by Matt Marshall on September 8, 2010
This old time legend knew the key to avoiding illness
If you want to build a head-turning physique, you’ve got to be consistent with your nutrition and your training sessions.
Which means you’ll never get anywhere if you keep skipping training sessions.
In fact, to make fast gains you’ve got to find a way to string together as many training sessions as you can.
But what about when you catch a cold or flu? Should you slog on, and try to battle through a training session even when you’re under the weather?
Or should you rest up and come back when you’re 100% recovered?
I’ve been training on and off for about 15 years now and here’s what I’ve discovered:
If you wait until you’re 100% recovered, it will take a long time to feel healthy again. But if you get back under the iron too soon, you can prolong a cold or flu.
So here’s what I recommend:
When you first get sick, go ahead a take a full day off. No training at all.
If you feel better or the same the next day, try some light cardio. Sometimes “sweating it out” can do wonders for a cold.
If you feel WORSE the day after your light cardio, then get back on the couch. But if you feel better (and 90% of the time you will) then do another cardio day. This time push it a little harder and try to sweat it out a little more.
This should get you back to feeling about 90% healthy and that’s good enough to get back under the iron.
So with this method, you can catch a cold on Sunday night and be training again on Wednesday or Thursday. That’s not too bad considering many guys will miss 1-2 weeks every time they catch a cold.
Of course, the best way to avoid getting sick is to take a tip from Jack Lalanne and AVOID SUGAR. Sugar depresses your immune system and makes you more likely to catch an illness.
So avoid sugar at all costs and you’ll reduce your odds of getting sick.
Jack Lalanne is also a big believer in supplementing with liver tablets.
To find out why, go here.
by Matt Marshall on September 7, 2010
If you want to LOOK like you know your way around a gym, you’re probably going to need to gain some weight at some point in your training career.
But how much weight do you need to gain? What will YOU need to weigh before you actually LOOK like you work out.
Here’s a good rule of thumb:
Take your height in inches and multiply that by 3.
So if you are 5′8 (68 inches), you’ll need to weigh around 195 to really get that impressive look of power.
Don’t take my word for it:
Strong.
Here’s a couple examples.
George Eiferman won the Mr. America contest in 1948.
He was 5′7 and his weight is listed at 195 pounds. Of course, that’s probably his contest weight so he may have weighed more on a regular day. But as you can see, he clearly has the look of power.
Or how about Dick Dubois?
Dubois and Reeves picking up chicks.
He was listed at 6′1 (73 inches) and 220 pounds — again right around 3 pounds per inch of vertical height.
And as you can see, he too had the look of power and strength.
Finally, let’s not forget about John Grimek. Grimek was a beast at 5′8 and 210 pounds. He actually weighed as much as 250 pounds at one point but competed at 210 pounds.
And as you can see, he DEFINITELY looked like a guy who knows a thing or two about weight training.
Grimek. Old school power.
So if you want to LOOK like a “man of steel”, then you may have to gain some weight.
Shoot for 3 pounds per inch of vertical height.
And if you want to see how the old timers gained weight, check out the Tried & True Fitness Guide to Muscle & Might. Because on page 59, I reveal a strategy used by one old time trainer to gain over 100 pounds of muscle — way back in the 1930’s! See for yourself.
by Matt Marshall on September 3, 2010
Nerd + Weight Gain Shake = Chick Magnet.
I’m trying to gain a few pounds over the next few months, so here’s what I’m doing:
Every night before bed, I make a homemade weight gain shake.
Nerdy Weight Gain Shake.
16 ounces cold water
2 scoops protein powder (chocolate)
2 ounces of half & half
1 raw egg.
Totals
Calories: 520
Protein: 83 gram
Fat: 13 grams
Carbs: 5 grams
Why do I call this a “nerdy” weight gain shake? It’s because I use MATH (gasp!) every week to change what goes in the shake.
You’ll notice I’m only using 2 ounces of half & half cream and only one egg.
There’s a reason for that.
Because the first week I start taking this shake, I gain weight with just 2 ounces of half & half and one raw egg.
But inevitably, progress slows. And when I stop gaining weight, I simply adjust the ingredients in this shake.
Instead of 16 ounces of cold water and 2 ounces of half & half cream, I’ll do 14 ounces of water and 4 ounces of half & half cream. Plus I’ll add an extra raw egg.
That should be enough to get the scale moving again. But if not, I’ll just keep increasing the amount of half & half cream, and adding more eggs to the shake. (Honestly, you can’t even taste the eggs.)
There you have it:
A nerdy weight gain shake.
If you other tried & true strategies for gaining muscle and packing on size, check out the book.
by Matt Marshall on September 2, 2010
The $5 warm up solution
Warming up. Not the most exciting topic, right?
Well, let’s see if this gets your heart racing. If you start warming up properly, you can instantly make yourself stronger and make your workouts EASIER.
And to top it off, I estimate 95% of all guys don’t warm up right.
Here’s the 3 parts to a proper warm up for a weight training workout:
Step #1: Medium Intensity Cardio
The first step in a warm-up is to raise the temperature of the body, get your joints lose and start to break a sweat.
Biking or running are both good choices for your cardio warm-up. Or if you’re short on space, just get yourself a jump rope.
The key here is “medium intensity.” You want to warm up for about 5 -10 minutes. And you want to push the pace pretty hard so that you break a sweat by the end.
Many guys don’t warm-up hard enough here. A brisk walk is not enough. Your body can handle a tougher warm up.
In fact, I once heard a story about an old-school trainer who had a last minute emergency on his workout day. His car broke down, so he was forced to bike 12 miles to the gym.
He set brand new PR’s on the squat and said the weights felt lighter than ever.
On the flip side, some guys push the cardio way to hard. Remember, this is just a warm-up. You should not be running or biking a marathon before your training session.
So strive to find that middle ground — a good, medium cardio warm-up. No more, no less.
#2) Stretching & Foam Rolling
There are plenty of scientific studies that show how stretching can actually make you weaker before a training session. So many guys will use that to blow off stretching. Look, stretching can make you temporarily weaker — for about 4 seconds after your stretch. But it can also save your joints and keep you injury free. So take a couple minutes to knock out a few quick stretches before you jump under the iron.
Older guys may also want to explore the idea of foam rolling before your workouts to loosen up the joints and tight muscles.
#3) Hit 90 -95% of your work weights in your warm-ups.
A lot of guys will just bench 135lbs a few times, call that a warm-up and then jump right into their work sets.
Dumb.
If you’re benching 245 pounds for your work set, here’s a proper weight training warm up.
45 lbs (the bar) x 20.
135lbs x 5.
185lbs x 3
205lbs x 1
225lb x 1
Knocking out plenty of reps with the empty bar helps to practice proper bar path and make sure your joints are plenty warmed up. Then we want to increase the weight WITHOUT doing anything that taxes the muscles. Often times you’ll see guys try to get a “pump” from their warm up sets — but all this does is reduce the amount of weight you can use on your work sets.
Finally, you’ll want to hit a single with 90 -95% of your work set weights. In this case, 225 pounds is 91% of 245 pounds. This helps get the nervous system and your mind ready for the feel of the work set weights.
If you don’t do a single with 90-95% of your weight set weights, it can make your work set weights feel extremely heavy and this can cause you to alter your form.
There you have it: No more wimpy warm-ups. Try this strategy before your next training session and I’ll bet you are instantly stronger.
Matt Marshall
Tried & True Fitness
P.S. Your pre-workout warm up is important. But your post-workout nutrition is also a crucial piece of the muscle-building puzzle. Here’s what old time trainers did to make sure they got important muscle building nutrients.
Secret of Old Time Trainers.
by Matt Marshall on September 1, 2010
This old time trainer knew how to get results
Recently, I stumbled across an article penned way back in 1978.
The author — a Scottish man — outlined how he boosted his squat from 70 pounds for one rep all the way to an incredible 400 pounds for 20 reps.
He started as your typical scrawny weakling, weighing in at just 130 pounds and barely able to bench press the empty barbell. After many years of hard and productive training, he ended up at 220 pounds of solid muscle — with a bench press of over 300 pounds and squat of over 600 pounds.
Anyway, I just found the workout plan he used to make such an incredible transformation. And this workout is so simple, most people won’t even give it a shot.
But those that are willing to try this workout plan for 3-6 months and commit themselves 100% might be amazed at how quickly your physique changes.
Here’s the plan:
Monday:
Squat: 1 all-out set of 20 “breathing rep” squats.
Bench: 5 sets of 5 reps.
Deadlift: 5,3,1.
Wed & Friday. (same as Monday.)
For those of you who’ve never tried breathing rep squats, you are in for a treat.
Essentially, it’s one long drawn out set of squats. You take giant, deep gulps of air in between each rep. You may only need one or two breaths between the first few reps, but by reps 15-20 you’ll generally be sucking in 10 full deep breaths in between each rep.
After that, take a few minutes to regain consciousness and then slink over to the bench press. After a quick warm-up, you’ll do 5 sets of 5 reps. If you can bench 300 pounds for a single, you’ll probably end up using around 250 lbs for your 5 x 5.
This is not as difficult as one set of 20 rep squats — but still — 5 x 5 is no walk in the park.
Finally, you’ll finish up with the deadlift. A set of 5 reps, 3 reps and finally 1 rep with increasing weights is a long-time powerlifting staple.
Whenever you accomplish all your reps, add a few pounds to the bar for the next session.
Beginners can run this workout for a few weeks increasing weights almost every workout.
When things start to get tough, make Wednesdays workout a light day (use 80% of the weights you used for Mondays workout) and you will be able to prolong progress for a few more weeks.
For more tried & true workout plans, check out the guide to muscle and might.
by Matt Marshall on August 31, 2010
Baby steps: They worked for Bob and they'll work for you.
If you want to gain size, get strong and get ripped, here’s the secret:
Baby steps.
You see, the human body is a remarkable machine. It can adapt and adjust to almost any changes you throw at it.
But only IF you are patient and methodical.
Let me give you an example:
Say you want to increase you bench press strength by 10% and you are currently benching 225 pounds for five reps.
If you try to add 10 or even 5 pounds to the bar for your next session, you will mostly likely fail to get all five reps.
But if you add just 1 pound to the bar (using micro plates), you’ll get all 5 reps easily. Then you simply repeat the process — adding one pound to the bar each week. And before you know it, you’ll be benching 250 pounds for five reps — an increase of over 10%.
Of course, you’ve heard me preach about the benefits of microloading before. Because it’s a tried and true method for gaining strength.
But did you know you can also “microload” your way to getting bigger and even getting ripped too?
Check it out:
If you want to gain weight, you need to eat more right?
But instead of just mindless shoveling food down your pie hold, you can micro load your way to your goal. It’s easy: Weigh yourself once a week. If you have NOT gained at least 0.5 - 1 pound in the past week, you need to increase your calories.
Just add one sandwich per day, or one egg or one shot of olive oil. Then check the scale again in a week and see what happens. By microloading your weight gain in this manner, you can ensure you’re gaining muscular weight slowly — and not just getting fat.
Getting Ripped? Baby steps again…
And it’s not different if you want to lose weight. Start slow — eliminate junk food from your diet but don’t make any effort to eat less.
Add cardio — again starting slow. Begin with a 5 minute jog and then increase the time by just one minute per session.
Most people get excited about achieving a goal — be it gaining size or burning fat. And they jump in with both feet only to burn out a week later.
But if you take small, consistent baby steps you can keep making progress for weeks, months and years.
If you want to learn how taking baby steps can make you big, strong and ripped, check out the book.
by Matt Marshall on August 29, 2010
Quick story:
I’ve been trying to buy a new phone for my wife for weeks now.
But every time I go to the store, I walk out empty handed.
Why? Too many options. Too much information. (Or, TMI as the kids say.)
Recently, I was at the phone store again and there was an awesome sales guy there who made everything simple.
10 minutes later, I was done shopping. (Settled on the Samsung Vibrant, if you’re wondering.)
So what does this have to do with building muscle, stripping off body fat and getting in shape?
Too much information can kill your progress.
You don’t need a million different workout plans. You don’t need to count every single calorie.
You just need a blunt, basic and brutal plan that WORKS.
The old-time trainers had plenty of basic (but effective) plans that worked like gangbusters. Most gym rats have no idea about this stuff.
But you can find these old school programs here.
by Matt Marshall on August 27, 2010
Broccoli? Seriously? Yup. Here's why...
If you’ll try this 3 day experiment, I can almost guarantee you’ll feel like a brand new man (or woman) in just 72 hours.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to do anything extreme.
You just have to change two daily habits.
#1) Drink more water.
I recently took a medical test that required me to chug 64 ounces of water immediately after waking up. So I chugged the water, took a nice long piss and then sat down to watch some Sports Center.
But then I noticed something strange.
About an hour after I drank the water, I felt amazing. Strong, energetic… ready to go!
So I concluded that even though I already drink a lot of water, I simply wasn’t drinking ENOUGH.
And I’m not alone. Most guys (and girls) don’t get enough water. So for this 72 hour challenge, your goal is to drink 1 gallon of water per day. You don’t have to drink ONLY water — you can drink milk, soft drinks, coffee or whatever you want. But only AFTER you’ve consumed your gallon of pure water.
#2) Eat Broccoli
My mom was great about making me eat my vegetables. Unfortunately, that’s not a habit I’ve kept up over the years.
I actually like vegetables. I like the taste and I really enjoy eating vegetables. But for some reason, I just don’t end up eating that many vegetables. I don’t have any excuse, it’s just laziness.
So when I realized I was letting my laziness affect my health, I decided to make a change. I forced myself to start eating vegetables as an after dinner snack for a week. Needless to say, I felt great and kicked myself for not doing this sooner.
If you’re like me, you probably don’t eat enough vegetables. Let’s fix that NOW. For the next 72 hours, I want you to pick one vegetable and eat a couple handfuls of that vegetable every day.
Pick something green — like cucumbers, asparagus or green beans. Or better yet, start with raw broccoli.
Broccoli contains a natural chemical that can actually boost your testosterone levels. So try “mega-loading” broccoli for the next 3 days and see what happens.
This is easy stuff. Drink more water and eat more broccoli. But this kind of stuff can really make a difference in how you feel. Try it for next 3 days and see for yourself.
by Matt Marshall on August 26, 2010
If you want to build rock-solid, muscular legs… then here’s an old-school way to get results fast.
You see, if you ask any modern day personal trainer how to build up your quadriceps muscles (the muscles on the front of your thigh), he or she will probably tell you to do leg extensions or leg presses.
To that I say…. pfffffth.
Steve Reeves knew how to build massive quads
Take a look at Steve Reeves, winner of the Mr. America contest in 1948.
Way before steroids, creatine or fancy leg machines, Reeves built powerful legs with one little-known exercise.
The front squat.
It’s unlikely you’ll ever see the front squat in commercial gyms. Last time I did front squats in a commercial gym, some guy asked me what the hell I was doing.
Turns out he’d never seen anyone do a front squat before.
Honestly, that doesn’t surprise me.
The front squat is hard.
It’s a true “gut buster.”
But it works.
Don’t take my word for it.
Front squats work wonders for Olympic lifters
Olympic weight lifters do plenty of front squats. And — as you can see from the photo — the results can be pretty amazing.
So if you want bigger quads, follow the lead of the Olympic weightlifters and Steve Reeves and start to incorporate front squats into your workouts.
Here’s how it’s done.
With the bar in the rack, approach the bar and make sure you’re resting the bar on the front of your shoulders. Use your fingers to keep the bar in place, but the weight should be on your shoulders.
Front Squat - start
Bend your knees and squat down — all the way down — until your hips are lower than your knees. For many people, the back of the hamstrings will actually touch the back of the calves at the bottom of the front squat.
Then, simply stand up with weight — keeping your back straight and your head up.
Front squat - bottom
When doing low reps (5 or under) use the “clean grip.” Most people complain that this grip hurts their wrists. Well, it hurts everyone’s wrists at first. Try it for a month and then see if it still hurts. Most people just try it once and give up. But really — it hurts everyone for about a month until you get used to it.
If you’re going to train front squats with higher reps (which is a GREAT way to make your quads get bigger faster), use the bodybuilding or California grip as demonstrated here by Dave Draper.
Front squat with bodybuilding/california grip
This is a little more comfortable for longer sets.
There you have it — a tried & true way to build bigger quads and more powerful legs.
For more “old-school” training tips, check out The Book.
Also, check out one of my older blog posts about Steve Reeve’s workout drink.
by Matt Marshall on August 25, 2010
Just a quick update.
Had plenty of requests from people for more information both on ME and the reason behind the Tried & True Fitness philosophy.
So I made a couple changes to the blog to help answer some of the more frequently asked questions.
Check out the new pages now:
My Story.
Why Tried & True?
