My body is on the mend since my knee surgery and blood clot last March, 2021. My knee is not 100% and as we get older, if you have had an injury or a surgery, I believe it is safer to DOUBLE the length of "recovery time" to ensure you don't rush through the full healing process. I'd say one of the biggest influences towards people's injuries is trying to impress others by posting their best on Instagram ALL the time. You only have so many 1 rep maxes in your pocket before you injure … [Read more...]
Barbarian Brothers Strength Training Lessons & Inspiration
Lessons & Inspiration from THE Barbarian Brothers. I know that some people will dismiss this information. Others are simply not ready for it. They don't have an open mind yet. For me, with my decades of experience, I have seen a lot and gone through a lot. This gives me a massive pool of knowledge and experience to pull from. So if you're ready, read on. Heck, even if you're not ready, jump in and read on...... The weight room at my high school has been PACKED to the gills since … [Read more...]
Inside Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty Book & Training Methods
I came across Mike Mentzer's training methods as a kid. In fact, if memory serves me properly, I began reading about Mike Mentzer around age 11. You see, I would read my older brother's bodybuilding books and magazines for 2 years before I actually began training. I began training in June of 1989 but leading up to that point, I would dabble in lifting the weights my brother had in his room. It was strange to me that I would lift weights for 2 or 3 weeks and then quit. I thought something was … [Read more...]
Chuck Sipes Inspired Workout: The 1-10-1 Method
It was a Friday and I was feeling inspired to go through a tough training session with an old school feel to it. I dug up some old muscle mags with Chuck Sipes, one of the strongest bodybuilders ever from the 60s. He favored heavy lifting and I have written several articles on Chuck Sipes (Find them HERE). Chuck's home gym is where he trained most of the time. The other times he trained was at his work when he was a Youth Officer for The CYA / California Youth Authority. Chuck had a … [Read more...]
Simple & Effective Nutrition Tips from Physical Culture, Silver & Golden Era Bodybuilding
I've been going through my old magazines from the 50s and 60s and really love seeing the nutrition basics. And a few weeks ago, someone sent me my original paper back of The Way to Live, which I recreated into The Russian Lion Power Course. So now, I am going through and rereading some of George Hackenschmidt's nutrition, training and lifestyle tips. Everything was so simple and yet so effective when we look at the nutrition and training tips dating back to the Physical Culture era (early … [Read more...]
5 x 5 Strength Training QnA
Where did the 5 x 5 program originate from? Well, it's been around for DECADES. To my knowledge, Reg Park started the 5 x 5 program. As 1 of the strongest bodybuilders ever, and, a man who could bench 500 lbs, I actually NEVER recall reading about 5 x 5 in my teen years. And I read EVERY bodybuilding magazine and a TON of bodybuilding books. I WISH I came across this program in my high school years. I was too busy doing pump up bull shyt. Although I DO recall a kid I used to lift with … [Read more...]
256 | Iron History with Richard “Pops” Sorin
Prepare to travel back in time with Richard "Pops" Sorin with STRONG Life Podcast 256. We're gonna try and get these done somewhat often and dig deep into Iron History and the early days of Sorinex. https://Sorinex.com Pops is a treasure trove of information and stories. We go back to the 60s, 70s and 80s where we chat about the following: … [Read more...]
Iron Roots: York Barbell History & Stories with Jan Dellinger
I had such a blast creating The Iron Roots Podcast with my friends at PLAE. 24 episodes ALL on Video as well as Apple Podcasts so you can listen or watch from anywhere. Iron Roots gave me the opportunity to bring my library collection of old school strength books to life so you can learn and experience what I see every day in my office. The opportunity to interview Jan Dellinger from York Barbell was like stepping into a time machine. The PLAE.PRO app has ALL of the Iron Roots Video … [Read more...]
STRONG Life Insider Ep. 37 | How to Use Golden Era Bodybuilding Methods / Volume Training to Gain Size & Strength
Volume training was a BIG deal back in the 70s and then it made a comeback in the past 5-8 years. What's old is new again but the truth is, there is a time and place for everything. Who needs volume training and when should volume work be applied? When is the best time to implement volume training and who is best suited for volume work? How can you still train smart when applying volume training compared to the mistakes I made in my younger years by incorrectly applying volume … [Read more...]
STRONG Life Insider: The Development of Muscular Bulk & Power
From Anthony Ditillo's Book, The Development of Muscular Bulk and Power There is something about bulk and power training that invades your very soul. It is extremely hard to put into words. The exercise movements themselves are quite simple to perform. The routines one must utilize in order to gain rapidly that much sought after strength are not especially interesting or dynamic in appearance. All in all, powerlifting and bulk training is a rather mechanical robot like procedure, which is … [Read more...]