It was 2003, maybe 2002, and I had drawn the line.

I was up to my ears in work as a grad student and working full time as a teacher. Not to mention, I was also coaching Wrestling and the season was not far away. My time was pressed to say the least.

It was the first time in 7 or 8 years that I was unable to make the trek to my favorite hardcore gym, Diamond Gym. I was too busy to drive 30 minutes each way, and, with the risk of hitting traffic, you never know how long the commute will take.

I started checking classified ads like a Hawk and I got lucky. A few gems were found, as a few men (lucky for me, NOT for them) had some gym equipment to sell after their gym business went under.

I snagged a 300 lb barbell from CostCo. It was a piece of crap but what the heck, it was all I needed and it was only $99, perfect for a young guy piled high in debt.

I bought a flat utility bench, a pair of 50 & 100 lb dumbbells and a gun rack so I could squat.

If I wanted to do incline dumbbell benching I placed a heavy duty tool box underneath. Worked like a charm.

I trained 2 – 3 x week, it was a blend of powerlifting and bodybuilding. I was most influenced by the stories of guys like Dave Draper, Arnold, Franco and Mike Mentzer as they trained heavy and attacked the basics.

A steady diet of benching, rowing, squatting and heavy accessory work is what worked in the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s and those guys looked better and actually WERE strong compared to the bodybuilders of today.

On the weekend I would go to a different gym as my garage had NO heat. I locked on my headphones and went to town. I was stronger than ever before and also developed a muscle thickness and maturity that I had never developed either.

Not having access to machines, cables and all the other “pump up” bull shit was GREAT.

Every day I ran 1 mile with my Dog, Arnold. It was a balls to the wall run as he would sprint and pull me until I could no longer maintain his pace and then I would get him to show mercy and walk for 15 seconds.

The hard running was great and ramped up my overall work capacity. Running short distances at aggressive speed is something I highly recommend to all of you as long as you don’t have any injuries or conditions stopping you.

Those garage days marked the beginning of an era for me, a new life actually, as I NEVER went back to a regular gym since those days. I drew a line in the sand and never looked back.

I fell in love with training without all the fancy equipment that was never necessary. I cherished having awesome music being played loud as hell and I sure as heck didn’t miss seeing guys on their cell phones right before a set of squats, or checking their hair in the mirror, or reading the paper in between sets!

Life was good as it was the first time I began to go against the grain.

The gains I made in such a short time with the minimal equipment was shocking to myself and others.

I felt like a Gladiator. I felt like I was one of the crew from The Golden Era.

Stay tuned, I’ll be giving away a copy of ‘The Gladiator Program’ and the only way to find out is to subscribe to The Underground Strength Journal.

In Strength,

–Z–

PS: Your FREE chance to get ‘The Gladiator Program’ will ONLY be announced to those who subscribe by entering your e mail in the form below or top right. Stay tuned!

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