by Matt Marshall on February 22, 2010
Convict Conditioning By Paul Wade
The following article contains my review of the book, Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade and published by Dragon Door Publishing.
First, some background about me:
A few years back, I authored and published a simple bodyweight exercise guide known as “The Home Workout Plan.”
The book sold well and was generally well received. I got plenty of success stories each month from guys who loved the book.
Despite that, I took the book off the market about a year ago because I simply wasn’t happy with the book. Despite the fact that the book made me money every month, despite the fact that the reviews were overwhelmingly positive, I no longer sell the book simply because in my eyes the book was not good enough for my customers.
So when I heard about Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade, I had hopes that this would be the book I could wholeheartedly recommend to anyone interested in bodyweight exercises.
In this article, I’ll recap my thoughts in play-by-play fashion as I go through the book:
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by Matt Marshall on February 12, 2010
Just a quick update:
Many of you have asked me what I think about the new book on bodyweight exercises, “Convict Conditioning.”
I just got the book in the mail yesterday and I will have a full review posted new week.
Stay tuned.
by Matt Marshall on January 31, 2010
The next 28 days could change your life.
February’s a weird month.
Just 28 days long, and it feels like there’s never much going on in the month of February.
A few years ago I noticed that every time February rolled around, I found myself just passing the time, waiting for March.
Dumb.
So I decided to make a change and take advantage of the short month.
Now, when February rolls around I set a personal challenge. I pick an activity or a task and I challenge myself to complete the activity/task every single day.
For example, last February I realized I’d been slacking off on the cardio. So I challenged myself to perform some cardio every single day during the 28 days of February.
The length and duration didn’t really matter. The act of getting the job done every single day made all the difference.
Fitness author Dan John has a saying: “If something is important, do it every day. If it’s not important, don’t do it.”
In my younger days, I never realized how powerful this principle could be.
In fact, I would do the exact opposite.
For example, if I had to write a book report in my younger days I’d have chosen to work for 8 hours straight on a Saturday rather than devote 30 minutes a day to the project every single day.
But there’s something magical about working on a project every single day without allowing yourself the luxury of a day off. You fall into a routine and after the month is over you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish.
So I challenge you to join me and seize this short month. Pick an activity/task and challenge yourself to perform this task every single day without missing a single day for the entire month.
You don’t have to pick an overwhelming task: In fact, smaller goals work better with this challenge.
Here are a couple ideas to get you started:
* Keep a food journal and write down what you eat every day.
* Spend 15 minutes a day stretching.
* Go for a 10 minute walk every day.
* Meditate for 5 minutes a day.
* Wake up without slapping the snooze button.
* Write down and review your goals every morning, noon and night for 28 days.
As you can see, none of these tasks are particularly overwhelming. But that’s the beauty of this challenge. You pick something small but the results seem to compound quickly because of the daily effort.
If you feel like sharing your goal for this challenge, leave your thoughts in the comments.
As for me, I’m going to knuckle-down and make a big push towards getting the new book done. I commit to spend 30 minutes per day working on the new book and I will do this each and every single day during the month of February.
by Matt Marshall on January 9, 2010
The Man Who Out-Muscled Arnold in 1966
In 1966, the world’s most famous bodybuilder (Arnold Schwartzeneggar) enter the Mr. Universe Amateur competition (talll division).
He took 2nd place.
The man who beat him? Chet Yorton.
Here’s some incredible details about the man who defeated the Austrian oak the and unusual training program he followed:
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by Matt Marshall on December 2, 2009
Lifting weights equals magic?
I’m often asked what I find so enjoyable about training.
It’s a fair question. After all, when you wake up at 5:30 AM to train, the rest of the world will want to know what the appeal is all about.
I’m always tempted to quote Henry Rollins, “The iron never lies to you . . . two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.”
But that’s not quite it.
I do find some solace in the consistency of the iron. But that’s not what gets me out of a warm bed while it’s dark and dreary outside.
The reason I drag myself out of bed and put myself through what any normal person would describe as “torture with a barbell” day in and day out is because — to me — training is magic.
Let me explain with an example:
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by Matt Marshall on November 16, 2009
Got Knee Pain? Read this.
The blog has been quiet for a bit because I’ve been on a mission. On a mission to figure out why my knees were killing me and how to fix it.
Here’s the deal:
My knees have been aching for a while. But of course, I ignored the pain and pressed on. But recently, the pain got so bad that I finally had to stop ignoring the pain and figure out a solution.
The source of the pain was right below the knee cap, and the pain was most intense when going down stairs. Based on these symptoms, I reasoned that I most likely had a case of patellar tendonitis.
Patellar tendonitis (also known as jumper’s knee) occurs when the patellar tendon becomes inflamed. How does this happen? For many people, simple over-use can trigger a bout of patellar tendonitis.
I believe mine was caused by a variety of factors, including: #1) Unknowingly letting my knees slide forward at the bottom of heavy squats. #2) Months and months of heavy squatting without any time off. #3) Disregard for appropriate cardio and flexibility routines.
In short, I got lazy. Sure, I was working hard under the bar but I wasn’t doing enough on my off-days to ensure proper knee health. And it took me far too long to realize that “fighting through the pain” isn’t always the best strategy. In fact, I didn’t stop squatting until I found it nearly unbearable to step down off a 3-inch ledge.
At that point, I’d had enough. And I set out to figure out how to cure this knee pain and fix my knees. While some people are patient and smart enough to try one cure at a time, I prefer the shot-gun approach: I tried a bunch of different solutions all at once.
Here’s what I did, and here’s what happened:
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by Matt Marshall on October 27, 2009
The old-time trainers knew why the right foods could make a man big and strong.
Everyone knows that you’ve got to eat plenty of food to gain muscle and strength (or as the old-timers called it, “might”).
But did you know there are certain foods that old-timers have relied on for DECADES to pack on slabs of muscle and build super-human strength?
It’s true.
In this article, I’ll reveal three often-ignored power foods that guys have been using for years to get big and strong. These foods were making guys big and strong 60 years ago and they’re just as effective today.
Best of all, each of these power foods can be found at your local grocery store. No fancy chemicals or laboratory concoctions. Just natural, cheap, muscle-building food.
Let me show you:
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by Matt Marshall on October 18, 2009
If you flick on the news for more than 30 seconds, you’re sure to hear a lot of hype and scare tactics about the
“killer” flu that’s been going around.
Jack Lalanne knows the secrets of keeping yourself fit and healthy
A while back it was the bird flu. Now it’s the swine flu. And I’m sure there will be yet another deadly flu scare next year.
While scientists rush to develop the latest modern flu shots, you can actually take a note from the old time trainers and
significantly reduce your odds of ever catching the flu just by following these “old wives” tales for flu prevention.
Much of this advice is routinely ignored by the mainstream media. But that doesn’t diminish the effectiveness of this simple regimen.
So without further ado, here are a few simple steps you can take to dramatically reduce your liklihood of catching the flu this year:
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by Matt Marshall on September 30, 2009
Health and fitness news from the week of Sept. 28th, 2009
Here’s the latest health & fitness news from around the internet:
* If you’re a Sports Center junkie (like me), you’ve no doubt seen the story about USC tailback Stafon Johnson. While bench pressing, a barbell with 275lbs slipped out of Johnson’s hand and crushed his throat. After a 7 hour surgery, he’s listed in stable condition.
This is purely speculation on my part, but I suspect he may have been using a “thumb-less” or “suicide” grip on the barbell. Personally, I’m not a fan of this grip. So if you’ve been using this grip, perhaps it’s time to switch back to regular “thumbs-around” grip.
You could be next.
* A study done on Oxford rowers found that rowers were able to handle more pain when rowing with teammates as opposed to rowing alone.
This explains why training with a partner may yield more productive workouts. If you train alone (like me), then you’re out of luck. Or (like me) you can just imagine that Reg Park, Arnold and John Grimek are working out with you, cheering you on.
* Looks like I’m not the only one who hates The Biggest Loser. Mark Sisson does a fine job of carving up this “reality” weight loss show.
* Did you know that Casey Butt (owner of the long-standing “Weightrainer” website) has a blog? Neither did I. Check it out here. Good stuff from a life-long natural trainer.
* The Fall Issue of “Classic Physique Builder” has just been released. If you haven’t seen this free online magazine and blog, you can check it out here.
* Finally, a new website burst onto the internet recently and I for one and loving it. “70’s Big” is all about how to get big and strong like the guys in the 1970’s did.
That’s it for this week. Happy reading.
by Matt Marshall on September 28, 2009
5BX: The Canadian Fitness Plan
In the 1950’s, the Royal Canadian Air Force asked scientist Bill Orban to create a fitness plan for their pilots. (At the time, a whopping 33% of Royal Canadian Air Force pilots were considered “unfit” for flight.)
Orban was given two requirements: First, the plan must only take a few minutes a day. And second, since many of these pilots were stationed on remote bases, the plan must NOT require any equipment.
Mr. Orban went to work. During his research, he noticed that long periods of exercise did not show any significant advantage over short periods of exercise. Armed with this knowledge, Orban decided that intensity was more important than the duration of time spent exercising.
With that in mind, he created a simple daily exercise program known as “5BX”. The 5BX was eventually released to the public program sold over 23 million copies worldwide.
(Orban received zero money from this worldwide best seller. I guess that’s the pitfall of working with the government.)
The 5BX plan itself is very simple. You can see it for yourself here.
But it got me thinking: What could I recommend if somebody LITERALLY only had 5 minutes a day to get fit and had NO equipment?
Here’s what I came up with:
The Five Minute Fitness Plan
20 Bodyweight Squats
10 Push-ups.
Repeat for as many rounds as you can get within 5 minutes.
Looks incredibly simple, right?
Try it.
Not only will it get your heart racing, but it works almost every muscle in your body with just two simple, no-equipment-needed exercises.
(Note: The bodyweight squats should be done to proper depth — hips below the knee. If you cut off the squats and make them half or quarter squats, this routine becomes incredibly easy and, by extension, far less effective.)
With the inclusion of one more exercise, the plan gets even better.
20 Bodyweight Squats
10 Push-Ups
5 Pull-ups.
I realize not everyone will have access to a pull-up bar so I left it out of the original program. But if you can find a place to pull yourself up, you’re in business. A tree branch, door ledge, I-beam… anything will do in a pinch.
Obviously, a program like this won’t give you 20-inch biceps or the endurance capabilities to run a marathon in under 3 hours.
But this simple program, combined with a smart, healthy eating plan will give you a good-looking physique and a good “base-level” of fitness.
Next time you’re running low on time… or if you’re stuck out in the wilderness somewhere… give this routine a shot.
P.S. This program would work great for college students stuck in tiny dorm rooms.
