Andy asks: “Could you recommend an exercise with the goal of reaching max heart rate in the shortest time (for a 4 min Tabata)? For ex, would light hang snatches work? Would isometrics work? Any info would be much appreciated.” Snatches would work, depends on how light you go. So …
Gaining Mass without Feeling Stuffed
Nathaniel asks: “I’m trying to gain some weight, and to do that you need to eat more. The problem is, is that I don’t like the full or stuffed feeling. I like eating to about 80% in a given meal, because you feel light afterwards. I’m just wondering if you …
Training when you’re 90 years old!
Thanks for all your subscriber questions the other day. I’ll be diving into all these in the coming days and weeks. Today we start with one from George: “I am considered a senior citizen and I still do a lot of the exercises I used to do when I was …
Epstein Lift 20 Seconds
I call this the Epstein lift because Epstein didn’t kill himself by hanging, and I didn’t either. I practice this in line with the oldtime strongmen, particular Farmer Burns, who did this as a test of neck strength. Please do not try this at home. This is obviously extremely dangerous. …
Fixing Broken Bones
Logan- I have a suggestion for an article. I’ve been following you for quite a while and dabbled in many of your suggestions to build functional strength as I get older . Especially like the old time strong men articles. I now face a bigger challenge and would appreciate any …
Muscle Control vs. Isometrics
Andy writes in a lengthy email on the topics of muscle control and isometrics with a few different questions. Read it below and then my response to follow… I’ve enjoyed reading your books and recently purchased the Muscle Control Course. I’m trying to figure out how muscle control can be …
Which Isometrics for Tendon and Ligament Strength?
Vince asks: “I have a question I’ve been doing my home gym cause of covid-19, so I’ve been looking into the old school strong men like John Grimek, George Jowett and they talk about tendon and ligament strengthening which is a great idea for super strength so at home what …
First Hint of New Isometric Results
Yesterday I shared an article about a distinction I use daily in my training. Am I practicing a movement? Am I training a movement? Am I testing a movement? While there is certainly overlap, deciding ahead of time what I am doing helps to get better results. As you likely …
Lessons from Home Burning – Part 1
Physical, Mental, Emotional and Character Strength On the night of August 19th my home burned completely to the ground. A few people made comments to the effect of it being telling that the only thing left standing was my power rack. That this was a symbol of strength. I agree! …
175 lb. Barbell Bent Press (new personal record)
A new personal record of 175 lbs. in the barbell bent press. I weighed 184 lbs. at the time of this record, so closing in on my goal of a bodyweight bent press. It’s taken many attempts to get this one so very excited to finally get it. Previously I …
Barbell Bent Press 135 lbs. x 5 reps
A new record of bent pressing a 135 lb. barbell for five reps in a single set. My top amount is 165 lbs. right now though I feel like I’ll hit 175 any day now. The bent press is most commonly done for just single reps. However, I’ve found that …
Low CNS vs. High CNS Workout
“Could you give me an example (s) of a low cns workout and high cns workout?” There are three main points to look regarding impacts on the central nervous system in training: 1 – Severity, Intensity and Volume The main thing that will differentiate between a high CNS workout and …
Indestructible Body Sneak Peek
How would you like to be indestructible? While this is an ideal we can’t actually hit you can become LESS destructible! You can banish fragility from your body. The Indestructible Body will show you how. This sneak peek features short videos from each the joints of the body. The full …
Weak Links in Injuries
Charlie commented on my article about training weak links last week. (If you missed that you can see both parts here and here. He asks, “How did you ever think of these? I had a right shoulder problem a few years back and did all the standard PT stretches and …
Training the Weakest Link (Part 2)
Yesterday, I shared the principle behind what I’m talking about here. That cable assistance exercise series I mention seemed to really be working the shoulder joint. In fact, it got to the point where that did NOT feel like it was the weak link anymore. Instead, I needed more torso …