The Nautilus Bulletins are high intensity training classics by Arthur Jones, inventor of the Nautilus exercise machines, which explain the principles of his philosophy of hard, brief and infrequent training.

Since the release of Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Body which has a photo of me in ripped condition in the chapter “Six-Minute Abs”  I’ve received a lot of questions about my training and diet at the time the photo was taken.

The following are the short answers to the most common questions.

Regarding abdominal work:

I did not perform any direct abdominal exercise during the six months prior to the contest. From around November of 1994 through June of 1995 (eight months) when the photo was taken I performed the following routine once a week:

1. Barbell Stiff-Leg Deadlifts
2. Hammer Strength Leg Press
3. Hammer Strength Pulldown (Underhand Grip)
4. Hammer Strength Chest Press
5. Hammer Strength Low Row
6. Cybex Plate-Loaded Calf Raise

Only one set of four to eight repetitions of each exercise was performed, using the SuperSlow repetition method (10 seconds lifting, 10 seconds lowering), with no rest between exercises. Occasionally, my trainer Mike Moran would add a set of barbell curls or triceps press-downs to the end of the routine. These were performed using Mike Mentzer’s static hold method (holding the weight motionless in the mid-range position as long as possible, aiming for approximately 30 seconds).

While no direct abdominal exercises were performed the abdominal muscles are heavily involved in underhand-grip pulldowns as well as heavy triceps pressdowns.

I did not perform a large volume of abdominal training prior to November 1994, either. For most of 1994 prior to starting the above routine I followed the following upper/lower split routine based on Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty training, training once every three to four days:

Upper Body:

1. Machine Pullovers
2. Underhand-Grip Pulldowns
3. Alternating Dumbbell Curls
4. Dumbbell Chest Fly
5. Dumbbell Bench Press
6. Cable Triceps Pressdowns

Lower Body:

1. Leg Extensions
2. Barbell Squats
3. Leg Curls
4. Calf Raise
5. Weighted Crunches

Only one set of five to eight repetitions of each exercise was performed, at a controlled speed, with a few minutes of rest between exercises.

Regarding my diet:

Prior to the competition I weighed around 180 pounds and maintained a relatively low level of bodyfat. I started dieting specifically for the contest about two months out. I reduced my daily calorie intake to approximately 1800 for two weeks, then 1700 for two weeks, then 1600 for two weeks, by which time I was concerned I was sacrificing lean mass for the sake of fat loss but still wanted to get a bit leaner, and went back up to 1800 calories for the last two weeks.

The diet was Zone-influenced, starting with a roughly even percentage of calories from protein, fat and carbohydrate, with the further reduction in calories from 1800 coming from carbs. Most of the protein came from grilled chicken, eggs, canned tuna, milk and protein powder. Most of the carbs came from vegetables, along with occasional oatmeal with blueberries for breakfast. Most additional fats were from butter or dressing on the vegetables. It was pretty boring, but worked.

The only supplement I used other than protein powder was a generic multi-vitamin and mineral.

On the day the photo in the book was taken I weighed 152 pounds in the morning. A few days prior my body fat was measured using Futrex (infrared), bioelectrical impedance, and skin folds, all of which put me between 3 and 4 percent body fat, although I think 5 or 6 might have been a more realistic figure.

About one week after resuming my normal diet I weighed over 165 pounds and actually appeared more muscular and leaner, indicating I was significantly glycogen depleted and should have spent the last few days before the contest carb loading.

Regarding zero “cardio”:

I performed no “cardio” of any kind, either interval or traditional endurance type activities, during preparation for the contest or within the entire year prior. The only other physically demanding activity I performed outside of my high intensity training workouts was very brief martial arts training a few days a month, and not even that during the two months I was dieting for the contest. In fact my primary reason for doing the contest was to demonstrate “cardio” is entirely unnecessary for getting ripped.

Background

In 1995 I was working as a personal trainer for Gold’s Gym in Green Bay, Wisconsin (now Titletown Fitness) which has a HIT-based personal training program (specifically a SuperSlow program at that time). The gym also had a few independent trainers who, typical of mainstream personal trainers, erroneously believed “cardio” was necessary for fat loss and were critical of our anti-aerobics stance as well as the gym’s SuperSlow high intensity training program. I decided to do the competition to demonstrate:

1. “Cardio” is unnecessary for fat loss, and even for getting in ripped condition.
2. Very little weekly exercise is required to develop a contest-worthy physique.

Although it was not my goal at the time, I also demonstrated no direct abdominal exercise is required to have ripped abs, much less the ridiculous number of exercises and sets commonly recommended for the purpose. If you want to be ripped in general, or have a well defined “six-pack” in particular you do not need to perform set after set of various crunching and twisting exercises, you just have to develop an overall well-muscled physique and reduce your bodyfat to low levels through diet.

The principles of exercise are universal. They apply equally to you, me, and everyone else. However, the best application of those principles will vary significantly between us due to differences in genetics and other factors affecting how our bodies respond to exercise.

Many people try one exercise program for a while, switch to another, then another, hoping to eventually find one that works for them. Others just follow whatever program their favorite bodybuilder or athlete or the current champion endorses.

The first group are like someone who goes into a clothing store and randomly tries on different sized clothing.

The second are like someone who insists on buying the exact same clothes the fashion model in the store advertisement is wearing, in the exact same size.

Neither are likely to find something that fits them properly.

If you want your clothes to fit well you should select something based on your size or have it altered to fit you.

The same is true of your workouts and diet.

The numerous workouts on this web site and in my books are meant to be examples or starting points to be tailored to you. They will produce very good results for most if performed as written, but if you want the best possible results from your workouts you must adjust them based on your body’s response to exercise.

When properly performed, high intensity training is as much a mental activity as a physical one. It challenges your ability to focus your attention as much as your ability to contract your muscles. It challenges your will as much as your strength. It requires a total effort of both mind and body.

A few years ago I wrote an article about meditation and high intensity training. Since then I have been consistently practicing and refining my “pre-workout ritual”, and wanted to comment on it here briefly because I have found it to be of tremendous value. It has noticeably improved my concentration during workouts and my ability to push myself further than I did previously. While these things will benefit everyone they should be especially helpful to those who work out in typical, high-distraction environments and/or without a training partner to help motivate them.

When mentally preparing for my workouts I have a few goals; to improve my focus, reinforce proper form and to establish the proper mindset for training as hard as possible. The process I use is divided into three phases; quieting my mind, visualization, and entering the “high intensity” mindset. Depending on various factors the whole process might take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.

Quieting The Mind

The goal of the first part is to silence distracting thoughts or temporarily clear them from my mind to improve my focus during the workout. I find a comfortable place to sit, then sitting up  tall with my head high, back straight, and hands resting in my lap, I close my eyes and mouth, relax, and focus on my breath. I do not deliberately slow my breathing, I simply focus my attention on it, and the movement of the diaphragm and abdomen. If a thought of something other than my breath enters my mind I don’t dwell on it, I just return my focus to the breathing. When I feel my mind is “quiet” enough, usually after a few minutes I move on to the next phase.

Visualization

The goal of visualization is to reinforce proper form and improve performance. Eyes still closed, sitting up straight but relaxed, I shift my focus from my breathing to mentally rehearsing the workout. I visualize performing each exercise in perfect form, imagining myself moving against the resistance under perfect control. After visualizing each exercise, I move on to the final phase.

The “High Intensity” Mindset

The “high intensity” mindset is what I call a manner of thinking that facilitates an all out effort during exercise. Before starting, I think the following:

“Pain is your cue to work harder.”

“Find every fiber.”

“Leave no doubt.”

After this, I set up and begin. I will occasionally think through these again at the start of an exercise.

Explanation

“Pain is your cue to work harder.”

Many people terminate a set short of an all-out effort due to physical discomfort, usually muscular burning but also as a result of elevated heart rate, labored breathing and other sensations associated with high intensity work. These sensations often begin long before a person is anywhere near their true physical limits. Rather than associating increasing discomfort with fatigue and ending the exercise it should be associated with the beginning of the most productive part of the exercise and a cue to work harder.

On exercises like squats and deadlifts with high metabolic demand and on exercises like leg extensions and calf raises where the burn tends to be more severe I found this helps considerably.

It is important to note, I distinguish the pain of muscular burning and other uncomfortable sensations which is non-threatening from pain or sensations which may indicate an injury, which is threatening. Non-threatening pain is the cue to work harder, threatening pain is a cue to stop.

When working with clients or other subjects some might prefer to use the word “discomfort” rather than “pain” explaining that while the sensations associated with high intensity work might be uncomfortable, unlike true, threatening pain they are not an indication of injury. If any threatening pain is felt an exercise should be stopped immediately.

“Find every fiber.” and ” Leave no doubt.”

These are reminders not to end any exercise with any doubt as to whether another repetition could have been performed, or whether there might be even a single fiber or motor unit in the target muscles left unworked. Don’t stop until absolutely certain it is physically impossible to continue in good form.

Recommendations

The  first phase takes time to learn to do properly. I have practiced meditation on a semi-regular basis for a few years now, and it has taken a while to get to the point where I can just sit down, close my eyes and “quiet” my mind in a few minutes. It may take a while at first, but with practice your mind will wander less and your focus will improve. This is especially important if you train in a typical gym full of distractions like loud music, banging weights and screaming and other attention-getting histrionics.

During the second, visualization phase, try to imagine every aspect of the exercise, the feel of the bar or machine, the contraction in the target muscles, the position and movement of the body, and perfect execution of every rep. Imagine the weight you are using is immense, but you handle it with perfect control.

The third phase is, brief, only taking a few seconds. The specific phrases aren’t as important as long as they are motivating to you or help you maintain a high level of effort. These just happen to work well for me.

Although much of this runs contrary to the “psyching up” some people believe is necessary to train with a high level of intensity in my experience it facilitates even harder training because rather than a general state of increased arousal it creates a state of intense focus – like a precise, high-powered laser rather than an imprecise and undirected explosion.

This is a response to a question about the best way to perform parallel dips in the comments section of the Ultimate Routine post. Since not everybody reads the comments section and I thought some people might find this helpful I decided to re-post it separately and expand on some of the points.

Mike Mentzer dipping

Parallel bar dips are like squats; people rarely do them correctly, either moving wrong, not going low enough, or going too low and bouncing at the bottom. Parallel bar dips should be performed with a parallel grip with palms facing inwards – while this might seem obvious there are still people following Vince Gironda’s recommendation to do them with palms facing out and the arms internally rotated in a way that puts a lot of stress on the shoulder joint.

When placing the hands on the bars the heels of the palms should be directly on top of the bars – not the center of the palm – so the wrists are directly over the bars and the bars, wrists and elbows line up in the same plane. The arms should be angled out slightly, around 45 degrees at most and not straight out to the sides.

Lean forward throughout the exercise; this increases the range of motion around both the elbows and shoulders and works the chest through a stronger part of it’s range of motion. The more upright the torso, the shorter the range of motion and the easier the exercise is due to better leverage which is the opposite of what you want, which is harder exercise.

Start in the top position. If the dip station you’re using doesn’t have steps get a stable bench or step stool to stand on – this ensures you are able to catch or spot yourself with your legs at any position over your range of motion if necessary.

Lower yourself slowly, keep the chest, shoulders and triceps tight, and turn around when you start to feel a stretch in your chest – do not try for a deep stretch. You should feel a stretch, but not a deep stretch, and any stretch should be felt in the muscles and not the shoulder joints. If you are feeling even a slight stretch in the muscles you are getting as much range of motion as you need or will benefit from – go further and you risk irritating or injuring the shoulders.

Start gradually, drive up in a controlled manner, and focus on contracting the chest, shoulders and triceps. Slow down as you approach lock out then immediately but slowly change direction while staying tight.

If you are strong enough to perform dips with more than your body weight I recommend getting a dipping belt. It is possible to hold a dumbbell between the feet but can be awkward with larger dumbbells and requires the parallel bars be low enough that you can reach the dumbbell with your feet after your hands are in position. Otherwise you will need someone to hand you the dumbbell once you are in position on the bars.

If the chain on the belt does not hang to at least slightly below your knees go to your local home improvement store and have them cut you one that will. If not, you’re going to be very uncomfortable if you try to put the belt on with one or more 45 pound plates on the chain.

A weighted vest is another option, however dipping belts tend to be far more reasonably priced and will hold much more weight.

One of the best options for weighted parallel bar dips, if you’re lucky enough to train in a gym that has one, is the Nautilus Omni Multi Exercise (OME) machine. Instead of weight plates the belt attaches to a lever which drives the weight stack via a negative cam and sprocket which increases the resistance from the bottom to the top of the movement. The OME also has built in steps and the height of the dipping and chinning bars is adjustable.

An even better option, if you have one, is the UXS-15 bodyweight station which has thick, angled dipping bars which provide better wrist position and a more comfortable grip at a height for easy entry and exit.

When performed correctly the parallel bar dip is one of the best exercises for chest, anterior delts and triceps. However, when performed incorrectly they can mess up your shoulders or elbows so be conservative with the resistance when starting out and focus on maintaining proper form.

If you’re constantly reading bodybuilding or fitness magazines, books and web sites searching for the routine – the perfect combination of exercises, sets, and reps – or the training method – the perfect style of performance – I’m going to save you some time and frustration…

There is no such thing.

While some exercises are better than others for specific muscle groups or specific individuals, there are several that are effective for each muscle group, and while there are many different high intensity training methods like the traditional Nautilus principles, SuperSlow protocol, timed static contractions, etc., all of them are effective if done hard and progressively as long as you don’t overdo the volume and get adequate rest between workouts.

However, constantly changing routines is not the answer either.

If you are not making progress changing your routine or specific exercises is usually not the answer. Either you are not stimulating the body to produce a response (not training intensely enough), or you are interfering with or preventing the body from producing a response, by doing more exercise more often than the body is capable of recovering from and adapting to within some time period or by not getting adequate nutrition or rest.

Before switching up exercises or changing training methods ask yourself,

1. Am I really working as hard as possible on each exercise?
2. Am I keeping my workouts relatively brief?
3. Am I allowing my body adequate time to recover between workouts?
4. Am I eating well?
5. Am I getting enough sleep?

If the answer to any of the above is “No” then changing the exercises you’re performing is not going to help your progress.

Often, changing exercises, routines, or training methods appears to break plateaus because during the first six to eight weeks of a new routine weight progression tends to be more rapid due to neural adaptations or learning the skill of the new exercises or method of performance (or relearning the skill of exercises not performed for a long time). Changing exercises at this time is a mistake, however, because it is after this period of neural and skill improvement that real progress begins. When skill and neural adaptations can be ruled out as a major factor in progress you will know every time you improve by repetitions or weight on an exercise it is due to changes in the muscles and not just how efficiently you’re using them.

Some recommend variation because they believe a muscle will become resistant to further adaptations to a particular exercise after a period of time. Unless you are at or near the limits of your potential strength for the muscles worked if you are unable to progress on an exercise you are either not training it hard enough to stimulate improvement or doing something to prevent your body from recovering and producing the improvements stimulated. Contrary to uninformed opinion the body does not become resistant to further adaptations to the exercise movement itself – as long as potential for improvement remains, the stimulus is provided, and the requirements are met for recovery and adaptation the body will improve – what it adapts to is the level of demand of the training. The more advanced your training becomes and the nearer you get to the limits of your potential the harder you have to train to stimulate further improvements.

The more skilled you are at performing an exercise and the better the neural adaptations the harder it is possible for you to work the muscles involved. If you want to maximize the intensity of your workouts you must maximize these neural and skill adaptations, not prevent them by constantly varying your routines.

Another reason some people recommend varying exercises regularly is to avoid harm to the joints from overuse, however this is not a problem if proper exercises are selected and performed correctly to begin with and if the overall volume and frequency of work is not excessive.

This does not mean you should never vary your training, but changes should be made for specific reasons rather than variety for its own sake. Assuming the volume and frequency of training are reasonable, you can get nearly as big and strong as your genetics will allow training hard and progressively on a very basic routine of just a few exercises with very little variation. This should form the foundation of your training.

I realize some people like to vary their routines for psychological reasons: they get bored with their workouts, or find the appearance of faster progress that comes with a change of exercises motivating. There is nothing wrong with this as long as the long-term emphasis is on progression on a few basic exercises and the routines are not varied too often. While entirely switching routines every month or two is a mistake, there are some ways to incorporate variety into a routine while also maintaining enough consistency to ensure you are making real progress rather than just increasing numbers on paper.

The two approaches I suggest are:

1. Perform one or two routines with a few consistent, basic exercises, and a few exercises that alternate.
2. Alternate between a consistent “benchmark” routine and one or more varying routines.

For example, certain exercises make up the core of all my routines; squats, deadlifts, standing presses, chin ups, parallel-bar dips and gripping. I have a few other exercises I like and perform consistently, but however the workouts change they always include those few. You might perform completely different exercises, but the specific exercises are not as important as long as they effectively work all the major muscle groups.

Some advanced trainees may find despite a significant degree of overall improvement in strength and size certain muscle groups are not as strong or well developed as others. This may be due to genetic factors – not everybody has the genes to develop perfectly proportional or symmetrical strength and size throughout the body – however any perceived imbalance or asymmetry may be improved by changing the routine to focus more on lagging muscle groups.

Other situations where variation may be needed is to accommodate changes in other activities or to work around an injury.

With a few exceptions, beginners should stick with the same basic exercises for at least their first two to three months of training, focusing on learning and practicing proper form and becoming accustomed to pushing themselves through the muscular burning and discomfort associated with training at a high level of intensity. Even advanced trainees should not vary their training too often and stay focused primarily on consistently progressing on a few basic exercises.

Whatever variety you incorporate, keep in mind any changes made should should be purposeful and contribute to overall, long-term improvement. Select exercises and structure your routines in accordance with your training goals and how your body responds to exercise rather than simply switching things around randomly or just following whatever appears in the most recent Muscle & Fiction magazine or in the forum at BodybuildingBroScience.com, or whatever is popular in your gym at the time.

While some workouts may be better or more thoughtfully designed than others there is neither a single “ultimate” routine nor a need to constantly vary routines for best results. The best routine is is any that effectively works all the major muscle groups and is performed hard, consistently and progressively.

Arthur Jones in the Nautilus Television Studio

Nautilus inventor and fitness industry pioneer Arthur Jones was born on this day, November 22, in 1926. He revolutionized the fitness industry in the 1970’s with his Nautilus machines and his articles telling people to “…work harder, but very briefly and infrequently” at a time when many bodybuilders were working out twice daily, six days per week.

I first met Arthur in spring of 1997 at a MedX presentation at the Sheraton in Orlando which Jim Flanagan invited me to. After that, we communicated by phone for several years and during occasional visits to his house in Ocala with David Landau and others. It was an honor and a privilege to have known him, and I am grateful for the opportunity.

I learned a lot during these discussions with Arthur, but most of what I learned from him was through reading his Nautilus Bulletins and his Iron Man and Athletic Journal articles. When I worked as a personal trainer for SuperSlow founder Ken Hutchins I helped him move several filing cabinets full of files, articles and publications including much of Jones’ writing. With Ken’s permission I spent hours reading through these, including a copy of the previously unpublished Bulletin 3.

Although I had already read many books on high intensity training by experts like Mike Mentzer and Ellington Darden as well as Ken Hutchin’s SuperSlow technical manual, few of them were as comprehensive or covered as much ground as the Nautilus Bulletins.

I just recently spent a lot of time re-reading these, and although there are a few things in them Arthur later changed his mind about and a few statements that turned out to be wrong, the majority of what he wrote back in the early 1970’s was dead on. The following are just a few of my favorite quotes from Bulletins 1 and 2 (1970, 1971):

On training hard,

“…work harder, but very briefly and infrequently”

“In general, the harder an exercise is, the better its results will be; don’t look for ways to make exercises easier—look for ways to make them harder.”

“…more exercise will never produce the results that are possible from harder exercise…”

“If constant efforts are made in the direction of true progress, if you try to do more reps in each set of every exercise, and if you always increase the resistance in proportion to your strength increases, then growth can be, should be—and in most cases, will be—very fast; not fast only for beginners, but fast for anybody, regardless of his existing level of strength or muscular size, right up to the top level of momentarily-existing potential.”

On workout volume and frequency,

“Best results will always be produced by the minimum amount of exercise that imposes the maximum amount of growth stimulation.”

“…the body can withstand any possible “intensity” of exercise, so long as the amount of such exercise does not exceed the limits of the recovery ability.”

“All of the evidence clearly supports the contention that the “intensity of exercise” should be as high as possible—and that the “amount of exercise” should be limited to the absolute minimum that will produce the desired growth stimulation.”

“If you train properly, you don’t need an actually large “amount” of exercise; more than that, if you train properly, you can’t stand much exercise.”

“If only a few actually very simple points are understood—and applied in practice—then almost all trainees can reach their individual limits of muscular size and strength very quickly, and as a result of brief, infrequent workouts…”

On exercise selection and training routines,

“If a proper selection of exercises is made, then only a few movements are required to develop almost the ultimate degree of strength and muscular size.”

“Properly performed, even a very few basic barbell exercises will produce good results—improperly performed, and no amount of exercises or sets will produce equal results.”

“For best results from exercise, all of the major muscular structures should be worked—all of them; you certainly can build large arms without working your legs—but you will build them much larger, and much quicker, if you also exercise your legs.”

“…human muscular structures are capable of an almost infinite number of individual movements if we consider all of the possibilities and combinations, and attempting to provide a separate exercise for each of these possible movements would certainly be impractical at the very least—but if we consider only major movements, then the number of functions are such that “almost all muscles are involved in almost all movements” (at least in gross terms and in a general sense), it becomes obvious that an actually very limited number of exercises can provide the required work for all of the muscular structures.”

On nutrition,

“A man on a program of heavy physical training will obviously require enough extra calories to supply the energy required by such training—or, at least, he will if he hopes to maintain his existing bodyweight; and if he wishes to gain additional bodyweight, then he will require even more in the way of nutritional factors. But such requirements can come—and, indeed, should come—from a fairly normal diet; such a diet should be well rounded in makeup, and should contain enough protein for meeting the requirements of the moment. Absolutely nothing else in the way of a special diet is required.”

On abdominal training,

“…if you train the rest of the body properly, then the abdominal area will take care of itself. The billions of sit-ups and leg-raises that have been performed by millions of trainees have been almost a complete waste of time and effort…”

“You can build the muscles of the midsection by performing a reasonable amount of intense exercise for the directly involved muscles, but no amount of exercise for these same muscles will help to reduce fat in that area of the body so long as a positive calorie balance exists—a much better approach to the problem is to reduce the food intake as much as possible while performing a reasonable amount of exercise for all of the muscles of the body.”

And the following are a few favorites from Bulletin 3 (1973):

“In later chapters covering exact styles of performance, you will be informed that movements should be “as fast as possible in good form” in many exercises. But many people overlook the most important part of that sentence…in good form.”

“…the most two important factors in exercise may well be individual potential… and quality of coaching.”

“If the intensity of an exercise is below this threshold, below a certain level, then you can train for years with nothing in the way of resulting strength increases. But if the intensity is above a certain level, then strength increases will be produced rapidly. And it seems that the higher the intensity, the faster the strength increases will be produced…or, at least, they will be if you don’t make the mistake of overtraining, of training too much.”

These quotes are as true today as they were nearly four decades ago, and following or ignoring this advice can mean the difference between rapidly maximizing your muscular potential or wasting hundreds of hours in the gym year after year with little or nothing to show for it. Have a favorite Arthur Jones quote or a memory of Arthur to share? If so, please comment below.

Today, November 15th 2010, would have been Mike Mentzer’s 59th birthday.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mike Mentzer. It was his Heavy Duty column in Iron Man magazine that got me to start training properly and finally getting worthwhile results after having wasted years following the “blind, non-theoretical volume approach” espoused by the bodybuilding magazines.

It was these results and the response from others that inspired me to become a personal trainer.

It was through phone conversations and e-mail discussions with Mike that I gained a thorough understanding of the importance of adequate recovery and tailoring the volume and frequency of training to the individual.

And although I have probably learned more about the technical details of exercise performance from Ken Hutchins than any other two or three individuals I’ve known, without Mike I might never have had the opportunity. Just as Mike moved to Florida in the early 1980’s to work for Arthur Jones at Nautilus, I was inspired to move to Florida in the mid 1990’s to work for Ken Hutchins.

Although I always thanked Mike for his time when we spoke, I don’t think words could ever truly convey how much I appreciated the knowledge he shared. I can never again thank him directly, but I’d like to think I’m doing the next best thing by passing along what I learned from him to others.

I encourage anyone who hasn’t read Mike’s books to visit the Mike Mentzer web site and pick up copies of Heavy Duty and Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body.

If you have been inspired or helped by Mike Mentzer in any way or have a memory of him you would like to share, please do so in the comments section below. Also, if you have any questions about Mike’s Heavy Duty system please ask. I can not speak for Mike and am in no way an official representative of Heavy Duty, but I can share what I learned from him and my experiences applying that knowledge as a trainer over the past two decades.

I prefer to work out at home; I can train with almost zero distractions, set up most or all of my exercises in advance and perform them at the pace and in the order I choose,  work out any time of day or night, and never have to worry about someone curling in the squat rack when I need it to perform an exercise.

Earlier today I worked out with a friend at the gym he belongs to. He is older and has some lower back and joint issues and asked me to come along and show him how to use some of the machines because the personal trainers there don’t know what they are doing.

As we went through the workout I noticed a number of people with well developed upper bodies but with thighs and calves that appeared average at best and in some cases significantly under-developed. Most were haphazardly flailing away on all manner of arm curls, chest flyes and bench presses or doing endless sets of various abdominal exercises, but I only saw a few people using the squat rack.

Sadly, none of them were doing squats. They were curling.

There are two big problems with this.

First, for maximum overall muscular development it is absolutely necessary to train the legs with at least the same level of effort as the upper body. Not only will not training the legs result in almost comically disproportionate development, it will actually limit the degree of development in other parts of the body.

In the Nautilus Bulletin No. 2 Arthur Jones wrote,

For best results from exercise, all of the major muscular structures should be worked—all of them; you certainly can build large arms without working your legs—but you will build them much larger, and much quicker, if you also exercise your legs.

If you haven’t been doing so already, train your legs as hard and with the same consistency as the rest of your body and your overall muscular development will improve significantly.

Second, doing arm curls in the squat rack or power rack is a huge breach of gym etiquette. The purpose of a rack is to allow the performance of exercises involving a weight that is too heavy to practically or safely be lifted into position from the floor (eg. squats), very heavy exercises requiring a starting point above the floor (eg. partial deadlifts, shrugs), or exercises where a spotter would normally be required when one is not available (eg. bench presses). Nobody curls more weight than they can pick up off the floor.

The only time it is ever acceptable to curl in the squat rack is if you are performing negative-only curls and do not have one or more training partners to help lift the bar to the top position. The rack can support the bar while you can squat down beneath it, then stand back up while holding it in the top position of the curl.