Wicked Willie
Total Posts: 16864
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09-19-16 01:45 PM - Post#841508
This is fun...let me muddy up the water a bit. Didn't McCallum also include hip belt squats in this routine, using old firehose to construct the belt? Brother Dan can probably speak to this. IF he did recommend hip belt squats...it would tend to make the movement more quad dominant and it would also greatly minimize the spinal loading...both the negative and positive effects of spinal loading.
"I'm in good shape for the shape I'm in."
"Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man comes to the Father, but by me." John 14:6 |
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Chris McClinch
Total Posts: 8538
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09-19-16 02:08 PM - Post#841509
He did call for them in a few of his routines (the Softening Up for Weight Gain and Hip Belt Squat routines), always in conjunction with breathing squats and not until the 50th (or so) article.
The more I eat and the heavier I train, the better my genetics get.
If you're not paraplegic and not squatting, please kick your own ass for me."
"Do you really think that the reason most guys don't have big arms is purely because of a lack of doing curls?" --Alwyn Cosgrove
"There is only one gram of carbs in STFD and no carbs at all in STFU." --Byron Chandler
"Use meaningful loads to achieve results." --Big Vic
http://www.stoneagefitnessconcepts.com |
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Justin Jordan
Total Posts: 854
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I like Rip, but it's important to note his biases: he's a lifter, first and foremost, and for him the purpose of muscle is to move weight. That's fine, and it's even possible that a more hip-dominant squat will add more muscle to the entire frame than a more quad-dominant squat. Part of the question in reviewing a bodybuilding series, though, is whether it's going to add muscle in the right places. Much like the ideal bench pressing form to move as much weight as possible is dramatically different from the ideal form to maximally develop the pectorals, so the power squat (in which you're primarily loading the glutes, hips, and hamstrings to explode the weight back up) is dramatically different from the ideal bodybuilding squat (in which the load is concentrated on the quads to the greatest extent possible).
See, I'm not sure. He consistently talks about squats in an all over growth sense. A few articles down the road he adds in front squats, and he talks about doing them as upright as possible and specifically mentions targeting the muscles above the knees.
Plus the way he talks about the other exercises, and their effect beyond just the one body part and his recommend style, makes me think he didn't think of squats as a quad exercise first.
Which isn't to say he wanted you to do a Rip style low bar, but I think he's aiming for something more like that than an Olympic squat.
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Chris McClinch
Total Posts: 8538
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09-19-16 03:08 PM - Post#841512
That's honestly a fair reading, and I'm conscious of my own biases (which definitely include a more upright torso and higher bar position for high frequency, physique-specific squatting). I do know that my own physiology finds Olympic-style squats a lot easier to recover from and MUCH more tolerant of the fatigue of high reps. I like low-bar power squats, but not three times a week and not for more than five reps.
The more I eat and the heavier I train, the better my genetics get.
If you're not paraplegic and not squatting, please kick your own ass for me."
"Do you really think that the reason most guys don't have big arms is purely because of a lack of doing curls?" --Alwyn Cosgrove
"There is only one gram of carbs in STFD and no carbs at all in STFU." --Byron Chandler
"Use meaningful loads to achieve results." --Big Vic
http://www.stoneagefitnessconcepts.com |
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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I did the the workout today, of course. Feel very good about it and am inspired to lift like a kid again. So it's GOOD.
Sure would like to get to some of the replies here. Later, absolutely!
The "hour or less" time recommendation still allows for some wiggle room; you don't have to race through it. From what I did today I'll be cutting rest time from the other stuff to make for more between the 2nd and 3rd BB Row sets, between the Squat sets, and before doing the SDL's.
I used a Front Press and once you get to the actual doing of it, everything becomes obvious Some 'rebound' off the bottom for the first reps, then add some back bending for more reps, and all of it together with a little pushing on the last reps.
The Oly squat to parallel is AWESOME! I never did them to that height and should be able to build to some nice weight with it. Also, the bar lower is, for me, useless in high rep squats. I shifted the bar down early in the first set and it sucks. But the Oly squat to parallel is a Yes. Three breaths between each rep, and again, once you do them it all becomes much clearer.
I've always liked the breathing pullovers for the first set, and the Rader Chest Pull for the second set. That's something.
And I think I'll just do some form of Plank at the wrapup instead of the leg raises.
After more than 3 months of triples, doubles and singles this is crazy refreshing. All good, should be plenty of fun and a sweet challenge for me. Anyone else go for it today, and have comments on what they noticed?
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-19-16 05:57 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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I'm so glad to be at work so I can carry on with this 
I guess that if you've read the Hise stuff above on the Breathing Squat, you know that some of the older things, some things in their developmental stages, aren't all that applicable nowadays. Hey, everything starts somewhere.
And it's pretty clear, as Jack noted, that when McCallum recommended altering the poundage on each set he made it clear. So, aside from the Squat - and that's a maybe - same weight each set, selecting a poundage based on the level of effort of the final set.
For the Squat, if you start below your best effort, I think the poundage can be the same each set. Later on, that will likely be impossible. At that point, either use the same weight for both sets until you can get 15 on both sets, or drop down on the second. I like the idea of the same weight on both, to create more of a struggle and motivation, like Chris mentioned.
The pullovers that follow each squat set -
Not much I can see that's problematic with these. Just don't do them 'cross-bench' with your hips hanging low and don't overstretch. Get plenty of air in your lungs before lowering and all should be obvious in the doing of. I like switching between breathing pullovers and the Rader chest pull.
Exercise No. 7 Stiff-legged dead lift: 1 set of 15 reps
Flat Back Semi-Stiff Legged? That makes thoroughly modern sense to me. Straighforward? Any comments there?
And this is mentioned:
Breathe as deeply as possible between reps in all the exercises.
When the weights get disagreeable, er, heavy-heavy, I've taken this to mean a breath or two between the hard reps on all the exercises, when it'll help you keep moving up your poundages, is a good thing.
The ab exercise?
What do ya figure? I subbed in a Plank there, being so modern and all, and would be curious to hear what others might think.
The next three installments, " Concentrate," should pull some good stuff out of us.
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-19-16 08:37 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Laree
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09-19-16 08:47 PM - Post#841532
Lift like a kid! Best results you could ask for.
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Chris McClinch
Total Posts: 8538
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I did the the workout today, of course. Feel very good about it and am inspired to lift like a kid again. So it's GOOD.
Sure would like to get to some of the replies here. Later, absolutely!
The "hour or less" time recommendation still allows for some wiggle room; you don't have to race through it. From what I did today I'll be cutting rest time from the other stuff to make for more between the 2nd and 3rd BB Row sets, between the Squat sets, and before doing the SDL's.
I used a Front Press and once you get to the actual doing of it, everything becomes obvious Some 'rebound' off the bottom for the first reps, then add some back bending for more reps, and all of it together with a little pushing on the last reps.
The Oly squat to parallel is AWESOME! I never did them to that height and should be able to build to some nice weight with it. Also, the bar lower is, for me, useless in high rep squats. I shifted the bar down early in the first set and it sucks. But the Oly squat to parallel is a Yes. Three breaths between each rep, and again, once you do them it all becomes much clearer.
I've always liked the breathing pullovers for the first set, and the Rader Chest Pull for the second set. That's something.
And I think I'll just do some form of Plank at the wrapup instead of the leg raises.
After more than 3 months of triples, doubles and singles this is crazy refreshing. All good, should be plenty of fun and a sweet challenge for me. Anyone else go for it today, and have comments on what they noticed?
The big thing I always notice is that even when you go light, 3x15 on the bent-over row is nothing to sneeze at. I expect the squats to be hard, and I expect the stiff-legs to be hard after the squats, but the rows always kind of sneak up on you.
The more I eat and the heavier I train, the better my genetics get.
If you're not paraplegic and not squatting, please kick your own ass for me."
"Do you really think that the reason most guys don't have big arms is purely because of a lack of doing curls?" --Alwyn Cosgrove
"There is only one gram of carbs in STFD and no carbs at all in STFU." --Byron Chandler
"Use meaningful loads to achieve results." --Big Vic
http://www.stoneagefitnessconcepts.com |
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Chris McClinch
Total Posts: 8538
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The ab exercise?
What do ya figure? I subbed in a Plank there, being so modern and all, and would be curious to hear what others might think.
The next three installments, "Concentrate," should pull some good stuff out of us.
I actually stick with the leg raise for the ab exercise. It's less "modern," but it feels like it kind of knits everything back together and refreshes the core (including the lower back) after the squats and stiff-legs.
The more I eat and the heavier I train, the better my genetics get.
If you're not paraplegic and not squatting, please kick your own ass for me."
"Do you really think that the reason most guys don't have big arms is purely because of a lack of doing curls?" --Alwyn Cosgrove
"There is only one gram of carbs in STFD and no carbs at all in STFU." --Byron Chandler
"Use meaningful loads to achieve results." --Big Vic
http://www.stoneagefitnessconcepts.com |
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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09-19-16 10:59 PM - Post#841562
Lift like a kid! Best results you could ask for.
Yes! You can't buy that feeling and I kid you not.
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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09-20-16 12:00 AM - Post#841566
I actually stick with the leg raise for the ab exercise. It's less "modern," but it feels like it kind of knits everything back together and refreshes the core (including the lower back) after the squats and stiff-legs.
I can see that, for sure. Once the weights get to minor ache level, I want to try a set of leg raises followed by a set of reverse hypers at the end of each session.
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Chris McClinch
Total Posts: 8538
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09-20-16 03:50 PM - Post#841605
To start in on the first Concentration article, I'll say that the focus on the mental and emotional side of lifting is one of the things that makes Keys to Progress such a joy for me. This article has some of his funniest writing, of course, but the message is about as modern as it gets: half-assing it in the gym won't cut it. You need to fully concentrate on what you're doing to get full results.
One can only imagine how McCallum would have responded on seeing a young lifter texting or taking selfies between sets....
The more I eat and the heavier I train, the better my genetics get.
If you're not paraplegic and not squatting, please kick your own ass for me."
"Do you really think that the reason most guys don't have big arms is purely because of a lack of doing curls?" --Alwyn Cosgrove
"There is only one gram of carbs in STFD and no carbs at all in STFU." --Byron Chandler
"Use meaningful loads to achieve results." --Big Vic
http://www.stoneagefitnessconcepts.com |
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Justin Jordan
Total Posts: 854
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09-20-16 08:46 PM - Post#841612
Man, I try that self hypnosis thing probably twice a year - or rather, I spend some amount of days trying to manage it.
And like meditation (which is similar) I have yet to succeed.
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Eric R
Total Posts: 264
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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A nice historical note:
I talked yesterday with a great guy who was Editor in Chief of Strength & Health's sister publication for some years. McCallum, as this first Concentration article really shows, wrote with a bit of a 'stay tuned next month' cliffhanger style through a lot of the series. This would of course increase readership of the magazine, and I wondered how it was that Bob Hoffman decided to bring McCallum on board, and keep him there for so long.
My friend with the wealth of experience surrounding the York Barbell Co. was willing to bet real dollars it was Bill Starr who was responsible for getting and keeping McCallum in the pages of Strength & Health.
I fell right into the auto-suggestion thing through McCallum's writing, and no BS, it helped me in my training a lot! As stupid as this may sound on my part, I noticed after reading this first part of the three that I haven't really been using all that's available to me in lifting for quite a while. Can't wait to get back to that level of lifting again, and ain't it great that there's yet another plus being gained from this series after fifty years.
I completely agree that there's a world of difference between lifting with and without mental preparation before and during a workout. A whole other world of difference.
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-20-16 10:05 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Diablo
Total Posts: 7355
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09-21-16 12:39 AM - Post#841623
To start in on the first Concentration article, I'll say that the focus on the mental and emotional side of lifting is one of the things that makes Keys to Progress such a joy for me. This article has some of his funniest writing, of course, but the message is about as modern as it gets: half-assing it in the gym won't cut it. You need to fully concentrate on what you're doing to get full results.
One can only imagine how McCallum would have responded on seeing a young lifter texting or taking selfies between sets....
I think having clear goals solves a lot of the wandering that so many make "effort" with. Maybe technique holds some back, but if a person is clearly chasing a goal they are going to look into why things are or are not moving along.
The writing seems fluffed a little, the point is solid, though.
Looking forward to autosuggestion
Diablo
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth- MT |
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Laree
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09-21-16 10:05 AM - Post#841638
I love it that the writing's fluffed a little. In fact, that's my favorite part! In my thinking, there are only a few writers in this field who are actually good writers (not talking about quality of thinking and innovation in training, just writing style). John McCallum was the first one I read. You can probably guess the next two I bumped into...Dave and Dan.
Cool to get the insider story, Dale, thank you!
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Laree
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09-21-16 10:08 AM - Post#841639
Oops! Should have put Dick Tyler in between Dave and Dan in the discovery order. Can't forget Dick! I wonder if Dick and John ever cooresponded. I'll find out and report back.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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The level of intensity of your auto-suggestion/visualiza tion is interesting to follow. Just as lifting has varying degrees of intensity, so does visualization. I honestly believe and have found that it's the intensity and level belief in the visualization that's important, much more than the length of time spent doing it or the number of times it's done.
Once you've practiced it enough, it doesn't seem to take long at all to get in the right state and form a clear picture.
I have a question here. Do you visualize in color or black and white, or does it vary with you?
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-21-16 12:06 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Chris McClinch
Total Posts: 8538
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09-21-16 04:10 PM - Post#841661
Oops! Should have put Dick Tyler in between Dave and Dan in the discovery order. Can't forget Dick! I wonder if Dick and John ever cooresponded. I'll find out and report back.
Two more, with styles clearly influenced by McCallum, would be Bill Starr and Paul Kelso. And I'd be remiss if I didn't throw former IOLer Ken Leistner into the "could actually write quite well" group.
The more I eat and the heavier I train, the better my genetics get.
If you're not paraplegic and not squatting, please kick your own ass for me."
"Do you really think that the reason most guys don't have big arms is purely because of a lack of doing curls?" --Alwyn Cosgrove
"There is only one gram of carbs in STFD and no carbs at all in STFU." --Byron Chandler
"Use meaningful loads to achieve results." --Big Vic
http://www.stoneagefitnessconcepts.com |
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Chris McClinch
Total Posts: 8538
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09-21-16 04:56 PM - Post#841663
I think having clear goals solves a lot of the wandering that so many make "effort" with. Maybe technique holds some back, but if a person is clearly chasing a goal they are going to look into why things are or are not moving along.
As long as you also get to the realization that three top priorities means you have no priorities. It is true, though, that one of the secrets of success is knowing how to laser in on ONE goal, and let other stuff sit on maintenance or even regress.
Looking forward to autosuggestion
Autosuggestion is the real meat of what McCallum's talking about in the three Concentration articles. He talks about strategic goals elsewhere in the book, but at this point he's taking essentially as a given that his reader's main goal is to add muscular bulk.
Even at the level of concentration he's talking about in this article, though, there's game-changing stuff for people who haven't really put it into practice before. In the absolute best gyms--whether we're talking about Vince's gym, the original Gold's, Westside, or some dude you've never heard of's garage--there's a palpable sense in the air that while you're there, nothing exists except training, preparing to train, and recovering from training. That kind of tunnel vision amps up the intensity, makes heavier weights seem lighter, makes the difficult seem more possible. Learning to turn that on when you walk in the door, and learning to concentrate that when you begin a set, and ultimately learning to distill it down into each rep, is where PRs come from.
BTW, as Dale alludes to, that kind of concentration is also hard work, and it's something that it's easier not to do.
The more I eat and the heavier I train, the better my genetics get.
If you're not paraplegic and not squatting, please kick your own ass for me."
"Do you really think that the reason most guys don't have big arms is purely because of a lack of doing curls?" --Alwyn Cosgrove
"There is only one gram of carbs in STFD and no carbs at all in STFU." --Byron Chandler
"Use meaningful loads to achieve results." --Big Vic
http://www.stoneagefitnessconcepts.com |
|
Chris McClinch
Total Posts: 8538
|
The level of intensity of your auto-suggestion/visualiza tion is interesting to follow. Just as lifting has varying degrees of intensity, so does visualization. I honestly believe and have found that it's the intensity and level belief in the visualization that's important, much more than the length of time spent doing it or the number of times it's done.
Agreed, with the caveat that it takes a lot of reps before it "clicks" enough to do it with high quality. This is one of those Bruce Lee "Before I learned the art, a kick was just a kick; a punch was just a punch. When I learned the art, a kick was no longer just a kick; a punch was no longer just a punch. Now that I understand the art, a kick is just a kick; a punch is just a punch" things.
Once you've practiced it enough, it doesn't seem to take long at all to get in the right state and form a clear picture.
Yes! 100% agreed. Of course, once you've practiced it enough, you also learn that visualization is an awesome way to get you through boring conference calls AND mentally drill form.
I have a question here. Do you visualize in color or black and white, or does it vary with you?
Always color, and rarely external. I tend to visualize internal cues, and the feel of performing the sets, as opposed to visualizing set-ups or performance as though I were observing myself from a distance.
The more I eat and the heavier I train, the better my genetics get.
If you're not paraplegic and not squatting, please kick your own ass for me."
"Do you really think that the reason most guys don't have big arms is purely because of a lack of doing curls?" --Alwyn Cosgrove
"There is only one gram of carbs in STFD and no carbs at all in STFU." --Byron Chandler
"Use meaningful loads to achieve results." --Big Vic
http://www.stoneagefitnessconcepts.com |
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Laree
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Full name: Laree Draper
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09-21-16 06:45 PM - Post#841673
Oops! Should have put Dick Tyler in between Dave and Dan in the discovery order. Can't forget Dick! I wonder if Dick and John ever corresponded. I'll find out and report back.
Two more, with styles clearly influenced by McCallum, would be Bill Starr and Paul Kelso. And I'd be remiss if I didn't throw former IOLer Ken Leistner into the "could actually write quite well" group.
Good points!
Dick doesn't remember meeting or corresponding with John. Too bad!
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Jarett Hulse
Total Posts: 14
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09-21-16 09:59 PM - Post#841685
Good thread. Dale sent me over here from Roarks board.
I wonder, did McCallum every right anything in addition to Keys?
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Chris McClinch
Total Posts: 8538
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Good thread. Dale sent me over here from Roarks board.
I wonder, did McCallum every right anything in addition to Keys?
Best possible answer is maybe. There was a fairly prolific sportswriter, John D McCallum, whose career overlapped "our" John McCallum's, and whose style seems similar enough, based on what I read here that it might be the same guy. There's no firm consensus on that, though.
The more I eat and the heavier I train, the better my genetics get.
If you're not paraplegic and not squatting, please kick your own ass for me."
"Do you really think that the reason most guys don't have big arms is purely because of a lack of doing curls?" --Alwyn Cosgrove
"There is only one gram of carbs in STFD and no carbs at all in STFU." --Byron Chandler
"Use meaningful loads to achieve results." --Big Vic
http://www.stoneagefitnessconcepts.com |
|
Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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09-22-16 11:47 AM - Post#841705
He did right many weightlifting wrongs in my opinion.
Hey Jarett!
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Diablo
Total Posts: 7355
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Looking forward to autosuggestion
Autosuggestion is the real meat of what McCallum's talking about in the three Concentration articles. He talks about strategic goals elsewhere in the book, but at this point he's taking essentially as a given that his reader's main goal is to add muscular bulk.
Even at the level of concentration he's talking about in this article, though, there's game-changing stuff for people who haven't really put it into practice before. In the absolute best gyms--whether we're talking about Vince's gym, the original Gold's, Westside, or some dude you've never heard of's garage--there's a palpable sense in the air that while you're there, nothing exists except training, preparing to train, and recovering from training. That kind of tunnel vision amps up the intensity, makes heavier weights seem lighter, makes the difficult seem more possible. Learning to turn that on when you walk in the door, and learning to concentrate that when you begin a set, and ultimately learning to distill it down into each rep, is where PRs come from.
BTW, as Dale alludes to, that kind of concentration is also hard work, and it's something that it's easier not to do.
Interesting, perhaps there is a degree of instincts in this. I read back in my log and found a post in reply to one of my workouts, I made mention that I used strict 30 counts. The comment was "you must be intense."
This would seem to go along with the focus and visualization. I also visualize what I do as I do it. Feeling all the internal queues.
I hadn't read anything on autosuggestion before, it feels like a reinforcing agent and a deepening of the ability to focus. Building gray matter muscle :)
The level of intensity of your auto-suggestion/visualiza tion is interesting to follow. Just as lifting has varying degrees of intensity, so does visualization. I honestly believe and have found that it's the intensity and level belief in the visualization that's important, much more than the length of time spent doing it or the number of times it's done.
Agreed, with the caveat that it takes a lot of reps before it "clicks" enough to do it with high quality. This is one of those Bruce Lee "Before I learned the art, a kick was just a kick; a punch was just a punch. When I learned the art, a kick was no longer just a kick; a punch was no longer just a punch. Now that I understand the art, a kick is just a kick; a punch is just a punch" things.
Once you've practiced it enough, it doesn't seem to take long at all to get in the right state and form a clear picture.
Yes! 100% agreed. Of course, once you've practiced it enough, you also learn that visualization is an awesome way to get you through boring conference calls AND mentally drill form.
I have a question here. Do you visualize in color or black and white, or does it vary with you?
Always color, and rarely external. I tend to visualize internal cues, and the feel of performing the sets, as opposed to visualizing set-ups or performance as though I were observing myself from a distance.
Mine seems to vary. I'd say 90% internal, using external to make sure I'm not making big mistakes.
If I'm thinking on form (with some external evaluation as well) I picture bones and levers and fulcrums, tends to be in black and white, or just white I guess. If I'm thinking on muscle groups it's usually a color version of muscle anatomy, with contraction and extension.
Mostly all compounds, so the majority of the focus is on heels glutes and core being tight on every rep.
Diablo
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth- MT |
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Justin Jordan
Total Posts: 854
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Good thread. Dale sent me over here from Roarks board.
I wonder, did McCallum every right anything in addition to Keys?
Best possible answer is maybe. There was a fairly prolific sportswriter, John D McCallum, whose career overlapped "our" John McCallum's, and whose style seems similar enough, based on what I read here that it might be the same guy. There's no firm consensus on that, though.
I have a book on boxing by that McCallum, and it sure reads like him, and the picture on the back might be him.
McCallum for sure wrote non Keys to Progress stuff. I have old MuscleMags with him in them.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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I have old MuscleMags with him [Mccallum] in them.
Are these the articles you mean?
http://ditillo2.blogspot.ca/2014/03/john-mccallums -musclemag-international.html
I haven't seen any others, and sure would be interested if there's some out there.
Is the boxing book titled either The World Heavyweight Boxing Championship: A History, or The Encyclopedia of World Boxing Champions?
As far as I can find out so far, the author of the boxing book I'm thinking you have is John Dennis McCallum. Here's a list of his works held at Washington State University:
http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu/masc/finders/cg64.htm#toc
I visualize in B & W, and to imagine any other colors in my head takes a few minutes of real effort. What the heck, I got shortchanged there!
No worries, when I was a little kid I had a habit of eating my Mom's flowers. The overwhelming beauty of nature and all that, eh. Well, not all that young really.
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-22-16 05:42 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Justin Jordan
Total Posts: 854
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09-22-16 05:42 PM - Post#841721
Yeah, I'd guess it's those articles - the timeframe is right, but I haven't looked at the mags in at least a decade.
"The Encyclopedia of World Boxing Champions"
That one.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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Cool! He didn't change the articles that much from the earlier S & H stuff, if I remember it well enough.
The first Musclemag International article - The Growing Workout - is similar to The Time Factor one in the original Keys (23 years later!), with some changes in the order and set/reps of the same exercises:
Bench Press . . . . . . . . . . 3 sets of 15 reps
Rowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 sets of 15 reps
Curl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 sets of 10 reps
Press Behind Neck . . . . . . 2 sets of 12 reps
Squats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 sets of 15 reps
alternated with
Light Pullovers . . . . . . . . . 2 sets of 20 reps
Stiff-legged Deadlift . . . . . 1 set of 20 reps
Crunches . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 set of 25 reps
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-22-16 05:49 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Chris McClinch
Total Posts: 8538
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09-22-16 06:40 PM - Post#841724
This does make it seem reasonable that this was John Dennis McCallum, who died of a heart attack in 1988, but could easily have provided Kennedy with a backlog of a year's worth of articles when he passed.
The more I eat and the heavier I train, the better my genetics get.
If you're not paraplegic and not squatting, please kick your own ass for me."
"Do you really think that the reason most guys don't have big arms is purely because of a lack of doing curls?" --Alwyn Cosgrove
"There is only one gram of carbs in STFD and no carbs at all in STFU." --Byron Chandler
"Use meaningful loads to achieve results." --Big Vic
http://www.stoneagefitnessconcepts.com |
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Jarett Hulse
Total Posts: 14
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09-22-16 08:31 PM - Post#841734
Interesting.
1988 huh? I'm going to have to go read those now.
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Justin Jordan
Total Posts: 854
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09-22-16 09:32 PM - Post#841738
Man, I don't even know. One of the 1989 or 90 issues has a thing about KTP McCallum dying, although not of a heart attack to my recollection.
Looking at the biography of the sports guy, they sure look to not be the same guy, but it's weird. Sportswriter guy was from the Pacific Northwest, even, and muscle McCallum was from Vancouver way, it seems.
Weird.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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09-22-16 10:51 PM - Post#841741
Our Johnny was from New Westminster, BC. A quick hop skip and a jump from Vancouver. Real close.
The boxing author was a different author, pretty certain of that.
I'm pretty sure McCallum didn't do any 'ghost writing' but who can be absolutely certain, given that a good ghost writer will disguise his style and assume the style of another when needed. But not this guy, I don't think so and have never heard anything about it. So far.
There's next to nothing about our John McCallum online, aside from the Keys to Progress and those Musclemag articles. A while ago I tried searching around for any records with the Mensa Society of Canada, as well as the British Columbia Firefighters Association and the IAFF Local 256. Nada!
Anyhow, to Part Two of Concentration.
Unless anyone feels like discussing the differences in the later Growing Workout compared to the original Time Factor routine.
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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"Concentration, Part Two" -
http://ditillo2.blogspot.ca/2016/09/concentration- part-two-john-mccallum.html
Thursday nights this time of year are quite slow and real quiet at work, so I got to transcribe this. A lot of the article has to do with progressively relaxing your body as you have never relaxed before, going deep, deep into a relaxed state and drifting off to the most calm and peaceful sleep.
It was working on me while I typed, working quite well at that desk at work when the phone rang and roused me out of a near doze.
I gave the required speal.
"Hello, so-and-so campus library. Such and such speaking," I stated groggily.
It was my daughter on the other end, calling from home.
"What's up?' I asked.
"I can't get to sleep," she replied.
McCallum uses a lot of his family and friends to break up the lessons, and does it well. Here, we're introduced to our first scene using his wife, and of course it works to lighten us up before going into the actual work. Nice stuff!
This section, the section at the end, is one of my favorites when it comes to lifting advice:
This series is going to take you step by step to the most advanced methods of training. You'll end up the finished product. But you've got to want it and you've got to concentrate on it. Don't let anybody kid you that muscle comes easy. It doesn't. You've got to have strong mental drive to get what you're after -- muscles or anything else. If you expect a build like Grimek then you've got to want it and you've got to want it bad. You've got to want it so bad you can taste it.
There aren't any magic potions and there isn't any wonder system. You'll reach your goals one way and one way only. That's by intelligent planned physical effort backed by intense and consuming desire.
The first time I used these techniques it wasn't for the purpose of improving my lifting. That end of things was going fine. I was specializing on my squatting, high reps, and had an early morning job doing rush deliveries. It was rough getting up while it was still dark out, but the pay was good enough to make it worth my while.
One night/morning I got two packages to two side-by-each apartments. Still a little sleepy, yes, I was drinking that crazy Get Big Drink all the time and it can do that to you . . . I decided to jump the brick wall between the pair of apartments. With a large box in my hands I took a run at it and jumped full speed. One knee came down hard and straight on the edge of the brick fence.
This was none too good for my squats, I figured.
And was absolutely right.
My knee swelled up so big I had to cut one leg of my jeans open around the area, then finished off the deliveries and went home.
Anyhow, I used the relaxation and auto-suggestion techniques from these articles in an attempt to speed the healing of my knee, mostly out of fear of not having enough money to pay the rent and other usual bills. It worked very well, and I'll swear that I healed a lot faster because of the daily and before-sleep sessions.
What I believe made it work so well was the near-fear desire for it to work and work well. That same strength of desire, when applied to lifting with equal intensity, can work just as well, and anyone who doesn't think so is missing out on something that'll change their life for the better.
So, even if McCallum was making up a lot of the events and 'enlarging' them along with the characters he concocted, it certainly helped with creating more power in the articles.
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-23-16 01:06 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Laree
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09-23-16 08:59 AM - Post#841756
Great story, Dale! And thanks, as always, for the transcription...especially this special order one.
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Chris McClinch
Total Posts: 8538
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09-23-16 02:49 PM - Post#841772
The autosuggestion for sleepiness stuff is gold. McCallum does a good job on it, but for those who want more, I can't recommend Bud Winters' book Relax and Win highly enough. I think I originally discovered that one through Dan John.
As for that final section you quoted, the bit about intense planned effort backed by intense consuming desire is possibly the most important sentence in the book. It speaks to the importance of ONE goal, of building systems to achieve that ONE goal, of hard work, of focus and analysis and desire. And I'd agree that it can be applied to anything, not just to bodybuilding.
The more I eat and the heavier I train, the better my genetics get.
If you're not paraplegic and not squatting, please kick your own ass for me."
"Do you really think that the reason most guys don't have big arms is purely because of a lack of doing curls?" --Alwyn Cosgrove
"There is only one gram of carbs in STFD and no carbs at all in STFU." --Byron Chandler
"Use meaningful loads to achieve results." --Big Vic
http://www.stoneagefitnessconcepts.com |
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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On to Part Three!
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-24-16 03:28 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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McCallum deals with Hero Worship or something along that line in this article. That might be worth taking a closer look at.
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-24-16 03:28 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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Here's the article:
http://ditillo2.blogspot.ca/2016/09/concentration- part-three-john-mccallum.html
This article was, of course, written pre-global internet saturation. I'm seeing the worship of lifting and bodybuilding heroes as even more pronounced now than it was around '65. And it's no accident, I'm sure.
Just a very refreshing piece of writing in that section, for me anyhow. Kill your idols and become alive!
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-24-16 03:24 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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09-24-16 03:27 PM - Post#841800
The next installment is the bare bones squat program. Following that, it's the first mention of the Get Big Drink. We should have a few things to discuss and maybe alter with that concoction!
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Justin Jordan
Total Posts: 854
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09-24-16 05:22 PM - Post#841810
I am realllllly tempted, out of sheer morbid curiosity, to make and try the Get Big Drink.
As a diabetic, this is a bad idea.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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Heap Big calories there. I used it lots of times. Usually after about three weeks I'd be so sick of it and ALWAYS TIRED or sleeping.
There's better ways thanks to modern science and the discovery of space age plastic nowadays!
Here's the Get Big Drink recipe:
A day's worth of protein powder
2 quarts milk (in '65 that'd be your whole milk)
2 cups skim milk powder
2 whole raw eggs
4 tablespoons peanut butter
Half a brick of chocolate ice cream
1 small banana
4 tablespoons malted milk powder
6 tablespoons corn syrup
Why on earth did he write "1 small banana" there?
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-24-16 05:50 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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Here's the next article, a training one this time.
Squat!
http://ditillo2.blogspot.ca/2016/09/squat-john-mcc allum-oct-1965.html
Straightforward?
I see what's called for here very clearly. The same things said about Pressing in the first article would apply here, I'm guessing.
It does seem to me, in some ways that, if a lifter had already built a decent foundation and is well past the beginner stage, he could do okay by starting with this program. The first one, because of the hard pair of 15-rep breathing squats, might take away from an intermediate's response and ambition on this Breathing Squat Specialization Program. I've been thinking it might be a recommendation, if the guy was already ready for it, was already in quite good shape and condition, to start with this one????
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-25-16 05:55 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Justin Jordan
Total Posts: 854
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09-25-16 06:27 PM - Post#841850
It's probably fine, but man, a loooooooot of people think they're more intermediate than they are. I mean, if you've been lifting a while AND doing the basic lifts AND have some strength and conditioning....sure.
But I've seen loads of people who, for instance, do bench and then pretty much all machines and then think they're at a different level than they are.
So maybe flat out starting with the basic routine isn't a bad idea. There's something to be said for doing the Time Factor routine and then as you're starting to burn out those gains switching to a more abbreviated routine.
(And there's a lot to be said for a periodic tune up of just doing the basic exercises)
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Eric R
Total Posts: 264
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09-25-16 08:52 PM - Post#841852
Didn't the old Strength and Health Mags all start one off at 15 reps? BOSCO definitely liked that range.
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Neander
Total Posts: 7755
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It's probably fine, but man, a loooooooot of people think they're more intermediate than they are. I mean, if you've been lifting a while AND doing the basic lifts AND have some strength and conditioning....sure.
But I've seen loads of people who, for instance, do bench and then pretty much all machines and then think they're at a different level than they are.
This is probably true. I've only been to two different gyms in the last year. The first one was in the early afternoon and the majority (4 of the 5 people there counting me) were pretty solid in their lifting and exercise selection. The second place was straight up AWESOME! In the late morning, there was a guy coaching a woman through a pretty tough sled drag in the shared parking lot out front, and another woman being coached on cleaning - she was good! A 45 per side and he just kept drilling her and adjusting her low back and the whole deal there. And there was me and a guy 10 years older than me. He was coaching my deadlift and I probably learned more in that half hour about powerlift pulling than I have in the last five years.
The guys running the place were pretty young, probably in their late 20's, early 30's at best. There's this chalkboard up there behind the main platform with 'best lifts' and best box jump numbers on there. My older and more straightforward buddy noticed there were no weight class distinctions on it. That's odd. You know, just biggest bench number up top, biggest squat etc. He's funny about lifting. Turns to the guy in charge that morning, nice guy, and yells out, "What kind of crap is that! Some hundred and nothing pound woman has to compete with a 400 pound sac-a shi!?" So, we won't be going back there none too soon, I guess.
Man! Did I get lucky at those two real small gyms or what! So, for sure, I can't really remember the last time I was in one of those places that have machines and chest pumping pups sweating it out on one of those rear lateral flye things with the pretty paint and the comfy rubber handles. I'd rather stay home and lift on the garbage bar than see that.
So maybe flat out starting with the basic routine isn't a bad idea. There's something to be said for doing the Time Factor routine and then as you're starting to burn out those gains switching to a more abbreviated routine.
(And there's a lot to be said for a periodic tune up of just doing the basic exercises)
I'll definitely agree that a tune up is a good thing at the right time, and that most beginner/intermediates probably have been using routines that work each muscle group once a week and could use a dose of M/W/F straight to the point lifting with a real barbell. For me, though, and I'd say for anyone who's got a decade or three of true lifting under their belt and is in good shape and not overworked or stale, I'd say head straight into the Breathing Squat Specialization Routine and give it all out he//.
Life's too short to worry about longevity.
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Edited by Neander on 09-25-16 09:16 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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Laree
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Why on earth did he write "1 small banana" there?
Hahahahaha!
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