Old School Muscle Building Advice

I would love to know where I could get a copy of that book. I cannot believe how real everything was in those few pages. Simple, crude and maximal effort is where it is at!

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I love reading through old timer muscle building courses, they are very inspiring and motivating. Most of those old courses contain better training information then a lot of the fitness crap that’s available today.

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Being huge is what men do. Making men and woman Perfect is what God does. Muscle Freaks PRONATE and never ever Tap Out

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It’s amazing how updated is this text!! It could as well have benn written yesterday!!!

And I couldn’t agree more. Back in my highschool days I played rugby (half scrum, if someone wants to know) and I’ve seen too many mean looking guys that came out of the local gyms dropping by during training to “give it a try” as a forward (if you’ve ever seen a rugby game, forwards are the big guys that push in the scrum). Well, our forwards just wiped them out!! I mean they were actualy much stronger than the guys from the culturist gyms!

Sadely, those experiences made me reject weight training, it took me years to understand that it was wrong training, not weight themselves that produces that kind of “useless giants” (it took me also a little more to understand words as sarcomeric and sarcoplasmatic, that explain the reasons behind all this)

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I love Arthur’s words. I do believe, though, that different people are gifted in different ways, and while it may be one man’s gift to squat more than the sissy little sports car, another man’s gift is to be a chiseled “underwear model”. Neither one should hate or attempt to convert the other. Some, as Arthur alluded to will never be as strong as others, and if they can find some contentment in their aesthetics, I say let them.

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A great article as we all see those guys in the gym doing curl after curl and looking in the mirror admiring themselves.

If I may there is another web site that is called “Dino Training” hosted by Brooks Kubik http://www.brookskubik.com/ Brooks has written a couple of books on old time lifting and many articles from the “old Days” and the strong men 20-30-50 years ago. Web site is free to read the articles and his books are very interesting reading.

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It’s always amazing how “old school” principles of building muscle, strength and power come back to show us we can get too big for our britches! I love going back into these old tomes and testing out some of the long-lost secrets these old codgers experimented with without the benefit of advanced lab techniques and high-tech equipment.

Keep up the great research Mike & Elliot! Veeerrrry cool!

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It’s probably a good idea to find a balance between the two ideals. The one thing about the bodybuilding philosophy that I can’t stand is “looking” like you can bench 300-400 lb. but not ACTUALLY being able to. I was a little upset when reigning Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler avoided the question about his bench max. On the flip side, however, muscular asymmetry, stemming from a complete disregard for aesthetics is also an unattractive notion. My personal balance is: “I can do what I look like I can do.”

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I do like the idea of functional muscle. But I do like the aesthetics as well. That’s what I think the hybrid muscle program can give. I’m not too big on the scrawny ripped underwear model. But, if you can be big, aesthetic, and athletic at the same time, then I say do it. Nothing wrong with aesthetics, if you want it that way.

Pujinowski, if I spelled his name right, is a good example of a powerful guy who has the bodybuilder physique.

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Awesome article Bro! Lets keep men-MEN! Awesome.

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[...] Old School Muscle Building Advice [...]

bodybuilding is all about looking good. lifting too much weight almost always produces crappy form which can lead to serious injuries. when you go to the gym, LEAVE YOUR EGO AT HOME !! nobody gives a **** if u are only benching 150lbs, as long as it is executed with perfect form and intensity you will develop muscles like no other. you will get much more compliments on having good form and muscular definition than you will EVER get trying to lift 1 rep max all day with shitty form and your spotter doing half the work.
i always do between 5 and 15 reps to ensure i am using good form, keeping the target muscle under tension, and work until positive and negative failure

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As with everything, balance is important. Functional stength is the most practical, but if you have no endurance or flexibility the overall package lacks. Appealing to women OF COURSE has its advantages, not only socially but also professionally. Finally psychologically we should do what makes us feel best, because even the most physically fit person will suffer both physically, mentally and spiritually if we are psychologically unfit.

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That tight lipped dame is going to be jumping into my arms after I body slam the polar bear that just ate here model boyfriend, Saving here from certain death. Strength training has countless applications where bodybuilding has few.

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Way cool to see you guys mentioning being “old souls”.

Anyway, as a tall, thin guy who leans towards being defined rather than strong, I am envious of you big dudes. But that’s why I purchased LHM, right? To develop strength and power and burn fat at the same time?

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Hey there, Elliott.

I’ll be honest, I don’t often post comments on blogs. However, this one deserved one.

I love your comments and couldn’t agree more. Not only do you point out some good, old-fashioned values, but you are also willing to entertain the opposite point of view.

There is so much wisdom in previous generations, yet there is something to be said for evolution as well. You seem to balance the two in your own life. Congrats. It’s not easy to do.

Well said, Elliott.

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Arthur Saxon hit it right on the head, all the way back in 1908…awesome stuff.
Strength is much more important than how big your damn biceps are.

The old-school guys like Saxon, Goerner, and Hackenschmidt were still performing strong man feats well into what we consider to be old age in today’s society.

The importance is functional strength. These man were active, vibrant, and still kept the vigor when most people their age today are in wheelchairs, pushed around in nursing homes.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I would rather be strong, powerful and vibrant in my later years, instead of some drug-created, muscle-bound egotist who’s facing serious health concerns down the road.

As Arthur Jones so profoundly said, “If you can curl 200 pounds in strict form, don’t you think your arms will be big enough to do most anything.”

Go for strength and power first and the size will come naturally. Great article Elliott. Thanks for sharing.

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Why only focus on one of the two goals? Why not try to achieve both? Being both strong, and looking good, that’s the ultimate package if you ask me . So how to go about this? Well i’ve personally experienced that when training for strength, muscle follows. My greatest hypertrophy gains have come when training for strength, and not while doing sissy high rep, feel the muscle work kind of shit. But maybe thats just me

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Nice find! Is this book available anywhere? Any others your recommend! In my line of work, functional strength is the key, size is good, as sometimes it keeps you from having to demonstrate your strength, but when it comes down to you and the other guy, strength and power is it! Great post man!

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I think you can have both and that is to me the best goal worth attaining.

To prove my point, I submit Marius Pudzianowski. He lost the 2009 World’s Strongman comptetition by a few points, but he has won it more times than anyone else.

Marius was just about the only person in their annual event…… EVER, that looked like a body builder instead of a beer keg with a tee shirt on.

If Marius looks short to you, that’s because he is “only” 6 ft 1 in., tall and weighs 315 Lbs. He is usually the shortest person to compete in the events.

Want some inspiration or perspiration? Take a look, it’s worth it. One site is in Polish, but the pictures look just the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flor2pmSeX0
http://www.pudzian.pl/
http://www.criticalbench.com/Mariusz-Pudzianowski.htm

Enjoy – Jim

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have both– heavy, functional lifts build muscle–period. if you eat clean, people will see those muscles.

i’m not knocking bodybuilding in anyway, the dedication and determination it takes is worth admiring.
but i’d rather be functional than pretty.

lets face it, the biggest muscles in the world won’t make my face more handsome!!

pick up heavy things, put them down, repeat.

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I wanna body slam a polar bear!!! or be able to lift an overturned car off of a friend or loved one.

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I agree with some that already posted the comments. I think you need a good balance of both bodybuilding and powerlifting. one to attract the girls and the other to actually be able to use the muscle functionally to bench, squat, and deadlift alot for personal goals and satisfaction.

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The male race is degenerating compared to a century ago, and even more so, medieval times and the such, and its very very sad. Being a beast of a man; a very strong, athletically capable man should always be the goal to achieve everyday of your life. Not trying to see how much fun you can make looking at yourself in the mirror with your boxers pulled half-way down… As men, we are meant to be strong, and somebody who likes keeping a 6% body fat year round, will never be very strong in proportion to their size. Rugged, rough, and powerful all the way.

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I agree with Jim and Dave!

It’s possible to have your protein bar and eat it.

Check out this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNw_6DnFJ90

Check out any competent gymnast.

Both strength and physique are goals that can complement one another

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WHY NOT BOTH???

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Most of the body builders I know who focus on training individual body parts for aesthetics, while they look great, aren’t terribly athletic. From my personal experience with them, they aren’t very good at actually playing sports. I think this is because they don’t develop enough componente of fitness, like
co-ordination, stamina, and high aerobic threshold, to be considered athletic.

If you ignore what you look like in the mirror and train like an athlete, you will develop these components of fitness and become more proficient at whatever sports you participate in, whether you are a strong man, football player, hockey player etc. However, you will likely also find that you’ll look pretty good too. Maybe not with a single digit bodyfat and a perfectly proportioned body, but better than the average bear at least.

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There is a lot of truth here, I tend to agree, there is a lot of puffed up muscle out there that is unnatural and freaky. The comic book ideal has become the physical ideal and I am freaked by guys that only after a few years of working out look like martians and I a guy who has been working out most of his adult life is some way look rather average but fit. Today I leg pressed 14 45 pound plates 6 times. I guess that is not too bad.

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Well, technically, I think anyone who trains with any intensity at all, and eats well, is usually going to be more aesthetic automatically. Big, brutish men are more aesthetic than the couch potato or the skinny frail dude.

Symmetry is more where bodybuilding is. But, you can look great without having every detail perfect. If you train your body as a whole, you are probably going to be fairly symmetrical anyway. Yes, aesthetic. Whether we go right out and say, that’s partly what we are in the gym for, we want to be more attractive. I don’t know too many people that want to come in the gym and want to stay fat, or want to stay frail and skinny. You want to feel good, and look good. Nothing wrong with that. That’s what the Hybrid Muscle plan is about right? Burning fat and building muscle. (aesthetics)

If we weren’t worried about aesthetics, then why do some of us shave our body hair off? And for that matter, why do we shave our beard or cut our hair at all? Because we feel it’s more aesthetic. If I didn’t shave, I would still have the nasty “uni-brow” that ran across the back of my shoulders. It stuck out of my tank top. And 3 inch long chest hair, and Buckwheat crawling out of my arm pits.

So, yeah, this program is about aesthetics, and of course functional, strong muscles.

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i dont agree completely with Mr.Saxon… though strength is more important , even looks play a role…. its lyk driving a ferrari without its body… we can’t go around with strength alone… no one will ever realise we have strength coz.. we can’t squat everytime we see someone to show our strength.. so i say we find a balance bw the two…

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I totally agree with Mr. Saxon ive been training for years for sport instead of anything else and im the strongest guy on my team and the other guys focused on the looks but now my body has caught up, i now have the body the others where chasing and im still the strongest so i totally agree “leave the muscles to look after themselves”

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A woman’s opinion: It’s the old argument of “form” or “function.” I feel that if you take it to the extreme, pure function (physical power) is preferable to pure form (aesthetics). I mean, what good is someone with awesome aesthetics who can’t DO anything? You may as well just have a picture or statue of Adonis for all someone like that is worth.

However, real life is not purely form vs. purely function, it’s not black or white. I think the best choice is to concentrate on physical power while noticing aesthetics. As Mr. Saxon said, “leave the muscles to look after themselves,” and add a look in the mirror once in a while to make sure all is well.

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I ACCEPT THAT THERE ARE VARIOUS WAYS TO BUILD A BEAUTIFUL AND STRONG BODY BUT I AM OF THE OPINION THAT WORKOUTS THAT CONTAIN EXERCISES SUCH AS:
WALKING, RUNNING, ROWING AND SWIMMING ARE GREAT FOR MOST PEOPLE AS THEY BUILD BEAUTIFUL BODIES HEALTH AND STAMINA.
HOWEVER FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO BUILD LARGE MUSCLES AND STRENGTH THEN WEIGHT AND RESISTANT EQUIPMENT IS ESSENTIAL.
I HAVE BEEN TRAINING WITH WEIGHTS SINCE 1945 HAVING BEEN MOTIVATED BY A BURNING DESIRE TO INCREASE MY STRENGTH TO ENABLE ME TO CONFRONT THE BULLIES WHO MADE MY LIFE A MISERY.
IT WORKED FOR ME.
TODAY I AM ONE OF THE STRONGEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD IN THE AGE GROUP 80 YEARS OR OLDER. DON’T BELIEVE ME CHECK OUT MY BLOGS, PHOTOS AND VIDEO BY TYPING :
HEALTH STRENGTH FITNESS AND A BEAUTIFUL BODY – SIDNEY WILLIAMS INTO:
http://www.google.com
http://www.facebook.com
http://www.blogger.com

ADOPT THE PHYSICAL TRAINING THAT MEETS YOUR DEMANDS AND LIFESTYLE.
SIDNEY COAD WILLIAMS
HEALTH ACTIVIST

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Elliott,

thank you for the advice you share with us. it great to read about how one man could see that strength was more important than the size of his bicep. Elliott i think you have a great understanding on what it takes to do both. your program promotes stregth and size. Thank you for the great reads and advice.

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I’m not sure why all the discord on bodybuilders is. They train for their purposes and that is to be big and in extreme condition. There are very few(even with drugs, as the sport has spit out its fair share of the “more is better crowd”) that can compete as a bodybuilder, let alone diet like one.

I do powerlifting and bodybuilding, they complement each other in a way, but the unnecessary hate on bodybuilders is completely unwarranted,

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Earlier I left a comment on here calling everyone “idiots”. I was promptly chastised by Elliot and my comment was deleted.
First off Elliot, thanks for correcting my grammar, it is definitely far from perfect. Second, I apologize for being rude in my comments and third, you are right, I would never walk into your gym and call you an idiot Elliot.

However,

My position stands: I believe firmly in the genetic factors that effect size-to-strength ratios. Leverage, muscle quality and skill. And Elliot if I did walk into your gym, I would not call you and idiot, but I certainly would challenge your opinions and methods that you have presented on your website.

I have not regularly followed this website, so excuse me if this has already been covered but:

Is there any scientific evidence to support the theory that a certain style of training can increase the mitochondrial density in type II muscle fibers? This would probably require training followed by an actual muscle biopsy. Has this been done or are these just theories? If they are, then you are selling pseudo-science and subjective opinion.

And Elliot, put your million dollars down on the table, because if you were here, you can bet I would say all these things to your face.

If you would be so kind as to state at least whether these studies have been conducted, and even better, to display the results to the public (without disclosing your training regimen, because of course that would destroy your profits) so that we can examine them. I believe firmly in the scientific method and much progress would be made if others did the same.

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Chapman Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 3:11 am

i firmly believe in elliott’s style of training and it has provided me with much gain in strength and conditioning both, i must say. I can honestly say that I back elliott completely on most everything he says. Now as far as being lab proven, i have no idea, but i do know that elliott bases alot of his ideas on old school studies and tactics.

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This is an ongoing debate that sometimes gets heated. I think if we are honest, power guys would like to look like bodybuilders to a degree, and bodybuilders would like to lift heavier weights. Saxon himself had a great physique, especially for his time and before steroids became available. Sandow, Hackenschmidt and others of the era all had great physiques, though it was not their primary focus.
As a powerlifter, it would be easy for me to make fun of bodybuilders, but I actually admire their determination in being able to diet & get ripped.( I couldn’t do it) Using a boat load of drugs to get the desired look or the desired power has been detrimental to all the iron sports in recent history, which is why I love those old school guys. They did it the hard & honest way.

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And to put the name out there again. Mariusz Pudzianowski. He’s got it all. The look, the strength, the endurance. And, he could stand on stage with the best of the bodybuilders, I think. This guy could kick someone’s ass, and look awesome doing it.

Elliott is another example; great physique, seems to be in great shape, and strong as a bull. You’re a beast Elliott.

It’s been said before, over and over, big weights build big muscles. As long as you are in there moving the weight and progressing, the muscles will follow. Dancing around like Richard Simmons isn’t going to build a brute, but that’s what some people want. And, even though Richard is a bit girl-like, he has worked hard at getting people into shape. I respect him for that.

No matter what your goals are, I am glad to see you in the the gym doing something to improve yourself. Not everyone will tear themselves away from the TV for 30 minutes to an hour.

Troy

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Jim Reply:
January 16th, 2010 at 1:54 pm

Troy-
Thanks for giving Mariusz P. a nod. I think he’s the poster child for any
camp he feels like being in. At the very least, he certainly can settle this argument for anyone with the strength to click on his links.

Also, it was nice to see some cross -talk on this forum. For some reason, most posts on this forum are one person’s thoughts usually unrelated to anyone else’s.

Best to all – Jim

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for you folks that wanted to read the whole book go here:
http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Saxon/DPP/dppintro.htm

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To all the pathetic walking testaments to modern male vanity out there, ask yourself the following: What’ll the dames think when you lose an arm-wrestling match to someone half your size?

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Elliot,

I am siding with your Saxon’s opinion. I am in grade twelve and am (not bragging) the strongest kid in my school. I am on both wrestling and rugby teams and I’m no joke in the strength dep’t either. Although i do have a bit of a tummy, i am proud of the nicknames i have aquired at school: Gorilla Vince, Vinnie Bear. I once saw movie in kinesiology class that human femurs can hold up two little cars without snapping. It was then that i realized that humans too were made to be like wild beasts; after all we are on the top. I dont however have a problem with people working out for health and show because it is better for their health rather than going home and sitting at a computer all day. It just depends what your personal goals are. But as far as getting strong goes, YOU NEED to incorporate different methods of strongman, football, and powerlifting methods

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I don’t believe it has to be an one or the other arguement. I think you can have both strong fuctional muscles and be ripped.

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Well, actually, some trainers believe that muscular development can take place after strength is gained since with more strength, one can train more intensively(with heavier weights and lower rep ranges). Weights that one can perform 6 to 8 reps usually require quite a lot of neuromuscular strength, which beginners may lack due to lack of conditioning. That’sone reason why I think that beginners should go for 12 to 20 rep ranges training since they probably lack the neuromuscular strength to push their muscles to the limit for lower reps. It is only after gaining sufficient neuromuscular strength then can one make great gains in muscle gains with lower rep ranges. In the mean time, higher rep ranges can be used to make some gains, though not as effective as lower rep ranges(which is more effective in both muscular development AND FAT LOSS, unlike the conventional believe that higher rep ranges burn more fat).

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Right on! Like many, I’ve had my glory days in strength competitions. The only thing on my mind was getting stronger, not how much weight the next guy was doing. The only side effect was getting ripped and gaining size. Boo hoo! Focusing on yourself brings the results.

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I opt for being a boy toy beast ;P

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