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Dave's Q&A Blog feed | davedraper.com XML | IronOnline Blog feed
Laree here—throughout the website, I'll let you know when it's me, not Dave, writing.
Continued from previous page...
March 20, 2013... The First Day of Spring: Rejoice and Be Glad
I am so thankful my early years were possessed with lifting weights, getting hunky, eating chickens and digging underground forts in the dried sludge dredged from the bottom of the Hackensack River and deposited in the vacant property across the road from my house in Secaucus where the pig farms thrived 60 years ago. Oink....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Rotator cuff tear
· Using pain medicines
· Workout plan for 43-year-old
There’s more to this gig than Dave's words, though, and happily we have the Zuver family around to spread around a little more iron history picture joy for us. Today we get a look at the making of Zuverman.
March 13, 2013... Let’s Do More, Let’s Do It Again
I am going to make the giant assumption you know the elemental barbell and dumbbell movements for the various muscle groups. Since the creation and subsequent evolution of Joe Gold’s Gym in the mid-60s, curls, presses and deadlifts, biceps, triceps and shoulders have become inherent in mankind’s understanding. What’s not clear is the discipline, perseverance and humility to apply, pursue and achieve.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Adding fruit and vegetables
· How’s the Top Squat selling?
· Wrapping joints
Dave’s written a bunch of columns I love, but there are a few that really stand out in my mind. There’s a good chance you haven’t bumped into this one, so here’s a repost of, “Behind the Smile,” which could definitely be my all-time favorite. Check it out. You’re going to love it, too.
March 6, 2013... Simplicity Made Simple: Push, Pull, Grunt, Grin
There is not an abundance of musclebuilding revelation to offer this week, either in nutrition, training methods or fantasies. The unveilings of the most recent and viable, profound and prophetic academic journals (Mad Muscle Magazine, IronMonster, BigBoyzRsoCool) combined with the revelations of ancient scrolls and stone tablets support the ultimate truth summed up in six one-syllable words, train hard, eat right, don’t quit....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Gold’s and Gironda’s in the ’60s
· 12, 10, 8, 6 Rep Scheme
· Young and trying to bulk up
I first read about Gray Cook’s thoughts on the importance of the toe touch in his book Athletic Body in Balance. I didn’t know him then, but I read the book three times, and I decided I might be one of those few people who just can’t touch their toes. Never could, not as long as I can remember—sorta figured a short torso was to blame, just three inches from bra line to pelvis… not much bending space, right?
Numerous discussions, work on his Movement book, podcast instructions, articles and video bits, and still I didn’t get it. In hindsight, I could have saved myself a few years of denial by just getting him to show me, but what the heck, then I wouldn’t have the satisfaction of the big lights-on moment.
I got to have one of those not too long ago, while working on Gray’s new Key Functional Exercises You Should Know DVD. It took a few times through to hammer it in, but that bright light went on, and now I can do a toe touch, no warming up, not practice runs… no stretching needed first. Nearly 50 years of being unable to touch my toes, fixed.
Here are some thoughts from Gray Cook on the forward bending pattern.
February 27, 2013... I Hear You Knocking at My Front Door
Right about this time for the past 13 years I glowingly declare the days are getting longer and spring is around the corner. I lean back as I bedazzle my keyboard and remind us it’s time to ramp up our training and get in shape for the rocking summer ahead. It’s what we do, bombers. We’re musclebuilders and ironheads, lifters of steel and sculptors of bodies...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Daily Draper calories
· Elbow wraps
· Deadlifts and squats
A few years ago, Tim Ferriss got Gray to create a program for him when he interviewed Gray in what Tim later called the most important chapter of his bestselling book, The Four Hour Body. In this live workshop DVD, Gray goes into the back-story behind those conversations with Tim, and his suggestions for Tim’s training—the reasons, the rules, the exceptions, the explanations and the pearls.
Gray Cook designed his Key Functional Exercises You Should Know seminar to introduce these go-to exercises, the exercises he gave Tim, which are the same exercises he uses most often with his athletes and patients. These key exercises are standouts in a library of functional exercise options, and you should know them, understand them and use them… so we filmed the lecture so you could see it at home.
Gray also took questions throughout the course of the workshop, questions yelled at will whenever some brave soul got stumped on a concept. During the DVD, you’ll learn the answers to some of the questions you may have wondered but haven’t had the opportunity to ask. For example, questions like— ...continued here...
February 20, 2013... I Had a Dream
Still, I continue to overtrain. ‘You’ll never learn,’ I sigh, a resigning parent before a hopeless child. At the home front I’m practical, but at the iron’s edge, compelled by emotion, challenge and a frazzled ego, I’m the fool. . .Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Torn biceps
· Once a week training?
· Ageless Growth, how many capsules?
The new Gray Cook Key Functional Exercises DVD is in stock and shipping today! Now that makes the frustrations of video editing worth the trouble. There are always a few points along the way when I can barely drag myself to my desk due to the aggravation and sheer size of a DVD project, but then... the image of a day like today -- delivery day -- gets me back in the seat.
So that’s it today, delivery day. And of course you know that means popcorn, my life-long reward food. Yep! Eating fun tonight. Dave’ll have a hamburger patty and eggs, I’m guessing.
And tomorrow, it’s back to work on the new Thom Plummer lecture DVD, The Business of Training. To be honest, you’re going to need to get that one, too. :~)
February 13, 2013... Serious Matters -- Time, Age, Life, Iron
I was sitting when they approached, and within 15 seconds I was kneeling and signing a brand-new, just-purchased Gold’s Gym sweatshirt spread across my precious bench meant for lifting heavy weights without interruption. While losing my pump at the speed of light, he and I tugged earnestly at the 50-50 Made-in-China fabric to keep it taut, enabling me to drag the felt-tip pen smoothly as I scrolled my stirring message..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Should I go to the Arnold Classic?
· Reps left in the tank
· Triceps before presses?
Last week I told you about my conversation with Gray Cook regarding the difference between functional and corrective exercise, which I thought I knew but clearly I didn’t.
Well, there was another thing that happened along the way while working on his new DVD: After a lifetime of total inability, I can now bend over and touch my toes. Before, a good six inches short of the floor; now... an easy toe touch.
It turns out being able to bend over and touch the toes is a biggie for him, and he’s probably not looking for hamstring flexibility, either. I bugged him about this months ago, and got him to talk about it on the Gray Cook Radio bit we did, but honestly, I still didn’t get it.
Further nagging brought us a more in-depth article on the toe touch, plus a couple of video clips from the new dvd, Key Functional Exercises You Should Know. And for me, it brought a natural toe touch for the first time in my adult memory.
Bob Zuver, Jr, has been having a good time sharing some of his treasured images with us. Turns out there’s another piece of history you probably haven’t heard of: The Zuver Saga, a 60-foot wall painting! Here, let’s have Bob tell you the details and show you some photos.
February 6, 2013... There’s a Bear in Them Thar Hills
And now I’m told in an email this stuff with the iron has been modernized. What I’ve been doing all these years is old and outmoded. No longer fresh and cutting edge, that there is a secret -- and it’s not that there is no secret. Dog poop!...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Is this workout enough?
· Upper back thickness
· Top squat after biceps tendon surgery
What’s the difference between functional exercise and corrective exercise? Do you know? Stop right here for a sec and consider that. Can you give a confident answer?
When Gray Cook called nearly a year ago to start the planning for the Function Exercise DVD, he asked me that question. As I heard him speaking, I instantly assumed after years of corrective exercise emersion, I’d have a good response. But as the words started coming out of my mouth, I quickly floundered and my answer fizzled to mush. After six or eight years of reading, self-practice and discovery, I didn’t have a solid answer.
January 31, 2013... There’s a Bear in Them Thar Hills
It’s Sunday morning as I write this particular section of the IOL newsletter. A workout is on my agenda, but not in my heart and mind. I trained Friday, a good one with the usual kibitzing and chattering with the ladies at the juice bar and watching the game on the multiple centrally located hanging flatscreens between sets ’n reps with the guys (49ers are looking good), and today is too soon to hoist the iron for this American-made 1942 pickup.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· More reading material?
· Need motivation
· Building muscle at 60
January 23, 2013... The Art of Training
I’ve had a string of encouraging days, days without the regular bouts of nausea, lifelessness and muscle dullness. My mood has lifted along with expectations and a cautious smile of relief has replaced the grim stare fixed on my face. The last four workouts -- count ’em, 1, 2, 3, 4 -- have been less tedious and anxious, and more fulfilling and pump-worthy. I’m tired and sore the days following my training, but not spent and depleted, glued to the mattress, Velcroed to the couch or bolted to the floor. My appetite has improved, the tuna and raw eggs going down like yummy hospital jello. ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Vegetarian, 62, and not getting bigger
· Maintaining after 70
· Partial rotator cuff tear
January 16, 2013... It's a Funny Thing
I watched the Venice gym go up, and watched Joe form and weld the iconic equipment in his cutoffs and flip flops. Before the dust settled and the plumbing was complete, I joined. Joe called me his first member. I wasn't, I don't think, but I was one of the first. Zabo, the bronzed muscular old dude (42 at the time) who dug the foundations, beat me to it....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Pushups to replace dips?
· Aching sternum
· Low-bar squat position with the Top Squat
January 9, 2013... Email, Twitter, iPod, Facebook
Since I have no illusion anyone will be reading this week’s lonesome newsletter, I shall allow my fingers to fly brazenly across the keyboard and zap out a message neither sage nor delightful, a dust storm of words to settle on the silent hallways of IronOnline. Sit upright, adjust chair, roll shoulders, stretch fingers, deep breath… Here goes nothing....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· HGH and age
· Lower back arthritis
· Fatiguing at twice a week
Since we talked last, I buried myself in the new Gray Cook DVD project, which is now about a week from finished. I post some clips from is as soon as I get it off to the replicator -- should be an early February release.
In the midst of that, our On Target site got a makeover, including some new excerpts, video clips and better organization. I’d love to know what you think. Here, have a sneak peek: On Target Publications.
NEW ON MOVEMENTLECTURES.COM
Gray Cook: Schooling Vs Education
Edo Zylstra & Gray Cook: A Commentary On Dry Needling
Wil Fleming: A Complete Olympic Lifting System
Phil Plisky: The Development Of The Y Balance Test
Emily Splichal: Rethinking Proprioceptive Training & Ankle Instability
Lee Burton: The History Of The Functional Movement Screen
January 2, 2013... Come and Gone, Came and Went
I just spoke to Mike “the Jet” Katz, our extra large Mr. America friend from Connecticut upon whose chest has repeatedly rebounded gnarly Olympic bars bearing 400 and 500 pounds during his 50 years of training. A month ago Big Mike fell from a ladder as he accessed his rooftop to attend repairs. In a few desperate seconds, his 6’ 2’’ 270 pounds, the befuddling ladder and the solid gravity-intense earth clashed, making a painful broken wreck of his unyielding structure. .....Continue reading...
December 19, 2012... The Last Lifter Standing
Should I skip a workout, this is what I have to contend with: For the first few hours I’m relieved. “Swell idea, deserving and dedicated Bomber,” I say, “rest, repair, grow and be happy.” .....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· More detailed physique after a layoff
· Upright Rows
· Proteins from the ’60s
Thanks again to Robert Zuver, Jr, for the super secret 1977 World’s Strongest Man photos. Coolest!
December 12, 2012... Fiscal Cliff, Health Care, Entitlements, Social Security
My latest killer workout, the one-day-at-a-time routine, has multiple benefits and, curiously, blends well with my all-time favorite, the whatever-you-can-do-today-that-doesn’t-kill-ya muscle-maximizer. I’m one of those ironheads who plans ahead and needs to know precisely what he’s doing.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Iron has a mighty grip
· Judging by soreness?
· Overhead work causes pain
In Intervention, Dan John offers a few basic questions and principles that, when answered, will put every trainee on the right training path. His process of trimming down these questions created his Intervention Toolkit, which he describes in Chapter 21. The overview of Chapter 21 makes up this Intervention excerpt.
MOVEMENTLECTURES.COM
Chris Mohr: Hot Topics in Nutrition
Organic food costs versus benefits is big in the news this month; last month is was coconut oil. And of course, the Paleo Diet will be a staple in our diet conversations for some time to come. In this lecture, Chris Mohr covers the pros and cons of today's hottest nutrition topics, and finishes with a concise list of principles that will serve you and your clients for a lifetime of good health.
"More recently, people are linking gluten to sensitivities, inflammation, body fat and other diseases. Ultimately, there aren’t as many people who are truly gluten sensitive as originally thought. There are different levels of sensitivity and I completely get that. From what I’ve seen personally, it seems to mainly be an issue with the foods that have gluten in them more than the gluten itself." ~Chris Mohr
Phil Plisky: Implementing Testing & Screening
Many coaches and trainers value movement screening, but don't know how to implement the systems into their workplace or group settings. In this lecture, Phil Plisky, the developer of the Y Balance Test, presents some ideas for workplace buy-in, and tells how he brought screening into athletic pre-participation physicals.
"Let’s say you’re in a physical therapy practice, and no one else sees the value of the Functional Movement System. Or you’re an athletic trainer or strength and conditioning coach, but none of your colleagues are on board with what you do. You feel like you’re isolated and just wish everybody would come up to speed. This might be one of the most difficult barriers to overcome because it requires a lot of patience. We can’t talk someone into using the Functional Movement System. Actually, the more talking you do, the more resistant that person becomes." ~Phil Plisky
December 5, 2012... Getting Straight to the Point
My latest killer workout, the one-day-at-a-time routine, has multiple benefits and, curiously, blends well with my all-time favorite, the whatever-you-can-do-today-that-doesn’t-kill-ya muscle-maximizer. I’m one of those ironheads who plans ahead and needs to know precisely what he’s doing.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Overtraining at age 42
· Lost a lot of weight, now want more muscle
· Chest Expander cable training
Folks, we’re back on the hospital card duty. This time we need to galvanize the ’70s bodybuilding fans. Are you up for it? Big Mike Katz fell off a ladder, broke 13 ribs, 3 vertebrae, punctured a lung and has a brain hematoma. He’s out of ICU and getting better. Let’s plaster his wall with cards okay?
What do you do when you finally get a famous Zuver’s Hall of Fame plate of your own? Do you take it as given – as a relic of the past? Or do you dare attempt to restore it to its former self, as it was when it was first stacked in Zuver’s Gym?
Jake Le Master gives us a step-by-step guide to restoring a Zuver plate, as instructed by Bob Zuver -- complete with photographs.
MOVEMENTLECTURES.COM
Craig Liebenson & Charlie Weingroff: SFMA & DNS, Can We Marry Them?
In a casual conversation that moves quickly between the Nike SPARQ program over to DNS, through the FMS and into the SFMA, Craig Liebenson leads Charlie Weingroff in a recap of his current thinking on a wide range of topics.
"First of all, if you’re only going to do what the literature says, that means you’re only going to do what someone else did two years ago. We have to be cautious of that. We do need the literature, but we should also understand evidence-based means “What’s in the signs?” This isn’t always what’s in the literature. Signs might be evidence-led or where the trends are, because we’re in a multi-variant environment versus literature, which are usually very small variables since that’s how good literature is published.
However, we also forget about the third point of evidence-base, which is common sense. I not only mean face validity of “That’s how we’ve done it for 20 years and I feel pretty good about it.” That’s one way, but common sense is based on our logistics and what drives us." ~Charlie Weingroff
Liz Koch: The Psoas, Is it More Than a Muscle?
Is the psoas more than an ordinary muscle? Liz Koch thinks so. This lecture begins her introduction to the psoas as a messenger from the midline of the body, a responsive and receptive psoas that gives us cues. This is a new paradigm of thinking about anatomy, switching from a biomechanical idea to a dynamic fluid tensegrity system.
"The very beginning of our being starts in the center of the body. The center of the body becomes a line, and the cells organize in a midline. The beginning of you is a midline. Then everything else—your heart, your organs, your extremities and your face—emerges from that midline. By working with that concept, we know we’re not put together like a Lego system. The psoas does not insert into the spine—it grows out of the midline." ~Liz Koch
November 28, 2012... Allow Me to Confuse You
Growing old and growing up are two entirely different phenomena. The former is certain; the latter is optional, or you might say, in the hands of the beholder, up for grabs. Never let go. Growing old simply happens, but growing up is tricky. It takes finesse and consistent practice along the way. ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Where is the weight held with the top squat?
· Superset Training
· Bodybuilders and alcohol
Josh Henkin: The Evolution of Sandbag Training
There's a lot more to sandbag training than the shoulder carry you're probably familiar with. In this overview of how he developed the Ultimate Sandbag Training Program, Josh Henkin describes the progression of sandbag work by altering stability using bag position, body position, implement stability and planes of motion.
"The sandbag allows us to do a host of lifts in many different planes. For example, the sandbag is great for performing cleans from a lateral lunge position. We can place more of a frontal plane stress when we clean the implement. When we do this, we can build more whole body stability and coordination." ~Josh Henkin
*****
In the late '60s, Dave hunkered down in a studio for a couple of weeks to read some kind of training information product for Joe Weider. The recording was never released, but the memory is so huge that to this day Dave doesn't do phone or radio interviews, and wouldn't even consider doing a lecture for our movementlectures.com site.
To him, the idea that people would be willing to talk into the 20 recorders we have traversing the country for the audio lectures is just crazy. He thought I'd never find people who would do it, yet we now have about 100 lectures on the site, and usually have a waiting list for the recorders.
Fast-forward to today, and I have years in print and digital, and about a year-and-a-half experience editing audio lectures, but hadn't worked on an audio book. Print books, ebooks...no audio book.
Dan John told me a few years ago he'd be willing to read Never Let Go for an audio book, but in the busy-ness of life, neither of us made it happen. Then, earlier this year as we started working on Intervention, we talked about doing an audio book, but again, no real momentum. About a month ago, Dan told me to send him a recorder and he'd record it.
I sent the recorder, but honestly, I expected to get the recorder back in a couple of months, empty. Really, it's just too much to ask. Reading your own words is hard. Reading anything out loud is hard. Reading your own words, out loud, for public production? For pay? Yikes. No way did I think this would happen.
You know where this is going, right? Find out here...
November 20, 2012... Intervention
Flash: Laree, she's all aglow, has an exciting new presentation: Another Dan John masterpiece, in book print, on a reader device, by audio, read by the author....Continue reading...
November 14, 2012... The Limbo -- How Low Can You Go?
Sergio was more than any other muscleman, any other man of the iron. Muscles stretched his skin and leaped from his body with joy. When he moved they rumbled like thunder in the mountaintops. If you fell over, he bent down and picked you up. Hands of iron, back of steel, heart of gold....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Protein powder hype
· Tuna and water diet
· Workouts lagging, can’t get a pump
It’s been awhile since we had a new Dan John product, hasn’t it? Let’s remedy that right now! Dan spent the first half of this year compiling his thoughts since the recording of his Intervention DVD to develop the Dan John step-by-step Intervention book.
Five principles from Dan, of which he writes, “Here are the answers, but the questions are the real keys.”
- Strength training for lean body mass and joint mobility work trump everything else.
- Fundamental human movements are... fundamental.
- Standards and gaps must be constantly assessed.
- The notion of ‘park bench’ and ‘bus bench’ workouts must be applied throughout the training lifetime.
- Constantly strive for mastery and grace.
Now you’ll no longer need to wonder, “What would Dan do?” You’ll know!
This is a paperback, 6x9, 270 pages, $24.95, and will be available the week after Thanksgiving. It will also be available as an ebook in all formats at the same time. Now you know what to say when someone asks you what you want for Christmas!
Like you, I’m sure, my first thought when I heard about Sergio yesterday was of that absolutely unbelievable overhead shot of him, the one that was impossible to see without a jaw drop. My second? Hearing his great laugh when he saw Dave walking down a packed Arnold Classic aisle toward him. What a sweet guy!
I grabbed an excerpt from West Coast Bodybuilding Scene to share with you, the one of Dick Tyler covering the '69 onstage meeting of Sergio and Arnold. You’ll also find a few of the classic images to bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye as you remember The Myth, Sergio Oliva.
Mike Robertson: The Business of Fitness
In the four years since opening IFAST, Mike Robertson has learned what it takes to be successful in the fitness business. Here he provides his 20 top tips for you to use and adapt to open your own profitable gym or training facility, or lift your existing business out of the stresses of month-to-month existence.
“When you open a gym, look for a niche—you have to be something to somebody. When you’re trying to be something to everybody, that’s where you fall through the cracks. You can’t be everything to everybody.” ~Mike Robertson
Other recent uploads:
Jeffrey Tucker: Assess & Treat Knee Pain Using Exercise
Gray Cook: VCU Physical Therapy Lecture
Jimmy Yuan & Mark Cheng: Traditional Martial Arts as GPP
November 8, 2012... On a Scale of One to Ten
Wow, time flies whether you're having fun or not. Here it is Thursday already and I'm a day late and seriously short on imagination, inspiration, humor, information and plutonium-239. I just returned from a visit with the good folks at Stanford and they gave me one thumbs up on my two incisions and pacemaker number three, another appointment in four weeks, along with a five-page bill of six figures making this B-seven-zero bomber mighty hungry, so I eight on the way home (nine-ounce cheeseburger, no bun, a salad and water for under ten bucks)...Continue reading...
October 31, 2012... Weekly Wrap
Wow! What a wild world: waterlogged and windblown, war weary and worrisome, whacky and wediculous. Wobbly worldwide wealth, weak and worsening: where’s the work, we wonder, what about wages; why, when, who?...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Muscle building and endurance
· Muscle memory after a layoff
· Where are the bodybuilding gyms?
We first came online with davedraper.com in 1999, with the idea of setting up a few pages covering Dave’s history and some pictures. One of our gym members was a guy who grew up in LA where David the Gladiator, aka our Davey, entertained him Saturday nights during his freshman year of high school. Kevin kept at me to make a davedraper website, saying people would be looking for Dave online. I’d been online for a few years by then, but barely, because back then, waiting for a page to load took a couple of minutes and I had no patience for it.
Kevin had to nag for a couple of years before I took him seriously and to be honest, even then it was only because I was bored one weekend. Never for a second did I think it would develop into an income selling Draper products, and even less did I foresee publishing becoming a viable option and something that would lead to the terrific projects I’ve gotten to be a part of.
And now, 14 years later, we come to the point where we can’t keep up with both the projects and the order processing. The processing part is moving to a fulfillment company in a couple of weeks to free the time for more publishing fun.
As a part of the process, we’re trimming down our product list. What’s the mean to you? Maybe discounts on products you use!
Here’s where to spot your savings. As products sell out, they’ll disappear from the list.
I did a wild-guess calculation and figure this will free up about 30 hours a month for... stuff.
New audio lectures:
JEFFREY TUCKER: ASSESS AND TREAT KNEE PAIN USING EXERCISE
Knee pain is a common complaint, but do you know why we see so much recurrence? Do you train or treat people who keep coming back with knee pain struggles? Dr. Jeffrey Tucker explains what causes knee pain, and discusses his strategy for exercise-driven, long-term relief.
October 25, 2012... Autumn Storm
Friday morning, September 21st, a funny thing happened on the way to the gym:
I stopped at my cardiologist’s office for my monthly blood test and, since I was there, an assessment of a peculiar shift in position of my recently installed second pacemaker....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
New audio lectures:
Gray Cook: VCU Physical Therapy Lecture
Jimmy Yuan & Mark Cheng: Traditional Martial Arts as GPP
Steve Middleton: The Role of Posture in Movement Dysfunctions
Rachel Cosgrove: Seven Secrets to Success as a Woman Fitness Professional
Charlie Weingroff & Robert Butler: A Systematic Model for Rehabilitation
Craig Liebenson & Gray Cook: Myths and Misunderstandings about the FMS and SFMS
Movementlectures.com Forthcoming lectures:
Edo Zylstra, Mark Cheng, Jimmy Yuan, Phil Plisky, Josh Henkin, Jeffrey Tucker, Liz Koch, Gray Cook, Wil Fleming, Joe Sansalone
October 13, 2012... Report of a Missing Newsletter
September 26, 2012... A Small Gathering, but All Present
The crowd’s thinning. A robust stream of determined ironheads is jogging upward and onward to Muscletown, a prosperous hillside community where the sun shines generously through silver-lined clouds. Smell that crisp, fresh air. They’re in no hurry, but they are bound and persistent. No time to waste, they are proceeding and progressing...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Elbow pain
· Failing at deadlifts
· Bodybuilding show coming up
Movementlectures.com Forthcoming lectures:
Gray Cook/Craig Liebenson, Charlie Weingroff, Rob Butler, Rachel Cosgrove, Edo Zylstra, Mark Cheng, Jimmy Yuan, Phil Plisky, Dan John, Steve Middleton, Wil Fleming, Joe Sansalone, Eric Chessen, Gray Cook, Liz Koch, Jeffrey Tucker & Josh Henkin
Geez, look at that forthcoming lecture list above! Not only is it packed with talent, but the list is also getting long... I’m lagging over here.
But let me tell you why: Dan John’s new book, Intervention, is on the launch pad. We’re looking at a November 15 release, meaning things are happening fast these days. We’re jamming... and on schedule, too. And I’ll tell you something else: It’s fabulous. You’re going to love it.
That’s enough of a tease, and an explanation, and now for yet another Zuver’s episode -- this one from a police chief who trained through thick and thin, and remembers Bob and his remarkable projects.
September 19, 2012... There’s No Turning Back. This Is Serious Business
I intentionally skipped a workout last week due to severe FBMS (fatigue of body, mind and soul). The following day I suffered the ABs (acute blues), a case so intense I questioned the wisdom of the standard CDF (complete day-off fix). Perhaps, the CDF tactic is too extreme for us bombus radicalus, I groaned? . ..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Is stretching important?
· Get bigger shoulders
· Menopause
I’m just about the luckiest, I gotta tell ya. Today I get to share another Zuver’s reflection, this time from Doc Ken, who has this *little* memory of getting a heavy, sloppy barrel overhead.
Maybe you’ve pulled a keg overhead (or maybe you haven’t), but try to imagine where you were in the late ’60s, assuming you were even born then. If, and that’s a big consideration right there -- IF you were training back then, it could have been in a health spa, the kind with the Grecian pillars by the pool. More likely, though, assuming it was happening at all, it would have been with a friend in his or your dad’s garage, possibly using a silver plastic weight set. You probably weren’t trying to put a keg overhead. All that came later.
Except at Zuver’s. There they had a barrel... half-filled with water.
Think of that. This was before strongman contests where kegs overhead are a common sight.
Before Greg Henger taught Dan John’s discus camp crew the fear of a homemade slosh pipe.
Before all that, Bob Zuver made a water barrel, Ken Leistner was up for the challenge, and trusty sidekick Jack Lawrence was there to snap the picture.
EMILY SPLICHAL: UNLEASHING THE POWER OF PROPULSION
Emily Splichal has a passion for teaching barefoot training. Her goal in this lecture is to teach you how to integrate corrective exercise techniques or strategies to optimize the propulsive phase of gait in your clients, athletes and patients.
"The key to unleashing the greatest amount of power of propulsion is hidden within the posterior tibialis. The optimal function within the posterior tibialis is linked through ankle joint dorsiflexion, the strength of that posterior tibialis muscle itself and a coupled motion through the hip external rotators."~Emily Splichal
BRIJESH PATEL: REDEFINING THE WARM-UP
In this lecture, strength & conditioning coach Brijesh Patel explains the thinking behind his warm-ups and outlines the structure of his warm-up plan. You'll finish this lecture with a clear picture of why you should restructure your warm-up, and exactly how to do it.
"Perturbations are disruptions in function. These can be due to external mechanisms outside the body or internal mechanisms within the body. When you can’t get into proper positions, you’ll compensate and use other muscle groups to take over. This puts undue stress on areas that don’t need extra stress. The key here is to mobilize, stabilize and work on overall fitness and conditioning levels." ~Brijesh Patel
September 12, 2012... Up in Smoke
I have a super idea. Let’s seize the day and wander down a path we seldom travel, one that takes us away from the iron and things heavy and cumbersome and toward a place more delightful and uplifting. ..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Building forearms
· Shoulders rolling forward
· Diet for diabetes
We have the pleasure of sharing new Zuver material again, part 2 of Richard Sorin picking the brain of Robert Zuver, the younger. This time he gets the details of the Zuver plate-makings, including some pictures you’ve never seen. Enjoy the history!
Joel Jamieson: Using HRV for Better Training Results
Measuring heart rate variability is a non-invasive gauge of the autonomic nervous system. It's a technology that's now available at an affordable price so coaches and trainers can use it to monitor an athlete's training and recovery state. Joel Jamieson, a strength coach who works with a variety of athletes, explains heart rate variability in this lecture, and describes how he uses it to guide his training programs both daily and over the long term.
"The training continuum comes down to general adaptations. It’s the process of how the body goes about adapting to stress, not just from a single workout, but from repetitive stress or repetitive workouts. That’s where we consider the long-term picture of adaptation—the long-term picture of how the body responds to training and stress. That’s where a technology like heart rate variability fits in because we want to understand where the body is in that continuum."~Joel Jamieson
September 5, 2012... Happy Labor Day, Ironworkers
A short note for the muscle-weary, iron-headed populace: Never give up, never quit, never let go!..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Forearm and grip strength
· Biceps tear
· Cardio before or after training?
Something I wonder from time to time: Would we all be training had it not been for the cascade of influences of Dave and his pals in the mid-60s? I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be writing to each other about it over the internet, you and me.
Via Thomas Plummer, here's a sweet article where he ponders the topic, and reminds us to remember.
Dan John: The Quadrants of Diet and Exercise
In this lecture, Dan John explains how to use his quandrants concept to combine diet and exercise programming. How do we balance hard dieting with hard training? Can it be done? For how long? You'll have a clear plan at the end of this talk.
Alwyn Cosgrove: Designing Semi-Private Training Programs
Personal trainers who work one-on-one realize their time and income is limited by the individual-attention structure. They know they need to make a change, but they often get trapped in the one-on-one mindset. Is there a way to shift this business structure and still give clients the attention they need? Alwyn Cosgrove says yes, and in this lecture he details the changes he and Rachel made at Results Fitness as they transitioned into semi-private training. You'll finish this lecture understanding not only the reason why, but you'll also know how.
August 29, 2012... Lolita and the Goldfish
So, there I am, sitting on a bench before an Olympic bar ready to knock out a few sets of wrist curls before exiting the gym, that moment I’ve been craving for about an hour, when an eager young man with an extended hand steps my way. No place to run, no place to hide, I’m thinking wrist curls - handshake, wrist curls - handshake, wrist curls. I submit, relax and receive his hand with hardy aplomb, grace and magnanimity. In for a penny, in for a pound, that’s what they say in my financial circles.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Mixing with the younger crowd
· Taking up too much space at the dumbbell rack
· Difference between Gold’s and World Gyms
Those Zuvers sure are a sharing bunch! This time we’ve got some images I’m dead positive you haven’t seen before. Behold—Zuverman!
Jason Spray: 10 Tips on Breaking into the S&C Job Market
One thing that isn't taught in strength and conditioning courses is how to get a job coming out of college. How do you break into the S&C field? In this lecture, Coach Jason Spray covers the tips he learned from his earlier industry mentors, and explains how things work in the strength and conditioning job market.
Mark Cheng & Jimmy Yuan: TCM, Dry Needling and Correctives in Rehab
In this short conversation, Drs. Mark Cheng and Jimmy Yuan give us an overview of the use of traditional Chinese medicine in rehabilitation. They cover some key points in acupuncture and dry needling, the window of corrective exercise, and how the functional movement systems of FMS and SFMA can guide the practitioner.
August 22, 2012... Odds and Ends, Hand-Me-Downs, Cheap Knock-Offs
The age range at Gold’s in Watsonville is between 20 and 25. Lots of melon-size deltoids, lots of tatts, lots of serious faces and no wise guys. A few wow-gals stray across the floor to shuffle the iron, but they’re mostly down the mysterious corridors in alternate venues, the pool, aerobics room, spin-classes or ladies workout area. Me not go there, Igor....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Training after prostate surgery
· Back at it
· Stents and training
I had a hard drive crash the other day, and productivity crashed to a dead halt. Things are slowly ramping up to normal, but I’ll be cutting my efforts short today and jet off with a link to some weight training and corrective exercise content I collected for you. It should keep you busy for a bit.
Tom Solecki: Low Back Pain and Spinal Stabilization
Functional rehabilitation specialist Tom Solecki talks of back pain and spinal stabilization, from the science to the effectiveness of treatment, what non-operative care works.
August 15, 2012... White Noise, Echoing Silence of Iron
Here’s my approach when contemplating the gym and a workout on a cranky day: Just get there, walk in and check the vibe; do anything resembling an exercise and see how it goes. If it’s not good, go home, there’s another day; if it is good, stay and play. ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Stents and training
· Quality of protein products
· Getting old — is this giving up?
We’ve filmed, chattered, learned, stumbled, chattered some more and now Perform Better Long Beach is again another year away. This time I took some pictures and helped some friends collect presenter quotes. Would you like to take a wander through the Long Beach Convention Center with me?
Or maybe just skip over the pictures and cut straight to the meat: Perform Better Presenter Quotes.
Rick Daigle Kinesiology Taping
In this lecture, physical therapist Rick Daigle describes the use of kinesiology taping to support an area during healing, to enhance physical performance and to assist with corrective exercise development. When you finish this lecture, you'll have an idea when and how taping can be used, and some specifics on relaxing tight muscles, supporting weak joints and reducing inflammation.
August 7, 2012... Breaking News, Broken News
Confused? Mad? Bad? Sad? Go to the gym and work it out. If you have the spine and savvy, the guts and will, you will. Within the first two sets you’re on track and going somewhere important. No rush, not anymore. Just one rep, one set, one exercise at a time. Plan promptly, focus directly, exert sufficiently, feel thoroughly, move efficiently. . ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· How many calories
· Bodybuilders unhealthy or die young
· Post workout fuel
Some readers asked if there was anything left after the auction, and the answer turned out to be yes. A number of the equipment pieces got tagged with high freight bills, and the winners dropped away. Here’s what’s left, and how to get pricing.
If anyone has space for that custom Excalibur cable set-up, man, you should seriously consider it. That’s a beautiful unit. Dave had Larry Sullivan make it about two full feet higher than the average cable, so the pull is very long and very smooth. Build in eight pulleys (upper and lower), and two end pulldowns, and wow, do you have yourself a setup! Unbeatable. And big.
Off to Perform Better, where we’ll be filming Gray Cook’s preconference workshop and Thom Plummer’s fitness business talk for dvds. You know I’ll keep you posted.
Stuart McGill & Craig Liebenson: From the Lab to the Trenches
This intriguing conversation, recorded at the Perform Better Chicago conference July 2012 between Stuart McGill and Craig Liebenson, gives us a glimpse into the recent and forthcoming back pain research coming out of Dr. McGill's Spine Biomechanics Lab. Dr. Liebenson teases out the specifics of the findings, and then explains how he uses the information on individual patients in his clinic. You'll enjoy this discussion, and will take away tips to immediately use with your clients and athletes.
Charlie Weingroff & Patrick Ward: Managing the Manual Therapy Process
In this lecture, Charlie Weingroff is joined by Patrick Ward in a discussion on the goal of manual therapy, and its effect on threat perception. They specifically cover discomfort in therapy, and when and how much pain is tolerable under different circumstances.
Sean Skahan: Training and Injury Prevention for Hockey
This lecture is an overview of the training program Sean Skahan designed to strengthen and condition the Anaheim Ducks hockey players, while at the same time contribute as much as possible to injury prevention. He also discusses research, as well as the changes in programming he seen and made in the past 10 years.
Last week’s list toppers:
In the top spot this week, the 99-cent special for the second week, again by a landslide, Gray Cook's Developing a Movement Philosophy. Our old pal Sue Falsone pops back into second position after a week’s hiatus, followed by a tie for the show spot between Perry Nickelston’s new talk on neural edge training and Charlie Weingroff’s Trainable Human System.
August 1, 2012... The Beat Goes On
I had my first workout at what I expect will be my new iron digs. Ten miles south in Watsonville is a spotless Gold's Gym with everything, including instruction, child care, aerobic classes and a lap pool in case I need them (if I only had a kid). I know the owners, a strong husband ’n wife duo, from other gym experiences going back 25 years. . ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· How many calories
· Bodybuilders unhealthy or die young
· Post workout fuel
I have a fun little treat for you today. I teased major-league grip-guy Richard Sorin, aka Gripasaurus, from the Sorinex equipment company, into letting me post this story of his memories of Bob Zuver, and his recent conversation with Robert Zuver, the junior.
Joe Sansalone: Concepts and Principles of Movement Preparation
This lecture is about using movement preparation to correct and improve movement deficiencies. Joe Sansalone links the FMS, corrective strategies involving joint mobility and core stability, and classic movement preparation drills into an organized format that corrects movement pattern weak links while preparing the body for the demands of the training session.
Ann Wendel: Autoimmune Illness and Chronic Pain, Training and Nutrition—
An Integrated Approach to Helping Clients with Chronic Pain and Autoimmune Illnesses
This lecture is an overview into working with clients and patients who have autoimmune illnesses or suffer from chronic pain. Ann Wendel, an athlete and physical therapist who recovered her own health after a Hashimoto's Thyroiditis diagnosis, discusses the early research, explains the steps used in her own healing, and makes suggestions for client guidance and patient treatment to personal trainers and healthcare providers.
Last week’s list toppers:
In the top spot this week, the 99-cent special by a landslide, Gray Cook's Developing a Movement Philosophy. Surging into second, we have Sam Visnic's Low Back Pain Solutions, which was followed closely by the new Movement Variability lecture from Guido Van Ryssegem.
July 25, 2012... Vacant Warehouse for Rent
By the time you receive this newsletter the ever-loving ironhead gym in the corner of Harvey West Park will be… well… gone. Piece by piece, one piece at a time, each and every piece was sold to the highest bidder by 3:30 PM yesterday. The gym will eventually be scattered from NYC to Hawaii. Yup, some idiot guy from the tropical island state purchased a Smith press and wants it there asarpf, as soon as reasonably possible, fool. . ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Post workout fuel
· Brother Iron Sister Steel
· Training with Arnold
You’ve heard of heart rate variability, but are you up to speed on movement variability? In this lecture, Guido Van Ryssegem explains the concept and discusses the research currently available. This is bundled with Gray Cook’s new Movement Philosophy lecture — you’ll get that free when ordering Guido’s lecture this week!
Triple value day! Today we launch Gray Cook’s new lecture, Developing a Movement Philosophy, but with a couple of twists. It’s discounted from $4.95 to 99 cents for the first two weeks OR you can even get it for FREE -- it’s free bundled with 5 different lectures this week, and will be bundled with 5 others next week!
You’re on Facebook, and you’ve subscribed to our Movementlectures.com updates, which means today’s new lecture is aimed right at you. It’s Jon Goodman’s discussion of Facebook Marketing for Personal Trainers, and while it’s tilted toward the personal trainer, it’s dead-on for anyone who’s in business or wants to fill an appointment book. Can you afford to be left behind on this?
Last week’s list toppers: In first position, the new lecture from Jon Goodman; Mark Snow jumps into second position, with Nick Winkelmanand Sue Falsone tied for the number three spot.
I have nothing to add after this week’s gym auction drama, but I do have some great links, video, conversations and stuff to read this week.
July 18, 2012... The Whole Catastrophe
A seriously good gym is where you build muscle, lose fat and get fit. Moreover, it’s the baseball-biceps workshop and horseshoe-triceps playground where you greet and meet yourself, discover yourself and express yourself. The gym, the real-deal gym, is a hunky classroom for lifting and lugging, listening, living and learning; a neat arena to confront and reconcile, achieve and exceed. ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Sagging pecs
· Aging, workout change and food question
· Back training at home after knee surgery
It’s official: The Weight Room/World Gym Santa Cruz is permanently closed. The passionately used equipment, furniture and fixtures will be auctioned off next Tuesday beginning at 10:30am PST. The address for the auction is 120 Dubois Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95062 -- behind Costco, across from the Harvey West Park pool.
The auction company has set up an online simulcast if you don’t leave nearby and would like to pick up something for your home gym, or a piece of memorabilia signed by Dave.
Here’s how to do that.
Go to the auction site at the link below. Beginning this afternoon, you can now scan through the 566 items, and you can place bids in advance. You have to set up an account by providing a credit card and confirming an email address to get a bidding paddle. It doesn’t take long, but if you think you might want to bid, set that up before 10:30am Tuesday. You can also set up a spectator account if you just want to watch how these things go, but won’t be buying anything.
Items need to be picked up between the time of the auction on Tuesday and Saturday at 11am. If you live outside of driving distance and buy something heavy, you’ll have to make shipping arrangements with a trucker. For smaller items that can come via UPS, we’ll make special arrangements to get those on the road to you.
If you have a California billing or shipping address, you’ll be charged tax; if not... no. The auction company has an 18% buyer’s cost -- in addition to the seller’s cost; this might be the business to get into!
You can expect to see Cybex, Hammer Strength, Body Masters, custom equipment, squat racks, Ivanko dumbbells, barbells, free weights, Olympic bars, thick bars, 30x40 blowups of Dave’s muscle magazine cover shots signed by Dave, flooring, mirrors, lockers, stereo equipment, Cardio Theater sound equipment, commercial fridge, espresso machine, enough cardio equipment to fill a 1,500 sq ft cardio area and weight equipment to fill 6,500 sq feet.
Gym equipment overview photos are here.
Weight Room Santa Cruz auction link is here.
And on a more enjoyable note, here’s a recap of last week’s most interesting content.
July 11, 2012... Joys of Summer in Disguise
Ironheads know something about misery: The last rep not achieved, the insistent accumulation of fat around the gut despite interminable diets and mind-numbing aerobics, the reprehensible desolation and absolute absence of muscle growth regardless of persistent double- and triple-split workouts (whatever those are), the dreadful injuries from absurdly excessive and extensive mass-training overload or the exhaustion from a six-week squat-benchpress-deadlift superset marathon on the tuna ’n water lean ’n mean menu......Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Improve deltoid size
· Dumbbell clean & press
· What was your heaviest weight?
In this short lecture, Tom Solecki, a chiropractic physician and educator who specializes in functional rehabilitation, covers respiration and some of the mechanics and effects of respiration on the musculoskeletal system. He discusses the biomechanics of breathing, how breathing is necessary for the exchange and perfusion of oxygen, and how it plays an integral role in stabilization of the spine.
"Proper core stabilization is necessary for all movements. Any deviation from the proper breathing, stability and motor systems strategy has a sequela throughout the entire musculoskeletal system."~Tom Solecki
And here's batch of winner links, videos, memories and conversations from last week -- maybe you should save it for Saturday morning when you have more time, 'cause it's a good one.
July 3, 2012... July Fourth -- Independence Day
Happy Birthday, America. You’re a lovable land, abundant in goodness and brimming with beauty. I want to put my arms around you and give you a big hug.....Continue reading...
I’m going brief today and shutting down, but just in case you’re looking for something to read or watch tomorrow, here’s the week’s content recap with links to articles, discussions and videos. Catch ya on the flip side!
June 27, 2012... Shut Up and Work Out
Training is deliciously miserable. The first rep is the hardest, the last rep is unbearable and the reps between are loathsome and endless. And, then, the aches and fatigue begin, lasting for days on end....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Why did you squat in jeans?
· Are wrist curls as good as tension holds for forearms?
· Eating well on a budget
Dick Tyler lived the iron history many love to read about, and in this recording, part two, he tells of his experiences of Muscle Beach in the late '50s and the early bodybuilding shows of the '60s. We hear his memories of the old-time strongmen, the heroes of the origins of bodybuilding, Joe Weider and much more. Reading his stories in West Coast Bodybuilding Scene is wonderful, but hearing them in his own voice is magic.
“The important thing is that we have a very beautiful history, a beautiful background. It’s not a freak show. It’s not a bunch of muscle-bound people without any brains. We have wonderful and bright people who have been bodybuilders in all different professions. They want to be better at doing something they enjoy.” ~Dick Tyler
In this lecture Jeremy Lawson discusses aspects of the nervous system and spinal cord rarely discussed in the athletic development field. The deep driving forces of high velocity motor unit recruitment, asymmetrical issues and injury reduction will be covered as you learn about the alignment of the atlas bone.
“However, the atlas-axis joint has no disc and relies solely on soft tissue like muscles and ligaments to maintain alignment. The C1-C2 joints are like two circles moving on top of each other with great ranges of motion, but because this joint has so much mobility, it doesn’t have a lot of stability to protect it. This means our atlas-axis joint is very vulnerable to injury, stress and misalignment. We need to gain as much stability at this joint as possible to protect it.” ~Jeremy Lawson
Evan Osar’s books are here! I've been following Evan’s articles and YouTube channel for a long time. He was the first person I heard talk about joint centration, at IDEA probably 5 years ago. That really got my attention. You don't think about it much, but once you get a picture of that in your head, wow -- lots of mobility and stability concepts start making sense.
Quoting,
“Why do we lose function, particularly stability, range of motion and movement efficiency? While there are multiple causes of these issues, they essentially fall into one of three primary categories: poor neurodevelopment, injuries and learned behaviors.” ~ Evan Osar
As promised, here's a sweet excerpt from Evan Osar's new book, Corrective Exercise Solutions for Common Hip and Shoulder Dysfunction.
Each week gets a little better. You’re going to love this collection of gems: best strength and conditioning articles.
June 20, 2012... Rope Tucks, aka Dive Bombers
If ever you’re walking down the street and a complete stranger comes up to you and asks, “What is a rope tuck?” are you ready to provide a comprehensive answer, or are you going to stare at your shoes, a dolt? Most people confronted with the predicament blurt out the standard one-liner, “Grab rope at the end of cable, kneel and tuck,” and quickly turn away in shame....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· How did you learn about nutrition?
· Serge Nubret
· What’s a rope tuck?
In professional team sports, one of the most well-known users of the Functional Movement Screen is strength & conditioning coach Jon Torine. In this lecture, the first of two, Jon describes his Athlete Continuum, the system he uses to monitor, support and communicate with his athletes and support team.
And now for part 2 of Jon Torine's lecture set on his use of the Functional Movement Screen as a professional strength coach. In this one, he covers the use of the FMS and the organization of corrective strategies of mobility through the various levels of stability.
Last week’s best selling fitness audio lectures list: Todd Hargrove, The Body Maps, is in the top spot, followed by Josh Hillis with his Fat Loss Coaching Session and in third comes Sue Falsone's T-Spine lecture, which has been in the top three for about... ever.
Evan Osar is one of my favorite people to go to for corrective exercise ideas -- you probably know that already, because I’ve linked to his articles and embedded his videos regularly over the years. Long before I heard him talk at IDEA in 2008, I knew he was one of those guys who needed to write a comprehensive corrective exercise book, and his lectures solidified that.
Guess what? He wrote it.
His publisher, Lotus Publishing, is in the UK, and has invited On Target to be the US distributor. Hence, you can get it here first! The books are arriving in the next few days, and we’ll ship the preorders as soon as the truck gets here.
From the back of the book:
Discover the techniques, strategies and skill set required to work with the general population clientele with postural and general movement dysfunction.
Corrective Exercise Solutions to Common Hip and Shoulder Dysfunctions is an absolute must if you work with challenging clients, want to establish yourself as a corrective exercise specialist and help clients with--
- Degenerative joint conditions of the spine, knees or hips that limit the ability to exercise
- Impingement syndromes of the shoulder or hip that create movement dysfunction during common exercise patterns
- Postural dysfunctions such as forward head, forward shoulders, spinal alterations and pelvic tilt
- Dysfunctions leading to degenerative changes and disc problems of the lower neck and back
- Alterations in breathing strategies that directly contribute to stabilization and postural issues
- Painful movement patterns that limit an individual's ability to exercise
Next week I’ll get you a nice excerpt. Meanwhile, can we get a copy on the way to you?
Boy, were there some great content links and conversations last week! I think you’re going to like these: Top fitness, corrective exercise, bodybuilding and iron history content.
June 13, 2012... The Little Inn for the Big Boys
My dietary austerity started when I was 21 and moved from Jersey to California. During the first six weeks on the west coast, I lived in a small warehouse with a refrigerator as the only appliance. Nothing new there, the previous three years I lived in a rented room with a bed and a dresser, a shared toilet down the hall and no refrigerator. I did have a bench, a bar and 300 pounds of weights at the foot of my mattress. Gotta love Secaucus, NJ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· What’s a tri-set?
· Shoulder surgery
· Direct chest exercises?
We open this week’s line-up with a 39-minute lecture from Tim Vagen called Training the Senior Client. This talk is perfect for trainers looking to expand into the huge and growing senior population. You can have a tremendous impact on their lives, and they can afford to hire you!
Next, Jason Nunn provides a year-long overview into how he trains his youth and high-school soccer athletes. He describes the initial process from movement screening and running mechanics, through the strength and conditioning phases of young year-round athletes.
You know proprioception refers to where the body is in space, its kinesthetic awareness. But where does that awareness come from? How does it work? In this lecture, Todd Hargrove explains how the brain uses body mapping to represent the physical body.
And now I’ll drop you off at the content recap for last week, where you can spend all the free time you can spare.
June 6, 2012... The Bermuda Triangle
You spent the winter building mass and power and the spring developing shape and definition. Now is the time to enjoy your hard-earned, carefully honed and richly deserved fitness superiority. It’s summertime, brothers and sisters, give me an ab shot....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Alcohol problem
· Continuing the newsletter
· Outer head of the biceps
So, I made a new plan for the blog and my section of the newsletter. I post quite a number of links to what I consider quality content via social media sites, but for some odd reason, never thought to pull it all together for those of you who aren’t into Facebook, Twitter and the other outlets. A weekly overview might be handy, so let’s remedy that starting today.
I think you’re going to link this: best Strength & Conditioning, Corrective Exercise Links.
May 30, 2012... Bust a Slump
Little-known and well-concealed, heavily disguised and deeply hidden secret: I take grumbling to the gym and search for relief somewhere between the adjustable bench and the dumbbell rack. Tell no one, say nothing. Barbells and pulleys, even kettlebells, have been known to afford comfort as well. And, it’s not always in the immediate iron actions, but within the haven of time between actions. There are reports from the rugged past, the Muscle Beach and Dungeon days, stating the sheer nearness to the still steel serves to soothe scarred souls.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Help for my 13-year-old son
· Training and owning a gym
· Competitive no longer
If you or your clients struggle with losing fat, whether it's a lot of weight or those last few pounds, the 83 minutes you spend listening to this lecture by fat-loss coach Josh Hillis could be your most valuable time expenditure all year. His tips are simple and effective, and the emotional strategy he uses binds the package into something that will work for you or your clients. Fabulous approach to a lean life!
May 23, 2012... Short and to the Point
Inspired by the beauty of nature and distressed by the beast of man, I’m off to the gym to tangle with both characters, Jekyll and Hyde. See ya later, there’s metal to move....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Training around a sore biceps
· Didn’t like supersetting
· Torn supraspinatus
If not the absolute top of my list of Dick Tyler's Golden Era writings, this piece is sure close. First published in a 1970 Weider magazine, we also used it in Dick's book, West Coast Bodybuilding Scene.
When I put that excerpt from West Coast Bodybuilding Scene out to Facebook a few days ago, it was so popular, I thought you’d like another. Here’s a look at how he tells the story of the 1965 Mr. America.
May 16, 2012... Plenty Enough
Now that I’m 70, a whistle hangs around my neck on a chain, a beeper is fitted to a sporty wristband and at night while wandering the streets I wear blinking red reflector sneakers...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· High reps and muscle gain, fat loss
· No motivation to train
· Cable Cross-overs
I must be the last person alive who should be writing about training or nutrition research, but because of that, I’ve been collecting resources. My daily work involves typesetting, editing, coding or graphics (actually, it’s mostly email), so the studying I do is usually software tech manuals. That makes my excuse for science inadequacy better than yours.
I never trained my brain to stay focused when reading about research. This works for me, but for those of you who work with clients or patients on health, fitness and strength issues, you don’t really get that freedom. These days, if you don’t stay aware of the latest science or can’t explain to your clients why you’re using the exercises you choose or how the news media got the latest research wrong, your clients are likely to trust you less. Unless your personality is the most contagious one in the gym, if you continue to let your eyes glaze over when science comes into play, as a personal trainer or strength coach you’re probably going to need a new retirement plan.
Jonathan Fass is working on a research lectures for us on the movementlectures.com site, and I’m sure the topic will get a mention often in future lectures. In the meantime I have a couple of suggestions for you… even as I sit here at my desk practicing audio editing techniques on waveforms with no science on my part, even though it looks kinda geeky. Here you go: Understand strength and conditioning research.
Mike Bondurant is an expert on old-school gym equipment. This lecture covers the development of York Barbell exercise equipment from the beginning days of simple barbells made in the York Oil Burner shop, to the complete line of exercise tools that evolved over the next 30 years. In this commentary, Mike shares his depth of knowledge and passion to those of us who came later. Iron history buffs will enjoy his discussion of their old favorites, and will especially get a kick out of the accompanying photos: Mike BonDurant York Barbell History.
May 9, 2012... Let's Do It Again
A longtime IronOnline friend, a tough, six-foot, 210-pound 65-year-old musclebuilder, was recently encouraged to enter a popular Masters Mr. America contest. One of the aspiring entrants told him insightfully, “Go for it. Three to six months of intense dieting and training and you could win the over-65 Masters.”..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Benching and shoulder pain
· NJ YMCA
· What constitutes a snack meal?
Love the downloadable lectures but not the small charges on your charge card? Or would you like to get or give a lectures gift certification? Fitness Audio Lecture Gift Certificates! Now available in $25, $50, & $100 increments.
Joint pain is a common interruption to aggressive training, especially when training for personal records. It can completely derail training progress as it adds pain and frustration. In this lecture, Mike T. Nelson walks through a proven method to keep progressing while alleviating joint pain. If you are pain-free now, these tips will help you stay that way, and propel you on to new PRs.
May 2, 2012... Sanctuary for Social Misfits
While you adored, studied, absorbed and memorized my Facebook submission, I journeyed to the place where muscles are made and power is built, character is developed and spirits are deepened: the famous, fabulous and fantastic fortifying ferrous fortress, less commonly known as the gym.. ..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
What constitutes a snack meal?
Shrinking with age
Reg Park
Leading off the new lectures is MovNat’s Erwan Le Corre, called the World’s Fittest Man (and it may even be true!), talking about his 10 Principles of Natural Movement. His goal is to help all of us learn to move naturally with safety, ease, efficiency, power and grace, and after hearing him speak, you'll be eager to get outside and play. You also learn how to escape being, as he calls it, a zoo human.
Also new this week, Jason Green, a corrective exercise specialist, covers the basics of why coaching breathing is so important to the fitness practitioner. In his lecture, The ABCs of Breathing, you'll learn the value of breathing, a brief explanation of breathing chemistry, and an overview of how to observe breathing in your clients, patients and athletes.
April 25, 2012... Guns, Girls and Lies
Nothing to prove and only my soul to satisfy, I exited the room marked ‘Men’ and walked directly to the interesting end of the dumbbell rack. I grabbed a pair, settled on the incline bench and knocked out a dozen reps.The last rep wasn’t easy, it never is, but I did it anyway. Tough, clean and mean, it’s the last rep that counts most. The others are just along for the ride. ..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Overweight at 125?
· Elbow pain and arm training
· 50 pounds overweight
April 18, 2012... Steel Away
I’ll make appropriate adjustments. The IOL motto for example has been abbreviated from “Train hard, Eat right, Be strong” to “Train, Eat, Be.” Come to think of it, “T, E, B” works, or TEB for short. ..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Dick Tyler lived the iron history most of us love to read about and in this recording, part one of two, he tells of his experiences of Muscle Beach in the late '50s and the early bodybuilding shows of the '60s. We hear his memories of the old-time strongmen, the arrival of Arnold to California, Dave's first big contest, the Mr. America, Jack LaLanne's gym challenges and much more. What a kick to listen to Dick talk -- he's a terrific storyteller and was on the scene during all the big happenings of the Golden Era of bodybuilding. Here’s Dick Tyler’s Golden Era Bodybuilding lecture description and a short sample clip.
April 11, 2012... Sons of Samson
Nutrition and physiology, anatomy and kinesthetics are fascinating subjects, the favorite pursuit of many professionals and hungry-to-learn fitness enthusiasts. These fields are vast, stretch like the plains of Africa and are often intertwined and unexplored. How can we not be drawn to their mystery and allure? Yet, the calculation and regulation of the mass of information available and the reliance of such information as being pertinent to our real 'fitness quest' is absurd and, I have observed, a real hindrance.. ..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
New this week is IronTamer Dave Whitley’s discussion on breathing practice. In 40 minutes, you’ll learn his favorite three breathing drills, including a recovery drill he uses in his own training.
Next up: Erwan Le Corre on the 10 MovNat Principles of Natural Fitness. Here's the link to the other 46 strength and conditioning lectures.
April 4, 2012... Me and the Mob, The Grand Conclusion
Consider how far you’ve come and imagine -- visualize with certainty -- where you want to go. The only thing that stands in your way is time and doubt. Time will pass, but doubt must be removed. What you need to correct or alter in menu or exercise arrangement, attitude or workout intensity, you will surely attend along the way. Today’s questions are tomorrow’s answers. Mistakes and injuries are the instructors.. ..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
We now have 45 terrific fitness lectures available for immediate download; 17 nearly ready and 12 recorders on desks around the country. Next week I’ll begin with new lecture status reports, but for now, here’s a quick list of these popular lectures launched last week.
March 28, 2012... Me and The Mob
Seldom do I drag myself to the gym unwillingly. It’s not often I stand before the barbells and dumbbells with drooping shoulders and hesitation. And though I don’t feel like Superman, never do I question why I’m about to fatigue myself and inflict hard work and pain upon my body for several hours. That’s all behind me and has been for a long, long time. Today, I roll out the ole Harley, run a cloth over the chrome, crack the pipes and let ’er rip. ..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Downloadable fitness audio lectures
· In shape but too heavy
· Shoulder exercise choices
We’re beginning the rollout of the new personal trainer, strength coach, physical therapist lecture site this week. If all goes super smooth, this link will be live when you get this newsletter, and if not, well, maybe the next day. No stress, right?!
March 21, 2012... Animal Rights for Muscleheads
It’s Sunday morning and I’m planning my workout for later in the day. I like Sundays; the roads are traffic-free, the gym is light in attendance and I entertain the casual yet fictitious notion I don’t have to submit to the cruelty of the relentless iron master this fine day. I choose to. ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Home gym and a limited budget
· Best chest exercises?
· Tuna diet?
Last summer after a conversation about not having enough time to sit comfortably to read or watch training videos, Gray Cook, Lee Burton and I partnered up to build a new exercise audio lecture site, movementlectures.com. Wouldn’t it be nice, we thought, to be able to listen to speakers lecturing on subjects we need to keep current with -- just download the files to iPods and laptops for listening on planes, on the road or out for a health walk?
Yes, we decided -- that would be nice.
So we called on colleagues to record lectures on topics they’re eager to talk about. Over the course of the last months, we gathered a bunch of recordings, made transcripts and pulled these together into a collection of inexpensive downloadable audio and text files.
And you are about a week from getting a look.
We’ll open with the first 50 lectures; there are another 20 in varying stages of completion that will be rolled out a few a week until finished. At that point, our expectation is one new lecture a week... ongoing. These recordings range in duration from 15 minutes to nearly 3 hours, and span the price scale from $2.95-$20, with most of them being around $5.
With all new websites come glitches, and to offset that we’re going to roll it out slowly over our available outlets. First look will go to those on our Movementlectures.com Facebook page, so that’s where to head to get in on the ground floor.
March 7, 2012... In the Still of the Night
I don’t do ‘still’ very well. Stationary is not my favorite position. Though I don’t tap, fidget or wiggle when at rest, I tend to squirm and writhe. Laree in comparison has momentum-free motionlessness down. After a long day at the rock pile, we retire to the living room for a book or TV. She is quiet and unmoving; I snort and sniffle, squirm and wriggle. ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Top Squat question
· Am I getting enough protein?
· Forearms
March 7, 2012... Solid, Bold, Mighty and Silly
There are more advantages to old age than ticket discounts at the movies, Social Security and the excuse that you’re hard of hearing. You can walk into a gym and whatever you do is an accomplishment. I, having been subject to the iron most of my life and captive in the steel traps across the nation, appreciate entering the four walls today with an attitude of total freedom. I call it Surprise. It’s like Clue, only different...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Getting Re-started
· Visualization
· Trap bar vs top squat
What an amazing time to be a writer! You now have control over your writing life and your income in a way never dreamed before by writers, not only of earlier generations, but even just a few years ago. It’s astonishing... and wonderful. It’s not so wonderful for most publishers, because this career freedom the writers now enjoy in most cases comes directly from the income of their former publishers. That doesn’t have to be the case, though. If publishers are able to switch mentality from Big Business Boss to “publishing partner,” things can be real bright for everyone. My sense is that most writers really have no desire to pay for editing, cover art or learn how to typeset, index or format digital files. They’re just fed up with making 10% of retail, or maxing out at $10,000 for three year’s work after waiting two years for the book to be produced. Who can blame them? Click here to continue this look at digital publishing.
February 29, 2012... Trash Disposal Technician
I remember the first day I lifted weights like it was just 60 years ago.Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· What should I do for pressing?
· Gaining size and strength in the 60s?
· Aging, pressing and injury
The sandy-haired youth in the jeans frowned slightly and jammed his hands into his pockets. Then, with a shrug, he reluctantly followed the probation officer through the black iron gate. Just inside, the young man stopped dead in his tracks and stared.
“This is a gym?” he exclaimed. “You’ve got to be kidding.” And so begins the last of our Zuver’s memories series, in which Bob and Jean dedicate their lives to helping kids and counseling adults in their famous Zuver’s Gym.
You’ll find a few new photos at the end of that link, too. My new favorite: Bob Zuver on The Big Phone. What a hoot that place must have been!
February 22, 2012... The Beginning, The End, The Center of Things
Exercising to exceed in the sport of weightlifting, bodybuilding or powerlifting is particularly grueling. The means and the end are united, the act and the purpose joined at the hip. In time they, the training and the goal, become entwined, enmeshed, an indivisible blend. The two become inseparable, wedded. They become one. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Keep pressing on
· Lat exercises for bodybuilding
· Overdoing the workouts
Today we’re heading off for a reprint. With all the new Zuver’s material, we need to slow up a bit for a second look at one of our all-time greatest posts: Dr. Ken Leistner’s 25-year-old article of his time with Bob Zuver in the late 60s.
The musclebuilding generation of the 60s got their Zuver’s yearning from Dick Tyler’s carryings-on in Weider’s Muscle Builder magazine, and the next generation got it from this 1988 Ironman story of Dr. Ken’s travels from east to west. As we revisit this lost material, I like to think we’re introducing today’s newcomers to Bob Zuver’s ideas with images of blobs and kegs and other... real big stuff.
Here’s Dr. Ken on Zuvers.
Next week we’ll pick up with another magazine article about Zuver’s in the 70s.
February 15, 2012... To Train or Not to Train
I don’t feel like going to the gym today, thus, I shall not go to the gym. I don’t want to, I don’t have to, I don’t need to, it’s not the law. I’m not gonna fall apart, break down, go to pieces, disintegrate, deconstruct, become undone, unglued or otherwise unraveled simply because I did not pass the portals of the iron palace and heave clanking metal this way and that. I shall not, minus one training session, evaporate or vaporize, disappear, vanish or go strangely into the night. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Old and corpulent
· Training with bands
· Why don’t you post longer workouts?
My gut says we’re about a month away from launching our new audio lecture site, the one I’ve been hinting about since last summer. I think I told you last June it was about a month from ready -- could I have been farther off? But this time it might be true. There are 60 lectures just a step or two from complete. Top industry speakers recorded lectures covering a wide range of topics for you; we had the lectures transcribed and the transcriptions are in the typesetting process. 60 of anything is a lot, so it’s all time-consuming, but I’m pretty sure you’ll get your first look not long after mid-March.
If not, I may jump off a cliff instead, so let’s hope for the site launch, shall we?
Our order of Dave’s book, Iron On My Mind, arrived a few days ago... in stock and ready to ship. And yes, it’s also available as a digital download in PDF, Kindle and the universal epub formats.
In Dave's preface, he writes,
“Iron On My Mind is a collection of 62 newsletters from the 350 published over the years. Each chapter is a trip of its own. And throughout the book what I call blasts, bombardments of info, energy, caution and reprimand, are periodically inserted to affirm your purpose, aright your direction and challenge your performance. There is no theme, the articles follow no order. They can be ingested randomly when the spirit moves you, like a shot of wonder protein before a workout. Sip or slug, I hope they satisfy and you never grow full.”
Getting back to our Zuver’s archive, here’s an article Bob Zuver wrote in 1977 -- and that’s what’s most remarkable. He was writing 35 years ago what people barely get now.
February 8, 2012... That’s One Bad Exercise, Harry
Like any ambitious, imaginative and talented musclehead with no prospects, I was perusing the assortment of exercises I've practiced over the years. It reminded of gleaning a jar of indispensable hardware and scraps amassed during a lifetime of thrift and practicality, looking for bolts whose threads are not yet stripped and nuts with enough edge to hold a wrench to its task. I searched for exercises I had not worn out or been worn out by, that had life in them and could be cunningly installed in my diminishing workouts to magnify their effectiveness. I was also planning to discard some of the heavier hardware that no longer suited my dinged frame: Benches, cleans and presses, upright rows and full squats - hunky metal no longer contributing to my construction. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Training in the Golden Era
· Pain after deadlifts
· Gained weight and need to get training
Because this is a jumping thread over at IronAge, we’ll take a break from our Zuver’s memory and trot on over to see the Zabo Koszweski archive compliments of his former wife, Lydia. Lydia, thanks so much for taking the time to find and scan all these wonderful photos.
Note: You do have to register and log in to see the pictures. Registration is free.
Thanks to some enthusiastic, er... begging, we’ve ordered another print run of Dave’s book, Iron On My Mind, which shipped from the printer yesterday. We’ll have those in stock and ready to go early next week. Here’s the link to grab a copy, and yes, of course Dave will sign your copy, or inscribe it to you.
February 1, 2012... Envy Not the Young and Eager
Common sense and sensitivity call the sufficiently sane back to the real world. What can you do to develop your muscular system, strength and health that is sensible, achievable… and slightly outrageous? More accurately, what can you do to lose fat and build muscle without compromising good and goodness? Okay, a teensy step further -- get huge and ripped without killing yourself...... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Need more information
· Muscle Rock
· Creatine and blood pressure
To open the Zuver’s archive, generously contributed by Jean Zuver, we’ll start with an article about Zuver’s from 1977, which includes a photograph of Bob Zuver finding the famous “Blob” in a local junkyard.
A couple of days ago, Amazon listed Dan John’s book, Never Let Go, for free on the Kindle book site. The sale may be over by the time you get there -- we’re not sure how long these go, but apparently it’s normally 48 hours. It’s worth a shot, even for those of you without Kindles since you can download a free Kindle reading app to read on your computer or tablet.
As long as we're passing around Amazon Kindle sale links, here's another. Michael Boyle's Advances in Functional Training was $21.95 and is now $9.99. Ten bucks for a $34.95 print book, hard to beat that (other than free, yes, I know). You’re welcome to spread the link far and wide:
January 25, 2012... Ain’t It Funny
The time has come to open the door and walk through. Youth for some of you isn't exactly ancient history, but it and the dust around it has settled in the past. Nod and toss a mock salute. What youth didn't do for you, you must do now... pick up the pieces and put them together. That's why today you stand beyond the door and on the gym floor. Say goodbye to the child, but be sure to take the kid with you..... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Reduce the gut at age 64
· Alcohol issues
· Dieting — pre- workout fuel?
Today in the blog we reach back into history for a glance through Dave’s eyes at Bill Pearl’s generosity, which began toward Dave in the 1960s, and has continued without hesitation.
Next week I’ll have a little surprise ready for you. Jean Zuver, Bob Zuver’s wife, sent a few of Bob’s old articles for me to scan and share with you. From all reports, Bob was a wonderful guy, and as it turns out, Jean is wonderful, too. Look for treats, coming up next week, including a photo of Bob that I’m certain you haven’t seen before.
January 18, 2012... Some Things Never Change
At any age under any circumstances exercise and eating right will support the body, mind and spirit of every participant. The younger you start, the better the foundations. The longer you continue, the more durable the structure. The later you start, the more dramatic the life-sustaining renovations you experience. Never to have exercised with at least moderate passion is to have somehow withheld opportunity and dimension from your life. It's never too late to start. Okay, already. What do we do?.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Love running
· Maturing woman, avid weight lifter
· Tuna & water diet
In a guest blog post today, Gray Cook discusses his plan behind his recent workshop DVD, the workshop he thought of as functional movement improv, writing, “Human movement is a complex thing. The many systems of the body that assist us in growing, developing and becoming movement-learning machines are a literal miracle by no stretch of the term. Understanding human behavior will never be an exact science whether we look at emotional, social, group dynamic, or human behavior as it relates to movement patterns.” Click the link below to continue his article, and to watch the included video clips: Functional Movement Improv.
January 11, 2012... A Tad of Discipline and a Chunk of Habits, Please
I’d like to think I have strong discipline, but, rather, I think I have old habits deeply embedded in my hide like wrinkles, pockmarks and playground scars. Whatever, they appear to do the job: tuna and water - exercise, sets and reps - sleep tight, wakey-wakey (lots of luck) - Bomber Blend (yum). Discipline by any other name works.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
I’ve dropped a few hints about the audio lecture site we’re building, and now that the new DVD is out and the books are live in electronic format, I’m back to work on the new site. We now have about 60 lectures recorded from a wide range of fitness, nutrition and rehab experts, nearly ready for typesetting and packaging for download. The downloads will include both the audio file as well as a transcript, all digital files for immediate download and for terrifically fair prices ranging from $4.95-$9.95, depending on duration. The job grew and kept growing, but while each new development added time to the launch date, the project is amazing, and when it goes live, I just know you’re going to love it. Shouldn’t be much more than a month now, assuming... well, probably assuming too much.
Video digital file delivery turned out to be quite a battle, but I think we’ve got it licked now...three weeks later and just in time to get Gray Cook’s new workshop DVD live in downloadable format. Here’s where you’ll find the new digital distribution page, which now includes all of our videos and most of our books in nearly every format.
Dick Tyler’s book West Coast Bodybuilding Scene shipped from the printer Monday -- we should have those in a few days. Here’s where to get yours on order for shipping early next week.
January 4, 2012... OMGTF
361 days and counting till 2013. And it seems like we just got here. OMGTF (oh my gosh time flies). Everything is quick in today’s high-tech digital world -- the internet, texting, communication, information, online shopping. Not resistant to the essence of time, my muscles have taken flight at the speed of light.. ... Continue reading...
December 28, 2011... The Canary in the Iron Mine
The whole thing took me one sweet hour. I totaled 24 chewy sets of six appetizing exercises, four deliriously delicious sets of each with as many bite size reps as required. Rope tucks and freehand sissy squats, Smith front press and pulldowns, wrist curls and seated lat rows. ... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Fear of fat with muscle gain
· Wrist surgery?
· Top shape at 50
I just finished getting Dick Tyler’s West Coast Bodybuilding Scene ready for digital download, this would be the PDF and epub files for immediate download to your computer. The Kindle and Nook versions are uploading now (should be live by tomorrow) and the print books will be ready in about three weeks. Spread the word to your Golden Era friends who’ve been trolling the used books on Amazon and didn’t feel like paying $174 for it. Come to think of it, for that price, Dick would probably trot over to your house and sign it.
Never Let Go is uploading to the Barnes & Noble Nook store right now too. And for the fun of it, I put all the available formats in each of our book download product files. What I mean by that is if you buy an electronic copy of Never Let Go from our online store ($9.95), you’ll get a ZIP file containing the book PDF in 8.5x11 format, plus the Kindle file and the epub file for use on your other devices. There’s no digital rights management -- you can use all the files you own on any of your devices at the same time. This is true for all the digital books, in all the formats currently available, with more to follow shortly.
Here’s Dan’s Never Let Go electronic files page.
December 14, 2011... Just Get There
It’s Sunday afternoon and the gym’s serene call echoes in my ear. “Clank, Thud. Get your butt here now or pay big time, Chump! Clunk, Thump.” It’s nice to be wanted. What could be more delightful than curling up with a knurly Olympic bar and a pair of battered dumbbells on a rigid incline bench in the middle of chilly December? I think I’m in love... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Gain muscle or lose fat?
· How many days per week?
· Zuver’s
December 7, 2011... I Remember When
I ache all over, but don't worry about me. I can still work out in spite of the self-inflicted cruelty. Endurance to go on day after day needs continual hard work, cultivation and obsessing. The stiffness in the joints, of course, is an affliction we all suffer as the years weigh heavy on the Olympic bar of life. I'll make it. I've invested in wraps of various shapes and sizes to fit just about everything that moves; liniments don't help, but I like the eye-watering medicinal smell. I've got a special plastic-lined, zippered compartment in my gym bag for tubes and jars of the stuff, mixed with bottles and tins of Tylenol, aspirin and ibuprophen... I call it my hope chest. .. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
I love going to conferences. I love being saturated in a learning experience, and love being with a group of people passionate enough about a topic to spend the time and money to get to a workshop or summit weekend. But when I get home, the truth is I usually go back to work as normal, and fairly often what I learned gets left in the hotel across the walkway from the convention center. The only way this doesn’t happen is if I use the material as soon as I get home, or if I get a refresher very soon after the event.
Taking notes in a live event doesn’t actually work all that well for me. Oh, I take plenty of notes…but I either can’t make any sense of them later, or worse, I sometimes don’t even open the notebook after I get home. (I’m embarrassed to say that, but it’s true.)
Last spring, I had this same conversation with Chris Poirier, the guy who puts together the Perform Better conferences, and we hatched a plan to record the Long Beach lectures and put them all on CD. This way attendees can review the material at home, and even pick up the lectures they missed while they were tossing med balls at Todd Durkin and hopping around one-legged trying to follow along with Mike Boyle.
For the fun of it, I grabbed some nuggets from the lectures so you can get a notion of the information quality that makes up the new CD set. Check out this lecture line-up,Perform Better Summit lecture samples.
Update for Kindle reader fans: Michael Boyle’s Advances in Functional Training and Dan John’s Mass Made Simple are now at Amazon.com in the Kindle store.
Next week, Gray Cook’s Applying the Model DVD set arrives!
I think I’m due for a matinee.
November 30, 2011... Bye Bye, Choo Choo
Our job throughout the next 31 days of hysteria is to stay cool and calm, healthy and fit. Good luck with that. That means no shopping where there’s people, no gorging where there’s food, no lounging where there’s a TV and a recliner, no avoiding the gym, no postponing your training, no skipping a workout, no ducking the iron, no dodging the steel and no taking a layoff. .. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Lagging biceps
· Age and pushing muscle gain
· Smith Machine
November 16, 2011... Muscles: Pure Delight, Total Satisfaction, a Lasting Joy
Laree has been working on an elaborate CD project for Perform Better, an association of the USA’s top conditioning coaches and training experts, people like Gray Cook, Dan John, Thom Plummer and Mike Boyle, who know best how the athletic body functions, how to achieve the most from it, how to keep it going strong, and how to fix it when it’s out of order. .. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Need advice getting started
· Biceps pain
· Dieting and the pump is gone
November 2, 2011... Work Like the Devil for My Pay
When I feel alone, hollow and deprived, when my pockets are empty and the cupboards are bare, when a pump and burn are nowhere to be found, I make a list of all the exercises I am still able to do. Hmmm… let’s see..... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Maintaining muscle during weight loss
· Pre-workout fueling
· Lower back fat
November 2, 2011... That’s Some Crazy Kid, Lady
I try to put myself in the shoes of a beginning weight trainer and cannot. I remember myself always as doing chins and dips in the family kitchen in New Jersey. I’d slide one a chair with chrome legs and red plastic-covered cushions from the kitchen table to the doorway, enabling me to reach a flat overhead support. My eager fingers struggled to maintain purchase as I hung, writhed and wriggled and pulled, getting "one more rep." This stuff is fun..... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
October 26, 2011... The Seven-Year Itch
There are a lot of influences that determine the outcome of our training sessions. What is it that lifts us up or lets us down? Some of the influences are subtle or hidden or not in our control; others are obvious and we confront them or we ignore them.
There’s one way to get to the bottom of this provocative mystery. We make a list and consider its contents. Good bombers are good detectives.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Testosterone replacement
· Ageless Growth
· Getting started, group classes or personal trainer?
October 19, 2011... Rise Up, Lift Weights, Be Strong
I’m at that point in my training where I don’t know if I’m building myself up or wearing myself out. Am I enhancing my life with the stroke of the iron or am I subjecting it to excessive overload to serve my incurable and wanting ego? Swell! After 55 years at the forceful end of a dumbbell, I’ve become one (a dumbbell, that is, not the Zen rendition of the catastrophe). Conditioning and physical fitness, applaudable goals, have never been my motives. They have been accidental byproducts in my scrunch-faced quest to become Godzillic. ... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ Getting in cardio shape
~ Bad shoulder pain
~ Arm training
Dave and I went to Oregon to visit Bill and Judy Pearl in the fall of 2005, and recorded a conversation between Dave and Bill that I made into a booklet to include with the Pearl/Draper Bash 2005 Seminar DVD. Today I formatted the transcript for pdf and kindle, added some of my favorite images of the guys, and uploaded it for sale as a benefit for our Mandy Trept fund.
In either format, this 20-page pdf (13,000 words) sells for $3.49. 100% of the proceeds will be deposited into our fund to help out with Mandy's rent for a couple of months and the family travel costs while she's in the Bakersfield trauma center.
It's a donation, but I think you're going to get a kick out of the conversation, too. I sure did.
Here are the links:
Via pdf from davedraper.com
https://www.davedraper.com/url/pearl-draper-conversation.php
Via Amazon Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Pearl-Dave-Draper-ebook/dp/B005WY43ZM/
Here's the Paypal link to make a direct deposit of any amount. We'll close this in a week and mail the check next Tuesday.
https://www.davedraper.com/url/mandyfund.php
And you can send cards to her in care of the ICU. She’s at the trauma center, here:
Mandy Trept, C/O ICU
Kern Medical Center
1700 Mt. Vernon Ave
Bakersfield, CA 93306
We’re told the incoming cards trigger a grin in her eyes, and until the breathing tube is removed -- tentatively scheduled for today -- a grin in the eye is a win.
Mandy’s made great progress the past 10 days since the accident. From the original prognosis of being able to move only one arm, she’s now able to move both arms, grasp with her fingers and wiggle her toes. There’s so much hope... so much.
October 12, 2011... Better Now Than Never
By day three I’m a wreck. The ole’ 1942 customized pickup, though made in the USA with American steel, exposes its flaws. The old Blond Bomber, he ain’t what he used to be. The fenders are dented, the chassis is bented, the engine is spented, time is lented and the payments are rented. Muscle repair is slow and difficult among vintage workhorses, and injury is only a set, a rep and heartbeat away. I ache all over, I have no get-up and go and drab clouds gather overhead. I need a therapeutic nap in still, quiet darkness -- rest, repair, reevaluate and rise up. I’m whooped. But I’m also blessed and obsessed. Never quit. I love it... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ Museum for Arnold
~ The tough… stay tough
~ Return after shoulder surgery
Last weekend a group of IronOnline forum friends traveled to Bakersfield, California, for in the Volkslauf Mud Run, a Marine Corp Toys for Tots charity obstacle course. We had a half-dozen participants, and an equal number of cheerful supporters who got especially cheerful about bystanding as we watched our friends struggle through the mud and over some pretty difficult obstacles.
About noon as the next to last of our group finished the course and found dry shoes, we set off to catch up with our final participant, Mandy Trept. An hour later, Dan Martin, the fire captain traveling with us, found the medical tent and discovered she had been med-evaced to a nearby trauma center. Mandy had fallen coming over the top of a 16-foot ladder obstacle and is partially paralyzed from a neck injury. The surgeon is unable to foresee how her recovery might go. He did give a hopeful signal after Saturday night’s surgery, but again said he didn’t know if it meant anything more than that.
Here are the rest of the details, and what you can do to help: Mandy Trept Recovery Fund.
October 5, 2011... Then and Now
I ache all over, but don't worry about me. I can still work out in spite of the self-inflicted beatings. Fortitude to carry on day after day needs cultivation, obsession and relentless exertion. The stiffness in the joints, of course, is an affliction we suffer, as the years weigh heavy on the ole Olympic bar of life. I'll make it. I've invested in wraps of various shapes and sizes to fit just about everything that moves; liniments don't help, but I like the eye-watering medicinal smell. I've got a secret Tupperware container hidden in the recesses of my gym bag for tubes and jars of the stuff, mixed with bottles and tins of Tylenol, aspirin and ibuprophen and Tic Tacs... I call it my hope chest.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ HIT vs volume for mature trainees
~ Early morning training
~ Trying to get rid of the gut
This weekend is our 11th annual IronOnline gathering -- 11 years we’ve gotten together with a group ranging from a dozen to a couple-hundred, all stemming from an off-the cuff email to the IronOnline email discussion group. A guy from the Canary Islands announced he was making a trip to Santa Cruz, would anybody like to meet up? This probably wouldn’t have worked with just anyone, but this particular guy was a heart transplant recipient who gleefully announced his new squat PRs week after week, rich with stories and emotion. People who could collect the bucks made the trek -- how could they not?
This process took about a year from announcement to commencement, and during that time none of us really knew if it would happen. Would everyone chicken out? Would we make food for 100 and have 12... or 250? Would everyone like each other... would anyone like anyone? All the mystery just built up the emotion, and when Dr. Ken Leistner gave the go-ahead that he’d be making the trip to give a seminar with Dave, the crescendo peaked and the weekend was made. That was in 2001, and was followed by 9 more trips around the country from Alaska to Florida, New York to Texas and points between. This year we head to Bakersfield, where a hearty band will participate in the Marine Corp Volkslauf Mud Run.
Would you like to see some photos of past events? Here’s page one of our Bash reports.
Here’s the link for the IronOnline facebook group if you’d like to say hello... or just follow along with the camaraderie. Who knows where this one will lead!
September 28, 2011... Rough ’Er Up, Tough ’Er Out, Suffer ’In
I grasped the iron and proceeded to pick it up, push it and pull it. Hang on... it gets a whole lot more interesting; I lifted it and lowered it, raised, pressed and extended it, all the time planning to swing it while contracting and isolating it. Do you get the picture? I’m hoisting, straining and laboriously maneuvering. I shove and thrust with might. Plates are flying -- there goes a two-and-a-half... clink. Dumbbells are soaring -- there goes a five-pounder... boink. ... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ No or low carbs?
~ HIT vs Volume
~ Dropping weight for a show
Peanuts West and his Westside Barbell Club shaped powerlifting back in the ’60s, and their influence is still felt today. Dave Yarnell went back to collect the magazine writings that recorded this history, and organized his findings into the new book, Forgotten Secrets of the Culver City Westside Barbell Club. Here are a couple of excerpt sections.
And... I have another shout-out for the new IOL facebook group, gaining steam... lotta fun -- hope you get a chance to join us for a smile or two.
September 21, 2011... Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, Never Forgotten
You read the blog when you were 40, and now you’re 50. Gee, half a decade! Able to look outside yourself these days, you note you’re not alone. Big number, you saw it coming and it’s not so bad on the morale. The 40s started with desperation and flailing, rejuvenating and restoring, and halfway through you grew weary and grew up. “It is what it is,” you say to each other, “get over it, get on with it. Never quit, never let go... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ Abbreviating training with aging
~ History questions
~ Shoulder pain
Now that more of us are active on facebook, making it real easy to drop a quick hello without starting a new forum thread, let's give our IronOnline facebook group another try. Here's the link to our group, hope you join us for a joke online.
Gray and I did a pretty good job keeping the weekly Q&A recordings going last winter and spring, but when summer hit the brakes kicked in hard. We’re back on track, so let’s get you up to date with the most recent conversations.
September 14, 2011... The Times They are a Changin'
The gym is down the road and on my mind. I rely heavily on the unseen work of the subconscious. These training sessions often turn out to be some of the best. I’m drawn to the iron by desire, not obligation. I don’t have to lift, I want to. There’s no pressure, no rush, no ground lost, no ground to make up, just the playground where time floats rather than flies. And so it goes with physical preparation and mental psyche. They happen.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ Trying to get stronger
~ Life in a shambles
~ Drop sets and failure
Here we are just over a year after publication of Gray Cook’s book Movement, which you probably know was a huge success and is now a much-paged reference on many a rehab clinician and strength coach bookshelf. In traditional publishing, that’s when the paperback comes out and although I’m miles away from traditional publishing (and moving farther out each day), it seemed like a good time put out the softcover edition of Movement.
Those glossy-covered treasures shipped from the printer Monday and will be in stock Friday. For some people, this could be a second copy... for others, this may be the first time you’ve held one in your hands.
Forthcoming, it’ll be a race between Michael Boyle’s Advances in Functional Training ebook edition and Gray’s new pre-conference DVD set, both coming up toward Thanksgiving.
September 7, 2011... Out of Order According to Plan
My workouts are considerably less, yet more fulfilling than they were 50 years ago. Though the weights I lifted were exceedingly heavier and the time I spent lifting was tenfold, the demand to lift was unlovable. Consider the compromise and challenge, the sacrifice and submission, the hard work and havoc. Oh, my aching back; no let up and no fun, clunk and thud and moan and groan. ... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ Everything hurts
~ Thin and weak
~ Preparing for my first show
The remarkable presenter list from the Perform Better Summits is truly a who’s who of strength and conditioning experts, each one a headliner. These two-and-a-half day conference events, held annually in Providence, Chicago and Long Beach, are broken up into four lectures per 75-minute time block and, as I noted last year, it’s an internal fight to choose.
Imagine my pleasure at having not only permission, but actually orders to move between lecture rooms to monitor recording equipment! Get this: Chris Poirier, the guy behind these stellar Perform Better events, gave me the lucky task of recording the lecture sessions for a 27-CD live-recording set. Assuming my work next month goes as planned, you’ll see the CD recordings of these outstanding lectures on their site in about six weeks.
This assignment gave me something else, too: upfront access. Through Dave’s history in the early bodybuilding scene and in my work with guys like Dan John, Michael Boyle, Gray Cook and Lee Burton, I do have unusual connections to some of the leading experts in the fitness field, but recording the event added another element of entry. You’ll see more discussion of this as we begin to talk about our new audio lecture site featuring many of these speakers and their peers, set to launch early November. I’ll keep dropping hints for another month or so as we build up the content—specifically when we have about 50 lectures recorded, edited and transcribed for the audio product library. Meanwhile, a short commentary on Perform Better camaraderie.
August 31, 2011... About Motivation, Then and Now
If I stare at the computer screen long enough, one of two things happen: I come up with an idea for a newsletter, or my head explodes. The newsletters are dull and dumb, but harmless (shoot me), whereas an exploding head is messy and noisy. ... Continue reading...
August 24, 2011... Can I Go Now?
So, there I am minding my own business sitting on the steps to the back door of the Weight Room in the grim sunlessness of the fading summer when some old dude about my age drags his sorry butt over to me and says, “I need help.” Right away I’m thinking, lay him down gently, loosen his collar, check his pulse and air waves, maybe administer CPR, if I can remember how that one goes and call 911 fast (ring, watch, check his wallet for cash). .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ Bench press blues
~ 19 years old with training questions
~ Preparing for bodybuilding competition
Off to Perform Better's Long Beach Summit! Catch up with you next week.
August 17, 2011... My Imitation of a Cranky Old Bomber
Take it from a home-schooled all-American pilgrim: Do not make a federal case out of your workout. Keep it simple, stick to the basics. Once you bring in the Feds, you can no longer decide what to lift, how much, where, when or why. You just stand there dumbstruck with your left finger in your right ear and the right finger pointing at the wrong guy, while your gut sags and your guns shrivel. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ Maintaining Muscle Mass
~ Pre-anorexic? What to do next
~ Aging and competing, with injuries
Stuff’s piling up around my desk as I start preparations for next week’s trip. As a work trip gets close, the needed tools begin to gather, and let me tell you, for the filming and taping planned for next week, this pile of electronics is scary.
Meanwhile, the audio editing is proceeding as planned with 10 lectures near completion and another 10 well on the path. This has turned into a monstrous task, but a super fun one, and it’ll really give me a grin when you see the results next month.
I did get one project done recently: Michael Boyle’s Advances in Functional Training is available as a downloadable pdf. Dan John’s Never Let Go is on Kindle and will be ready in pdf soon; that one started as a 6x9, so to get it into a nice pdf required a new typeset job. It’s almost ready. Nook readers, thanks for your patience -- the formatting for that is different yet, but it should be ready in a couple of weeks. Advances for Kindle and Nook are simmering; those, too, take extra work because Advances is an 8.5x11, 2-column book, and for e-readers, all that needs to be reversed via new typesetting. It’s happening... just slowly.
August 10, 2011... Buy Three, Get Two—While They Last
Have you heard the latest breakthrough in extreme muscle-building development? It applies to men and women equally and age is of no consequence. It does not come in pill, powder or liquid, it is not written or vocally expressed and it is not available over the counter. The coveted formulation is called DD-BoomZoom and can be acquired through the internet only. For details, send me cash. No questions asked. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ Pre-anorexic? What to do next
~ Aging and competing, with injuries
~ Competitive Bodybuilding?
The Association of Oldetime Barbell and Strongmen (AOBS), an iron enthusiast group going strong since Vic Boff started it in 1982, awarded Dave Draper its Vic Boff Achievement Award in 2007. We had a wonderful Jersey weekend with the group, the noise level increasing hour by hour, until car by car the camaraderie drifted back toward its origins. Now that was a weekend to remember, which I did (link above).
Happily, the AOBS dinner is not one of those nostalgic “remember when” reminiscences—oh, no, these guys get this thing ramped up annually. In fact, your sweet memories, your big guns, your hefty deadlift, your might grip can be a part of this year’s camaraderie during which Olympian Frank Capsouras, thinking-man’s Mr. Universe Bob Gajda and everyone’s favorite Eugen Sandow will be honored.
You’ll need to preregister first, then get yourself over to Jersey on Saturday, September 17th. Plan to spend the day—you may even find the daytime more exciting than the dinner event—and if you can, hang around for breakfast Sunday, because you’re really going to have a hard time saying goodbye as Saturday turns into Sunday.
Scheduled events include a collector’s historical meeting (those guys tell tall tales), followed by an Olympic Lifting Made Easy seminar, then come the cool kids: Oldetime Strongman Feats.
Seriously, you don’t want to miss a minute—the memories start rolling before the sun sets on Friday.
Here are the rest of the details (not that you’d need more): AOBS Reunion Dinner 2011.
August 3, 2011... Around the Corner, Over the Hill
Few mature iron-aficionados are seeking coconuts deltoids and turkey-leg forearms, but the retention of muscle and strength and the healthy functioning of their cardio systems are vitally appealing to them. Their collective goal is called life..... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ Mentzer Routine and Weight Loss
~ Higher Reps, Lighter Weight
~ Need to lose some belly fat
Today I get to report some progress—now that’s a great feeling! Dan’s new Intervention DVD is now available as a downloadable product as MP4 videos, plus the MP3 audio file and the typeset lecture transcript pdf. That only took two weeks, oh yeah!
As long as I was going with that, I set up the Bill Pearl, Dave Draper Q&A Seminar as a downloadable video, too. We’ll get the rest, but at the moment I’m stuck because the server is full and we’re waiting on a new one. It’s supposed to be big enough that we won’t be able to fill it. We’ll see about that.
Setting up the downloadable products module in our store was a headache, but doing the products was a lot of fun, and being on a roll, I then did Dan John’s Mass Made Simple in downloadable pdf.
In the current state of ebook flux, formatting for ebooks is something of a nightmare. While it’s true there are no print costs for ebooks, the time and expense is in extra formatting, partly because the major e-readers all use a different format and the pages have to be set up for each. For our books, though, it’s a little worse because those that have two-columns (the 8.5×11 books) have to be completely redone to fix a 6×9, single column format, and those with images or tables need to be re-worked also. That’s why this ebook conversion is taking longer than you, the authors or I would like. We’re getting the easiest stuff first, and I’ll keep plodding along on the rest. Meanwhile, here’s the full update: Digital Downloads from On Target Publications.
July 27, 2011... Trivia, Nonsense and Gobbledegoop
I walk into the gym; thank God I made it, and sit quickly on anything that resembles a seat. At 2PM the benches are empty, part of my scheme -- sit anywhere, move slow, lift little, groan lots, lift less, moan more, and before I know it I’m warmed up and ready to go. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
July 20, 2011... The Bench Press Revisited Doowap Dowah
Quiet and alone, I heard music drifting from the speakers. Wait… that’s the Drifters drifting… “There goes my baby, moving on down the line…” 1959, 52-years-ago: I was 17, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, sitting at the end of a chrome-legged bench with gold-flecked red vinyl upholstery in a Vic Tanny’s Gym in Jersey City. The Drifters were the sounds and in the rack was a stiff, one-inch chrome bar strewn with 20-pound chrome plates and chrome collars on the ends just to be sure. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ The Big Three
~ Unable to gain muscle at 68
~ Another surgery gone
This was supposed to be an announcement that Dan John’s Intervention DVD is ready as a downloadable product, but unfortunately I only have an “almost” for you today. Uploads take longer than downloads; my machine is chugging away and I have -0- clue how long it’ll keep up this grinding. When it’s done, and when I get things set up correctly, we’ll have four packages for you.
- An mp3 audio file of the full lecture (without video), with a transcript pdf, Dan’s newest writings on Intervention (unpublished elsewhere), and the workshop handouts, $29
- Downloadable video file of Disc One, $29
- Downloadable video file of Disc Two, $29
- Downloadable video file of Disc Three, $29
I’ll update the page with live links, hopefully tomorrow. And of course, all of this is part of the DVD physical package, available now for $129, here: Dan John’s Intervention DVD.
The e-book addition of Michael Boyle’s Advances in Functional Training is nearly done. We could see that in two or three weeks, and the softcover edition of Gray Cook’s Movement is heading for the printer next week. While all this is in motion, our new audio lectures line is ramping up. This is you catching a whiff, and you’ll get hit with the full blast inside of a month.
July 13, 2011... He's Punishing Himself
This’ll be short and pointless, bombers. We have rising debt, rising temperatures, rising unemployment, rising prices and rising tensions; the last thing we need is rising weights.
What? Seriously? Under these conditions, raising weights is the first thing we must do. Waste no time. Get to the gym. Lift those barbells and dumbbells before we drop. They are the antidote, the solution to what brings us down. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ Are deadlifts a good leg exercise?
~ Lifting heavy at 64
~ Lower pec area
Let me use this space to briefly bring you up-to-date via a few one-liners. Lots of swirling stuff around here lately.
First, a bit of housekeeping: I’m locked out of the IronOnline forum, have been for a couple of days. If you’ve been waiting on assistance from me, I apologize for the wait. In the downtime, I read a book.
Not really. The truth is I’ve been working on editing audio products. It’s a real exciting projects and I’ll tell you all about it over the next few weeks.
Another biggie: After six months of empty shelves, the Top Squats are back in stock. Here’s the link to place an order or learn the product details, including video.
Getting caught up, here’s your link to the EverythingStrength.com top ten list for last week -- some great reads you won’t want to miss.
It was thrilling when UPS rolled up Thursday to deliver a few hundred pounds of Dan John’s new DVD set, Intervention. We’re very pleased with how this turned out; Dan did a terrific job making a mountain of information completely understandable. It’s a tremendous workshop DVD, and we back up that statement with a money-back guarantee.
Actually, we back all our sales with a money-back guarantee.
July 6, 2011... Freedom, Liberty, Independence
Rather than set off a few dinky firecrackers to celebrate the 4th, I went to the Weight Room to blast it. The sun was blazing and all the traffic was headed for the beach as I maneuvered the last mile to the gym. The temperature gauge read 90, the clock said 9 and I thought, “I’m free.” .... Continue reading...
June 29, 2011... Silver Linings, Silver Days
I’m heading for the gym, with you or without you. Part of me says, “Oh, no, not again, not that, not the iron, and the pushing, the pulling, the pumping and the pain,” while the other part of me says, “Oh, gee, really -- the sets and reps and muscle and stress and strain; the time, the devotion, the sacrifice, the discipline and refrain?” .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Stuart McRobert: Shoulders
· Getting in shape for seniors
· Rope tucks and back surgery
New today: Dave’s book, Your Body Revival up on Kindle! Considering I’ve been computerized since 1981, it’s odd I’m so slow going digital, and that I get such a thrill over something so simple. Simple it was, and here it is.
In the turmoil of Dan’s Intervention seminar, as we filmed for DVD I took in... pretty much nothing. Later, I listened to the attendees gush (it’s true, they did), but it wasn’t until my fourth or fifth pass through the material that the built-in critic who poses as an editor began to subside and the breadth of the material began to seep in.
Dan made such an organized, methodical march through a mountain of material—a solid thirty years of learning and coaching—that much later that I realized what a volume of thinking had been so simply laid out. It’s, I guess you could call it... stunning.
Here’s a more comprehensive overview of Dan John's Intervention DVD set, plus a couple more video clips.
June 22, 2011... The Path of Most Resistance
Have you noticed it’s a crazy world out there? We need to be careful how we engage strangers over the internet and answer our email. Someone from Phoenix, a B-72, asked me how he can get huge and ripped for his 50th wedding anniversary in July. Yeah, right! I congratulated him on his marital fortitude and his aspiration and suggested he train hard, eat smart and step judiciously off a small cliff (ha-ha). “The swelling from the impact and the gashes from sliding down the rock face,” I explained, “is your only scheme to achieve size and cuts these days, Pops.” .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· How much training as we age?
· Shoulder training with limitations
· Forced reps
As Dave so accurately described it, I'm clawing my way out of a three-month deadzone, that place that swallows everything when a project gets exciting. It's fun in the depths, and it's even more fun on the way out... where I am right now. AKA, FINISHED! Dan's new DVD shipped to the replicator Monday and will be here in just under two weeks.
Here’s more, including a couple of video clips: Dan John new Intervention DVD set.
June 15, 2011... Questions Not Enough People are Asking
It’s the middle of June and I’m in the middle of nowhere. It’s as if I fell asleep and awoke in a world I don’t exactly recognize. I mean, it looks the same, yet everything is sorta sideways, slightly backwards and somewhat upside down. I’m going to the gym to stir up some muscle and might and motion. The gym with its iron and plates and bars and racks is where I lighten the load that holds me down and arouse the strength that picks me up.
.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
We’re late—a relatively unusual situation—and I’m engulfed here in the last few days of preparing the new Dan John workshop DVD set, Intervention. It’s so close to finished we should just let the homestretch energy take over rather than break away to dredge up something for the blog today.
Dan did a fabulous job organizing his thoughts, 30 years of training experience, athletic competition, coaching and programming packed very solidly into a three-and-a-half-hour DVD set. Each point he makes leads into the next as he creates a path for the viewer to take deeper and deeper, from the basic information to the buried treasures. Terrific work, really.
We then add his new Intervention writing in a pdf on the DVD, a few handouts, a transcription pdf of the full lecture, and top it all off with an mp3 audio file so you can review the workshop during your commute. It’s a remarkable set covering all aspects of learning, the filmed workshop, plus the transcript to read and the audio file to listen to—you’re going to love it... in about three weeks.
I’ll put up a couple of video clips next week, but meanwhile, I’ll send you over to the product review site to read Patrick Ward’s review of Joel Jamieson’s book, Ultimate MMA Conditioning. I’d suggest a look for anyone interested in conditioning—Joel’s brilliant at heart rate training; you needn’t be involved in martial arts to use his concepts.
Next time we talk, Dan’s DVD will be at the replicator, Lord willing.
June 8, 2011... Too Late. This One's A Goner
The best defense in the world when it’s crumbling around you is strength and health within your own borders. Broadly, the borders include your home and workplace, your friends and acquaintances, your daily movements and deeds. Narrowly, it comes down to your workouts, your food and your dog.
.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Time of training
· Thinking of taking a month off
· These aging legs
Things are steaming along on the new site, EverythingStrength.com. The article choices very popular, and so are the regular updates throughout the day.
When you get there, tap the Facebook Like button and we’ll send a weekly Top 10 to your Facebook stream. Countdown comes out weekly, and here’s this week’s: Top Ten Strength & Weight Training Links.
June 2, 2011... Nostalgia, Curiosity, Need and Nonsense
Discipline is timeless. Regarded by the weak as a tyrant and by the strong as a magnificent force that causes, effects and directs, there is no doubt about discipline’s incredible power. It is an absolute in achievement and shapes the world by shaping the people. Sadly, the world’s condition is also influenced by those dismal characters who avoid the great power, cannot sustain its efforts and recede into crevices as discipline passes them by. .... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Home training questions
· Blasting bodyparts
· How many reps?
For all the gazillion great weights-related articles and blog posts (and the not-so-great ones we might want to filter out), wouldn't it be nice to have a simple, clean portal into the strength web? It could be curated by a few active 'net participants who cover a variety of strength disciplines to bring together the most important news you need to know, and the hidden gems and bits of cleverness you may have missed along the way. It could... and would! Just taken live this week, it gained instant traction, averaging 1,000 daily visitors from day one. I think you're going to like it: EverythingStrength.com.
When you get to the site, tap the Facebook Like button and we’ll send a weekly Top 10 to your Facebook stream. It’ll look like this: Everything Strength Weekly Top 10, June 2, 2011
May 25, 2011... Remember: Form, Focus, Fun
Okay, okay… Settle down… Welcome, people, to this summer’s Eat-Right Boot Camp… Listen up… We don’t have time to waste… It’s later than you think… Let’s get to work… Stand on one leg, arms overhead… No notes… Memorize….... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Bodybuilder with shoulder surgery
· Just getting started
· Resting and the Pump
Do we have any readers in Northern California whose work or interest lies in taking patients from rehab to athletic performance? Got something for ya: Craig Liebenson is teaching in San Francisco the weekend of June 11-12. Here are the details -- it’s a don’t miss for medical pros.
For today’s extra credit (not required, but the bonus is huge), “Nice Work if You Can Get It,” a short report telling the tale of how Dave became David the Gladiator on KHJ in the ‘60s. I snipped that from Brother Iron, Sister Steel. I suppose that’s cheating.
May 18, 2011... When Sanity and Intelligence Fail, There’s Always Absurdity
First signs of depression and I’m off to the gym like a wild goat. The weights are to depression what antibiotics are to a virus -- defense, eradicator, cure. For the less intellectual, more aggressive among us, they’re like a bat to a bully -- a feel-good quick fix.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
I am chomping at the bit these days, amped to get after my next project, which will come immediately after Dan John’s Interventions workshop DVD ships to the replicator. What’s missing in the marketplace for strength and conditioning? A choice lineup of audio lectures on cd or for mp3 download!
You should see my desk when a plan like this explodes all over it. Sure is fun, though!
Meanwhile, Dan John’s bestseller Never Let Go is out on Kindle today. There’s certainly been a call for this one. If you’re a part of that wait-list and grab a copy right away, reload it tomorrow because the updated version has a boatload of embedded links that were missing in the original file. Amazon seems to work pretty these e-formats over quickly, but if your version is missing the extra links, send a new copy to your device Friday and you should be all set.
Can’t wait to flesh out some of the details. I’ll keep you posted!
May 11, 2011... Smooch Face, Sets, Reps, Archetypical Exercise
Speaking of deltoids, I skimmed a current muscle magazine I found at my neurologist’s office to see what the latest rage was for building bridge-wide shoulders. Lo and behold, it offered a variety of routines including the latest Freaky Monster Shoulder Rack Crasher, the just-released Rugged, Ragged, Ripped Rock Pile Deltoid Detonator and the trusted-but-tricky Ocean-wide, Mountain-High Valley-Deep Don Howorth Cap Creator. Gadzooks, I struck it rich, big and huge simultaneously.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
The learning has come in a cascade around here lately. Earlier today I uploaded our first Kindle book, Dave's Iron On My Mind, which will be available at Amazon tomorrow. And just a few minutes ago wrapped up a phone consultation with a retired audio book publisher who's guiding me as I poke around the edges of hiring a narrator and sound engineer to record Dan John's Never Let Go for audio book publication. It's all downhill momentum on the Kindle editions; now that I know how to format for it, the other books will follow quickly.
But first: A couple more edits of Dan's new Interventions workshop DVD, which is going terrifically well. He's an outstanding teacher, and for this workshop he organized about 30 years of learning into a three-and-a-half-hour DVD. You're going to love it... 'round about mid-June.
I have a couple other ideas simmering, and the guys have other projects in the works, too. It's a big year for us, meaning a big collection of new content for you.
So here are my questions—if you have input to share, scroll down and add a comment, would you? Your suggestions could easily tilt how this summer's chores will play out.
- Are you a print book reader? E-books? Half and half or fully committed one way or the other?
- If you read print books, do you look for softcover or hardcover, or does it matter?
- If e-books, what format and where do you buy them?
- Do you listen to audio books? If yes, do you buy CDs or Audible.com downloads? Or do you get them from the library?
- For our international readers, are you able to buy the On Target books you'd like to read in your country? Can you buy and use Kindle books from the Amazon.com US site?
The work lined up for the summer months includes a possible mix of the above, even audio books, which I haven't dabbled in before. I'll do it if it seems like we can at least break even on the experiment.
Forthcoming...
- Never Let Go, Kindle edition by Dan John
- Interventions, DVD set by Dan John
- West Coast Bodybuilding Scene, Kindle edition by Dick Tyler
- Advances in Functional Training, Kindle edition by Michael Boyle
- Movement, Kindle edition by Gray Cook, with Lee Burton, Kyle Kiesel, Greg Rose & Milo Bryant
- Movement, softcover edition by Gray Cook, with Lee Burton, Kyle Kiesel, Greg Rose & Milo Bryant
- Perform Better Pre-Con, DVD set by Gray Cook
In print, in order of publication...
- Iron On My Mind, Kindle edition by Dave Draper, releasing tomorrow
- Mass Made Simple,spiral-bound book by Dan John
- Programming the Kettlebell Swing,DVD by Tracy Reifkind
- Lessons of the Old-Time Strongmen,DVD by Dave Whitley
- Lats: The Super Muscles, DVD by Mark Reifkind
- Kettlebell Fundamentals, DVD by Dave Whitley
- Movement,hardcover book by Gray Cook, with Lee Burton, Kyle Kiesel, Greg Rose & Milo Byrant
- Advances in Functional Training,softcover book by Michael Boyle
- A Philosophy of Strength Training, DVD by Dan John
- Perfecting Your Kettlebell Form, DVD by Dan John
- Olympic Lifting for Beginners, DVD by Dan John
- Warm-ups, Workouts & Complexes, DVD by Dan John
- Never Let Go, softcover book by Dan John
- Stella’s Kitchen,softcover cookbook by Stella Post
- Iron Online Bash Seminar, DVD by Bill Pearl & Dave Draper
- Alternative Chiropractic, hardcover book by Dick Tyler
- West Coast Bodybuilding Scene, softcover by Dick Tyler
- Your Body Revival,softcover book by Dave Draper
- Brother Iron, Sister Steel,softcover book by Dave Draper
I sure do welcome your thoughts and guidance for this upcoming work. What would you like to see most?
May 4, 2011... Dr. Whatshisname and Dr. Whatshername
I blasted it yesterday (funny the damage you can do with a few well-placed firecrackers) and today I shall rest in peace (RIP). I just might hit the deck and catch a few afternoon rays over a can of tuna and a bottle of water. Such a divine combination of glories in the musclebuilding world is known as heaven. Paradise, even… nirvana, super duper, very cool, too. ... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
~ Supplements?
~ Anabolic Diet and Weight Loss
~ Where are the good gyms?
April 27, 2011... Musclebuilding -- Past, Present and Future
It is times like these that I’m particularly grateful I train with the metallic articles of pleasure and pain and have built a reserve of character, energy and might. If only all of mankind regularly nudged the steel and prodded the iron, we would less likely be facing these challenges today. Our enhanced attitude, common sense and will to live would have directed us more correctly. Certainly, we’d be better prepared to meet the circumstances. ... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Which Supplements?
· Dealing with Discouragement
· Job as Personal Trainer
I’m heading off to Gray Cook and Lee Burton’s Functional Movement Screen workshop next week, and while it may not be the best idea to go with any preconceived notions, it also seemed like a good opportunity to write a review of the FMS DVD set, so I watched that last weekend. Personal trainers and coaches might be interested in reading my thoughts.
April 20, 2011... Go to the Gym -- Do Your Best
Simmering, in my observation, is not a bad strategy as we get older. A slow simmer is just below boiling and has a nice quiet bubble to it. It’s something one does for an extended period of time to carefully produce full-body flavor and appeal. Boiling is harsh and chaotic, splattering the source of its life-sustaining ingredients..... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Gray Cook is a chatterbox on the phone, assuming you can catch up with him when the phone rings. Once you get a hello, it’s usually clear sailing for a good conversation. Once we finished our Movement book project, our conversations got a little less focused, and I began getting some exceptional advice from a guy who can tell at a glance what’s going on physically, and what I should be doing about it.
A couple of months ago, we realized some of these conversations might be valuable to others, so we started recording them. These are weekly eight- or ten-minute discussions in which I ask him a question and just sit back and let the tape roll. If I’m on the ball, you may get a follow-up question, and heck, once in a while the follow-ups might even be related.
Here are the details: Gray Cook Radio.
April 13, 2011... Is There a Shrink in the House?
Imagining is important; visualizing and meditating are effective tools in achievement. But nothing replaces action. Research and study are worthwhile, but nothing beats performance. Planning serves us well, yet without application plans are pointless. Routines and programs firmly establish direction, but we go nowhere without execution.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
At the IDEA World Fitness Conferences of 2008 and 2009, I blocked off workshop times to make sure I attended a couple of Anthony Carey’s sessions. In 2008, Chuck Wolf, also a big favorite of mine, spoke on what he calls flexibility highways, and the timing was such that I attended his session, and, since the presentations were of similar content and Chuck's wasn't being filmed, pre-ordered Anthony’s filmed myofascial slings session on DVD.
Two-and-a-half years later, I’m up with the review. Now, mind you, I *did* watch it a couple of years ago, but didn’t take notes at the time. I watched it again today in order to write an overview for you, which you’ll find right here: Anthony Carey: Myofascial Slings DVD.
April 6, 2011... Spring Boot Camp -- A Kick in the Butt
I sat atop the staircase overlooking the length of the gym floor and gazed at the activity below. What I saw was a hopeful and warming sight, 20 or so guys and gals of various shapes and sizes and ages, the neighborhood’s relative few who are following through with their fitness and musclebuilding programs. And they were not perched on the leg extension, sipping Perrier as they chatted about soccer or stock prices. They were working... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
I wrote an instructional blog post about Dan John’s goblet squats that was originally published in 2006. That was about two years after we first starting talking about those in the IronOnline forum, which was who-knows-how-long after Dan first started teaching it.
Yet we regularly have people show up in the forum who haven’t heard the term and pipe up with a well-worn, “what are goblet squats?” response. And in an expansion of that, can you imagine how many people there are in commercial gyms who have never once visited a weight training forum -- let alone our specific forum? Out of those people, how many do you suppose warm up the squat groove with a goblet squat?
Perhaps that’s even a description of your time on the gym floor, never done a goblet squat and don’t even know what it is. Alas, a rediscovery of a long-buried goblet squat commentary: What is a Goblet Squat?
March 30, 2011... The Expectant Spectator, Huge and Rippling
The greatest workouts happen when we’re involved, when we’re engaged, when we’re invested in each set and rep, movement after movement, unquestioning and undistracted; experiencing, discovering and flowing, warm and loose.. . Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
“Attitude and mood decide the input and output. The greatest workouts happen when we’re involved, when we’re engaged, when we’re invested in each set and rep, movement after movement, unquestioning and undistracted; experiencing, discovering and flowing, warm and loose.”
That’s what Dave wrote above, and I think that’s what Gray Cook was talking about in his recent article “Strong Does Not Necessarily Equal Tough.” The guys have coming from the opposite sides of the gym floor, but in the end, the attitude is the fuel that brings them back together.
March 23, 2011... Sketchy History of a Musclehead
...As a kid the weights were hunky, big-guy playthings. I’d push, pull, lift and grunt. Great fun. Clank, clunk… where’s my wrench? As a teen, lifting the iron was a sporty game; I’d curl and press, I’d win and lose and skip a workout without thinking twice. The game had a short lifespan. . Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Everybody needs a little Squat RX, am I right? This week Boris Bachmann, our RX supplier for the past half-dozen years, offers up his suggestions on how to find the right bar position, and how to get the bar back there. Maybe you need some help in the shoulder and thoracic mobility department, and Boris has you covered there, too.
After you finish reading and practicing his great tips, get yourself on over to the link at the bottom of his “Getting Under the Bar” article, where you can check his progress in the Million Pound Squat-a-thon Disaster Relief Challenge.
March 16, 2011... Witty, Willful and Wiley Wascals
A workout in down times is like a life preserver to a drowning man. It’s reassurance to the anxious, a relief to the overwhelmed, a release for the over-wrought, a retreat for the lost and lonely, a loving hug to the brokenhearted, an expression for the voiceless, an elixir to the weak and weary and an escape to the trapped. Workouts breathe life into the hollow and hopeless form..... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
March 9, 2011... You Can Say That Again
It’s a sunny Sunday in Santa Cruz and I have the gym all to myself. It gets better: Everything is made of iron. Nothing to break, nothing to fix, just stuff to push and pull. ..... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Last October USAW International Olympic lifting coach Glenn Pendlay traveled to Kansas City with us to teach the lifts to our group of IronOnline forum members made up of mostly snatch and clean & jerk beginners. He did a terrific job, and we filmed it for DVD. His workshop style translated well to video; he gave verbal descriptions, well honed after decades of coaching, then had one of his elite athletes, Jon North, demonstrate each step.
After watching Jon, the group practiced while Glenn passed among the crowd making suggestions. We trimmed this six-hour workshop down to just over two hours, and put it on DVD to fabulous reviews.
However, we’re transferring the ownership of the DVD master to Glenn’s MuscleDriver partners on March 19th and need to close out our existing stock before that date. Result? A terrific new $44.50 DVD on sale for $29.95, while we still have inventory or until March 18, whichever comes first.
Are you ready to learn the lifts? Allow me to talk you into this great deal, a steal at $29.95: Glenn Plendlay Olympic Lifting DVD.
March 2, 2011... And I Almost Took a Layoff
You can unloose a man from the millstone that binds him, but you can’t prevent him from hoisting it to his shoulder and lugging it everywhere he goes. Four consecutive days off from weightlifting is my limit, and those I confine to special occasions. There are valid and invalid reasons for this tight training control, not one is original and I respect them all. You know how it goes; if I dare miss a workout....... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Tuna and Water Revisited
· Runner with a Thin Upper Body
· Muscle Memory after a Long Layoff
By now you've heard of forward head posture, and you probably notice it when you see it walking by. Do you know where it comes from? You'll probably guess it's from desk jockeying, and that's not a bad guess. But while that's a contributor, the bigger cause is poor breathing habits.
Here, let's have an expert explain: Evan Osar discusses the Cervival Spine.