is a short, intense

workout that only lasts roughly 10 minutes.

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 It's not laziness – it's finding a way to work hard enough so that
you can only work for 10 minutes.

If you're working hard enough, then 10 minutes of “conditioning”

is plenty.

But here's the beauty of short, intense conditioning:

While the fat burning effects of traditional cardio quickly ends after
your hit the “stop” button on the treadmill, the fat-burning effects from a
brief (but brutal) conditioning workout can last up to two days!

No, that's not a typo: A 10 minute workout can burn fat up to two
days later!

In fact, a study done by Laval University in Quebec, Canada

showed that short, intense workouts burn nine more fat than traditional
aerobic workouts. And a study at Colorado State University showed that
subjects who did short, brief workouts continued to burn fat for 16 hours
after their workouts.

And that's why I recommend short, brief “conditioning” workouts

instead of cardio.

A List Of Approved “Classic Conditioning” Activities

Sprints:

This is probably the single most important conditioning activity

you can do. If you think about it, our ancient ancestors probably sprinted
almost every single day.

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 Plus, sprinting utilizes the big muscles groups in your legs and
hips. You see, the muscle fibers work on an all-or-none basis. If you try
to lift something light like a book, only a small percentage of your muscle
fibers will “fire” or “activate” but those that actually do activate will
activate fully – 100%.

When you lift something heavy like a 100-pound dumbbell, a

greater percentage of your muscle fibers will fire.

When you walk or jog, your body only calls a few different muscle
fibers into play. But when you're sprinting – trying to run as fast as you
can – you're forcing your body to activate 100% of your muscle fibers.

And that's why sprinting is such a crucial conditioning activity.

If you haven't sprinted in a while, start easy. I once went to an

over-40 softball game – the first one of the year. Most of these guys hadn't
sprinted in years.

So they all stepped up the plate, hit the ball, and started sprinting
towards first base. It seemed like every other batter ended up pulling a
hamstring and limping off the field. So start slow and be sure to warm-
up.

For beginners, five 40 yard sprints with a minute rest in-between is

a good place to start. Add length and additional sprints as you get better
conditioned.

10 sets of 100 yard sprints with a 1 minute rest in-between is a great

conditioning workout for the advanced guy or girl.

Hill Sprints:

Regular sprints are great, but to really take things to a next level I
recommend hill sprints.

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 Hill sprints are a staple among top football players. Herschel
Walker was famous for the number of hill sprints he did in his day. And
after just one session, it's easy to see why. Hill sprints provide a greater
degree of difficulty than regular sprints (due to the incline, obviously).

And since you're forced to lean forward a bit, hill sprints put your
body in the proper position for maximum speed. (Most people run too
“tall” and would be better served by “leaning” their upper body forward
a few degrees).

Plus, hill sprints are easier on your joints. With regular sprints,
your foot hits the ground carrying your full body weight with each stride.
But with hill sprints, your foot hits the ground “softer” because your foot
doesn't travel as far and your back leg still carries much of your weight
while your front foot impacts the ground.

As a final bonus, hill sprints give your calves a good workout to

boot.

Obviously, the number of hill sprints you need to perform will vary
based on the steepness and length of the hill you're running on. But I've
found 5-10 sprints to be about right, assuming your sprints up the hill take
between 5-10 seconds.

As a rule of thumb, when your sprints start to slow down, it's time
to end the workout. Your last sprint should be almost as fast as your first
one.

Dragging/Pulling:

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 Many of the old-timers would drag or pull heavy items as a way of
getting some conditioning work in. The great thing about heavy
drags/pulls is that you can do a lot of conditioning work and not get sore.

This is because soreness is generated by the lower or negative

portion of the exercise. Using the bench press as an example, it's not the
pressing portion that makes you sore. It's lowering the bar to your chest
that causes the majority of the soreness.

But when you're dragging or pulling a heavy object, there is no

“negative” portion of conditioning so it's unlikely to make you sore and
interfere with your strength training.

What should you drag/pull? Your imagination is really the only

limit here. I'm sure you've seen images of professional athletes running
wind sprints with parachutes tied to their waists. That's one version of
dragging/pulling.

Assuming you don't have a specialized sprinting parachute (I

don't) you can practice sprinting with an old tire tied to your waist. We
did this way back in high school.

You can also purchase a wheel barrow bucket from your local
hardware store, thread some rope through it, tie it to your waist and walk
around with that additional resistance dragging behind you.

(Remember, just purchase the “bucket” portion of the wheel

barrow, not the wheel or handles.)

You can use a light weight and run sprints while dragging
additional resistance behind you. Or you can make it heavy and simply
walk around while dragging a heavy load behind you.

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 And for the advanced athlete, get a harness and tie to the back of a
pick-up truck or SUV. Try pulling that sucker for speed or for distance –
either way it's sure to leave you gasping for air.

Pushing:

Pushing is simply the opposite of dragging/pulling. Instead a

dragging a heavy weight behind you, you're going to push it in front of
you.

Again, you've probably seen the professional athletes pushing the

“sled” on the football field – that's a “pushing” workout.

What makes pushing slightly different that dragging/pulling is that

you are more “bent over” when pushing. As a result, you will most likely
run out of “gas” sooner because it's more difficult to breathe while bent at
the waist in this position.

For this reason, conditioning drills in the “pushing” position can be

extremely valuable for athletes. Again, it's up to your imagination as to
who to incorporate pushing conditioning drills.

You can fill up the wheel barrow basket and simply push-it around
(again, for speed or for distance.) If you can find an old barrel or 55-gallon
drum you can push it up a hill, let it roll back down and then push it back
up again.

You can purchase a “sled” or Prowler and use that for your
conditioning. You can even practice pushing an actual sled up a hill –
your kids will love you for this!

And again, if you are an advanced athlete there may be nothing

better than pushing a car/truck or SUV for speed or for distance. Pushing

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a vehicle takes every ounce of strength you've got... and if happen to be
pushing it up even a slight incline, it will take everything you've got to
keep it going.

Of course, you need a partner for this one (somebody's got to steer
& brake) but if you've got a partner, this is a valuable (and brutal)
conditioning drill.

Loaded Carries

A loaded carry is simply walking around additional resistance

supported/carried by your body. It ain't sexy, but these get the job done.

A loaded carry could be as simple as walking around with heavy

backpack or heavy weight vest.

But the two most common loaded carries are Farmer's Walks and
Sandbag Carries.

A Farmer's Walk is traditionally done by grabbing a heavy

dumbbell with each hand and simply walking as far as you can until your
grip fails. Obviously, these are great for building grip strength but you'll
also work your legs, your back, your abs, your lungs – the list goes on.
Try it once and you'll see that the Farmer's Walk is truly a total-body
exercise.

Of course, you don't have to do the Farmer's Walk with just

dumbbells. I do them with loaded barbells – every step seems to jar the
ends of the barbells in new directions so it takes a strong grip to keep
them under control.

You could also use suitcases, large buckets filled with water, sand
or rocks, old iron pipes – almost anything you can dream up.

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 For a sandbag carry, you'll first need a sandbag. (Obviously).
Typically, this is a canvas “military” duffel bag filled with sand or similar
substances.

I made my sandbag by filling a $20 canvas army rucksack with 120

pounds of pool salt. Don't ask me what pool salt is – I have no idea what
it is or what it does. All I know is I got 120 pounds of the stuff at Walmart
for less than $10 bucks.

This is my “go-to” conditioning workout when I'm short on time. I

simply squat down, “bear hug” the sandbag and walk around until I'm
ready to collapse.

120 pounds on a barbell is easy to pick up and easy to manage. But

120 pounds in a sandbag is brutal to pick up and extremely difficult to
handle.

You don't have to walk far with a 120 pounds of shifting sand/salt
before every muscle fiber in your body is completely wiped out.

Bear-hugging the bar against your chest makes it difficult to breath

– as if it wasn't hard enough to breath while walking around struggling to
maintain your grip on a 120-pound bag of sand. But that's just why this
exercise is so damn effective.

You can also toss the sandbag on your shoulders and walk around
with the bag draped across the back of your neck – much the same way
your ancestors would walk with a fresh kill.

It's slightly easier to walk with sandbag in this position, but it's
tougher to get the bag IN this position in the first place. Picking 120-
pounds off the floor and heaving it up over your head takes a fair amount
of leg, back and shoulder strength.

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 By the way, my sandbag is 120 pounds – but that doesn't mean
yours has to be. A 40 or 50 pound sandbag will still provide a brutal
conditioning workout.

Don't get me wrong – I'm not just including these exercises because
they're brutally difficult. It's because they can change your physique so
rapidly. Guys who can't seem to break into the single-digit body fat realm
get absolutely shredded with no other changes to workout or diet other
than performing some loaded carries a few times a week.

So make no mistake: This stuff WORKS.

Kettlebell Swings:

The kettlebell swing is yet

another fantastic conditioning
workout. Kettlebells were used in
Soviet Russia as a training tool for
their athletes and special forces
soldiers, although they originated
in Scotland.

They've since made their

way all over the world. People use
kettlebells for all sorts of stupid
reasons these days, but the original
kettlebell is a fantastic exercise.

Strongman Lional Strongfort trained

with kettlebells back in 1922.

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 The kettlebell swing builds explosive “pop” and power in your
hips, abs and butt. This overlooked area is truly the seat of power – every
athletic movement you make starts with power generated from this area.

Not only does the kettlebell swing build explosive power in your
large muscles, it also builds grip strength and blowtorches body fat.

And the kettlebell swing contains a fringe benefit for women. This
exercise – better than anything else – creates a butt that defies gravity.

So if you were cursed with a flat butt... or if your butt is starting to

head south, start doing kettle bell swings and watch how fast your body
changes.

To perform the kettlebell swing, just stand over the kettle bell with
your legs slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Center the kettlebell
on the floor between your feet. Reach down, grab the kettle bell (with
both hands or with one hand) and swing it up to eye level – using your
hips to get the thing moving.

Then let it swing back down between your legs, and repeat. To
swing the kettlebell up, use your hips and your legs. To stop the kettlebell
at the top, you'll tense up your arms, shoulders, back muscles and your
core. The simple kettlebell swing really is a full-body workout.

You can find plenty of online videos demonstrating the finer points
of the kettlebell swing, so if you need further instruction head online.

For kettlebell swings, I recommend two different training options:

#1) Shoot for total reps

Sometimes I'll grab a kettlebell and just set a goal of doing 300 reps.
I'll simply do as many as I can, take a short break, continue, break.... until I

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hit my target. The total number of reps you shoot for will obviously
depend on the weight of the kettle bell at your disposal.

#2) 30 Seconds On/30 Seconds Rest

Another option is just to perform kettlebell swings for 30 seconds,

than rest for 30 seconds. Continue 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off for 10-12
minutes.

This is great if you're short on time or if you're training with a

partner since two people can train with one kettlebell on this schedule.

Bodyweight Conditioning Workout

If you're stuck in doors on a rainy day with no equipment

whatsoever, you can always do a quick bodyweight conditioning
workout.

Here's my favorite rainy day workout:

25 Bodyweight Squats
15 Push-Ups
5 Jack-Knife Sit-ups

Repeat for as many cycles as you can get in 10 minutes.

Looks easy on paper – tough in real life.

How Much Conditioning Do You Need?

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 The great thing about these short, brief and brutal conditioning
workouts is you don't need to perform them very often to reap the
benefits.

If you're trying to gain weight, I like to do one conditioning

workout per week (along with plenty of walking, obviously.)

If you're not trying to actively gain or lose weight, but would like
to add more muscle/strength while decreasing body fat, 1-2 conditioning
workouts per week will work.

And if your primary goal is losing body fat, then aim for 2-3
conditioning workouts per week.

When To Perform Conditioning Work

You can perform your conditioning training on your non-weight

training days. Or you can perform your conditioning work immediately
after your weight training workout.

However, avoid performing your conditioning work BEFORE your

strength training workouts as strength training is more important than
conditioning and we don't want the conditioning work to detract from the
strength training.

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 Chapter Eight: Realistic Results

I've given you all the tools

you need to build your own
lean, muscular, “classic” physique.

In this chapter, I want to give you

a glimpse into the future.

Otto Arco, 1931.

I want to show you a method for figuring out exactly how lean,
muscular and fit you can get with this classic method of fitness. By using
classical formulas for strength and muscle size, you can actually figure out
what you will look like when you've accomplished your goal of obtaining
a classic physique.

Building A Classic Physique: By The Numbers

Sculptors in Ancient Greece had a simple, mathematical formula

they followed when creating statues of their top warriors.

To make the statues the most aesthetically pleasing, the sculptors

aimed to have the circumferences of the neck, upper arm (biceps) and
calves equal in measurement.

While today's modern bodybuilders ignore symmetry for the sake

of size, the classic bodybuilders from yesteryear payed close attention to
building a symmetrical physique.

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 Classic bodybuilder Steve
Reeves is the hallmark for
symmetry.

His neck, upper-arm and calf

all measured 18 inches – perfectly
symmetrical.

But you don't have to build

up your arms to 18-inches to get a
classic physique.

In fact, it may not even be

possible for you to build 18-inch
biceps – sorry if it pains you to hear
that but it's the truth.

Steve Reeves

It's All In The Wrist

Believe it or not, it's the size of your wrist that ultimately

determines just how big your biceps can grow. Because the size of your
wrist determines whether you have a small, medium or large skeleton.

Your skeleton determines who big you can ultimately get. If you
have a small skeleton, your “frame” cannot support a large amount of
muscle mass. If you have a medium frame, you can “carry” more mass
and those with larger skeletons will be able to carry even more muscle.

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 Obviously, without use of a complicated full-body X-ray machine
there is no way to determine whether someone has a small, medium or
large skeleton.

That's why we use the wrist (and sometimes ankle) measurement.

Your wrist is basically skin & bone – there simply isn't much muscle or fat
on your wrist (unless you are grossly overweight).

So by measuring the wrist, we can get an accurate determination as

the size of your skeleton. And once we've determined the size of your
skeleton, we can predict what level of muscularity and strength you could
one day achieve.

The Classic Physique Formula

Here's my own personal formula for figuring out what

measurements you need to obtain a “classic physique.”

Step #1: Measure your wrist.

Step #2: Add 10 inches to your wrist to get the projected size of your
biceps (flexed.)

Step #3: Now double the size of your biceps (flexed) and subtract two
inches to obtain your maximum waist size.

For example:

A trainer with a 7-inch waist will have a projected biceps size of 17-
inches. 17-inch biceps are impressive – but not when accompanied by a
40-inch waist.

So we double the biceps measurement (17x2) and subtract two

inches to obtain our maximum waist size: 32 inches.

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 So for a person with 7-inch wrists, they need to build up their arms
to 17-inches (flexed) while keeping their waist measurement at 32 inches
or smaller to obtain the “classic physique” look.

This formula provides REALISTIC milestones to aim for and base

your training around.

The McCallum Formula For Individual Measurements

John McCallum – a popular iron-game writer from decades past,

proposed the following formula for determining MAXIMUM
POTENTIAL muscle size:

Chest: 6.5 x wrist

Hips: 85% of chest
Waist: 70% of chest.
Thigh: 53% of chest.
Neck: 37% of chest.
Upper Arm: 36% of chest.
Calf: 34% of chest.
Forearm: 29% of chest.

So if your wrist measures 7-inches, your potential measurements

would be as follows:

Chest: 45.5 inches.

Hips: 38.6 inches.
Waist: 31.8 inches.
Thigh: 24.1 inches.
Neck: 16.8 inches.
Upper Arm: 16.38 inches.
Calf: 15.47 inches.
Forearm: 13.1 inches.

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 Keep it mind – these are proposed as maximum potential
measurements and if you were to achieve these measurements, you'd
have a stunning physique.

Predicting Muscular Bodyweight

Dr. Casey Butt did some statistical analysis on all the past drug-free
bodybuilding champions over the past 40 years.

Then he created the following formula which you can use to

determine your maximum muscular bodyweight.

Maximum lean body mass = (3.285H + 9.437A + 5.840W – 186.449) x

(%bf / 227.27 + 1)

where,
H = Height in inches
A = Ankle circumference at the smallest point
W = Wrist circumference measured on the elbow side of the styloid
process.
(The styloid process is the bony lump on the outside of your wrist.)
%bf = The body fat percentage at which you want to predict your
maximum lean body mass.

If that formula makes your head hurt, fear not.

Casey's got an online calculator up at his site that does the math for
you.

Go here:

http://www.weightrainer.net/bodypred.html

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 Keep in mind, this formula predicts your MAXIMUM muscular
bodyweight. Unless you've been gifted with great genetics, it's unlikely
you'll ever achieve the proposed maximum muscular bodyweight.

But that's ok – shoot for 90% and when you achieve that shoot for
95%. When you hit somewhere between 90-95% of your maximum
muscular bodyweight, you'll have a jaw-dropping physique.

Strength Goals

I've never been happy with any of the charts or calculators that
predict you maximum strength in certain exercises.

So let's keep this simple:

Shoot for...

Overhead Pressing 1x your bodyweight.

Bench Pressing 1.5x your bodyweight.

Squatting 2x your bodyweight.

Dead lifting 2.5x your bodyweight.

When you can do that AND carry 10% body fat or less, you'll have
a true classic physique. If you weigh 185 pounds, that works out to...

Overhead Press: 185 pounds.

Bench Press: 277.5 pounds.
Squat: 370 pounds.
Dead lift: 462.5 pounds.

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 Keep in mind, this formula is NOT flawless because height and
bone size make a huge difference. The 6'0 tall trainer with 6.5-inch wrists
may weigh exactly the same as the 5'6 trainer with 8.0-inch wrists so
according to the chart above they would be treated the same. But in real
life the shorter guy will have a much easier time achieving those numbers
and the taller, frailer guy will have to work longer and harder to hit those
marks.

Quick Note: Of all the formulas and figures presented above, in

my opinion the most important one is the ability to overhead press your
bodyweight.

The old time trainers and classic bodybuilders put a great premium
on overhead pressing strength and I once heard it said that not one man in
10,000 can overhead press his bodyweight in strict fashion. So when you
can hit that goal, you'll be in rare company.

Woman should shoot for 66% of their bodyweight in the overhead

press.

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 Chapter 9: Parting Words

“Knowing is not enough.

We must apply.
Willing is not enough;
We must do”.
–- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

You now have all the

information you need to go out
there, completely transform
your body and get a classic
physique.

But information without action

is worthless. Putting this book
under your pillow at night
won't help you build muscle.

John Grimek, 1939.

Reading and re-reading this book a dozen times won't give you six-
pack abs. I've given you a complete system – everything I've researched
and tested – served up a silver platter.

I've eliminated all the guesswork. So you can get started TODAY.

I wish I could be with you in person so I could encourage and

motivate you. Because there's simply no way to describe how GOOD it
feels to be lean, muscular and healthy.

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 And there's no reason why YOU TOO can't have the kind of health,
vitality and physique you've always wanted. I've given you every piece of
the puzzle – now it's up to you to put the plan into action.

You WILL have set backs. You WILL have failures. But as long as
you make up your mind to never quit... I'm confident you WILL reach
your goals.

Listen... getting a classic physique is NOT difficult. I've shown you

exactly what to do. And the good news is, maintaining a classic physique
is even easier.

So why not COMMIT the next 90 days of your life to transforming

your body into a classic physique? Why wait another day? Don't even
think about saying “Oh, I'll wait until Monday.”

Why? So you can spend a few more days feeling weak, flabby and
tired? Start TODAY. And in just a few days you'll be shocked at how fast
your body is transforming.

“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.

The 2nd best time is RIGHT NOW.”

Yours in health and fitness,

Matt Marshall
Fitness Under Oath

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 About The Author

Matt Marshall is the founder of

FitnessUnderOath.com
He's a genetically-subpar,
drug-free athlete who finally
cracked the code on health and
fitness after years of unsuccessful
trial and error.

Matt Marshall

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 Recommended Reading

If you're interested in reading more on any of the individual topics

discussed in this book, here's where I recommend you start:

Nutrition

The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight & Get Healthy By Eating The Foods You
Were Designed To Eat by Loren Cordain.

The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet by Robb Wolf& Loren
Cordain.

The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmidt

Lifestyle

Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond The Paleo Diet For Total Health &
Longer Life.

Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar & Survival by T.S. Wiley & Bent Formby

Evolution Rx by William Meller

Training

Starting Strength (2nd Edition) by Mark Rippetoe & Lon Kilgore

Practical Programming by Mark Rippetoe & Lon Kilgore

The Strongest Shall Survive by Bill Starr

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Beyond Brawn by Stuart McRobert

The Complete Keys To Progress by John McCallum

The Wild Physique By Vince Gironda

Dinosaur Training By Brooks Kubik

Other

Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors By Randy Roach

The Super Athletes By David Willoughby

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