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Laree here—throughout the website, I'll let you know when it's me, not Dave, writing—
June 25 , 2008... Summer of 2008
I’m sorry if you fell behind in the past few months, old iron buddy. It happens, and whether it was unavoidable, a big mistake or a mystery, it’s a miserable feeling and state of affairs; it’s pervasive and troubling and needs to be fixed. June through September are great months for fixing things in our own backyard: a broken bike, dangling gate, faulty diet, neglected health, out-of-order training and failing disciplines. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Arm workout for women
- Can I work out with a broken toe?
- Suggestions on workout routine
- Do you recommend training to failure?
- Joint Pain and Powerlifting
Physically, these past few months of corrective work has been frustrating because the exercises seem too easy, and the process takes too long. Mentally, it was troublesome because I skipped anatomy class, assuming there even was one at my tiny high school way back when, and because the human movement terminology read like a foreign language. Now that I have a handle on that aspect, how about I share?
Voila! The simplest human movement lingo cheat sheet on the ‘net. There’s a handy print option at the bottom of the post.
June 18 , 2008... Where Were You in the Day?
If you stood on the corner of 4th and Broadway in Santa Monica, California, 45 years ago and looked north toward Wilshire Boulevard in the early morning and spotted a big young dude with blond hair lumbering in your general direction, chances are it was me. If this guy had east coast stamped on his forehead and carried a motley gym bag and was clueless, you should bet on it.
Dum-dee-dum... “Hey mista... ya know weah da dungeon is?” You win... that’s me. Who else would be searching for a dark, smelly subterranean dungeon at the crack of dawn within a short walk of the alluring Pacific palisades? Who else sounded like a Jersey hood on the run? It was June of 1963 when I arrived in LAX seeking muscle and might. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
You know by now I’m fully convinced most everyone who trains who has regular muscle and skeletal pain and those who get injured often in training, can make themselves feel better by a dedicated joint mobility program and by fixing relatively easy structural imbalances caused by one side being too tight and the other too weak.
Obviously we can’t fix everything, but I’m 100% sure we can make things better. I’m also absolutely certain this past half-year’s effort has halted any arthritis that may have been developing due to poorly moving joints. In fact, let me give you a hint here: That thoracic spine of yours that doesn’t move very much is a nest for your growing arthritis. Get after it while you can!
Monday was Day One of my return to regular weight training after six months of corrective exercise rehab. Most of my forum pals can’t fathom why I would consider taking that much time away from the gym, and truthfully if I’d have known in advance it would take that long, I wouldn’t have done it. But still. Check out the chronic pains that I’d had for months, years or decades and note the use of past tense: these things are fixed.
June 11 , 2008...
The Overflowing Riches of Iron and Steel
You can be dumb and still find joy and exhilaration in a heavy bench press, a thrill from a series of well-executed supersets. Your spirits can be sinking when you enter the gym, but they’re soaring when you leave. You remember why you’re alive: to live. Few things are more fulfilling than a challenge undertaken and a challenge accomplished, all in 60 minutes, one 24th of a day. Frustration and anxiety and stress fall like scales from your being. You’re whole and good and right.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Pain in the shoulder
- Resistance Band Training
- How do I kick the alcohol habit?
- Should I do two training sessions per day?
Which supplements should I buy? That’s one of the most common questions simmering in the IOL discussion forum. The confusion caused by over-the-top advertising combined with a petrol-powered shrinking wallet size will mess with a new trainee’s head, so let’s boil it down to something simple.
Start with this: Rarely is taking a supplement short term valuable.
My best-guess list is at the above link, along with how I got there and how it helps you decide what’s right for you.
June 4 , 2008... Where Have I Heard That One Before?
Though I’m from a well-schooled family, I reject in-depth scientific exploration in determining the methodologies of building muscle and losing fat. That narrows my online instructional presentations to “see iron, lift iron,” or “eat, lift, sleep and grow.” Intelligence is good, especially when combined with commonsense and understanding. Intellect and knowledge alone obstruct muscle growth. Be smart, be dumb.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog
Last week, the half-way point in my ten-week introduction to Feldenkrais movement classes, I decided to spring for an individual therapy session. Since the instructor had seen what I can and can’t do, it seemed like a good time to schedule an individual session.
I expected her to walk me through a list of personalized exercises, but that wasn’t how this treatment turned out. Instead, it was hands-on, her moving my joints through their full ranges of motion with me on the table, passive.
It was both an enjoyable experience as well as a breakthrough, so let me tell you about it: Feldenkrais individual session.
May 28 , 2008...
No Rest for Iron-Hoisting Muscleheads
Weight training is a spirited challenge, healthy, energizing, strengthening and fulfilling. Most folks can't play football and baseball, basketball and hockey past their 20s without obvious blundering and certain injury. But weightlifting we can safely and vigorously pursue according to our own devised plan, purpose and prosperity. It's mean and friendly stuff at once, tough yet accommodating. It feels good and it's good for you, body, mind and spirit... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog
- Question about recovery
- Reg Park 5×5 training
- Retracting shoulder blades when pressing
- Weightlifting is addictive
Digging around for a little piece of history from the archives, I bumped into this piece of reminiscing wherein videographer Wayne Gallasch presents his on-the-scene report from the 1970 London Mr. Universe, contested between Arnold, Reg Park and Dave. Fans of the era will enjoy this inside peek.
Sometimes Dave’s end-piece addons get lost in the scroll, so I wanted to take a sec to again point out the new Dan John section of the forum. There you’ll find Coach John answering questions and presenting the thoughts that cross his mind during his days of instructing strength coaching track athletes, as he powers through his own training, and later in the evening has he ponders the day.
There’s much to be mined here; don’t want you to miss it.
May 21 , 2008... Commonsense and Adapting: Tools of the Trade
We’re in the middle of a heat wave along the central coast of California, which means temperatures around 100 degrees. I’m heading to the gym shortly for a minor blast of all bodyparts. Bang, boom, zoom. Minor blasts are fun, worthy, suitable for hot weather and can be performed more frequently than my more common major blasts. If the gym was closer to home (say, the basement or in the garage, near the pool, amid the gardens or aside the tennis court), I’d apply the more frequent, less intense methodology to my musclebuilding scheme...... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog
What are the human planes of motion and why do we care? Let’s sort this out, just between us gymrats. While it’s true that we don’t really *need* to know this stuff, it’s also true we’re going to bump into the terms more and more when reading modern training articles. It’s time we caught up with this generation of training lingo. We’ll take the simple route, I promise.
May 14 , 2008... Have Problems -- Will Fix
We’re off to Santa Cruz’s Merry Bodybuilding Wonderland, one of our local amusement parks. Like kids, we’re excited with anticipation; it’s been a week since our last visit and we have many rides we want to explore. There’s the Monster Pulldown, the Big Curl and the Giant Dipper, the Huge Back Rower, the Horseshoe Tri Ripper and the spooky House of Deadlifts. The colorful arena is a thrill a second, a cheery test of daring and courage. ..... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
What I learned this past week was a little different, a bit of a revelation really, after several months of attention to the physical aspects of rehab. Turns out there's a mental key that may or may not be readily available. Not only do you have to regain mobility, flexibility and stability, you may have to relearn how to use it.
April 30, 2008... Excerpt from Brother Iron, Sister Steel: MGM Town
Dave’s on his last day in the hospital following his pacemaker surgery Monday. His intention was to write this week’s newsletter from Stanford, where his laptop sits humming on the ledge near his bed. Here’s the thing, though: You think his prose is convoluted normally? Try drugged and dopey. Nope, better move along.
Instead we’ll grab an excerpt from the personal history section of Brother Iron, Sister Steel. I like this one a lot; it’s the story of how Dave came to be a part of the movie Don’t Make Waves. ..... Continue reading...
April 30, 2008... Give Me the Iron or Give Me a Pine Box
It’s never too late to begin the corrective process and the sooner the better. We need to and ought to include in our training schemes certain movements and stretches to counter our imperfect structure, those structures we inherit at birth, develop as we work, play and grow, incur from job-related activities and daily living, or from bombing and blasting as we amass muscle and power.
My attitude (a tough one to change) has long been, "who has the time and patience, awareness, knowledge and desire to do it all -- to lift like an animal, be as protective as a mother and right as a saint? Give me a pound of muscle and two portions of strength, hold the foam roller and skip the medicine ball. Hurry, I don’t have all day. Umm...thanks.”
I'm still working on the attitude as my hands cannot touch my toes or my nose..... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Back workout effort
- Infrequent heavy duty workouts
- Liquid meal plan needed
- Sore shoulders from benching
Do you get the sneaking suspicion Dave’s coming around on all this corrective exercise stuff? At the very least, he’s beginning to humor me; for sure we can say that. When his shoulder range of motion got better after just a few days using the overhead stretch, that got his attention in a way all my chatter could never have done.
Now seems like a good place to stop for an overview, a recap of the earlier discussions and a roadmap to where on the site and across the internet you’ll find further tips on how to fix a nagging problem: Living pain-free with corrective exercises.
April 23, 2008... Spring Madness, Pre-Summer Silliness
I notice no two routines are the same. My exercise repertoire, though limited by injuries, is basic and not exactly short. I have plenty of traditional movements, and a bunch that have been modified to accommodate the flogged workhorse. I choose and combine them according to my DNA -- desires, needs, abilities of the hour..... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Sore shoulders from benching
- Need to lose weight fast
- Looking for six-pack abs
- Bowflex training routine
- Supplement Choices
Bodyweight exercises have taken center stage as I attempt to train up a faltering structure; most of the corrective exercise experts remind us not to try to add strength to dysfunction, and they point to bodyweight work as a key in determining our fail points.
Yet, many of us can’t think of anything past the pushups and situps we learned wrong back in the third grade. Sure, a YouTube search will dredge up a few hundred clips, but are you sure you want to learn from the authority who calls himself iamdrunk?
Instead, here’s your guy, Steve Cotter, bodyweight exercises.
Wait’ll you see that video clip at the bottom, the one with the pistol jumps. Wow.
April 16, 2008... Time Flies, Kid -- Hang onto Your Hat
Sixty-six years ago today the earth shook, the skies burst with lightning and thunder filled the air. Hopeful people across the nations stood with their hands raised high and faced the meadowlands of Secaucus, New Jersey. I was born in its grassy bosom that fateful morning, weighing twelve pounds and six ounces. Neither my mom nor I were laughing, my girth apparently larger than both of us.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Favorite Draper training partner
- My son needs to gain weight
- Motivating a friend
- Exercises After Shoulder Separation
The last piece of the shoulder rehab puzzle fell into place recently, at least I hope it’s the last piece. Feels like the last piece. Both my upper spine and shoulders are moving easily, loose but stable, and with a little more time in service, may even be called optimal.
I’m not sure why I didn’t realize shoulder range of motion and thoracic spine mobility could go together -- had to go together – but I didn’t. Nothing I’ve read quite put this together for me; instead it was purely by accident that relaxing into one stretch put the fix to both major issues. It’s been a milestone couple of weeks in that regard.
If your shoulders lack range of motion or your upper back gets to aching most afternoons, here’s something you may want to read… and try.
April 9, 2008... This is Heavy I prefer to push when I feel like it, and pull when I get the urge. Count me out. Pushing and pulling, lifting and hoisting are the first and last of our frontiers and freedoms. Paraphrasing Sir Winston Churchill, a champion powerlifter: Never let them go! Never give them up! Never! Never! Never!.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Recovery from torn biceps
- Standing barbell curls
- Chest training with light weights
- Workout to offset sitting at work
- Re-starting my workouts
Before the Draperisms but after the global warming rant, Dave mentioned in the newsletter I’m doing what he called muscle balancing, which I guess is a fair evaluation. You’ve seen bits and pieces of it here in the newsletter, in the blog and even more of it in the corrective and preventative section of the forum if you’ve been at all open to it.
Hopefully you are, because this stuff is important, especially as we get a little older and those imbalances we built accidentally on purpose in the younger years bring on the aches and pains in the later years. There’s a real good chance it doesn’t have to go that way if you’re willing to widen your gym experience just a tad.
Here, let’s take a look at an example of how a common habit causes pain up and down the body: What is Hip Rotation?
April 2 , 2008...
Bombing and Blasting, Dashing and Plodding
There comes a time when precision in program construction is a disruption, and calculation in sets and reps is an interruption. Simply, purely, boldly lift the iron. Not enough? Lift with thanksgiving, appreciation and joy. That’s the outline, the bulk and the theme of a good workout.. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- How do I get back in the gym after a layoff?
- Help with alcoholism and addiction
- Training with congestive heart failure
- Need a weight gain menu
I spent far too much time today working out a couple important issues in the forum, ate right into my blog post time-block. That’ll teach me to procrastinate, or more likely, probably it won’t change anything.
Since I didn’t have anything on my mind ready to flow into my fingers, and since it’s already evening here on the Central Coast, we’re going with a forum favorites theme tonight.
We’ll take a look at:
Quitting the weight room because of back pain
Central nervous system burnout
Full body workout or split routine
Fat loss in the IOL Co-op Training Log
That should keep you busy for awhile. Weeks if you happen to get sidetracked somewhere in the forum archives.
March 26, 2008...
Still Crazy After All These Years
I should have seen it coming. My decision long in the making to sensibly reduce my training has been interpreted by a fragment of IronOnline readers as a copout, a pathetic submission, an exhibition of cowardice; a tear in the veil of hypocrisy, a patched crack in the granite, a flaw in the ancient marble; the thin words of a tiring has-been, a stepping down, back and away... A betrayal of the very core of the Bomber Credo.... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Need a weight gain menu
- What weight is right for me?
- Favorite biceps and triceps supersets
- Review my workout
- Wiped out, what am I doing wrong?
Last bit this week: I was talking with my friend, Val, recently, and discovered I’d never told her about foam rolling. She’s a hairdresser, works hard with her hands outstretched at shoulder height hour after hour, day after day. If anyone’s a candidate for foam rolling, a hairdresser would surely be in the first balloting.
The rest of you could probably benefit from the discussion, too. I’ll link you over to those thoughts now: How to use a foam roller.
I can’t express how beneficial this has been for me. Seriously, go read those short paragraphs.
March 19, 2008... Travels with the Secret Unknown Stranger in Disguise
I found Mike’s Muscle House on Main Street squeezed between a dry cleaner and a travel agency. From the looks of the faded overhead sign, Mike’s been there for a long time. Good for Mike and his loyal band of muscleheads. We need more Mike’s across the nation. It was my turn to hoist some iron in allegiance .... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Wiped out, what am I doing wrong?
- Improvising hamstring exercises
- Strange back pain from dips
- Workout progression question
One of our common complaints is the trouble we have getting a doc to order the blood tests we want. Or perhaps we’re just curious about something — Vitamin D, for a good example — yet don’t need any other doctoring at the moment. Most of us set our blood chemistry curiosity aside at this point, thinking we’ll remember the question during our next visit to the doctor’s office.
Or not.
Easy solution: Skip the anxiety, arguing or subsequent frustration and order the tests you’re interested in via Life Extension’s Blood Testing Panels.
Toward the end of that blog post you’ll find a reference to Vitamin D testing. Low Vitamin D was a key part of reducing joint pain for me a few months ago. I dunno if it’ll keep me from getting cancer, but I’ll happily take the pain reduction either way. Check it out.
March 12, 2008... Spring Training for Stealth Bombers
To lift your dragging spirits, to comply with a promise I made last week, and being a man of his word (he lies through his crooked and decaying teeth, girls), I shall complete my thoughts on getting bigger and better and smarter if I were an average 18-year-old, weight training for a year in an average sort of way. .... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
The astute will have noticed a certain level of weirdness gaining steam in my training the past couple of months. It’s been all over the map as I jump to a problem area, make some progress and move along to another. The upside of training weaknesses is that progress comes fast; the downside is there sure are a lot of them to work on once you get to noticing, and hey, the training sometimes looks ridiculous.
It’s a mess of small and large issues to write about, but since it’s a sure thing most who read this have one or two pain problems that are a result of weakness in another area, I wrote a long forum post describing all the exercises I’ve used over the past couple of months.
I do think most people who've been training for a long time will be surprised at how feeble they feel on some of these easy-peasy exercises. Most of us have weak spots that need attention, and that’s why I hope you’ll continue on and give the post the time needed to simmer into your brain.
Off you go then: Rehab Workouts and Corrective Exercise Programs.
If you take this seriously, I’m convinced it will either ease nagging pain or keep you from some unnecessary problems in the future. Honestly.
March 5 , 2008... You Can Look, but Don’t Jump
Know this: A change in workout might serve many purposes (muscularize, thicken the back, strengthen the thighs), but its most essential purpose is to keep us interested and hopeful and engaged. Or, put another way, to keep us from pulling our hair out, drooping with boredom, sinking in doubt and staying home and watching TV instead of blasting it. Anything but another workout! Consistent training, even if it’s bad, is good. Better a bad workout than no workout. The worst workout is the missed workout. He who neglects his exercise is a loser .... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Physical therapists and coaches for professional athletes have not always been ahead of bodybuilders when it comes to building a muscular body. In fact, in terms of nutrition and weight training, the guys of Dave’s competitive years led the charge for today’s athletes. Yet I must say that leadership role has been reversed over the past decade, and these days it’s the strength and conditioning coaches and the athletic PT folks who are making remarkable strides in revamping how we think about our training programs.
What a great time this is to be a young athlete, and what I mean by that is that over the next few years the new generation will get corrective exercise, movement screening and instructions such as daily foam rolling as part of their athletic training. Soon this stuff will be done by coaches down to the high school level, and, as the athletes age, they’ll take this knowledge with them into adulthood. Those athletes have an excellent chance at less pain in their golden years, something the Golden Era bodybuilders unfortunately were not able to demonstrate.
Corrective exercise and movement screening is how this is filtering down to the average weight training athlete. This week's blog post is an overview of this exciting new work.
I love this stuff. Things are getting better – physical movement that I thought was gone, returning range of motion and decreasing occurrence of pain. You’ll benefit if you make it a priority to check this out. I promise.
February 27, 2008... Getting Older is a Laugh a Minute
Believe it or not, as we grow older and reach a certain age of maturity, we (yes, even bombers) diminish in muscle and strength, joint health and flexibility, energy and endurance, resistance and that happy-go-lucky-life-is-grand-bring-it-on attitude. This is not a conspiracy, as some think, and, no, it’s not a superstition; it’s a cold and ruthless scientific fact. .... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Teenager needs to gain weight
- Learning How to Squat
- Questions about Gironda and Rheo’s supplements
- How do I develop the outer biceps?
- What are the chances of becoming a bodybuilding pro?
At last weekend’s Power Systems strength and conditioning workshop, Jay Dawes did a session “Developing Total Athleticism,” which included about an hour on agility ladder drills. This part was an audience participation bit, and being a bit of a klutz I seriously considered standing to the side as the rest of the hundred or so personal trainers went through the ladder training.
Instead, I was startled to discover how fun it was, and that I wasn’t quite as terrible at it as expected. Heck, I didn’t even fall! So, after the session I popped over to the sales booth to pick up an agility ladder just for the fun of it. What’s twenty bucks, right?
Wrong. Those things cost $70 and up, and I’m not kidding. I yanked my hand back off that goodie and backed away thinking, jeez, I can make one of these. Let’s take a look at how that went: DIY Homemade Agility Ladder.
Now let’s figure out what to do with it: Using an Agility Ladder, a Beginner's Guide to Foot Speed and Agility Training.
I’m off to Florida for a long weekend with some of my IOL forum pals. I’ll take my homemade ladder and see if we can create a few new tricks so I can come home with faster feet. You know, more agile.
February 20, 2008... Ah, the Good Old Days
My blissful journey of innocent wonder started when I was 10 years old with a heap of battered weights totaling 100 pounds. At ten, 100 pounds sounds serious, grown-up, impressive, huge and worldly.
You heard it all before, but what the heck: There they lay in my designated space on the bedroom floor, dumb, heavy and inert. While my brothers stepped over the dense and confined mess, I crawled under it, into it. I proceeded to haul the clattering and merciless load everywhere I went, like it was treasure, food and shelter, a matter of life and death, the Holy Grail. Perhaps companionship -- he ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Focusing on shoulders
- Cutting the legs for competition
- High reps for ectomorphs
- Over 50 and just getting started on a workout program
Body alignment starts at the ground and works its way up the body via the fascia beginning at the toes and moving through each joint. Over time and for a variety of reasons, we develop weakness and tightness in various muscles around the joints, which will need to be addressed for good body function. However, if foot problems aren’t fixed, the structure will never be fully sound.
Let’s take a closer look at what happens when a foot doesn’t sit right.
Last week’s discussion of strengthening the weak and loosening the tight muscles that move us through space and hold the joints solidly in place triggered a suggestion to create a new space in the forum. Most of us are older than the average weight training internet junkie, and we’ve got more functional movement problems. Join us as we sort out some of these issues in the new section: Rehab, Prehab and Movement Patterns.
I’m a big fan of attending seminars and workshop weekends on topics that have my attention — website work, book publishing, software, stuff like that.
Since the early ’80s, I’ve been going to day-long or several-day conferences on weight training, including several trips to the big IDEA conferences, which formed much of my thinking, built on my enthusiasm and helped open my eyes to training methods I hadn’t seen here in the gym.
Today I got wind of a new conference featuring many of our favorite musclebuilding authors and speakers, and get this, it’s ONLINE! No travel fees, hotels, time away from home. Instead, the entire conference will be presented live online, as well as archived for later viewing. 102 hour-long sessions for a bargain price of $99 if purchased during the early-bird discount window. Here are the rest of the details. I’m in!
February 13 , 2008...No, I'm not running for President
Remember Dave's fictional bus trip with the mystery questioner? They're back on the bus for another Q&A session. If you wonder about bodybuilding in the Golden Era, I think you'll enjoy this one.. .... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Cutting the legs for competition
- High reps for ectomorphs
- Over 50 and just getting started on a workout program
You’ve been training for 20 years, maybe 30. You’re strong, in much better shape that your co-workers. But where’s the payoff? Your back hurts as bad as the next guy’s, heck, maybe worse. You know it’s been worth all the effort, you just know it. I mean… right?
We’ve been talking about steps needed to take to bring things back to the upside. One of the ideas that’s floating to the top is that after decades under the bar, without doing anything to strengthen the smaller muscles the big movers are strong, and they sort of take over and do all the work. The smaller stability muscles weaken and sometimes stop firing entirely. We need to fix that.
Let’s start that discussion now: Strengthen What's Weak; Loosen What's Tight.
I’m a couple years into this process and have a few wins and a few draws I can brag about. I’ll keep the thoughts coming, as long as you keep reading the blog and heading over to the forum to talk about how we’re going to put these puzzle pieces together.
February 6 , 2008...I’m as Dumb as a Rock (Iron Ore)
Just wait till you discover the riches attained during your musclebuilding journey: defined character, broad patience, enduring perseverance, deep focus, strong will, energized compassion, solid conviction. Heavenly treasures. . .... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Slowly but surely I’ve been trying to puts words to the physical rehab effort tract I’ve been on the past couple of years. One day it’ll come together well enough in my head to be able to explain it in the right order for fellow sufferers, but until then bits and pieces will continue to slip out in life’s random order.
Today’s blog post fits right in, where perhaps some buried bit of nonsense will strike a chord. Here’s “Fixing an Aching Body,” although it’s not as if I’m, er, fixed or anything.
In Setting Up a Home Gym, Part 4, Wicked lets us take a peek into the side door of his home gym. Does he practice what he preaches? You decide.
I’m heading off to a workshop this weekend. Having no idea what to expect, I promise to take notes and will clue you in on the presenters’ secrets. Maybe I should swing by the electronics store on my way out of town to pick up one of those fancy $150 note-taking-recorder-computer pen thingies. Wonder what Dungeon Man would say if I came home with one of those pricey geek gizmos. I’d be grounded, no doubt.
January 30, 2008...Windy Skies Lift Us Higher and Higher
Little things are happening all the time, a small improvement here, a minor alteration there, something lost, yet something gained; time goes by, maturity reaps muscle hardness and increased delineation, age is acquired, yet under-worked muscles respond to renewed and deliberate action. Bodyweight is difficult to maintain, up or down; energy and muscle endurance come and go, but musclebuilding wisdom rises. .... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Accountability and encouragement are two very powerful factors in logging workouts publicly. Participants in the End of Year Challenge who didn't know that before our group project sure knew it after.
Yet for all the value, we can't keep having challenges month after month; those would die off before April. A "challenge" doesn't stay lively very long, as two by two people drop away for any of a long list of good or not-so-good reasons.
Instead, let's take the group training model in another direction to use its benefits during the year to come.
Here's what we came up with: The IOL Co-Op Training Log, an opportunity for us all to learn new exercises, workout combinations or lesser-used training tools by following along the training programs of others. Three people each month will step forward to log their workouts, with all the give and take that inspires, and at the end of the month will step aside for their replacements to fill the positions.
The Co-Op link above further explains what we're up to, and will drop you off at the new training co-op, already gearing into action for February.
Come on, get in on the adventure while it’s on the tarmac preparing for take off.
January 23, 2008...Knowing What I Know Now
Today, knowing what I know today, I choose the best to produce the most -- one exercise from each muscle group to take me most directly from the edge to the center of things. I want to savor the qualities of efficient barbell and dumbbell movements, taste the muscle’s action, pump and burn and revel in the finesse of iron-muscle engagement.... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Over the years we’ve collected a bundle of memories of Zuver’s Gym from the forum members who were in Southern California at the time. Coupled with an excerpt from Dick Tyler’s fabulous book, West Coast Bodybuilding Scene, it made for a terrific nostalgic picture of the place.
Then, yesterday, after a 5-year ebay eye out for the September 1988 IronMan magazine wherein I knew I’d find a Dr. Ken Leistner article, Memories of Zuver’s Hall of Fame Gym, miracle of miracles, the postman delivered. A couple of emails from the good doc and IronMan publisher John Balik later, armed with permission to post, I banged out the keys that told the story of Zuver’s, 1968.
Add to that a couple new photos, a new Zuver’s excerpt from West Coast Bodybuilding Scene and a link to our IOL forum’s Zuver’s collection (hint: photos you’ve never seen and stories you’ve never heard), and you’ve got yourself one special lunch break.
It all starts here: Dr. Ken Leistner, Memories of Zuver's Gym.
I’m grinning for ya already.
January 16, 2008...The Day the Rains Came Down
Dan was not much older than me -- a kid, one might say -- and we were buds since the days of Vince’s Gym. He ran the place while Howorth and Scott hoisted weights to the sound of the Rolling Stones. Dan himself, a pile of well-placed rocks, carried home the coveted Mr. California and Mr. USA trophies thirty-some years ago... amid the golden days... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Young and can’t gain muscle
- Are you jealous of Arnold’s success?
- Aging and training splits
- Female wanting to lose weight
I’ve been sorting out a long list of structural problems over the past few years, one spot after another resulting in various levels of pain or annoyance from neck to feet. Some of the trouble spots are now completely fixed, and remain moving easily with a few simple exercises, stretches and some easy soft tissue work.
Once in a while the relief happened so quickly it felt like magic. Other problems are taking more time, especially after guessing wrong a few times and compensating or over-compensating with incorrect movements.
Many of you suffer some of the same problems, or will when the length of time your body is moving wrong catches up with its ability to mask them. It seems we can do things really badly for a whole long time before things start breaking down, but once the structure starts faltering, look out.
In the blog post below, you’ll find an overview of the most common muscular-skeletal issues that strike aging adults. There’s some magic in there for you, I promise, or for the young among us, a few simple movements that may keep you vital and pain-free for life. I’m totally serious.
Read and heed: Mobility, stability and flexibility... structural movement and physical rehab.
January 9, 2008...I Go Through Cycles
I was sitting on the bus the other day on the way to the gym when some guy comes up to me and sez, “Hey, you Dave Drapeless?” To which I respond, “Yes, pretty much.” He then asks me if it’s okay to sit down and ask me some questions, to which I respond, “Sure, it’s a free country.” We get talkin’ and this is how it went (I missed my stop, boy, was I mad): Q: What was it like at Gold’s back in the 1970s? Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Can I survive on supplements alone?
- What is training to sensible failure?
- Training with cables or bands
I would never have guessed Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore could better their work in Starting Strength (First Edition), never. Yet that’s exactly what they did -- the new edition is outstanding and I highly recommended it.
Furthermore, we’re yapping about it over the in forum, and when we get done there later this month, the authors are going to join us to hammer out the last bits we can’t quite get our heads around.
You can read along, or you can contribute. Start with the overview here: Starting Strength, Rippetoe and Kilgore.
January 2...2008 is Gonna be a Great Year, Bombers
Which reminds me: 363 days till 2009... 2008, ready or not, here we is. We won’t talk about resolutions. Those went out with polyester and disco. Resolutions are like lifer-long promises; they are not only broken, they are chopped up, pulverized and finally vaporized. Let’s just stick to the basics: train hard, eat right and be -----------. You fill in the blank. Choices include, but are not limited to, happy, strong, consistent, big, lean, smart, healthy, a rock star, a busboy and Governor.... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Fast reps or slow reps
- Supersetting, set and rep sequences
- German Volume Training (GVT) or 8×8 routines
- Breaking a plateau on chest training
- Should my husband train every day?
- Gain muscle mass without bodyfat
Often our email queries require a heftier answer than either Dave or I can provide, but a link to a forum discussion will cover all the bases the writer might need. A recent search for such a link uncovered some really fine forum discussions long since forgotten, and as I thought about how often I use some of the guidance and recommendations, I knew we’d have to find a way to bring them to the forefront.
Hence, our new Must Reads Topic Archive, 20 of our Very Best Weight Training and Nutrition discussions..
What I did in many cases was dig out a selection of our best conversations on a topic and merge the strings together into one long archive. In this way, you’ll be able to see how our learning developed as the science advanced, or as we tried and tested the philosophies and training techniques discussed.
By the time you get to the end of the topic compilation, you’ll have a broad base of knowledge, along with all the links we used to assemble it.
Looking for a quick way to learn what you need to know about a topic you saw mentioned in an article or forum? We gotcha covered.
Happy New Year. That link right there could keep you going until 2009!
December 27 , 2007...My Wife was Driving, Officer
Earlier this month Laree and I topped the tank and drove down the California coast to Santa Monica where we attended a memorial honoring the great legend of bodybuilding, Reg Park. Reg, three times winner of Mr. Universe and the colossal Hercules of the movie world, died on America’s celebrated Thanksgiving Day. He was 79 years old. He was our friend... Continue reading...
December 19...Jolly Holiday Mumbo Jumbo
I stumbled upon dumbbells 55 years ago. I mistook them for toys (I suffer from poor perception, among other things) and like an overgrown kid, I’ve been playing with them ever since. Here are my favorite five-star movements with the beloved devices... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Genetics and building calves
· Suggestions for carb choices
· What do you mean by thin skin?
· Bomber Blend, Super Spectrim and Anabol Naturals
Joints begin to ache as we get a little older (hey, maybe you already knew that), or not so older in the case of aggressive athletes, who often hurt as much as someone three or four times their age. Nagging pain day after day coupled with decreasing range of motion equals just plain old bad juju that’ll ruin your life.
Does regular pain have your attention? Something’s wrong, and if you make it a priority, maybe you can fix it.
Let’s take a look at how to relieve joint pain and restore joint mobility.
December 12...Heavy Mid-Season Christmas Message
Considering we’re in the middle of the most dazzling month of the year, the last one before the New Year, and the one bearing the most celebrated gift-giving holiday; the same month of eating and drinking, parties and merriment, shopping and wrapping, ribbons and bows (I have a headache), how goes your training and your diet, your strength and health? ... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- A brief explanation of superset training
- Are shoulder shrugs good?
- Training to failure
- Aging and losing size
- Bomber Blend and fat loss
- Farmer’s Walks
After hearing the news of Reg Park's death, I stopped what I was doing, saddened, then prayerful for the Park family. Next, I told Dave the news and then, for my own comfort, I pulled up Dave's tale of one of his and Reg's travels in South Africa. It's a classic I'm sure you'll enjoy as much as I did.
TV commercials for purple pills, Mylanta and Rolaids do their fair share to fill the airwaves, and with our out-of-control eating habits, that’s not likely to change in the foreseeable future. Still, of Michelle Smith has her way, heavy lifters will diligently sort out their gut issues and have relief when it comes time to hit the gym.
Michelle’s a strongman -- strongwoman -- competitor, a regular contributor the IOL forum, who set out to explain acid reflux and gut distress problems in her blog post this week: Acid Reflux, IBS: Gut things I've learned.
In part two, she describes food sensitivities, how to isolate the foods and what to do next.
She writes, “Food allergies and sensitivities can wreak havoc with your body. The symptoms can run the gamut from nausea, hives, diarrhea, bloating, weight gain, and mood swings up to and including death. If you are allergic to shellfish or peanuts, you already know about it and know how serious exposure can be. But what if your allergy or sensitivity isn’t that obvious? What if you’ve never had a problem before and now you do?”
Let’s go find out: Food Allergies, Food Sensitivities and Rotation Diet.
December 5...Questioning One’s Sanity
I noted at the outset how comfortable I felt just lying on the bench, stretching, flexing and contorting in preparation for the workout. The muscles and joints responded blissfully to the tensing and reaching and arching. If only they knew what I had in store for them, a merciless pounding, beating and thumping into shape. ... Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Thinking about entering a bodybuilding contest
· Training with a heart condition
Last week I promised we’d make good use of the new forum software’s YouTube capabilities in time for this week’s newsletter, and man, did we dig up some classics. These’ll keep you happily occupied at least through lunch; I suggest you shake up your protein drink before you click on over.
These are our favorite fitness and strength videos.
And this is our new exercise instruction video section, where you’ll be able to return whenever you need a handy and trusted video demonstration.
November 28...Lower the Anchor, Don’t Drop the Iron
Give us a sturdy bench and some dumbbells, a stack of sets and a heap of reps and we’re as happy as pigs in sh... er... sheep grazing on a lush and sunny hillside amid wildflowers and songbirds in the early spring. That doesn’t make us simple and dumb. I was thinking more like thrilled and thankful... healthy and wise. Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Diet and training, 1960s vs today
- Exercise limitations from low back injury
- Squatting with raised heels
- Upper thighs too muscular
- Poor workout recovery
- All-out HIT workout effort
This was our week of upgrades and modifications in the forum, mostly subtle, but some not so hidden. For instance, we can now use YouTube video clips direct on the board, a truly outstanding new feature. In fact, next week we’ll line up a string of our favorite lifting videos, stuff you probably haven’t seen unless you’re a YouTube regular. There are some radical lifting clips floating around, jaw-dropping stuff.
I didn’t think of that earlier, probably because the broken code from the upgrade about slay me, and then because the forum tweaks took most of the past week and are only now closing in on successful.
We did get one thing going for you, though. Regular forum members share a lot of tips on training tools, equipment, dvds, books and such, and there are plenty of unusual items you may not know of or may have forgotten. These are not things your friends or family members will think of as gifts without your guidance, nor would they have a clue where to find them. If you want something other than a pair of argyles, here’s our IOL gift guide to send you out on the net to build your Iron Treasures wish-list.
Have fun with your “windows” shopping.
November 21...Time Passages
Tilting toward the whimsical today -- what the heck, no one's reading this holiday weekend anyway -- Dave rambles on a bit, end with a clever little tight-time workout and sandwiching in a couple of my new favorite oneliners. Continue reading...
This week’s updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
- Working multiple bodyparts per workout
- On and Off-Season Bodybuilding
- How can I get bigger lats?
- How do I work lower abs?
- What constitutes a bomber?
… where you’ll find tidbits from Dave’s email outbox, a one-liner to clarify something that’s been nagging at you.
In the late ‘80s, chromium picolinate was touted as an exciting new fat burning product, sure to melt away bodyfat like magic. When it didn’t work out that way, the product faded into the background, yet there’s still something of value here and we should probably take another look.
Not that a food holiday is the right time to talk about fat burning supplements… but then again, maybe it is. Point of fact, as it turns out, it’s not really a fat burning issue at all, so let’s go ahead and discuss the value of stable blood sugar, particularly after what probably exploded into a high-blood-sugar weekend. So away we go: Chromium Picolinate's effects on blood chemistry.
November 14 ......Another Day of Scheming and Day Dreaming
Dave writes, "One of the more outstanding reminders surfacing during that short, yet scintillating conversation with Arnold was the intense and immersed style of training we shared in the past. I don’t believe such training exists anymore, surely not in surplus. And the reasons why are multiple." Continue reading...
Taking our recent conversation about triggerpoint therapy a step further, let’s talk about a couple of tricks that can clear up Achilles tendinitus, plantar fasciitis and dropped metatarsal bones quickly, sometimes in as little as a few minutes.
Note I didn’t say painlessly, because sure enough, it isn’t that.
At the link above, you’ll find a blog post describing how to do triggerpoint on the lower legs and feet to keep nagging pain at bay.
This week’s updates in Dave’s new Q&A blog :
Back Training: What are barbell rows good for?
Gym Etiquette -- Why don’t people get it?
Shoulder Pain -- Should I rest?
Here you’ll find short and medium-length tidbits from Dave’s email outbox, a quick read where you may find a one-liner that will turn a light onto something that’s been nagging at you. That oughta keep ya busy for a bit.
November 7 ...... Hello, Obesity. Sit. Have a Donut.
They are told, but nobody listens. The word is out, but they do not respond. It’s in the news, but none heed the message. Magazines inform, newspapers report, the television declares and the internet details hard-hitting facts, embarrassing truths and alarming consequences, but the points are ignored. Obesity kills. Continue reading...
This week in the blog we have a special treat for the thinkers with a bit of time on their hands this week: Steve Wedan steps forward with a significant commentary on training periodization. He’ll use his early background from decades ago when science first nudged a nose into the weight room, and will then intertwine that with a detailed review of Pavel Tsatsouline’s book, Power to the People.
Step by step, he’ll walk you through the details of a periodization program, defining the cycling techniques and showing you how to set up a long-term training plan. Along the way, you’ll eavesdrop on his conversations with Ell Darden, and hear of his thoughts of other coaches philosophies.
It’s a great read; print it out and ponder it over lunch: Workout Training Periodization.
I updated a few email answers from Dave’s email box in his Q&A Blog this week, and will continue to add several new posts each week. Make a point of swinging by his new blog regularly, or subscribe to the feed and let your newsreader grab the new posts for you automatically.
Here’s that link again: Dave's bodybuilding tips and hints blog.
To my IronOnline Challenge partners, stick with the program… you’ve been challenged, don’t forget!
October 31......The Great IronOnline Truth Test
Life is short, the days are swift, but the moments of doubt are long. How are we progressing, we ask in accord. The inquiry is universal, multifaceted and pervasive; the answer a wonder. I have constructed a test of one question to determine the attributes and advancement of attending IronOnline bombers -- a clever device to spotlight the curiosity and resolve the mystery of how are we doing. Continue reading...
Dave let me rummage around in his email out box recently, and what I found was a goldmine of nuggets as he briefly answered the same questions many readers are asking themselves. What a waste! All these gems and only one person the recipient!
Let’s take a peek, shall we? And while we’re at it, let’s make this a regular thing; we'll call it Dave’s Musclebuilding Q&A Blog, tidbits nabbed from his email box. I’ll upload a few times a week; bookmark the link below for a pick-me-up on those days you feel a skipped workout in the offing.
Over in the IronOnline blog, Bill Peel (Wicked Willie of the IOL Forum), offers up praise for what he calls the primitive clean and press and the shrug bar deadlift, which he’ll combine to create a satisfying full-body workout.
You may remember ages and ages ago when I told of asking Dave which is the most effective exercise. His answer came forth loud and clear -- clean and press -- and set a good number of IOL members on a quest to learn this outstanding movement.
I trust the IronOnline Challengers successfully withstood the onslaught of Halloween candy, whether left over or owned by a youngster in the house. Beauty job!
Take a trip over to our
New Musclebuilding Q&A Blog
... where Dave allows us a peek into his email outbox.
And of course we invite you to review our
IOL Online Personal Training Program...
for when you're ready to take the next step in your training
October 25...
Muscle Talk for the Humble
I thought because I'm a hardcore professional with the sand of Muscle Beach under his fingernails and the stripes of Dungeon dwelling across his back, visitors of davedraper.com would be a gnarly mob with their own brand of iron wear and tear. We're bombers, after all. Not necessarily so, Joe. Think again, Ben. Continue reading...
Now to what I was thinking about before heading off to San Francisco: pain and injury (don’t laugh), tendons in particular. These take forever to heal, and after waiting patiently with intolerance all summer for an Achilles tendon to normalize (shoe inserts, regular icing, attention to Body Ammo Joint Connection and Now Foods fish oil supplements), by accident I stumbled upon what feels like a miracle.
And when you discover the possible treatment list (tendinitis, ankle sprains and back pain, to carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, rotator cuff, runner’s knee and sciatica, the list of potential favorable treatments by triggerpoint therapy is long), you’re going to want to check this out yourself.
Here’s the overview to begin your trip from painful to painless: Trigger point therapy tendinitis cure.
October 17... We Dare You to be Sensible
Need a nudge? That’s like asking do you need a few extra bucks. Everybody I know needs a little, or a lot, of both. Today, for example, I could use a stack of hundreds and someone with a big stick to drag me to the gym. Instead, Laree and I will drag each other and have fun in the process. Continue reading Dave's article...
That it… now you’re up to date on the chelation, and, if you skip back up to the top paragraphs, perhaps re-energized and ready to jump onto the departing Challenge chariot. Here's a link to last week's Challenge post, where I kinda said the same things as Dave, just not so well.
And here’s what’ll happen if you ignore us both and stumble your way into the holidays: Bulgebellious
Finally, have you ever seen mobile dipping bars for home training? I spotted a set of these at Mindy Mylrea’s FitFest last month and was pretty jazzed at the variety of exercise possibilities. In fact, I ordered up a set for myself (don’t tell Dave), and am eager to see the UPS driver chugging that truck up the drive so I can get to playing on them.
Here’s a look at what I’m talking about: Lebert Equalizer Mobile Dipping Bars
We’ll catch up with you next week, when we’ll be one week closer to our 10-week goal.
October 10... The Hook is Getting Deeper
Wait! Before you hit the delete key, we need to talk. Where have you been lately? You're not at the gym, we haven't seen you at the health food store and it's reported you no longer jog around the park. Going through your garbage, we found crushed pizza boxes, empty beer cans (you should recycle), Big Gulp containers and Twinkie wrappers.
We're worried about you, we being the notorious Bomber Online Muscle Bureau or BOMB Squad. We’ll stop at nothing to restore your commitment to blasting the iron.
He who blasts, lasts. Continue reading Dave's article...
Accountability rules! That might not be what Dave said, word for word, but that's the point of the Challenge, no doubt about it. We used a winter challenge gig a few years go to keep a whole crew of us on track and striving forward through the rocky holiday months, and it worked beyond measure. I remember that as my most consistent winter training of the past 27. Remarkable! And I'm looking for this one to match or best that one.
The main point to think about right now: This is your chance -- this week and next -- to get your plan in order, to set the program in motion this month while you're eager and geared up. The hook will be set before things fall apart, which they surely will and not that far from now as the Christmas elves start hopping around your tv.
If you do it right, your pre-planned habit will carry you through the turmoil ahead.
Here, you'll find the details: IronOnline End of Year Workout Challenge. We'd love to have you come along.
October 3... The Hook is Getting Deeper
It’s a tough day when you discover you can’t live without your training, specifically weight training. Oh, you’ll live, alright -- I tend to exaggerate -- but not without anguish. An important part of you, something similar to your heart and soul, spouse or first born, is missing. Continue reading Dave's weekly article...
As I enter Take Two on my low thyroid cure-all mission, this time maybe you or a mate will come along with me. Is your temperature always a little low? Do you usually have a few physical problems – not injuries, but aches, fatigue, impossible weight control, stuff like that?
Well, in that case, step up. We’re going for a journey: Is My Low Thyroid Making Me Feel Lousy?
If you’ve got an unexplained ailment that’s been nagging at you, or better yet more than one, go over and spend a little time with the post. Read it through once, then go back to the top and click on the symptoms that match yours to see if there’s anything in this for you. Could cure ya right up, for life.
September 27... Birds of a Feather
The Weight Room was mellow at the one-o’clock hour and we each grabbed a bench to knock out some crunches and leg raises -- essential and fundamental investments. Like round one of a boxing match or the first inning of a baseball game, these movements set the mood, warm up and stretch out the body and set the athletes in motion. Continue reading...
“When I thought no one was looking, I held my breath, closed my eyes and leaped onto the posing dais, hit a few shots and miraculously disappeared. I later discovered the place was packed with screaming fans -- ‘They’re hanging off the chandeliers, Draper’ -- and I’d won the 1965 Mr. America title.”
So begins the short Icon Interview from last month’s Muscle and Body magazine. You’ll get a kick out of the rest of the piece, transcribed into the blog post: Muscle and Body Icon, Dave Draper, the Blond Bomber.
The listing for the scuffed copies of Iron on My Mind was quite popular. I don’t know why I didn’t let you know about our scuffed returns sooner. We get copies of unsold books from bookstores in a boxed return from our wholesaler usually three or four times a year. In addition to a grand total of eight scuffed copies of Stella’s Kitchen that arrived yesterday and have sold out already, we’ve also got a couple small stacks of returned West Coast Bodybuilding Scene, marked down to $14.95.
Honestly, of these WCBS you can’t tell a scuffed copy from a new copy in most cases; the Stella’s books have a little more age on them having been on bookstore shelves for a couple of years, I guess, and are a little more damaged than the others. And yes, I do know it’s practically scandalous to think of a bookstore returning West Coast Bodybuilding Scene unsold. Almost impossible!
Dave’ll sign the West Coast Books before we ship ‘em out of here.
And, hey, don’t fight over the Stella’s books, would ya? I’m teasing, of course. If the link to Stella’s above doesn’t work, it means we’ve sold out. Very sorry! Wish we had more…
September 19... Contentment, the Luster of a Life; Complacency, the Rust
Today Dave writes, "Responding to the uncertainty of the future, I’ve decided not to make any long-term training goals this fall. Rather, I shall do the best I can do with what I have, one day at a time. Advancement, development, improvement and progress are my daily objectives, but the 2007 Over-the-Hill Mr. Olympia is over my head." Let's go over and see what that means in real life at the gym.
Snooping around the thousands of pages of the forum looking for the highlights to point out in a blog post a couple weeks ago reminded me of the kazillion other pages in this 3,000-page website you’re unlikely to have accidentally stumbled upon. A quick glance at our server logs gives a picture of our wiki health and fitness database, and I thought you might like a look at which pages are drawing the most reader attention, see what you’re missing.
We’ve got a bit of an anniversary to celebrate this week: Our blog rolled over its one-year calendar. It’s clearly been a lot of fun and has provided an outstanding and wide-ranging collection of material.
Still, without a specific purpose in mind at the outset, it’s hard to say we met any goals here. Next year we simply promise more of the same un-planned randomness to educate and entertain.
I really appreciate my blogging partners ever so much. Thanks, friends!
September 12... Make-Shift Kitchen, Home-Brewed Muscle Soup
What would an old musclehead like Dave do if stuck at home with no gym in driving distance? Let's find out.
Ages ago, last winter when we were discussing spin bike training, I promised to write about heart rate training for the benefit of those who bought a heart rate monitor but never learned how to use it. Aside from being the most affective method of cardiovascular training, it’s also a way to spice up aerobic training for those who find cardio more boring than waiting for the spouse outside a Macy’s fitting room.
For years we’ve been encouraging high intensity interval training (HIIT), more work gets done… faster. So, now that you know what high intensity is, how do you measure it? That’s right, a heart rate monitor. Here’s how to get started with heart rate training.
September 5... Dragging an Unwilling Body to the Gym
It's a blast to get a glimpse inside Dave's head during his training. Once in a while he nails it, and this is one of those days.
Bill Peel, one of my valued blogging partners, got to thinking about high intensity training and poundage goals over the holiday weekend. Of his piece he writes, “Since Arthur Jones recently passed on, a little critical examination of some of the items in his training protocol seemed timely. Sensible application of high intensity principles can be beneficial. The problem is there is very little sensible instruction out there. One should very carefully read the contents of the Nautilus Training Bulletins Nos. 1 and 2… and then read them again. You may come to a new realization what constitutes high intensity training and how to apply it. Although I once considered myself a hard gainer, what I was actually was an inconsistent trainer. I know the difference, now.”
We’ve continued his ponderings in a conversation in the forum, and welcome your participation. Including more points of view helps round out the edges and fills in the gaps for beginner and elite.
As long time readers of Dave’s newsletter thinking you’ve already seen the material, you may have stuck to the fence and not pulled the purchase lever when his most recent book, Iron on My Mind, was released. Sitting on the deck, soaking up his prose as the sun goes down -- maybe a tangy ice tea on the stool beside you -- well, that sure beats sitting here at the desk doing the quick scan between chores, doesn’t it?
I received a shipment of these books back from the wholesaler, 50 or so, that got the slightest bit scuffed on the return trip. Some you can barely find the scuffs, maybe the corner was bent a tiny bit, stuff like that. We can’t sell them as new, and we don’t want to trip over ‘em forever either. Let’s discount, whaddaya say?
At $14.95, plus $5.00 US shipping, we’ll get one of these to you for under $20: Iron on My Mind, slightly scuffed.
Grab yourself one, and get one for your training partner while you’re at it. The books will arrive signed, a treasure for your bookcase. You won’t be disappointed; I’m certain of it.
August 29... A Work in Progress
And a weight room without a well-tuned workout, though packed with iron, is an empty place, useless and dead. The workout keeps us running smoothly, moving efficiently, progressing, enduring and enjoying the ride.
I don’t have to tell you my favorite part of the day is a morning cup of Leo’s java and an hour clicking around our forum for a visit with my great friends there. Still, for those who haven’t been around since the beginning and don’t know the players, sometimes it’s a little daunting to jump right in. Who’s who, and do they really know what they’re talking about? Is that guy joking or is this a serious argument? Once in a while it’s hard to tell, especially for newcomers.
So how about a sweet little intro to show you around? These are a few of the notable weight training topics from August.
The news of Arthur Jones’ death yesterday has carried throughout the internet, although some readers may not have spent much time online this pre-holiday week. This Arthur Jones page in our database includes a collection of links to various AJ experts, interviews and documents, enough to keep you busy all day if you want.
Happy Labor Day, friends. Even if you don’t live here in the States, enjoy a BBQ for us this holiday weekend, won’t you?
August 22... Slow Me Down, Lord
Now what one thing, other than an extended training layoff, is the absolute last thing you'd expect to hear from Dave? Would the switch between force-feeding and occasional fasting be enough for you? At the link above, Dave'll give you the story.
There’s a growing army of people who fast during the day, or part of the day, depending on their goals and personal circumstances. Calorie restriction and fasting are thought to contribute to wellness and longevity, weight loss, beneficial blood lipids, decreased inflammatory markers, diabetes control, arthritis, possibly even lowered incidence of deadly illnesses such as cancer. Short-term, intermittent fasting is a simple, almost enjoyable way to achieve this.
While I’m only today finishing week two of a limited version of daytime fasting, beginning by extending the overnight fast from about 10 hours to 15, the report so far is extremely positive. I feel terrific, energetic, clear-thinking and absolutely enjoy the lighter feeling of an empty stomach. The weight loss has slipped into place, even just a little, clocking in at about a pound-and-a-half, but it’s notable since the past two months at 1,350 daily calories really made no budge in scale weight.
Not yet prepared to file a report, but since Dave wrote about it this week left me needing an overview spot to drop you off, I’ll recap a bit from our recent forum thread, and leave you with a link to the wiki page where you’ll find material for your own research: Intermittent Fasting.
Whenever we have the opportunity, our IOL forum supports a small group of military lifters in Iraq and Afghanistan, usually just with a word of encouragement, prayer or workout suggestions. Once in a while we get another opportunity, and we have just such an chance today. A much loved forum member, David Mullins, has organized a small but growing kettlebell club over at Camp Victory in Baghdad, where he’s teaching his squad the subtle (yeah, I’ll bet!) techniques of KB training.
They need more cast-iron, and money for the freight to get it to Iraq.
Here’s where you can help. Forum member Mike Cassell of mcartworks.com created a couple of logos for the Hell’s Bells Kettlebell Club to be printed on tees and tanks, the profits of which will be used to fill out their equipment needs.
Camp Victory Hell's Bells Kettlebell Club apparel, caps and such are here.
Support the cause -- our kettlebell slinging soldiers over in Baghdad need a set of small ‘bells for their beginning female athletes. Go ahead, you know you’re going to be needing a sweatshirt soon. Eeek! Forget I said that.
August 15... The Question You Always Wanted to Ask
The ultimate purpose of IronOnline is to get you to the gym any way we can, with courage and enthusiasm or with your gym bag dragging behind like a millstone (or a worn, fuzzy blankie). Getting to the gym regularly, unfailingly and purposefully is the hardest part of the workout. Once there, the rest is like snatching candy from a three-year-old... gorilla, that is. And so begins Dave's weekly column.
He ends with a short update on his EDTA chelation therapy.
Are you wondering if that EDTA bit is a typo? In that case, you must have missed the earlier intro to chelation.
It’s time for a food-log update, wouldn’t you say --just exactly what came of that 100-day food logging project? The full report of diet logging on Fitday is here; 100% compliance at day 56 is the shortcut for those not excessively intrigued.
There may be bits of interest in the above link for you true muscleheads. Still, the idea of logging food for weight loss probably didn’t press any buttons for the ectomorphs. Not any positive ones, anyway. So instead, how about you go check out our new forum member, Boris Bachmann, and his most excellent squat instruction video clips.
Click on the link, then do something else for a couple minutes to let the videos preload and you’ll be a lot happier.
August 8... Nothing Changes, Nothing Remains the Same
It begins, "I park a block from the gym and can hear the clanking of plates echoing down the street. Come to think of it, I hear the clanking of plates in my dreams, under anesthesia and under water. The doctors say it’s an occupational hazard, like repetitive-use syndrome, battle fatigue or post-traumatic stress. I listen to the irregular, high-pitched concussions even when I don’t hear them. They are my built-in metronome, my internal clock, my heartbeat, my rhythm and rhyme, my song."
I love it! This is a fun read, click above to enjoy it.
You may remember July as our month to review The Wild Physique, a book written by Vince Gironda in 1975, later to be re-published by Bob Kennedy as Unleashing the Wild Physique in 1984.
44 threads and 771 posts later, we’ve covered not only the book, but also the man, his most popular workout programs (for example, 6x6, 8x8, 10x10), his unusual exercises, which many of us consider his greatest contribution, his diet suggestions, nutrition thoughts and supplement ideas.
All this, and more, is archived in the Gironda Review Forum. First, scan through the Gironda book review post, then follow the link at the end of the blog post to occupy yourself for the rest of the afternoon.
Chelation update: We still in a stall, waiting for a lab report. Once that’s in, Dave will meet with the doc, make a decision and most likely get started immediately.
August 1... Between Me and the Walls
Today we get an insider's look a the running commentary in Dave's head as he heads to the gym the other day. Looks a whole lot like yours and mine, I'll bet. He also discusses the recent research on obseity rates in the US.
Nothing new to report on the chelation front this week, not from Dave’s perspective at any rate; still, my eyes are bugging out from all the medical reading. We’re waiting for the results of a couple blood tests that will determine if he’s a candidate for the treatments. Hopefully we’ll have more for you next week, maybe even his response after the initial IV session.
There has been a bit of discussion on EDTA in the IronOnline forum, and if you’re interested in the treatments for yourself or others, read along, or feel free to post any questions you may have in the forum thread.
Over in the blog, Bill Peel has more on his mind this week, which is a good deal for us: He discusses training variety as a way to step up enthusiasm, progress and to keep injury at bay.
Next up, he outlines a favorite training routine that works everything two or three times a week, except arms, which you’ll hit directly once, allowing for full recovery. It’s a six-to-eight week set-up that’ll take you straight through the end-of-summer holiday and right into fall.
He’s got the exercise selections laid out, all you gotta do is the work.
July 25...Timely Instruction for the Young and Not So Young
What's a Winged Warrior to do when his wings get clipped? Let's review what Dave has to say, "Keep forced layoffs to a minimum is my first thought. Blast it without exploding is my second." There's more where those came from, click the link above for the full column.
Last week Dave hinted at his upcoming foray into obscure medicine, a weekly IV of chemicals offering the faint promise of clearing his blocked circulatory system. Before we get bombarded with emails warning of quackery, let’s take a look at what we know so far, including a fair bit of not-quite-believable success stories. Read more of our thinking about EDTA chelation at this link.
Our friend Bill Peel, Wicked Willie from the IOL forum, calls himself an average schmoe, which I don’t agree with at all (nor do the rest of my pals from the group), and writes his blog post this week to speak out for the rest of the schmoes among us. Here we are, then, at “Training Musings from and for the Average Schmoe”:
By this time next week, Dave may be moaning about sitting still for three hours with an IV. If I get him an iPod full of get-fit podcasts, do you think he’ll use it?
July 19, 2007...Muscle: Lean and Healthy, Functional and Attractive
In Dave's bit of rambling this week we learn why he trains year after year, get a status report on his heart surgery recover, hear a little about statins and discover he's off to research IV chelation tomorrow.
I don’t usually write about fat loss, because, frankly, I’m not very good at it. Still, I do have close to 40 years of dieting experience (yes, watching my folks taught me the grapefruit diet at around age 12, maybe 13), so let’s try this again. This one’s an old diet trick with a twist.
While partly an internal IOL discussion, this thread in the forum may mine up a nugget to tweak your workout or nutrition regime. Here’s What’s Changed in Your Training and Diet since IronOnline.
Now *that* is one fun thread.
July 12...Sacramento Invaded by Musclebound Ambassadors
Monday was Joe Weider Day here in California -- you may not have known that. We were invited to attend the celebration in honor of Joe's life of fitness. Here's Dave's report, and then... here's mine.
July 5... It Takes a Dumbbell to Know One
Dave takes it in the chin this week, 4th of July was a hot one in the gym. Here, let him tell it.
Drought in California and Australia, plus the rise of fuel and transportation costs, higher demand from Chinese consumers and feed corn diverted to ethanol production have all combined into a sort of perfect storm that has shot a price rumble through the catalog of dairy products.
Increasing dairy prices affect everything from milk, cheese and yogurt, to secondary markets that use dairy products, such as Starbucks espresso drinks, Hershey’s chocolate and Round Table pizzas. And protein powders, all of them, everything using any form of whey or casein. In our case, we were able to offset some of the price increase with our newly negotiated shipping rates, which we used to shift our order processing over to flat-rate, low-cost shipping. That part, I think you’re gonna like a lot.
The Travel Channel did a piece last week on a family trip during which the kids did the travel planning, including where they would go and what spots they'd visit once they got there.