Iron Claws Grip Development and Bench Press Course

by

Michael H Brown

Published by

Bill Hinbern Super Strength Training 32430 Cloverdale St Farmington Michigan 48336-4008 USA wwwSuperStrengthTrainingcom

About the Author Mike Brown-your modern renaissance man-is a bodybuilder health advocate

electrical mechanical and automotive engineer inventor Biblical researcher lawyer and author who has been published extensively on a variety of subjects No he doesnt have any PhDs which is probably why he is able to get so many useful things done

Here are but a few of his very interesting publications

Bloody Iron Practical Knife Fighting Browns Alcohol Motor Fuel Cookbook Browns Book of Carburetors Browns Lawsuit Cookbook How to Sue and Win The Case for Polygamy Diagnostic Bodybuilding The Erwin Rommel School ofLaw-How to Defeat an Illegal Legal System Escape from Outer Alcatraz The Fish Carburetor Book How to Build a Junkyard Still Invisible Weapons Sex Money and Power The Bible Shows You How Son ofErwin Rommel-Taking Our Country Back The Strength ofSamson How to Attain It Suppressed Inventions amp How They Work The Works ofGeorge Arlington Moore

IMPORTANT

The training routines and advice in this publication are intended only for people of normal good health and physical condition Always consult a medical or health care professional before beginning any exercise program In no way either written or implied should this pUblication be used to replace the advice from your physician As with any physical endeavor there is always an element of risk for injury When following the routines and advice in this or any other pUblication always practice safety proper technique and common sense Neither the author nor publisher will assume responsibility for any physical injury that may result from following the routines and advice in this publication

Originally Published in 1974

Modern Reprint Edition

Copyright copy 1999 by Bill Hinbern

Manufactured in the United States of America

Published by

Bill Hinbern Super Strength Training 32430 Cloverdale St Farmington Michigan 48336-4008 USA wwwSuperStrengthTrainingcom

Introduction

Congratulations You have just purchased a book with enough information in it to enable you to equal or surpass the gripping feats hand strength and forearm measurements of the old-time strongmen I say old-time strongmen because for the last several decades we have witnessed men with truly Herculean physiques attain those physiques with drugs extremely light weights and pumping and flushing systems that accomplish nothing but an increase in so-called muscular girth If the truth were to be known the pumping and flushing methods probably do more to enlarge the blood vessels than to produce actual muscular tissue It appears to be quite easy to build literally tremendous-appearing muscular size with very little increase in real strength or athletic ability

This type of training (pumping) results in a puff adder type of physique which deflates almost immediately upon discontinuation of training One unfortunate young fellow who followed such a method of training and built himself 18V4 inch arms managed to lose his tremendous upper arm girth in a matter of weeks following an accident Contrary to this most of the men whom I have trained on more logical methods keep the bulk of their size and strength months and even years after they discontinue training How long do you think a Mr Universe winner with 19 inch arms whose idea of a heavy workout is 5 reps in the deep knee bend with 300 pounds is going to retain his puffery after he discontinues training

The forearms are a different matter Have you ever seen anyone with truly rugged looking forearms thick hands and stubby-looking fingers achieve such development with light weights Or pumping methods The odds are you havent and you wont because an extremely high percentage of forearm tissue is comprised of tendons and ligaments Neither of which respond in the slightest to puff adder methods

Why did I choose to write a book on forearms after writing The Strength of Samson Two basic reasons First several weeks ago I drove 600 pounds off a power rack in a partial bench press

and sprained my right wrist Obviously before I could work up to my eventual 1000 pound goal that partiCUlar weak point would have to be corrected

Second I believe one manufacturer of equipment has set the iron game back twenty years with his theories of bypass the wrist and full extension and contraction for full development What really is the point of developing the strength to lift tremendous weights if your wrists are so weak you cant hold on to what you otherwise could lift This fellows premise is that wrists are inordinately weak so eliminate them in exercise Had the old-timers been fed such nonsense they would have laughed out loud Careful examination of the anatomy of the forearm and accounts of the gripping feats of the old-time strongmen should quickly convince almost anyone of the literally mind-bending power and size the forearm wrist and fingers are capable of developing Whereas 18 and 19 inch upper arms are the in thing today it was forearm girth that counted over half a century ago How many of our modern day puff adders can boast 14 and 15 inch forearms Or even 19 inch forearms as Apollon had Can any of our present day strongmen bend coins with their fingers The old-timers could

The full-extension and contraction theory doesnt hold water Read the chapter on the Bench Press page 5

Why a chapter on the Bench Press I try to give my customers a little more information than they expect so theyll buy my next master-piece

Also included are a couple of other chapters that while seemingly not related to grip development may help you attain your overall goals

What should you expect in the way of results Frustrating as it may sound dont expect any increase in forearm girth whatsoever for the first two or three months The deep-seated

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tendons and ligaments have to be strengthened before the muscular size itself increases However the increase in actual useable strength will be noticed almost at once In my own case for years I had problems with opening various bottles jar lids etc Two weeks after commencing these exercises opening any bottle became a snap and in six weeks I tore apart my first 2 inch thick telephone directory

Once the forearm has been firmed measurements should increase as rapidly as the upper arm

Forearm measurements of some of the old-timers Goerner Hermann 16 inches Hackenschmidt Georges 15 12 Inch Thomas 14 Sandow Eugen 1612 Saxon Arthur 14

Now compare these measurements with the 19 and 20 inch upper arms and 1312 inch forearms of our modern day puff adder physiques and contest winners

The Dawn ofa New Age

Editorial after depressing editorial appears in Iron Man Magazine bemoaning the state of the Iron Game how we shouldnt neglect our spiritual development telling us to take correspondence courses to get ahead in the financial world and (in one case) telling us the world might come to an end See the editorial for 1972 AprilMay (Volume 31 Number 4) if you think I jest And of course the usual business about not everyone can build a Mr America physique Dont forget the occasional remark interspersed throughout various articles about what a bunch of dumb slobs bodybuilders and weightlifters are

Friends I wish to take issue with this entire train of thought I believe bodybuilding weight-lifting and related subjects are due to burst upon the 20th-century American social scene like a fire-storm I believe were all going to pull together in a way that the civilized world is totally unprepared for

First in the words of Li1 Abner Who is us Having read Iron Man Magazine for years I just naturally assumed that the Joe Average interested in muscles comprised the bulk of the readership Does the term muscle-head ring a bell with some of you Lets scrap this assumption first and see ourselves in a more proper perspective When I had sent Peary Rader my telephone number for my book ad I had considerable misgivings After all who could foresee how many pill-crazed body worshippers would call me up at 3 am I got one 3 am phone call and that was it The OTHER people who called me turned out to be research chemists school teachers physiology teachers and the like Quite a few correlated data and offered material for further research Does this sound like a low IQ crowd to you

Second lets take this not everyone can build a Mr America physique business Garbage Anyone can do anything he wants to if he is willing to pay the price Anything the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve I know some of you have heard this tired old bromide before but lets go one step further In Probing the Unexplained a book by Allen Spraggett were told that the Russians have kept certain musicians in a three-week somnambulistic hypnotic trance with the repeated suggestion they can paint draw etc like the old Dutch masters Not surprisingly when theyre brought out of the trance they have an exceptional ability to paint How many of us have experimented with hypnosis and weightshytraining in depth

As far as the world coming to an end phooey The Pope was saying the same thing in medieval times because some son of perdition had invented the crossbow According to my own calculations Jesus Christ is due back on or before 1979 and Im sure His angels arent

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going to let the place blow up in the meantime 111 furnish archaeological evidence on this 1979 business if anyone is interested

Taking courses on How to get along in the Babylonian money system is something I personally can live without If you dont ENJOY doing something you wont be any good at it anyway and no well-meaning platitudes are going to edge you any closer to success Such advice is given to people interested in worshipping Nebuchadnezzers golden image (the gold standard though now its just paper) Whatever happened to the men who tried to live their lives in Spartan simplicity Christian charity and honor

As far as spiritual development goes I think were hitching the horse up backwards here friends A Russian fellow named Sergei Kirlian and his wife devised an unusual form of photography They were able to photograph the aura or color spectrum AROUND living things The aura changes when the organism is sick And one faith healer was photographed with streams of energy emanating from his fingertips Lets build the temple walls before we try to tile the roof otherwise none of it will ever get off the ground As the Apostle Paul stated youve got to learn the earthly things first THEN the heavenly

The state of the Iron Game is due to only one thing No one knows what we SHOULD be doing as opposed to what we ARE doing One fellow is storming the news media but I doubt if he will achieve anything permanent After all theres nothing permanent in it for them

What are we doing Drugs for some Some men will try literally anything for increased size and strength Which is an admirable trait if it is carried out logically Without drugs

Lets use an analogy The automobile you drive today is more than the product of scientists and engineers Disregarding the nut behind the wheel most of our modern steering and suspension systems engines transmissions power trains and tires are so safe your grandmother can drive an average one from New York to LA with hardly a thought What made them so safe Was it the scientists and engineers Or was it the race car drivers who tested every design every alloy every rubber compound and every piece of steel on the competition tracks some dying in the process

Why arent we doing the same for the sick Why arent we in the public libraries and scientific journals digging out the opinions of

the scientists and seeing if they WORK How can you expect scientists who think a barbell curl is an alcoholic in curlers to realistically test a hypothesis that might someday benefit the weak and the sick For example a book on endocrine glands I have here before me tells about some test-tube stuffer who injected adrenaline extract into rats They grew into GIANTS with bones twice as thick and heavy as in normal rats Any of you ever tried desiccated adrenal gland as a dietary supplement We all know the value of desiccated liver On another page in the same book a fellow named Carrell extracted juice from the heart of a chick embryo and fed it to an embryonic heart for the equivalent of 3000 generations Immortality

Fascinating new stuff you say The book is Glands RegUlating Personality by Louis Berman He even claims the main reason gorillas are so much larger and stronger than humans is the excess pituitary gland secretions Anyone for desiccated pituitary gland The book was copyrighted in 1921

Once we experiment with this stuff and see whether or not it works how do we get it to the sick and the weak Simple Write an article for Iron Man Magazine Youd be amazed at the number of chiropractors that read it

Train at Home

Ever go into a commercial gym right after working hours People stacked six deep behind every piece of equipment in the place A body sometimes two on every bench Barbells

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and dumbbells scattered helter-skelter by the slobs too inconsiderate to put them back in their respective racks The odor of someone sweating off the previous nights pork chops permeates the air One moron so busy checking out his profile as he unloads the bar he forgets 150 pounds cannot be taken off one side of a 345 pound Olympic set without decreasing the other side a like amount disastrous consequences for the gym mirror he was checking himself out in Athletes foot lurking in the dressing room for the unwary

Sound familiar It wasnt quite this bad at the last commercial gym I went to years ago but the traffic I

had to fight going to and corning from it more than made up for the difference Ive trained at home ever since

There are advantages to training either way Usually there is more equipment available at a commercial gym than there would be at horne and the lighter weights are already fixed on the bars Occasionally you might even get professional instruction but dont count on it The last time I went to a commercial gym in LA some contest winner made me out a schedule and then promptly assigned some $200 an hour flunky to show me how to perform the exercises When the flunky took me over to a leg press machine to show me how to do a bench press I got the distinct impression he didnt know quite as much about weightshytraining as the management of the gym assumed

The really sincere gym owners in this country can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand I am personally acquainted with one Its not all the gym owners fault however How many trainees do they ever corne across with enough sense to do EXACTLY as theyre told In my own nine years of training aspiring monsters Ive managed to come across one Narrow field isnt it

What are the advantages of training at home Many The monthly net cost is much lower than a monthly gym membership Once your

equipment is paid for there is no other significant cost to be considered And most gyms now require you to sign a contract for a year to make sure they get paid You the customer are not a valid consideration First the money then (if youre lucky) the service The same amount of money sunk in a power rack a bench and a barbell set is an investment not an expense They dont run out like a gym membership If you decide to take a three-month layoff thats your prerogative theres no cost factor other than the time youve wasted

Dont misunderstand me Im not against commercial gyms The best gains I ever made were at Mits Kawashimas in Hawaii in 1966 from 190 to 230 pounds in five months However trainers like Mits are a rarity Better to train at home than go to a place where the emphasis is on businessmen and long term contracts

If you can get training partners for your home gym so much the better The best kind are obviously the ones who either have their own equipment or are willing to help pay for yours Even spotters are helpful In my own case I had no-one in this town to train with The local chiropractor sent me a couple of his remedial exercise patients (his first remedial exercise patient got sent to the physical therapist in the local hospital the therapist promptly informed the chiropractors patient what fools chiropractors were) and I managed to squeeze enough out of them to pay for all my equipment ($50 for three months for personal supervision of every workout a chiropractors patients will pay it its tax deductible)

Later on a friend of mine from California drifted in with his thigh-extension machine and another friend from New Jersey drifted in who we promptly put to work as a spotter By that time one of my remedial exercise victims had gained enough strength to where we could also put him to work as a spotter He kept paying me for the privilege however

If you can tap into a friendly chiro great The one I go to loans me an occasional book on diet yellow ligaments physiology and related SUbjects Most expensive library Ive ever

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been to What sort of equipment do you need I prefer a power rack a flat bench and a barbell

set Thats the basics The easiest way to obtain dumbbells and plates is simply to let people know youre in the market

More people than you think have the stuff pitching around Last week I picked up a hitchhiker in Lexington who sold me over a hundred pounds of steel plates dumbbell bars and collars for $1400 Avoid plastic-coated plates They eventually come unglued Iron Man Magazine classified ads are an excellent source for both buyers and sellers Used equipment from someone in a panic to get rid of it sometimes goes dirt cheap And a buyer advertising can be very selective

The primary advantage of training at home Its not the absence of lines behind the weights

Its the ability to experiment at your leisure Practically every great discovery in history has been uncovered by an Edison a Ford

or similar sort puttering around his own unfinished workshop Should weight-training be any different Did Arthur Jones invent the Nautilus machines in the factories he has now or were they invented out behind his garage About a month ago I had what I thought was a stroke of genius on the design of a forearm machine a device like a thick-handled steering wheel to roll weights up from the ground I hotfooted it over to the public library to check out every book on anatomy (for forearms) I could find What I found was that of over a dozen muscles in the forearm and thirty-three in the hand only two are used for rotating the wrist clockwise and two counterclockwise The other forty-one are used for gripping However the research I did led me to conclude the humble wrist roller would be a fantastic device if it could be made out of a round piece of wood about four inches in diameter

The public library is available to all of us Many methods and training aids discovered by physiologists chiropractors and the like go unused simply because most trainees dont do the study and research that they should I dont mean books written by those already in the field (of which Im as guilty as any) I mean scientific journals advanced nutritional journals and anything scientific pertaining to the human body For example one little item I came across in my reading was about a Chicago physicist who measured the electromagnetic field created by contracting human muscles He reported the strength of such a field as one fiveshyhundred millionth part as strong as the magnetic field surrounding the whole earth This subject alone would probably keep your home gym hopping for months with experiments and the like

Weight-training is for all practical purposes still in the scientific stone age I spent months digging around in the records of the bronze age for my book The Strength ofSamson (a product of a home gym and the public library) and if the trainee of today can ever break away from the hidebound rut of present routines and attitudes I sincerely believe that every weightlifting record and physical measurement currently extant will be smashed beyond belief using information available NOW

Let me know if you write a book I might even publish it for you

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part I

How It Will Be Attained

The other night one of my trainees in Massachusetts called me up for his monthly training advice It seems that the people where he trained had no idea of what they were doing He went so far as to inform me that a World Champion in the 242 pound class in Powerlifting had absolutely no idea of what he was doing The powerlifter simply came into the

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gym at his appointed hour brought his lunch with him and simply trained his brains out for about four hours twice a week The lifters best bench press was in the neighborhood of 510 pounds

In case youre wondering about my preoccupation with the bench press let me explain My basement ceiling is just a tad over six feet high and my lower back was somewhat damaged in service Both factors preclude any overhead lifting

Youre probably thinking its safe to predict a 1000 pound bench press and ten years from now someone will do it Im betting it will happen within two or three years Maybe less

Why I think the weight-training fraternity is finally ready to accept the scientific method Meaning find out what works and then USE it Lately there has been a lot written (by various authors) about rtegative resistance but I doubt if its here to stay or if it will be instrumental in really meaningful strength increases To me negative resistance is nonsense What on earth is the purpose of developing weight lowering strength I realize many individuals point to the large increases in weight that can be lowered (whats next not lifting strength) but careful examination and comparison of weight lowering movements with partial positive movements I believe will show partials have the edge One of my customers for my book The Strength of Samson reports that his partial bench press (about a 2 inch travel) increased from 225 pounds 10 reps to 385 pounds 10 reps in 30 days And a former Illinois State Powerlift Champ in the 242 pound class telephoned me one night to inform me that his partial squats had increased from 800 to 1200 pounds in two weeks As Larry Lawson pointed out in an article on Paul Anderson in Iron Man Magazine 1956 FebruaryMarch (Volume 15 Number 5) whatever can be lifted partially will with persistent training eventually become a complete lift I have yet to read or hear of anyone saying what goes down must come up

Also and this is mere personal opinion arrived at simply by rummaging through a few anatomy books I believe negative resistance may prove to be the most dangerous method of training yet devised For this reason a muscle is considerably weaker than its attaching tendon so that if extreme stress is put upon the limb the muscle tears long before the tendon becomes involved Now suppose the muscle actually becomes stronger than the tendons to which it is attached (which I believe is possible with enough negative training) Do you have the usual charley horse or a condition requiring extensive surgery

So while negative resistance may have its place as simply a way of enabling the trainee to get the feel of a heavier weight I think it should be used sparingly

What benefits will be received from training for such a lift Great strength obviously Youre also liable to find a couple of side benefits you didnt expect Like a friend of mine on the Honolulu Police Dept who spent three years moving his bench press up to 500 pounds without using partial movements When he started he weighed 187 at a height of 6 3 The night I saw him bench press 550 pounds he weighed in at 290 pounds without an ounce of fat Unlike the current crop of puff adders who are primarily concerned with measurements my friend was concerned with strength He developed a 19Y2 inch arm in the process (I measured it myself) and I would be willing to bet others would claim 22 inches for the arm he had

Its unfortunate most bodybuilders dont realize that pursuing measurements is like chasing butterflies they11 elude you Pursue a more easily definable goal like a 500 pound bench press and the butterfly will come and land on your sleeve

Also while Im throwing out an occasional brickbat lets forget all this a muscle has to have full contraction and full extension for complete and maximum development insanity This statement is true only in one case if the muscle is separated from the body of the organism and placed in a tank of nutrient solution This same muscle in solution generally has to be trimmed because it grows so fast Any of you ever had such a problem

So you think possibly you might want to attempt the Everest of bench presses and

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want to know where to start Heres what I would suggest My 290 pound friend with the 550 pound bench press used what I will have to call the

step-ladder system of training for want of a better term He would do 10 sets Five up and five down Another friend of mine moved his own bench press up over 150 pounds in nine months using the same method Both of them used full movements

Heres roughly the way it works Start with a warm-up weight One set of ten Add enough weight to get eight reps

comfortably One set Add enough weight to get six reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get five reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get three reps comfortably One set Now work back down in weight the next five sets using the weights you worked up with but try to increase the repetitions When youre doing more reps on the downside add weight to all sets (about 5 or 10 pounds)

Now it gets complicated Lets use the above system with partial movements only You 11 be amazed at how little time it takes you to surpass 500 pounds 2 inch travel Remember what Larry Lawson said

Heres where the complications corne in Even at 2 inch travel 600 pounds is a lot of weight So much so in fact that an almost unbelievable amount of oxygen is used up on every repetition What goes up once relatively easily the first time is extremely difficult the second and literally unbudgeable the third Complication number one is lack of oxygen

The next thing you 11 notice at that weight as I did is the neck tendons become heavily involved and a vein that runs down the side of the neck becomes heavily engorged with blood Why this happens I dont know However I believe complication number two can also be solved

The third complication is this very few of us have the wrist strength to push against such weights with any degree of speed without spraining The primary reason I wrote Iron Claws is because I sprained my right wrist lifting a 605 pound weight in the partial bench press

In order to avoid the foregoing complications here is a routine that I would suggest following twice a week in addition to the step-ladder system

Wrestlers bridge 2 x 10 Upright rows 2 x 10 Wrist curls 2 x 10 Squats 2 x 10

The above exercises should be done with extremely moderate weights and the poundage not increased until the weight actually begins to feellight The wrestlers bridge is ohviously for the neck tendons and the blood vessel I referred to earlier The upright rows are simply to work the muscles between the shoulder blades from a different direction than the partial bench press and thereby removing any weak link The wrist curls are of course to keep you from spraining your wrist The squats should be done with an Iron Man Magic Circle Personally I think the Magic Circle is an ugly-looking piece of apparatus but it does permit the utilization of more lung space than a conventional bar and when you get to the 600 pound mark and beyond youre going to need every cubic inch of lung power you can muster In fact its going to take you several minutes of deep breathing after each set of partials past 400 pounds to recover your air

Eventually you11 be up to 1000 pounds 2 inch travel What do you do then Obviously if you can lift 1000 pounds 2 inches in a maximum effort youre not going to be able to heave the same weight up 4 inches However with a little work on it moving the weight 2 inches shouldnt be an earthshaking undertaking Simply leave the rack pins in the same position and RAISE THE BENCH by putting inch thick boards or sheet steel under it When you have four V2 inch boards or sheets of steel under the bench its time to drop the pins and start

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allover As the 1000 pounds travels its way down the pins your assistance exercise program

is going to have to change somewhat For example at the 6 inch point substitute a heavy triceps exercise for the upright rows

A couple of other things I would recommend are a close study of nutrition (for example vitamin A affects the pectoral muscles) and a hypnotism session every night (except Sunday of course) to remove potential mental stumbling blocks before they have a chance to take hold in your mind

Let me know if you develop a 22 inch upper arm in the process

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part II

One of the problems inherent with attempting to be an authority in any field is that just when you think youve got all the answers somebody drops a chance remark and adds a whole herd of new questions This has happened to me twice in the last two weeks by or because of fellows who stopped by to see what we were doing in the way of research workouts and the like And also in the last two weeks basic metallurgy forced us to completely redesign our power rack and bars

First the metal When a normal barbell bar is loaded with 700 pounds of plates it takes on physical characteristics normally not associated with such equipment It bends which is to be expected

Then it twists also expected Then the fun begins Heres what happens Force is applied to the bar and sometimes one end of the bar comes flying up while the other remains stationary if youre off balance Or you push against the bar For a second it seems motionless In actuality the bar is bending in the middle Once the slack is taken up the bar has bent as far as it is going to the weight literally leaps off the rack pins and whips back and forth in the air This whipping motion is extremely hard on the palms of the hands and the wrists At present we have figured out two ways to eliminate this Instead of the standard barbell bar we use one made out of a special type of steel which wont begin to bend until 1500 pounds or so is placed on each end Whipping is eliminated at least for the next fe months Another problem occurs when the bar is dropped back onto the rack pins Shock~ from metal slamming metal run down the arms causing no end of discomfort Nor is it possible with extremely heavy weights to gauge exactly how much force is required to move it at the extension position Dont apply enough force and the bar wont move Apply too much toe rapidly and the bar may come flying up but you may be nursing a sprained wrist for somt time

A little device we thought up may solve both the shock and applied force problem We call them rack rebounders Theyre simply blocks of steel with holes drilled in them tc accommodate the rack pins On top of the steel block sits a coil spring On top of the col spring reposes a saddle or cradle for the bar When you plop the bar down it wont sene shock waves down your arms simply because the spring gives with the weight On tht upstroke part of the weight is boosted for you at the beginning of the movement so insteac of struggling mightily with the actual 700 or 800 pounds you have on the bar your initia resistance may be half that As the springs uncoil the heavier a load you absorb until th entire load clears the decks so to speak Also if youre a real glutton for punishment YOt

can load a bar well past your single limit on a partial movement and actually WORK with the weight Granted it wont travel very far but it WILL TRAVEL Lets say you dump 100( pounds on the bar and it only travels one inch up to a 3 inch coil spring Keep working witt it and eventually even with 10 of an inch at a time your half ton weight will clear the

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saddles and THEN you can start rrusmg the bench lowering the pins etc Another advantage to rack rebounders is that you can keep pumping a tremendous weight long after the failure point of normal partials

If youre totally confused at this point look at the drawings of rack rebounders on page 17 Give us a phone call if you wish us to make you a set They will be advertised in future issues of Iron Man Magazine

For those who havent done so I would suggest ordering Bill Antons course You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds advertised in Iron Man Magazine and apply it to partial movements

Another little goodie that I havent had time to investigate is one told to me by Bob Simpson when he was up here from Knoxville a couple weeks ago Bob was featured in Iron Man Magazine as the fellow who pressed 525 from a rack and then couldnt hold it at arms length Bobs method of training consisted of push-pressing using his legs enormous weights up to about nose level He worked up to about 1000 pounds in this fashion and then his back gave out Who knows Had his back held up he may have been the first man in recorded history to military press I 000 pounds I recall years ago working up to 3 sets of 8 reps in the push press behind neck with 220 pounds at a bodyweight of 180 and felt like the weights would go up forever until the contest winners saw me doing it and told me that was NOT the way to do things So I went back to doing them strict with a whole lot less weight Like a dummy The blind leading the blind Anyway Bob told me about a bodybuilder where he trained who experimented in the bench press and the squat in rather unusual fashion This fellow would have a weight somewhat in excess of his best limit attempt handed to him and he would slowly lower it and then bounce it up and down on his chest (or haunches if he was doing squats) for several repetitions In two weeks this fellows limit bench press and squat each increased by about 60 pounds However being a bodybuilder he wasnt much interested in great strength and abandoned that line of endeavor to pursue other more measurement oriented goals Anyone else care to try this and let me know the results thereof

Chiropractic for Strength and Bulk Increases

Have you ever noticed how many people take up weight-training in their lives And how few succeed

Let me cite a couple of examples The first case is myself Ive horsed around with weights since 1964 and by 1966

weighed 230 with a 340 bench press Then I quit training for a year and lost 40 pounds probably due more to poverty than lack of proper training Off and on for the years following I tried to regain what I had lost and could never seem to quite make it Doubly frustrating was the fact that everyone training under my supervision made fairly respectable gains It wasnt until 1973 that I began to deviate from the accepted norms of the weight-training world and surpassed myoid strength levels

What was the problem I couldnt blame improper training alone I had gained 70 pounds in two years on what

I now consider stone-age training methods Like everyone else I was all concerned about muscles But there wasnt anything

wrong with the muscles themselves I did notice a sharp pain in my lower right back whenever my 20 reps in the squat approached the 250 to 270 pound mark I went to a local chiropractor for two years and didnt improve a bit Finally not suspecting my local chiro didnt know what he was doing I went to one in Richmond on the local mans day off as I could hardly walk and didnt want to wait another day The Richmond man suggested an x-ray and the results were something I hadnt expected My entire spine was tilted so far to one side that the weights I put on my back created pressure primarily on ONE SIDE of my body Through continued

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exercise I was actually weakening instead of strengthening myself My nerves and spinal ligaments were literally being torn apart Fortunately my Richmond chiro is one of the few (about 10 of the profession) who actually knows what hes doing and hes slowly but surely getting me straightened out (or rather my spine is)

The other case is a fellow who bought The Strength of Samson and told me he had never been able to get his body weight past 170 unless he literally gorged himself with food in which case he went up to 180 and lost it as soon as he slowed down his food intake At the same time he told me one leg cramped up real bad if he squatted down on his haunches for a few minutes He didnt realize it but he had just pin-pointed his major problem Nerves not only carry electrical impulses from the brain to the muscles they have a tendency to weaken the muscles if they (the nerves) are irritated Heavy exercise generally makes the situation worse What happened to this fellow I dont know but I HOPE he found a chiro believing in corrective care (most practice a remedial whack crack six bucks and get back sort of profession)

Other facets of weight-training are far more subtle Nutrition for example All the authorities holler about protein But as Landone points out in Electronic Properties ojFoods protein fats and starches are deadly poisons If you dont think so try injecting the stuff directly into your bloodstream sometime and see if you dont turn your toes up In my OVin case I wondered why I made better gains on pineapple juice than I did on fresh raw milk Sound odd Thats what I thought too when I first read it but Landone cites numerous hospital and institutional experiments to prove that pineapple carries a slightly POSITIVE charge of electricity and all animal products slightly NEGATIVE Landone was by no meallS a vegetarian (he died in 1945 at the age of 98) he simply points out that no matter how wellshybalanced you may THINK your diet is if it consists of primarily negative-charged foods you will eventually run down In one section of the book he cites a study of 1000 x-rays 500 vegetarians 500 meat eaters The meat eaters all looked fairly normal on the films but the vegetarians ALL had swollen and collapsed intestines very small lungs etc etc

Another subject is drugs Some take them and gain and some dont Theres no point in my moralizing on the subject Im no expert on them and if you refuse to obey the Good Book and truck with sorcerers (sorcerer comes from the same root word in Greek that we get Pharmacist from) then what befalls you is your own lookout Of course some of the trainers who write articles about the Zen Masters and the rest of the Eastern religions currently flooding the country may be partially to blame Practically all the so-called Eastern religions indulge in drugs as part of their rites etc And one of these religions considers cows so sacred they not only worship the dumb animals they bathe and DRINK a mixture of butter milk curd cow urine and cow excrement as part of their religion (Reference National Geographic Magazine series 1971) Long as the pill-poppers indulge in the drugs they might as well avail themselves of the protein supplements Yeccch

The point Im trying to make is this treat your body the way the Almighty intended and you may reap benefits you never expected In my own case my corrective therapy (NO drugs) resulted in my height increasing from 6 1 to 6 2W in less than three months and Im 31 years old Incidentally according to an AP release dated December 19th 1973 Skylab 3s astronauts all gained an inch or more in height since November 16th when they were launched into space One grew almost two inches Wonder what would happen if you left short people in a weightless environment here on earth for several weeks

Forearm Anatomy

This is a rather presumptuous title for such a brief page but I feel it necessary to warn you of a thing or two concerning the forearms One thing I noticed after reading several books on anatomy and several on grip development is that the fellows writing the grip books were

10

very poorly schooled in anatomy Worse than me even Some of the exercises recommended are downright ridiculous and others downright dangerous For a specific example one fellow (a world record holder at one time) recommended tightening jar lids as an exercise Lots of luck if you tighten it too far and the jar breaks and slices your hand open Just for the record the tendons you see on the back of the hand and elsewhere are seated very deeply in the arm and a deep cut on the hand is likely as not if it gets infected going to cause you considerable misfortune Infection will travel to the seat of the tendons a lot quicker than you would think and it takes (there are exceptions) the surgeons knife to remedy the damage So please DONT put strains on your hands theyre not ready for And if you MUST punch someone aim for the stomach Ive seen hands swollen and infected so badly they were three times normal size from someones tooth coming out and lodging between the knuckles

Developing An Iron Claw

Many years ago before most of todays weight trainees were even a gleam in their daddys eye a fellow named John Y Smith used to specialize in the one-handed deadlift The late Harry Paschall who used to write quite regularly for Iron Man Magazine in the 1950s had met Smith several years earlier and in Paschalls opinion Smiths hands looked like iron claws Years of one-handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smiths finger tendons in the palm of the hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a ducks feet Smith at the time was doing one-handed deadlifts in his exercise routine with about 400 pounds Paschall who could do almost 300 pounds in the same exercise decided he could equal Smiths performance without a whole lot of effort Paschall made his living as an artist After a few weeks of specializing on the lift he gave it up as he was afraid he would lose his artistic ability the tendons in his hands were developing far more rapidly than he had expected His hands too were beginning to look like iron claws

The foregoing is simply an illustration of how important one-handed deadlifts are to those interested in developing great gripping powers and forearm girth Harold Ansorge a professional strongman of the 1930s was capable of over 500 pounds in this same lift Ansorge had such prodigious strength in his hands that he was featured in Ripleys Believe It or Not as being able to tear the corner off a deck of 52 playing cards using only his thumb and index finger Ansorge was also good at spike bending and tearing through SEVERAL telephone directories at a time

In recent times the squat has been called the king of exercises but I believe the oneshyhanded deadlift to be a superior exercise for all around strength and power 111 admit I personally soured on the squat as the exercise after seeing a photograph of one of the worlds best squatters wearing wrist braces to push press a 500 pound weight It seemed to me that his leg and lower back strength would be advantageous for pulling a plow but considering this same individual weighed over 300 pounds his great strength wasnt much good for anything else

A close investigation will show that the one-handed deadlift affects many of the same muscles the squat does and a couple more besides In the one-handed deadlift the legs lower back and upper back are all affected to a degree So are the lungs if the exercise is performed vigorously enough Of course you will only be able to lift what you can hold onto with your hands which for most modern-day weight trainees is very little compared to what the other muscle groups have been developed to

In my own personal and highly prejudiced opinion I believe full two-handed deadlifts should be avoided unless youre determined to enter powerlift competition The position for performing the lift is highly unnatural and the chance for injury is enormous Someone lifting a weight with one hand while the other hand provides a brace for the lower back via the knee

11

-------- - -- ---

I

shy

is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

12

DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

13

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

tendons and ligaments have to be strengthened before the muscular size itself increases However the increase in actual useable strength will be noticed almost at once In my own case for years I had problems with opening various bottles jar lids etc Two weeks after commencing these exercises opening any bottle became a snap and in six weeks I tore apart my first 2 inch thick telephone directory

Once the forearm has been firmed measurements should increase as rapidly as the upper arm

Forearm measurements of some of the old-timers Goerner Hermann 16 inches Hackenschmidt Georges 15 12 Inch Thomas 14 Sandow Eugen 1612 Saxon Arthur 14

Now compare these measurements with the 19 and 20 inch upper arms and 1312 inch forearms of our modern day puff adder physiques and contest winners

The Dawn ofa New Age

Editorial after depressing editorial appears in Iron Man Magazine bemoaning the state of the Iron Game how we shouldnt neglect our spiritual development telling us to take correspondence courses to get ahead in the financial world and (in one case) telling us the world might come to an end See the editorial for 1972 AprilMay (Volume 31 Number 4) if you think I jest And of course the usual business about not everyone can build a Mr America physique Dont forget the occasional remark interspersed throughout various articles about what a bunch of dumb slobs bodybuilders and weightlifters are

Friends I wish to take issue with this entire train of thought I believe bodybuilding weight-lifting and related subjects are due to burst upon the 20th-century American social scene like a fire-storm I believe were all going to pull together in a way that the civilized world is totally unprepared for

First in the words of Li1 Abner Who is us Having read Iron Man Magazine for years I just naturally assumed that the Joe Average interested in muscles comprised the bulk of the readership Does the term muscle-head ring a bell with some of you Lets scrap this assumption first and see ourselves in a more proper perspective When I had sent Peary Rader my telephone number for my book ad I had considerable misgivings After all who could foresee how many pill-crazed body worshippers would call me up at 3 am I got one 3 am phone call and that was it The OTHER people who called me turned out to be research chemists school teachers physiology teachers and the like Quite a few correlated data and offered material for further research Does this sound like a low IQ crowd to you

Second lets take this not everyone can build a Mr America physique business Garbage Anyone can do anything he wants to if he is willing to pay the price Anything the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve I know some of you have heard this tired old bromide before but lets go one step further In Probing the Unexplained a book by Allen Spraggett were told that the Russians have kept certain musicians in a three-week somnambulistic hypnotic trance with the repeated suggestion they can paint draw etc like the old Dutch masters Not surprisingly when theyre brought out of the trance they have an exceptional ability to paint How many of us have experimented with hypnosis and weightshytraining in depth

As far as the world coming to an end phooey The Pope was saying the same thing in medieval times because some son of perdition had invented the crossbow According to my own calculations Jesus Christ is due back on or before 1979 and Im sure His angels arent

2

going to let the place blow up in the meantime 111 furnish archaeological evidence on this 1979 business if anyone is interested

Taking courses on How to get along in the Babylonian money system is something I personally can live without If you dont ENJOY doing something you wont be any good at it anyway and no well-meaning platitudes are going to edge you any closer to success Such advice is given to people interested in worshipping Nebuchadnezzers golden image (the gold standard though now its just paper) Whatever happened to the men who tried to live their lives in Spartan simplicity Christian charity and honor

As far as spiritual development goes I think were hitching the horse up backwards here friends A Russian fellow named Sergei Kirlian and his wife devised an unusual form of photography They were able to photograph the aura or color spectrum AROUND living things The aura changes when the organism is sick And one faith healer was photographed with streams of energy emanating from his fingertips Lets build the temple walls before we try to tile the roof otherwise none of it will ever get off the ground As the Apostle Paul stated youve got to learn the earthly things first THEN the heavenly

The state of the Iron Game is due to only one thing No one knows what we SHOULD be doing as opposed to what we ARE doing One fellow is storming the news media but I doubt if he will achieve anything permanent After all theres nothing permanent in it for them

What are we doing Drugs for some Some men will try literally anything for increased size and strength Which is an admirable trait if it is carried out logically Without drugs

Lets use an analogy The automobile you drive today is more than the product of scientists and engineers Disregarding the nut behind the wheel most of our modern steering and suspension systems engines transmissions power trains and tires are so safe your grandmother can drive an average one from New York to LA with hardly a thought What made them so safe Was it the scientists and engineers Or was it the race car drivers who tested every design every alloy every rubber compound and every piece of steel on the competition tracks some dying in the process

Why arent we doing the same for the sick Why arent we in the public libraries and scientific journals digging out the opinions of

the scientists and seeing if they WORK How can you expect scientists who think a barbell curl is an alcoholic in curlers to realistically test a hypothesis that might someday benefit the weak and the sick For example a book on endocrine glands I have here before me tells about some test-tube stuffer who injected adrenaline extract into rats They grew into GIANTS with bones twice as thick and heavy as in normal rats Any of you ever tried desiccated adrenal gland as a dietary supplement We all know the value of desiccated liver On another page in the same book a fellow named Carrell extracted juice from the heart of a chick embryo and fed it to an embryonic heart for the equivalent of 3000 generations Immortality

Fascinating new stuff you say The book is Glands RegUlating Personality by Louis Berman He even claims the main reason gorillas are so much larger and stronger than humans is the excess pituitary gland secretions Anyone for desiccated pituitary gland The book was copyrighted in 1921

Once we experiment with this stuff and see whether or not it works how do we get it to the sick and the weak Simple Write an article for Iron Man Magazine Youd be amazed at the number of chiropractors that read it

Train at Home

Ever go into a commercial gym right after working hours People stacked six deep behind every piece of equipment in the place A body sometimes two on every bench Barbells

3

and dumbbells scattered helter-skelter by the slobs too inconsiderate to put them back in their respective racks The odor of someone sweating off the previous nights pork chops permeates the air One moron so busy checking out his profile as he unloads the bar he forgets 150 pounds cannot be taken off one side of a 345 pound Olympic set without decreasing the other side a like amount disastrous consequences for the gym mirror he was checking himself out in Athletes foot lurking in the dressing room for the unwary

Sound familiar It wasnt quite this bad at the last commercial gym I went to years ago but the traffic I

had to fight going to and corning from it more than made up for the difference Ive trained at home ever since

There are advantages to training either way Usually there is more equipment available at a commercial gym than there would be at horne and the lighter weights are already fixed on the bars Occasionally you might even get professional instruction but dont count on it The last time I went to a commercial gym in LA some contest winner made me out a schedule and then promptly assigned some $200 an hour flunky to show me how to perform the exercises When the flunky took me over to a leg press machine to show me how to do a bench press I got the distinct impression he didnt know quite as much about weightshytraining as the management of the gym assumed

The really sincere gym owners in this country can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand I am personally acquainted with one Its not all the gym owners fault however How many trainees do they ever corne across with enough sense to do EXACTLY as theyre told In my own nine years of training aspiring monsters Ive managed to come across one Narrow field isnt it

What are the advantages of training at home Many The monthly net cost is much lower than a monthly gym membership Once your

equipment is paid for there is no other significant cost to be considered And most gyms now require you to sign a contract for a year to make sure they get paid You the customer are not a valid consideration First the money then (if youre lucky) the service The same amount of money sunk in a power rack a bench and a barbell set is an investment not an expense They dont run out like a gym membership If you decide to take a three-month layoff thats your prerogative theres no cost factor other than the time youve wasted

Dont misunderstand me Im not against commercial gyms The best gains I ever made were at Mits Kawashimas in Hawaii in 1966 from 190 to 230 pounds in five months However trainers like Mits are a rarity Better to train at home than go to a place where the emphasis is on businessmen and long term contracts

If you can get training partners for your home gym so much the better The best kind are obviously the ones who either have their own equipment or are willing to help pay for yours Even spotters are helpful In my own case I had no-one in this town to train with The local chiropractor sent me a couple of his remedial exercise patients (his first remedial exercise patient got sent to the physical therapist in the local hospital the therapist promptly informed the chiropractors patient what fools chiropractors were) and I managed to squeeze enough out of them to pay for all my equipment ($50 for three months for personal supervision of every workout a chiropractors patients will pay it its tax deductible)

Later on a friend of mine from California drifted in with his thigh-extension machine and another friend from New Jersey drifted in who we promptly put to work as a spotter By that time one of my remedial exercise victims had gained enough strength to where we could also put him to work as a spotter He kept paying me for the privilege however

If you can tap into a friendly chiro great The one I go to loans me an occasional book on diet yellow ligaments physiology and related SUbjects Most expensive library Ive ever

4

been to What sort of equipment do you need I prefer a power rack a flat bench and a barbell

set Thats the basics The easiest way to obtain dumbbells and plates is simply to let people know youre in the market

More people than you think have the stuff pitching around Last week I picked up a hitchhiker in Lexington who sold me over a hundred pounds of steel plates dumbbell bars and collars for $1400 Avoid plastic-coated plates They eventually come unglued Iron Man Magazine classified ads are an excellent source for both buyers and sellers Used equipment from someone in a panic to get rid of it sometimes goes dirt cheap And a buyer advertising can be very selective

The primary advantage of training at home Its not the absence of lines behind the weights

Its the ability to experiment at your leisure Practically every great discovery in history has been uncovered by an Edison a Ford

or similar sort puttering around his own unfinished workshop Should weight-training be any different Did Arthur Jones invent the Nautilus machines in the factories he has now or were they invented out behind his garage About a month ago I had what I thought was a stroke of genius on the design of a forearm machine a device like a thick-handled steering wheel to roll weights up from the ground I hotfooted it over to the public library to check out every book on anatomy (for forearms) I could find What I found was that of over a dozen muscles in the forearm and thirty-three in the hand only two are used for rotating the wrist clockwise and two counterclockwise The other forty-one are used for gripping However the research I did led me to conclude the humble wrist roller would be a fantastic device if it could be made out of a round piece of wood about four inches in diameter

The public library is available to all of us Many methods and training aids discovered by physiologists chiropractors and the like go unused simply because most trainees dont do the study and research that they should I dont mean books written by those already in the field (of which Im as guilty as any) I mean scientific journals advanced nutritional journals and anything scientific pertaining to the human body For example one little item I came across in my reading was about a Chicago physicist who measured the electromagnetic field created by contracting human muscles He reported the strength of such a field as one fiveshyhundred millionth part as strong as the magnetic field surrounding the whole earth This subject alone would probably keep your home gym hopping for months with experiments and the like

Weight-training is for all practical purposes still in the scientific stone age I spent months digging around in the records of the bronze age for my book The Strength ofSamson (a product of a home gym and the public library) and if the trainee of today can ever break away from the hidebound rut of present routines and attitudes I sincerely believe that every weightlifting record and physical measurement currently extant will be smashed beyond belief using information available NOW

Let me know if you write a book I might even publish it for you

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part I

How It Will Be Attained

The other night one of my trainees in Massachusetts called me up for his monthly training advice It seems that the people where he trained had no idea of what they were doing He went so far as to inform me that a World Champion in the 242 pound class in Powerlifting had absolutely no idea of what he was doing The powerlifter simply came into the

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gym at his appointed hour brought his lunch with him and simply trained his brains out for about four hours twice a week The lifters best bench press was in the neighborhood of 510 pounds

In case youre wondering about my preoccupation with the bench press let me explain My basement ceiling is just a tad over six feet high and my lower back was somewhat damaged in service Both factors preclude any overhead lifting

Youre probably thinking its safe to predict a 1000 pound bench press and ten years from now someone will do it Im betting it will happen within two or three years Maybe less

Why I think the weight-training fraternity is finally ready to accept the scientific method Meaning find out what works and then USE it Lately there has been a lot written (by various authors) about rtegative resistance but I doubt if its here to stay or if it will be instrumental in really meaningful strength increases To me negative resistance is nonsense What on earth is the purpose of developing weight lowering strength I realize many individuals point to the large increases in weight that can be lowered (whats next not lifting strength) but careful examination and comparison of weight lowering movements with partial positive movements I believe will show partials have the edge One of my customers for my book The Strength of Samson reports that his partial bench press (about a 2 inch travel) increased from 225 pounds 10 reps to 385 pounds 10 reps in 30 days And a former Illinois State Powerlift Champ in the 242 pound class telephoned me one night to inform me that his partial squats had increased from 800 to 1200 pounds in two weeks As Larry Lawson pointed out in an article on Paul Anderson in Iron Man Magazine 1956 FebruaryMarch (Volume 15 Number 5) whatever can be lifted partially will with persistent training eventually become a complete lift I have yet to read or hear of anyone saying what goes down must come up

Also and this is mere personal opinion arrived at simply by rummaging through a few anatomy books I believe negative resistance may prove to be the most dangerous method of training yet devised For this reason a muscle is considerably weaker than its attaching tendon so that if extreme stress is put upon the limb the muscle tears long before the tendon becomes involved Now suppose the muscle actually becomes stronger than the tendons to which it is attached (which I believe is possible with enough negative training) Do you have the usual charley horse or a condition requiring extensive surgery

So while negative resistance may have its place as simply a way of enabling the trainee to get the feel of a heavier weight I think it should be used sparingly

What benefits will be received from training for such a lift Great strength obviously Youre also liable to find a couple of side benefits you didnt expect Like a friend of mine on the Honolulu Police Dept who spent three years moving his bench press up to 500 pounds without using partial movements When he started he weighed 187 at a height of 6 3 The night I saw him bench press 550 pounds he weighed in at 290 pounds without an ounce of fat Unlike the current crop of puff adders who are primarily concerned with measurements my friend was concerned with strength He developed a 19Y2 inch arm in the process (I measured it myself) and I would be willing to bet others would claim 22 inches for the arm he had

Its unfortunate most bodybuilders dont realize that pursuing measurements is like chasing butterflies they11 elude you Pursue a more easily definable goal like a 500 pound bench press and the butterfly will come and land on your sleeve

Also while Im throwing out an occasional brickbat lets forget all this a muscle has to have full contraction and full extension for complete and maximum development insanity This statement is true only in one case if the muscle is separated from the body of the organism and placed in a tank of nutrient solution This same muscle in solution generally has to be trimmed because it grows so fast Any of you ever had such a problem

So you think possibly you might want to attempt the Everest of bench presses and

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want to know where to start Heres what I would suggest My 290 pound friend with the 550 pound bench press used what I will have to call the

step-ladder system of training for want of a better term He would do 10 sets Five up and five down Another friend of mine moved his own bench press up over 150 pounds in nine months using the same method Both of them used full movements

Heres roughly the way it works Start with a warm-up weight One set of ten Add enough weight to get eight reps

comfortably One set Add enough weight to get six reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get five reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get three reps comfortably One set Now work back down in weight the next five sets using the weights you worked up with but try to increase the repetitions When youre doing more reps on the downside add weight to all sets (about 5 or 10 pounds)

Now it gets complicated Lets use the above system with partial movements only You 11 be amazed at how little time it takes you to surpass 500 pounds 2 inch travel Remember what Larry Lawson said

Heres where the complications corne in Even at 2 inch travel 600 pounds is a lot of weight So much so in fact that an almost unbelievable amount of oxygen is used up on every repetition What goes up once relatively easily the first time is extremely difficult the second and literally unbudgeable the third Complication number one is lack of oxygen

The next thing you 11 notice at that weight as I did is the neck tendons become heavily involved and a vein that runs down the side of the neck becomes heavily engorged with blood Why this happens I dont know However I believe complication number two can also be solved

The third complication is this very few of us have the wrist strength to push against such weights with any degree of speed without spraining The primary reason I wrote Iron Claws is because I sprained my right wrist lifting a 605 pound weight in the partial bench press

In order to avoid the foregoing complications here is a routine that I would suggest following twice a week in addition to the step-ladder system

Wrestlers bridge 2 x 10 Upright rows 2 x 10 Wrist curls 2 x 10 Squats 2 x 10

The above exercises should be done with extremely moderate weights and the poundage not increased until the weight actually begins to feellight The wrestlers bridge is ohviously for the neck tendons and the blood vessel I referred to earlier The upright rows are simply to work the muscles between the shoulder blades from a different direction than the partial bench press and thereby removing any weak link The wrist curls are of course to keep you from spraining your wrist The squats should be done with an Iron Man Magic Circle Personally I think the Magic Circle is an ugly-looking piece of apparatus but it does permit the utilization of more lung space than a conventional bar and when you get to the 600 pound mark and beyond youre going to need every cubic inch of lung power you can muster In fact its going to take you several minutes of deep breathing after each set of partials past 400 pounds to recover your air

Eventually you11 be up to 1000 pounds 2 inch travel What do you do then Obviously if you can lift 1000 pounds 2 inches in a maximum effort youre not going to be able to heave the same weight up 4 inches However with a little work on it moving the weight 2 inches shouldnt be an earthshaking undertaking Simply leave the rack pins in the same position and RAISE THE BENCH by putting inch thick boards or sheet steel under it When you have four V2 inch boards or sheets of steel under the bench its time to drop the pins and start

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allover As the 1000 pounds travels its way down the pins your assistance exercise program

is going to have to change somewhat For example at the 6 inch point substitute a heavy triceps exercise for the upright rows

A couple of other things I would recommend are a close study of nutrition (for example vitamin A affects the pectoral muscles) and a hypnotism session every night (except Sunday of course) to remove potential mental stumbling blocks before they have a chance to take hold in your mind

Let me know if you develop a 22 inch upper arm in the process

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part II

One of the problems inherent with attempting to be an authority in any field is that just when you think youve got all the answers somebody drops a chance remark and adds a whole herd of new questions This has happened to me twice in the last two weeks by or because of fellows who stopped by to see what we were doing in the way of research workouts and the like And also in the last two weeks basic metallurgy forced us to completely redesign our power rack and bars

First the metal When a normal barbell bar is loaded with 700 pounds of plates it takes on physical characteristics normally not associated with such equipment It bends which is to be expected

Then it twists also expected Then the fun begins Heres what happens Force is applied to the bar and sometimes one end of the bar comes flying up while the other remains stationary if youre off balance Or you push against the bar For a second it seems motionless In actuality the bar is bending in the middle Once the slack is taken up the bar has bent as far as it is going to the weight literally leaps off the rack pins and whips back and forth in the air This whipping motion is extremely hard on the palms of the hands and the wrists At present we have figured out two ways to eliminate this Instead of the standard barbell bar we use one made out of a special type of steel which wont begin to bend until 1500 pounds or so is placed on each end Whipping is eliminated at least for the next fe months Another problem occurs when the bar is dropped back onto the rack pins Shock~ from metal slamming metal run down the arms causing no end of discomfort Nor is it possible with extremely heavy weights to gauge exactly how much force is required to move it at the extension position Dont apply enough force and the bar wont move Apply too much toe rapidly and the bar may come flying up but you may be nursing a sprained wrist for somt time

A little device we thought up may solve both the shock and applied force problem We call them rack rebounders Theyre simply blocks of steel with holes drilled in them tc accommodate the rack pins On top of the steel block sits a coil spring On top of the col spring reposes a saddle or cradle for the bar When you plop the bar down it wont sene shock waves down your arms simply because the spring gives with the weight On tht upstroke part of the weight is boosted for you at the beginning of the movement so insteac of struggling mightily with the actual 700 or 800 pounds you have on the bar your initia resistance may be half that As the springs uncoil the heavier a load you absorb until th entire load clears the decks so to speak Also if youre a real glutton for punishment YOt

can load a bar well past your single limit on a partial movement and actually WORK with the weight Granted it wont travel very far but it WILL TRAVEL Lets say you dump 100( pounds on the bar and it only travels one inch up to a 3 inch coil spring Keep working witt it and eventually even with 10 of an inch at a time your half ton weight will clear the

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saddles and THEN you can start rrusmg the bench lowering the pins etc Another advantage to rack rebounders is that you can keep pumping a tremendous weight long after the failure point of normal partials

If youre totally confused at this point look at the drawings of rack rebounders on page 17 Give us a phone call if you wish us to make you a set They will be advertised in future issues of Iron Man Magazine

For those who havent done so I would suggest ordering Bill Antons course You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds advertised in Iron Man Magazine and apply it to partial movements

Another little goodie that I havent had time to investigate is one told to me by Bob Simpson when he was up here from Knoxville a couple weeks ago Bob was featured in Iron Man Magazine as the fellow who pressed 525 from a rack and then couldnt hold it at arms length Bobs method of training consisted of push-pressing using his legs enormous weights up to about nose level He worked up to about 1000 pounds in this fashion and then his back gave out Who knows Had his back held up he may have been the first man in recorded history to military press I 000 pounds I recall years ago working up to 3 sets of 8 reps in the push press behind neck with 220 pounds at a bodyweight of 180 and felt like the weights would go up forever until the contest winners saw me doing it and told me that was NOT the way to do things So I went back to doing them strict with a whole lot less weight Like a dummy The blind leading the blind Anyway Bob told me about a bodybuilder where he trained who experimented in the bench press and the squat in rather unusual fashion This fellow would have a weight somewhat in excess of his best limit attempt handed to him and he would slowly lower it and then bounce it up and down on his chest (or haunches if he was doing squats) for several repetitions In two weeks this fellows limit bench press and squat each increased by about 60 pounds However being a bodybuilder he wasnt much interested in great strength and abandoned that line of endeavor to pursue other more measurement oriented goals Anyone else care to try this and let me know the results thereof

Chiropractic for Strength and Bulk Increases

Have you ever noticed how many people take up weight-training in their lives And how few succeed

Let me cite a couple of examples The first case is myself Ive horsed around with weights since 1964 and by 1966

weighed 230 with a 340 bench press Then I quit training for a year and lost 40 pounds probably due more to poverty than lack of proper training Off and on for the years following I tried to regain what I had lost and could never seem to quite make it Doubly frustrating was the fact that everyone training under my supervision made fairly respectable gains It wasnt until 1973 that I began to deviate from the accepted norms of the weight-training world and surpassed myoid strength levels

What was the problem I couldnt blame improper training alone I had gained 70 pounds in two years on what

I now consider stone-age training methods Like everyone else I was all concerned about muscles But there wasnt anything

wrong with the muscles themselves I did notice a sharp pain in my lower right back whenever my 20 reps in the squat approached the 250 to 270 pound mark I went to a local chiropractor for two years and didnt improve a bit Finally not suspecting my local chiro didnt know what he was doing I went to one in Richmond on the local mans day off as I could hardly walk and didnt want to wait another day The Richmond man suggested an x-ray and the results were something I hadnt expected My entire spine was tilted so far to one side that the weights I put on my back created pressure primarily on ONE SIDE of my body Through continued

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exercise I was actually weakening instead of strengthening myself My nerves and spinal ligaments were literally being torn apart Fortunately my Richmond chiro is one of the few (about 10 of the profession) who actually knows what hes doing and hes slowly but surely getting me straightened out (or rather my spine is)

The other case is a fellow who bought The Strength of Samson and told me he had never been able to get his body weight past 170 unless he literally gorged himself with food in which case he went up to 180 and lost it as soon as he slowed down his food intake At the same time he told me one leg cramped up real bad if he squatted down on his haunches for a few minutes He didnt realize it but he had just pin-pointed his major problem Nerves not only carry electrical impulses from the brain to the muscles they have a tendency to weaken the muscles if they (the nerves) are irritated Heavy exercise generally makes the situation worse What happened to this fellow I dont know but I HOPE he found a chiro believing in corrective care (most practice a remedial whack crack six bucks and get back sort of profession)

Other facets of weight-training are far more subtle Nutrition for example All the authorities holler about protein But as Landone points out in Electronic Properties ojFoods protein fats and starches are deadly poisons If you dont think so try injecting the stuff directly into your bloodstream sometime and see if you dont turn your toes up In my OVin case I wondered why I made better gains on pineapple juice than I did on fresh raw milk Sound odd Thats what I thought too when I first read it but Landone cites numerous hospital and institutional experiments to prove that pineapple carries a slightly POSITIVE charge of electricity and all animal products slightly NEGATIVE Landone was by no meallS a vegetarian (he died in 1945 at the age of 98) he simply points out that no matter how wellshybalanced you may THINK your diet is if it consists of primarily negative-charged foods you will eventually run down In one section of the book he cites a study of 1000 x-rays 500 vegetarians 500 meat eaters The meat eaters all looked fairly normal on the films but the vegetarians ALL had swollen and collapsed intestines very small lungs etc etc

Another subject is drugs Some take them and gain and some dont Theres no point in my moralizing on the subject Im no expert on them and if you refuse to obey the Good Book and truck with sorcerers (sorcerer comes from the same root word in Greek that we get Pharmacist from) then what befalls you is your own lookout Of course some of the trainers who write articles about the Zen Masters and the rest of the Eastern religions currently flooding the country may be partially to blame Practically all the so-called Eastern religions indulge in drugs as part of their rites etc And one of these religions considers cows so sacred they not only worship the dumb animals they bathe and DRINK a mixture of butter milk curd cow urine and cow excrement as part of their religion (Reference National Geographic Magazine series 1971) Long as the pill-poppers indulge in the drugs they might as well avail themselves of the protein supplements Yeccch

The point Im trying to make is this treat your body the way the Almighty intended and you may reap benefits you never expected In my own case my corrective therapy (NO drugs) resulted in my height increasing from 6 1 to 6 2W in less than three months and Im 31 years old Incidentally according to an AP release dated December 19th 1973 Skylab 3s astronauts all gained an inch or more in height since November 16th when they were launched into space One grew almost two inches Wonder what would happen if you left short people in a weightless environment here on earth for several weeks

Forearm Anatomy

This is a rather presumptuous title for such a brief page but I feel it necessary to warn you of a thing or two concerning the forearms One thing I noticed after reading several books on anatomy and several on grip development is that the fellows writing the grip books were

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very poorly schooled in anatomy Worse than me even Some of the exercises recommended are downright ridiculous and others downright dangerous For a specific example one fellow (a world record holder at one time) recommended tightening jar lids as an exercise Lots of luck if you tighten it too far and the jar breaks and slices your hand open Just for the record the tendons you see on the back of the hand and elsewhere are seated very deeply in the arm and a deep cut on the hand is likely as not if it gets infected going to cause you considerable misfortune Infection will travel to the seat of the tendons a lot quicker than you would think and it takes (there are exceptions) the surgeons knife to remedy the damage So please DONT put strains on your hands theyre not ready for And if you MUST punch someone aim for the stomach Ive seen hands swollen and infected so badly they were three times normal size from someones tooth coming out and lodging between the knuckles

Developing An Iron Claw

Many years ago before most of todays weight trainees were even a gleam in their daddys eye a fellow named John Y Smith used to specialize in the one-handed deadlift The late Harry Paschall who used to write quite regularly for Iron Man Magazine in the 1950s had met Smith several years earlier and in Paschalls opinion Smiths hands looked like iron claws Years of one-handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smiths finger tendons in the palm of the hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a ducks feet Smith at the time was doing one-handed deadlifts in his exercise routine with about 400 pounds Paschall who could do almost 300 pounds in the same exercise decided he could equal Smiths performance without a whole lot of effort Paschall made his living as an artist After a few weeks of specializing on the lift he gave it up as he was afraid he would lose his artistic ability the tendons in his hands were developing far more rapidly than he had expected His hands too were beginning to look like iron claws

The foregoing is simply an illustration of how important one-handed deadlifts are to those interested in developing great gripping powers and forearm girth Harold Ansorge a professional strongman of the 1930s was capable of over 500 pounds in this same lift Ansorge had such prodigious strength in his hands that he was featured in Ripleys Believe It or Not as being able to tear the corner off a deck of 52 playing cards using only his thumb and index finger Ansorge was also good at spike bending and tearing through SEVERAL telephone directories at a time

In recent times the squat has been called the king of exercises but I believe the oneshyhanded deadlift to be a superior exercise for all around strength and power 111 admit I personally soured on the squat as the exercise after seeing a photograph of one of the worlds best squatters wearing wrist braces to push press a 500 pound weight It seemed to me that his leg and lower back strength would be advantageous for pulling a plow but considering this same individual weighed over 300 pounds his great strength wasnt much good for anything else

A close investigation will show that the one-handed deadlift affects many of the same muscles the squat does and a couple more besides In the one-handed deadlift the legs lower back and upper back are all affected to a degree So are the lungs if the exercise is performed vigorously enough Of course you will only be able to lift what you can hold onto with your hands which for most modern-day weight trainees is very little compared to what the other muscle groups have been developed to

In my own personal and highly prejudiced opinion I believe full two-handed deadlifts should be avoided unless youre determined to enter powerlift competition The position for performing the lift is highly unnatural and the chance for injury is enormous Someone lifting a weight with one hand while the other hand provides a brace for the lower back via the knee

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is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

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DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

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was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

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dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

going to let the place blow up in the meantime 111 furnish archaeological evidence on this 1979 business if anyone is interested

Taking courses on How to get along in the Babylonian money system is something I personally can live without If you dont ENJOY doing something you wont be any good at it anyway and no well-meaning platitudes are going to edge you any closer to success Such advice is given to people interested in worshipping Nebuchadnezzers golden image (the gold standard though now its just paper) Whatever happened to the men who tried to live their lives in Spartan simplicity Christian charity and honor

As far as spiritual development goes I think were hitching the horse up backwards here friends A Russian fellow named Sergei Kirlian and his wife devised an unusual form of photography They were able to photograph the aura or color spectrum AROUND living things The aura changes when the organism is sick And one faith healer was photographed with streams of energy emanating from his fingertips Lets build the temple walls before we try to tile the roof otherwise none of it will ever get off the ground As the Apostle Paul stated youve got to learn the earthly things first THEN the heavenly

The state of the Iron Game is due to only one thing No one knows what we SHOULD be doing as opposed to what we ARE doing One fellow is storming the news media but I doubt if he will achieve anything permanent After all theres nothing permanent in it for them

What are we doing Drugs for some Some men will try literally anything for increased size and strength Which is an admirable trait if it is carried out logically Without drugs

Lets use an analogy The automobile you drive today is more than the product of scientists and engineers Disregarding the nut behind the wheel most of our modern steering and suspension systems engines transmissions power trains and tires are so safe your grandmother can drive an average one from New York to LA with hardly a thought What made them so safe Was it the scientists and engineers Or was it the race car drivers who tested every design every alloy every rubber compound and every piece of steel on the competition tracks some dying in the process

Why arent we doing the same for the sick Why arent we in the public libraries and scientific journals digging out the opinions of

the scientists and seeing if they WORK How can you expect scientists who think a barbell curl is an alcoholic in curlers to realistically test a hypothesis that might someday benefit the weak and the sick For example a book on endocrine glands I have here before me tells about some test-tube stuffer who injected adrenaline extract into rats They grew into GIANTS with bones twice as thick and heavy as in normal rats Any of you ever tried desiccated adrenal gland as a dietary supplement We all know the value of desiccated liver On another page in the same book a fellow named Carrell extracted juice from the heart of a chick embryo and fed it to an embryonic heart for the equivalent of 3000 generations Immortality

Fascinating new stuff you say The book is Glands RegUlating Personality by Louis Berman He even claims the main reason gorillas are so much larger and stronger than humans is the excess pituitary gland secretions Anyone for desiccated pituitary gland The book was copyrighted in 1921

Once we experiment with this stuff and see whether or not it works how do we get it to the sick and the weak Simple Write an article for Iron Man Magazine Youd be amazed at the number of chiropractors that read it

Train at Home

Ever go into a commercial gym right after working hours People stacked six deep behind every piece of equipment in the place A body sometimes two on every bench Barbells

3

and dumbbells scattered helter-skelter by the slobs too inconsiderate to put them back in their respective racks The odor of someone sweating off the previous nights pork chops permeates the air One moron so busy checking out his profile as he unloads the bar he forgets 150 pounds cannot be taken off one side of a 345 pound Olympic set without decreasing the other side a like amount disastrous consequences for the gym mirror he was checking himself out in Athletes foot lurking in the dressing room for the unwary

Sound familiar It wasnt quite this bad at the last commercial gym I went to years ago but the traffic I

had to fight going to and corning from it more than made up for the difference Ive trained at home ever since

There are advantages to training either way Usually there is more equipment available at a commercial gym than there would be at horne and the lighter weights are already fixed on the bars Occasionally you might even get professional instruction but dont count on it The last time I went to a commercial gym in LA some contest winner made me out a schedule and then promptly assigned some $200 an hour flunky to show me how to perform the exercises When the flunky took me over to a leg press machine to show me how to do a bench press I got the distinct impression he didnt know quite as much about weightshytraining as the management of the gym assumed

The really sincere gym owners in this country can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand I am personally acquainted with one Its not all the gym owners fault however How many trainees do they ever corne across with enough sense to do EXACTLY as theyre told In my own nine years of training aspiring monsters Ive managed to come across one Narrow field isnt it

What are the advantages of training at home Many The monthly net cost is much lower than a monthly gym membership Once your

equipment is paid for there is no other significant cost to be considered And most gyms now require you to sign a contract for a year to make sure they get paid You the customer are not a valid consideration First the money then (if youre lucky) the service The same amount of money sunk in a power rack a bench and a barbell set is an investment not an expense They dont run out like a gym membership If you decide to take a three-month layoff thats your prerogative theres no cost factor other than the time youve wasted

Dont misunderstand me Im not against commercial gyms The best gains I ever made were at Mits Kawashimas in Hawaii in 1966 from 190 to 230 pounds in five months However trainers like Mits are a rarity Better to train at home than go to a place where the emphasis is on businessmen and long term contracts

If you can get training partners for your home gym so much the better The best kind are obviously the ones who either have their own equipment or are willing to help pay for yours Even spotters are helpful In my own case I had no-one in this town to train with The local chiropractor sent me a couple of his remedial exercise patients (his first remedial exercise patient got sent to the physical therapist in the local hospital the therapist promptly informed the chiropractors patient what fools chiropractors were) and I managed to squeeze enough out of them to pay for all my equipment ($50 for three months for personal supervision of every workout a chiropractors patients will pay it its tax deductible)

Later on a friend of mine from California drifted in with his thigh-extension machine and another friend from New Jersey drifted in who we promptly put to work as a spotter By that time one of my remedial exercise victims had gained enough strength to where we could also put him to work as a spotter He kept paying me for the privilege however

If you can tap into a friendly chiro great The one I go to loans me an occasional book on diet yellow ligaments physiology and related SUbjects Most expensive library Ive ever

4

been to What sort of equipment do you need I prefer a power rack a flat bench and a barbell

set Thats the basics The easiest way to obtain dumbbells and plates is simply to let people know youre in the market

More people than you think have the stuff pitching around Last week I picked up a hitchhiker in Lexington who sold me over a hundred pounds of steel plates dumbbell bars and collars for $1400 Avoid plastic-coated plates They eventually come unglued Iron Man Magazine classified ads are an excellent source for both buyers and sellers Used equipment from someone in a panic to get rid of it sometimes goes dirt cheap And a buyer advertising can be very selective

The primary advantage of training at home Its not the absence of lines behind the weights

Its the ability to experiment at your leisure Practically every great discovery in history has been uncovered by an Edison a Ford

or similar sort puttering around his own unfinished workshop Should weight-training be any different Did Arthur Jones invent the Nautilus machines in the factories he has now or were they invented out behind his garage About a month ago I had what I thought was a stroke of genius on the design of a forearm machine a device like a thick-handled steering wheel to roll weights up from the ground I hotfooted it over to the public library to check out every book on anatomy (for forearms) I could find What I found was that of over a dozen muscles in the forearm and thirty-three in the hand only two are used for rotating the wrist clockwise and two counterclockwise The other forty-one are used for gripping However the research I did led me to conclude the humble wrist roller would be a fantastic device if it could be made out of a round piece of wood about four inches in diameter

The public library is available to all of us Many methods and training aids discovered by physiologists chiropractors and the like go unused simply because most trainees dont do the study and research that they should I dont mean books written by those already in the field (of which Im as guilty as any) I mean scientific journals advanced nutritional journals and anything scientific pertaining to the human body For example one little item I came across in my reading was about a Chicago physicist who measured the electromagnetic field created by contracting human muscles He reported the strength of such a field as one fiveshyhundred millionth part as strong as the magnetic field surrounding the whole earth This subject alone would probably keep your home gym hopping for months with experiments and the like

Weight-training is for all practical purposes still in the scientific stone age I spent months digging around in the records of the bronze age for my book The Strength ofSamson (a product of a home gym and the public library) and if the trainee of today can ever break away from the hidebound rut of present routines and attitudes I sincerely believe that every weightlifting record and physical measurement currently extant will be smashed beyond belief using information available NOW

Let me know if you write a book I might even publish it for you

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part I

How It Will Be Attained

The other night one of my trainees in Massachusetts called me up for his monthly training advice It seems that the people where he trained had no idea of what they were doing He went so far as to inform me that a World Champion in the 242 pound class in Powerlifting had absolutely no idea of what he was doing The powerlifter simply came into the

5

1 j

1 1 l

1

I J

gym at his appointed hour brought his lunch with him and simply trained his brains out for about four hours twice a week The lifters best bench press was in the neighborhood of 510 pounds

In case youre wondering about my preoccupation with the bench press let me explain My basement ceiling is just a tad over six feet high and my lower back was somewhat damaged in service Both factors preclude any overhead lifting

Youre probably thinking its safe to predict a 1000 pound bench press and ten years from now someone will do it Im betting it will happen within two or three years Maybe less

Why I think the weight-training fraternity is finally ready to accept the scientific method Meaning find out what works and then USE it Lately there has been a lot written (by various authors) about rtegative resistance but I doubt if its here to stay or if it will be instrumental in really meaningful strength increases To me negative resistance is nonsense What on earth is the purpose of developing weight lowering strength I realize many individuals point to the large increases in weight that can be lowered (whats next not lifting strength) but careful examination and comparison of weight lowering movements with partial positive movements I believe will show partials have the edge One of my customers for my book The Strength of Samson reports that his partial bench press (about a 2 inch travel) increased from 225 pounds 10 reps to 385 pounds 10 reps in 30 days And a former Illinois State Powerlift Champ in the 242 pound class telephoned me one night to inform me that his partial squats had increased from 800 to 1200 pounds in two weeks As Larry Lawson pointed out in an article on Paul Anderson in Iron Man Magazine 1956 FebruaryMarch (Volume 15 Number 5) whatever can be lifted partially will with persistent training eventually become a complete lift I have yet to read or hear of anyone saying what goes down must come up

Also and this is mere personal opinion arrived at simply by rummaging through a few anatomy books I believe negative resistance may prove to be the most dangerous method of training yet devised For this reason a muscle is considerably weaker than its attaching tendon so that if extreme stress is put upon the limb the muscle tears long before the tendon becomes involved Now suppose the muscle actually becomes stronger than the tendons to which it is attached (which I believe is possible with enough negative training) Do you have the usual charley horse or a condition requiring extensive surgery

So while negative resistance may have its place as simply a way of enabling the trainee to get the feel of a heavier weight I think it should be used sparingly

What benefits will be received from training for such a lift Great strength obviously Youre also liable to find a couple of side benefits you didnt expect Like a friend of mine on the Honolulu Police Dept who spent three years moving his bench press up to 500 pounds without using partial movements When he started he weighed 187 at a height of 6 3 The night I saw him bench press 550 pounds he weighed in at 290 pounds without an ounce of fat Unlike the current crop of puff adders who are primarily concerned with measurements my friend was concerned with strength He developed a 19Y2 inch arm in the process (I measured it myself) and I would be willing to bet others would claim 22 inches for the arm he had

Its unfortunate most bodybuilders dont realize that pursuing measurements is like chasing butterflies they11 elude you Pursue a more easily definable goal like a 500 pound bench press and the butterfly will come and land on your sleeve

Also while Im throwing out an occasional brickbat lets forget all this a muscle has to have full contraction and full extension for complete and maximum development insanity This statement is true only in one case if the muscle is separated from the body of the organism and placed in a tank of nutrient solution This same muscle in solution generally has to be trimmed because it grows so fast Any of you ever had such a problem

So you think possibly you might want to attempt the Everest of bench presses and

6

want to know where to start Heres what I would suggest My 290 pound friend with the 550 pound bench press used what I will have to call the

step-ladder system of training for want of a better term He would do 10 sets Five up and five down Another friend of mine moved his own bench press up over 150 pounds in nine months using the same method Both of them used full movements

Heres roughly the way it works Start with a warm-up weight One set of ten Add enough weight to get eight reps

comfortably One set Add enough weight to get six reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get five reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get three reps comfortably One set Now work back down in weight the next five sets using the weights you worked up with but try to increase the repetitions When youre doing more reps on the downside add weight to all sets (about 5 or 10 pounds)

Now it gets complicated Lets use the above system with partial movements only You 11 be amazed at how little time it takes you to surpass 500 pounds 2 inch travel Remember what Larry Lawson said

Heres where the complications corne in Even at 2 inch travel 600 pounds is a lot of weight So much so in fact that an almost unbelievable amount of oxygen is used up on every repetition What goes up once relatively easily the first time is extremely difficult the second and literally unbudgeable the third Complication number one is lack of oxygen

The next thing you 11 notice at that weight as I did is the neck tendons become heavily involved and a vein that runs down the side of the neck becomes heavily engorged with blood Why this happens I dont know However I believe complication number two can also be solved

The third complication is this very few of us have the wrist strength to push against such weights with any degree of speed without spraining The primary reason I wrote Iron Claws is because I sprained my right wrist lifting a 605 pound weight in the partial bench press

In order to avoid the foregoing complications here is a routine that I would suggest following twice a week in addition to the step-ladder system

Wrestlers bridge 2 x 10 Upright rows 2 x 10 Wrist curls 2 x 10 Squats 2 x 10

The above exercises should be done with extremely moderate weights and the poundage not increased until the weight actually begins to feellight The wrestlers bridge is ohviously for the neck tendons and the blood vessel I referred to earlier The upright rows are simply to work the muscles between the shoulder blades from a different direction than the partial bench press and thereby removing any weak link The wrist curls are of course to keep you from spraining your wrist The squats should be done with an Iron Man Magic Circle Personally I think the Magic Circle is an ugly-looking piece of apparatus but it does permit the utilization of more lung space than a conventional bar and when you get to the 600 pound mark and beyond youre going to need every cubic inch of lung power you can muster In fact its going to take you several minutes of deep breathing after each set of partials past 400 pounds to recover your air

Eventually you11 be up to 1000 pounds 2 inch travel What do you do then Obviously if you can lift 1000 pounds 2 inches in a maximum effort youre not going to be able to heave the same weight up 4 inches However with a little work on it moving the weight 2 inches shouldnt be an earthshaking undertaking Simply leave the rack pins in the same position and RAISE THE BENCH by putting inch thick boards or sheet steel under it When you have four V2 inch boards or sheets of steel under the bench its time to drop the pins and start

7

1 1 I

allover As the 1000 pounds travels its way down the pins your assistance exercise program

is going to have to change somewhat For example at the 6 inch point substitute a heavy triceps exercise for the upright rows

A couple of other things I would recommend are a close study of nutrition (for example vitamin A affects the pectoral muscles) and a hypnotism session every night (except Sunday of course) to remove potential mental stumbling blocks before they have a chance to take hold in your mind

Let me know if you develop a 22 inch upper arm in the process

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part II

One of the problems inherent with attempting to be an authority in any field is that just when you think youve got all the answers somebody drops a chance remark and adds a whole herd of new questions This has happened to me twice in the last two weeks by or because of fellows who stopped by to see what we were doing in the way of research workouts and the like And also in the last two weeks basic metallurgy forced us to completely redesign our power rack and bars

First the metal When a normal barbell bar is loaded with 700 pounds of plates it takes on physical characteristics normally not associated with such equipment It bends which is to be expected

Then it twists also expected Then the fun begins Heres what happens Force is applied to the bar and sometimes one end of the bar comes flying up while the other remains stationary if youre off balance Or you push against the bar For a second it seems motionless In actuality the bar is bending in the middle Once the slack is taken up the bar has bent as far as it is going to the weight literally leaps off the rack pins and whips back and forth in the air This whipping motion is extremely hard on the palms of the hands and the wrists At present we have figured out two ways to eliminate this Instead of the standard barbell bar we use one made out of a special type of steel which wont begin to bend until 1500 pounds or so is placed on each end Whipping is eliminated at least for the next fe months Another problem occurs when the bar is dropped back onto the rack pins Shock~ from metal slamming metal run down the arms causing no end of discomfort Nor is it possible with extremely heavy weights to gauge exactly how much force is required to move it at the extension position Dont apply enough force and the bar wont move Apply too much toe rapidly and the bar may come flying up but you may be nursing a sprained wrist for somt time

A little device we thought up may solve both the shock and applied force problem We call them rack rebounders Theyre simply blocks of steel with holes drilled in them tc accommodate the rack pins On top of the steel block sits a coil spring On top of the col spring reposes a saddle or cradle for the bar When you plop the bar down it wont sene shock waves down your arms simply because the spring gives with the weight On tht upstroke part of the weight is boosted for you at the beginning of the movement so insteac of struggling mightily with the actual 700 or 800 pounds you have on the bar your initia resistance may be half that As the springs uncoil the heavier a load you absorb until th entire load clears the decks so to speak Also if youre a real glutton for punishment YOt

can load a bar well past your single limit on a partial movement and actually WORK with the weight Granted it wont travel very far but it WILL TRAVEL Lets say you dump 100( pounds on the bar and it only travels one inch up to a 3 inch coil spring Keep working witt it and eventually even with 10 of an inch at a time your half ton weight will clear the

8

saddles and THEN you can start rrusmg the bench lowering the pins etc Another advantage to rack rebounders is that you can keep pumping a tremendous weight long after the failure point of normal partials

If youre totally confused at this point look at the drawings of rack rebounders on page 17 Give us a phone call if you wish us to make you a set They will be advertised in future issues of Iron Man Magazine

For those who havent done so I would suggest ordering Bill Antons course You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds advertised in Iron Man Magazine and apply it to partial movements

Another little goodie that I havent had time to investigate is one told to me by Bob Simpson when he was up here from Knoxville a couple weeks ago Bob was featured in Iron Man Magazine as the fellow who pressed 525 from a rack and then couldnt hold it at arms length Bobs method of training consisted of push-pressing using his legs enormous weights up to about nose level He worked up to about 1000 pounds in this fashion and then his back gave out Who knows Had his back held up he may have been the first man in recorded history to military press I 000 pounds I recall years ago working up to 3 sets of 8 reps in the push press behind neck with 220 pounds at a bodyweight of 180 and felt like the weights would go up forever until the contest winners saw me doing it and told me that was NOT the way to do things So I went back to doing them strict with a whole lot less weight Like a dummy The blind leading the blind Anyway Bob told me about a bodybuilder where he trained who experimented in the bench press and the squat in rather unusual fashion This fellow would have a weight somewhat in excess of his best limit attempt handed to him and he would slowly lower it and then bounce it up and down on his chest (or haunches if he was doing squats) for several repetitions In two weeks this fellows limit bench press and squat each increased by about 60 pounds However being a bodybuilder he wasnt much interested in great strength and abandoned that line of endeavor to pursue other more measurement oriented goals Anyone else care to try this and let me know the results thereof

Chiropractic for Strength and Bulk Increases

Have you ever noticed how many people take up weight-training in their lives And how few succeed

Let me cite a couple of examples The first case is myself Ive horsed around with weights since 1964 and by 1966

weighed 230 with a 340 bench press Then I quit training for a year and lost 40 pounds probably due more to poverty than lack of proper training Off and on for the years following I tried to regain what I had lost and could never seem to quite make it Doubly frustrating was the fact that everyone training under my supervision made fairly respectable gains It wasnt until 1973 that I began to deviate from the accepted norms of the weight-training world and surpassed myoid strength levels

What was the problem I couldnt blame improper training alone I had gained 70 pounds in two years on what

I now consider stone-age training methods Like everyone else I was all concerned about muscles But there wasnt anything

wrong with the muscles themselves I did notice a sharp pain in my lower right back whenever my 20 reps in the squat approached the 250 to 270 pound mark I went to a local chiropractor for two years and didnt improve a bit Finally not suspecting my local chiro didnt know what he was doing I went to one in Richmond on the local mans day off as I could hardly walk and didnt want to wait another day The Richmond man suggested an x-ray and the results were something I hadnt expected My entire spine was tilted so far to one side that the weights I put on my back created pressure primarily on ONE SIDE of my body Through continued

9

exercise I was actually weakening instead of strengthening myself My nerves and spinal ligaments were literally being torn apart Fortunately my Richmond chiro is one of the few (about 10 of the profession) who actually knows what hes doing and hes slowly but surely getting me straightened out (or rather my spine is)

The other case is a fellow who bought The Strength of Samson and told me he had never been able to get his body weight past 170 unless he literally gorged himself with food in which case he went up to 180 and lost it as soon as he slowed down his food intake At the same time he told me one leg cramped up real bad if he squatted down on his haunches for a few minutes He didnt realize it but he had just pin-pointed his major problem Nerves not only carry electrical impulses from the brain to the muscles they have a tendency to weaken the muscles if they (the nerves) are irritated Heavy exercise generally makes the situation worse What happened to this fellow I dont know but I HOPE he found a chiro believing in corrective care (most practice a remedial whack crack six bucks and get back sort of profession)

Other facets of weight-training are far more subtle Nutrition for example All the authorities holler about protein But as Landone points out in Electronic Properties ojFoods protein fats and starches are deadly poisons If you dont think so try injecting the stuff directly into your bloodstream sometime and see if you dont turn your toes up In my OVin case I wondered why I made better gains on pineapple juice than I did on fresh raw milk Sound odd Thats what I thought too when I first read it but Landone cites numerous hospital and institutional experiments to prove that pineapple carries a slightly POSITIVE charge of electricity and all animal products slightly NEGATIVE Landone was by no meallS a vegetarian (he died in 1945 at the age of 98) he simply points out that no matter how wellshybalanced you may THINK your diet is if it consists of primarily negative-charged foods you will eventually run down In one section of the book he cites a study of 1000 x-rays 500 vegetarians 500 meat eaters The meat eaters all looked fairly normal on the films but the vegetarians ALL had swollen and collapsed intestines very small lungs etc etc

Another subject is drugs Some take them and gain and some dont Theres no point in my moralizing on the subject Im no expert on them and if you refuse to obey the Good Book and truck with sorcerers (sorcerer comes from the same root word in Greek that we get Pharmacist from) then what befalls you is your own lookout Of course some of the trainers who write articles about the Zen Masters and the rest of the Eastern religions currently flooding the country may be partially to blame Practically all the so-called Eastern religions indulge in drugs as part of their rites etc And one of these religions considers cows so sacred they not only worship the dumb animals they bathe and DRINK a mixture of butter milk curd cow urine and cow excrement as part of their religion (Reference National Geographic Magazine series 1971) Long as the pill-poppers indulge in the drugs they might as well avail themselves of the protein supplements Yeccch

The point Im trying to make is this treat your body the way the Almighty intended and you may reap benefits you never expected In my own case my corrective therapy (NO drugs) resulted in my height increasing from 6 1 to 6 2W in less than three months and Im 31 years old Incidentally according to an AP release dated December 19th 1973 Skylab 3s astronauts all gained an inch or more in height since November 16th when they were launched into space One grew almost two inches Wonder what would happen if you left short people in a weightless environment here on earth for several weeks

Forearm Anatomy

This is a rather presumptuous title for such a brief page but I feel it necessary to warn you of a thing or two concerning the forearms One thing I noticed after reading several books on anatomy and several on grip development is that the fellows writing the grip books were

10

very poorly schooled in anatomy Worse than me even Some of the exercises recommended are downright ridiculous and others downright dangerous For a specific example one fellow (a world record holder at one time) recommended tightening jar lids as an exercise Lots of luck if you tighten it too far and the jar breaks and slices your hand open Just for the record the tendons you see on the back of the hand and elsewhere are seated very deeply in the arm and a deep cut on the hand is likely as not if it gets infected going to cause you considerable misfortune Infection will travel to the seat of the tendons a lot quicker than you would think and it takes (there are exceptions) the surgeons knife to remedy the damage So please DONT put strains on your hands theyre not ready for And if you MUST punch someone aim for the stomach Ive seen hands swollen and infected so badly they were three times normal size from someones tooth coming out and lodging between the knuckles

Developing An Iron Claw

Many years ago before most of todays weight trainees were even a gleam in their daddys eye a fellow named John Y Smith used to specialize in the one-handed deadlift The late Harry Paschall who used to write quite regularly for Iron Man Magazine in the 1950s had met Smith several years earlier and in Paschalls opinion Smiths hands looked like iron claws Years of one-handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smiths finger tendons in the palm of the hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a ducks feet Smith at the time was doing one-handed deadlifts in his exercise routine with about 400 pounds Paschall who could do almost 300 pounds in the same exercise decided he could equal Smiths performance without a whole lot of effort Paschall made his living as an artist After a few weeks of specializing on the lift he gave it up as he was afraid he would lose his artistic ability the tendons in his hands were developing far more rapidly than he had expected His hands too were beginning to look like iron claws

The foregoing is simply an illustration of how important one-handed deadlifts are to those interested in developing great gripping powers and forearm girth Harold Ansorge a professional strongman of the 1930s was capable of over 500 pounds in this same lift Ansorge had such prodigious strength in his hands that he was featured in Ripleys Believe It or Not as being able to tear the corner off a deck of 52 playing cards using only his thumb and index finger Ansorge was also good at spike bending and tearing through SEVERAL telephone directories at a time

In recent times the squat has been called the king of exercises but I believe the oneshyhanded deadlift to be a superior exercise for all around strength and power 111 admit I personally soured on the squat as the exercise after seeing a photograph of one of the worlds best squatters wearing wrist braces to push press a 500 pound weight It seemed to me that his leg and lower back strength would be advantageous for pulling a plow but considering this same individual weighed over 300 pounds his great strength wasnt much good for anything else

A close investigation will show that the one-handed deadlift affects many of the same muscles the squat does and a couple more besides In the one-handed deadlift the legs lower back and upper back are all affected to a degree So are the lungs if the exercise is performed vigorously enough Of course you will only be able to lift what you can hold onto with your hands which for most modern-day weight trainees is very little compared to what the other muscle groups have been developed to

In my own personal and highly prejudiced opinion I believe full two-handed deadlifts should be avoided unless youre determined to enter powerlift competition The position for performing the lift is highly unnatural and the chance for injury is enormous Someone lifting a weight with one hand while the other hand provides a brace for the lower back via the knee

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shy

is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

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DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

13

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

and dumbbells scattered helter-skelter by the slobs too inconsiderate to put them back in their respective racks The odor of someone sweating off the previous nights pork chops permeates the air One moron so busy checking out his profile as he unloads the bar he forgets 150 pounds cannot be taken off one side of a 345 pound Olympic set without decreasing the other side a like amount disastrous consequences for the gym mirror he was checking himself out in Athletes foot lurking in the dressing room for the unwary

Sound familiar It wasnt quite this bad at the last commercial gym I went to years ago but the traffic I

had to fight going to and corning from it more than made up for the difference Ive trained at home ever since

There are advantages to training either way Usually there is more equipment available at a commercial gym than there would be at horne and the lighter weights are already fixed on the bars Occasionally you might even get professional instruction but dont count on it The last time I went to a commercial gym in LA some contest winner made me out a schedule and then promptly assigned some $200 an hour flunky to show me how to perform the exercises When the flunky took me over to a leg press machine to show me how to do a bench press I got the distinct impression he didnt know quite as much about weightshytraining as the management of the gym assumed

The really sincere gym owners in this country can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand I am personally acquainted with one Its not all the gym owners fault however How many trainees do they ever corne across with enough sense to do EXACTLY as theyre told In my own nine years of training aspiring monsters Ive managed to come across one Narrow field isnt it

What are the advantages of training at home Many The monthly net cost is much lower than a monthly gym membership Once your

equipment is paid for there is no other significant cost to be considered And most gyms now require you to sign a contract for a year to make sure they get paid You the customer are not a valid consideration First the money then (if youre lucky) the service The same amount of money sunk in a power rack a bench and a barbell set is an investment not an expense They dont run out like a gym membership If you decide to take a three-month layoff thats your prerogative theres no cost factor other than the time youve wasted

Dont misunderstand me Im not against commercial gyms The best gains I ever made were at Mits Kawashimas in Hawaii in 1966 from 190 to 230 pounds in five months However trainers like Mits are a rarity Better to train at home than go to a place where the emphasis is on businessmen and long term contracts

If you can get training partners for your home gym so much the better The best kind are obviously the ones who either have their own equipment or are willing to help pay for yours Even spotters are helpful In my own case I had no-one in this town to train with The local chiropractor sent me a couple of his remedial exercise patients (his first remedial exercise patient got sent to the physical therapist in the local hospital the therapist promptly informed the chiropractors patient what fools chiropractors were) and I managed to squeeze enough out of them to pay for all my equipment ($50 for three months for personal supervision of every workout a chiropractors patients will pay it its tax deductible)

Later on a friend of mine from California drifted in with his thigh-extension machine and another friend from New Jersey drifted in who we promptly put to work as a spotter By that time one of my remedial exercise victims had gained enough strength to where we could also put him to work as a spotter He kept paying me for the privilege however

If you can tap into a friendly chiro great The one I go to loans me an occasional book on diet yellow ligaments physiology and related SUbjects Most expensive library Ive ever

4

been to What sort of equipment do you need I prefer a power rack a flat bench and a barbell

set Thats the basics The easiest way to obtain dumbbells and plates is simply to let people know youre in the market

More people than you think have the stuff pitching around Last week I picked up a hitchhiker in Lexington who sold me over a hundred pounds of steel plates dumbbell bars and collars for $1400 Avoid plastic-coated plates They eventually come unglued Iron Man Magazine classified ads are an excellent source for both buyers and sellers Used equipment from someone in a panic to get rid of it sometimes goes dirt cheap And a buyer advertising can be very selective

The primary advantage of training at home Its not the absence of lines behind the weights

Its the ability to experiment at your leisure Practically every great discovery in history has been uncovered by an Edison a Ford

or similar sort puttering around his own unfinished workshop Should weight-training be any different Did Arthur Jones invent the Nautilus machines in the factories he has now or were they invented out behind his garage About a month ago I had what I thought was a stroke of genius on the design of a forearm machine a device like a thick-handled steering wheel to roll weights up from the ground I hotfooted it over to the public library to check out every book on anatomy (for forearms) I could find What I found was that of over a dozen muscles in the forearm and thirty-three in the hand only two are used for rotating the wrist clockwise and two counterclockwise The other forty-one are used for gripping However the research I did led me to conclude the humble wrist roller would be a fantastic device if it could be made out of a round piece of wood about four inches in diameter

The public library is available to all of us Many methods and training aids discovered by physiologists chiropractors and the like go unused simply because most trainees dont do the study and research that they should I dont mean books written by those already in the field (of which Im as guilty as any) I mean scientific journals advanced nutritional journals and anything scientific pertaining to the human body For example one little item I came across in my reading was about a Chicago physicist who measured the electromagnetic field created by contracting human muscles He reported the strength of such a field as one fiveshyhundred millionth part as strong as the magnetic field surrounding the whole earth This subject alone would probably keep your home gym hopping for months with experiments and the like

Weight-training is for all practical purposes still in the scientific stone age I spent months digging around in the records of the bronze age for my book The Strength ofSamson (a product of a home gym and the public library) and if the trainee of today can ever break away from the hidebound rut of present routines and attitudes I sincerely believe that every weightlifting record and physical measurement currently extant will be smashed beyond belief using information available NOW

Let me know if you write a book I might even publish it for you

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part I

How It Will Be Attained

The other night one of my trainees in Massachusetts called me up for his monthly training advice It seems that the people where he trained had no idea of what they were doing He went so far as to inform me that a World Champion in the 242 pound class in Powerlifting had absolutely no idea of what he was doing The powerlifter simply came into the

5

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gym at his appointed hour brought his lunch with him and simply trained his brains out for about four hours twice a week The lifters best bench press was in the neighborhood of 510 pounds

In case youre wondering about my preoccupation with the bench press let me explain My basement ceiling is just a tad over six feet high and my lower back was somewhat damaged in service Both factors preclude any overhead lifting

Youre probably thinking its safe to predict a 1000 pound bench press and ten years from now someone will do it Im betting it will happen within two or three years Maybe less

Why I think the weight-training fraternity is finally ready to accept the scientific method Meaning find out what works and then USE it Lately there has been a lot written (by various authors) about rtegative resistance but I doubt if its here to stay or if it will be instrumental in really meaningful strength increases To me negative resistance is nonsense What on earth is the purpose of developing weight lowering strength I realize many individuals point to the large increases in weight that can be lowered (whats next not lifting strength) but careful examination and comparison of weight lowering movements with partial positive movements I believe will show partials have the edge One of my customers for my book The Strength of Samson reports that his partial bench press (about a 2 inch travel) increased from 225 pounds 10 reps to 385 pounds 10 reps in 30 days And a former Illinois State Powerlift Champ in the 242 pound class telephoned me one night to inform me that his partial squats had increased from 800 to 1200 pounds in two weeks As Larry Lawson pointed out in an article on Paul Anderson in Iron Man Magazine 1956 FebruaryMarch (Volume 15 Number 5) whatever can be lifted partially will with persistent training eventually become a complete lift I have yet to read or hear of anyone saying what goes down must come up

Also and this is mere personal opinion arrived at simply by rummaging through a few anatomy books I believe negative resistance may prove to be the most dangerous method of training yet devised For this reason a muscle is considerably weaker than its attaching tendon so that if extreme stress is put upon the limb the muscle tears long before the tendon becomes involved Now suppose the muscle actually becomes stronger than the tendons to which it is attached (which I believe is possible with enough negative training) Do you have the usual charley horse or a condition requiring extensive surgery

So while negative resistance may have its place as simply a way of enabling the trainee to get the feel of a heavier weight I think it should be used sparingly

What benefits will be received from training for such a lift Great strength obviously Youre also liable to find a couple of side benefits you didnt expect Like a friend of mine on the Honolulu Police Dept who spent three years moving his bench press up to 500 pounds without using partial movements When he started he weighed 187 at a height of 6 3 The night I saw him bench press 550 pounds he weighed in at 290 pounds without an ounce of fat Unlike the current crop of puff adders who are primarily concerned with measurements my friend was concerned with strength He developed a 19Y2 inch arm in the process (I measured it myself) and I would be willing to bet others would claim 22 inches for the arm he had

Its unfortunate most bodybuilders dont realize that pursuing measurements is like chasing butterflies they11 elude you Pursue a more easily definable goal like a 500 pound bench press and the butterfly will come and land on your sleeve

Also while Im throwing out an occasional brickbat lets forget all this a muscle has to have full contraction and full extension for complete and maximum development insanity This statement is true only in one case if the muscle is separated from the body of the organism and placed in a tank of nutrient solution This same muscle in solution generally has to be trimmed because it grows so fast Any of you ever had such a problem

So you think possibly you might want to attempt the Everest of bench presses and

6

want to know where to start Heres what I would suggest My 290 pound friend with the 550 pound bench press used what I will have to call the

step-ladder system of training for want of a better term He would do 10 sets Five up and five down Another friend of mine moved his own bench press up over 150 pounds in nine months using the same method Both of them used full movements

Heres roughly the way it works Start with a warm-up weight One set of ten Add enough weight to get eight reps

comfortably One set Add enough weight to get six reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get five reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get three reps comfortably One set Now work back down in weight the next five sets using the weights you worked up with but try to increase the repetitions When youre doing more reps on the downside add weight to all sets (about 5 or 10 pounds)

Now it gets complicated Lets use the above system with partial movements only You 11 be amazed at how little time it takes you to surpass 500 pounds 2 inch travel Remember what Larry Lawson said

Heres where the complications corne in Even at 2 inch travel 600 pounds is a lot of weight So much so in fact that an almost unbelievable amount of oxygen is used up on every repetition What goes up once relatively easily the first time is extremely difficult the second and literally unbudgeable the third Complication number one is lack of oxygen

The next thing you 11 notice at that weight as I did is the neck tendons become heavily involved and a vein that runs down the side of the neck becomes heavily engorged with blood Why this happens I dont know However I believe complication number two can also be solved

The third complication is this very few of us have the wrist strength to push against such weights with any degree of speed without spraining The primary reason I wrote Iron Claws is because I sprained my right wrist lifting a 605 pound weight in the partial bench press

In order to avoid the foregoing complications here is a routine that I would suggest following twice a week in addition to the step-ladder system

Wrestlers bridge 2 x 10 Upright rows 2 x 10 Wrist curls 2 x 10 Squats 2 x 10

The above exercises should be done with extremely moderate weights and the poundage not increased until the weight actually begins to feellight The wrestlers bridge is ohviously for the neck tendons and the blood vessel I referred to earlier The upright rows are simply to work the muscles between the shoulder blades from a different direction than the partial bench press and thereby removing any weak link The wrist curls are of course to keep you from spraining your wrist The squats should be done with an Iron Man Magic Circle Personally I think the Magic Circle is an ugly-looking piece of apparatus but it does permit the utilization of more lung space than a conventional bar and when you get to the 600 pound mark and beyond youre going to need every cubic inch of lung power you can muster In fact its going to take you several minutes of deep breathing after each set of partials past 400 pounds to recover your air

Eventually you11 be up to 1000 pounds 2 inch travel What do you do then Obviously if you can lift 1000 pounds 2 inches in a maximum effort youre not going to be able to heave the same weight up 4 inches However with a little work on it moving the weight 2 inches shouldnt be an earthshaking undertaking Simply leave the rack pins in the same position and RAISE THE BENCH by putting inch thick boards or sheet steel under it When you have four V2 inch boards or sheets of steel under the bench its time to drop the pins and start

7

1 1 I

allover As the 1000 pounds travels its way down the pins your assistance exercise program

is going to have to change somewhat For example at the 6 inch point substitute a heavy triceps exercise for the upright rows

A couple of other things I would recommend are a close study of nutrition (for example vitamin A affects the pectoral muscles) and a hypnotism session every night (except Sunday of course) to remove potential mental stumbling blocks before they have a chance to take hold in your mind

Let me know if you develop a 22 inch upper arm in the process

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part II

One of the problems inherent with attempting to be an authority in any field is that just when you think youve got all the answers somebody drops a chance remark and adds a whole herd of new questions This has happened to me twice in the last two weeks by or because of fellows who stopped by to see what we were doing in the way of research workouts and the like And also in the last two weeks basic metallurgy forced us to completely redesign our power rack and bars

First the metal When a normal barbell bar is loaded with 700 pounds of plates it takes on physical characteristics normally not associated with such equipment It bends which is to be expected

Then it twists also expected Then the fun begins Heres what happens Force is applied to the bar and sometimes one end of the bar comes flying up while the other remains stationary if youre off balance Or you push against the bar For a second it seems motionless In actuality the bar is bending in the middle Once the slack is taken up the bar has bent as far as it is going to the weight literally leaps off the rack pins and whips back and forth in the air This whipping motion is extremely hard on the palms of the hands and the wrists At present we have figured out two ways to eliminate this Instead of the standard barbell bar we use one made out of a special type of steel which wont begin to bend until 1500 pounds or so is placed on each end Whipping is eliminated at least for the next fe months Another problem occurs when the bar is dropped back onto the rack pins Shock~ from metal slamming metal run down the arms causing no end of discomfort Nor is it possible with extremely heavy weights to gauge exactly how much force is required to move it at the extension position Dont apply enough force and the bar wont move Apply too much toe rapidly and the bar may come flying up but you may be nursing a sprained wrist for somt time

A little device we thought up may solve both the shock and applied force problem We call them rack rebounders Theyre simply blocks of steel with holes drilled in them tc accommodate the rack pins On top of the steel block sits a coil spring On top of the col spring reposes a saddle or cradle for the bar When you plop the bar down it wont sene shock waves down your arms simply because the spring gives with the weight On tht upstroke part of the weight is boosted for you at the beginning of the movement so insteac of struggling mightily with the actual 700 or 800 pounds you have on the bar your initia resistance may be half that As the springs uncoil the heavier a load you absorb until th entire load clears the decks so to speak Also if youre a real glutton for punishment YOt

can load a bar well past your single limit on a partial movement and actually WORK with the weight Granted it wont travel very far but it WILL TRAVEL Lets say you dump 100( pounds on the bar and it only travels one inch up to a 3 inch coil spring Keep working witt it and eventually even with 10 of an inch at a time your half ton weight will clear the

8

saddles and THEN you can start rrusmg the bench lowering the pins etc Another advantage to rack rebounders is that you can keep pumping a tremendous weight long after the failure point of normal partials

If youre totally confused at this point look at the drawings of rack rebounders on page 17 Give us a phone call if you wish us to make you a set They will be advertised in future issues of Iron Man Magazine

For those who havent done so I would suggest ordering Bill Antons course You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds advertised in Iron Man Magazine and apply it to partial movements

Another little goodie that I havent had time to investigate is one told to me by Bob Simpson when he was up here from Knoxville a couple weeks ago Bob was featured in Iron Man Magazine as the fellow who pressed 525 from a rack and then couldnt hold it at arms length Bobs method of training consisted of push-pressing using his legs enormous weights up to about nose level He worked up to about 1000 pounds in this fashion and then his back gave out Who knows Had his back held up he may have been the first man in recorded history to military press I 000 pounds I recall years ago working up to 3 sets of 8 reps in the push press behind neck with 220 pounds at a bodyweight of 180 and felt like the weights would go up forever until the contest winners saw me doing it and told me that was NOT the way to do things So I went back to doing them strict with a whole lot less weight Like a dummy The blind leading the blind Anyway Bob told me about a bodybuilder where he trained who experimented in the bench press and the squat in rather unusual fashion This fellow would have a weight somewhat in excess of his best limit attempt handed to him and he would slowly lower it and then bounce it up and down on his chest (or haunches if he was doing squats) for several repetitions In two weeks this fellows limit bench press and squat each increased by about 60 pounds However being a bodybuilder he wasnt much interested in great strength and abandoned that line of endeavor to pursue other more measurement oriented goals Anyone else care to try this and let me know the results thereof

Chiropractic for Strength and Bulk Increases

Have you ever noticed how many people take up weight-training in their lives And how few succeed

Let me cite a couple of examples The first case is myself Ive horsed around with weights since 1964 and by 1966

weighed 230 with a 340 bench press Then I quit training for a year and lost 40 pounds probably due more to poverty than lack of proper training Off and on for the years following I tried to regain what I had lost and could never seem to quite make it Doubly frustrating was the fact that everyone training under my supervision made fairly respectable gains It wasnt until 1973 that I began to deviate from the accepted norms of the weight-training world and surpassed myoid strength levels

What was the problem I couldnt blame improper training alone I had gained 70 pounds in two years on what

I now consider stone-age training methods Like everyone else I was all concerned about muscles But there wasnt anything

wrong with the muscles themselves I did notice a sharp pain in my lower right back whenever my 20 reps in the squat approached the 250 to 270 pound mark I went to a local chiropractor for two years and didnt improve a bit Finally not suspecting my local chiro didnt know what he was doing I went to one in Richmond on the local mans day off as I could hardly walk and didnt want to wait another day The Richmond man suggested an x-ray and the results were something I hadnt expected My entire spine was tilted so far to one side that the weights I put on my back created pressure primarily on ONE SIDE of my body Through continued

9

exercise I was actually weakening instead of strengthening myself My nerves and spinal ligaments were literally being torn apart Fortunately my Richmond chiro is one of the few (about 10 of the profession) who actually knows what hes doing and hes slowly but surely getting me straightened out (or rather my spine is)

The other case is a fellow who bought The Strength of Samson and told me he had never been able to get his body weight past 170 unless he literally gorged himself with food in which case he went up to 180 and lost it as soon as he slowed down his food intake At the same time he told me one leg cramped up real bad if he squatted down on his haunches for a few minutes He didnt realize it but he had just pin-pointed his major problem Nerves not only carry electrical impulses from the brain to the muscles they have a tendency to weaken the muscles if they (the nerves) are irritated Heavy exercise generally makes the situation worse What happened to this fellow I dont know but I HOPE he found a chiro believing in corrective care (most practice a remedial whack crack six bucks and get back sort of profession)

Other facets of weight-training are far more subtle Nutrition for example All the authorities holler about protein But as Landone points out in Electronic Properties ojFoods protein fats and starches are deadly poisons If you dont think so try injecting the stuff directly into your bloodstream sometime and see if you dont turn your toes up In my OVin case I wondered why I made better gains on pineapple juice than I did on fresh raw milk Sound odd Thats what I thought too when I first read it but Landone cites numerous hospital and institutional experiments to prove that pineapple carries a slightly POSITIVE charge of electricity and all animal products slightly NEGATIVE Landone was by no meallS a vegetarian (he died in 1945 at the age of 98) he simply points out that no matter how wellshybalanced you may THINK your diet is if it consists of primarily negative-charged foods you will eventually run down In one section of the book he cites a study of 1000 x-rays 500 vegetarians 500 meat eaters The meat eaters all looked fairly normal on the films but the vegetarians ALL had swollen and collapsed intestines very small lungs etc etc

Another subject is drugs Some take them and gain and some dont Theres no point in my moralizing on the subject Im no expert on them and if you refuse to obey the Good Book and truck with sorcerers (sorcerer comes from the same root word in Greek that we get Pharmacist from) then what befalls you is your own lookout Of course some of the trainers who write articles about the Zen Masters and the rest of the Eastern religions currently flooding the country may be partially to blame Practically all the so-called Eastern religions indulge in drugs as part of their rites etc And one of these religions considers cows so sacred they not only worship the dumb animals they bathe and DRINK a mixture of butter milk curd cow urine and cow excrement as part of their religion (Reference National Geographic Magazine series 1971) Long as the pill-poppers indulge in the drugs they might as well avail themselves of the protein supplements Yeccch

The point Im trying to make is this treat your body the way the Almighty intended and you may reap benefits you never expected In my own case my corrective therapy (NO drugs) resulted in my height increasing from 6 1 to 6 2W in less than three months and Im 31 years old Incidentally according to an AP release dated December 19th 1973 Skylab 3s astronauts all gained an inch or more in height since November 16th when they were launched into space One grew almost two inches Wonder what would happen if you left short people in a weightless environment here on earth for several weeks

Forearm Anatomy

This is a rather presumptuous title for such a brief page but I feel it necessary to warn you of a thing or two concerning the forearms One thing I noticed after reading several books on anatomy and several on grip development is that the fellows writing the grip books were

10

very poorly schooled in anatomy Worse than me even Some of the exercises recommended are downright ridiculous and others downright dangerous For a specific example one fellow (a world record holder at one time) recommended tightening jar lids as an exercise Lots of luck if you tighten it too far and the jar breaks and slices your hand open Just for the record the tendons you see on the back of the hand and elsewhere are seated very deeply in the arm and a deep cut on the hand is likely as not if it gets infected going to cause you considerable misfortune Infection will travel to the seat of the tendons a lot quicker than you would think and it takes (there are exceptions) the surgeons knife to remedy the damage So please DONT put strains on your hands theyre not ready for And if you MUST punch someone aim for the stomach Ive seen hands swollen and infected so badly they were three times normal size from someones tooth coming out and lodging between the knuckles

Developing An Iron Claw

Many years ago before most of todays weight trainees were even a gleam in their daddys eye a fellow named John Y Smith used to specialize in the one-handed deadlift The late Harry Paschall who used to write quite regularly for Iron Man Magazine in the 1950s had met Smith several years earlier and in Paschalls opinion Smiths hands looked like iron claws Years of one-handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smiths finger tendons in the palm of the hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a ducks feet Smith at the time was doing one-handed deadlifts in his exercise routine with about 400 pounds Paschall who could do almost 300 pounds in the same exercise decided he could equal Smiths performance without a whole lot of effort Paschall made his living as an artist After a few weeks of specializing on the lift he gave it up as he was afraid he would lose his artistic ability the tendons in his hands were developing far more rapidly than he had expected His hands too were beginning to look like iron claws

The foregoing is simply an illustration of how important one-handed deadlifts are to those interested in developing great gripping powers and forearm girth Harold Ansorge a professional strongman of the 1930s was capable of over 500 pounds in this same lift Ansorge had such prodigious strength in his hands that he was featured in Ripleys Believe It or Not as being able to tear the corner off a deck of 52 playing cards using only his thumb and index finger Ansorge was also good at spike bending and tearing through SEVERAL telephone directories at a time

In recent times the squat has been called the king of exercises but I believe the oneshyhanded deadlift to be a superior exercise for all around strength and power 111 admit I personally soured on the squat as the exercise after seeing a photograph of one of the worlds best squatters wearing wrist braces to push press a 500 pound weight It seemed to me that his leg and lower back strength would be advantageous for pulling a plow but considering this same individual weighed over 300 pounds his great strength wasnt much good for anything else

A close investigation will show that the one-handed deadlift affects many of the same muscles the squat does and a couple more besides In the one-handed deadlift the legs lower back and upper back are all affected to a degree So are the lungs if the exercise is performed vigorously enough Of course you will only be able to lift what you can hold onto with your hands which for most modern-day weight trainees is very little compared to what the other muscle groups have been developed to

In my own personal and highly prejudiced opinion I believe full two-handed deadlifts should be avoided unless youre determined to enter powerlift competition The position for performing the lift is highly unnatural and the chance for injury is enormous Someone lifting a weight with one hand while the other hand provides a brace for the lower back via the knee

11

-------- - -- ---

I

shy

is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

12

DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

13

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

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been to What sort of equipment do you need I prefer a power rack a flat bench and a barbell

set Thats the basics The easiest way to obtain dumbbells and plates is simply to let people know youre in the market

More people than you think have the stuff pitching around Last week I picked up a hitchhiker in Lexington who sold me over a hundred pounds of steel plates dumbbell bars and collars for $1400 Avoid plastic-coated plates They eventually come unglued Iron Man Magazine classified ads are an excellent source for both buyers and sellers Used equipment from someone in a panic to get rid of it sometimes goes dirt cheap And a buyer advertising can be very selective

The primary advantage of training at home Its not the absence of lines behind the weights

Its the ability to experiment at your leisure Practically every great discovery in history has been uncovered by an Edison a Ford

or similar sort puttering around his own unfinished workshop Should weight-training be any different Did Arthur Jones invent the Nautilus machines in the factories he has now or were they invented out behind his garage About a month ago I had what I thought was a stroke of genius on the design of a forearm machine a device like a thick-handled steering wheel to roll weights up from the ground I hotfooted it over to the public library to check out every book on anatomy (for forearms) I could find What I found was that of over a dozen muscles in the forearm and thirty-three in the hand only two are used for rotating the wrist clockwise and two counterclockwise The other forty-one are used for gripping However the research I did led me to conclude the humble wrist roller would be a fantastic device if it could be made out of a round piece of wood about four inches in diameter

The public library is available to all of us Many methods and training aids discovered by physiologists chiropractors and the like go unused simply because most trainees dont do the study and research that they should I dont mean books written by those already in the field (of which Im as guilty as any) I mean scientific journals advanced nutritional journals and anything scientific pertaining to the human body For example one little item I came across in my reading was about a Chicago physicist who measured the electromagnetic field created by contracting human muscles He reported the strength of such a field as one fiveshyhundred millionth part as strong as the magnetic field surrounding the whole earth This subject alone would probably keep your home gym hopping for months with experiments and the like

Weight-training is for all practical purposes still in the scientific stone age I spent months digging around in the records of the bronze age for my book The Strength ofSamson (a product of a home gym and the public library) and if the trainee of today can ever break away from the hidebound rut of present routines and attitudes I sincerely believe that every weightlifting record and physical measurement currently extant will be smashed beyond belief using information available NOW

Let me know if you write a book I might even publish it for you

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part I

How It Will Be Attained

The other night one of my trainees in Massachusetts called me up for his monthly training advice It seems that the people where he trained had no idea of what they were doing He went so far as to inform me that a World Champion in the 242 pound class in Powerlifting had absolutely no idea of what he was doing The powerlifter simply came into the

5

1 j

1 1 l

1

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gym at his appointed hour brought his lunch with him and simply trained his brains out for about four hours twice a week The lifters best bench press was in the neighborhood of 510 pounds

In case youre wondering about my preoccupation with the bench press let me explain My basement ceiling is just a tad over six feet high and my lower back was somewhat damaged in service Both factors preclude any overhead lifting

Youre probably thinking its safe to predict a 1000 pound bench press and ten years from now someone will do it Im betting it will happen within two or three years Maybe less

Why I think the weight-training fraternity is finally ready to accept the scientific method Meaning find out what works and then USE it Lately there has been a lot written (by various authors) about rtegative resistance but I doubt if its here to stay or if it will be instrumental in really meaningful strength increases To me negative resistance is nonsense What on earth is the purpose of developing weight lowering strength I realize many individuals point to the large increases in weight that can be lowered (whats next not lifting strength) but careful examination and comparison of weight lowering movements with partial positive movements I believe will show partials have the edge One of my customers for my book The Strength of Samson reports that his partial bench press (about a 2 inch travel) increased from 225 pounds 10 reps to 385 pounds 10 reps in 30 days And a former Illinois State Powerlift Champ in the 242 pound class telephoned me one night to inform me that his partial squats had increased from 800 to 1200 pounds in two weeks As Larry Lawson pointed out in an article on Paul Anderson in Iron Man Magazine 1956 FebruaryMarch (Volume 15 Number 5) whatever can be lifted partially will with persistent training eventually become a complete lift I have yet to read or hear of anyone saying what goes down must come up

Also and this is mere personal opinion arrived at simply by rummaging through a few anatomy books I believe negative resistance may prove to be the most dangerous method of training yet devised For this reason a muscle is considerably weaker than its attaching tendon so that if extreme stress is put upon the limb the muscle tears long before the tendon becomes involved Now suppose the muscle actually becomes stronger than the tendons to which it is attached (which I believe is possible with enough negative training) Do you have the usual charley horse or a condition requiring extensive surgery

So while negative resistance may have its place as simply a way of enabling the trainee to get the feel of a heavier weight I think it should be used sparingly

What benefits will be received from training for such a lift Great strength obviously Youre also liable to find a couple of side benefits you didnt expect Like a friend of mine on the Honolulu Police Dept who spent three years moving his bench press up to 500 pounds without using partial movements When he started he weighed 187 at a height of 6 3 The night I saw him bench press 550 pounds he weighed in at 290 pounds without an ounce of fat Unlike the current crop of puff adders who are primarily concerned with measurements my friend was concerned with strength He developed a 19Y2 inch arm in the process (I measured it myself) and I would be willing to bet others would claim 22 inches for the arm he had

Its unfortunate most bodybuilders dont realize that pursuing measurements is like chasing butterflies they11 elude you Pursue a more easily definable goal like a 500 pound bench press and the butterfly will come and land on your sleeve

Also while Im throwing out an occasional brickbat lets forget all this a muscle has to have full contraction and full extension for complete and maximum development insanity This statement is true only in one case if the muscle is separated from the body of the organism and placed in a tank of nutrient solution This same muscle in solution generally has to be trimmed because it grows so fast Any of you ever had such a problem

So you think possibly you might want to attempt the Everest of bench presses and

6

want to know where to start Heres what I would suggest My 290 pound friend with the 550 pound bench press used what I will have to call the

step-ladder system of training for want of a better term He would do 10 sets Five up and five down Another friend of mine moved his own bench press up over 150 pounds in nine months using the same method Both of them used full movements

Heres roughly the way it works Start with a warm-up weight One set of ten Add enough weight to get eight reps

comfortably One set Add enough weight to get six reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get five reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get three reps comfortably One set Now work back down in weight the next five sets using the weights you worked up with but try to increase the repetitions When youre doing more reps on the downside add weight to all sets (about 5 or 10 pounds)

Now it gets complicated Lets use the above system with partial movements only You 11 be amazed at how little time it takes you to surpass 500 pounds 2 inch travel Remember what Larry Lawson said

Heres where the complications corne in Even at 2 inch travel 600 pounds is a lot of weight So much so in fact that an almost unbelievable amount of oxygen is used up on every repetition What goes up once relatively easily the first time is extremely difficult the second and literally unbudgeable the third Complication number one is lack of oxygen

The next thing you 11 notice at that weight as I did is the neck tendons become heavily involved and a vein that runs down the side of the neck becomes heavily engorged with blood Why this happens I dont know However I believe complication number two can also be solved

The third complication is this very few of us have the wrist strength to push against such weights with any degree of speed without spraining The primary reason I wrote Iron Claws is because I sprained my right wrist lifting a 605 pound weight in the partial bench press

In order to avoid the foregoing complications here is a routine that I would suggest following twice a week in addition to the step-ladder system

Wrestlers bridge 2 x 10 Upright rows 2 x 10 Wrist curls 2 x 10 Squats 2 x 10

The above exercises should be done with extremely moderate weights and the poundage not increased until the weight actually begins to feellight The wrestlers bridge is ohviously for the neck tendons and the blood vessel I referred to earlier The upright rows are simply to work the muscles between the shoulder blades from a different direction than the partial bench press and thereby removing any weak link The wrist curls are of course to keep you from spraining your wrist The squats should be done with an Iron Man Magic Circle Personally I think the Magic Circle is an ugly-looking piece of apparatus but it does permit the utilization of more lung space than a conventional bar and when you get to the 600 pound mark and beyond youre going to need every cubic inch of lung power you can muster In fact its going to take you several minutes of deep breathing after each set of partials past 400 pounds to recover your air

Eventually you11 be up to 1000 pounds 2 inch travel What do you do then Obviously if you can lift 1000 pounds 2 inches in a maximum effort youre not going to be able to heave the same weight up 4 inches However with a little work on it moving the weight 2 inches shouldnt be an earthshaking undertaking Simply leave the rack pins in the same position and RAISE THE BENCH by putting inch thick boards or sheet steel under it When you have four V2 inch boards or sheets of steel under the bench its time to drop the pins and start

7

1 1 I

allover As the 1000 pounds travels its way down the pins your assistance exercise program

is going to have to change somewhat For example at the 6 inch point substitute a heavy triceps exercise for the upright rows

A couple of other things I would recommend are a close study of nutrition (for example vitamin A affects the pectoral muscles) and a hypnotism session every night (except Sunday of course) to remove potential mental stumbling blocks before they have a chance to take hold in your mind

Let me know if you develop a 22 inch upper arm in the process

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part II

One of the problems inherent with attempting to be an authority in any field is that just when you think youve got all the answers somebody drops a chance remark and adds a whole herd of new questions This has happened to me twice in the last two weeks by or because of fellows who stopped by to see what we were doing in the way of research workouts and the like And also in the last two weeks basic metallurgy forced us to completely redesign our power rack and bars

First the metal When a normal barbell bar is loaded with 700 pounds of plates it takes on physical characteristics normally not associated with such equipment It bends which is to be expected

Then it twists also expected Then the fun begins Heres what happens Force is applied to the bar and sometimes one end of the bar comes flying up while the other remains stationary if youre off balance Or you push against the bar For a second it seems motionless In actuality the bar is bending in the middle Once the slack is taken up the bar has bent as far as it is going to the weight literally leaps off the rack pins and whips back and forth in the air This whipping motion is extremely hard on the palms of the hands and the wrists At present we have figured out two ways to eliminate this Instead of the standard barbell bar we use one made out of a special type of steel which wont begin to bend until 1500 pounds or so is placed on each end Whipping is eliminated at least for the next fe months Another problem occurs when the bar is dropped back onto the rack pins Shock~ from metal slamming metal run down the arms causing no end of discomfort Nor is it possible with extremely heavy weights to gauge exactly how much force is required to move it at the extension position Dont apply enough force and the bar wont move Apply too much toe rapidly and the bar may come flying up but you may be nursing a sprained wrist for somt time

A little device we thought up may solve both the shock and applied force problem We call them rack rebounders Theyre simply blocks of steel with holes drilled in them tc accommodate the rack pins On top of the steel block sits a coil spring On top of the col spring reposes a saddle or cradle for the bar When you plop the bar down it wont sene shock waves down your arms simply because the spring gives with the weight On tht upstroke part of the weight is boosted for you at the beginning of the movement so insteac of struggling mightily with the actual 700 or 800 pounds you have on the bar your initia resistance may be half that As the springs uncoil the heavier a load you absorb until th entire load clears the decks so to speak Also if youre a real glutton for punishment YOt

can load a bar well past your single limit on a partial movement and actually WORK with the weight Granted it wont travel very far but it WILL TRAVEL Lets say you dump 100( pounds on the bar and it only travels one inch up to a 3 inch coil spring Keep working witt it and eventually even with 10 of an inch at a time your half ton weight will clear the

8

saddles and THEN you can start rrusmg the bench lowering the pins etc Another advantage to rack rebounders is that you can keep pumping a tremendous weight long after the failure point of normal partials

If youre totally confused at this point look at the drawings of rack rebounders on page 17 Give us a phone call if you wish us to make you a set They will be advertised in future issues of Iron Man Magazine

For those who havent done so I would suggest ordering Bill Antons course You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds advertised in Iron Man Magazine and apply it to partial movements

Another little goodie that I havent had time to investigate is one told to me by Bob Simpson when he was up here from Knoxville a couple weeks ago Bob was featured in Iron Man Magazine as the fellow who pressed 525 from a rack and then couldnt hold it at arms length Bobs method of training consisted of push-pressing using his legs enormous weights up to about nose level He worked up to about 1000 pounds in this fashion and then his back gave out Who knows Had his back held up he may have been the first man in recorded history to military press I 000 pounds I recall years ago working up to 3 sets of 8 reps in the push press behind neck with 220 pounds at a bodyweight of 180 and felt like the weights would go up forever until the contest winners saw me doing it and told me that was NOT the way to do things So I went back to doing them strict with a whole lot less weight Like a dummy The blind leading the blind Anyway Bob told me about a bodybuilder where he trained who experimented in the bench press and the squat in rather unusual fashion This fellow would have a weight somewhat in excess of his best limit attempt handed to him and he would slowly lower it and then bounce it up and down on his chest (or haunches if he was doing squats) for several repetitions In two weeks this fellows limit bench press and squat each increased by about 60 pounds However being a bodybuilder he wasnt much interested in great strength and abandoned that line of endeavor to pursue other more measurement oriented goals Anyone else care to try this and let me know the results thereof

Chiropractic for Strength and Bulk Increases

Have you ever noticed how many people take up weight-training in their lives And how few succeed

Let me cite a couple of examples The first case is myself Ive horsed around with weights since 1964 and by 1966

weighed 230 with a 340 bench press Then I quit training for a year and lost 40 pounds probably due more to poverty than lack of proper training Off and on for the years following I tried to regain what I had lost and could never seem to quite make it Doubly frustrating was the fact that everyone training under my supervision made fairly respectable gains It wasnt until 1973 that I began to deviate from the accepted norms of the weight-training world and surpassed myoid strength levels

What was the problem I couldnt blame improper training alone I had gained 70 pounds in two years on what

I now consider stone-age training methods Like everyone else I was all concerned about muscles But there wasnt anything

wrong with the muscles themselves I did notice a sharp pain in my lower right back whenever my 20 reps in the squat approached the 250 to 270 pound mark I went to a local chiropractor for two years and didnt improve a bit Finally not suspecting my local chiro didnt know what he was doing I went to one in Richmond on the local mans day off as I could hardly walk and didnt want to wait another day The Richmond man suggested an x-ray and the results were something I hadnt expected My entire spine was tilted so far to one side that the weights I put on my back created pressure primarily on ONE SIDE of my body Through continued

9

exercise I was actually weakening instead of strengthening myself My nerves and spinal ligaments were literally being torn apart Fortunately my Richmond chiro is one of the few (about 10 of the profession) who actually knows what hes doing and hes slowly but surely getting me straightened out (or rather my spine is)

The other case is a fellow who bought The Strength of Samson and told me he had never been able to get his body weight past 170 unless he literally gorged himself with food in which case he went up to 180 and lost it as soon as he slowed down his food intake At the same time he told me one leg cramped up real bad if he squatted down on his haunches for a few minutes He didnt realize it but he had just pin-pointed his major problem Nerves not only carry electrical impulses from the brain to the muscles they have a tendency to weaken the muscles if they (the nerves) are irritated Heavy exercise generally makes the situation worse What happened to this fellow I dont know but I HOPE he found a chiro believing in corrective care (most practice a remedial whack crack six bucks and get back sort of profession)

Other facets of weight-training are far more subtle Nutrition for example All the authorities holler about protein But as Landone points out in Electronic Properties ojFoods protein fats and starches are deadly poisons If you dont think so try injecting the stuff directly into your bloodstream sometime and see if you dont turn your toes up In my OVin case I wondered why I made better gains on pineapple juice than I did on fresh raw milk Sound odd Thats what I thought too when I first read it but Landone cites numerous hospital and institutional experiments to prove that pineapple carries a slightly POSITIVE charge of electricity and all animal products slightly NEGATIVE Landone was by no meallS a vegetarian (he died in 1945 at the age of 98) he simply points out that no matter how wellshybalanced you may THINK your diet is if it consists of primarily negative-charged foods you will eventually run down In one section of the book he cites a study of 1000 x-rays 500 vegetarians 500 meat eaters The meat eaters all looked fairly normal on the films but the vegetarians ALL had swollen and collapsed intestines very small lungs etc etc

Another subject is drugs Some take them and gain and some dont Theres no point in my moralizing on the subject Im no expert on them and if you refuse to obey the Good Book and truck with sorcerers (sorcerer comes from the same root word in Greek that we get Pharmacist from) then what befalls you is your own lookout Of course some of the trainers who write articles about the Zen Masters and the rest of the Eastern religions currently flooding the country may be partially to blame Practically all the so-called Eastern religions indulge in drugs as part of their rites etc And one of these religions considers cows so sacred they not only worship the dumb animals they bathe and DRINK a mixture of butter milk curd cow urine and cow excrement as part of their religion (Reference National Geographic Magazine series 1971) Long as the pill-poppers indulge in the drugs they might as well avail themselves of the protein supplements Yeccch

The point Im trying to make is this treat your body the way the Almighty intended and you may reap benefits you never expected In my own case my corrective therapy (NO drugs) resulted in my height increasing from 6 1 to 6 2W in less than three months and Im 31 years old Incidentally according to an AP release dated December 19th 1973 Skylab 3s astronauts all gained an inch or more in height since November 16th when they were launched into space One grew almost two inches Wonder what would happen if you left short people in a weightless environment here on earth for several weeks

Forearm Anatomy

This is a rather presumptuous title for such a brief page but I feel it necessary to warn you of a thing or two concerning the forearms One thing I noticed after reading several books on anatomy and several on grip development is that the fellows writing the grip books were

10

very poorly schooled in anatomy Worse than me even Some of the exercises recommended are downright ridiculous and others downright dangerous For a specific example one fellow (a world record holder at one time) recommended tightening jar lids as an exercise Lots of luck if you tighten it too far and the jar breaks and slices your hand open Just for the record the tendons you see on the back of the hand and elsewhere are seated very deeply in the arm and a deep cut on the hand is likely as not if it gets infected going to cause you considerable misfortune Infection will travel to the seat of the tendons a lot quicker than you would think and it takes (there are exceptions) the surgeons knife to remedy the damage So please DONT put strains on your hands theyre not ready for And if you MUST punch someone aim for the stomach Ive seen hands swollen and infected so badly they were three times normal size from someones tooth coming out and lodging between the knuckles

Developing An Iron Claw

Many years ago before most of todays weight trainees were even a gleam in their daddys eye a fellow named John Y Smith used to specialize in the one-handed deadlift The late Harry Paschall who used to write quite regularly for Iron Man Magazine in the 1950s had met Smith several years earlier and in Paschalls opinion Smiths hands looked like iron claws Years of one-handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smiths finger tendons in the palm of the hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a ducks feet Smith at the time was doing one-handed deadlifts in his exercise routine with about 400 pounds Paschall who could do almost 300 pounds in the same exercise decided he could equal Smiths performance without a whole lot of effort Paschall made his living as an artist After a few weeks of specializing on the lift he gave it up as he was afraid he would lose his artistic ability the tendons in his hands were developing far more rapidly than he had expected His hands too were beginning to look like iron claws

The foregoing is simply an illustration of how important one-handed deadlifts are to those interested in developing great gripping powers and forearm girth Harold Ansorge a professional strongman of the 1930s was capable of over 500 pounds in this same lift Ansorge had such prodigious strength in his hands that he was featured in Ripleys Believe It or Not as being able to tear the corner off a deck of 52 playing cards using only his thumb and index finger Ansorge was also good at spike bending and tearing through SEVERAL telephone directories at a time

In recent times the squat has been called the king of exercises but I believe the oneshyhanded deadlift to be a superior exercise for all around strength and power 111 admit I personally soured on the squat as the exercise after seeing a photograph of one of the worlds best squatters wearing wrist braces to push press a 500 pound weight It seemed to me that his leg and lower back strength would be advantageous for pulling a plow but considering this same individual weighed over 300 pounds his great strength wasnt much good for anything else

A close investigation will show that the one-handed deadlift affects many of the same muscles the squat does and a couple more besides In the one-handed deadlift the legs lower back and upper back are all affected to a degree So are the lungs if the exercise is performed vigorously enough Of course you will only be able to lift what you can hold onto with your hands which for most modern-day weight trainees is very little compared to what the other muscle groups have been developed to

In my own personal and highly prejudiced opinion I believe full two-handed deadlifts should be avoided unless youre determined to enter powerlift competition The position for performing the lift is highly unnatural and the chance for injury is enormous Someone lifting a weight with one hand while the other hand provides a brace for the lower back via the knee

11

-------- - -- ---

I

shy

is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

12

DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

13

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

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45deg

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One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

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Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

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gym at his appointed hour brought his lunch with him and simply trained his brains out for about four hours twice a week The lifters best bench press was in the neighborhood of 510 pounds

In case youre wondering about my preoccupation with the bench press let me explain My basement ceiling is just a tad over six feet high and my lower back was somewhat damaged in service Both factors preclude any overhead lifting

Youre probably thinking its safe to predict a 1000 pound bench press and ten years from now someone will do it Im betting it will happen within two or three years Maybe less

Why I think the weight-training fraternity is finally ready to accept the scientific method Meaning find out what works and then USE it Lately there has been a lot written (by various authors) about rtegative resistance but I doubt if its here to stay or if it will be instrumental in really meaningful strength increases To me negative resistance is nonsense What on earth is the purpose of developing weight lowering strength I realize many individuals point to the large increases in weight that can be lowered (whats next not lifting strength) but careful examination and comparison of weight lowering movements with partial positive movements I believe will show partials have the edge One of my customers for my book The Strength of Samson reports that his partial bench press (about a 2 inch travel) increased from 225 pounds 10 reps to 385 pounds 10 reps in 30 days And a former Illinois State Powerlift Champ in the 242 pound class telephoned me one night to inform me that his partial squats had increased from 800 to 1200 pounds in two weeks As Larry Lawson pointed out in an article on Paul Anderson in Iron Man Magazine 1956 FebruaryMarch (Volume 15 Number 5) whatever can be lifted partially will with persistent training eventually become a complete lift I have yet to read or hear of anyone saying what goes down must come up

Also and this is mere personal opinion arrived at simply by rummaging through a few anatomy books I believe negative resistance may prove to be the most dangerous method of training yet devised For this reason a muscle is considerably weaker than its attaching tendon so that if extreme stress is put upon the limb the muscle tears long before the tendon becomes involved Now suppose the muscle actually becomes stronger than the tendons to which it is attached (which I believe is possible with enough negative training) Do you have the usual charley horse or a condition requiring extensive surgery

So while negative resistance may have its place as simply a way of enabling the trainee to get the feel of a heavier weight I think it should be used sparingly

What benefits will be received from training for such a lift Great strength obviously Youre also liable to find a couple of side benefits you didnt expect Like a friend of mine on the Honolulu Police Dept who spent three years moving his bench press up to 500 pounds without using partial movements When he started he weighed 187 at a height of 6 3 The night I saw him bench press 550 pounds he weighed in at 290 pounds without an ounce of fat Unlike the current crop of puff adders who are primarily concerned with measurements my friend was concerned with strength He developed a 19Y2 inch arm in the process (I measured it myself) and I would be willing to bet others would claim 22 inches for the arm he had

Its unfortunate most bodybuilders dont realize that pursuing measurements is like chasing butterflies they11 elude you Pursue a more easily definable goal like a 500 pound bench press and the butterfly will come and land on your sleeve

Also while Im throwing out an occasional brickbat lets forget all this a muscle has to have full contraction and full extension for complete and maximum development insanity This statement is true only in one case if the muscle is separated from the body of the organism and placed in a tank of nutrient solution This same muscle in solution generally has to be trimmed because it grows so fast Any of you ever had such a problem

So you think possibly you might want to attempt the Everest of bench presses and

6

want to know where to start Heres what I would suggest My 290 pound friend with the 550 pound bench press used what I will have to call the

step-ladder system of training for want of a better term He would do 10 sets Five up and five down Another friend of mine moved his own bench press up over 150 pounds in nine months using the same method Both of them used full movements

Heres roughly the way it works Start with a warm-up weight One set of ten Add enough weight to get eight reps

comfortably One set Add enough weight to get six reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get five reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get three reps comfortably One set Now work back down in weight the next five sets using the weights you worked up with but try to increase the repetitions When youre doing more reps on the downside add weight to all sets (about 5 or 10 pounds)

Now it gets complicated Lets use the above system with partial movements only You 11 be amazed at how little time it takes you to surpass 500 pounds 2 inch travel Remember what Larry Lawson said

Heres where the complications corne in Even at 2 inch travel 600 pounds is a lot of weight So much so in fact that an almost unbelievable amount of oxygen is used up on every repetition What goes up once relatively easily the first time is extremely difficult the second and literally unbudgeable the third Complication number one is lack of oxygen

The next thing you 11 notice at that weight as I did is the neck tendons become heavily involved and a vein that runs down the side of the neck becomes heavily engorged with blood Why this happens I dont know However I believe complication number two can also be solved

The third complication is this very few of us have the wrist strength to push against such weights with any degree of speed without spraining The primary reason I wrote Iron Claws is because I sprained my right wrist lifting a 605 pound weight in the partial bench press

In order to avoid the foregoing complications here is a routine that I would suggest following twice a week in addition to the step-ladder system

Wrestlers bridge 2 x 10 Upright rows 2 x 10 Wrist curls 2 x 10 Squats 2 x 10

The above exercises should be done with extremely moderate weights and the poundage not increased until the weight actually begins to feellight The wrestlers bridge is ohviously for the neck tendons and the blood vessel I referred to earlier The upright rows are simply to work the muscles between the shoulder blades from a different direction than the partial bench press and thereby removing any weak link The wrist curls are of course to keep you from spraining your wrist The squats should be done with an Iron Man Magic Circle Personally I think the Magic Circle is an ugly-looking piece of apparatus but it does permit the utilization of more lung space than a conventional bar and when you get to the 600 pound mark and beyond youre going to need every cubic inch of lung power you can muster In fact its going to take you several minutes of deep breathing after each set of partials past 400 pounds to recover your air

Eventually you11 be up to 1000 pounds 2 inch travel What do you do then Obviously if you can lift 1000 pounds 2 inches in a maximum effort youre not going to be able to heave the same weight up 4 inches However with a little work on it moving the weight 2 inches shouldnt be an earthshaking undertaking Simply leave the rack pins in the same position and RAISE THE BENCH by putting inch thick boards or sheet steel under it When you have four V2 inch boards or sheets of steel under the bench its time to drop the pins and start

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allover As the 1000 pounds travels its way down the pins your assistance exercise program

is going to have to change somewhat For example at the 6 inch point substitute a heavy triceps exercise for the upright rows

A couple of other things I would recommend are a close study of nutrition (for example vitamin A affects the pectoral muscles) and a hypnotism session every night (except Sunday of course) to remove potential mental stumbling blocks before they have a chance to take hold in your mind

Let me know if you develop a 22 inch upper arm in the process

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part II

One of the problems inherent with attempting to be an authority in any field is that just when you think youve got all the answers somebody drops a chance remark and adds a whole herd of new questions This has happened to me twice in the last two weeks by or because of fellows who stopped by to see what we were doing in the way of research workouts and the like And also in the last two weeks basic metallurgy forced us to completely redesign our power rack and bars

First the metal When a normal barbell bar is loaded with 700 pounds of plates it takes on physical characteristics normally not associated with such equipment It bends which is to be expected

Then it twists also expected Then the fun begins Heres what happens Force is applied to the bar and sometimes one end of the bar comes flying up while the other remains stationary if youre off balance Or you push against the bar For a second it seems motionless In actuality the bar is bending in the middle Once the slack is taken up the bar has bent as far as it is going to the weight literally leaps off the rack pins and whips back and forth in the air This whipping motion is extremely hard on the palms of the hands and the wrists At present we have figured out two ways to eliminate this Instead of the standard barbell bar we use one made out of a special type of steel which wont begin to bend until 1500 pounds or so is placed on each end Whipping is eliminated at least for the next fe months Another problem occurs when the bar is dropped back onto the rack pins Shock~ from metal slamming metal run down the arms causing no end of discomfort Nor is it possible with extremely heavy weights to gauge exactly how much force is required to move it at the extension position Dont apply enough force and the bar wont move Apply too much toe rapidly and the bar may come flying up but you may be nursing a sprained wrist for somt time

A little device we thought up may solve both the shock and applied force problem We call them rack rebounders Theyre simply blocks of steel with holes drilled in them tc accommodate the rack pins On top of the steel block sits a coil spring On top of the col spring reposes a saddle or cradle for the bar When you plop the bar down it wont sene shock waves down your arms simply because the spring gives with the weight On tht upstroke part of the weight is boosted for you at the beginning of the movement so insteac of struggling mightily with the actual 700 or 800 pounds you have on the bar your initia resistance may be half that As the springs uncoil the heavier a load you absorb until th entire load clears the decks so to speak Also if youre a real glutton for punishment YOt

can load a bar well past your single limit on a partial movement and actually WORK with the weight Granted it wont travel very far but it WILL TRAVEL Lets say you dump 100( pounds on the bar and it only travels one inch up to a 3 inch coil spring Keep working witt it and eventually even with 10 of an inch at a time your half ton weight will clear the

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saddles and THEN you can start rrusmg the bench lowering the pins etc Another advantage to rack rebounders is that you can keep pumping a tremendous weight long after the failure point of normal partials

If youre totally confused at this point look at the drawings of rack rebounders on page 17 Give us a phone call if you wish us to make you a set They will be advertised in future issues of Iron Man Magazine

For those who havent done so I would suggest ordering Bill Antons course You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds advertised in Iron Man Magazine and apply it to partial movements

Another little goodie that I havent had time to investigate is one told to me by Bob Simpson when he was up here from Knoxville a couple weeks ago Bob was featured in Iron Man Magazine as the fellow who pressed 525 from a rack and then couldnt hold it at arms length Bobs method of training consisted of push-pressing using his legs enormous weights up to about nose level He worked up to about 1000 pounds in this fashion and then his back gave out Who knows Had his back held up he may have been the first man in recorded history to military press I 000 pounds I recall years ago working up to 3 sets of 8 reps in the push press behind neck with 220 pounds at a bodyweight of 180 and felt like the weights would go up forever until the contest winners saw me doing it and told me that was NOT the way to do things So I went back to doing them strict with a whole lot less weight Like a dummy The blind leading the blind Anyway Bob told me about a bodybuilder where he trained who experimented in the bench press and the squat in rather unusual fashion This fellow would have a weight somewhat in excess of his best limit attempt handed to him and he would slowly lower it and then bounce it up and down on his chest (or haunches if he was doing squats) for several repetitions In two weeks this fellows limit bench press and squat each increased by about 60 pounds However being a bodybuilder he wasnt much interested in great strength and abandoned that line of endeavor to pursue other more measurement oriented goals Anyone else care to try this and let me know the results thereof

Chiropractic for Strength and Bulk Increases

Have you ever noticed how many people take up weight-training in their lives And how few succeed

Let me cite a couple of examples The first case is myself Ive horsed around with weights since 1964 and by 1966

weighed 230 with a 340 bench press Then I quit training for a year and lost 40 pounds probably due more to poverty than lack of proper training Off and on for the years following I tried to regain what I had lost and could never seem to quite make it Doubly frustrating was the fact that everyone training under my supervision made fairly respectable gains It wasnt until 1973 that I began to deviate from the accepted norms of the weight-training world and surpassed myoid strength levels

What was the problem I couldnt blame improper training alone I had gained 70 pounds in two years on what

I now consider stone-age training methods Like everyone else I was all concerned about muscles But there wasnt anything

wrong with the muscles themselves I did notice a sharp pain in my lower right back whenever my 20 reps in the squat approached the 250 to 270 pound mark I went to a local chiropractor for two years and didnt improve a bit Finally not suspecting my local chiro didnt know what he was doing I went to one in Richmond on the local mans day off as I could hardly walk and didnt want to wait another day The Richmond man suggested an x-ray and the results were something I hadnt expected My entire spine was tilted so far to one side that the weights I put on my back created pressure primarily on ONE SIDE of my body Through continued

9

exercise I was actually weakening instead of strengthening myself My nerves and spinal ligaments were literally being torn apart Fortunately my Richmond chiro is one of the few (about 10 of the profession) who actually knows what hes doing and hes slowly but surely getting me straightened out (or rather my spine is)

The other case is a fellow who bought The Strength of Samson and told me he had never been able to get his body weight past 170 unless he literally gorged himself with food in which case he went up to 180 and lost it as soon as he slowed down his food intake At the same time he told me one leg cramped up real bad if he squatted down on his haunches for a few minutes He didnt realize it but he had just pin-pointed his major problem Nerves not only carry electrical impulses from the brain to the muscles they have a tendency to weaken the muscles if they (the nerves) are irritated Heavy exercise generally makes the situation worse What happened to this fellow I dont know but I HOPE he found a chiro believing in corrective care (most practice a remedial whack crack six bucks and get back sort of profession)

Other facets of weight-training are far more subtle Nutrition for example All the authorities holler about protein But as Landone points out in Electronic Properties ojFoods protein fats and starches are deadly poisons If you dont think so try injecting the stuff directly into your bloodstream sometime and see if you dont turn your toes up In my OVin case I wondered why I made better gains on pineapple juice than I did on fresh raw milk Sound odd Thats what I thought too when I first read it but Landone cites numerous hospital and institutional experiments to prove that pineapple carries a slightly POSITIVE charge of electricity and all animal products slightly NEGATIVE Landone was by no meallS a vegetarian (he died in 1945 at the age of 98) he simply points out that no matter how wellshybalanced you may THINK your diet is if it consists of primarily negative-charged foods you will eventually run down In one section of the book he cites a study of 1000 x-rays 500 vegetarians 500 meat eaters The meat eaters all looked fairly normal on the films but the vegetarians ALL had swollen and collapsed intestines very small lungs etc etc

Another subject is drugs Some take them and gain and some dont Theres no point in my moralizing on the subject Im no expert on them and if you refuse to obey the Good Book and truck with sorcerers (sorcerer comes from the same root word in Greek that we get Pharmacist from) then what befalls you is your own lookout Of course some of the trainers who write articles about the Zen Masters and the rest of the Eastern religions currently flooding the country may be partially to blame Practically all the so-called Eastern religions indulge in drugs as part of their rites etc And one of these religions considers cows so sacred they not only worship the dumb animals they bathe and DRINK a mixture of butter milk curd cow urine and cow excrement as part of their religion (Reference National Geographic Magazine series 1971) Long as the pill-poppers indulge in the drugs they might as well avail themselves of the protein supplements Yeccch

The point Im trying to make is this treat your body the way the Almighty intended and you may reap benefits you never expected In my own case my corrective therapy (NO drugs) resulted in my height increasing from 6 1 to 6 2W in less than three months and Im 31 years old Incidentally according to an AP release dated December 19th 1973 Skylab 3s astronauts all gained an inch or more in height since November 16th when they were launched into space One grew almost two inches Wonder what would happen if you left short people in a weightless environment here on earth for several weeks

Forearm Anatomy

This is a rather presumptuous title for such a brief page but I feel it necessary to warn you of a thing or two concerning the forearms One thing I noticed after reading several books on anatomy and several on grip development is that the fellows writing the grip books were

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very poorly schooled in anatomy Worse than me even Some of the exercises recommended are downright ridiculous and others downright dangerous For a specific example one fellow (a world record holder at one time) recommended tightening jar lids as an exercise Lots of luck if you tighten it too far and the jar breaks and slices your hand open Just for the record the tendons you see on the back of the hand and elsewhere are seated very deeply in the arm and a deep cut on the hand is likely as not if it gets infected going to cause you considerable misfortune Infection will travel to the seat of the tendons a lot quicker than you would think and it takes (there are exceptions) the surgeons knife to remedy the damage So please DONT put strains on your hands theyre not ready for And if you MUST punch someone aim for the stomach Ive seen hands swollen and infected so badly they were three times normal size from someones tooth coming out and lodging between the knuckles

Developing An Iron Claw

Many years ago before most of todays weight trainees were even a gleam in their daddys eye a fellow named John Y Smith used to specialize in the one-handed deadlift The late Harry Paschall who used to write quite regularly for Iron Man Magazine in the 1950s had met Smith several years earlier and in Paschalls opinion Smiths hands looked like iron claws Years of one-handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smiths finger tendons in the palm of the hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a ducks feet Smith at the time was doing one-handed deadlifts in his exercise routine with about 400 pounds Paschall who could do almost 300 pounds in the same exercise decided he could equal Smiths performance without a whole lot of effort Paschall made his living as an artist After a few weeks of specializing on the lift he gave it up as he was afraid he would lose his artistic ability the tendons in his hands were developing far more rapidly than he had expected His hands too were beginning to look like iron claws

The foregoing is simply an illustration of how important one-handed deadlifts are to those interested in developing great gripping powers and forearm girth Harold Ansorge a professional strongman of the 1930s was capable of over 500 pounds in this same lift Ansorge had such prodigious strength in his hands that he was featured in Ripleys Believe It or Not as being able to tear the corner off a deck of 52 playing cards using only his thumb and index finger Ansorge was also good at spike bending and tearing through SEVERAL telephone directories at a time

In recent times the squat has been called the king of exercises but I believe the oneshyhanded deadlift to be a superior exercise for all around strength and power 111 admit I personally soured on the squat as the exercise after seeing a photograph of one of the worlds best squatters wearing wrist braces to push press a 500 pound weight It seemed to me that his leg and lower back strength would be advantageous for pulling a plow but considering this same individual weighed over 300 pounds his great strength wasnt much good for anything else

A close investigation will show that the one-handed deadlift affects many of the same muscles the squat does and a couple more besides In the one-handed deadlift the legs lower back and upper back are all affected to a degree So are the lungs if the exercise is performed vigorously enough Of course you will only be able to lift what you can hold onto with your hands which for most modern-day weight trainees is very little compared to what the other muscle groups have been developed to

In my own personal and highly prejudiced opinion I believe full two-handed deadlifts should be avoided unless youre determined to enter powerlift competition The position for performing the lift is highly unnatural and the chance for injury is enormous Someone lifting a weight with one hand while the other hand provides a brace for the lower back via the knee

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is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

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DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

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was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

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dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

want to know where to start Heres what I would suggest My 290 pound friend with the 550 pound bench press used what I will have to call the

step-ladder system of training for want of a better term He would do 10 sets Five up and five down Another friend of mine moved his own bench press up over 150 pounds in nine months using the same method Both of them used full movements

Heres roughly the way it works Start with a warm-up weight One set of ten Add enough weight to get eight reps

comfortably One set Add enough weight to get six reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get five reps comfortably One set Add enough weight to get three reps comfortably One set Now work back down in weight the next five sets using the weights you worked up with but try to increase the repetitions When youre doing more reps on the downside add weight to all sets (about 5 or 10 pounds)

Now it gets complicated Lets use the above system with partial movements only You 11 be amazed at how little time it takes you to surpass 500 pounds 2 inch travel Remember what Larry Lawson said

Heres where the complications corne in Even at 2 inch travel 600 pounds is a lot of weight So much so in fact that an almost unbelievable amount of oxygen is used up on every repetition What goes up once relatively easily the first time is extremely difficult the second and literally unbudgeable the third Complication number one is lack of oxygen

The next thing you 11 notice at that weight as I did is the neck tendons become heavily involved and a vein that runs down the side of the neck becomes heavily engorged with blood Why this happens I dont know However I believe complication number two can also be solved

The third complication is this very few of us have the wrist strength to push against such weights with any degree of speed without spraining The primary reason I wrote Iron Claws is because I sprained my right wrist lifting a 605 pound weight in the partial bench press

In order to avoid the foregoing complications here is a routine that I would suggest following twice a week in addition to the step-ladder system

Wrestlers bridge 2 x 10 Upright rows 2 x 10 Wrist curls 2 x 10 Squats 2 x 10

The above exercises should be done with extremely moderate weights and the poundage not increased until the weight actually begins to feellight The wrestlers bridge is ohviously for the neck tendons and the blood vessel I referred to earlier The upright rows are simply to work the muscles between the shoulder blades from a different direction than the partial bench press and thereby removing any weak link The wrist curls are of course to keep you from spraining your wrist The squats should be done with an Iron Man Magic Circle Personally I think the Magic Circle is an ugly-looking piece of apparatus but it does permit the utilization of more lung space than a conventional bar and when you get to the 600 pound mark and beyond youre going to need every cubic inch of lung power you can muster In fact its going to take you several minutes of deep breathing after each set of partials past 400 pounds to recover your air

Eventually you11 be up to 1000 pounds 2 inch travel What do you do then Obviously if you can lift 1000 pounds 2 inches in a maximum effort youre not going to be able to heave the same weight up 4 inches However with a little work on it moving the weight 2 inches shouldnt be an earthshaking undertaking Simply leave the rack pins in the same position and RAISE THE BENCH by putting inch thick boards or sheet steel under it When you have four V2 inch boards or sheets of steel under the bench its time to drop the pins and start

7

1 1 I

allover As the 1000 pounds travels its way down the pins your assistance exercise program

is going to have to change somewhat For example at the 6 inch point substitute a heavy triceps exercise for the upright rows

A couple of other things I would recommend are a close study of nutrition (for example vitamin A affects the pectoral muscles) and a hypnotism session every night (except Sunday of course) to remove potential mental stumbling blocks before they have a chance to take hold in your mind

Let me know if you develop a 22 inch upper arm in the process

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part II

One of the problems inherent with attempting to be an authority in any field is that just when you think youve got all the answers somebody drops a chance remark and adds a whole herd of new questions This has happened to me twice in the last two weeks by or because of fellows who stopped by to see what we were doing in the way of research workouts and the like And also in the last two weeks basic metallurgy forced us to completely redesign our power rack and bars

First the metal When a normal barbell bar is loaded with 700 pounds of plates it takes on physical characteristics normally not associated with such equipment It bends which is to be expected

Then it twists also expected Then the fun begins Heres what happens Force is applied to the bar and sometimes one end of the bar comes flying up while the other remains stationary if youre off balance Or you push against the bar For a second it seems motionless In actuality the bar is bending in the middle Once the slack is taken up the bar has bent as far as it is going to the weight literally leaps off the rack pins and whips back and forth in the air This whipping motion is extremely hard on the palms of the hands and the wrists At present we have figured out two ways to eliminate this Instead of the standard barbell bar we use one made out of a special type of steel which wont begin to bend until 1500 pounds or so is placed on each end Whipping is eliminated at least for the next fe months Another problem occurs when the bar is dropped back onto the rack pins Shock~ from metal slamming metal run down the arms causing no end of discomfort Nor is it possible with extremely heavy weights to gauge exactly how much force is required to move it at the extension position Dont apply enough force and the bar wont move Apply too much toe rapidly and the bar may come flying up but you may be nursing a sprained wrist for somt time

A little device we thought up may solve both the shock and applied force problem We call them rack rebounders Theyre simply blocks of steel with holes drilled in them tc accommodate the rack pins On top of the steel block sits a coil spring On top of the col spring reposes a saddle or cradle for the bar When you plop the bar down it wont sene shock waves down your arms simply because the spring gives with the weight On tht upstroke part of the weight is boosted for you at the beginning of the movement so insteac of struggling mightily with the actual 700 or 800 pounds you have on the bar your initia resistance may be half that As the springs uncoil the heavier a load you absorb until th entire load clears the decks so to speak Also if youre a real glutton for punishment YOt

can load a bar well past your single limit on a partial movement and actually WORK with the weight Granted it wont travel very far but it WILL TRAVEL Lets say you dump 100( pounds on the bar and it only travels one inch up to a 3 inch coil spring Keep working witt it and eventually even with 10 of an inch at a time your half ton weight will clear the

8

saddles and THEN you can start rrusmg the bench lowering the pins etc Another advantage to rack rebounders is that you can keep pumping a tremendous weight long after the failure point of normal partials

If youre totally confused at this point look at the drawings of rack rebounders on page 17 Give us a phone call if you wish us to make you a set They will be advertised in future issues of Iron Man Magazine

For those who havent done so I would suggest ordering Bill Antons course You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds advertised in Iron Man Magazine and apply it to partial movements

Another little goodie that I havent had time to investigate is one told to me by Bob Simpson when he was up here from Knoxville a couple weeks ago Bob was featured in Iron Man Magazine as the fellow who pressed 525 from a rack and then couldnt hold it at arms length Bobs method of training consisted of push-pressing using his legs enormous weights up to about nose level He worked up to about 1000 pounds in this fashion and then his back gave out Who knows Had his back held up he may have been the first man in recorded history to military press I 000 pounds I recall years ago working up to 3 sets of 8 reps in the push press behind neck with 220 pounds at a bodyweight of 180 and felt like the weights would go up forever until the contest winners saw me doing it and told me that was NOT the way to do things So I went back to doing them strict with a whole lot less weight Like a dummy The blind leading the blind Anyway Bob told me about a bodybuilder where he trained who experimented in the bench press and the squat in rather unusual fashion This fellow would have a weight somewhat in excess of his best limit attempt handed to him and he would slowly lower it and then bounce it up and down on his chest (or haunches if he was doing squats) for several repetitions In two weeks this fellows limit bench press and squat each increased by about 60 pounds However being a bodybuilder he wasnt much interested in great strength and abandoned that line of endeavor to pursue other more measurement oriented goals Anyone else care to try this and let me know the results thereof

Chiropractic for Strength and Bulk Increases

Have you ever noticed how many people take up weight-training in their lives And how few succeed

Let me cite a couple of examples The first case is myself Ive horsed around with weights since 1964 and by 1966

weighed 230 with a 340 bench press Then I quit training for a year and lost 40 pounds probably due more to poverty than lack of proper training Off and on for the years following I tried to regain what I had lost and could never seem to quite make it Doubly frustrating was the fact that everyone training under my supervision made fairly respectable gains It wasnt until 1973 that I began to deviate from the accepted norms of the weight-training world and surpassed myoid strength levels

What was the problem I couldnt blame improper training alone I had gained 70 pounds in two years on what

I now consider stone-age training methods Like everyone else I was all concerned about muscles But there wasnt anything

wrong with the muscles themselves I did notice a sharp pain in my lower right back whenever my 20 reps in the squat approached the 250 to 270 pound mark I went to a local chiropractor for two years and didnt improve a bit Finally not suspecting my local chiro didnt know what he was doing I went to one in Richmond on the local mans day off as I could hardly walk and didnt want to wait another day The Richmond man suggested an x-ray and the results were something I hadnt expected My entire spine was tilted so far to one side that the weights I put on my back created pressure primarily on ONE SIDE of my body Through continued

9

exercise I was actually weakening instead of strengthening myself My nerves and spinal ligaments were literally being torn apart Fortunately my Richmond chiro is one of the few (about 10 of the profession) who actually knows what hes doing and hes slowly but surely getting me straightened out (or rather my spine is)

The other case is a fellow who bought The Strength of Samson and told me he had never been able to get his body weight past 170 unless he literally gorged himself with food in which case he went up to 180 and lost it as soon as he slowed down his food intake At the same time he told me one leg cramped up real bad if he squatted down on his haunches for a few minutes He didnt realize it but he had just pin-pointed his major problem Nerves not only carry electrical impulses from the brain to the muscles they have a tendency to weaken the muscles if they (the nerves) are irritated Heavy exercise generally makes the situation worse What happened to this fellow I dont know but I HOPE he found a chiro believing in corrective care (most practice a remedial whack crack six bucks and get back sort of profession)

Other facets of weight-training are far more subtle Nutrition for example All the authorities holler about protein But as Landone points out in Electronic Properties ojFoods protein fats and starches are deadly poisons If you dont think so try injecting the stuff directly into your bloodstream sometime and see if you dont turn your toes up In my OVin case I wondered why I made better gains on pineapple juice than I did on fresh raw milk Sound odd Thats what I thought too when I first read it but Landone cites numerous hospital and institutional experiments to prove that pineapple carries a slightly POSITIVE charge of electricity and all animal products slightly NEGATIVE Landone was by no meallS a vegetarian (he died in 1945 at the age of 98) he simply points out that no matter how wellshybalanced you may THINK your diet is if it consists of primarily negative-charged foods you will eventually run down In one section of the book he cites a study of 1000 x-rays 500 vegetarians 500 meat eaters The meat eaters all looked fairly normal on the films but the vegetarians ALL had swollen and collapsed intestines very small lungs etc etc

Another subject is drugs Some take them and gain and some dont Theres no point in my moralizing on the subject Im no expert on them and if you refuse to obey the Good Book and truck with sorcerers (sorcerer comes from the same root word in Greek that we get Pharmacist from) then what befalls you is your own lookout Of course some of the trainers who write articles about the Zen Masters and the rest of the Eastern religions currently flooding the country may be partially to blame Practically all the so-called Eastern religions indulge in drugs as part of their rites etc And one of these religions considers cows so sacred they not only worship the dumb animals they bathe and DRINK a mixture of butter milk curd cow urine and cow excrement as part of their religion (Reference National Geographic Magazine series 1971) Long as the pill-poppers indulge in the drugs they might as well avail themselves of the protein supplements Yeccch

The point Im trying to make is this treat your body the way the Almighty intended and you may reap benefits you never expected In my own case my corrective therapy (NO drugs) resulted in my height increasing from 6 1 to 6 2W in less than three months and Im 31 years old Incidentally according to an AP release dated December 19th 1973 Skylab 3s astronauts all gained an inch or more in height since November 16th when they were launched into space One grew almost two inches Wonder what would happen if you left short people in a weightless environment here on earth for several weeks

Forearm Anatomy

This is a rather presumptuous title for such a brief page but I feel it necessary to warn you of a thing or two concerning the forearms One thing I noticed after reading several books on anatomy and several on grip development is that the fellows writing the grip books were

10

very poorly schooled in anatomy Worse than me even Some of the exercises recommended are downright ridiculous and others downright dangerous For a specific example one fellow (a world record holder at one time) recommended tightening jar lids as an exercise Lots of luck if you tighten it too far and the jar breaks and slices your hand open Just for the record the tendons you see on the back of the hand and elsewhere are seated very deeply in the arm and a deep cut on the hand is likely as not if it gets infected going to cause you considerable misfortune Infection will travel to the seat of the tendons a lot quicker than you would think and it takes (there are exceptions) the surgeons knife to remedy the damage So please DONT put strains on your hands theyre not ready for And if you MUST punch someone aim for the stomach Ive seen hands swollen and infected so badly they were three times normal size from someones tooth coming out and lodging between the knuckles

Developing An Iron Claw

Many years ago before most of todays weight trainees were even a gleam in their daddys eye a fellow named John Y Smith used to specialize in the one-handed deadlift The late Harry Paschall who used to write quite regularly for Iron Man Magazine in the 1950s had met Smith several years earlier and in Paschalls opinion Smiths hands looked like iron claws Years of one-handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smiths finger tendons in the palm of the hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a ducks feet Smith at the time was doing one-handed deadlifts in his exercise routine with about 400 pounds Paschall who could do almost 300 pounds in the same exercise decided he could equal Smiths performance without a whole lot of effort Paschall made his living as an artist After a few weeks of specializing on the lift he gave it up as he was afraid he would lose his artistic ability the tendons in his hands were developing far more rapidly than he had expected His hands too were beginning to look like iron claws

The foregoing is simply an illustration of how important one-handed deadlifts are to those interested in developing great gripping powers and forearm girth Harold Ansorge a professional strongman of the 1930s was capable of over 500 pounds in this same lift Ansorge had such prodigious strength in his hands that he was featured in Ripleys Believe It or Not as being able to tear the corner off a deck of 52 playing cards using only his thumb and index finger Ansorge was also good at spike bending and tearing through SEVERAL telephone directories at a time

In recent times the squat has been called the king of exercises but I believe the oneshyhanded deadlift to be a superior exercise for all around strength and power 111 admit I personally soured on the squat as the exercise after seeing a photograph of one of the worlds best squatters wearing wrist braces to push press a 500 pound weight It seemed to me that his leg and lower back strength would be advantageous for pulling a plow but considering this same individual weighed over 300 pounds his great strength wasnt much good for anything else

A close investigation will show that the one-handed deadlift affects many of the same muscles the squat does and a couple more besides In the one-handed deadlift the legs lower back and upper back are all affected to a degree So are the lungs if the exercise is performed vigorously enough Of course you will only be able to lift what you can hold onto with your hands which for most modern-day weight trainees is very little compared to what the other muscle groups have been developed to

In my own personal and highly prejudiced opinion I believe full two-handed deadlifts should be avoided unless youre determined to enter powerlift competition The position for performing the lift is highly unnatural and the chance for injury is enormous Someone lifting a weight with one hand while the other hand provides a brace for the lower back via the knee

11

-------- - -- ---

I

shy

is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

12

DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

13

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

1 1 I

allover As the 1000 pounds travels its way down the pins your assistance exercise program

is going to have to change somewhat For example at the 6 inch point substitute a heavy triceps exercise for the upright rows

A couple of other things I would recommend are a close study of nutrition (for example vitamin A affects the pectoral muscles) and a hypnotism session every night (except Sunday of course) to remove potential mental stumbling blocks before they have a chance to take hold in your mind

Let me know if you develop a 22 inch upper arm in the process

The 1000 Pound Bench Press Part II

One of the problems inherent with attempting to be an authority in any field is that just when you think youve got all the answers somebody drops a chance remark and adds a whole herd of new questions This has happened to me twice in the last two weeks by or because of fellows who stopped by to see what we were doing in the way of research workouts and the like And also in the last two weeks basic metallurgy forced us to completely redesign our power rack and bars

First the metal When a normal barbell bar is loaded with 700 pounds of plates it takes on physical characteristics normally not associated with such equipment It bends which is to be expected

Then it twists also expected Then the fun begins Heres what happens Force is applied to the bar and sometimes one end of the bar comes flying up while the other remains stationary if youre off balance Or you push against the bar For a second it seems motionless In actuality the bar is bending in the middle Once the slack is taken up the bar has bent as far as it is going to the weight literally leaps off the rack pins and whips back and forth in the air This whipping motion is extremely hard on the palms of the hands and the wrists At present we have figured out two ways to eliminate this Instead of the standard barbell bar we use one made out of a special type of steel which wont begin to bend until 1500 pounds or so is placed on each end Whipping is eliminated at least for the next fe months Another problem occurs when the bar is dropped back onto the rack pins Shock~ from metal slamming metal run down the arms causing no end of discomfort Nor is it possible with extremely heavy weights to gauge exactly how much force is required to move it at the extension position Dont apply enough force and the bar wont move Apply too much toe rapidly and the bar may come flying up but you may be nursing a sprained wrist for somt time

A little device we thought up may solve both the shock and applied force problem We call them rack rebounders Theyre simply blocks of steel with holes drilled in them tc accommodate the rack pins On top of the steel block sits a coil spring On top of the col spring reposes a saddle or cradle for the bar When you plop the bar down it wont sene shock waves down your arms simply because the spring gives with the weight On tht upstroke part of the weight is boosted for you at the beginning of the movement so insteac of struggling mightily with the actual 700 or 800 pounds you have on the bar your initia resistance may be half that As the springs uncoil the heavier a load you absorb until th entire load clears the decks so to speak Also if youre a real glutton for punishment YOt

can load a bar well past your single limit on a partial movement and actually WORK with the weight Granted it wont travel very far but it WILL TRAVEL Lets say you dump 100( pounds on the bar and it only travels one inch up to a 3 inch coil spring Keep working witt it and eventually even with 10 of an inch at a time your half ton weight will clear the

8

saddles and THEN you can start rrusmg the bench lowering the pins etc Another advantage to rack rebounders is that you can keep pumping a tremendous weight long after the failure point of normal partials

If youre totally confused at this point look at the drawings of rack rebounders on page 17 Give us a phone call if you wish us to make you a set They will be advertised in future issues of Iron Man Magazine

For those who havent done so I would suggest ordering Bill Antons course You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds advertised in Iron Man Magazine and apply it to partial movements

Another little goodie that I havent had time to investigate is one told to me by Bob Simpson when he was up here from Knoxville a couple weeks ago Bob was featured in Iron Man Magazine as the fellow who pressed 525 from a rack and then couldnt hold it at arms length Bobs method of training consisted of push-pressing using his legs enormous weights up to about nose level He worked up to about 1000 pounds in this fashion and then his back gave out Who knows Had his back held up he may have been the first man in recorded history to military press I 000 pounds I recall years ago working up to 3 sets of 8 reps in the push press behind neck with 220 pounds at a bodyweight of 180 and felt like the weights would go up forever until the contest winners saw me doing it and told me that was NOT the way to do things So I went back to doing them strict with a whole lot less weight Like a dummy The blind leading the blind Anyway Bob told me about a bodybuilder where he trained who experimented in the bench press and the squat in rather unusual fashion This fellow would have a weight somewhat in excess of his best limit attempt handed to him and he would slowly lower it and then bounce it up and down on his chest (or haunches if he was doing squats) for several repetitions In two weeks this fellows limit bench press and squat each increased by about 60 pounds However being a bodybuilder he wasnt much interested in great strength and abandoned that line of endeavor to pursue other more measurement oriented goals Anyone else care to try this and let me know the results thereof

Chiropractic for Strength and Bulk Increases

Have you ever noticed how many people take up weight-training in their lives And how few succeed

Let me cite a couple of examples The first case is myself Ive horsed around with weights since 1964 and by 1966

weighed 230 with a 340 bench press Then I quit training for a year and lost 40 pounds probably due more to poverty than lack of proper training Off and on for the years following I tried to regain what I had lost and could never seem to quite make it Doubly frustrating was the fact that everyone training under my supervision made fairly respectable gains It wasnt until 1973 that I began to deviate from the accepted norms of the weight-training world and surpassed myoid strength levels

What was the problem I couldnt blame improper training alone I had gained 70 pounds in two years on what

I now consider stone-age training methods Like everyone else I was all concerned about muscles But there wasnt anything

wrong with the muscles themselves I did notice a sharp pain in my lower right back whenever my 20 reps in the squat approached the 250 to 270 pound mark I went to a local chiropractor for two years and didnt improve a bit Finally not suspecting my local chiro didnt know what he was doing I went to one in Richmond on the local mans day off as I could hardly walk and didnt want to wait another day The Richmond man suggested an x-ray and the results were something I hadnt expected My entire spine was tilted so far to one side that the weights I put on my back created pressure primarily on ONE SIDE of my body Through continued

9

exercise I was actually weakening instead of strengthening myself My nerves and spinal ligaments were literally being torn apart Fortunately my Richmond chiro is one of the few (about 10 of the profession) who actually knows what hes doing and hes slowly but surely getting me straightened out (or rather my spine is)

The other case is a fellow who bought The Strength of Samson and told me he had never been able to get his body weight past 170 unless he literally gorged himself with food in which case he went up to 180 and lost it as soon as he slowed down his food intake At the same time he told me one leg cramped up real bad if he squatted down on his haunches for a few minutes He didnt realize it but he had just pin-pointed his major problem Nerves not only carry electrical impulses from the brain to the muscles they have a tendency to weaken the muscles if they (the nerves) are irritated Heavy exercise generally makes the situation worse What happened to this fellow I dont know but I HOPE he found a chiro believing in corrective care (most practice a remedial whack crack six bucks and get back sort of profession)

Other facets of weight-training are far more subtle Nutrition for example All the authorities holler about protein But as Landone points out in Electronic Properties ojFoods protein fats and starches are deadly poisons If you dont think so try injecting the stuff directly into your bloodstream sometime and see if you dont turn your toes up In my OVin case I wondered why I made better gains on pineapple juice than I did on fresh raw milk Sound odd Thats what I thought too when I first read it but Landone cites numerous hospital and institutional experiments to prove that pineapple carries a slightly POSITIVE charge of electricity and all animal products slightly NEGATIVE Landone was by no meallS a vegetarian (he died in 1945 at the age of 98) he simply points out that no matter how wellshybalanced you may THINK your diet is if it consists of primarily negative-charged foods you will eventually run down In one section of the book he cites a study of 1000 x-rays 500 vegetarians 500 meat eaters The meat eaters all looked fairly normal on the films but the vegetarians ALL had swollen and collapsed intestines very small lungs etc etc

Another subject is drugs Some take them and gain and some dont Theres no point in my moralizing on the subject Im no expert on them and if you refuse to obey the Good Book and truck with sorcerers (sorcerer comes from the same root word in Greek that we get Pharmacist from) then what befalls you is your own lookout Of course some of the trainers who write articles about the Zen Masters and the rest of the Eastern religions currently flooding the country may be partially to blame Practically all the so-called Eastern religions indulge in drugs as part of their rites etc And one of these religions considers cows so sacred they not only worship the dumb animals they bathe and DRINK a mixture of butter milk curd cow urine and cow excrement as part of their religion (Reference National Geographic Magazine series 1971) Long as the pill-poppers indulge in the drugs they might as well avail themselves of the protein supplements Yeccch

The point Im trying to make is this treat your body the way the Almighty intended and you may reap benefits you never expected In my own case my corrective therapy (NO drugs) resulted in my height increasing from 6 1 to 6 2W in less than three months and Im 31 years old Incidentally according to an AP release dated December 19th 1973 Skylab 3s astronauts all gained an inch or more in height since November 16th when they were launched into space One grew almost two inches Wonder what would happen if you left short people in a weightless environment here on earth for several weeks

Forearm Anatomy

This is a rather presumptuous title for such a brief page but I feel it necessary to warn you of a thing or two concerning the forearms One thing I noticed after reading several books on anatomy and several on grip development is that the fellows writing the grip books were

10

very poorly schooled in anatomy Worse than me even Some of the exercises recommended are downright ridiculous and others downright dangerous For a specific example one fellow (a world record holder at one time) recommended tightening jar lids as an exercise Lots of luck if you tighten it too far and the jar breaks and slices your hand open Just for the record the tendons you see on the back of the hand and elsewhere are seated very deeply in the arm and a deep cut on the hand is likely as not if it gets infected going to cause you considerable misfortune Infection will travel to the seat of the tendons a lot quicker than you would think and it takes (there are exceptions) the surgeons knife to remedy the damage So please DONT put strains on your hands theyre not ready for And if you MUST punch someone aim for the stomach Ive seen hands swollen and infected so badly they were three times normal size from someones tooth coming out and lodging between the knuckles

Developing An Iron Claw

Many years ago before most of todays weight trainees were even a gleam in their daddys eye a fellow named John Y Smith used to specialize in the one-handed deadlift The late Harry Paschall who used to write quite regularly for Iron Man Magazine in the 1950s had met Smith several years earlier and in Paschalls opinion Smiths hands looked like iron claws Years of one-handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smiths finger tendons in the palm of the hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a ducks feet Smith at the time was doing one-handed deadlifts in his exercise routine with about 400 pounds Paschall who could do almost 300 pounds in the same exercise decided he could equal Smiths performance without a whole lot of effort Paschall made his living as an artist After a few weeks of specializing on the lift he gave it up as he was afraid he would lose his artistic ability the tendons in his hands were developing far more rapidly than he had expected His hands too were beginning to look like iron claws

The foregoing is simply an illustration of how important one-handed deadlifts are to those interested in developing great gripping powers and forearm girth Harold Ansorge a professional strongman of the 1930s was capable of over 500 pounds in this same lift Ansorge had such prodigious strength in his hands that he was featured in Ripleys Believe It or Not as being able to tear the corner off a deck of 52 playing cards using only his thumb and index finger Ansorge was also good at spike bending and tearing through SEVERAL telephone directories at a time

In recent times the squat has been called the king of exercises but I believe the oneshyhanded deadlift to be a superior exercise for all around strength and power 111 admit I personally soured on the squat as the exercise after seeing a photograph of one of the worlds best squatters wearing wrist braces to push press a 500 pound weight It seemed to me that his leg and lower back strength would be advantageous for pulling a plow but considering this same individual weighed over 300 pounds his great strength wasnt much good for anything else

A close investigation will show that the one-handed deadlift affects many of the same muscles the squat does and a couple more besides In the one-handed deadlift the legs lower back and upper back are all affected to a degree So are the lungs if the exercise is performed vigorously enough Of course you will only be able to lift what you can hold onto with your hands which for most modern-day weight trainees is very little compared to what the other muscle groups have been developed to

In my own personal and highly prejudiced opinion I believe full two-handed deadlifts should be avoided unless youre determined to enter powerlift competition The position for performing the lift is highly unnatural and the chance for injury is enormous Someone lifting a weight with one hand while the other hand provides a brace for the lower back via the knee

11

-------- - -- ---

I

shy

is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

12

DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

13

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

saddles and THEN you can start rrusmg the bench lowering the pins etc Another advantage to rack rebounders is that you can keep pumping a tremendous weight long after the failure point of normal partials

If youre totally confused at this point look at the drawings of rack rebounders on page 17 Give us a phone call if you wish us to make you a set They will be advertised in future issues of Iron Man Magazine

For those who havent done so I would suggest ordering Bill Antons course You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds advertised in Iron Man Magazine and apply it to partial movements

Another little goodie that I havent had time to investigate is one told to me by Bob Simpson when he was up here from Knoxville a couple weeks ago Bob was featured in Iron Man Magazine as the fellow who pressed 525 from a rack and then couldnt hold it at arms length Bobs method of training consisted of push-pressing using his legs enormous weights up to about nose level He worked up to about 1000 pounds in this fashion and then his back gave out Who knows Had his back held up he may have been the first man in recorded history to military press I 000 pounds I recall years ago working up to 3 sets of 8 reps in the push press behind neck with 220 pounds at a bodyweight of 180 and felt like the weights would go up forever until the contest winners saw me doing it and told me that was NOT the way to do things So I went back to doing them strict with a whole lot less weight Like a dummy The blind leading the blind Anyway Bob told me about a bodybuilder where he trained who experimented in the bench press and the squat in rather unusual fashion This fellow would have a weight somewhat in excess of his best limit attempt handed to him and he would slowly lower it and then bounce it up and down on his chest (or haunches if he was doing squats) for several repetitions In two weeks this fellows limit bench press and squat each increased by about 60 pounds However being a bodybuilder he wasnt much interested in great strength and abandoned that line of endeavor to pursue other more measurement oriented goals Anyone else care to try this and let me know the results thereof

Chiropractic for Strength and Bulk Increases

Have you ever noticed how many people take up weight-training in their lives And how few succeed

Let me cite a couple of examples The first case is myself Ive horsed around with weights since 1964 and by 1966

weighed 230 with a 340 bench press Then I quit training for a year and lost 40 pounds probably due more to poverty than lack of proper training Off and on for the years following I tried to regain what I had lost and could never seem to quite make it Doubly frustrating was the fact that everyone training under my supervision made fairly respectable gains It wasnt until 1973 that I began to deviate from the accepted norms of the weight-training world and surpassed myoid strength levels

What was the problem I couldnt blame improper training alone I had gained 70 pounds in two years on what

I now consider stone-age training methods Like everyone else I was all concerned about muscles But there wasnt anything

wrong with the muscles themselves I did notice a sharp pain in my lower right back whenever my 20 reps in the squat approached the 250 to 270 pound mark I went to a local chiropractor for two years and didnt improve a bit Finally not suspecting my local chiro didnt know what he was doing I went to one in Richmond on the local mans day off as I could hardly walk and didnt want to wait another day The Richmond man suggested an x-ray and the results were something I hadnt expected My entire spine was tilted so far to one side that the weights I put on my back created pressure primarily on ONE SIDE of my body Through continued

9

exercise I was actually weakening instead of strengthening myself My nerves and spinal ligaments were literally being torn apart Fortunately my Richmond chiro is one of the few (about 10 of the profession) who actually knows what hes doing and hes slowly but surely getting me straightened out (or rather my spine is)

The other case is a fellow who bought The Strength of Samson and told me he had never been able to get his body weight past 170 unless he literally gorged himself with food in which case he went up to 180 and lost it as soon as he slowed down his food intake At the same time he told me one leg cramped up real bad if he squatted down on his haunches for a few minutes He didnt realize it but he had just pin-pointed his major problem Nerves not only carry electrical impulses from the brain to the muscles they have a tendency to weaken the muscles if they (the nerves) are irritated Heavy exercise generally makes the situation worse What happened to this fellow I dont know but I HOPE he found a chiro believing in corrective care (most practice a remedial whack crack six bucks and get back sort of profession)

Other facets of weight-training are far more subtle Nutrition for example All the authorities holler about protein But as Landone points out in Electronic Properties ojFoods protein fats and starches are deadly poisons If you dont think so try injecting the stuff directly into your bloodstream sometime and see if you dont turn your toes up In my OVin case I wondered why I made better gains on pineapple juice than I did on fresh raw milk Sound odd Thats what I thought too when I first read it but Landone cites numerous hospital and institutional experiments to prove that pineapple carries a slightly POSITIVE charge of electricity and all animal products slightly NEGATIVE Landone was by no meallS a vegetarian (he died in 1945 at the age of 98) he simply points out that no matter how wellshybalanced you may THINK your diet is if it consists of primarily negative-charged foods you will eventually run down In one section of the book he cites a study of 1000 x-rays 500 vegetarians 500 meat eaters The meat eaters all looked fairly normal on the films but the vegetarians ALL had swollen and collapsed intestines very small lungs etc etc

Another subject is drugs Some take them and gain and some dont Theres no point in my moralizing on the subject Im no expert on them and if you refuse to obey the Good Book and truck with sorcerers (sorcerer comes from the same root word in Greek that we get Pharmacist from) then what befalls you is your own lookout Of course some of the trainers who write articles about the Zen Masters and the rest of the Eastern religions currently flooding the country may be partially to blame Practically all the so-called Eastern religions indulge in drugs as part of their rites etc And one of these religions considers cows so sacred they not only worship the dumb animals they bathe and DRINK a mixture of butter milk curd cow urine and cow excrement as part of their religion (Reference National Geographic Magazine series 1971) Long as the pill-poppers indulge in the drugs they might as well avail themselves of the protein supplements Yeccch

The point Im trying to make is this treat your body the way the Almighty intended and you may reap benefits you never expected In my own case my corrective therapy (NO drugs) resulted in my height increasing from 6 1 to 6 2W in less than three months and Im 31 years old Incidentally according to an AP release dated December 19th 1973 Skylab 3s astronauts all gained an inch or more in height since November 16th when they were launched into space One grew almost two inches Wonder what would happen if you left short people in a weightless environment here on earth for several weeks

Forearm Anatomy

This is a rather presumptuous title for such a brief page but I feel it necessary to warn you of a thing or two concerning the forearms One thing I noticed after reading several books on anatomy and several on grip development is that the fellows writing the grip books were

10

very poorly schooled in anatomy Worse than me even Some of the exercises recommended are downright ridiculous and others downright dangerous For a specific example one fellow (a world record holder at one time) recommended tightening jar lids as an exercise Lots of luck if you tighten it too far and the jar breaks and slices your hand open Just for the record the tendons you see on the back of the hand and elsewhere are seated very deeply in the arm and a deep cut on the hand is likely as not if it gets infected going to cause you considerable misfortune Infection will travel to the seat of the tendons a lot quicker than you would think and it takes (there are exceptions) the surgeons knife to remedy the damage So please DONT put strains on your hands theyre not ready for And if you MUST punch someone aim for the stomach Ive seen hands swollen and infected so badly they were three times normal size from someones tooth coming out and lodging between the knuckles

Developing An Iron Claw

Many years ago before most of todays weight trainees were even a gleam in their daddys eye a fellow named John Y Smith used to specialize in the one-handed deadlift The late Harry Paschall who used to write quite regularly for Iron Man Magazine in the 1950s had met Smith several years earlier and in Paschalls opinion Smiths hands looked like iron claws Years of one-handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smiths finger tendons in the palm of the hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a ducks feet Smith at the time was doing one-handed deadlifts in his exercise routine with about 400 pounds Paschall who could do almost 300 pounds in the same exercise decided he could equal Smiths performance without a whole lot of effort Paschall made his living as an artist After a few weeks of specializing on the lift he gave it up as he was afraid he would lose his artistic ability the tendons in his hands were developing far more rapidly than he had expected His hands too were beginning to look like iron claws

The foregoing is simply an illustration of how important one-handed deadlifts are to those interested in developing great gripping powers and forearm girth Harold Ansorge a professional strongman of the 1930s was capable of over 500 pounds in this same lift Ansorge had such prodigious strength in his hands that he was featured in Ripleys Believe It or Not as being able to tear the corner off a deck of 52 playing cards using only his thumb and index finger Ansorge was also good at spike bending and tearing through SEVERAL telephone directories at a time

In recent times the squat has been called the king of exercises but I believe the oneshyhanded deadlift to be a superior exercise for all around strength and power 111 admit I personally soured on the squat as the exercise after seeing a photograph of one of the worlds best squatters wearing wrist braces to push press a 500 pound weight It seemed to me that his leg and lower back strength would be advantageous for pulling a plow but considering this same individual weighed over 300 pounds his great strength wasnt much good for anything else

A close investigation will show that the one-handed deadlift affects many of the same muscles the squat does and a couple more besides In the one-handed deadlift the legs lower back and upper back are all affected to a degree So are the lungs if the exercise is performed vigorously enough Of course you will only be able to lift what you can hold onto with your hands which for most modern-day weight trainees is very little compared to what the other muscle groups have been developed to

In my own personal and highly prejudiced opinion I believe full two-handed deadlifts should be avoided unless youre determined to enter powerlift competition The position for performing the lift is highly unnatural and the chance for injury is enormous Someone lifting a weight with one hand while the other hand provides a brace for the lower back via the knee

11

-------- - -- ---

I

shy

is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

12

DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

13

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

exercise I was actually weakening instead of strengthening myself My nerves and spinal ligaments were literally being torn apart Fortunately my Richmond chiro is one of the few (about 10 of the profession) who actually knows what hes doing and hes slowly but surely getting me straightened out (or rather my spine is)

The other case is a fellow who bought The Strength of Samson and told me he had never been able to get his body weight past 170 unless he literally gorged himself with food in which case he went up to 180 and lost it as soon as he slowed down his food intake At the same time he told me one leg cramped up real bad if he squatted down on his haunches for a few minutes He didnt realize it but he had just pin-pointed his major problem Nerves not only carry electrical impulses from the brain to the muscles they have a tendency to weaken the muscles if they (the nerves) are irritated Heavy exercise generally makes the situation worse What happened to this fellow I dont know but I HOPE he found a chiro believing in corrective care (most practice a remedial whack crack six bucks and get back sort of profession)

Other facets of weight-training are far more subtle Nutrition for example All the authorities holler about protein But as Landone points out in Electronic Properties ojFoods protein fats and starches are deadly poisons If you dont think so try injecting the stuff directly into your bloodstream sometime and see if you dont turn your toes up In my OVin case I wondered why I made better gains on pineapple juice than I did on fresh raw milk Sound odd Thats what I thought too when I first read it but Landone cites numerous hospital and institutional experiments to prove that pineapple carries a slightly POSITIVE charge of electricity and all animal products slightly NEGATIVE Landone was by no meallS a vegetarian (he died in 1945 at the age of 98) he simply points out that no matter how wellshybalanced you may THINK your diet is if it consists of primarily negative-charged foods you will eventually run down In one section of the book he cites a study of 1000 x-rays 500 vegetarians 500 meat eaters The meat eaters all looked fairly normal on the films but the vegetarians ALL had swollen and collapsed intestines very small lungs etc etc

Another subject is drugs Some take them and gain and some dont Theres no point in my moralizing on the subject Im no expert on them and if you refuse to obey the Good Book and truck with sorcerers (sorcerer comes from the same root word in Greek that we get Pharmacist from) then what befalls you is your own lookout Of course some of the trainers who write articles about the Zen Masters and the rest of the Eastern religions currently flooding the country may be partially to blame Practically all the so-called Eastern religions indulge in drugs as part of their rites etc And one of these religions considers cows so sacred they not only worship the dumb animals they bathe and DRINK a mixture of butter milk curd cow urine and cow excrement as part of their religion (Reference National Geographic Magazine series 1971) Long as the pill-poppers indulge in the drugs they might as well avail themselves of the protein supplements Yeccch

The point Im trying to make is this treat your body the way the Almighty intended and you may reap benefits you never expected In my own case my corrective therapy (NO drugs) resulted in my height increasing from 6 1 to 6 2W in less than three months and Im 31 years old Incidentally according to an AP release dated December 19th 1973 Skylab 3s astronauts all gained an inch or more in height since November 16th when they were launched into space One grew almost two inches Wonder what would happen if you left short people in a weightless environment here on earth for several weeks

Forearm Anatomy

This is a rather presumptuous title for such a brief page but I feel it necessary to warn you of a thing or two concerning the forearms One thing I noticed after reading several books on anatomy and several on grip development is that the fellows writing the grip books were

10

very poorly schooled in anatomy Worse than me even Some of the exercises recommended are downright ridiculous and others downright dangerous For a specific example one fellow (a world record holder at one time) recommended tightening jar lids as an exercise Lots of luck if you tighten it too far and the jar breaks and slices your hand open Just for the record the tendons you see on the back of the hand and elsewhere are seated very deeply in the arm and a deep cut on the hand is likely as not if it gets infected going to cause you considerable misfortune Infection will travel to the seat of the tendons a lot quicker than you would think and it takes (there are exceptions) the surgeons knife to remedy the damage So please DONT put strains on your hands theyre not ready for And if you MUST punch someone aim for the stomach Ive seen hands swollen and infected so badly they were three times normal size from someones tooth coming out and lodging between the knuckles

Developing An Iron Claw

Many years ago before most of todays weight trainees were even a gleam in their daddys eye a fellow named John Y Smith used to specialize in the one-handed deadlift The late Harry Paschall who used to write quite regularly for Iron Man Magazine in the 1950s had met Smith several years earlier and in Paschalls opinion Smiths hands looked like iron claws Years of one-handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smiths finger tendons in the palm of the hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a ducks feet Smith at the time was doing one-handed deadlifts in his exercise routine with about 400 pounds Paschall who could do almost 300 pounds in the same exercise decided he could equal Smiths performance without a whole lot of effort Paschall made his living as an artist After a few weeks of specializing on the lift he gave it up as he was afraid he would lose his artistic ability the tendons in his hands were developing far more rapidly than he had expected His hands too were beginning to look like iron claws

The foregoing is simply an illustration of how important one-handed deadlifts are to those interested in developing great gripping powers and forearm girth Harold Ansorge a professional strongman of the 1930s was capable of over 500 pounds in this same lift Ansorge had such prodigious strength in his hands that he was featured in Ripleys Believe It or Not as being able to tear the corner off a deck of 52 playing cards using only his thumb and index finger Ansorge was also good at spike bending and tearing through SEVERAL telephone directories at a time

In recent times the squat has been called the king of exercises but I believe the oneshyhanded deadlift to be a superior exercise for all around strength and power 111 admit I personally soured on the squat as the exercise after seeing a photograph of one of the worlds best squatters wearing wrist braces to push press a 500 pound weight It seemed to me that his leg and lower back strength would be advantageous for pulling a plow but considering this same individual weighed over 300 pounds his great strength wasnt much good for anything else

A close investigation will show that the one-handed deadlift affects many of the same muscles the squat does and a couple more besides In the one-handed deadlift the legs lower back and upper back are all affected to a degree So are the lungs if the exercise is performed vigorously enough Of course you will only be able to lift what you can hold onto with your hands which for most modern-day weight trainees is very little compared to what the other muscle groups have been developed to

In my own personal and highly prejudiced opinion I believe full two-handed deadlifts should be avoided unless youre determined to enter powerlift competition The position for performing the lift is highly unnatural and the chance for injury is enormous Someone lifting a weight with one hand while the other hand provides a brace for the lower back via the knee

11

-------- - -- ---

I

shy

is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

12

DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

13

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

very poorly schooled in anatomy Worse than me even Some of the exercises recommended are downright ridiculous and others downright dangerous For a specific example one fellow (a world record holder at one time) recommended tightening jar lids as an exercise Lots of luck if you tighten it too far and the jar breaks and slices your hand open Just for the record the tendons you see on the back of the hand and elsewhere are seated very deeply in the arm and a deep cut on the hand is likely as not if it gets infected going to cause you considerable misfortune Infection will travel to the seat of the tendons a lot quicker than you would think and it takes (there are exceptions) the surgeons knife to remedy the damage So please DONT put strains on your hands theyre not ready for And if you MUST punch someone aim for the stomach Ive seen hands swollen and infected so badly they were three times normal size from someones tooth coming out and lodging between the knuckles

Developing An Iron Claw

Many years ago before most of todays weight trainees were even a gleam in their daddys eye a fellow named John Y Smith used to specialize in the one-handed deadlift The late Harry Paschall who used to write quite regularly for Iron Man Magazine in the 1950s had met Smith several years earlier and in Paschalls opinion Smiths hands looked like iron claws Years of one-handed deadlifting with thick handled barbells had so thickened Smiths finger tendons in the palm of the hand that those same tendons stood out like the webbing on a ducks feet Smith at the time was doing one-handed deadlifts in his exercise routine with about 400 pounds Paschall who could do almost 300 pounds in the same exercise decided he could equal Smiths performance without a whole lot of effort Paschall made his living as an artist After a few weeks of specializing on the lift he gave it up as he was afraid he would lose his artistic ability the tendons in his hands were developing far more rapidly than he had expected His hands too were beginning to look like iron claws

The foregoing is simply an illustration of how important one-handed deadlifts are to those interested in developing great gripping powers and forearm girth Harold Ansorge a professional strongman of the 1930s was capable of over 500 pounds in this same lift Ansorge had such prodigious strength in his hands that he was featured in Ripleys Believe It or Not as being able to tear the corner off a deck of 52 playing cards using only his thumb and index finger Ansorge was also good at spike bending and tearing through SEVERAL telephone directories at a time

In recent times the squat has been called the king of exercises but I believe the oneshyhanded deadlift to be a superior exercise for all around strength and power 111 admit I personally soured on the squat as the exercise after seeing a photograph of one of the worlds best squatters wearing wrist braces to push press a 500 pound weight It seemed to me that his leg and lower back strength would be advantageous for pulling a plow but considering this same individual weighed over 300 pounds his great strength wasnt much good for anything else

A close investigation will show that the one-handed deadlift affects many of the same muscles the squat does and a couple more besides In the one-handed deadlift the legs lower back and upper back are all affected to a degree So are the lungs if the exercise is performed vigorously enough Of course you will only be able to lift what you can hold onto with your hands which for most modern-day weight trainees is very little compared to what the other muscle groups have been developed to

In my own personal and highly prejudiced opinion I believe full two-handed deadlifts should be avoided unless youre determined to enter powerlift competition The position for performing the lift is highly unnatural and the chance for injury is enormous Someone lifting a weight with one hand while the other hand provides a brace for the lower back via the knee

11

-------- - -- ---

I

shy

is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

12

DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

13

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

-------- - -- ---

I

shy

is in very small danger of injury The worst that can happen is the weight will simply slide ( of your grip (unless youre dumb enough to use a dumbbell for this lift and drop it on y( foot)

Straps are another matter If something goes snap crackle or pop in my 0

framework I would be immediately disposed to turn loose of the weight in all haste How c you turn loose of something youre strapped into Sort of reminds me of seat belts fo] motorcycle Whoever invented straps for weight-training furnishes us with a classic exam] of backwards thinking Why not just strengthen the wrists Its not that hard

What sort of a routine would I suggest built around the one-handed deadlift Here couple of examples Be sure to get a pipe to slip over your barbell in succeeding stages fo] snug fit Build the diameter of the bar up to 212 inches or larger That way when you lift it t entire hand will have a purchase instead of just the crooks of the fingers

Training in Mud

In my book The Strength of Samson I apologized to everybody for coming acros~ statement that Samson trained in mud (not in the Bible I probably could have tracked down though) by Dr Ellington Darden in an old issue of Strength amp Health that I could figure out Dr Darden in his article seemed to think it had something to do with the muscl having to work BOTH ways instead of simply against the force of gravity Which makes ser but I dont think that is the primary reason for lack of muscle soreness etc after a workc when you train in mud

What is a training in mud chapter doing in a forearm and grip development book] sure a lot of people would like to try it if it werent for the tremendous inconvenience cleaning up afterwards However suppose you were to take a clean garbage can fill it wi mud and then stick only your hands and forearms into it and work them In a situati where there was absolutely no muscle soreness after the workout wouldnt it be possible work that body part every day Or even twice a day Granted your food intake would have be enormous but if this theory is correct think of the rate of progress you could attain FOl times faster than normal A word of caution At the moment this is just that a theory

The mud should be of uniform consistency And it should get thicker as you progre making whatever youre doing harder Commonly known as progressive resistance

What sort of apparatus or method do you need to thicken the mud None if y progress rapidly enough The water in the mess will evaporate and you may have to slOl little back in occasionally If so mark a line on the inside of the can so you 11 know where t water level is (or should be)

What sort of exercise machinery you should use in your garbage can is anyones gue Presumably something in which the hand must be forced open as well as closed Peary Rae of Iron Man Magazine sells some excellent devices I would recommend his Superman ( Developer Model M2 (get all 4 strengths) and his Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder Me M4 On this you will have to figure a way of lashing the plates directly to it Connecting 1

device to a chain and then the chain to the weights could be a real experience in frustratio Of course you could use a Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar for one hane

deadlifts in the slop but I doubt you could find a trash can with a large enough inside diame to accommodate it

So what is the real reason for training in mud Just this your skin will absorb alm anything it comes in contact with through the pores if its small enough There are ml microbes minerals and other little goodies in a thimbleful of dirt than there are people on t planet Without minerals you cannot build muscular tissue Obviously with a surplus minerals getting into the bloodstream your progress should be accelerated A word of cautil

12

DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

13

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

DONT get your mud from any place sprayed with poisonous chemicals or a hog wallow Use your head

You probably think Im insane after reading this Eating through your skin Indeed If so Ive got some pretty well-educated company I got this information from a reprint

of an article by Ivan T Sanderson first published in The American Druggist (January 1950) You can read the article in its entirety by picking up a copy of the Health Finder by J I Rodale and turning to page 730

One thing Sanderson does mention I think is worth repeating Some mud works wonders and other mud does nothing Maybe you need a soil sample kit to take along on mud procurements

Here are a couple of other little items you might experiment on Bud Counts used to soak his arms in hot water after a workout He sported a set of 19

inch arms at average height back in 1950 In an old Iron Man Magazine (1968 OctoberNovember Volume 28 Number I) Anthony Ditillo rubbed Ben-Gay on his calves for quicker growth Olive oil ranked 44 on the electronic food scale (the next highest food ranks about 27) I believe should also be experimented with

The first routine would be on the step-ladder system which I mention in the chapter on the bench press

One-handed deadlift with a thick-handled bar 10 sets 5 up and 5 down Be careful not to overtax your grip at first As weak as the average mans grip is yeure liable to tear something loose Be patient If you cant get at least 3 reps with a weight you dont have any business lifting it By the third rep your hand will give way and the weight will fall harmlessly (we hope) to the floor There wont be any significant strain on the tendons

Relax for several minutes Light breathing squat one set 20 reps Primarily to aid the circulation and metabolism

of food Relax for several minutes Try to stay warm at all times Wear a sweatsuit Practically

all muscles are pulled cold Clean and Press 2 x 10 with the same thick handled barbell Curl 2 x 10 also with the same thick handled barbell Dumbbell laterals 2 x 10 You 11 find this last one necessary as the one-handed deadlifts and clean and press will

so affect the trapezius muscle that you will wind up looking like a pin head atop a bull neck with the shoulders of an Alley Oop (nonexistent) Again everything but the one handed deadlifts should be left at the same weight until it begins to feel light for both sets of 10 (or one set of 20 in the case of the squat)

Another method is to simply do a couple of fast warm-up exercises such as the squat and clean and press to keep the rest of the body toned up and then just go at it hammer and tongs with the hand and forearm Make a chart for yourself of some of the exercises in the illustrations and stunts sections and go at it Dont worry about over-working the forearms long before your air gives out or you start working on nerves your hands will be totally unable to hold onto anything heavier than a 5 pound plate

A third method that I think merits consideration is one that was quite popular with readers of Iron Man Magazine a quarter century ago I have never tried it myself but it does seem to make a lot of sense Unfortunately like everything else that actually works it gets periodically discarded for the more popular puff adder methods and only occasionally surfaces and is taken advantage of

Im referring to the rest pause system as outlined way back in 1950 in Iron Man Magazine (1950 MayJune Volume 10 Number 3) The fellow who wrote the account I read

13

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

was named George Irving Nathanson of New York City Here are some of the lifts he claimed (substantiated by witnesses) and the age and body weight in which he performed them

Age 14 Body weight 140 lifted 300 pounds to shoulders Age 16 Body weight 160 push pressed 300 pounds Age 18 Body weight 175 push pressed 300 pounds for 8 reps

20 consecutive squats with 415 pounds His body weight eventually went to 210 at a height of 5 9 Heres what he did Incidentally he claims that this system is for advanced men ONLY and beginnen

should leave it strictly alone Work out ONLY 3 times in 2 weeks Follow by one week layoff Repeat the sequence Do one exercise only Single reps About 50 to 100 reps Then get 18 hours sleep thaI

night and 12 to 13 the next two days One minute rest between reps (or sets) Nathan claimed he went up ten pounds a workout on his military press using this system (until he hit c sticking point) and I see no reason why this same system couldnt be adapted to the oneshyhand deadlift The only negative aspect he mentions is that very little actual body weighl increase or measurement increase takes place

Strength Stunts for the Hands How to Train for Them

Lifting Weights With the Fingers

This one is ridiculously easy to train for and is probably one of the most impressive Louis Cyr is reputed to have lifted 500 pounds with his pinky and Rolandow 650 pounds witl what I believe to have been his middle finger A 50cent key ring with a leather strap can be used for openers as you attach the weights to it ALWAYS start off way below your limit Dont tak( a chance on pulling a tendon loose When you can do two sets of ten with each finger EASIL) increase the weight 114 or 2 V2 pounds Its best to do this one seated and lift the weights aboUi 6 to 8 inches off the floor Standing will tire you much quicker and this isnt an exercise fo] the feet See illustration on page 19

Lifting Thick-Handled Dumbbells

Years ago the circus strongmen carted around hundred-pound dumbbells with thid handles and one of their favorite stunts was to put a hundred-dollar bill under a thick handled weight if you could lift the dumbbell with one hand and remove the bill withou tearing it the money was yours Thomas Inch had a few dumbbells with 214 inch thic1 handles weighing anywhere from 80 to 172 pounds apiece Its quite a stunt to lift sud weights but its easier to train for than youd think Simply use a barbell or dumbbell with a ~ inch diameter handle and much less weight

Using handles larger than 3 inches in diameter I believe you would run into the law 0

diminishing returns unless youve got the hands of a gorilla Frankly I dont think ANYONI should train with ordinary thin-handled dumbbells because of all the additional benefit obtained from using thick-handled ones

Wrist Curls

A word of caution here The hands and forearms should slope downwards along the leg and NEVER go for broke on this exercise If you cant do 15 GOOD reps with the weight

14

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

dont increase it A wrist in this position is easy to sprain See illustration on page 19

Lifting Machines

Back in 1879 William Blaikie published a book entitled How to Get Strong and Stay So One of the things he thought was so terrible and unaesthetic was a device common in the gyms of that time called a lifting machine What was so awful about it It seems the average trainee who used it for six months or longer developed the ability to lift over 1000 pounds on it and developed the inner forearm to such huge proportions that it looked grotesque Also the machine had a tendency to compress the discs of the spine Id be willing to bet that if our modern deadlifters worked up to 1000 pounds on this thing and then started shortening the chain while at the same time doing one-handed deadlifts with a thick bar wed see some real progress in the deadlift See illustration on page 19

Bending and Breaking Nails

Keep the palms up (toward your face) next to your chest and press inwards Then flip the nail over and squeeze the hands like a giant crusher exercise appliance The way you train for this one is by simply using a couple of lengths of steel pipe to fit over the nail and work your way inwards until you dont need the pipe anymore See illustration on page 18

Pinch-Gripping Thick Plates

This is too obvious to be explained Unless of course you can arrange to put a magnet underneath it for your opponent like some of the old-timers did

Grip Tug-Or-War

This is a real mind-blower and crowd pleaser Practically all the old-time strongmen included it in their acts What it looks like is that your one hand is stronger than half a dozen or more men It is an example of how strong the finger tendons can become Sid Harmer an English strongman once gave a little tug on the handles to move his act back onto the stage and one unfortunate fellow had taken hold of a doorway in the eaves to cheat and improve his leverage a bit When Harmer tugged this fellows shoulder was torn loose You need two triangular shaped pieces of metal and some rope for the stunt I wouldnt attempt it until you can lift 200 pounds or so with each finger (for reps) and deadlift 100 pounds with a 3 inch diameter handle 4 or 5 times See illustration on page 18

Tearing a Telephone Directory in Hair

Place a directory on the left thigh with the binding against the leg Take a hard grip with the left hand and with the right hand grip in the same manner but keep the thumb flush with edges This is done to keep the edges square and prevent them from fanning Keeping the left arm as straight as possible push away from you as hard as you can at the same time draw the right hand towards you You might think that once youve started its easy to finish Not so A little more strength is required to get across the second half From the half-way position take a grip INSIDE the tear with each hand and placing the directory against the chest pull outwards The easiest and probably most effective way to train for this is simply to practice on your daily newspaper increasing the sheets of paper daily When you can make it through two of the Sunday editions of The New York Times you have arrived

15

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

Tearing Decks of Playing Cards in Half Quarters Etc

Id be an idiot to try to tell you how to do something Ive never attempted myself I Rader of Iron Man Magazine in years past has torn up to three decks of cards at a 1

something very few men in the world can duplicate and he advises the use of well-worn c as new ones are as slick as glass Harold Ansorge of Grand Rapids Michigan used to be to tear a deck of playing cards with his thumb and index finger and using the same two d tear off a corner or a round hole out of a deck of cards He suggested the following exen for developing such power 1) Practice deadlifting with the pinch grip (smooth plates onl Index one-finger lifting 3) Floor dips on thumb only 4) One handed deadlifting ar Cleaning smooth plates with the pinch grip Ansorge was able to lift 50 pound smooth p from the floor with his thumb and index finger before he got into the cards

You might want to check out Iron Mans Super Grip Machine Model Ml2 The ( ordered hasnt arrived yet so I cant say anything about it other than the fellow who inve it could tear three decks of cards in half at a time and deadlift 370 pounds with one haIl I have to presume he knew a little bit about grip development

If you find out something I dont know about grip development or things descI herein by all means let me know Or if I have made a mistake let me know that too

One final note if youre going to train for wrist wrestling may I suggest you ho Samson Cable Set to the wall to approximate the arm of your future opponents

16

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

bull

1

Saddle Spring

Jbullbullbull

Rack Pin Boles (Measurements)

bull bullbull bullbullbullbull bull bull bull bullbullbull1

Front to Back of Rack

Rack Rebounders

17

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

Start

Steel Pipe

-~-_J

Finish Grip With One Hand Push With the Other

Bending and Breaking Nails

~ shy

bull

Pull

Pull

Let the Finger Tendons Do the Work

Grip Tug-Or-War

18

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

45deg

I

~ I I

--

)

One-Handed Deadlift Wrist Curls

Lifting Machine Finger Lifting

19

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20

I r

Many of the following products mentioned in this pUblication are no longer available from Iron Man Magazine To accommodate the reader I have done a little research and managed to locate sources for the same or very similar high quality products

Resources

When contacting the sources listed below please mention this publication

Thank you

Product

1) Iron Mans Superman Grip Developers (Model M2)

2) Iron Mans Plate Grip Developer amp Weight Holder (ModelM4)

3) Iron Mans Super Grip Machine (Model M12)

4) Iron Mans Magic Circle

5) Rack Rebounders

6) Samson 3 Inch Diameter Dumbbell Bar

7) Samson Cable Set

8) The Strength ofSamson by Michael H Brown

9) You Can Bench Press 400 Pounds by Bill Anton

Michael H Brown Box 4884-H Springfield MO 65808 wwwmichaelbrownsolutionscom

Functional Hand Strength Box 4429-H Ann Arbor MI 48106 wwwfunctionalhandstrengthcom

Current Source

Captains of Crush Gripperstrade (Functional Hand Strength)

Hub-Style Pinch Gripper (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Grand Slam Grip Machine TM

(IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Magic Circle trade (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Rack Rebounders Michael H Brown

Husky Handletrade Dumbbell Bars (IronMindreg Enterprises Inc)

Samson Cable Set (Michael H Brown)

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern

Bill Hinbern 32430 Cloverdale Farmington MI 48336-4008 wwwsuperstrengthtrainingcom

IronMind Enterprises Inc Box 1228-H Nevada City CA 95959 wwwironmindcom

20