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Dave Draper Fitness Column Archive

This Week's Article—Open Door, Enter Gym, Lift Hard, Exit Gym, Close Door

Oh, That I Could be a Tree, Thick Limbed and A’swaying

Pressing On

Sights and Sounds Free of Charge

There’s No Business like Show Business

A Golden Opportunity Amid Tarnished Times

Musclebuilding Made Simple

A Stretch of the Imagination

Musclehead Kaleidoscope Mind

Life’s Lessons and Secrets, Friends and Foes

All Aboard... The Train is Leaving the Station

Bungee Cord and Exertube Training for Power, Mass and Cuts

Where Do We Go From Here?

Pull Over, Mack. You’re Speeding

A Bomber Does What a Bomber Has to Do

Champ, Big Guy and Bubba to the Rescue

To Twitter or Not to Twitter -- Tweet Tweet

Summertime, Summertime, Sum Sum Sumertime

Gravity, Iron, Force, Time, Space (GIFTS)

A Day at the Beach on a Sunday Afternoon

Forward, Backward, Sideways

Don’t Hold Your Breath

Life Without Iron

The Draper Jawdroppers

Flash: Fitness is for Everyone -- You, Me, Them

Home Alone

Take Me to the 100-Pound Dumbbells

Muscleheads: Here, There and Everywhere

From Russia with Love

Attitude and Altitude -- Higher and Higher

Hold On -- Never Let Go

Weights: To Lift or Not to Lift

Gravity Was Different Then

Now and Then -- Muscle and Might

Come and Get Your Fresh Roasted Peanuts

From here to Eternity

Lost and Alone Without the Iron

Internal Board of Supervisors

Light Weight -- Heavy Exertion

When in Doubt, Go to the Gym

Trivial Pursuit: Muscle, Strength and Health

Take Me to Your Dumbbells

Izzo Interview, Part Two

Izzo Interview, Part One

All I Want for Christmas is Two Twenty-Inch Arms

GDB -- Getting Down to Business

Tis The Season Of Jingling Bells And Iron ‘A Clanking

Garage Sale: Barbells, Dumbbells, Old Muscle Mags

Tricks of the Trade

You, Sir, the Muscular Guy in the Third Row

Hey Buddy -- Got a Minute?

Iron Halos -- Steel Commands

The Essential Nothingness of Weight Training

Home Training Made Simple

Let Go, Lighten Up, Back Off Now or Never

Draper Financials, Inc -- Invest in Iron and Steel

The Diverse Paths of Winter Training

The American Dream

If it's broke -- Fix it

Muscle Mag Interview, Part 2

Muscle Mag Interview, Part 1

The Collider Will Be Back

Four Minutes to Nowhere

Cluttered Garages and Passing Time

Mister Robert Jones Will Not Go Away

Mister Robert Jones Returns to the Gym

Muscular Mass, Strength of a Giant

Summer of 2008

Where Were You in the Day?

The Overflowing Riches of Iron and Steel

Where Have I Heard That One Before?

No Rest for Iron-Hoisting Muscleheads

Commonsense and Adapting: Tools of the Trade

Have Problems -- Will Fix

Excerpt from Brother Iron, Sister Steel: MGM Town

Give Me the Iron or Give Me a Pine Box

Spring Madness, Pre-Summer Silliness

Time Flies, Kid -- Hang onto Your Hat

This is Heavy

Bombing and Blasting, Dashing and Plodding

Still Crazy After All These Years

Travels with the Secret Unknown Stranger in Disguise

Spring Training for Stealth Bombers

You Can Look, but Don’t Jump

Getting Older is a Laugh a Minute

Ah, the Good Old Days

No, I’m Not Running for President

I’m as Dumb as a Rock (Iron Ore)

Windy Skies Lift Us Higher and Higher

Knowing What I Know Now

The Day the Rains Came Down

I Go Through Cycles

2008 is Gonna be a Great Year, Bombers

My Wife was Driving, Officer

Jolly Holiday Mumbo Jumbo

Heavy Mid-Season Christmas Message

Questioning One’s Sanity

Lower the Anchor, Don’t Drop the Iron

Time Passages

Another Day of Scheming and Day Dreaming

Hello, Obesity. Sit. Have a Donut.

The Great IronOnline Truth Test

Muscle Talk for the Humble

We Dare You to be Sensible

Blast Not, Lose Much

The Hook is Getting Deeper

Birds of a Feather

Contentment, the Luster of a Life; Complacency, the Rust

Make-Shift Kitchen, Home-Brewed Muscle Soup

Dragging an Unwilling Body to the Gym

A Work in Progress

Slow Me Down, Lord

The Question You Always Wanted to Ask

Nothing Changes, Nothing Remains the Same

Between Me and the Walls

Timely Instruction for the Young and Not So Young

Muscle: Lean and Healthy, Functional and Attractive

Sacramento Invaded by Musclebound Ambassadors

It Takes a Dumbbell to Know One

Muscle Blasts from the Past

The Times They are a Changin’

Association of Oldetime Barbell and Strongmen

Observations Worth Forgetting

What You Did Is Who You Is

The Tough Love of Weight Training

Point and Shoot

Training: Love it or Hate it

Unbudgeable Solid Dumbbells

Dripping Springs or Bust

Ordinary Workouts Made Extraordinary

Startling New Training Scheme from the Dumpster

Musclebuilding and Spring Gliding

Thunder and Lightning, Sunshine and Rainbows

Day 25 and Counting

Time Flies — March 14, 2007

Too Early for Insight —March 8, 2007

You've Gotta be Kidding — February 22, 2007

Training According to the Masked Iron Warrior

About Us and the Things We Do

Work and Pleasure, Duty and Joy

Health and Strength and the Joys of Living

Winter Workouts -- Soup's On

Bodybuilding, Dancing with the Iron

Muscles and Might, Live and Learn

Muscles, Time and Moving On

High Rep Training Investigated

Weight Training, It's all in the Mind, Smiley

Weights, Workouts and Personality

Diet, Exercise and Thanksgiving

Weight Training and the Winter Wilderness

Muscle and Strength for all Reasons and Seasons

My free weekly email training column provides a welcome stimulus to keep your training spirit alive and well, to keep you thinking and performing and growing. I get to write, you get to read and we all grow. Sign up for free using the box above and we'll email it to you automatically each Wednesday night. ~Dave

Musclebuilding, Bombing and Blasting

Musclebuilding Research and Study

Lost and Found Department

Sound Exercise, Right Eating

Exercise and Strength -- Seasonal Creativity

Weightlifting in Painsville, Land of Opportunity

Gyms and Weight Training -- Take 2006... Camera Rolling

Strength and Health, Goodbye Summer

Muscle and Fitness, Today, Tomorrow and Forever

Muscle and Strength—The Only Way to Fly

Overcoming Discouragement and Disappointment

Superman, Super Girl, and Me

Bodybuilding -- It's all Good

Soup's On

Where Do Little Girls Come From?

The World According to AARP

Clip, Clipping and Clipped

Ordinary is for the Birds, Not Bombers

Meet You at the Gym, Dad

Tales of Juneau

The Musclebuilder Has His Hands Full

Vigorously and Without Doubt

The Nose Knows

The Only Way Is Up

Just The Facts, Ma’am

Forming Clay With One’s Hands — Function, Art and Joy

Fast as You Can, But Don't Hurry

A Gym on Every Corner a Robust Society Does Not Make

A Leaky Spring Has Sprung

Overcoming Discouragement and Disappointment 

Opportunity Knocks

More’s Not Better, Few’s Not Enough

Pounding the Iron, Getting Huge

High School Johnny and Mike the Man

Can’t Get My Eyes Off Of You

I Heard the News Today, Oh Boy

Me and the Mob

Optimism is for All Seasons

Bomb Squad Confirms Earthshaking Discovery

Kidstuff

Hi There. I Feel Great!

What Bodybuilding Means to Me -- A Love Story by Dave Drapeless

Exercises are for Kids Who Fly Kites; Movements are for Bombers

It’s Two Zero Zero Six -- Gone Before Ya Know It

True Musclebuilders Don’t Let Go

All I Want for Christmas

Eleven Days Till Christmas and All’s Well... So Far

About Weight Training: What, Where, When, How and Why

Breadcrumbs, Birdseed and Bits

Confessions of a Lifter

Iron On My Mind

Bomber Countdown

Straight Talk from a Crooked Mouth

She Ate Popcorn, I Had Humble Pie

Locked in a Time Zone Without a Clue

Count Thy Blessings, Lest You Forget

Iron on My Mind

Rock Around the Clock

The Sun Also Sets Over Missouri

TIME: Colorless, Odorless, Soundless, Weightless
All-Consuming and Everlasting

Shun Fault, Seize the Facts

In Case You Hadn't Noticed

A Day Late and Short on Words

Misery Loves Company

Thorns and Roses

A Path Unwinding to Places Before Us

In Case We Don’t Answer the Phone

And Now for a Dose of Innocuous Brainwashing

Smash Bash

When in Doubt, Remember the Past

The Creature from the Black Lagoon

Haven't You Heard

Up, Down and Sideways

Training Over 40

Money's for the Birds

Monday, Monday -- Two More Reasons to Lift Weights

And the Madness Goes on

A Work in Progress

Aren't You Glad You're a Bomber?

Be It Ever So Humble

Stocks and Bonds, Sliced and Diced

Bored? It’s Not the Movement. It’s the Mover.

Who are they?

Sunrise over Bomber Field

The Changing Scene

Ouch! Tendonitis

Arnold Classic 2005

Top Priority: Physical Fitness

Bash 05 Guest Announcement: Bill Pearl

Draper Dungeon

IOL Research Clinic Report # 577

Another Month

The Strong Survive and the Relentless Aspire

The Decadent Tuna and Water Diet

Much to Say About Nothing

Muscles by the Bushel

May Your Blasting Be Long Lasting

Yuletide Meanderings

Gym Town, USA

Russ Warner, A Most Unforgettable Character

Muscling our Way Through the Holiday IronOnline Thanksgiving

Weight Training Q&A

All I Want

I Remember When

The Big Chill

Barbells and Muscles

Motivation in Training

October, the TinMan

Bomber Bash 04

Muscleheads I Have Known

Good Gyms are from Heaven

Instinctive Training: Allow me to Confuse you

Seasonal Workout Changeup

Dungeon Duty

Pet Peeves

Stop and Think

True Adventures Obesity in America

Muscles and Power, Foods Supplements and Diet

RIP Joe Gold, 2004

Muscle Beach, Venice, California

Weight Training Peaks and Valleys

Positive Attitude in Training

Health and Fitness

Exercise Combinations

Weight Training is Character Building

Training Motivation, Intensity

Keeping a Training Schedule While Traveling

How to Adjust Your Ailerons and Stabilize Your Flaps

Egor, Bring Your Pick. What's Under This Rock?

Summertime and the Livin' is Easy

Train Till You Drop, Pop

Beats Working for a Living Away from the Maddening Crowd

No Club Med or Dance Floor

Spring, Sprang, Sprung

Obesity Rises as Character Falls

A Blast of Buckshot ShopTalk

About the Ironman

You Win, You Lose, You Crawl

Not the Keys, but They Jingle

The Institute

To Soar Like Eagles

Tell it to the Good Fairy

The Recycling Bin

New York New Year News

A View of Things to Come

Bodybuilder's Grocery List

Sweet Sixteen

Ageless, Others Tried It

If Only

Bomber Security Meeting

Super Scoop

The Big Scoop

Lack of Motivation

World War III, Man Against Fat

Health and Wealth, Winners and Losers

Flight-Plight Grab-Bag

I'm Done and I Crawl Home

Visions of Training

Twist of Lemon

Muscularity in 2,100 Words

Barrels, Anvils and Logs

Rumbling and Rambling

Flash

Discipline the Brat

Free for All

MTS is Real and Not a Laughing Matter

The Year was 1967

More Q&As

The Gym, a Dying Breed

Florida and Bash 2003

To the Muscle and Might

No More Chocolates

Bomb Squad Discourse

I'll Be Happy When

Basic Obedience 1A

Can’t Fly Without Wind Under Your Wings

Perfect

I Feel Like a Fig

The Supermarket Connection

Lighten Up and Fly High

Down the Highway and on My Mind

When in Doubt, Ramble on

The Song of the Whooping Crane

Breaking the Mold

Whazup?

Just Another Arnold Spectacular

The Closet

Arnold is Classic

A Frontier to Explore

All Flights—Real, On Time and Non-Stop

The Winter Before Spring

Going, Going, Gone

January Attitude

The Runway is Clear for Takeoff

Bombers Don’t Burn Out

Allow Not Life to Hang Limply Over the Bedpost

Sunny Storms Ahead

Final Revival

Joker's Wild

Learn from My Mistakes

Get a Job

Time to Climb Repair and Recovery

Bash 02—Las Vegas, An Account

Give Me Five

Been There

Obesity and the Emotions

Whatcha Got Cookin’

Loose... Pondering

Stand and be Strong

Air and Ground Show

The Big Picture Few See

What, me worry?

Goodbye, Kansas City

Smart, Confident and Courageous

The Shadow Knows

Exceptions to the Rule

Hey, Sarge

Intensity in Mind and Spirit

Weekly Snoozeletter

Mail Call

The Earthling Contraction Contraption and Much, Much More

Growing up side by side with all our might

Another Week Older, Again

The Farmer Bomber

Fistful of Time

Ripped Zipped

Tight nutriton and hard-hitting workouts

First Things First

Red-hot Subject Matter

Summertime Strategies

Father Revival, Mother Survival

Have Weights Will Travel

The Compromise

Time—the ripe fruit of barren trees

Where's the fat? EFA oils

Where have all the cactus gone?

George Eiferman

The Interrogation

Cholesterol: Try a little respect

Bulking up is hard to do

No Aches, No Pain... Nowhere

Texas, boots and stones: A true story

Tora Bora

Fire and Ice

The Blunder Buster

Solid, Bold, Mighty

IOL Q 'N A 4U

Once Upon a Time

Pencil Necks and Pot Bellies

Seasonal Training

Hector Meets Long Ranger

Squats for Kicks

Mass Building for the Masses

Older and Stronger

Rescue Company 1

Get to the Point Training

Preaching to the Choir Lest They Slept

Personal Security

Tryptophane X

Prevention's Sweeter than the Cure

A Small Taste of Fast Food

The Amazing Hormone Connection

Some Things Never Change

Success in the Subconscious

YoYo Diets

Bash

E! True Hollywood Story

Eat, Sleep, Work & Play

Chuckles, the Bomber

Who are you and where are you going?

Where's the Pool and Hot Tub?

Spring Interval Training

I was here first

Summer Shape Up, Progress in Motion

Response to Newsletter Survey

You, Yourself and Your Personal Trainer

Rumor has it

How to Choose Your Gym

Another Imaginative Musclehead with Nothing Better to do

The Twelve Rules of Right Eating

Tidy Little Mess

Eat. Train. Be Happy.

London TownExtra. Extra. Read all about it

Where have all the Cowboys gone?

The Coveted Upward Cycle

I'll Take the Herculean Hundred and Ten Pound Set, Please

The Good Stuff—Basic & Stimulating

Bombs Away

Serious Fitness Seekers Only

Hold on, Bombers

A Word to the Choir

Back to Back

Bikes are for Kids

NextBlast Off 2001

Ready for Action, Ready or Not

Another Week Older and Deeper in Debt

Better Now Than Never

Straight Talk Goes National

Straight Talk for the Overweight

The Power of Attitude

A Cloud of Unsettling Dust

The L.A. Pounce

What, Me Worry?

The Old Matted Flea Bag

Plateaus: Fact or Fiction?

The Exalted Olympic Games

Wonder Boy Hallucinates

Trip Trap

Beat it or Bust

Farewell, Dear Taskmaster

Mop and Polish

Insecurities are for People Only

Questions to Ask Yourself

Nocturnal Prowess

Gym Closes in 5 Minutes

I'm The Bomber

Bomber's IQ Test

What I Would Do If I Were You

You Lift. You Learn. You Grow.

Discipline, My Main Man

Steve Reeves

Cardio Thoughts

The Gleaning Fields

Mystery Workout

Getting Ripped, May 2000

Insistence on Persistence

Hound Dogs

Buffalo Stampede

Homemade in America

Basic Combinations Fulfill Basic Needs

Ultimate Workout

Like a Lump

Going Back

Classic Arnold

What Book

Rip Rap

The Missing Masses

Repel the Slug of Monotony

Arms, Then & Now

Memories of Muscle Beach

Tough Times Need Tough Measures

Crank up Your Engines with Camaraderie

Fight The Good Fight

Is There A Smoker In The Room?

Genesis

Speaking of Whey Protein

Bulgebellious Miserabeles

Back in Action

Strike a Spark - Getting Started

Draper Menu Review

Upper Chest - Engage the Whole

Travels with Zane

Load up the Manta Ray

Make a 6 Month Plan

Don't Misplace Spontaneity

This Incomparable Sport is for All of Us

Time For A Shoulder Pump

Ed Corney, Truly a Classic

Prepare for the Psychology of Winter

Challenge Report - Weight Gain Update

Who's in Charge Here?

Day-to-Day Training is Tough

You Up For A Challenge?

Information Overload - You got it?

Train with Confidence

Didn't Get Prepared for Summer?

Bent Over Rows - Tough Back Work

HIT, Mentzer's Heavy Duty & More

Two Days a Week Will Do

The Process of Shoulder Repair

An Often Asked Question About Shoulder Repair

A Tribute to Artie Zeller

Not Ready For The Contest?

Muscle Beach Gym, Santa Monica, CA 1963

It's Tuna & Water Time

Exercise Descriptions

Getting Started at Home

Forearm Training and Other Tricks

Genetics

Pain and Injury

Negative Conditions

Simple Rules for Proper Nutrition

Intense Outer and Lower Lat Routine

Nauseous After A Workout?

Stay the Course

Getting Started in Bodybuilding

Standing vs. Seated Presses

Leg Priority Training

Winter Bodybuilding

Training Styles

Bulk Up For Winter

Mid-January, The Journey Begins

New Year's, Get Started

The Exercise Gap Grows

December Fitness Part 3

Mid-December Bodybuilding Crisis

December Fitness Foothills