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Laree here—throughout the website, I'll let you know when it's me, not Dave, writing...
July 19, 2017... Tears Don't Cut It
Ok! It’s summer and you’re not prepared. You meant to be. You even started in April, but overnight it turned into July. Your plan to get in shape got sidetracked, upended and then completely scraped. Don’t despair. They can land a scooter on Mars, you can lose five pounds of fat in a month and gain a pound or two of muscle besides. Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· How long for a workout program
· Too bad for them
· Hit an impasse at age 50
July 19, 2017... Tears Don't Cut It
Ok! It’s summer and you’re not prepared. You meant to be. You even started in April, but overnight it turned into July. Your plan to get in shape got sidetracked, upended and then completely scraped. Don’t despair. They can land a scooter on Mars, you can lose five pounds of fat in a month and gain a pound or two of muscle besides. Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· How long for a workout program
· Too bad for them
· Hit an impasse at age 50
July 12, 2017... Who Doesn't Love a Vacation?
Who doesn’t love a vacation? Head out the door, bags in hand and put it all behind you. No bosses, no responsibilities, no chores, no alarm clock, no time clock -- different faces, different places. Anything but the same-old, same-old; a bad vacation is better than no vacation at all. Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Looking for motivation to change
· Tell us your Christian history
· Overweight, lose weight, gain muscle?
July 5, 2017... I Remember When
I remember when I was kid working out in my wedge of a bedroom shared with two older brothers. I can recall only bits and pieces of my pre-teen iron struggles, causing me to wonder how much I trained at all. Ah, but these patchy images indicate the novelty of exercise was outlived and replaced by enduring hard labor instead. I approached my meager 30-minute bout with the iron like self-imposed detention from which I needed release. Sounds like fun for a 10-year-old; how long is this boyhood infatuation going to last? Continue reading...
June 28, 2017... Now to Get Ripped
I'm thinking, I'm thinking. You should see me. My face is all blotchy and crumpled from the strain. I twitch periodically when a thought is close, otherwise my shoulders are drawn tight by my traps and I'm as rigid as a fire plug. Muscularity for bombers, be they ready or not, that is the subject. ... Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Bulking cycle
· Elbow tendonitis
· Tricks for arm size
June 21, 2017... The Unfolding Picture
What we do, how we play and the foods we eat define our lives. These three practices done well, and a good night’s sleep surely follows; done poorly and it’s nightmares for us.... Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· A dozen favorite exercises
· Muscle Beach icon
· Getting ready for a contest
June 14, 2017... What Might Prevent You From Succeeding?
Sometimes it's a small yet significant goal that keeps us alive and well from morning to evening, day after day. Goals have substance, yet only to the degree that we believe in them and reach for them with all our heart's energy. ... Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· 50 pounds overweight and ready to get started
· Personal training
· Thick-bar training
June 7, 2017... Not Much Has Changed
Here's a challenge for the lifter who knows a muscle burn from an injury, a pump from an inflammation, one-more-rep from the last rep: The next time you cruise the gym (the gym on the corner or the barbell in your basement), allow yourself to go on auto-pilot for an hour...okay, 30 minutes. It's necessary... Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· What could I be doing better?
· Rib Cage Expansion
· Full body workouts with supersets
May 31, 2017... We Carry On
In the '50s every bodybuilder in the world could fit on sunny California's Muscle Beach, with plenty of room to strut. He had 17-inch arms, abs, a tan and a girl in a bikini. She did handstands and cartwheels. He did curls and presses. .. Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· 50-year-old powerlifter
· Lagging progress
· Don’t have the drive to stick to it?
May 24, 2017... Let's Get Started
“I’m a healthy 15-, 20-, 30-year-old and want to lift weights to build strong and functional and nifty muscles. What should I do in the next 30 days?”.. Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Tuna and water diet
· Sergio Oliva
· Need protein advice for 13-year-old son
May 17, 2017... All The Reading on The Web Confuses Me More And More
The following email sorta summarizes the characteristics, nature and interest of most IronOnline readers (give or take age, gender and hat size): "Hi, Dave...I've just turned 65, officially an old man, fit but not muscle-bound. Not overweight. Lots of aches and pains. What would you recommend as far as exercises, sets, reps, weight? All the reading on the web confuses me more and more. I have dumbbells, a bar and a bench. Thanks, JW"... Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Understanding trisets
· Relief for trigger finger
· Decline bench question
May 10, 2017... It's Easy to Grumble
Kicking and screaming, I recently pulled on my size-75 costume. At first the thing was uncomfortable and, I thought, very long and humiliating...certainly not my style. It was baggy in the bottom, tight around the waist and tugged under the arms. Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Young and need a nutrition plan
· Memory of Sharon Tate
· What makes us fat?
May 3, 2017... It's a Jungle Out There
My creed goes something like this: Keep it simple, stick to the basics, train consistently with enthusiasm and intensity, use logic, be creative and intuitive, be confident in your applications, be happy and deal with your misery. Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Pyramiding sets
· Learning to pose
· Brick Darrow and Thorbecke’s Gym
April 26, 2017... Springtime in America
These are the days when a gym serves double duty, when gravity gives generously, and when the iron is half as heavy and twice as light. Merely address the weighted gear with gratitude and intent, and before you can count to 10, you’re building muscle and eradicating stress—the dynamic duo. Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Benching at age 54
· Ralph Kroger
· Injured at 18
April 19, 2017... What's the Big Deal?
Seldom did I have to drag myself to the gym unwillingly. Over the years, it wasn’t often I stood before the barbells and dumbbells with drooping shoulders and hesitation. And though I Never felt like Superman, never did I question why I was about to fatigue myself and inflict hard work and pain upon my body. That’s all behind me and has been for a long, long time. No, I rolled out the ole Harley, ran a cloth over the chrome, cracked the pipes and let ’er rip. Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· How did you first get into this?
· Progress is slow
· Summing up Arnold
April 12, 2017... The Titles Came and Went
I remember the first day I lifted weights like it was just 60 years ago. The mad pursuit emerged from an active kid who loved to climb trees and jump from their heights. I had a favorite limb from which I chinned, on a favorite tree I called the Monkey Tree. It was my original and personal gym that served me and me alone for years. Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Results not fast enough
· Blond Bomber?
· Diet plan moving into age 40
April 5, 2017... Pick Up The Pieces
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...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Wear out or rust out?
· Lose weight with stairclimbing
· Motorcycle accident
March 29, 2017... Huge or Ripped, Which Will It Be?
Beyond the screen and the endless conduits of this miraculous computer hovers a good-sized audience composed of some very cool people. According to my wild guess, a couple thousand of you might be 20 years of age or younger. You look through eyes that have seen much, but not for very long, and I’m a wee bit jealous. Most of you, I suspect, are fascinated by the current crop of muscle builders, as one is with -- say -- the Himalayas, space walks, cyclones and sacks of money. You look, but not for long: They’re huge, extraordinary, out of control and unbelievable.....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Instinctive, freeflow training
· Charlie Hodge and being on tour with Elvis
· Precontest carbing up
March 22, 2017... It's All About Youth
Here's a recent email question that will gain the attention of the young and wingless daredevils: Bomber, if you were 18 years old, five-foot-ten, medium build, 165 pounds and weight training for a year in an average sort of way and wanted to get bigger and better and smarter, what would you do... besides joining the Army?
Easy answer, tough pursuit. I'm reluctant to reply because average-sort-of-way training just won't do, and I don't want to waste his time or mine. Magnanimous muscleman I am, though, I'll give it a go, Joe. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· 50 pounds to lose
· Arnold vs Sergio
· A regular tuna and water thing
March 15, 2017... The Iron and Steel Toolbox
What can we expect to compromise and when? What should we do now in preparation for later? What to eat, how to train, how much, how often? What about supplements and special foods? What's the word on skin tone, muscle density, strength and endurance? ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Torture vs training
· On stage with Sergio Oliva
· Eating only once a day
March 8, 2017... Each rep is a charge, every set a blast
Squats during lunch hour sound like an adventure. Go heavy, with the thrust of a freighter. Make those plates clatter and clang. Dump the bar in the rack with a crash. No sweat. Wrap up the routine with leg curls and extensions and calves and be out the door and down the stairs before the echo of metal grows faint. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Torture vs training
· On stage with Sergio Oliva
· Eating only once a day
March 1, 2017... We Are in This Together
The gym, always a refuge, becomes a special place in the winter. It's good to mingle, hear our voice among other voices and bear the struggle of unkind and peculiar weather with like creatures -- friends, indeed. Between sets we peer at the rain and, if a door is open, inhale the fresh wet air. Very nice. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Arm shot and Zabo question
· Night shifts and bodybuilding
· Santa Monica, Parks, Scott and Sheffield
February 22, 2017... That Rare Breed Is You
Compromise, sacrifice, long suffering and discomfort, no one said the task was easy and no one knows but the one who performs it. The groundwork begins in the mind, is effected in the body, transferred to the gym floor and finally to the iron, where it is consummated by the fortitude, courage and heart of the pursuer. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Arm shot and Zabo question
· Night shifts and bodybuilding
· Santa Monica, Parks, Scott and Sheffield
February 15, 2017... Overflowing Questions
Of course, the darnedest thing occurs as we skip and dance through our graciously assigned days: Life happens. To air my point, let’s go to the overflowing Q and A mail bag, grab a handful of letters and see what the rest of the bombers are up to this time of year. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Which bar for curls?
· Working bodyparts once a week
· Preacher curls
February 7, 2017... Start with the Edges
Here we go again, bombers, another strategic battle (nuclear war, more like) to recall, invent, uncover, stumble upon, scrounge up, gather together, falsify or otherwise concoct anything that resembles incentive to go to the gym. Ugh! Can't we just stare? Play dead? Hang by our thumbs? Take poison? ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Bodybuilding magazine workouts
· Become your own training partner
· Congestive heart failure
February 1, 2017... We’re Making It Up as We Go Along
Remember our agreement: I take care of you and you take care of me. We have places to go and things to do and we want to do them right. And to do them right we need the right stuff: energy and endurance for starters; strength and courage are a big help, and intelligence and commonsense are particularly welcome. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Can’t get going
· Uncrowned Mr. Olympia
· Wide dumbbell flys
January 25, 2017... It’s in The Delivery and The Deliverer
The iron is cold and lifeless and dumb, and, though there are people we know matching the same description, mankind is warm and alive and intelligent. Put the two together and, meeting the essential criteria, they become one: one pushes, the other pulls; one hoists, the other yields; one acts, the other reacts. Simpatico. Apart, neither is......Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Invisible training partner
· Trap bar
· Travels with Elvis
January 18, 2017... We're Not Average
Here it is mid-winter, the third week of January. The days are getting longer, if that’s any consolation, and the drug store in our neighborhood has Valentine cards on display. Spring is in the air (today but not tomorrow) and maybe that’s a robin redbreast poking around in that barren field over there, and not really a crumpled ball of paper tumbling in the wind. Maybe you’ll get a pump in the gym this afternoon and the stiffness in your joints will disappear as the temperatures soar into the 40s and the sun briefly glances your way.......Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Delts won’t grow
· Dan Lurie
· Meal planning
January 11, 2017... Progress is around the corner
We're the same way about our training -- wishful, eager, expectant. We train, look and wonder. We work out in the morning and probe for improvements in the evening. Nothing there. We do it again the next day and grope again the next night. Nothin' nowhere. AM we push the iron, PM we explore the barren unknown. Nada! ......Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Low carb diet and muscle building
· Gene Shuey
· Need to lose weight due to high blood pressure
January 4, 2017... Over The Hill
As long as we have a pulse or twitch in the eye, we go to the mound of metal to rattle loose parts and dust the rust. The range of exercises we can, need or desire to perform is considerable, though they are appropriately altered to suit our ongoing needs.. ......Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Johnny Carson & the Tonight Show
· Healthy diet in a dorm
· Question about biceps growth
December 28, 2016... The Old, The New
2016, another year confirms the time-honored observation: No matter how bad we feel, how bad it gets, after going to the gym we always feel better. On crutches, in a cast, head aching, nose bleeding, discouraged, near defeat, without a plan, stubborn, angry or broken-hearted, the gym nurtures, restores and repairs. ......Continue reading...
December 21, 2016... May Your Adventure Be Rich
As an elaborate gesture of my Christmas Season givingness, I agreed to answer some muscle and fitness questions that have puzzled our online companions for a long, long time. I'll keep it short as we all have merry and jolly and holy things to do......Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Farmer walks
· Gironda
· Fat burners
December 14, 2016... December Limbo
Okay, so much for the warm and fuzzy happy holiday stuff. Pull up a bench or piece of the floor and let’s get down to business. Anyone have a question?.....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Forearm training
· Clothing choices at age 74
· Want to return home in better shape
December 7, 2016... December Gets Crazy
Easy does it. We don't want to hasten this month, the last of the year. December tends to be crazy, more like two or three months in one: the month following Halloween and Thanksgiving, the month winter descends, the last month of the old year, the month before the New Year, the month bearing Christmas and all the shopping and decorations, praise and celebration, and, finally, there's Auld Lang Syne, parties and New Year's resolutions. .......Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Morning training before eating
· Garage training is hard
· Changing a training routine
November 30, 2016... Crime Stoppers Holiday Note
Crime Stoppers Holiday Note: Blues and bulging b 'n b are intimately connected, a sort of love-hate relationship. Beware of conspiratorial activities: neglected workouts and overindulgence, sparse exercise and dense eating, or under-training and over-stuffing.......Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· No longer have the drive to train
· Farmer’s walks
· How to get back into it
November 9, 2016... It's Out of Our Control
Tomorrow let's all go to the gym to rough house and cause trouble, and put this election behind us however we can. Rumbling pickup, speeding traffic, changing lanes like cards in high-stakes poker; then pulleys, plates, benches, dumbbells and bars -- clank, clank, thud, hiss, moan, groan......Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Lost 135 pounds, need help with excess skin
· Why preference of dumbbells over barbells?
· Need help with back development
November 2, 2016... A Handle for Every Mood
It's not the weight we handle, it's the action and focus and attitude we apply. Well-oiled pulleys work best: no inefficient, distracting plate dragging.....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· How much should I be eating?
· What was the greatest moment in your bodybuilding career?
· Training for the military
October 26, 2016... Behind the Smile
Muscle and Fitness, a colorful and energetic riot of musclemen and musclebuilding information, isn't a recent publication that gained popularity overnight. It has gone by a variety of names over half a century and was reared by a guy named Joe Weider. Joe, dubbed the Trainer of Champions, dragged it from the ink-smeared pages of a manual printing press in his grandma's Montreal apartment and gave it dramatic life based upon his vision of muscle and might.
I was one of the characters who played a role in his elaborate vision, a Mr. America and Mr. Universe in the dream he presented to the world. Appearing on the scene in the early '60s, I filled the pages of his magazines, adorned their covers and, through inspiring pictures on California beaches, conveyed stories of delight, promise and hope to the young and young at heart....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Ray Raridon
· When did you become a Christian?
· Does NO2 work?
October 19, 2016... Trial and Error
Curious thing: I never think of my workouts as wars or battles or fights. Those activities and actions concern drugs, crimes, gangs and terrorism. They are a struggle, that is certain, and a challenge of course, though I don't like the lattermost terminology because it is so contemporary intellectual -- PC for relentless, brutal, blood-thirsty combat.....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Frustrated, need an arm routine
· Taking a winter layoff
· Elbow pain
October 12, 2016... Your Vacation Is Unfolding
Who doesn’t love a vacation? Head out the door, bags in hand and put everything behind you. No boss, no responsibilities, no chores, no alarm clock, no time clock—different faces, different places. Anything but the same-old, same-old; a bad vacation is better than no vacation at all. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Drugs from high school to pros
· Weights feel different sometimes
· Being on the Beverly Hillbillies
October 5, 2016... Masters in Disguise
It's not punishment I seek, nor do I find pleasure in pain. Victory is my goal and as I've long noted, the mean approach to the steel works best. In fact it's the only approach I know or have ever engaged. Enter chamber, bomb, burn and blast, exit chamber. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Supersetting ideas
· Stats on lowering risk of injury
· Get big faster
September 28, 2016... The Relationship between Iron and Man
One time I went to the gym Sunday early afternoon -- one PM -- and it was as empty as a bank vault after closing. The treasure was there, but no one to plunder it. I felt like a thief about to stuff his bag with bounty: any exercise I want, as many sets and as many reps -- squats, supersets, dumbbells, benches and cables. It's mine, all mine. I'm rich.....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Aging, losing ground here
· Leg development and back thickness
· Hot in Afghanistan
September 21, 2016... I Exaggerate
Crazy! There was a time sixty years ago I had nothing I'd rather do than go to the gym. Fifty years ago contests were coming up...off to the gym. Forty years ago I ran the juice bar in the gym. Thirty years ago I owned the gym. Twenty years ago the gym owned me. Fifteen years ago I morphed into the Bomber writing tales about the gym. Boom-Zoom.....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Do I need a different approach?
· Born in 1961
· Bomber Blend protein question
September 14, 2016... It's The Best Defense
I take a jab at the aging thing because it's the best defense I have to prevent it from sneaking up on me. Some of you understand my position, some of you will soon, and some of you have forgotten or are trying to forget. From time to time I poke the senseless bully in the snot-locker to let you know I know he knows we know.....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Just home from the hospital
· Elbow tendonitis
· Thick handles for benching
September 7, 2016... Never Relinquish Your Grasp
Enough of that, no time to lose, here’s where the action begins, the friendly and cooperative iron confrontation. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Chuck Sipes
· Have to get rid of this pot belly
· Dungeon training partner
August 31, 2016... What A Stark Contrast
I remember when weights were seventeen cents a pound, I grew like a weed and muscle aches were some sort of mystery my parents grumbled about. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Looking for a back routine
· Talks with Vince Gironda
· Can I build bigger calves?
August 24, 2016... The Inquiry Is Universal
My duty as motivator is to remind you, encourage you, persuade, stimulate or threaten you to revive your goals and enthusiastically attend them....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Looking for a back routine
· Talks with Vince Gironda
· Can I build bigger calves?
August 17, 2016... A Few Basic Training Principles Are in Order
It seems there are more untested, runway-bound bombers wandering our pages, reading the newsletter, lurking the forum and sending email messages than you can rattle a plate at. To many, designing a routine is rocket science, implementing one is like crossing the Alps on a goat.....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Using a belt for squats
· Ralph Kroger
· Collection of articles in a book
August 10, 2016... At the Gym Door Looking for Sanity
A good gym is a way-station, a refuge, a place of your own to lick your wounds or prepare you for the good race tomorrow. The field, the track, your garage or the gym is where you cleanse, restructure, restore inside and out -- no miracles, no magic, no kidding. You forgive, you forget, you remove the thorns, you ease the pain, you count your blessings like reps and sets. You become reunited with yourself as a friend who's worthy, and those around you know you better and enjoy you more. Life is good for a long time. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· 6-8 week layoff
· Shoulders and benching
· Sharon Tate
August 3, 2016... You’ve Got to Chomp on That Iron
Nothing builds muscle and strength better than basic barbells and dumbbells and benches plus a handy milk crate, a few blocks of wood and some bars for dips and chins. Add desire, enthusiasm and improvisation, and you're in the bodybuilding business…make that bodybuilding heaven......Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
July 27, 2016... What I Told Him, Part Two
This is Part Two of the 2004 Bodybuilding.com interview......Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
July 20, 2016... What I Told Him
From an old Bodybuilding.com interview (2004), here’s something Laree dredged up and thought you might want to see. The interviewer was David Robson. It’s a bit long, but brevity can sound terse, leave things unsaid and offer no entertainment. Truth is, I talk too much when I write. And away we go.......Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
July 13, 2016... Remembering That One Day
I'm not the type to smile broadly and offer assistance. I've practiced that routine in the past and received a frosty reception, total rejection or abysmal defeat. I tried my best. I recall the gals looking at me like I was a creep (Hey, babe, you train here often?) or the guys ignoring me like I was a jerk (Hey, fathead, you're doing that exercise wrong!). Kids, I could tell, wanted to be left alone (Hey, runt, if you're going to lift weights, do it in the corner). ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
July 6, 2016... I Can't Help But Notice
One comes to know one's self as few individuals do when battling the odds, an awesome achievement to complement life. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
June 29, 2016... You're in a Slump?
It's not one thing in particular that knocks you out of whack; it's an accumulation of things. The world is falling apart at the seams. Your immediate surroundings are maddening -- traffic, weather, leaky roof, potholes, bills, the sameness of things. And the gym is not the answer as it should be, but is part of the problem -- the weights are heavy, the joints ache, there's no pump; the sweatpants are tight in the waist, t-shirt is baggy in the shoulders…lousy attitude and lousy mirrors. . ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
June 22, 2016... Imagine That
The Dungeon, the creepy basement of a very old hotel, contained the equipment that once withstood and delighted in the sun and salt air of the famous Muscle Beach four blocks west on the Pacific’s edge. It was a dark and dreary subterranean reminder of dazzling and wonderful years gone by. You’d think something beautiful and bountiful was struck down and punished for its audacious freshness and strength. In ’63, the gym was five years old. ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
June 15, 2016... Nothing Much Has Changed
But first let's pause. Take a moment. Dare to look yourself in the mirror without judgment, ridicule or unseemly pride. Now, take a deep breath and ask yourself, who am I, what am I doing here and what exactly do I want from my training experience? ....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
June 8, 2016... Life's a Bowl of Cherries
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...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
June 1, 2016... I Scanned the Layout
I’ve lived in a small cabin in the woods for so long, entering the social media feels like when I stepped into the Big City with its tall buildings and flashing neon lights, voiceless people in crowds and honking bumper-to-bumper cars. Then there were the alleys and garbage trucks and sirens. I got lost the very first day....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
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· Should I take time off after a contest?
· 19 and can’t gain weight
· Will the Top Squat work for me?
May 25, 2016... These Are The Days
These are the days when the gym serves double duty, when gravity gives generously, and when the iron is half as heavy and twice as light. Merely address the weighted gear with gratitude and intent, and before you can count to ten, you’re building muscle and eradicating stress—the dynamic duo....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
May 18, 2016... Trash Disposal Technician
Between ’70 and ’80 I hoisted the steel no less than four days a week. Whatever else I neglected during that notorious decade, working out was not one of them. Iron and protein in sufficiency accompanied me wherever I dared to go. Nothing fancy: curls and presses, tuna and water and a hunk of beef...Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
May 11, 2016... Time Races On
I would no longer share a workout with someone as I would share my Lamborghini or my Legos. Over the years I've become selfish with my toys and playtime. I like to do what I want to do, when I want to do it and I need to be first, last and always. .Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
May 4, 2016... A Story to Tell
Each of us has a story to tell, whether we’re fourteen or forty, eighteen or eighty. Many are complicated and not one is simple. Some are packed, not one is empty. Every one is worth telling, but few are heard. Our stories are our own. .Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
April 27, 2016... There are Times
The first sign of negativity in my world and I go to the gym. .Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
April 20, 2016... Call Us Crazy
The good stuff is so good and enduring it that outweighs, overcomes and outshines the bad. A grin is the best life will offer us this day; a broad smile will surely come later. Today we must lift the iron and respect the steel and recognize our cause, our inalienable right to build muscle and might. .....Continue reading...
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April 13, 2016... Bombs Away
Hayward is a city fifty miles northeast of Santa Cruz and the home of Protein Research Labs, the manufacturer of Bomber Blend. I make a trip to the lab every month to pick up a supply of the precious powder. My friends and I dare not run out and risk muscular denial, depression and scurvy. My last run was early Thursday afternoon, sweet timing to beat the mean freeway traffic......Continue reading...
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April 6, 2016... Sounds of Spring
April has a nice ring to it, a sweet sound, chimes in a faint breeze. Girls named April are automatically cute -- cover girls, centerfolds and starlets. Warm showers from blue skies come to mind, songbirds and spring flowers, shorts and T-shirts, long days and a convertible with the top down.....Continue reading...
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March 30, 2016... We Blast to Last
The ultimate purpose of IronOnline is to get you to the gym any way you can, with courage and enthusiasm or with your gym bag dragging behind like a millstone (or a worn, fuzzy blankie). Getting to the gym regularly, unfailingly and purposefully is the hardest part of the workout. Once there, the rest is like snatching candy from a three-year-old... gorilla, that is....Continue reading...
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March 23, 2016... The Call from the Tower
Short and frisky workouts can be delightful if you'll allow yourself the treat (my workouts are seldom what one would call treats). The all-or-nothing attitude is admirable, but can prevent you from entering the gym until the seas have calmed, and heaven knows when that may be. Sometimes it's late summer before you get the ole' tub afloat and—glub, glub—on its way. ...Continue reading...
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· Do I need another weight training book?
· 345 pounds and need to lose weight
· Comparing gyms then and now
March 16, 2016... The Reps Are Calculated
The older I get, the less I fret and the less I hurry. I don't know if this is a motor condition or wisdom or laziness, but I appreciate and respond to slower and more deliberate movement -- in daily life, between training sets and within each set and rep. This in no way suggests I'm slowing down. Slowing down causes me to lose air under my wings, and I stall, glide, hover, putt-putter and regain airspeed only to stall again and land in a field far from home. ...Continue reading...
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March 9, 2016... There Comes a Time
I was talking to a 20-year-old who has all the earmarks of a here-today, gone-tomorrow musclebuilder -- sleeves rolled up on pipe-stem arms, permanently flexed lats and loads up the bench press, moving it with a huge arch, bounce, groan and assistance from two weary spotters. He swaggers. He plans to build his body through the spring and keep it forever, like a hotrod or a show car. Lots of chrome, polish and flash. No zoom....Continue reading...
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March 2, 2016... Take Five on Me
It’s been a crazy week. I was just thumbing through the archives looking for topic ideas and instead grabbed a fistful of classic “questions and answers” collected over the months that make for easy reading and writing. We both need a break. So sit back, put your feet up and take five on me.....Continue reading...
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February 24,2016... What Was It Like in the Golden Era?
It was in the shadows of the Muscle Beach Dungeon’s spare lighting that I learned all I know about building muscle and power. There the seed I brought from the streets of Jersey in ’63 took root, grew deep and bore a decent yield. I won Mr. America and Mr. Universe.....Continue reading...
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February 17,2016... No Predicament to Resolve
In so much as this is a predicament we all share, brothers and sisters in iron, let us be tough and face the facts. It's that upfront spirit that separates us from the ordinary, complacent and idle. Muscle- and power-building are not easy endeavors sought by the faint of heart. Though rudimentary objectives, they are tough to achieve -- maddening is more to the point. Only hard work and perseverance accomplish the deeds....Continue reading...
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February 10,2016... Training for the Over-40 Gang, Part Two
A strong visage often comes from the look of confidence that accompanies training and the qualities one acquires through the training process. Strength, the courage to gain it and the humility of knowing someone around the corner is stronger and bigger exudes a powerful glow of its own...Continue reading...
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February 3,2016... Training for the Over-40 Gang, Part One
Yes, bombers, somehow the secret got out: I’m over 40. But that doesn’t mean I’ve had it, I’m over the hill, all washed up, finished, kaput or a mere silver sliver of the Blond Bomber I once was. With the aid of a cane and an assistant, I’m able to get about the gym for a hefty workout. I love those big rubber balls....Continue reading...
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January 27,2016... That Training Stagnation
Training stagnation is more than the cessation of musclebuilding action or progress; it’s a subtle festering accumulated over time that clings, corrupts and breeds toxins. ...Continue reading...
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January 20,2016... That Rare Breed Is You
And the time and place you spend before entering the gym, be it on Main Street or in the garage, are rare as well. As the gym is a refuge and an area for productive work, so is the mind in preparation of a solid, bold and mighty workout. A powerful workout is established in one’s head before entering the inner sanctum of the gyms walls....Continue reading...
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January 13,2016... Look Forward and Don’t Stumble
Every good thing, it seems, is accompanied by resistance, and the greater the thing, the greater the resistance. This fact of life we know better than ever, as we practice it day by day in the gym. Training does that. That’s why we call it training. ...Continue reading...
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January 6,2016... Hesitation is Doubt
Big plans or no plans, we cannot ignore the first month of the year, as if it were a pause for contemplation or a moment to reflect. Jump right in; be strong and courageous, hopeful and alert. Hesitation is behind us, bombers. Hesitation is doubt; doubt is absence of trust, and where no trust exists there is fear. Fear paralyzes. ...Continue reading...
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December 30, 2015... How Do We Keep Them Going Next Year?
The trick, the challenge and key, is to gain the person’s full attention, curiosity, fascination and confidence. As long-time trainers, we want to introduce people to the benefits, simplicity and joy of exercise. With just the right amount of conviction and energy, they are convinced that exercise is absolutely necessary and positively works. ...Continue reading...
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December 15, 2015... We’re up to Our Ears
We may be up to our ears, bombers, but we're not buried. Not yet. That's what the final two weeks of the year are for -- incontrovertible, indisputable, undeniable burial. Last-minute shopping, more wrapping, the office party, Christmas Eve here and Christmas Day there, the old year and the New Year and a candlelight vigil... all amid hard training, plenty of rest and right eating. Yeah, right!.....Continue reading...
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December 9, 2015... The Holiday Foothills, Redux
It starts. You go to a small party... big deal! And eat a little more than usual...so? And drink a little. Eh!.....Continue reading...
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December 2, 2015... Memories of Leroy Colbert
We got word of Leroy Colbert’s passing last night. He died in Henderson, Nevada at age 82. I’ve collected some of Dave’s thoughts about him over the past 15 years so you can enjoy some sweet reminiscing. You just know he’s going to send you off to some arm training in a cold warehouse at the edge of town. .....Continue reading...
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November 18, 2015... Entering the Holiday Season
The Season is upon us, dear friends. Peace and glad tidings. Have fun and enjoy. Part of me wants to dig in and celebrate and part of me, resenting the noise and exploitation, wants to run and hide. In the nick of time, however, a spot near my heart gleans enough warmth and laughter to accompany me into the New Year. I’m simple in my complexity.....Continue reading...
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November 11, 2015... The Weights Remain the Same
When I was a young man, I did what young men do. I tore into the gym, greeted the iron with a nod and a tug and proceeded to kick it, beat it, bite it and heave it across the floor. It was a fierce encounter, a gory scene, a rowdy confrontation, a bloody mess....Continue reading...
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November 4, 2015... Bombers Are Made for Flying
One day a week at the gym and under the iron is not worth much. If you've trained before it will keep you in touch and prevent a nasty training gap from becoming an abyss, and, thus, surely save your bottom. It can also be a fun and fulfilling blast of time, but as far as building real muscle -- forget it.....Continue reading...
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October 28, 2015... Where Ya Been Lately?
Wait! Before you hit the delete key, we need to talk. Where have you been lately? You're not at the gym, we haven't seen you at the health food store and it's reported you no longer jog around the park. Going through your garbage, we found crushed pizza boxes, empty beer cans (you should recycle), Big Gulp containers and Twinkie wrappers....Continue reading...
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October 21, 2015... Attitudes Are Adjustable
This week we had our first visit of winter weather -- that is, grouchy mornings, grim skies, cranky temperatures, terse afternoons and nasty night falls. It wasn't long before I noticed I was grouchy, cranky, grim, terse and nasty and wearing a winter face. Driving to the gym was a treat. I did not want to go; I was stiff, I was listless, uninspired and truculent, but I wasn't about to skip my cheery workouts....Continue reading...
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October 14, 2015... I’d Rather Have Iron Than Silver or Gold
Day by day, information bombards us from every direction. Thousands of bits of odd-shaped thoughts, facts, figures and ideas collide randomly in our reposed minds. A fair portion of this mental detritus is sought by us to educate and guide; much too much, however, is aimed at the cortex by an alien to sell, persuade, condition and tame. It’s a jungle out there and one needs a machete, a strong arm and a sharp eye to cut through the overgrowth to make clear a path.....Continue reading...
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October 7, 2015... A Real Gym Does That to a Person
Being a mature musclebuilder, I can chew gum and lift weights at the same time (I admittedly must be ever vigilant, however, lest I chip a tooth on a five-pound plate). This heady advantage allows me to observe my surroundings, the people and equipment hard at work (or not) to my left and right. I observe and I wonder, neither of which is a mindless daydream or a glazed gaze. They’re unusually stimulating acts of the mind and soul, which no doubt raise my metabolism much the same as mild aerobics. I wonder intensely..
....Continue reading...
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September 30, 2015... The Triple Ds
As the sky turned from blue to gray and the temperature went from 100 to 60, things started to feel a little dismal around here. I enjoy the cozy winter months, but it’s still unsettling, and brings up this week’s subjects of study: discouragement and disappointment. No, I’m not kidding and you can’t leave, the doors are bolted from the outside.
....Continue reading...
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September 23, 2015... The Don't Make Waves Interview, Part Two
Continuing on with the section specifically on the movie Don’t Make Waves....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
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· Can’t gain weight
· Bill Starr protein drink suggestion
· How do you keep your mind in the iron game?
September 16, 2015... The Don't Make Waves Interview, Part One
More from my attempt at ferreting the old history: here’s another interview to add to your folder of the Draper saga. This is part one of two....Continue reading...
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September 9, 2015... Today's Ordinary Humans
If man could be taught to perform a few tricks, as can dogs and elephants, he wouldn't be such a mess. Sit, stay, roll over... crush small house, uproot tree....Continue reading...
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September 2, 2015... Planning a Weight Gain Program
Say I’m sitting in the gym minding my own business and a guy comes over and asks what I’d do if I wanted to gain some bodyweight, say 10 pounds over the next month. The inquiry is an easy one. He’s 40, healthy, knows how to lift, has the discipline and the time and 200 has been his goal for years....Continue reading...
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August 26, 2015... Those Mysterious Companions
I’m never entirely alone. I always have a companion to my right or left or a step or two behind or before me -- another self who watches, directs or makes running comments on my behavior. Give me a break. The latter character is the one with whom I have the most difficulty...Continue reading...
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August 19, 2015... We Learn and Move On
Training with doubt is training imprisonment. With every set and rep, you question what good it will do, where it will take you and what it will produce. No clear image emerges as you sit in your solitary confinement. You apply effort with restraint as suspicion confines you. You work out in shackles; your spirits are bound. Training passion and workout joy are stifled, strangled by uncertainty and reserve.....Continue reading...
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August 12, 2015... It’s Just a Slump
It’s not one thing in particular that knocks you out of whack; it’s an accumulation of things. The world is falling apart at the seams. Your immediate surroundings are maddening -- traffic, weather, leaky roof, potholes, bills, the sameness of things....Continue reading...
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August 5, 2015... The Six Points
As I write these meandering articles, I might miss the training topics vital to you, but at least -- here comes a laughable presumption -- I stir up your thoughts. In hopes of being more specific, let’s begin our brief time together from another angle: What is it about your training that bothers you the most? ...Continue reading...
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July 29, 2015... Don't Rush the Days
Tuesday’s are better ’cuz Monday is over. You made it unscathed and had a decent workout to top it off. The latter, insignificant to your colleagues, is the thing that matters most. Without the workout, Mondays wouldn’t have a chance. You’d remain in bed curled up in a ball until the day was gone. ...Continue reading...
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July 22, 2015... Silence or Rock 'n Roll
Does your workout seep into your work day, or does your work day seep into your workout? Do you succumb to the follies of life, or do they become dust under your strong, lengthy strides? Are you hampered by momentary intrusions, halted by daily obstacles or propelled by the power of a vigorous spirit, mind and body?...Continue reading...
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July 15, 2015... You Are Not Alone
Training without a well-directed and positive mind is like training without barbells and dumbbells. Training without enthusiasm is like training without cables, benches and racks. You don’t have to love the dedicated work before you, but you’ve gotta want it and need it; you’ve gotta believe it and trust it....Continue reading...
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July 8, 2015... Let's Get Started
If you’re new at this and you train at home with limited equipment, here’s some advice from a former and occasionally current garagehead. Everything about weight training applies to you except the range of exercises. You, with the right attitude and plan, can reach an exciting level of fitness, no doubt about it. You can build bigger, stronger muscles; you can trim down an overweight body and can shape it with intention. It just takes time, persistence and a keen personal agreement to do it.....Continue reading...
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July 1, 2015... The OnFitness Interview, Part Two
This is Part Two of the OnFitness intervew we started last week....Continue reading...
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June 24, 2015... The OnFitness Interview, Part One
Laree dug up another interview she said you haven't seen and might like. It's a long one...we'll do this in two parts. Here's Part One....Continue reading...
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June 17, 2015... Make It Good
Today I listened to someone complain about the slow progress he's making after three years in the gym. He's in his early 20s, average height and average weight, all his fingers and all his toes. He's struggling to reach 200 solid pounds, and every workout seems to be another step away from reaching it. He's so frustrated, envious of others, sick and tired of his routine and depressed about those ever-retreating goals that he's willing, almost, to sell his soul...Continue reading...
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June 10, 2015... Here's What I Would Do
I’m sitting in the gym minding my own business and a guy comes over and asks what I’d do if I wanted to gain some bodyweight, say 10 pounds over the next month. The inquiry is an easy one. He’s 40, healthy, knows how to lift, has the discipline and the time and 200 has been his goal for years. ..Continue reading...
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June 3, 2015... Last Week the Facts, This Week the Factors
The focus required to build muscle and might is of the sort that allows no other thought to penetrate the mind or feeling affect the body except the total involvement of the movement. The lifter who converses -- chats, gabs, gossips -- while lifting is divided. United we stand, bombers, divided we fall....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
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· Grow in time
· Take a run
· Upper abs
May 27, 2015... The Top 20
That’s where we are today: Just the facts, Ma’am. Fiction, guessing, exaggerations, elaborations, misconceptions, lies, tall tales and conjecture will not do. Not anymore, not for you and me, not for bombers. We’re up to our ears in research, hypothesis, trials, analysis, contemplation and consideration. We want the facts, Ma’am, just the facts. Not reports, accounts, chronicles and data. Not anymore, not for you and me.....Continue reading...
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May 20, 2015... Muscles Are Forever
I’ll tell you what I know for sure. And I suspect the chances are good that the subject matter has occurred to you somewhere in the lean and striated recesses of your mind: Does old age commence, and if so, when? Is it as much fun as they say? What would the Bomber do if he were to confront that revolting predicament?.....Continue reading...
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May 13, 2015... The Critical Bench Interview, Part Two
Bodybuilding, weightlifting and powerlifting have many components, and the new participants come in all shapes and sizes. The mistakes made are numerous and various. Off the top of my head let me list the top six mistakes I see in the beginner’s section.....Continue reading...
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May 6, 2015... The Critical Bench Interview, Part One
The real deal is in the training, the struggle, the perseverance, the self control and the determination. The champion will rise up from these qualities....Continue reading...
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April 29, 2015... Get Yourself Going
The days of the week have different moods and personalities. Tuesday and the tie is loose, the collar unbuttoned and the hair is slightly out of place. The tie and jacket hang over a chair back on Wednesday, the sleeves are rolled up and the hair has been roughly combed a hundred times with spread fingers. He's smiling on Thursday morning and, as he leaves the house, the suit coat is slung over his shoulder like an old friend. His free hand is in his pant pocket, jiggling loose change, and there's a bounce in his step. Good morning, world. The jacket's in a heap ready for the cleaner and a sport shirt is tucked in a pair of casual slacks, and Friday, the last day of the workweek, is embraced like a long lost friend. Long time, no see... let's boogie.....Continue reading...
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April 22, 2015... Getting Started in a Gym
This is exercise? Is this what I've got to do to get in shape? I'm huffing and puffing... I'm condemned and I signed up for a year. I want a Popsicle. Whoa... easy does it... relax. Don't lose your cool in front of all these neat people. That's better... we're in this for the long haul. You and me, buddy. Ain't nobody gonna shut us down. I'm talking to myself. Oh, great. There are two of us. Anybody else want to join the nutso party?....Continue reading...
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April 15, 2015... Something's Gotta Give
One of the foremost problems among the recipients of the IronOnline newsletter is finding the time to work out while having the demands of life precariously balanced on their shoulders. A writer from Down Under, who finds the information and discussions we share “living inspiration,” genuinely exclaims that he has no time to train between parenting, work and study. “How do others fit workouts into their schedules?” he asks. ....Continue reading...
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April 8, 2015... Mass Building Workouts
When I think about my mass-building workouts and reflect on the changes I’d make while applying the experience and knowledge I’ve gained over the nutty years gone by, two things stand out. First of all, it doesn’t seem like such a very long time, even if it is 50 years, the lifetime of a man or woman whose concern of aging is nibbling at their heels. .....Continue reading...
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April 1, 2015... Back to the '60s Again
We meet again in the middle of an interview reprint, which Laree feels confident you haven’t seen, and because it’s nice to take a break from all the meanderings of “Draper here…” .....Continue reading...
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· Training Philosophy 101, from an old coot from the old school
· Young trainee with a question about protein powder
· Afraid to go to the gym
March 25, 2015... Out of Sight Musclebuilding
The early ’60s were a mild time in bodybuilding. I trained hard in the Dungeon and worked regularly for Weider in his pint-sized office and shipping department. I had a young wife and daughter, no dough, lots of promise and promises and was busy with daily survival. There was some TV, a few side jobs to pay the bills and I had some friends in both Vince’s gym and the Dungeon. We had lifting in common, it was the bond, but we didn’t talk about training or nutrition or muscles -- shop talk -- when we hung out and played and explored.....Continue reading...
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March 18, 2015... The Underlying Dilemma
One guy wants to gain weight -- muscle, of course -- and another wants to lose weight -- fat, of course. A third wants to get stronger and harder at her current bodyweight. Can you see the predicament? . ....Continue reading...
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· Need a new training program
· Weight gain on a tight schedule
· Can I train sporadically through the day?
March 11, 2015... Travel with the Best
As promised, Laree was searching under some rocks for older interviews you probably didn’t see, and came up with this bit. She thinks you’ll like it, so here goes: You toured with Elvis Presley and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Describe, if you will, your experiences of touring with these iconic figures. ....Continue reading...
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March 4, 2015... Behind the Smile
I was one of the characters who played a role in his elaborate vision, a Mr. America and Mr. Universe in the dream he presented to the world. Appearing on the scene in the early '60s, I filled the pages of his magazines, adorned their covers and, through inspiring pictures on California beaches, conveyed stories of delight, promise and hope to the young and young at heart....Continue reading...
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February 25, 2015... Early One Morning
Funny thing, I don’t ever recall questioning why I was bound for the gym. Never was there room for a wedge to be placed that might separate me from my workout. No mission to accomplish drove me onward, no definitive goal, no exact target, no tangible end result. Weight lifting and building muscle and strength largely and simply defined my life. I worked, worked out, struggled to pay my bills, slept and ate, laughed and cried. I was still a child of the east coast and there ain’t nuttin’ wrong with that. Room to grow....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
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· How do you keep yourself encouraged?
· Hyperextensions at home for back pain
· Training with high blood pressure
February 18, 2015... Strengthening the Back
The lower back needs to be looked upon as an investment in your future. We all agree that our muscle building, heart, lungs and flexibility in general are on that list, but the lower back bears the big load as we pursue the others. Be prepared to attend the area with special focus and deliberation... and patience......Continue reading...
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· How big should my snacks be?
· Do you do pressing on separate days?
· What are your favorite foods?
February 11, 2015... Hysterical Historical, Part Two
Moving right along, here’s Part Two.....Continue reading...
Latest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
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· Curious about your furniture work
· Arms aren’t getting much bigger
· Going for a Grandmasters trophy
February 4, 2015... Hysterical Historical, Part One
It’s a compliment to be asked for an interview, and I appreciate the exposure and attention and the thought that someone might be interested in what I have to say. Once in a while, for reasons we’ll never discover, the material doesn’t get published, and that’s what happened with this long bit of rambling. We might as well use it!....Continue reading...
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January 28, 2015... I'm No Rawhide Cowboy
I remember the yoyo as a neat toy when I was a kid, though I quickly became bored with it. I never envied my friends who could make it walk the line, do the deep sleep or travel around the world. Didn’t they have something better to do? My spinner cracked and came apart from high-velocity, ground-zero impact, and the string knotted and frayed from failed loopty-loops. The yoyo, come to think of it, was a real pain in the glutes.....Continue reading...
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January 21, 2015... January is Promising
January is a promising month at most gyms, more folks showing up day by day to restore their neglected fitness. The first visits, or more accurately, encounters, are pensive, tentative and self-conscious. The returnee is mixed with hope, relief and urgency; neglect has been contained and hurry has become its substitute....Continue reading...
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January 14, 2015... If I Push Myself
Sometimes we go to the gym and can train like a horse, strong and energetic. Sometimes we battle with, “Should I rest today or push myself? Why does my elbow joint hurt? Am I getting arthritis? What is the most effective way for me to train?”...Continue reading...
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January 6, 2015... The Old and The New
Well, the old crowd is back on the gym floor. The push is on: The treadmills are rolling; dumbbells are bouncing; sweat is pouring and lungs are bursting. How long will it last? There are surely some swollen people on a free week pass gurgling and sputtering, their faces contorted and sad. What happened, they wonder? They’ve resolutely undertaken a mission and it’s beginning to look bleak. They may join as regulars if the struggle and confrontation doesn’t overwhelm them....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
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· Reserve something, and don’t fall
· Another question about 10×10 training
· Protein supplements for muscle building and repair
December 31, 2014... The First Step
New Year's resolutions come and go like a dotcom business. They're inspired, well intended and often essential, yet they lack substance and they lack endurance. Listed among the top 10 of these New Year resolutions, or probably the top two, is Get In Shape. Everyone resolves to lose those extra pounds, tone the softening muscles and run a mile a day. By this day in January the eager participants either haven't begun, or they've given up and life takes on a pale sameness...Continue reading...
December 17, 2014... Learn From My Mistakes, Part Two
Part Two of the interview from last week...Continue reading...
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December 10, 2014... Learn From My Mistakes, Part One
A dozen years ago I did an interesting interview on a site that’s since gone dark. People liked the interview, and since it’s been an uneventful week with nothing outstanding to write about, let’s have a re-do. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Powerlifting bench shirts
· Layoff after injury
· Biceps to triceps training ratio
December 3, 2014... The Holiday Foothills
We are poised at the foothills. Looming before us are the staggering holiday mountains: Christmas and New Year’s. Though we’ve traversed the Thanksgiving Range with its mighty peaks, the December Ascents remain a consuming and seductive challenge. . Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· The workouts are sweet companions
· Mass building for winter
· Arthritis pain
November 19, 2014... Wrestle That Mad Dog
In the workouts, rest and recuperation are the biggies, as always, only more so these days. And injury does not take second place. Here comes the hard part for the long-time weight trainers and other athletes who have known power, the mighty pump, speed, freedom of movement and range of motion: Invincibility. . Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Winter blues
· Over-the-road Trucker
· Can I build muscle with bands?
November 12, 2014... When the Stick Broke
I’m just a guy from Jersey who likes to work out and happened to win Mr. America and stuff doin’ weight lifting. I started with pushups, chins and dips like scrawny kids do, bummed some weights when I was 12 and messed around with ’em till I was outta high school. Then I joined a YMCA, learned a few tricks, moved to California and learned a few more. I trained regularly, I grew, I ate, trained hard, grew some more, trained harder, ate more protein and sorta got cut. . Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Spreading out the workouts
· How do I build calves?
· Pain and noisy joints
November 5, 2014... Big Arms Over the Years
Someone recently asked me if I supersetted regularly in my early years of training. As I recall I only applied the classic East Coast approach to building muscle and might, a style one may very well call “onslaught Training.” You position yourself roughly before a barbell and with little warning, you pounce on it and beat it to the ground. Breathing heavily, crouching and circling, you grab the dumbbells in a power lock, twist, pummel and as before slam them down without mercy. Always on the move, sweating and cursing, you hold your rusty pig-iron opponent at arm's length before performing an excruciating overhead press, a crushing barbell drop-set and, finally, the backbreaking deadlift. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Taking blood thinners
· Draper workouts at 72
· Building bigger arms
October 29, 2014... Apply Your Savvy
Once you’re duly invested -- conditioned, stable, knowledgeable -- and being the free spirit this hearty pursuit attracts, you are bound to research the various training techniques expounded by the pool of experts in the field. I urge you to experiment and experience. It’s all good, now that you are relatively established and your instincts have been aroused. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Lifting every day
· Weightlifters from a former time
· Masters bodybuilding
October 22, 2014... Unstoppable Forward Motion
Put order in your workouts now. Prepare for the psychology of the winter, its physical limitations, its tastes, noise and demands. Be ready for the altered atmosphere, attitudes and energies around you, at work, at home and at the gym. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Dem bones
· Rep schemes
· What to look for in a gym
Each of the last four Augusts involved a trip to Long Beach to film Gray Cook doing a long Perform Better Summit lecture for DVD. This year he was joined by Dan John, where they talked about developing work capacity, and demonstrated new drills for a packed, standing-room-only lecture hall.
I spent September preparing the video for production, and the resulting DVDs shipped from the replicator yesterday for delivery to the warehouse later this week. I asked Dan to give us some of his thoughts on the new strategies -- here’s a link to Dan John Loaded Carries. You’ll learn something there, I promise.
October 15, 2014... A Gym On Every Corner
This day and most days the only thing of significance I have to offer you is my insistence on persistence. Those who want straight talk about broad-scope weight training and the everyday muscle building menu will look elsewhere. However, simple plus basic does not equal easy. Add the variable of long-term performance compounded by a focused and undying spirit to the above constants, and most folks, the great-unconditioned masses, have a tough problem. Yet it is within the energy of these prime factors that the solution to the problem is discovered; they supply the answer needed for advancement. Continue reading...
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Is CNF fatigue something you’ve heard about but don’t know what it is? Maybe from what your training partner says, you think you have it. Let’s have a quick look at this.
October 8, 2014... A Pause in Training Intensity
I don’t mind if time flies (I like the wind in my hair), provided I’m present and awake. It’s when a day is lost and the week is a thin memory that my hold on living becomes white-knuckled. Where have all those eloquent men and women gone who fussed so and cautioned us that life is short? In an effort to get a sound hold on things -- here and now -- let us discuss grip training for the everyday musclehead.....Continue reading...
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October 1, 2014... A Pause in Training Intensity
Too often we lose our perception when our training slips from entrenched to entombed. One day we’re training hard and with purpose, and another day we wake up and the workouts are in a dark hole -- worse yet, they’ve been there for who knows how long. You’re get buried when you’re not lookin’ -- when you’re just doin.’....Continue reading...
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After last week’s link to the old Draper Biceps article, a reader wrote to ask if I had other similar links. Just so happens I do! Since you might be interested, here’s a page of Draper article transcripts to keep you occupied at least until lunchtime.
September 24, 2014... The Heart of the Matter
Some folks never get it; they and the iron remain separate. There is no affinity, no relationship, no communication, no understanding of, with or for the inert hunky stuff. Instinctive training is not for them. They need order, a defined routine, thoughtful change, prescribed sets and reps, starting and stopping points, occasional handholding and lots of affirmation.....Continue reading...
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There were plenty of Draper columns in the old Weider magazines of the 1960s, but I’m sure you know Dave didn’t actually write them. Most likely Dick Tyler wrote the columns after talking with Dave about a subject, then weaving Dave’s quotes into the articles.
There’s a funny one that begins about the same as they do today: Well here I sit at my typewriter not knowing how to start. Heck, maybe he DID write that one!
September 17, 2014... A Nip in the Air
There was a nip in the air this week reminiscent of early winter weather. Unpleasant deja vu rippled through my system as I imagined it was November and we faced six full months of descending climatic patterns. A spasm of chemical changes erupted and I lost my drive, enthusiasm, sense of humor and pump. My shoulders slumped and my jaw went slack; I broke out in a cold sweat and I ached all over. I know you’re thinking, ‘But I don’t want to bulk up and wear a hooded sweatshirt.’ ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
What do you do when you have a shoulder injury? What about if the first doc you see suggests surgery? Are there other options? Let’s cover those issues now.
September 10, 2014... It’s Not a Battle
Not every workout has to be a knockdown, drag-out battle. I’m all for blasting it and drawing blood, but sometimes it’s just plain good to go to the gym and roll around on your back like a playful dog....Continue reading...
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Next in our discussion of the shoulders, we should probably talk about shoulder impingement and acromion types. Here’s a simplified description of shoulder impingement, and the basics of what to do about it.
September 3, 2014... I'm Thinking of a Time
I always enjoy a phone call from Frank Zane, and yesterday’s call was no different. After 15 minutes of chatter, memories and laughter, I remembered a time we travelled together, another time filled with conversation and laughter… and embarrassment. We nearly give up life and limb to avoid this wrenching exposure of our raw and delicate ego. Also known as humiliation, this cruelest of feelings is one I regularly endure and find extraordinarily educational. Kind of like a training injury, it gets my attention, causes me to focus and guides me on to repair and rehabilitation. ...Continue reading...
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There’s some confusion between the idea of the role of stabilizers as used on an airplane versus a stabilizer for a joint. The stabilizer muscles for the shoulder joint, for example, are not designed to keep a barbell from wobbling. That’s more a function of balance, kinesthetics and proprioception.
The stabilizers are the muscles that help hold the joint together. The glenohumeral shoulder joint is the most mobile and the least stable joint in the body. The structure of the ball and socket isn’t what you might picture; it’s more like a golf ball resting on a tee. The connective tissue of the shoulder joint is aided by the muscles that surround the joint to achieve stability.
Now for the gym rats we get to the important issue: When doing a bench press, the muscles of the rotator cuff work very hard to hold the joint together… and when flattened on the bench it’s working under duress. Let’s talk about this some more, since I know you love to bench.
August 27, 2014... Enjoy, Relax, But Stay Alert
We don’t miss workouts around here. We don’t mutter about overtraining, or pain, or dinky injuries. We push forward, no turning back, no stopping. The foundations upon which we build need our watchful eye around the clock. Allow no gaps, deterioration, neglect or procrastination. Eat, sleep, work, and work out with keen eyes and a knowing grin. ...Continue reading...
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Continuing the section on shoulders, this week we’ll talk about basic shoulder health, winging scapulae and the serratus.
August 20, 2014... Back Story with George Butler
Going back over the years to rummage through my mind can be a musty experience. Not every thought I turn over is a precious and delicate item of nostalgia or a rusting, rugged tool used to forge a splendid future. Dim recollections, they are more like sagging, threadbare spring-popping mattresses and worn-out, tight-legged bellbottoms, often embarrassing, uncomfortable and tiresome. The 70s for me were lusterless and without grand imagination. Not necessarily bad years, they just happened....Continue reading...
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Let’s start the next blog section with an overview of the shoulder and common shoulder problems, and next week we’ll dive into some more serious shoulder issues. Here’s part one on shoulders.
August 13, 2014... Bombing & Blasting Degree
I remember when I was kid working out in my wedge of a bedroom shared with two older brothers. I can recall only bits and pieces of my pre-teen iron struggles, causing me to wonder how much I trained at all. Ah, but these patchy images indicate the novelty of exercise was outlived and replaced by enduring hard labor instead. I approached my meager 30-minute bout with the iron like self-imposed detention from which I needed release. Sounds like fun for a 10-year-old; how long is this boyhood infatuation going to last?...Continue reading...
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People often ask about Dave’s furniture building days, and if we have any pictures of what he built. Well, turns out we did. Here, have a look: Dave Draper Furniture.
Continuing in the barbell row vein, the way Dave does barbell rows is pretty similar to the row Glenn Pendlay teaches. You may not have seen his rowing description, so here’s a simple overview of the two Pendlay Row variations.
August 4, 2014... Next Year is Another Chapter
I peeled back the lids of a can of sardines and a can of tuna, plopped the contents on a plate, grabbed a cold bottle of spring water from the fridge and headed for the deck. Nirvana. I’d feed the beast and bask in the sun while contemplating the art of amassing time, aging as it is commonly referred to in some cultures...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Continuing in the barbell row vein, the way Dave does barbell rows is pretty similar to the row Glenn Pendlay teaches. You may not have seen his rowing description, so here’s a simple overview of the two Pendlay Row variations.
July 30, 2014... We Outlive the Discomfort
I know what the motivations are for me, can guess what they are for you and only suspect they in their variations might coincide along the way. For this musclehead, the workouts have to be done, come rain or come shine. The value of yesterday’s workout and other days gone by depends on today’s; the workout of tomorrow and the days to follow are founded on the ones before them -- in particular, the one upon which I am about to embark. No single training session is more important or less important than the other; they are equally important. They are intertwined, interwoven and interdependent, like words in the sentence of a complete and undefiled thought, a truth.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Last week in the blog we did an overview of Dave’s fav, the barbell row. This week let’s cover form. How do you do a barbell row without hurting your back? Here’s how.
July 23, 2014... I Shoulda Kept My Weights
My head is rocking, the mind is rolling and I don’t know what to say. In the blink of the eye the world has turned upside down. Between exercises, sets and reps, focus and form, it all went sideways. It’s like someone pressed a button, pulled a lever, activated a switch and enacted an order, and everything is wrong. ....Continue reading...
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A few years ago a forum member, Byron Chandler, and I started working on a collection of material with the idea of making a book of all we’d learned in recent years. Our plan was to write this for aging bodybuilders who were getting tired of the full-time aches and pains, since we’d learned how unnecessary that was. (Dave hasn’t learned this one yet.)
The incoming knowledge was too much to handle, and we eventually gave up on the project, but not before we’d collected a pile of material. In no particular order, I’m going to start putting bits and pieces of it in blog posts, and will give you the links as I do.
There are three short pieces on Dave’s fav, the barbell row. Here’s the first.
July 16, 2014... Mid July and Sunless in California
As I leafed through the pages of Sharon’s life -- Recollections was a gift for me from sister Debra -- I came across us, her and me, Malibu and Harry, somewhere in the middle of it all. There we were playing on the beaches of sunny Southern California in Don’t Make Waves.....Continue reading...
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July 9, 2014... This is Short and Dumb
I’m here each week, not to unveil the secret nutritional ingredient, disclose groundbreaking musclebuilding methodologies or unleash surefire techniques for doubling your squat and bench in two weeks. No, no, no! Those little dandies I keep to myself. My weekly presence, along with my signature stretch of incoherent disconnected words, is to remind you, to urge you, to inveigle, nudge, drag, threaten, extort or blackmail you to go to the gym, stand before the iron and do your dance....Continue reading...
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July 2, 2014... Slow Down, You Move Too Fast
It was the end of April (the month I happened to turn 72 for the last time) when I decided I had had enough. I promised that day to grasp each day, every day, in a determined effort to know it completely. My pledge was to marvel at its grandness and appreciate its ordinariness, and thereby sway its direction and rate of travel. It was astonishingly clear: My intense focus would arouse my senses, peak my intellect and engage me more entirely in the moment. ...Continue reading...
June 25, 2014... Moving on with a Swagger Stagger
Cunning as a fox, I simply apply super-squeeze methodology (SSQ), performing as many exercises, sets and reps as possible in the trim yet treacherous time frame. Explicit Prerequisites: Absolute focus, total clarity, immaculate execution, unequivocal purpose, action absent regret and a big smiley face. You can administer CPR or electroshock, introduce smelling salts or inject adrenaline, but you can’t outsmart Super Bomber. He’ll train if it kills him...Continue reading...
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June 18, 2014... Moving on with a Swagger Stagger
I knew I wasn’t alone in my hopeful observations, old age having been around for a long, long time, but never did I imagine the sympathetic and supportive mob that would collect at my remote cyber doorway. ...Continue reading...
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June 11, 2014... Be Strong and Courageous
I was in my mid-60s when the weight of the iron increased notably, becoming ever more resistant to my persuasion. In addition, the price I was obliged to pay per pound rose substantially, leaving my sweatpants bare and baggy and my tank top loose and droopy. Till then there was tough joy in our partnership, but I, in my greediness, demanded more than I could give.....Continue reading...
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People always have questions about the top squat vs the other squat devices. Often they have a specific issue they’re trying to address and don’t know which will work best for them. So… I got Gray Cook to write up a few paragraphs on how the different squat assist devices work in case you’re wondering which one is right for whatever you’re trying to fix.
June 4, 2014... Iron Age Proverbs
Early bombers resorted to jumping off cliffs and peaks to gain air; we have wings and propellers, ailerons, rudders and flaps. Yet, some things never change, bombers: Once a dumbbell, always a dumbbell....Continue reading...
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May 28, 2014... It Must Be Done
Training, the word, stands out like a soldier or a warrior or an athlete in the vocabulary of the ordinary man. A stiff sound when spoken, black and white when written, and heavily shadowed when seen in the mind’s eye, training to the touch is cool but icy cold when left unattended. It warms when it’s acknowledged and becomes white hot as it’s translated into action......Continue reading...
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May 21, 2014... Some of My Best Friends are Dumbbells
Leading the charge in such a pronouncement and contemplating the importance of barbells and dumbbells in my life, I have arranged membership in a second gym, each a back-up to the other, should a catastrophe occur......Continue reading...
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May 14, 2014... Connecting the Dots, Filling in the Blanks
Thoroughly brainwashed, ignorant and single-minded, I think exercise is of secondary value unless it’s ironbound and clangs obnoxiously. But wait, is not the effort innocently engaged at the edge of a firm mattress exercise in disguise? .....Continue reading...
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May 7, 2014... Stick, Stack, Stuck
Simply, obviously, each movement must be doable and easily accessible, multipurpose in effect and near its superset partner. It must be efficient in delivering maximum muscle growth, burn and pump with minimal oxygen debt, while providing copious delight and fulfillment. .....Continue reading...
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April 30, 2014... Lost Truth -- $50 Reward
It makes me crazy when my nocturnal dreamland is hijacked by rude imaginings of me working out at the gym. Surrounded by hazy stacks of iron for what seems like hours, I can’t quite get my hands on the bench, the barbell or the apparatus I so desperately need. I load, unload and reload plates on a bar I never lift and in blurred chaos, everything dematerializes. I awaken abruptly in despair and the following wide-eyed minutes are devoted to calming my mind and getting back to sleep. .....Continue reading...
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April 23, 2014... B-72 Without a Plan or Propellers
It, the gym, the quest, the whole catastrophe, begins with the obvious desire for a strong and lean body. We’re simple people with simple thoughts. Who doesn’t want to look good and feel better? Should the clinking and clanking survive a few weeks, a subtle, almost undetectable relationship begins to form. .....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Age to start training
· What supplements do you like?
· Bodybuilding discouragement
April 16, 2014... The Lost and Found Department
Should you ask, my inspirations were the real guys in my Jersey neighborhood who walked on their hands in t-shirts or hammered and nailed and dug ditches at construction sites. I was not a magazine consumer, nor was I entertained by the glossy contemporaries. I recall Leroy Colbert, Reg Park and Steve Reeves the decade before me. Larry Scott and Don Howorth were by my side as the years plowed on.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Mr Olympia contests
· Building vs maintaining muscle
· Pre-competition carb loading
April 9, 2014... Nutrition and Muscle Building Can Wait
Monterey Bay is a memorable sight to see, and a stirring site to review one’s memories. I visited this scene in another lifetime, before moving north from Los Angeles in the late ‘70s. Half of me was alive and kicking, the other half unborn and yet to live. ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Cravings at night
· Were you on Johnny Carson?
· Training session length in the ’60s
April 2, 2014... A Quick Glimpse in the Rear View
Imagine a 10-year-old, the youngest in a family of three boys, who inherited threadbare baseballs and raggedy mitts and smooth, under-inflated footballs like the sorrowful, unexciting toys they were. Here kid, have fun. I preferred climbing trees, racing through the meadows and scrambling up quarry walls, only to jump into the blue water far below. Batter up, balls and strikes and touchdowns were not for me.
Now the guy down the street, the big guy who built the tree house for his kid, he lifted weights in his garage after work. I heard him clanging around and saw him lift the bar over his head. Wow! Strong, and he had muscles. He likes it, I can tell. He’d wave when I went by on my bike.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Female, aging and want to lose weight
· Is low carb the way to go?
· Getting a thick back
March 26, 2014... The Needle’s on Empty, But There’s Gas in the Tank
You can’t expect every workout to be a blast, bombers. Let’s face it, some of them are just plain old duds. ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Pre-workout meal plan
· Love your writing
· Gym atmosphere
March 19, 2014... We Want Scott!
“Scott! We want Scott!” was the yell that rose from the throats of thousands of bodybuilding fans at the latest Mr. Olympia contest. The only trouble was, there was no Scott to be had. At the previous Mr. Olympia Larry told those who had just seen him win his second consecutive Olympia crown that he was retiring. Funny thing about people, they don’t believe what they don’t want to believe. They wanted to see Larry go on forever, so as far as they were concerned Scott would compete again. ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Tuna & water…again!
· What do you mean by accelerating muscle loss?
· One-arm bentover rows
March 12, 2014... Larry Scott, RIP
Larry grinned as he trained, probably cuz his arms seemed to grow an inch with each set and rep. I stood there and gawked, noting that I scowled rather than curled my lips upward while training. I was Mr. New Jersey, that’s why (think grey and trapped). He was Mr. California and Mr. America (sunny and free). When he spoke, he articulated. He didn’t mumble, pause or waste time, mispronounce words or talk stupid. I think he had college grad neatly engraved on his forehead, just below his carefully coiffured hairline. ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Workout routine, deadlifts and partials
· Injury and frustration
· Pushing hard at 57
March 5, 2014...Once There Was a Tree in the Woods
And all along you, with dumbbells in hand, thought you were a misguided lout, a do-nothing miscreant, a self-centered narcissist -- a mere musclehead. Not so. Think big, respecter of things that go clang in the night. You’re all three. ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Reuniting with Dick Tyler
· I remember you
· Tough question
February 26, 2014...Perplexed, Bothered, Bewildered and Silly
Ah, the good old days: Got a problem? Take it to the gym. Fight with the sweetheart? Take it to the gym. Can’t pay your bills? Squat. Lose your job? Deadlift. Car on the blink? Bench press....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Powerlifting at age 70
· Contest posing
· Will the Top Squat fit a ‘standard’ bar?
February 19, 2014...Genesis
I walked into the picture about the middle of the twentieth century when I purchased a Hercules hand gripper. It lay there with its bright red handles and gleaming chrome coil spring amid a heap of crushed display cartons and well-sampled wiry chest expanders and how-to pamphlets exhibiting sketches of a handsome and rugged he-man with muscles bursting through his T-shirt. WOW. Wide eyed and transfixed. WOW. ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Sets and reps?
· Training in my 40s
· Meal before bedtime?
Have you made the switch to an ereader yet? I have to assume that’s a yes, since the vast majority of our book sales are ebooks rather than print. I have some fun news for my e-reading friends: new lower prices.
We started our ebook experiment a couple of years ago, and at the time that’s what it was…an experiment. We went with the $9.99 price tag, because that was average then, and that was how Amazon nudged us with their royalty structure.
But today that price is a little higher than average, so we’ve made the shift to lower ebook prices on most of our books…starting today. Ready for something new to read?
February 12, 2014...Don’t Rain on My Parade
Once on the gym floor it’s the iron, me and my expression of historic might. I say historic might cuz, creaky and bent, it’s a thing of the past. Still, it’s worth its weight in gold. ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Forearms
· Intermittent fasting
· Injured and can’t train?
Let's play a game! We're doing a test run of 'pay what you want' pricing, starting with the always-agreeable Dan John's Systems Approach video download. The PWYW link is the white and blue button near the top of the description section. Would love to know what you think.
And for those who have a minute to fool around, here’s a link to a new set of Draper images. These are some of the graphic arts people have sent us over the years. You’ll get a kick out of them.
February 5, 2014...The Bomber Buster
There’s a logjam of computer correspondence at my fingertips and I’m pleasantly overwhelmed. Rather than respond individually to each winged comrade, I succumb at this very moment and say thanks, big thanks and double extra-large thanks to everyone at once for your concern, prayers and good-wishes. They help big-time. The nasty C has packed its bags and left the building without leaving a trace. Goodbye, good riddance, gonzo!...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Who was that Dungeon training partner?
· Losing weight but have a sagging skin problem
· Expanding on the tuna & water plan
We released the new Mark Cheng DVD a few days ago, and I hope you’ll take a look at some of the video clips. This type of movement practice is very productive for people who have some years logged in the gym, with maybe a little too much bench pressing and not enough mobility work. It’s pretty sweet for those of us riding a desk chair all week, too.
Here’s where to see some short clips: http://otpbooks.com/url/?MCdvd
My personal experience in the gym with years of rubbing my shoulders and pretending I didn’t have other chronic pain tells me a bunch of you reading this have some of the same aching shoulders and sore necks. I’m dead certain working the drills from this DVD would have saved me a boatload of pain, and at least a year-and-a-half of directionless corrective exercises.
It takes some guts or a little desperation to get on the floor and try this stuff, but I’m telling you, it’s worth it. I hope you’ll check out that link above.
January 29, 2014...Snooze Letter: Patchwork Update
riday morning, while the rest of the world slept or starved or froze or protested or revolted or shot one another, the melanoma clinic in San Francisco called to tell me they were successful in totally excising the cancerous tissues from the chest, and the multiple lymph node biopsies and scans came back negative. Yes, negative is positive. “This is Laura at the MCSF. The cancer has not metastasized, Mr. Draper. Don’t forget the removal of the sutures is scheduled for Monday at 2 PM.”...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Gain muscle and lose weight at the same time
· Newsletter
· Tendonitis
· Eating before bed
· Needing shoulder replacement
· Supplement NO2
January 15, 2014...Me and Mel the Cat
My eye reconstitution was a grand success. What was a green tree in the distance last week is a green tree with limbs and branches and leaves and a bird in a nest with three chicks today. I can see clearly, distinctly, precisely. No fuzzy images, no glare attacks, no faded colors. Joy amid trials, relief amid tribulations. Light-weight reading glasses provide close-up clarity and a dashing scholarly look......Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Chest size smaller on right side
· Getting down?
· Post-workout drink before or after cardio?
January 8, 2014...Testing, Testing 1, 2, 3
We’re a week into 2014 and I note with amusement (not exactly) my old-man peculiarities are developing like they’re going out of style. While stumbling along with focus and form, I’ll suddenly veer to the left and collide with, say, a misplaced pedestrian, a Ladies Only sign post or a longhaired schnauzer doing his duty behind a bush. Woof, woof! Hills of more than three degrees are greeted with resentment and frequent pauses to regain my breath and question my motives for such a brutal undertaking......Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Respect for being in shape
· Age on the mind
· Got cancer, then got stuck
December 18, 2013...A Christmas Song and a New Year Dance
.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Tuna and water for the New Year
· Vince Gironda
· Powerlifting low-bar position with the Top Squat
December 11, 2013...The Holiday Foothills
The gym is always a friendly diversion, and especially so around this peculiar time of the year. Let’s face it. December gets weird--the job, the markets, the malls, construction, shopping, shipping, receiving, the highways and byways. The gym with its mutually enthusiastic faces is a refuge, the only sane place in the nutty world. Peaceful, it’s your world–orderly, safe, stress free, productive, happy.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
December 4, 2013...December Aerobics -- Shop Till You Drop
I’m about to convey my thoughts for this, the first week of the last month of 2013. I suggest you stand back in case there’s an onslaught of loose nothingness from the vacant spheres of my mind. I know a few people who’ve been bored to death. It can get ugly....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Hurt shoulder
· How much rest is needed?
· Young woman, upper body training
November 26, 2013...It Can't Be Thanksgiving, It Was Just Christmas
I remember in the old days at Gold’s gym, when there was only one and it was composed of blood and sweat, cinder blocks and iron. The really hardcore would be at the gym at 6 to open the doors on the morning of every holiday. True, a few of the guys had no place else to go, but there we were -- seeking the elusive pump, as if a rep on a holiday was worth five on another day....Continue reading...
November 20, 2013...Counting Sets and Reps and Other Blessings
I remember one winter in the mid-sixties when I bulked up to 250. I felt like I was gonna burst, my arms stuck out like oars on a life raft and my face was as round as a beach ball. My muscles pumped, burned and squirmed at the sight of the lusty iron sprawled on the Dungeon floor, and the hefty mounds moved with ease. I grew, I was determined, I was 21. I ate tuna, beef, eggs and milk products and desiccated liver. I was mad as a Toronto mayor. Just kidding!...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Hurt shoulder
· How much rest is needed?
· Young woman, upper body training
November 13, 2013...No Knuckle-Dragging Allowed
Should you be a serious-minded ironhead (classy oxymoron), you know the value of a clear mission statement. Composing a simple, yet thoughtful personal avowal not only intelligently reviews, sorts out and defines your training goals, it roots them in both your conscious and sub-conscious. You therefore enact them double-strength, inside and out, as if they were facts. I am certain it is this practice engaged 50 years ago that accounts for my hearty achievements today. ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
November 6, 2013...Choice Morsels, Tasty Delights
There came a time this weekend when I needed to sit, relax and think of something to write about. I prefer ideas to well up from my inner being or flood my mind from its vast reservoirs or sweep upon my pages like a soaring eagle. But, no, as usual, I had to grab my pick and shovel and dig something up from the pit...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Need to lose 65 pounds
· Increase back width
· When’s the best time to train?
October 30, 2013... For the Ladies and Gentlemen in the Bleachers
At three-score years and eleven, the essential quandary I confront is simply this: When am I using up -- exhausting, wasting, abusing -- my physical stores and strength and my impetus in seeking long-term fitness? When am I being excessive in my physical output and, thus, endangering, sabotaging, violating my health and long life? Or when am I engaged sufficiently and satisfactorily to aspire and be happy?..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Is stretching important?
· Do you preplan your weekly training?
· Football weight gain plan
October 23, 2013... BomberCare
The left pulls and the right pushes; the right pulls and the left pushes. All together now -- curls and presses, squats and deadlifts. What’s so hard about that? You spot me, I spot you. Whatever you do, don’t close the gym....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Leg training as we age
· Restarting after a layoff
· Bulking for a competition
October 16, 2013... Bentover Rows, Powerful Mass Builder
Now moving on to our study of psychology, I want you to write in 50 words or less why anyone in their right mind would lift this much weight. Year after year. Are we strange? Do you think it’s a good idea we go on like this, unsupervised? Are we, excuse the psychobabble, all in denial?...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Training three years and losing focus
· Gironda and Reeves
· Oldtimer wants to get ripped
October 9, 2013... Repel the Slug of Monotony
There’s an inertia common on Tuesdays, the day after Monday yet three days before Friday. The weights can take on a blackness and a coldness that appears to add considerably to their density and unattractiveness. I stood stoop-shouldered before my carefully chosen bench and studied the abstract cracks in the aging gray Naugahyde. ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Weight belt thoughts
· 15 years old with some questions
· Workout questions, just getting re-started
October 2, 2013... Do Not Fall
I had no intention of writing a newsletter this week as I have not been in the gym in over two weeks and no longer feel qualified to write on such matters as physical fitness, barbell curls or strength of character. I’m a broken-down, out-of-date bomber, grounded and tied off behind Hangar 18C....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
September 25, 2013... The Trouble with Bulking
I talk to young guys at the gym who want to gain weight. I give them the eat-a-lot-of-wholesome-food-frequently program, and three weeks later, distraught and downtrodden, they confess they can’t seem to put on a pound....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Training outside with limited equipment
· Following the guidelines from a magazine
· Carbs or no carbs?
September 18, 2013... Night Moves, Dancing in the Dark
Sundays at the gym are cool, quiet and subtle. I can make old-guy noises, freely lurch and stumble, use girly weights and whine unselfconsciously, without being mocked and ridiculed, stoned and spat upon. ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Slow recovery at 65
· Tuna, salmon or sardines?
· Bench press max
September 11, 2013... The Straight Line is Unbent
I don't have to go to the gym, I don't need to go, I don't even want to go. I go to the gym because I can. It's what real men do...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
September 4, 2013... Incoming, Outgoing, Never Ending
Wait a minute, hold it a sec, what the... where’s my training gear, my muscle tee, my chalk? I need a protein drink, now. I need to go to the gym, now. I need the iron, now, before I flip out. You get in my way, buster, and you’re just another set, just another rep in my way. ..Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Six weeks out from a contest
· Torso
· Lift and learn and live
August 28, 2013... Let’s Not Train and Say We Did
Before you commence serious research and compile a sophisticated hypothesis, try this: Stop lifting for a week. The fundamental reason hits you like a ton of bricks -- make that a pile of iron. ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· The Dungeon 1963
· Straight-arm pullover
· Torn rotator cuff and deadlifts
Gray Cook: The 3 Rs
Bobby Maybee: Building Value Through Communication
Perry Nickelston: Movement Linchpins
August 21, 2013... The Dungeon, 1963
I have collected over the years an impressive file of tough workouts to review. You see, in 40 years I’ve rarely missed one, and not one was easy. Training all-out with meticulous form and mild sound effects always defined my style.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Weight loss and muscle pump
· Feeling my age
· Protein drinks as weight loss food
August 14, 2013... Optimal Conditions - Perfect Timing
I have a built-in secret weapon that accompanies me to the gym twice a week. ACM (Advanced Covert Mechanics) has taken me over half a century to develop, and its advantage in sustaining muscle in a deteriorating world, thus far, have proven creditable. ACM is also known as the greedy investment of patient, persistent and tough weightlifting and disciplined nutrition for over 50 years. ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Write on…right on!
· How much protein?
· How young is too young for weights?
August 6, 2013... Lift a Little a Lot -- Lift a Lot a Little
Secret Confession: Everything I do is partial, customized or modified, invented or suddenly discovered, a consequence of smear, wear and tear from living less-than-mildly... too many strikes, fling tackles and fouls. .....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Shoulder size and strength
· Motivation for training
· Heart issues, stents and training
Movementlectures.com: new on the lectures site
Gray Cook: Duke University Physical Therapy Student Q&A
Chip Conrad: How to Create a Holistic Athlete Video
Dan John: A Systems Approach to Coaching & Training Video
Gray Cook: Movement Principles Talk, CK-FMS 2013
Time for today’s great surprise -- we have a new Dan John lecture video. This time he has a partner doing half the talking, Chip Conrad, and boy did they work well together. What a winning combination!
Apparently without intention or planning, Dan and Chip's lectures flow together so smoothly, you’ll think they grew up together. They successfully weave Dan’s decades of experience and Chip’s study of physical culture and tradition, and come up with a delightful tapestry of thoughtful ideas.
Here are the details, plus a few video clips to get an idea of the scope and style of the talks.
And now... heading to Long Beach to watch the filming of our next DVD, due out in October.
July 31, 2013... Partial Movements, Partial Muscle
The partial movements were everywhere: incomplete curls, unlocked presses, half-squats, short rows, three-quarter pulldowns, unfinished uprights, limited laterals, restricted extensions, choppy chins, shallow dips and micro-motion machine this ’n that.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Bypass surgery
· Bench press to the neck
· Can’t keep up with it all
Movementlectures.com: new on the lectures site
Jennifer Pilotti & Julie Blandin: A Discussion of PRI
Dave Whitley: Lessons From the Strong Men Video
Dave Whitley: Kettlebell Fundamentals Video
Mark Reifkind: Lats, the Super Muscle Video
Tracy Reifkind: Swing Progressions Video
July 24, 2013... Take Me To Your Leader
My not having appeared in person in the recent newsletters has caused some bombers to speculate on my whereabouts. A creative and sympathetic bunch, their list of possible locations include the state pen, county asylum, city sanitarium, downtown homeless shelter, the local lost and found department, Potter's Field, the pound, the dump and old Charlie's Down-the-Hatch Saloon.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Training after breast surgery
· How far could you have gone?
· Belly fat — diet, carbs & salt
July 10, 2013... Sliding into Summer
Well-exercised muscle is alive, responsible for quick action and physical power. It moves us around, effectively... gracefully. Mighty muscle accounts for 90% of metabolism, burning fat calories all the time, even when we sleep. Very handy--looks good too. .....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Bring back golden era bodybuilding
· What’s your pre-workout fuel?
· One arm bigger than the other
Movementlectures.com: new on the lectures site
Craig Liebenson & Gray Cook: Hat Tip to Professor Janda
Mitch Hauschildt: Poor Pelvic Alignment
Dan John: A Philosophy of Strength Training
Dan John: Warmups, Workouts & Barbell Complexes Video
Dan John: Olympic Lifting Video
Dan John: Mass Made Simple Ebook
Dan John: Everything's Over My Head Video
Dan John: Perfecting Your Kettlebell Form Video
Steve Middleton: The Sacroiliac Joint
Sarah Young & Emily Splichal: A Barefoot Training Discussion
Awhile back I started having conversations with Sol Orwell, one of the partners at Examine.com, where they’ve put together a remarkable site of supplement and nutrition research. Earlier this week they released a massive supplement reference guide and holy cow, it's amazing!
This is totally worth the bucks if you have any interest in what's what about supplements. Apparently once you buy the ebook, you automatically get access to regular updates, too.
Total bargain, $29 thru Friday, 750 pages, categorized and searchable.
Here’s their site, which has the same information, but without the health categories. Bookmark it now: Examine.com.
Now the next time you get asked if fish oil causes prostate cancer like all the news media said, you’ll know where to get the full answer. Hint: Fish Oil & Prostate Cancer.
We added ‘commenting’ ability on our IronOnline product shopping pages. If you have a thought you’d like to share with other shoppers, we’d love that. It doesn’t need to be kudo stuff either... for example, if a product is a good idea for some people and not so great for others. We appreciate your help!
July 17, 2013... Bits & Bytes Collide
My creed goes something like this: Keep it simple; stick to the basics; train consistently with enthusiasm and intensity; use logic; be creative and intuitive; be confident in your applications; be happy and deal with your misery. .....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Training after breast surgery
· How far could you have gone?
· Belly fat — diet, carbs & salt
July 10, 2013... Sliding into Summer
Well-exercised muscle is alive, responsible for quick action and physical power. It moves us around, effectively... gracefully. Mighty muscle accounts for 90% of metabolism, burning fat calories all the time, even when we sleep. Very handy--looks good too. .....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Can you be at your all-time best in your 40s?
· Barbell or dumbbell rows?
· Training longer than an hour?
Movementlectures.com: new on the lectures site
Gray Cook: Isolation--It's Totally Natural
Kettlebell Basics For Strength Coaches & Personal Trainers Video
Emily Splichal: Barefoot Training For Power & Agility
Over time we’ve enjoyed a wonderful collection of stories and photos from Zuver’s famous larger-than-life gym, but today we need to pause to say goodbye to Jean Zuver, who died in her sleep on July 1st.
July 3, 2013... Confidence
Confidence by its nature is smart and hardworking. It shovels fuel into the furnace. It is not cocky, conceited or arrogant. It’s not stubborn or filled with boast. These are characteristics of something quite the opposite. Confidence is secure. .....Continue reading...
June 26, 2013... Too Distracted to Have a Purpose
Your goals, your level of motivation, concentration of incentives, clarity and depth of reasons – your decided purpose -- determines your training efficiency and effectiveness and joy. Think “why” before you lift, and lift hard.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Which way to face with rope tucks?
· Favorite delt lift
· Praise for the Top Squat
June 19, 2013... See Ya Later, Alligator!
Too weird! I missed one workout and one IronOnline newsletter this spring and I feel like an out-of-shape, irresponsible do-nothing; a bum, a derelict, an aimless scrounge. Well, I might be a little behind in my duties, but my self-image is improving....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Not putting on size
· Heavy singles in curls or pressing
· Training twice a day
New on the lectures site:
Lorimer Moseley Pain Video Disc One
Balzer & Randhawa: Clinical Inter-Professional Relationships
Last week’s top sellers:
Gray Cook & Erwan Le Corre Exploring Functional Movement Video
Gray Cook: 2012 IFOMPT Keynote Address
Jason Green: The ABCs of Breathing
When Craig Liebenson introduced me to Lorimer Moseley as a suggestion to film his Pain lecture at Jason Tonley’s Cynergy Education event, I was pleased. But I had no clue what a gift that would turn out to be.
I’d watched Lorimer’s TED talk, and knew he was smart and funny. At the time, I didn’t know what a contribution he and his team had made toward our current understanding of pain. And I definitely didn’t know how skilled he is at teaching such a complex topic…this guy is terrific!
Much of the material in the lecture is over my head–way over–and some of you may feel the same. But at an instant before my brain was about to slide off toward something distracting, Lorimer switched to storytelling. And if I thought he was smart, that was nothing compared to how masterful he is at stories.
Lorimer packed this talk with important information…facts, research and working theories we all need to know about how pain works. And he interspersed it with great stories to help us understand and teach pain science.
I loved working on this, and you’re going to love watching it…at least twice.
Here’s the link to more information, video clips or to buy the DVD or digital video: Lorimer Moseley Pain DVD.
June 5, 2013... Q: What is the IRS? A: The Inner Reverse Squat
To Gold's I go, within the walls of which lay the speechless and motionless antagonizers, the mute and shrouded implements of offense, the inimitable and daunting bars, dumbbells and plates, pulleys and gadgetry. I'll seize them one by one as they appear before me, and take joy in the confrontation. No plan, no strategy, no mercy, no submission...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Training twice a day
· Legs not cut enough for contest
· Training secrets
New on the lectures site:
Kettlebells for Power Athletes Video
Gray Cook: 2012 IFOMPT Keynote Address
Jeffrey Tucker: Keys to The Thoracic Spine
Last week’s top sellers:
Gray Cook: 2012 IFOMPT Keynote Address
Thomas Plummer: The Business of Training Video Disc 1
Lee Burton: History of The Functional Movement Screen
May 29, 2013... Mid-Way 2013
Training alone, by oneself, is interesting. You become your very best training partner, encouraging yourself and co-deciding what to do, how, when and why. It's not as solitary or as introverted as it appears. It's more like a friendship, a team of two, a winning combination. Unless, I guess, you don't like yourself; training solo then becomes heavy labor, toil and trouble....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Rep range for muscle mass
· Surgery tomorrow
· Pinched nerve
May 22, 2013... Imagine The Truth
Does this happen to you? You put on your favorite old, worn t-shirt in prep for your blasting session, and the once-snug garment hangs like a rag from your wilting shoulders and arms? What's that you say? Ah, it's still snug, extremely so, but around the vast waist only. Not good....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
May 15, 2013... Airborne
Pause. Take a moment. Dare to look yourself in the mirror without judgment, ridicule or unseemly pride. Now, take a deep breath and ask yourself, who am I, what am I doing here and what exactly do I want from my training experience? ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Routines for older bodybuilders
· Youth and weights
· Aminos and sleep
When you combine Dave’s 55-year history haunting various gyms around the world with his unusual insight into training flow to design a bodybuilding gym, the resulting space has all the allure of a ’60s Dungeon, only clean, open and light, with everything you need, right where you need it.
Unfortunately, even in the ’90s that wasn’t enough to build a successful business. Today, as most busy adults have moved away from the bodybuilding mindset, it’s even less likely to last out the first few years.
By the time we met Thom Plummer in the fall of 1994, he’d been studying successful fitness businesses for 15 years, and we’d been struggling with a failing one for five. Thom spent that San Francisco weekend destroying everything we thought we knew about the gym business, Dave with his legitimate study of gyms but not of business, and me with my cocky whatever.
Saturday night I was crushed with depression, crying in a hotel room overlooking Fisherman’s Wharf. I instantly knew he was right, but since just about everything we’d done was wrong, I had no idea where we’d start, and how we’d have the energy for it all. Those five years had wiped us out in all the important ways. We didn’t have much of anything left.
Click below to the rest: Thomas Plummer Business Training Lecture
May 8, 2013... Iron and Lace
I'm not paranoid, but I'm more alert than ever, which is a rather boastful statement for a B71. Why, you ask? Weightlifting works. Consistent training helps big-time. The iron experience builds. Prepping for a set, approaching the dumbbell rack, tugging the knurled grips, rattling the plates, pushing the solid steel, directing the motion and striving for the last rep before releasing the strong, screaming grasp. That's why!....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Sore shoulders, which grip is the problem?
· Masters bodybuilding contest
· Weider vs Hoffman
I'm loving the work on movementlectures.com. I love the variety, love working with new people…love the whole idea of the downloadable products site. But I know many of the lectures won't be of interest to a big segment of the davedraper.com readers, so I thought I'd make note of some that should be relevant. And while I'm at it, let's make a 50% off coupon for you. Here’s a link to the list, and the coupon.
May 1, 2013... Flix, Flax, Flux, Flex
I just tidied up my workspace, cleaned the computer screen and keyboard and am testing the equipment to see if the words flow faster, easier and with (this is pushing it) more value and amusement......Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Will you make a video?
· Training with cables
· Does aging mean lower weights?
The history of the iron -- how it was learned and where it gained momentum -- is something Ken Leistner knows from the heart. He lived it, and tells it well in this memories lecture in which he recalls the East Coast bodybuilding and weightlifting scene of the late '60s. Anyone who enjoys hearing stories of the old-timers will get a kick out of Dr. Ken's recollections.
This one was a long time coming, not only in the 40 years it took to get from then to now, but also in the ages it took me to get the lecture ready. I’m paying for this one! Check it out.
And when you’re done there, hop on over to Gray Cook’s site, where he’s talking about some key points about his key functional exercises.
April 24, 2013... The Weightiness of Time and Iron
Years ago, the years I suggest we ponder, there were maybe six other dudes on the gym floor. They looked similar – vigorous, curious and earnest, though probably older, more calloused for their years, and they did the same things – curls, presses and grunts. The only things different were the absence of 10 tons of machines underfoot and squawking TVs overhead and irritating iPods in pants pockets.....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Will you make a video?
· Training with cables
· Does aging mean lower weights?
Boy, was I eager to get my hands on the new Gray Cook/Erwan Le Corre DVD. Together -- and this is just an opinion from my limited vantage point they'd probably both argue against -- the guy who understands movement better than anyone alive, and the guy who does movement better than anyone alive.
Now here’s a twist -- you know how Dan John always says, “Don’t ask me about nutrition if you haven’t at least had a good breakfast”? Check this: He’s now fasting through breakfast and lunch!
So how does he schedule his workouts? Find out in this new Dan John lecture on intermittent fasting.
April 17, 2013... Extra Extra -- The Weekly Bomber Buzz
We must never let go. We must fortify ourselves. We must be strong and fearless. We must fight and win. ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Work out at home
· Just turned 64, doing 20-rep squats
· 10×10 Training
April 11, 2013... Walking the Canary
While sharing our enthusiasm and need for the iron, the ebb and flow of training, life and its demands and the disastrous “aging thing,” I offered my thoughts on bombing and blasting, the heavy weights and knocking out the sets and reps in the robust effort to get big and ripped as the years pile up. ....Continue reading...
April 3, 2013... Breaking News
We’ve presented the IOL newsletter, plus associated information, each week since January of 1999. Some of you are saying, “Egads, Man! That’s over 700 mindless intrusions into my email over the years.” ....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Hormone replacement and bulking
· 80 years old, training daily
· Draper training partners?
March 27, 2013... Joe Weider in a Thousand Words
I first met Joe some 50 years ago during one of my treks to Weider Barbell Company to buy weights. It took two buses and a six-block hike from my Secaucus home to Joe’s Union City office and warehouse. A small entry room at the front of the 3,000-square-foot brick edifice offered a set of upholstered chairs and a curious buzzer beside a sliding opaque glass window. I hesitantly engaged the buzzer, heard it’s ring in the not-too-distant ‘back room,’ and within a few minutes Leroy Colbert appeared, arms and all....Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· You were on Johnny Carson?
· Power training
· Barefoot squatting
In recognition of Joe’s death this week, how about I take you on a little Joe Weider memorial tour around the web? Here are some favorite links to get you going in your reminiscing.
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.