And each bout lasted a week to 10 days. As I got older (and got better about my eating and training habits) I got sick only 1 or 2 times per year. But still, each time I got sick I was down for 7-10 days.

But recently, I went 498 days without getting sick.

In this post, I’ll reveal the strategies I use to avoid getting sick (even while those around me are dropping like flies) and why I finally got sick when I foolishly ignored these proven principles.

Key #1: Avoid Sugar

I think this is the key to avoiding illness and staying healthy. Sugar can suppress your immune system and alter the balance of minerals.

By making a conscious effort to avoid sugar (mainly by avoiding junk food and opting for healthier snacks), I was able to stave off illness for nearly a year and a half.

Key #2: Sleep

Another key to staying healthy is getting enough sleep. Now, I’m a realist. I know that almost no one is able to get the recommended 8 hours per night anymore. Myself included. Most days I’m lucky to get 6.
But as long as you don’t have too many consecutive nights where you’re only getting a couple hours of shut-eye, I think the body can adapt and stay healthy until you get caught up.

So while I still have the occasional sleepless night, I try not to let it get out of hand and turn into a solid week of poor sleep.

Key #3: Fasting

This is my secret weapon to staying healthy. I’ve found that by simply taking one day off from eating every once in a while, I can quickly restore my bodies recuperative abilities and maintain optimal health.

Digestion takes a lot of energy, so every once in a while I give my body a break from digestion and let my body use the energy to make repairs and restore health.

Key #4: Supplementation

The final key to staying health for long stretches is proper supplementation. It’s easy to get caught up in the medical studies and research papers that claim you don’t need extra vitamins and minerals to achieve optimal health.

But it’s all B.S.

For example, researches have done studies showing that taking large amounts of vitamin C does NOT prevent colds.

But here’s the thing you must remember:

Researches perform these studies on regular people. Regular people who sit at desks all day and consider taking a 20 minute walk twice a week as “exercise.”

Compare that with a hard-training individual. A guy who considers walking just a way to get from point A to point B and considers exercise squatting 350lbs for 5 sets of 5.
This guy can definitely use a few extra vitamins and minerals.

So when I got serious about my supplementation, I went for 498 days (my longest ever) without getting sick. It may just be a coincidence but I doubt it.

What do I mean when I say I got serious about my supplementation? Well, for starters I made sure I took my vitamins every day. Not just when I felt like it but every day at breakfast and again before bed.

What do I take?

Multi-vitamin
Multi-mineral
Vitamin C
Fish Oil
Liver Tablets

Why I Finally Got Sick

A few days ago, my streak ended and I finally got sick. And looking back, it’s easy to see why:

I went back home to Michigan for the weekend. I was on an airplane with 400 other people. I ate tons of food and plenty of sweets. Plus I consumed my fair share of beers. I didn’t get much sleep and I didn’t take any vitamins at all over the weekend. And wouldn’t you know it — I ended up getting the flu and a 102 degree fever.

But here’s the incredible part: Even though I got really sick, once I resumed my regular strategies I got better fast. I was back to work in 48 hours. Which is incredible because usually I’m sick for over a week.

So, if you’re struggling to stay healthy pay close attention to the 4 keys I mentioned and see if you can’t put together your own “health streak.”

P.S. There’s still time to sign-up for the pre-sale notification list for my new book. Remember, if you’re on the pre-sale notification list you can buy the new book at a huge discount.
Go here: Pre-Sale List

So you might THINK I’m going to tell you to buy my book, right?

You might THINK I’m going to say something like, “If you only buy one weight training book this year… buy my book.”

But the truth is… if you only buy one weight-training book this year you should NOT buy my upcoming book.

Here’s why…

I’ve recently discovered one of the best weight training books ever. The book was written by a regular guy, with no special physical gifts or talents… who found a way to make himself (and many others) big and strong with nothing more than a few “tried & true” principles.

I got this book a few months ago and I’ve probably read the book over a dozen times. It’s one of those books that you end up reading over and over again because every time you read it you pick up something new.

Real Strength, Real Muscle. A phenomenal book. Get it now.

The book is called “Real Strength, Real Muscle” by John Christy and the reason I think you should buy this book RIGHT NOW is because…

This Book Could Disappear Forever!

Unfortunately, John Christy passed away unexpectedly a short while back. I sent John’s wife an email letting her know how much I admired her husband’s work and how I wished I would have found this book 10 years ago.

We exchanged a few brief emails and she told me the book is still available and she will continue to fulfill orders until their current supply of books is gone. After that, she’s not sure what she is going to do.

Long story short… I think everyone should get a copy of Real Strength, Real Muscle. And if you’re going to buy a copy of the book, you should do it NOW because once all the existing copies of the book are gone, who knows what will happen.

To buy the book, go here: Real Strength, Real Muscle Book

Oh, and just for the record I don’t make a dime if you buy the book. All the money goes to Jennifer and the rest of John’s family. I’m simply recommending this book because I think it’s an incredible resource and I want my readers to get a copy of this book before it’s too late.

NOTE: If you know anyone else who might be interested in this book or if you post any of the popular fitness boards, please share this post.

It’s not every day that we get the chance to do a good deed and help out the wife and family of a fellow iron warrior.

Thanks for reading.

– Matt

Haven’t had much opportunity to write up any new blog posts in a while (still working on the book), but I wanted to share a link with you.

The fine folks at Fitness Spotlight had a blog post with a bunch of cool health and fitness quotes. I was surprised how many of these quotes had an “old-school” slant.

So I think you’ll enjoy the list.

Here’s the link:

Top Health & Fitness Quotes

Oh, and if you’re feeling a little short on motivation… check out this video.

Enjoy the weekend.

And don’t forget to sign up for more information on my new book: New Book

The latest and greatest training technique coming out of Japan promises big results and huge gains if you’re willing to try something a little unusual.

It’s called Kaatsu Training.

Oh, and there’s one catch:

Kaatsu training could work on every muscle group – except your neck.

Because Kaatsu training involves cutting off the circulation and blood flow to your muscles while you train. Yes, you read that right.

The original Kaatsu training experiments were done on subjects using a seated calf raise machine. The volunteers would train one leg normally. But for the other leg, researchers would cut-off circulation above the knee before the training.

Surprisingly, scientists found that cutting off the blood flow to the muscles during training sessions actually seemed to increase not only strength levels but also growth hormone levels!

Needless to say, that made me curious.

So I decided to perform my own “at-home” version of a Kaatsu Training Experiment to see if this latest training craze really delivered the goods – or if it was just another system that sounds great in theory but falls short in real life.

Here’s what I did:

I used the Captains of Crush Grippers to measure strength levels for this experiment.

I tested my grip strength using a Captains of Crush Gripper.

Previous to this test, I had not done any grip training in a while so I was starting from a true baseline.

Using my right hand and going to failure, I was able to get 15 complete and full reps. Then I tested my left hand and I was able to get 10 full reps.

I then performed three training sets with each hand. Each set was taken to failure and only full reps were counted.

Here’s the major point of the experiment:

I trained my right arm normally.

Using the method above, I trained grip strength 3 times per week.

Each time, the right hand was trained normally while the left hand was trained with the circulation cut-off, Kaatsu style.

I trained my left arm Kaatsu style - cutting off my circulation for the training sets.

Here are the results:

After two weeks of training – the right arm being trained normally and the left-arm trained in the Kaatsu style.

Right Arm – Trained Normally.
Starting level of strength: 15 reps.
Final level of strength: 21 reps.
Strength increase of 40%.

Left Arm – Trained In Kaatsu style.
Starting level of strength: 10 reps.
Final level of strength: 12 reps.
Strength increase of 20%.

Final Verdict:

This experiment showed that regular, hard training over a two-week period showed a greater strength increase than Kaatsu training.

Final Thoughts:

Admittedly, my experiment was less than perfect. It was done using a single subject (myself) and the fact that my right arm was already stronger than the left may have affected the outcome.

However, I personally feel the entire reason my right arm grew stronger at a faster rate than my left is because I was able to train my right arm harder. (Cutting off the circulation on my left arm fatigued my muscles faster and I was not able to complete nearly as many reps on my left hand during training sessions.)

I still feel that Kaatsu training could have some limited applications, especially for rehab patients who are unable to push themselves to train hard.

But for the rest of us, if the goal is to increase strength and muscle, regular, hard-training seems to provide the fastest results.

While I’m always open to new ideas, it seems the old-school methods for building strength and muscle seem to win out time and time again.

If you’re interested in discovering more tried & true methods for building strength and muscle, click here for more information on my new book: New Book

I’m trying to decide which supplement I should create next for the Tried & True Supplement line.

After months of research, I’m about ready to begin development.

I’ve narrowed it down to two options. And I’ve got to tell you, I’m extremely excited about both supplements.

But I need your help. Which one do YOU think I should develop FIRST?

Option #1: A little-known, all-natural digestive aid used by many bodybuilders in the 50’s and 60’s that helps you squeeze more nutrients out of the foods you’re already eating (so it saves you money) — plus it soothes joint pain.

Or…

Option #2: An all-natural, safe and effective testosterone booster — developed by Egyptian scientists nearly 70 years ago — and proven to raise testosterone levels in both rats and humans in lab tests.

Leave a comment below and cast your vote for supplement #1 (digestive aid) or supplement #2 (testosterone booster).

Oh and I’m going to choose one person at random and they’ll get a free bottle when the winning supplement is developed.

Thanks for your help!

Convict Conditioning By Paul Wade

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:

First impressions: I love the title: Convict Conditioning: How to bust free of all weakness using the lost secrets of supreme survival strength. The book has a good heft at 304 pages long. Price was $39.95.

Forward from the publisher: Right off the bat, the book gets on my nerves. The publishers drones on for a few pages about his moral dilemma with publishing a book bearing the title “Convict Conditioning.”

Unfortunately, I just don’t buy it.

Convict Conditioning is a great title and the minute I saw the title I KNEW this book would be a top-seller. Because guys are fascinated with how prisoners managed to get big and strong. And from what I hear, this book is quickly becoming one of Dragon Door’s top sellers – thanks in part to the controversial title.

So in my opinion the publisher never once waivered when it came to the title – but again that’s just my opinion and perhaps some people really are offended by the title but I just don’t see it.

Moving on:

Introduction: Right off the bat, the author starts to mount an attack on any form of physical training other than bodyweight exercises. This is a common theme with books on bodyweight training: The author will disparage every other method of training in the hopes of “proving” that bodyweight training is superior and ultimately selling more copies of the book.

Paul Wade begins his attack on weight trainers right out of the gate.

On page 2 he says, “Ask the average muscle-man to do a deep one-legged squat – ass to floor-style – and his knee ligaments would probably snap in two.”

This is clearly a bloated exaggeration and if this were an isolated incident, it would be forgiveable. But the author goes out of his way to attach weight trainers over and over again, usually with hype and fear-mongering rather than logic and reason.
Next, the author talks about his own personal time in the joint. He mentions how he placed third in a prison powerlifting competition despite rarely training with weights. I have to admit, this got me curious. I wonder what the author’s total was? (total weight lifted in squat, bench and deadlift.)

If he lifted 1400lbs at a bodyweight of 198, than color me impressed. But if he took 3rd place with an 800 pound total, then his placing may have been due to weaker competition rather than the effectiveness of bodyweight exercises as applied to powerlifting exercises.

But we don’t know as the author does not mention his total.

One quick side note:

I don’t know what it is, but at this point in the book I’m not really convinced that the author is who he says he is. For one, there’s no pictures of him. Second, some of the prison stories just seem a bit inauthentic to me. Again, this is just my initial impression and this may be resolved later in the book.

Onward.

On page 13, we find the following gem: “In the days when calisthenics still formed the back-bone of strength training, there was no such thing as a ‘muscle-bound’ athlete.”

Oi.

It’s 2010. The fastest and most agile guys in nearly every sport use some form of weight training and have done so for the better part of the past 40 years.

We’ve disproved the “lifting weights will slow you down and make you muscle-bound” argument long ago – I honestly can’t believe anyone in 2010 still believes that but apparently the memo never got passed through the prison bars.

From there, the author switches from attacking weight training to wrong-fully giving credit to bodyweight exercises when credit is due to weight training.

On page 14, he talks about how Doug Hepburn could strictly press 350 pounds behind his neck. In the same breath, he claims that much of Dough Hepburn’s strength was built with bodyweight exercises.

This doesn’t sit well with me.

Sure, Doug Hepburn did plenty of bodyweight exercises. But he was also known to train with extremely heavy weights – many of his most popular workouts revolved around multiple sets of heavy singles. So I feel the credit for his extraordinary weightlifting feats are probably due to his weightlifting training, not bodyweight exercises.

On page 20, the author exclaims “Kill the Gym!” and lists many reasons why traveling to train at a gym is expensive and inconvenient.

Look man, we get it: Driving to the gym is a pain. I know.

I suspect most people purchase a book on bodyweight exercises because they’re interested in bodyweight exercises. You don’t need to tell us that driving to the gym takes time.

On page 24 he goes on to explain that bodyweight exercises maximize strength and build up your tendons and ligaments. He says, “Calisthenics work the joints and tendons as they are meant to be worked, resulting in greater levels of power than weight-training movements can develop.”

Well… no, that’s probably not true either. One of the proven methods the old timers would use to strengthen their joints and ligaments were heavy partial reps. Like rack deadlifts with hundreds of pounds, overhead push-presses from forehead level with 300, 400 or even 500 pounds. I don’t feel that bodyweight exercises can strengthen the ligaments the same way that a partial deadlift with 900 pounds can.

John Grimek -- deadlifting. NOT a bodyweight exercise.

On page 27, he holds up John Grimek as an example of the kind of physique you can build with bodyweight exercises. Once again, while Grimek may have trained with bodyweight exercises, he build this physique with hard and heavy weight training.

Finally, the author gets to the meat of the book. He gives bodyweight exercises for each muscle group and best of all, you get 10 different progressions for each bodyweight exercise.

For example, we all can agree that a one-arm push-up is a great arm, shoulder and chest exercise.

But what if you can’t do a one-arm push-up? Heck, what if you can’t even do a single regular push-up.
This is where the book does a really great job – giving you simple step-by-step progressions that you can follow on your way all the way up to a one-arm push-up.

There are some pictures of a guy performing these bodyweight exercises, but they are not of the author.

They are the guy from the beastskills.com website. (An awesome resource for anyone interested in bodyweight training.)

This begs the question: Why not show the author performing these exercises? Can he do the exercises he’s recommending?
If so, why not show him? If not… well, that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.

There’s a few more examples of the author tirelessly railing against weight training:

For example, on page 79 he exclaims that bodyweight squats are superior to barbell squats. His reasoning is that your legs are capable of great levels of strength, so to train your legs with barbell squats, you will eventually need to use very heavy weights. He goes on say that this puts an increased load on your back and your spine.

This is true.

But what the auther fails to acknowledge is that using heavier and heavier loads on the barbell squat is what builds strength and your spine and back will get stronger too as a result of holding a heavy barbell.

On page 227, he tries to prove that handstand pushups are better for your shoulders because they don’t put your shoulders in the same position that behind-the-neck barbell presses do. He fails to mention that a barbell press to the front of the shoulders would NOT put the shoulders in a compromised position.

In the final section, the author gives some example workouts.

I like this.

They seem easy enough at first but it also appears that there are some more challenging workouts for the advanced user.
I would have like to see a section on nutrition and diet since I personally believe that 80% of your results will come from diet, but there is nothing mentioned about nutrition, or how the author ate well in prison or anything like that.

Final Wrap-up:

Things I liked:

The “meat” of the book – the bodyweight exercises and the strength progressions are quite good. This alone is worth the cover charge for the serious bodyweight exercise enthusiast.

Things I didn’t like:

The author embarrasses himself trying to prove that bodyweight exercises are superior to other forms of training.

Continues to embarrass himself by trying to give credit to bodyweight exercises where credit is due to weight training.

No mention of nutritional strategies.

Also, I’m still not convinced that the author is a real person or that he was ever in prison or that any of the other tales are true. Makes me wonder if the whole “convict conditioning” angle was just an invention created to sell books.

Overall: Good book on bodyweight exercises and how to progress from the easiest exercises to the most advanced exercises.

If that’s what you’re interested in, get this book and just do your best to ignore the author’s silly and out-dated rants against weight training.

You can purchase the book here:

Convict Conditioning

FULL DISCLOSURE: If you purchase the book using the link above, I will earn a commission from the publisher. This helps me pay for web hosting and blog maintenance. But I respect the readers of this blog and I will be always be 100% honest with you. In fact, I’ve even including a regular link below. If you purchase the book through the regular link below, I don’t receive a single cent.

Regular Link: Convict Conditioning.

How did you feel about this book review? Any other books you want me to review — as you can tell I’ll be brutally honest.

Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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.

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.

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:

Chet didn’t have the perfect starting point for bodybuilding. In fact, he started with slashed up left eyeball, gashed up forearm, dislocated hips and shattered leg bones!

You see, Chet was in a serious car accident after high school. While he was recovering the hospital, he spotted a pair of dumbbells in the corner and went to work. He’s never done any weight training
before and 7 months later he was 55lbs heavier.

Almost more incredible than that is the training program he used outside of the hospital.

It’s not the most glamorous routine you’ve ever seen. In fact, it looks quite boring. But the results speak for themselves.

Here’s Chet Yorton’s boring but big training program:

Perform just two sets of each exercise listed below. Complete both sets before moving on to the next exercise.
Here’s the kicker: You will do 22 reps per set. Yes, 22.

Here are the exercises:

Squat
Overhead Press
Deadlift
Bench Press

To really appreciate just how strong this man was, consider this: Chet Yorton did 22 reps with 225lbs for his first set of bench presses and 22 reps with 325lbs for the second set.

Switching to a high rep program is a great way to pack on incredible amounts of muscle size and volume in a very short time. Plus, it can work wonders for your conditioning and endurance.

If you decide to give this program a go, just use it for 4 weeks and then switch back to a more traditional strength program.

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:

Last week I was performing bench presses for three sets of five reps with a record weight (for me). I completed the first set successfully. I completed the second set as well.

But on the third set, I ran into some trouble. I finished the first three reps without too much strain. The 4th rep was brutally difficult but I managed to get through it.

I slowly lowered the bar to my chest for the 5th rep, touched the bar to my shirt and proceeded to drive the bar up.

Except, it wouldn’t go. The bar went up about an inch and then froze. Sensing what was about to happen, I gnashed my teeth, squeezed the bar and put every ounce of strength and energy into pushing the bar up.

But it just wouldn’t go. This 5th rep was — in a word — impossible.

My spotters hauled the bar off my chest and I was done for the day.

Fast Forward Four Days

I’m bench pressing again. Same weight. Same goal — three sets of five reps.

This time, I got all the reps — even the last one — without much trouble.

I know on the surface this doesn’t sound all that impressive. It’s nothing more than the body adapting to the demands placed upon it.

But to me, it’s more than that. It’s magic.

Four days before, I exerted myself 100% and failed. I literally could not have tried any harder. But that last rep was impossible.

Four days later, I accomplished the impossible.

This is rare in “real life.” For starters, it’s rare to completely devote yourself 100% to a given task. And it’s even more unlikely to throw yourself into a task 100%, fail, and then succeed in such a short time frame.

In the outside world, “impossible” is usually a permanent condition. But in the gym, under the bar, impossible is only a temporary situation. What’s impossible today can be accomplished with ease four days later.

To me, that’s magical. And that’s why I train.