ISOMETRICS, when done correctly, can reshape a person's physique and addstrengthbeyondimagination without the person ever moving a muscle. By powerfully contracting the muscle in an isolation hold, a person can create lean, perfectly sculptedmuscles, shedfat, and achieve the unmistakable glow of perpetual youthfulness without ever having to go to a gym or lift weights or invest in expensive equipment. But the power ofIsometrics lies in being taught how to dothem correctly. JOHN e. PETERSONisa li felong fit nessexpert, the author of Pushing Yourself to Power, andcoauthor of The Miracle SevenandTheIhnity ofHealth and Fitness workout DVD. He createdthe Transformetrics'"Training Systemthat maximizes strength and fitness aswellaswellnessandisthe founder of Bronze Bow Publishing. o0 UIION authorofPlLsliingYOlLrself toPowerandTheMiracleSeven BRONZEB O W ~PUBLISHING Dedicatedtothememory of Isaac Neal Eslinger. Wherewesaw great promise,Godsaw perfection. January 27,2005 - September 19,2005 The exercises and advice contained within this book may be too strenuous and dangerous for some people,and the reader should consult their health practitioner before engaging in them. The information in this book isfor educational purposes only.Neither the publisher nor author isengaged in rendering professional advice or services to the individual reader.Allmatters regarding physical and mental health should be supervised by a health practitioner knowledgeable in treating that particular condition. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible forany loss,injury,or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book. ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION Copyright 2007 John E.Peterson Allrights reserved.No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in aretrievable system, or transmitted, in any formor by any means electronic,mechanical,photocopying, recording,or otherwise, except by the inclusion of brief quotations in a review,without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Most of the photos in the history chapter are courtesy of Sandow &the Golden Ageof Iron Men. ISBN-l3:978-1-932458-50-3;ISBN-lO:1-932458-50-6 Published by Bronze BowPublishing,Inc. 2600 E.26th Street,Minneapolis,MN 55406. Youcanreachus on the Internet at www.bronzebowpublishing.com Literary development and cover/interior design by KoechelPeterson&Associates,Inc.,Minneapolis,Minnesota. ManufacturedintheUnited Statesof America TABLEof CONTENTS CHAPTERONE BEGIN withthe GOAL inMIND .. . ...... 8 CHAPTERTWO ACONCISEHISTORY of ISOMETRICCONT RACT ION . . . . .... . . 22 CHAPTERTHREE NUTRITIONforHEALTH, STRENGTH, &LIFELONG Vi TALITy .. . . . .76 CHAPTERFOUR ISOMETRICQ&A's. . . .............. . ... 84 CHAPTERFIVE BLOODPRESSUREand ISOMETRICCONTRACTION.. ... . 104 CHAPTERSIX THEMAGNIFICENT SEVEN ... . ... . 112 CHAPTERSEVEN CLASSICISOMETRICS for aPOWERFULPHYSIQUE. . .. ... 130 CHAPTEREIGHT ISOMETRICPOWERFLEXES..... .214 NTRODUCToN 4[ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION Waybackin1963,Iwasintroducedtoa method of exercise that wasand iswith-outequalformusclesculpting,strength development,andphysicalrehabilitation.Itwasa method of exercisesorevolutionary in itstime that it was used and endorsed by professional athletes, trainers, physicalculturists,doctors,andphysicaltherapists worldwide.It requirednoweightsorequipmentand requiredonlyafractionofthetimethatwasnecessary when using conventional training methods. Mostimportantofall,thismethodofThisishow I describedmy introduction exercise had been verified scientifically intothisincrediblemethodof exercisein hundreds of experiments conducted with.my second book,The Miracle Seven: more than 5,000 volunteer test subjects. at the Max Planck Institute in Dortmund," ThefirsttimeIsawanIsometric Germany under the direction of Dr.E. A. .Contraction properly performed was MuellerandDr.TheodoreHettinger. between1946and1961.Theresultsof theirexperimentsandresearchwere astounding.When compared to all other. methodsofexercises,ineverycasethis. methodofexercisewasprovenvastly. superior forthe acquisition of muscular. strength,and it wasalso proven to be the. safest.Asaresult,thismethod wasused extensivelyin physicalrehabilitation by medicalresearchersandtherapistsona worldwide scale. Intrigued? Youshould be. in July1963,whenIwasten years old.It wasabout amonth aftermy grandfatherandUncleWallytook me under their wing and put me on the Charles AtlasDynamic Tension TrainingSystem.Theoccasionwas theannualfamilyreunion,which wasalwaysagreattime.And,of course,even though I had only been trainingforamonth,UncleWally andGrandpawerealreadytelling everyone about how much muscle I had built in only 30 days.(Nobody ever had anyone more affirmative in their lifethan mygrandfather and Uncle Wally wereforme. They were liketwoguardianangels.Ihope some of you men realize what a pro-foundimpactyoucanhaveina boy's lifeif youjust take the time to notice and affirm them.) The familyreunion wasamagical day.Mydadanduncleswerejust getting going on their WorldWarII stories when Uncle Milo showed up. Milowasthe tallest of my uncles-he was6'3"and weighed 210 pounds of the most perfectly sculpted mus-cle youcould possibly imagine.But somehowhelookeddifferentthat day.Now keepin my mind that my grandfatherhadputallsixofhis INTRODUCTIONI 5 sons on the Charles AtlasTraining Systemassoonastheyreached twelveyearsofage,if notsooner, and allthe brothers had exceptional physiques.Theyalllookedlike living,breathing Greek statues. Itwasmy dad who spoke up."My gosh,Milo,whathaveyoubeen doing? Youlook like someone carved you out of stone." When I heard Dad say that,I did a double take.It wastrue.Uncle Milo's facialandneckmuscleswereeven 6I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION moreobviousthanusual,andhis forearmswere sheer cords of muscle. "Well,AI,"saidUncleMilo,"I startedaddingIsometricstomy Dynamic TensionExercisesabout fourmonthsago,andeveryone tellsmethattheycanseeabig difference." Believe me, you could. Then all my unclesaswellasmygrandfather startedtalking about Isometrics.As it turned out,Milo started practicing Isometricsafterhereadanarticle about President Kennedy practicing themontheadviceoftheWhite Housephysicians.Miloreasoned that an Isometric exercise wasreally a CharlesAtlasself-resistance exercise where so much forcewas applied in both directions that nomovement occurred becausethe muscleswere involvedinadeadlockwrestling matchagainsteachotherfor10 seconds. "Exactlyhowdoyoudothat, Milo?"my uncle Robert asked. UncleMilostood upandtook off hisshirt.TothisdayIhavenever seenamoreperfectlydeveloped man.I've seen lots of guys with big-gerarms,biggerchests,and bigger legs,butI'veneverseenonemore perfectlyputtogetherthanmy uncle.Infact,ifyou'veeverseen thephysiqueoftheactorWoody Strode,youknowpreciselywhat my uncle Milolookedlike. Well,Milodidafewself-resist-anceAtlasbicepsexercisesto warm hismusclesupandthenonthe fourthrep,halfwayupheper-formedanIsometricContraction. With allhis might,his leftarm was pushing downwhilehisrightarm waspulling up.For10 secondshis muscleslookedasthoughthey wereinvolvedinalife-or-death struggle.Farmorethanjusta bicepsIsometricContraction,it appearedasthougheverymuscle inhisentirebody wasflexedtoits absolutelimit.Literally,every mus-clefiberinhisneck,pectorals, arms,abs,andbackstoodoutin boldrelief.Itwasanincredible demonstrationof howtoperform anIsometric Contractioncorrectly. WhenUncleMilofinished,my grandfathersaid,"That'showthe strongmanZasstrained.Samekind of exercisesIreadaboutyearsago inPhysicalCulture,butI'dnever actuallyseenitdoneuntilnow." Seriously,if youhad seenmy uncle performthatIsometricContraction onthatday,you'dneverwonder whether or not Isometric Contraction isavaluableformof exercise.No, insteadyou'dbestandinginline to buy the course and learnhow to do it." And that, my friend,leads usto this book, Isometric Power Revolution. Why?Because thisbookISthatcoursemyuncleMilo shouldhave written back in1963.I hope you enjoy it. John E.Peterson, January 2007 INTRODUCTIONI7 ~____________________ ~____ crIE R TheMasterKeytoSuccessWithIsometric ContractionandEverythingElseinLife YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT! Andyou'regoingtowin. GUARANTEED. BEGIN TheMoster Contraction 10I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION wit htheGOALInMIN D Key and toSuccessWith EverythingElse Isometric InLife Your success with our Isometric Power program ispredicatedonfollowingtheinstructions presented in this book to the letter. A failure to heed or comprehend thisintroductory information or to think that it isunessential fluffor that youalready know it isalmost certain to short-circuit the program's effectiveness. The Master Keyto Isometric Contraction, perhapsmorethan any other exerciseprogram,begins withthemostimportantexerciseinexistence,and about which most people arecompletely ignorant. That Master Key is: I.Programmingtheright thoughtsintoyourmind. 2. Focusingonthem. 3. Actualizingthembyfollowing through. Thinkaboutit:youwouldnothave invested in this Isometric Power course if youweren'tinfluencedbythethoughts life-changing power that Godhas placed withinthem.Evenworse,whenintro-duced toit,theyflatout reject it.They areliterally afraid to take control of their own thinking mechanism. Truth to tell, thesepeoplefearthatanyattempt toharnesstheir mindwillback-fire.Insteadof boldlylivingthe you wereconsciously thinking at the timelifeof their dreams, you bought it.Likewise,you willnot takethey timidly settle action to give yourself the supreme state.forwhateverlife ofhealth,strength,andlifelongfitnesshands them. They thatyoudesireanddeserve,unlessyouwant someone else begin with the goal,the end result,clearlytogivethemthe defined in your mind. Don't try to prove.answers,and that, me wrong on this pOint by underestimat- .myfriend,isnot ing the power of your mind, as you'll only:only sad,it's living end up shortchanging yourself..by default. Let'sbereal.MostpeoplethinkthatThisisnotthewayoftheTransformed strengthandfitnesssuccessisnothinglife,and it continually isnot the way of morethanacombinationofknowing.anyTransformetrics studentorpracti-therightexercisesandeating theright.tioner. You,and you alone, will determine foods.Although that isdefinitely part ofwhatyouwantinlife-andyoualone, the route to success,the truth isthat you cannotgettheresultsyouwant,much lessstickwiththerightexercisesand nutritionprogram,unlessyourmind is programmed properly. Takealook around,my friend.Thereare hundredsofthousandsofpeoplewho payexpensivegymmemberships,exer-ciseanddietyearafteryear,andthey are still overweight and lacking in muscle definition.They gothrough the motions, buttheydon'tgetanywhere.Whyis that?Becausetheydon't understand the with faith,courage,and perseverance, will makeupyourmindthatnothingwill preventyoufromreachingyourgoal. You're going to get it!And you're going to win.Guaranteed. YOU'RE GOINGTO GET IT! Andyou'regoingtowin. GUARANTEED. The keysto achieving this Transformation inconsciousness that attracts successand repelsfailureinallfacetsof yourlifeare notdifficulttolearn.Andtheydon' t BEGINWITHTHEGOALINMINDI 11 requirealot of time. Justfollowmy step-by-stepinstructions,and youwillbeon thefasttracktosuccessin notimeflat. lifebegins the exact same way.First,you est ablishorder throughmentally pictur-ing what itisthat youwant to achieve. ISOMETRICPOWERBREATHING Then youaddpower,life,vitality,radi-ance,andpassiontothementalimage Let's start with Isometric Power Breathing.by breathing lifeinto it. Why Isometric Power Breathing? Hereare three reasons: I.Breathisthesourceof life. Breathispower.Breathislife. 2.Deepbreathingcalms, centers, andfocusesthemindsothat youcanbetter comprehend whatyou'reabouttolearnin thefollowingchapters. 3.Deepbreathingputsyouinto anawakenedstateof awareness. inwhichyounotonlythink clearlybutrealizethatyoucan createthelifeyouhave dreamedof living. The good news isthat this process isn't diffi-Whether or not youareaBible-believingculttolearn.Notonly that,but thedeep Christian, if you willjust take a moment tobreathing method you're about to learn will read the creation story asfound in the firstsimultaneouslyaccomplishanumberof twochapters of the Book of Genesis,youthings that I know you will be excited about. will find something fascinating. First of all,Instead of telling you exactly what they are whenever God created something,it statesin advance, let's go over the exercise. clearly that Hepictured it in His mind first . Second,afterGodcreatedthefirstman, the man did not come tolife until... "And theLORDGodformedmanof thedust ofI theground,andbreathedintohisnostrilsthe breathof life:andmanbecamea livingsoul " (Genesis 2:7KJV,emphasismine). I'mtellingyouthisbecausethewhole keytomaking miracleshappeninyour 12I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION HOWTO PERFORMISOMETRIC POWER BREATHING: I.Inthemorning,beforearising fromyourbed,lieonourback andrelaxwithyourhandsat yoursides. 2.Inhaledeeplythroughyournos-trilsandimaginethatyouare fillingyourentirebodyright downtoyourtoeswith enrichedoxygen.Literally, let yourself expand. 3. Onceyoucaninhalenofarther, holdforacountof 7seconds, whilepullinginyour abdominal muscles, thenbegintoexhale. 4. Duringtheexhale, squeeze yourabdominalmusclesas thoughyouarewringingwater fromawettowel. Squeezethe entirerectusabdominusfrom toptobottomastightlyas possible, whilemakingan IISSSSS "or"fffff"sound. s. Whenyouhaveachievedpeak intensityor contractionof the abdominals, holdfor7or more seconds, squeezinguntilyour exhaleiscompletelyfinished. leavenothinginyourlungs. Trytogeteverything out. 6.Whileperformingstep5, itis ahealthypractice tocontract orpullyourperineumupand inward. Thiswillnotonly improveyouroverallenergy, butgreatlyimprovesexual functionaswell . 7.PerformthisIsometricPower Breathing exercise10timesin successionbeforegetting out of bed. Youarethenwelcometo getup, standbeforeanopen window, anddomoreof the same. Youcanalsodothis exerciseanytimethroughout thedaytoreleasementalstress andtorechargeandenergize yourself. Justremember tocon-sciouslyflexyour abdominals whenperforming thisexercise. Now that you have readthe instructions, put thebook downand takeafewmin-utes to perform this breathing technique 10 times.In order to get youfiredup and motivated about this,andjust in case you missedsome of the benefitsinthesteps outlinedabove,hereisarecapofthe many benefits of practicing this breathing technique: Increasesmentalclarityand alertness. Enhancescreativeandmental power. Ridsyourentirebodyandmind of negativestress. Strengthens, tightens, and tonesthediaphragmand entireabdominalmusclestruc-ture. Somepeopleloseinches of fatfromtheir abdomens. Improvesdigestionand elimination. Cleansthelungsof stale residue. Helpsyourelax. Improvesdynamicstrengthand powerduetostrengthening of coremuscles. Allthese benefitscome fromjust one set ofIsometricPowerBreathingexercises. Enough said.Soget to it and complete 10 repetitions.Feelforyourself just how pow-erful Isometric Power Breathing truly is. BEGINWITHTHEGOALINMINDI 13 Okay,great.Onceyou'vecompletedsee the outcome asreality beforeithappens, yoursetof10powerbreaths,youwillin our mind's eye.This iscrucial foryou to befeelingenergized,and,simplyput,understand,anditisthementaltoolyou youshouldfeelgoodallover.That goodneedtoachieveyour greatestdesire.That feelingistheGoldenKeytosuccessindesiremightbeforapowerful,perfectly life,especiallywhenyoulearntohar-nessitandcombineitwiththemental programming techniquesthat youwill learn here. MORETHANJUST THINKING Thebottomlineisthatwedon'tjust becomewhatwethinkabout,asKing Solomon said,"Asaman thinketh inhis heart,soishe. JJWebecome what wethinkaboutwithdeep, vividemotion.Tomerely think a thought does not giveittransformative power.Buttothinka thought backed by an abundance of passion, enthusiasm,andposi-tive,life-affirming emo-tion puts it into the realm oftheextraordinary.And whenthathappens,it's"look out world, JJbecause here you come. sculpted body and radiant health,or it can be foranything else you want to create in your life. Sincethisisabookabouthowtogive yourself radiant health,strength,and the kind of body you have alwaysdreamed of having,I want you toformamental piC-tureofthekindoffitnessandtypeof physiqueyouwanttohave.Do youwanttodramatically enhancethesizeofyour muscles? Or do you want to achieve alithe,lean, rippedlookof agym-nast?Orsomething inbetween.Whatever yourchoice,itcan beachievedwiththe IsometricPowermeth-ods outlined in this book. Notsosureaboutthat? Take alookatthephotosofDr.Neal Eslinger,MarkBaldwin,ChrisRezny, Note:wethinkinpictures.Forexample,andourotherfriendsfeaturedwithin thinkofyourchildrenorspouse.Whatthepagesofthisbook.Theyall comestomind?Apicture,right?Now think of your home, your car,your televi-sion,your favoriterestaurant,your church, and so on. What do you seein your mind's eye?Onepictureafteranother,correct? Remember that. Our thoughts arepictures. Our thoughts are literally what we envision. And what does envisionmean? It means to 14I ISOMETRICPOWERReVOLUTION achievedtheirdreamsbyfollowingthe methodsoutlinedhereandmodifying themtofittheirownpersonalgoals, and youcan too! Inonesense,thisisnodifferentfrom other formsof bodybuilding. Somepeople trainto get huge,and others togetlean. But what most people erroneollslyassume isthat they achieve their goalsmerely by the choice of physical exerciseitself.Truth to tell,youdon't!Forinstance,you could practicealltheclassicpowerliftsor Olympicliftsandnotgainanounceof weight.It's done allthe time. clearlycommunicatesthepowerofour thoughts to create our reality. Inanarticlepublishedin1957bypsy-chologist Bruno KlopferinThe Journalof ProspectiveTechniques,aman namedMr. Wright sufferedfromadvanced lymphatic Sowhat then isthe Golden Keyto gainingcancer.Hislymph nodes wereswollento muscleandlosingfatwithanexercisethesizeof oranges,andbothhisspleen program?Simplyput,thekeyisyourand liver were soenlarged that two quarts intention.What isit youwant?What doofmilkyfluidhadtobedrainedfrom youseein your mind's eye?Cmon, piC-tureit.Tellyourmuscleshow youwant themtorespondtotheexercises,and they willobey. Yourfleshhas an intelligence(you'll read allabout it in the history section),and it them daily.The doctors had done every-thing medically possible in the mid1950s onMr.Wright'sbehalf,andtherewas nothing more they could do.Sothey gave him up to die. SomehowMr.Wrightheardofanew simply sitsback and waits foryou to giveexperimental drug forcancer.Butitwas itorders.Once theordersaregivenandonly being administered to people whom systematically applied,every cellin yourdoctorsbelievedhadatleastathree-body goes to work to shape your body the way you want it. THEPOWEROFYOURTHOUGHTS Forthisreason,it isimperativethat you never ever ... not under any circumstances ... allow yourself to think or say anything about yourself that you do not wish to be absolutely true.That's how powerful your thoughts and mental imagery are. We know that it ispossible for some people whoaresicktomake themselveswellby choosing the right thoughts to think.We month life expectancy. Wrightbeggedhis doctorforthedrug, and finally the doctor relented.According to thereport,the doctor injected him on Friday but really didn't expect himtolivethrough the weekend. Unbeliev-ably,on the following Monday,lessthan 72hours later,Wright was walking around and feeling great. The alsoknowfrommedicalsciencethat thetumors,accordingtothearticle,had exactoppositecanhappenbythinking/I meltedlikesnowballsonahotstove." negatively.Ithappens every day in everyTendaysafterhisfirstKrebiozeninjec-citythroughouttheworld.Considerthetion,Mr.Wrightwenthomefromthe following true casehistory that I shared inhospital,being determined by the doctors my firstbook, PushingYourself toPower.Itto be cancer free! BEGINWITHTHEGOALINMINDI 15 Unfortunately,months later the American MedicalAssociationpublished anation-widestudyonKrebiozenthatflatly announcedit wasworthless.Mr.Wright thatreasonalone,youmustguardyour thoughts,yourspeech,andallofyour associations.Ifyousurroundyourself withpositive reinforcementinwhat you read the study,believedit,andhis cancersee,hear,think,and verbalize,and if you returned. Twodays later he died.followthrough with positive action-you willmeetwithapositiveoutcome.Itis Sowhat happened to Mr.Wright? Why inevitable! didhebecome YOUMUSTBELIEVE wrong?Let'sDoyougetthepoint?Yourmind,your .it exammebeliefs,your faith,alldetermine what you objectively. Mr.Wright, whoister-minaI,hears aboutanew miracle cure for cancer.He reasons tohimselfthatthe reasonhe has not already died isbecause it ishisdestiny to becured of cancer and Krebiozenisthe agent of that cure. Hebegshisdoctor to go outside the ruleandinjecthim.ThenMr.Wright 's intellect and emotions,hismind,believes that the miraculous cure hasbeen found, and asaresult his body obeysthe single congruent message that it isgiven by Mr. Wright's mind,whichis-HEAL!And his body has no other choice but to obey! Justthinkwhatwouldhavehappened can have or be.If youdon't believe youcan have or be something,you won't. Thisapplies to your strength andfitness asmuch asitdoestoanyother facetof your life.Dr.Neal Eslinger,whom yousee hadMr.WrightnotreadthestudythatpicturedthroughouttheIsoPowerflex negatedhispositivebelief.Whoknows how long he could have lived? The simple point isthis:whatever you believe about yourself,both intellectually and emotion-ally,willdeterminewhoandwhatyou becomephysicallyandspiritually.For 16I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTI ON sectionof thiscoursewantedtoaccom-plish two things simultaneously. He wanted to get ripped and lean while adding mus-clemass.Lookathisbeforeandafter photos (on page13S)-same man in both photos.The factthat hesimultaneously achievedthelithe,rippedlookwhile addinggreatlytohismusclemassis mind-boggling formost people.How did he do it? Firstandforemost,hewantedtodoso. Second,byforming aclear picture in his mind'seyeof exactlywhat he wantedto achieve and thinking about itall the time. Third,by holding the exact image in mind while he trained. It's assimple asthat. .thementalimage.Then,afteryouhave completedyourinhale,beginyour exhale.Butinstead of just breathing out, maintainalaser-likefocussurrounding yourmentalimagewiththeemotion-backedenergy.Literally,exhaleand breathe life into the image, surrounding it with power.Do it 10 times. Understand that there isa reason why the great sages of all times throughout history Theunrevealedsecretthatmostpeople.practiced deep breathing exerciseswhile never discover isnotjust picturing whatin prayer and meditation.Andthe same they want,but picturing it with passioncanbedonebeforeanythingcreativeis andconviction.Putsomewhiteheat.attempted.Whetherpainting,drawing, behind your desire,and youcannot help.writing,singing,orpublicspeaking, butgointhedirectionofyourdreams.:breathe deep to center yourself and take Thisisauniversallaw.Whateverdomi- .control. It all starts with your breath. nates your thoughts and passions iswhatThinkbacktothe youbecome. Guaranteed. HOW TOAPPLYPOSITIVE EMOTIONTOYOURGOAL It'svery simple tolearn to useyour emo-tions to help reach your goals. creationstoryas told in the Book of .Genesis.Remember the key that I men-tioned earlier?God breathedlifeinto Todemonstratethis,IwantyoutouseAdam.Whetheror IsometricPower Breathing.First,performnotyoupersonallybelievethebiblical your standard 10 Isometric Power Breaths,.accountof creationisnot mypOint.My concentratingonyourabdominalmus- pointisthattheprocessofcreationas clesasyoudidpreviously.Next,beforedescribed in Genesisisexactly what you starting your next set of Isometric Powerwant to use in your life.Alwaysremember Breaths,I want you to consciously formathat you are not just a man or a woman-mental picture in your mind's eye of whatyou are a human being created in the very you want to achieve while inhaling. QuitelikenessofGodwithadivinethought literally,I want you to surround this men- andcreativeabilitythatisliterally talimage with breath.Instead of focusingmoldedafter God.Consider this:if man on your abdominal muscles,focuson thewascreatedintheimageandlikeness mental imagery and add self-talk to it as.ofGod,andGodisthePreeminent you squeeze (add passion and emotion) to:Creator,then it makes perfect sense that BEGINWITHTHEGOALINMINDI 17 man isalsointended to be acreator... and isat his happiest and most God-like when he too iscreating. Thisiswhyclearlydefinedgoalsareso important. Wearehappiest when weare creating.Wearelessthanhappy,if not downrightmiserable,whenwearenot creating. Soformagoaland add life to it throughIsometricPowerBreathingand visualization.Begin and end every work-out with deepIsometric Power Breathing. Neverbeginacreativeendeavorofany sortwithouttakingafewminutesto perform 10 Isometric Power Breaths. Willitchangetheoutcome?Bigtime. SOARLIKEANEAGLE Beforeyouclosethischapter,you mustperformacoupleofwritten exercisesthat arevitally important toyourpersonalsuccess.DoNot OverlookThese.If youwanttosoar like an eagle,play close attention and follow through. Manypeople,infactmostpeople, when asked to define what it isthey want in lifeliterally draw ablank. They can't clearly articulate what they want because theirmindshavebeensopreoccupied withwhattheydon'twantforsolong that it appears that there isnothing else forthem. So what can we do? Wealready know that webecomewhatwehabituallythink about with deepemotion. And so,if you can'teventhinkaboutwhatyouwant becauseyouhavesomuch thought and guesswhat youarecreating?Yougotit. MORE of what you DON'T want. Sodoesthat mean that youaredoomed toalifeofmediocrityandunfulfilled dreams?Onlyifyoublowthisoffand don'ttakepositiveaction.It'sonlytoo late if you don't start now! Seriously,my friend,there isa way out of any bottomless pit of despair. Soletmeguideyouwitha briefwritingexercisethat could change yourlife. But before you makealistofwhat .youwant,Iwantyoutomakealistof everything youdespiseanddon'twant. Takeoutapadofpaperandapenand writethisheadline acrossthe topof the page:ThingsI Don't Want and That IWill Eliminate FromMy Life. Now,beneaththisheadlinestartwriting those things that come to your mind. Don't worryaboutperfectgrammar.Justlist energy invested in what youdon't want,everything in your lifethat you consider a 18I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION sourceof personal embarrassment or self-sabotage.For example: I don'twanttobefat. I don'twanttobeweak. I don'twanttobeoutof breathfromwalkingupa flightof stairs. I don'twantanymoreback pain. I don'twanttheseheadaches. I don'twanttobuyclothesat HugeandHuger. I don'twantwomenormento lookawaywhentheyseeme. I don'twanttobepassedover injobpromotionsbyfitter people.(Don'tkidyourself,it happensallthetime.) I don'twantmychildrentobe ashamedtobeseenwithme. I don'twanttobeafraidtobe seeninaswimsuit. I don'twanttobeafraidto traininpublic. Congratulations!It takes guts to faceyour-self and tellyourself the truth about what youarenolongerwillingtoaccept because you know in your heart of hearts that Godcreatedyouforsomuch more. SOWHATDO YOUWANTINLIFE? Nowthatyouhaveidentifiedwhat you don't want,yourmind willbeclearand uncl uttered.That being true,right now is alsothetimetoidentifywhatyoudo want in life.Solet's get to it. Keepin mind that you can write anything onthislistthat youwant.It doesn'tall havetobestrengthandfitnessrelated. But then again,the stronger,fitter,more vibrant,andself-confidentyouare,the easierit willbe to have every other good thing on your list. Sohere's what you do.On a clean sheet of paper,write the headline: The Good Things ThatIWanttoCreateinMyLife.You'll wanttolistatleast10thingsthatyou wanttoachievewithinthenext12 months.Forexample,yourlistmay include some of the following: Get the idea?Good. Then gettoit.Do it. I wanttodoublemyst rength. now before you do anything else. The only ruleconcerning what you write isthat itmust be something you want to change. Soplease.Do it now.Don't move. untilyou'vedonethis .Put yourpento thepaper andwriteout everything that has held youback and that youwant to eliminate fromyour life.If you run out of space,get another piece of paper and keep writing. Afterall,it's your lifethat you're. going to heal. I wanttoseemyabdominal musclesinthemirror. I wantmykidstobeproud tobeseenwithme. I wanttohaveallmypants takeninatthewaistline. I wantpeopletocompliment meonmynewphysique. I wantmybossandbusiness associatestoviewmeas BEGINWITHTHEGOALINMINDI 19 someonewithguts, determina-tion, andaget it done-no excusesdrivethatdeservesa bigpromotion. I wanttobuy$100worthof GirlScoutcookiesto giveto the foodshelf inmycommunity. I wanttoattracttheperfect mateinmylife. I wanttodoublemycurrent income. Okay,youknowwhattodo,sodoit. Don'tbeafraidtodreambigbecause confidence quickly.Once youknow that youcanfocusonagoalandmakeit happen,your creative power willgrowby leapsandbounds,and youwillgainthe confidencetoachievebiggerandbigger goalsat fasterand faster rates. Sothis iswhat you do.Select one goal that youwillfocuson.Writeitona3"X5" card and giveit a deadline foraccomplish-ment.Forexample,youmightwritethe following: "By, exactly 31daysfromnow,I willdo 50 consecutive Tiger Stretch Push-smalldreams have no power.After all,atups in flawlessform."Or it can be anything this point you deserve allthe best that lifeelse that you want. has to offer.Sodo it now. Great job! Now,each day when you awake,focuson this goal during your deep breathing exer-Nowthat youhaveidentified what youcises.Perform10 Isometric Power Breaths want,youcanalwaysgobackand add precisedetails .Themoreclearand whilefocusingonyourabdominalsand applyingIsometricContractiononboth vividthedetailsthebettertheresult.inhalation and exhalation. Then do another Thekey,however,isto takethetime to10,focusingentirely on your goal asprevi-identifywhatyouwantandputit:ouslydirected.PutpaSSion,enthusiasm, down on paper. CHOOSINGONEGOAL After youhavecompleted your twolists, it'stimetofocusonjustonegoal.This goal needs to be something that isachiev-ablewithinthenext30days.Infact,it mayevenbesomethingyouachievein just7 days.If you don't have a short-term goal,then takeafewminutesand come upwithone.It'scrucialthatyoudoit. Why?BecauseIwantyoutoproveto yourselfthatyoucansetgoalsand achieve them. Doing so willbuild personal 20I ISOMETRICPOWERReVOLUTION and determination into it,and breathelife into the image in your mind's eye. Next, carry the 3"X 5" card with you every-where you go.Makeit easilyaccessible-putitinyourfrontpocket,yourwallet, tape it to the refrigerator,or wherever. Take it out and readit severaltimes aday with deepconviction. Then when you do your exercises,visual-izeachieving your goal.Notice the laser-likefocusthatyounowhaveandhow much harder you train.Most importantly, notice how quickly youimprove! Whileyoutrain,tellyourself,"Ican. I will.I can.I will." into your life,you can achieve goalsthat arebeyond your wildest dreams. Without Thenaddtheending toit,"IcanandI.it,youcanachieveverylittle.Why? willdo 50 consecutive Tiger Stretch Push- Because you need to know where youare ups by"goinginordertogetthere.Andthat applies to every facetof your life,includ-After you have achieved your goal,I want.ing your strength and fitness. you to say out loud,"Ican. I will.And I've. done50 consecutive TigerStretchPush- .Inmyopinion,thisfirstchapteristhe ups."AtthispOint,writethe accomplish- mostimportantofall.Why?Because mentanddateofcompletiononyour.anyone can teach you Isometric exercises. goalcard and saveit.Itisimportant thatAnyone can teach a diet to follow.But the youbeginacollectionof completed goalwholekeythat makes any of it work lies cards,because in the future it will reinforcewithinyou.Whenyoucontrolyour your ability to get things done when you.thoughts,youcontrolyourlife.And, review them. BEYONDYOURWILDESTDREAMS WhatIhavejustrevealedistheMaster Keytoachievinganythingyouwantin your life.Youcouldjoin the vasthosts of peoplewhospendthousandsofdollars truthtotell,yourabilitytothinkand persevere isthe keyto achieving superior resultswithIsometricContractionor anything else in your life. Now that you know the secret,letme fill youinon"TheHistoryofIsometric attendingpersonalempowermentsemi- Contraction,"andwhyIbelieveitis narsto learn what I havejust revealed tosingularly the Mastermethod tolifelong you.If youimplementthisMasterKey.strength and fitness.Readon. BEGINWITHTHEGOALINMINDI 21 "Whathasbeenwillbeagain,what hasbeendonewillbedoneagain; thereisnothingnewunder thesun." - Ecclesiastes1:9 oCONCISEHISTORYof ISOMETRICCONTRACTION 24I ISOMETRICPOWERReVOLUTION Sinceancienttimes,mankindhasbeen fascinatedwith the acquisition and develop-ment of exceptional physicalstrength.After all,who hasn't heard of the renowned biblicalheroes Samson and King David? Or the Greek hero Hercules? OrKingOdysseus,thefamedGreek hero of Homer's TheOdyssey? Allofthesemenwereknownfortheirextraordinary strength,intellect,andcourage.Andifyoureadtheir storiesclosely,you'll discover that KingDavid,Hercules,and KingOdysseus allhad one thing in com- .Similar to King David,Odysseusdidnot mon-their ability to both string and pull.justpickupHercules'BronzeBowand to full draw a bow made of bronze.Twice inpull it to fulldraw. Hercules had befriended the Bible,for instance,King David states:.theyoungOdysseuswhentheywere "Hetrainsmy handsforwar,so that mysailingtogetherascrewmemberswith armscanbendabowof bronze"(Psalm.Jason and the Argonauts on the ship Argo 18:34;2 Samuel 22:35).Notice that David.todiscoverthefabledGoldenFleeceat wastrained and strengthened in this featthe edgeof the world.Accordingtothe of strength.But that's not the only time a.story,Herculestaughtthesecretsof bronze bow wasreferredto in antiquity. Areplica of the "bow of bronze" strength to Odysseus.Histraining wasso effectivethat,besidesHercules,only young Odysseus could string and pull to fulldraw an arrowon the famedBronze Bowof Hercules.That'sallI'mgoingto tellyouaboutit.If youwanttoknow more ... and there ismore ... read the stories of DavidandOdysseusforyourselfand strengthen your mind. Sowhatdoesabronzebowhavetodo withIsometricsinachapterdevotedto thehistoriesofIsometricContraction? In fact,if you read The Odyssey,you'll find that theBronzeBowof Herculesplaysa Goodquestion.Theanswerliesinread-centralrole(almost acharacter-likerole:ingtheaccountsofanynumberof withinthestory)inKingOdysseus's historiansoftheancientpast,suchas reclaiming his wife and kingdom of Ithaca Herodotus(often known asthe fatherof fromsuitorswhoaretryingtostealhishistory)and his anecdotal History,which kingdom.Attheclimaxofthestory, includes adescription of the war between Odysseusprovesthathe,andhealone, the Greeks and Persians in the fifth century can string and pull to fulldraw the Bow of. B.C.,or Josephus and his Antiquities of the Herculesandsendanarrowthrough12. Jews,or Plutarch's Parallel Livesfromthe smallconsecutivelyplacedbrassrings firstcentury.Intheirwritings,youwill withouttouchinganyofthem.Thisis precisely what he had done some 20 years earlier on the day he won the hand of his wife,Penelope,inmarriagebyproving himself to be the best man physically as well asintellectually. After the sheer preci-sionwiththerings,KingOdysseususes hisarcheryskillstofendoff thesuitors. discover that archers wereconsidered to betheelitespecialforcesoftheirday andamongthestrongestandfittestof ancient warriors. Sohowdidarchersachievethisstatus? Well,consider the factthat many of the battles of ancient history were determined A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 25 by thearmythathadthestrongestand most accurate archers.For instance, if one army'sarcherswerecapable of picking off theirenemy'ssoldiersatadistance200 yardsfartherawaythantheenemy's archers,itgavethatarmyadecided advantage.Consequently,itwasthe archersalone who oftentimes determined the outcome of amajor battle in ancient times.SuchwasthecaseattheBattle ofMarathonin490B.C.,wherethe heavily outnumbered Greeksdefeated the hold an arrow at fulldraw,sometimes for extended periods of time. This is where Isometric Contraction comes intoplace.Theancienttrainerswould have atrainee pull back the strongest bow .of whichhewascapableandthenhold it-an Isometric Contraction. The trainee wouldcontinuethispracticeuntilhe could finally draw the arrow to fulldraw with ease.Atthis point,the trainee would graduate to a heavier bow and draw it back Persians. This wasalso the case in the bat- .asfarashe possibly could and once again tle between the Syrians and the Israelites.hold it in an Isometric Contraction. When asrecordedin 1 Kings22:29in the Bible..he could draw it back with ease,the archer HereaSyrianarcherdeterminedthe outcome of the battle when he killed King Ahab of Israel. A close-lip of a bronzebow and arrow The importance of ancient archersrelates to the history of Isometric Contraction as severalancient historians,and especially Herodotus, commented on the training of graduatedtoanevenheavierbowand continuedthestrengtheningprocessby reapplyingIsometricContraction.This training process wascontinued until each archerachievedtheabilitytodrawthe strongestofbows,aprocessthatoften required years,and IsometricContraction wasthe key. INDIA ANDTHEORIENT In a very realsense,Isometric Contraction isamong the oldest of exercisemethods .known to man. It has been a part of hatha yoga(the physical branch of the popular formofyogathatmostWesternersare familiarwith)foralmost5,000years.It the archers. This ishow it wasdone.First,has developed primarily in southern India there wasa selection process to determineby ascetics who led very disciplinedlives. whichindividuals had the innate skillsto.They lived close to the earth and observed become afirst-classarcher.This included.nature,animals,andthemselves.These testsof hand/eye coordination,eagle-likeasceticswouldimitatemanyofthe Sight,and uncanny depth perception. The other critical attribute was superb physical animalstheyobserved-theirpostures andhabits-inordertoemulatetheir strength, asdemonstrated in the ability to.strength, grace, and wisdom. 26I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION From this intense study,hath a yoga devel- youaredoingwhenhoLdingyogaposes opedintoacomplexseriesofpostures.such asthe one pictured here.(If,forany andposes(wellover1,000 inall)calledreason,youdon'tthinkthisrequires "asanas"that require incredible levelsofincredibleconcentrationandstrength, strength,fleXibility,muscular endurance,.then put the book down and try to hold balance, coordination,deepsynchronized.the pose shown for3minutes.If by some meditativebreathing,andanintensemiracleyoucanholdit,pleasetellme mind/muscle connection.why you bought this book.) Asisclearlyevident,itisIsometric Contractionalonethatallowsyouto maintain these postures by stabilizing the entire muscle structure.Isit tough? You bet it is,but you wouldn't be developing the epitome of strength and poise if it weren't. ISOMETRICSINTHEORIENT SomewherebetweenA.D.500and527, legendary Buddhist Master Bodhidharma traveledfromIndiatoChinatobring ChanBuddhismtothemonksofthe Shaolin Temple.He was said to be an extra-ordinary man in every sense of the word, and one of the strongest,fittest,andwis-estmentohave everlived. Traveling by footand alone,he crossedraging streams and rivers,a major part of the Himalayan mountain chain,and braved extremesof temperaturerangingfromtropicalrain-forestheat to subzero cold in some of the Asan example,study the pose shown in thephoto above.Now,imagine yourself tryingtoholdthisposefor3minutes without shaking or quivering.What type of strength wouldyouneed to develop in. order to hold that pose in picture-perfect alignment?Inaword:Isometric.Letme explainwhy.ThewordIsometriccomes fromtheGreek(whatelsewouldyou tallest mountains on planet earth. Asif that werenot enough of atest of his fortitude,Bodhidharmaalsoexposed himself to the dangers posed by wildani-malsandmountainbandits.Inother expect?)wordiso,meaning"thesame,".words,this wasnot atrip you'd want to andmetric,meaning"length."Isometrictake without agroupof guardianangels Contractionrefers,therefore,to thecon- watchingyoureverymove.Yet,thisis traction or tightening of a muscle withoutexactlywhatthemissionaryofChan changing its length, which isexactly what.Buddhism took upon himself to do. A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 27 UponhisarrivalattheoriginalShaolin TempleonMountSonginnorthern hadaverystrongIsometriccomponent inthem.Infact,itisbelievedthatthe China'sHenanProvince,Bodhidharma((IChin Ching((or((YiJin Jing"or Muscle/ didnotfindagroupof((KwaiChang.Tendon Changing Classic wasone of the Caine"look-a-likesfromtheTVseries Kung Fu,who could ((snatch a pebble from myhand"asyoungGrasshopperwould oftenattempttodowiththeblind originalformstaughtbyBodhidharma himself. This form includes the use of deep breathing exercises,which should be a part ofeverystrengthandconditioningpro-Shaolinmonk((MasterPo."Nordidhegram,combined with Isometric muscle con-findanyonewhoevenremotelyresem- tractions of the hands and arms.Amazingly, bledtheperfectlysculptedsupermenofthis Isometric formwasand issoeffective the Shaolin monk movies thatsomanyofushave seen,featuringthe likesof BruceLee,JackieChan,or Jet Li.No,the guyswhom hefoundweresofatand out of shape they couldn't evenstayawakeforthe rigorsof prayer and medi-tation that he wasto teach them. Sothefirstthinghedid wastoleavethetemple andspendthenextnine that it has remained virtu-ally unchanged forapprox-imately 1,500 years. InadditiontotheIso-metricformsofBodhid-harma,therearealso numerous dance-likekatas orformsfoundinother Asianmartialartsthat includevariousIsometric posturesthatareoften held forextended periods oftimejustasinhatha yogafromwhichthey yearsmeditating in acave..originate.Someofthese in order tofigureout whatOnly Isometrics can develop the tel/don strength.(( inthe fingers forthis incredible feat of strength.posturesincludetheIron todo.Whenhereturned,Wire"formofhunggar he usedhis skillsasa yoga master to teach kungfuandsanchinkataofOkinawan themonksaseriesof specialexercisesof martial artssystems.Of course,there are hisown creation that arestillpracticed in.different names used in the variousmar-martial artstraining systems to this verytialartformsthatreflectthecountries day.And what were these special strength-andcultures fromwhichtheyoriginate, eningexercisesthattransformedthe butultimatelyitallboilsdowntothe sheepish monks of the Shaolin monastery. sameconceptsofholdingdeepstances against the pull of gravity forlong periods into the Warrior Monks of Legend(asthey came to be known) whom nobody in their .oftimeandusingultra-hightension right mind wanted to mess with? strengthbuildingtechniquesthatare Believeit or not,they wereexercises thatIsometric in nature. 28I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION ISOMETRICSINWARFARE Asyoucanimagine,IsometricCon-traction asa strength training method has alsobeenutilizedinjustaboutevery 465,000 troops.The Cossacks were amere fractionof that number.Andthough the CossacksrefusedtoengageNapoleon's armyontheopenfieldofbattle,they culturethroughoutthecenturies.Fornonetheless earned both the respect and instance,thechariotracersofancient.fearofthesurvivingFrenchsoldiers. Romepulledagainstthereinsoftheir.According tothe historians'accounts of horsesforextendedperiodsoftime,.theexperiencesof the soldierswhosur-whichisapowerfulIsometricCon- vivedNapoleon'sretreat,theCossacks traction.Asyoumightimagine,thewould attack atallhoursof the day and charioteerswereincrediblystrongmen..night.Their favoritetargetsweresupply Russiall Cossack horsemen The same isalso true formounted cavalry. TheFrencharmyledbyNapoleon Bonapartewasliterallyvanquishedby RussianCossackhorsemenwhowere capableof doingamazingfeatsatafull gallop.ConsiderthatwhenNapoleon marchedintoMoscowin1812,hehad wagonsandartillerybatteries,often jumpingtremendousbarriersonhorse-backandloppingofftheheadsofthe enemy without breaking stride. The Cossacks weresimilar to the Mongol horsemen of GenghisKhan(five centuries earlier), who were capable of shooting large numbersofarrowsatfullgallop.The Cossacksappearedtomovewiththeir horses asthough rider and horse wereone being. Their athleticism on horseback was something to behold.Eventhe French sol-diers couldn't help but admire it.In reality, it was because of the superior strength and conditioning of the legmuscles that they had developedthat allowedthe Cossacks to perform these astounding feats. Sowhat type of strength do yousuppose willkeepyouinthesaddle or on horse-back under virtually any conditions? You got it. Isometrics. Asan interesting matter of historicalfact, the Cossackschased Napoleon's forcesall thewaytothegatesofParis.Lessthan 40,000survivorsofNapoleon'sGrand Army(LaGrande Armee)of 465,000 men A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRAcnONI 29 livedtotellabouttheretreatfrom Moscow,and in1814theCossackswere and the secrets of strengthening and con-ditioning his body forthe incredible task presentinPariswhenNapoleonwasthat liesahead of him to make goodhis forcedtoabdicateandunconditionally.escapefromtheChateaud'If.Itishere thatmanyreferencesaremadeto strengtheningexercisesthathadtobe Isometric in nature.Throughout the bal-anceofthenovel,therearenumerous referencestothecount'sextraordinary physicalstrengthandprowess.Andas you can imagine,thisnovel alsoinspired many other men totry similar exercises surrender and wassubsequently exiledto the Italian island of Elba.Tothis very day, there isone surviving Cossack word that remainsapart of the French language-bistro.Today it means" abar or roadside restaurant,"but back in 1814 it was used bytheCossackswhentheyputtheir rubles down on the bar and said,"Bistro," which meant bequick about it. ISOMETRICSINPOPULAR LITERATURE .forstrengtheningtheirbodies,suchas AlexanderZass,whomyou'llmeetlater on in this chapter. In1844,TheCount of MonteChristowas. published by Alexander Dumas.Itshero, Edmond Dantes,wasahandsome,prom-ising young sailor with a beautiful fiancee named Mercedes and a bright future with acommissionasaship'scaptain.But then he isavictim of conspiracy of four jealousandunsavorycharacterswho arrangetohavehimseizedand secretly. imprisonedinsolitaryconfinementin. the infamousChateau d'If,adangerous offshoreprisonfromwhichnoone had everescaped.Formanyyears,Dantes barely existsin his tiny isolated cell.He almost loseshismind and his willto live. ashis body slowly weakens,deteriorates, and becomes emaciated. Les Miserablesposter VictorHugo'sLesMiserablesisanother novelthatmakesreferencetoIsometric Then one day Dantes hears a fellow prisoner.typeexercises,anditalsodealswitha burrowing nearby.Hetoo begins digging,.man who was imprisoned. It was originally and soonhemeetsan old abbe(alower- .published in Francein1862 and tellsthe rankingCatholicclergyman).Fromthe.storyof JeanValjeanandhisamazing abbe,Danteslearnshistory,literature, science,ancientandmodernlanguages, 30I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION struggletonot onlybecomeafreeman butasaintly one-a manwhohasbeen fullyredeemedbyGod'sgraceinevery sense of the word. Throughout the refer-ences to Jean Valjean'stime of imprison-ment,therearemanyreferencesto hisextraordinaryphysicalstrength.For instance,the followingparagraph istaken word forword frompage 90,and it makes adirectreferencetoIsometricstrength building exercises: ,' Hissupplenessevenexceededhis vigor. Some convicts, who perpetually dream of escaping,eventually make a realscienceofcombinedskilland strength;it isthe science of the muscles. A fullcourse of mysterious staticsisdaily practiced by the prisoners,those eternal enviersof fliesandbirds.Swarming upaperpendicular,andfindinga restingplacewhereaprojectionis scarcelyviSible,waschild'splayto JeanValjean.Given a corner of a wall, with the tension of his back and hams, with his elbows and heelsclinging to theroughstone,hecouldhoist himself asif by magic to a third story, and at times would ascend to the very roof of the bagne. ,, time in solitary confinement, where he did nothearasinglewordfromanother humanbeingformorethantwoyears. Charriereistheonly man toeverescape from Devil's Island, whichis located off the coast of French Guiana. Asyoucan see,fromthe ancients to the moderns,Isometric Contraction has been a part of history and literature formillen-niumsof time.Still,thesciencebehind Isometric Contraction wasnot validated until the twentieth century. ISOMETRICSANDTHEGOLDEN AGEOFPHYSICALCULTURE Inaveryrealsense,theGoldenAgeof Isometric Contraction coincided with the GoldenAgeofPhysicalCulture,which began with the dawning of the twentieth century.During this time,the Industrial RevolutionwastakingholdinAmerica, and large numbers of people weremoving fromanagrarianfarminglifestyletoan industrialandmoreurbanone.Asa result,moreandmore people were using their mental capacities rather than their physicalcapacitiestoearnalivelihood. Of course, there are several other references.Correspondingly,more people began suf-in variousnovelsand booksto Isometricferingfromthediseasesofmodernlife strengthbuildingexercises.Inhis1970that are caused by too much of the wrong autobiographyPapiLlon,HenriCharriere.kindsof foodandtoolittleoftheright often refersto his static Isometric exercises.kindsof exercise. That isreflectedin the that made his muscles feellike iron when.factthat amalebornin1900hadalife he wasincarcerated in apenal colony on.expectancy of just 47yearsand afemale French Guiana in the 1930s and 1940s.Inof just 49years.Bottom line:theseweren't fact,these exercises helped him survivehisthe good old days-not by a long shot. A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 31 BERNARR f(The Father 32I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION MACFADDEN ofPhysicalCulture InMarch1899,a young man in his early 30s with a passion forphysical fitnessand exercisecame into prominencewhenhepublishedhisfirstissueof PhysicalCulturemagazine.Thispublisher'sname was Bemarr MacFadden,and injust fouryearshisslogan "WeaknessIsaCrime,Don'tBeaCriminal"had resonatedsowellwithanever-growingaudiencein America that Physical Culture magazine reached a monthly circulation of more than 100,000 copies. ButMacFaddendidn'tlimithimselftoofthousands.Inboth1921and1922, being a magazine publisher only.In 1906,theGoldenYearsofPhysicalCulture he published his own natural bodybuildingMagazines,MacFadden had two contests book,MuscularPowerand Beauty,which.todetermineAmerica'smostperfectly featuredphotos of MacFaddenteaching adevelopedman.Thewinnerofboth completesystemofself-resistanceand.contestswasayoungman whotrained Isometric exercises for every muscle group.withtheexactsamemethodsthatwere in the body.Hewassoconvinced of thefound in MacFadden's Muscular Power and superiority of his Isometric/self-resistanceBeauty.Thoughhediscovered methods that on the title page of his book.themethodsinanother he wrote:source,the man's name ,' Containingdetailedinstructions forthe development of the external muscular system to its utmost degree of perfection. ,, wasCharlesAtlas, whobecamethe stuff of legends. The truth was,when you saw the photos of MacFadden'sflawlessphysiqueashe. demonstratedtheexercises,itmadeit impossible to argue with the effectiveness. ofhismethods.Themanclearlyknew. whathewastalkingaboutandwasthe. "livingproofpersonified."Believeme,. whenitcametoweakness,Bernarr MacFadden wasno criminal. Formorethan40years,MacFadden's PhysicalCulturemagazinehadanavid. audience that reached into the hundreds MacFadden classical poses A CONCISEHISTORYOFISOMETRICCONTRACTIONI 33 AL0SP. IIThe F0the r SWOBODA ofConsciousEvolution Atapproximately the same time that MacFadden began teaching his methods of self-development, therewasanotherequallyfamousphysical culturist, AloisP.Swoboda,who alsotaught a system that required no apparatus of any kind.Hewassocertain of theincrediblebenefitsofhisexercisesystemthathe statedinhisadvertisingcopy:"Bythiscondensed system more exercise and benefit can be obtained in ten minutes than by any other in two hours."Hisadsusually featuredhis perfectly developedGreek-godlikephysique in one photo at the top right of the page and another photo usuallyatthebottomleftofthepage, whereheappearedtobeawell-dressed, cultured,successful,andexceedingly. handsome aristocratic gentleman. ThefactthatSwobodaappealedtomen fromacrossthespectrumofSOCietyis clearlyevident.Amonghisstudents werePresidentTheodoreRoosevelt,two. membersof the SupremeCourt,doctors, lawyers,andathletesofalltypes,the. magician Harry Houdini,aswell asranch hands,miners,and lumberjacks. Swoboda also had an incredible array of testimonials. Truth to tell,in all respectsthe man was. brilliant,andhisknowledgeof anatomy and physiology wassecond to none.In a. veryrealsense,Swobodawasmorethan acenturyaheadofhistime.Take,for example,his explanation of the dangers of lifting heavy weights and why his system of physiological exercise was vastly superior. "First, I desire to say that physiological exerciseproduces health and strength and improves one's physique. A system of exercise to be physio-logicalmustnotproducethese resultsat theexpenseof the heart, arteries,or vitality.Now,then,it isa factthat the useof heavy weights is aspeedyroutetodevelopment, because of the resistance they give to themuscles;buttheycausean enlargementanddilationofthe heart and also produce aneurism,on account of the obstruction they give to the circulation of the blood in the capillary blood vessels.The capillaries liein betweenthemuscular fibers, and as the latter contract they shorten and necessarily widen,consequently compressinganythingthatlies between them, hence the obstruction of the circulation of the blood in the capillaries. Sinceheavyweightscauseacon-tinualcontractionofthemuscular fiberswhile they are being used,it is readily seen that there isaconstant obstructiontothe circulation.And since the heart isconstantly forcing blood into the arteries,and it cannot empty intothecapillariesandpass intotheveins,thereisagreat increaseofpressurein thearteries, which reacts on the heart and causes hypertrophy of that organ. Therefore,sinceheavyweights cause a rapid development of muscle andstrengthbymeansofthe resistance they give,it isafact that byofferingthemusclesthesame resistance(whichisdone by using onemuscletoresistor antagonize another),one willreceive the same development.Andsinceheavy weightsovertaxtheheartand arteries by the constant obstruction theycause,it isalsoafactthat by making the contraction intermittent by meansof alternate relaxations, thecirculationofthebloodwill notbeobstructed,but,onthe contrary,witheachrelaxation,the bloodwillflowfromthearteries intothecapillaries,andeach A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 35 ALOISr. SWOBODA, Oricin*wODd"'*'- of theScIaIIifieaodPhysiological MdbocI ofIlUrdse. ebt SwobodaSysttllof Pbyslologlcalxtrdst.(1'....... ___ > THEIIEWE.STWAYTOATTAIIIfUfE.CT HULTH, AIoisP. AntqaiuoTwoSetaofMuocIcswithPba>omenaI Raulto. AloisP. Swoboda bas discovered a_y by ..bich, througbantag. onizatioDoftbemuscles.apenonmaybecomeasstroDrasbe likes, and alltbis without artificial aid.Wbileatnineteenyearsof agebewaslookeduponasaconsumptive,tcHIayhischestand abdominalmusclesaresostronr thatbecanupboldathousaod pound weight upon them. This remarkablestateofaJfairsistber ultofabrandne.. system of development, the secret of ..bicb i.toldinthepreceding paragraph.In the accompanying statement, oyer bis own Ilgnatun, Mr.Swoboda details some very interesting facta.Wbile not poslng as a.strong man inthe sense usually giventhatword,Swobodabas given some examples of bi. strength ..bicb easilyplaceblmamong the fint of the men of muscle.For instance, be ..ill takeapackof cardsandtearit intotwopieces;then be wUItear the halvesinto quarters.andthequartersintoeighths.usingbuthisthumbsand fingers.He will do tbe same thing witbtwo paclaL This is by no means all.Hewillfirstraise a27s-pound dumb-bell over bisbead.Thenberaisesalao-pound dumb-bellover bis head sixtimes in succession without letting it down.Hebu raised atwo-pound dumb-bell 6,000times in 53minutes and seconds. Here is his own story; "When nineteen years of age, 1 .... veryweakanddebilitated. The fact that my (ather died of consumption 6.veyears previous, and the warning of my friends that 1 wouldfoUo .. the same route, cansed meto look to ..ard exercise as ameans of building up my bealth and strength.Ibegan the studyofanatomyforthelocation.functioos ____ _ _ __.___and relations ofalltbemuscles.IgudiedphuiOIOf"tofindthS! pbJ:siological etlect ofeleereise;..byexercisecauaeddemopment. and the effect ofdifferentmodesofnercise.Isoonfoundthattheuseof bouy ..eigbtswastbespeediest . routetodevelopment.But Ialso foomdthat tbe use of the weigbts cbeckedthecapillarycircu-lation, thereby increasing the pressure inthe' uteries,consequently placingannoduestrainODthebeart.Sio.ce,bowever,theuseof weights cauaed arapid development ofthemusclesand willpower and at the same time ov.-xed the beart, Occurred to me thatifI could find ameans by wbich the muscles cOUldbeolIeredtbesame resistance as by the use of weigbts (and still not use ...eigbts), thatI could gain as much muscle, wiUpower and vitalforceinasshorta time, and not overtax thewbichisunavoidablewhenweigbts are used. "In studying anatomyI soonnoticed that wbile all movable parts of the body bod muscles to move tbem one way, they also bad muscles to move them back again.It thenoccun-edtomethattouseone muscletooffer resistance to another would cause the same develop-ment as the use of weightstoofferresistance.but withthe alternate contractions and reluations, would belp thevenouscirculationand instead of obstructing thecirculation inthecapillaries,wooldhelp the blood in the course towards the beart, therebyrestingthebeart. Therefore. the alternate contractions andrelaxationsofonemuscle under the influence of &stimulus (willpower)to anta20nizeanother isthe principle of my system of physiological exercise. ALOISP.SWOBODA." SWOBODA'SMfASUREAE.IITS. BKGINN1NG. Chest, normal, 34 inches. Chest, contracted, 33inches. Chest, expanded, 35" inches, showing an expansion ofthe cbest of 2" incbes. Waist, 31inch ... Neck, 13Kinches. Biceps.11 incbes. Forearm.10" inches. Thigb,18" incbes. Calf,13incbes. Weigbt, 1)0 pounds. 36I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION APTBRTHIlJUtVARS. Chest, nonnal. 45inches. Chest, contracted, inches. Chest, expanded. S2IOcbes. showing an C'xpa.ru.ionof 18Inches. Waist. 2C}inches. Neck, .6" inches. Bicc'ps 6inch es. Forearm, 13)(inches. Thigb, 24inches. Calf, S incbe . Weigbt,.60 pounds. "LOIS f.SWOBODA, contractionwillforceitfromthe capillariesinto the veinsandhelp. itinitscoursetowardtheheart. ',. IndoingtheseIsometricPowerFlexes, Swoboda'sstudentsbecameextremely strong,beautifully sculpted,and masters of muscle control.In fact,it wasSwoboda Swobodawrotethismorethanacentury agoin his Swobodaism Course,whichhewhocoinedthetermmusclecontrolin copyrightedin1901.Theexactsame1898(thenfeaturedinhis1901course) dangersthatSwobodamentionswereandnotMaxick,whobegansellinghis completelyverifiedbytoday'smedicalMaxalding course in 1909. Both men used establishment and revealedtothe publicthetermmusclecontroltodescribethe inanarticlepublished in theMarch13,.abilitytopowerfullycontractandrelax 2003issueof theWallStreet Journaltitledany given muscle group at will. "FearsMount OverDangersof Pumping Iron:WeightliftingCrazeComesUnder ScrutinybyDoctorsConcernedAbout Health Risks."WhenI say that Swoboda warnedoftheexactdangersthathave now been verified by medical science,I'm notsayingsimilarto-I'msayingexact. YoucanreadtheWallStreetJournal article on line foryourself. SowhatexactlydidSwobodateachhis students?Ihaveseenacopyofthe original Swoboda course,and his exercises werea combination of ultra-high tension Isometric Power Flexes(similar to the ones featuredin thisbook)followedimmedi-ately by a movement where the tension in the muscleswasreducedjustenough to permitmovementthroughacomplete rangeofmovementwhilethemuscles remainedunder intense contraction. This wasfollowedbyacompleterelaxation oftheeffectedmusclegroupsbetween repetitionsthat allowed the blood to flow unimpeded as mentioned in the previously quoted paragraphs. Oneotherinterestingnoteisthatworld famousCharlesAtlas,perhapsthemost famous bodybuilder of all time,wasquoted assaying,"EverythingIknow,Ilearned from A.P.Swoboda." Swoboda'sbooksandcourseswerepub-lished by the Roycroftersof EastAurora, New York.They were exquiSitely produced ataqualitystandardthatisdifficultto findtothisveryday,andtheliterary contentandknowledgetheycontained were brilliant. By190 I,just threeyearsafterstarting tomarketliTheSwobodaSystem, 11Alois P.Swobodahadbecomeamillionaire . Theheadquartersforhismail -order empire waslocatedin Chicago,Illinois. HiscourseremaineduntilOctober 1929,whenhelosteverythinginthe StockMarketCrashthat usheredin the GreatDepressionof the1930s.Hewas workingonacomebackwhenhedied in1939. A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 37 MAXICK IIThe Moster 38I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION afM usceControl" While MacFadden and Swoboda were making namesforthemselvesinAmericainthe early1900swiththeirownbrandsof Isometricsandphysicalculture,thereweresimilar stirrings in Europe.Here there was a young man by the name of Max Sick,who stood less than 5'3"tall but was phenomenallystrongandwelldeveloped.Hewas introduced in London,England,by strong man Tromp VanDiggelen,who wasamaster physical culturist in his ownright.Althoughthetwomenhadnevermet,they soon discovered that they had both, independently of each other,deviseda system of muscle control andphysicalculturebased on Isometric Contraction exercises that allowed them to develop extraordinary robust health as wellasgreatphysicalstrengthwithout the use of any form of apparatus. It wasshadesofAloisP.Swobodaand Beman MacFadden all over again.In fact, when Van Diggelen met Max Sick,he con-vincedMax Sicktochangehisnameto. "Maxick"in order to appeal to an English audience.(Afterall,howmany English- . speaking men would want topurchase a health and muscle building course froma. man whosename was Max Sick?)In 1909 thisbrought into being the world famous. "Maxalding"Mail-OrderBodybuilding. and physical culture course that remained popular forwell over 60 yearsthroughout Europe.SimilartotheSwobodacourse, which waspublished in 1898 in America, the Maxalding course featuredIsometric Power Flexexercises and made numerous referencesto directed thought being the. sourceofmuscularcontractionandthe. keytotheacquisitionof greatstrength.. Thefollowingisanexcerpttakenfrom. Muscle Control by Maxick that was written in1911andexplainsthepowerof focusedthoughtinachievingsuccess with Maxalding: How Mechanical Exercise May Hinder Muscle-Development ,,One day I waswatching ajourney-manfiling metal.I fellto wondering vaguelywhy it wasthat hisarm and deltoiddevelopment wasso small in comparison with that of the rest of his body,knowing,asI did,that the manhadworkedatthebenchfor years.Surely,according to accepted theory,it wasjust these parts which shouldbethemoredeveloped considering the nature of his work! I wassointerested in this case that I began to takecareful note of other workmen;andmyobservationsat length convinced me that mechanical exercisewillnotincreasebulkof strength beyond a certaindegree. Ifoundoutlaterbyexperiment thatmechanicalexercisewillonly producegoodresultsifinterestis directed to the muscles being 'used. If the mind isdirected only to work being performed,acertain pOint of muscularresistanceisreached;but thereitstops.Tosecurefullbenefit fromthe exerciseit isessentialthat the mind beconcentrated onthemuscles, and not onthe work performed.,, A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 39 TheCaseofthe Stonemason ,,Instances by way of example may begivenbythehundred.Takethe caseof the stonemason,whohas to useahammerormalletformany hours daily,during which thousands of blows are struck,and the shoulder and armhave tobear the weight,as wellasuse the mallet. Now,accordingtothetheories enunciatedbymanyteachersof physicalculture,thegreaterthe number ofrepetitionsperformedof one exercise,the greater the develop-mentof themusclesemployed.But hereisaflatcontradictionof these theories,forit willbe observedthat 40I ISOMETRICPOWERReVOLUTION the majority of stonemasons do not evinceanythingexceptionalinthe wayofarmandshouldermuscle development. Andtheexplanation?Perfectly simple!Thestonemason'smindis necessarily concentrateduponthework beforehim,andhepayslittLeorno heed tohis muscles. ', Maxick clearly explains why self-directed Isometric Contractions without apparatus canyieldsuchexceptionalresults.It isbecauseduringatrueIsometric Contraction,the individual's thoughtsor mind isclearly focusedon the contraction of the muscle itself. GEORGE "MosterP hy Strongman, F SICa and 'hissame concept of mind/muscle connection was also written about by George F.Jowett,who also becamefamousasastrongmanandphysical culturist.InhisbookTheUnrevealedSecretsof Man, whichwaspublishedin1928,Jowettstatedthe following,which istotally in sync with what Maxick stated in the previous section: JOWETT Culturist Publisher " A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 41 George F.Jowett performing anIsometric balance exercise (tryholding that for threeminutes!). ,,Mental concentration is where thou-sands of bodybuilders fall;they failto see the dividing line. Blindly they stag-ger about the road and failto read the signat the crossroads. Their case isa reminder of "the spirit iswilling but thefleshisweak."Youneversawa pitcher successfully curve a ballover theplatewhilearguingwiththe umpire. No,and you never saw a body culturistacquirethesuperstateof physicalmanhood withmovements that lacked pep and a mind filled with "Gee whiz,how soon willI be done?" They arelikethe youngster learning music with his eyes on the clock. Practicing amovement ahundred timesor thousand times willnot get you anywhere,nor willpulling and haulingatatonofiron.Themore 42I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION mentalimpulseyouputbehindan effortthelesstimeisrequired. Movementsbecome clockwork,too mechanicaCandhaulingatonof metalislikeprayingtoabronze Buddhatohand )Touout a check for a million dollars. ,, Asyou can clearly see fromthesequotes taken fromMaxickand GeorgeF.Jowett, aswellasthe entire history of Isometric Contraction up to this pOint,your success withIsometric Contractions asthe master methodof physicaldevelopmentwould seem to be dependent upon two essential factors:(1)Themuscularcontraction itself and (2)your ability to use your mind anddirectedthoughtswithalaser-like focustointentionallycontractyour muscleswithgreatintensity.Thesetwo factorsare,infact,twoofthegolden keystosuperiorlifelongstrengthandremotely awareof the secret that youare development. But thereisathird equallyabout to learn. Toexplain the third golden important factor,literally the third golden.key,Iwillturntothewritingsofthe keythat has been completely overlooked manwhointroducedMaxSicktothe inallcontemporaryIsometrictraining textspublishedsincethe1950s.And.world asMaxick,aman forwhom I have when I say all,I mean all. Asa result,I can.tremendousadmirationandrespect, safelysaythat not one man in a1,000 is.Tromp Van Diggelen. George F.Jowett perfonning hisfamollsanvil stunt. A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 43 TROMPVANDIGGELEN "Adventurer 44I ISOMETRICPOWERReVOLUTION E xtroordinoir efI Inhis autobiography, titled Worthwhile Journey,Tromp VanDiggelen,who wasone of the world'sgreatest physicalculturists and one of the world'sstrongest men,explainedhismethodof(Isometric)muscular contractionandhow hediscoveredit.Healsohigh-lightedthethirdgoldenkeythatmakesIsometric Contraction the superior method that it truly is.Even without employing the third key,you could still achieve tremendous muscular strength and shapeliness, but with it youbecomemasteroveryourentirevoluntarymuscular system.Thiskey willtremendously enhance your functional strengthandathleticabilitybyhaving complete muscular control over your entire musculature fromthe top of your head to. your toes.Please read very carefully: ,,One day,Mr.Tatham toldme that when you pinch a muscle with your fingersyouhinderorimpedethe blood flowin that muscle and then, whenthemuscleisreleased,the blood which was kept back,flows for-wardagain withincreasedimpetus. "If you have a little stream of water," he said,"and you hold back the flow byputting aspadeacrossthesmall furrow,thewaterbuildsupbehind thespade,andwhenyouliftthe spade again, that extra water runs for-wardstrongly."That simplepicture made the idea very clear to me,and Irespondedbysaying:"But,Mr. Tatham,if I make the muscle in my armhard,thebloodflowinthe musclemustsurelybeslowed down?""ByJove,youareright, Cottie,"hereplied."Then,"Iwent on,"when I relax the muscle again, the blood must fillit even better than usualforafewmoments,andsoif I contract my muscles extrahard and I relax them again, extra well, I will be creating a better blood flowin them, and asyou have alwaystold me that the blood isariver of nourishment, I would be bringing extrafoodto the musclesaswellasthe nerve-centres, wouldn'tI,sir?""Cottie,"saidmy teacher,"youhavesaidsomething very important; it seems that it isnot the exercise that develops the muscle but the blood that the exercise brings to the muscles." Wetalkedthematteroverat length,andItoldhimhowI explainedtomy mother that Iwas notstrongenoughtopullrubber strands in an attempt to get stronger. IhadtoldherthatIwaswasting energy and that I must save the small amount of strength that I possessed. Trompat afairinthe FirstWorldWar, lifting 210 pounds with one hand. Later on,when I had better words at my command,I explained myself moreaptlybysaying:"Onemust conserve energy when exercising and expenditaslittleaspossible.If,for instance,youswing Indian clubs to develop your pectoralmuscles,you willnot getthe splendidandquick resultsthatyougetbystrongly A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 45 contracting these muscles fora couple of seconds,andthenrelaxingthem thoroughly for a couple of seconds, and repeatingthissimpleproceduretill youfeelthat the pectoralmuscles are properly flushed with blood." Many,manyyearslaterIwas very happy when Professor Stibbe, thenotedanatomistofthe London University,said:"Tromp Van Diggelenisthefirstmanwhoever spoke of forced relaxation.'", AsyoucanseefromreadingVan Diggelen's text, the third golden key that allowsyoucompleteself-masteryover your entire muscular system isyour ability to completely relaxyour muscles with the same level of controlasthat with which youconsciouslycontractthem.This allowsyourcirculatorysystemtobring new nourishment and life-giving oxygen to your muscles,nerves,and every cellof your body.More on Tromp VanDiggelen later,but now I want to introduce youto Alexander Zass,The Amazing Samson. Tromp, at the ageof 53,pressesa sack of mea liesweighing 203 pounds,which was 20 pOllnds more than his own weight. 46I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION ALEXANDER "TheAmazing Of all the men who have used Isometric Contraction todevelopsuperiorstrengthandphysique, I believe that Alexander Zassreignssupreme. Attheleveloffeatsofstrengthforwhichhewas famous,I have no doubt that he truly wasthe world's strongestman.Hisclaimtofamewashisabilityto bendthickironbarsandsnapchainswithhisbare hands.But it wasn'tjust iron barsthat Zasscould bend. Hedid,infact,bendrailroadspikesintoperfect"U" shapes anddid soon severaloccasions.What made his feats of strengthsouniquewasthewayinwhichhedevelopedhis ZASS Samson A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 47 extraordinary strength. That alone isthe stuff of legend,and alsovery reminiscent ofwhatVictorHugostatedinLes Miserablesabout convicts in prison practic-inga"mysteriousseriesofstatics"that produced extraordinary strength. ForAlexander Zass,it allstartedin World WarI whenhe wasaRussianprisoner of war in anAustrian prison camp.Prior to thewarhehadbeenaverystrongman who workedout religiously with conven-tionaltrainingmethodsof thedayand Alexander Zassbreaking chains window,ripped one of them out, bent the barto useasa J-hook forscalingawall, and literally snappedthe chains fromhis manacles to make good his escape! Afterthewar,Zasscontinuedwith hisnewlydevelopedstrengthtraining method,refinedit,wentontheroad asastrongman throughoutEuropeand England,andbecamefamousas"The AmazingSamson,"performing featsof strengththathavenotbeendupli-catedtothisday.Healsosoldthe veryfirstcoursethat utilizesIsometric Contractionexclusively.Infact,the entire Zasscoursewasconductedusing chainsasthesolestrengthbuilding apparatus,just asZasshad used asa pris-onerofwar.Butthinkaboutit.What could possibly be more macho than hav-ingyourstudentsendeavortobreak chains?Andbreakchainstheydid. Several of his best students wrote to him requesting evenheavier chains because, liketheir hero Alexander Zass,they too hadbrokentheirchainsandneeded somethingmoresubstantial.Suchwas the power of the ZassIsometric Training method,whichwasinitiated30years wasvery proficient at the art of wrestling. .Butonceimprisoned,hefoundhimself shackledinsolitaryconfinementand unabletoexerciseproperly,orsohe thought.Sureenough,his body began to deterioratejustasanyone'sbodywould prior to Isometric Contraction being ver-ifiedasthesuperiorstrengthbuilding when it isdeprived of exercise. It was thenmethod by the scientists who conducted that he beganpulling and pushing on his hundredsof physical experiments with prison bars and chains asameans of exer- .thousands of testsubjectsbetween1946 cise.Tohisgreatdelight,hediscovered thatnotonlydidthisformoftraining rebuildhisstrength and physique,but it augmented it farbeyond any levelthat he hadenjoyedpreviously.Whenthetime wasright,he bent thebarstohisprison 48I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION and1961at the MaxPlanckInstitutein Dortmund,Germany. I should alsomention one other interest-ingfact.AlthoughZasswassecondto none at the featsof strength forwhichhe wasfamous,he didnot possessthe right kindof leverage,and therefore strength, to performheavy featsof weightlifting.In. fact,W.A.Pullum,whowastheBritish. weightlifting coach in the1948 Olympic. Games,the firstOlympics conducted after WorldWarII,spokein the most compli- . mentarywayimaginableaboutZassin spiteofthefactthatZasswasnota weightlifter.Thefollowingisan excerpt fromthe October 1952 Healthand Strength magazinearticletitled,II Alexander Zass: The Amazing Samson": furtherexplainswhytheprojected matchwithGoernerneverhadthe slightestchanceofcomingoff. One wasa weightlifting strong man, theotherwasnot.Nopossibility existed of bringing the two extremes together,orevenofeffectinga middle course compromise. Samson being inapositionwherehecould dictate terms,naturally couldnot be expected to compromise. ', I have includedPullum's quote to answer acommonlyaskedquestionabout whether or not Isometric Contraction by,' Samson,though,whilesopopular withthegeneralpublic,wasnotso with weightlifters,on the whole,ashe didnot doweightlifting inhisact.There wereevensomewhoarguedthat neglecttodothis-as hemust have usedweights to gain the strength he possessed-wasabetrayaloftheir favoritesport.Hadtheir anatomical knowledge only been asprofound as theirconvictions,theywouldhave foundthat farfromSamsonhaving manufactured his particular brand of strength with weights,it wasevident itself willmake youabetter weightlifter. hehadnotusedtheminmanner understood,the very nature of some of hisfeatsclearly proving that.For these featshad developed to a degree of superhuman strength the muscles thatopposedtheactionsof orthodox weightlifting. Couldn't DoWeightlifting!That's the all-sufficingreasonwhySamson neverfeaturedweightliftinginhis act:hejustcouldn'tdoit!Which Youcanseethatitwillbuildsheer strength and power better than any other method.Butto be goodatweightlifting requiresspeed,excellentleverage,and technique. If you aremissing any of these three components, you may be amazingly strong,aswasAlexanderZass,and perhapsamongthestrongestofmen worldwide,but not in away that applies toweightlifting.Soinsteadof using a bar to lift weights,youjust bend the bar. Finally,one more pOint of interest about AlexanderZass.Duringthe1920sand 1930s,his course of Chain Isometrics was phenomenally popular in Europe.I can't help but believe that when WorldWarII ended and thousands of injured soldiers desperately needed rehab that the doctors attheMaxPlanckInstitutedecidedto check out the Zassmethod only to verify itastheworld'sbestandmostefficient methodofbuildingmusclestrength. More on that later. A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 49 JOSEPH IIThe Mighty 50I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION GREENSTEN Atom" Atthe same time that Alexander lass wastouring the capitals of Europe,performing his magnificent featsof strength to sold-out audiences,there was a lass-counterpart touring the vaudeville circuit in America and performing many of the same types of featsaslass. Hisname was JosephGreenstein,liTheMighty Atom." Similar to both lass and Maxick,Greenstein stood 5'3" tallandweighed147pounds.Hetoowasfamousfor breaking chains,bending bars,and straightening horse-shoes with his bare hands. And similar to Alexander lass, he trainedagreatdealwithIsometricContraction.Infact , Greenstein firstlearned aboutIsometric Contractionwhileaccompanyinghis friendandmentor,theRussianCossack. circusstrongman "Volanko,"on atrip to Indiainthesummerof1908.Volanko wasvisitinghisIndianfriend,whowas known worldwide asthe greatest wrestler whoeverlived,"Gama,theLionof the Punjab." The following isan excerpt from the book,TheMighty Atom:The Life and Timesof Joseph L. Greenstein,Biography of a Super Human by EdSpielman: , ' Atlast,he and Volanko arrived at a place that wascrowded with achat-teringthrong;theyweretheonly Europeansamongthem.Itwasa wrestling ring. For centuries wrestling was the national sport of India, and it was treated with some formality. In the center of a loose earthen pit, twomassiveIndian wrestlersstood naked except forbreech cloths,their black mustaches preened and heads shaven.Eachraisedaweighty gold scepter-mace,his badge of champi-onship.Thisformalityconcluded, the two men facedeach other in the openpit.Thecrowdtookupa chant,callingthename"Gama" again and again asthe match began. Inamatter of seconds,the smaller manupendedhisopponentand slammed him to the earth asaroar went up.A grossmismatch. The vic-tor wasVolanko's friend,"Gama, the Lionof the Punjab,"who wouldin yearstocomeberecognizedby Westernsportshistoriansasthe greatestwrestlerofthetwentieth century. At 5 '6" and 270pollnds of solid mllscle, TheMightyGamawasundefeated in5,000 matches. Noneedtowonder why! Afterthematch,Volanko,Gama, and theboy sat in theshade asthe twowrestlerstalkedidlyandall shared fromalarge basket of fruit,a gifttoChampionGamawhowasa strictvegetarian.Withappropriate deference,theboyaddressedhim. "Gama,mayIaskyousome-thing?" A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 51 The Mighty Atom,lying 0 11aboard studdedwith sharp-pointednails,ashe supports 17 membersof aband andtheirinstruments.He held this positionfor 15 minutes. IIAsk." IIYouropponentwasverybig .. . " 1I andyetIthrewhimlikea baby." II How?"Yosselleasked in wonder-ment. lilt'sreallyquitesimple,"the Indian said good-naturedly.IIInthe Punjab,whereIlived,therewasa largetreebehindmyhouse.Each morning I would riseup early,tie my beltaroundit,andtrytothrowit down." II A tree?" the boy marveled. IIFortwenty years." II And you did it?" IINo,littleone, "Gamasmiled, IIbut after a tree . .. a man iseasy." " It wasfromthis introduction to Isometric Contraction that The Mighty Atom began appl ying the method for the development 52I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION of hisown super human strength.Similar toAlexanderZass,Greensteinwasan exceptionally good wrestlerandathlete, whosefeatsamazedonlookerstothe pointwheretheyliterallycouldnot believe what they were seeing.In addition tochainbreaking,barbending,and horseshoestraightening,TheAtomalso performedafewunorthodoxfeats.For instance,hewoulddrivea6"spike .through a long 2" X 6"board with a single palm strike. Then he would bend over,use histeethtoextractthespikefromthe board,andproceedtobitethespikein half.Hewould also bite through chains as partofhisact .Now,Igrantyouthat bitingthroughspikesandchainsis extremeandjustalittlebitstrange,but italsodemonstratesanunusuallevel of strength. Thefollowingisanexcerpttakenfromsame featsof strength!The photographic the June1938Lookmagazineinwhichsequence shown at the bottom of this page The Mighty Atom performed the featsI'vewas taken at that event more than 30 years just mentioned. Atthe time of the article,ago at Madison Square Garden. The AtomwasSSyearsold. The factthat hisIsometric trainingmethod producedBottomline:notonlywillIsometrics exceptional strength iswithout question.make you a great deal stronger,it will help Butwhat isevenmoreamazing wasthekeep you that way forlife.And if you do a factthat38yearslater,during thesum- fewother thingsright,youcan expecta merof1976whenhewas93yearsold, The Mighty Atom was still performing the very long,healthy,and vigorouslifejust like The Mighty Atom. A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 53 CHARLESATLAS " TheWorld'sMostPerfectlyDevelopedMan" 54I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION Inaveryrealsense,thehistoryofIsometric Contraction would be totally incomplete and lacking withoutmentionofliTheWorld'sMostPerfectly Developed Man," Charles Atlas.It would be like the his-toryoftheD-Dayinvasionof Normandy,France,on June 6,1944, without the mention of General Dwight D. Eisenhower,theSupremeCommanderoftheAllied Forcesduring WorldWarII.Afterall,when it comes to Isometric Contraction,no one did more to popularize this method of exercise than the legendary Charles Atlas. Soheregoes.CharlesAtlaswasborninMethodthatputyoungAngeloonthe Acri,Italy,on October 30,1893,with thefasttrack to physical transformation and birthnameofAngeloSiciliano.Heperfection. Somuch so that one day when emigatedtotheUnitedStateswithhisAngelo wason the beach with his friends, motherwhenhewastenyearsold.one of them said,"Hey,Charley [Angelo's Duringhisearlyteens,hewasoftennickname],you'relookingjust likethat victimized by an older bully in amannerAtlasguyinthestatue."Itwasn'tlong nearlyidenticaltothecharacter"Mac"beforeyoungAngeloSicilianolegally in the famous Charles Atlas cartoon ads- changedhisnametoCharlesAtlasand "TheInsultThatMadeaManOutof.became the stuff of legend. Mac"-that weresopopular in the comic. booksof the 1930s-1970s."Mac" wasthe.Withhisnewlysculptedphysique, skinnyguywiththebeautifulgirlat:CharlesAtlasbecameahighlypaid the beach,and thebig bruiser of abully.model, posing for many famoussculptors of the day.He alsoworked at asideshow kickssand in his faceand then threatens tosmashinMac'sface.Feelingtotally.on Coney Island,performing asastrong-man,andeventouredthevaudeville circuit with his friendEarleLiederman in ahand balancing act. Thenin1921,he humiliated,Mac sees a "Dynamic Tension" adinamagazineandwritestoCharles Atlas.Within arelatively short period of wonthetitleof"TheWorld'sMost time,Mac the Scrawny becomes Mac the Mighty,andhelooksin themirrorand PerfectlyDevelopedMan"inacontest says,"It didn't takeCharles Atlaslong tosponsoredbyBernarrMacFaddenand givemethesemuscles."Hethengoes:PhysicalCulturemagazine.WhenAtlas backtothesamebeach,seesthesame won the titleagain in 1922,MacFadden bullyhumiliatingsomeoneelse,and.gaveupsponsoringit,saying,"What's promptlydispatchestheidiotwitha.the use?Atlaswould win it every time." thunderousrighthandandhandstheAtlasthenteamedupwithDr.Fredrich guy'sbutttohim.Ofcourse,thegirlisTilney,a noted health writer and physical thrilled and says,"Oh, Mac, you are a real.culturist,andpublishedtheworld man after all."And there are several other famousCharles AtlasExerciseCourse in 1922.Initially,theAtlascoursewas "Wow!Lookatthatguy'sbuild"and. advertisedandpromotedprimarilyin onlookersmakingstatementssuchas "He's already famousforit." PhysicalCulturemagazineandwasonly Thetruthisthatthatwholecartoonmoderatelysuccessful.Butin1929, episode reallyhappened to young Angelo.CharlesAtlaswasjoinedbyayoung Siciliano.But at the time,he didn't have CharlesAtlastowriteto,soinsteadhe didthe next best thing:he wrote to Alois P.Swoboda.AnditwastheSwoboda advertisingexecutivebythenameof CharlesRoman,and they wereoff to the races.ThefirstthingRomandidwasto change the name of the course aswellas A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISOMETRIC CONTRACTIONI 55 coin,copyright,and trademark the term fortheexercisemethodsthatwere featuredinthecourse-"Dynamic Tension."Healsorewrotetheadsand promotionalmaterialsothatthey appealedasmuch toteenageboysasto grown men.Hence,there weremultiple variationsofthead,"TheInsultThat MadeaManOutofMac."Romanran these adsin comic books,realizing there wasan ever-growing army of teens who wanted to become strong and manly like Charles Atlas.Inaddition,Romanset up '-''''' .......... '.. I_JfoouJ*.lIt " ... .,(..".........., .....,.T....., itlplUt, IAlClMInd, ...,,,,- -'. 1Iit-iI.q"" .....1_.""'" ....IU...... ,.......... ..,.,.put, ...,..... __ ............. : -====::; _.... n.d...i ... ..., .......... , .... , .. _""'1 ..... _ ....... \I,,., w..'-I.n,._ ;.11'>,10 , ........ -"'-,,-.-...... ...-.... ... ."",IJoUII ....""-- ........ II...."I ....-.. Ity' ... .........u,- _oJ .... .--..---w ___I.......... bJ\ .... , ....... ...a """,,..,_1_-'- , ............. IiItLlr ..... .. ..w ,... , u-.& ...1 ....... ctll&tftl....o""1

"'_14 ... __ "" ......... ..... ... _ _.. _...d.....,_ , ... _t ..... hnqt1no: ..1lw-:r.............. ,....., ....... ~...... _."" ...... ___".,P__ ._ _ ~ . _ . I "t.......... LA TI SS I M U SDORSIM U S C L E ~ OFT H EUP P ERBAC LATISSIMUSDORSIMUSCLES Exercise#2 POSITIONA:Bend forwardfromthe waist asshown.Interlock the fingersof both your handsjustabove the backside of your rightknee.With your armspulling asshown,try to straighten your upper body against theresistanceof your right leg.Slowlybuild tension whileinhaling 3to4seconds.Upon reaching peak contraction,begin aslowly controlled exhalation for7to12 seconds while making anf-f-f-f or s-s-s-ssound and maintaining the intensity of the contraction the entire time.Then slowly releasethe tension while breathing in foranother 3 to 4seconds.Relax.Power breathe, and then repeat the entire procedure on the left side. POSITIONB:Repeatthe previousexercisebut raiseyourright kneeandfootapproxi-mately6"to8"fromthe floor.Followthe correct breathing andcontraction protocols. Uponcompletion,relax.Powerbreathefor7to10 repetitions,thenrepeatthe entire exercise on the left side. 188I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION A PO SIT IONC:Repeattheexercise describedabove except that your right knee isbent still fartherand your right footisnowraised12"to16"fromthe floor.Followthesameprotocolsfor breathingandcontraction.Upon completion,relax.Power breathe,and then perform one lastcontraction on the left side of the body. Payspecialattentiontothisexercise becauseitalsoenhancesbalanceina big way. B P OSITIONS 12-16" c Thefollowingexercisesfortheerector spinalmusclesyieldexceptionalresults quickly and safely.Thisareaisimportant tokeepstrongbecausethe backtiesinto theabdominalarea.Strongabsalone will not guarantee a pain-freeback.But withtheseexercises,you'll go alongway toward remaining pain freefor life. SPINE ERECTORSPINALMUSCLES Exercise#1 Liefacedownon amat,carpet,or bed with your feetclose together,toespointed,and head slightly raised.Place your hands behind your head,interlocking your fingersasshown.Now slowly inhale asyou push upward firmlywith both your head and shoulders for3to 4 sec-onds while reSistingpowerfully with your handsat the same time.Asyou achieveapeak contraction,slowly begin acontrolled exhale,making an f-f-f-f or s-s-s-ssound for7 to12 seconds while maintaining the intensity of the contraction the entire time.Uponcomple-tion,slowly release the tension while inhaling 3 to 4 more seconds.Relax.Power breathe for 7 to10 repetitiOns. 190I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION CORRECTHANDPLACEMENT SPINE ERECTORSPINALMUSCLES Exercise#2 While lying facedownon astoolor chair that iscushioned,placeyour hands behind your headand slowly raise both your head and feetupward while inhaling for3 to 4 seconds and feeling the muscles in your lower back powerfully contract.Upon reaching peak contraction, slowly exhale for7 to12 seconds while making an f-f-f-f or s-s-s-ssound and maintaining the intensity of the contraction the entire time. Slowly release the tension for another 3 to 4 more seconds while breathing in.Relax.Take7 to 10 power breaths. Therange of motion with this exercise isvery short but very powerful.Youmay alsoperform the exercise with your arms straight in front of you.(And,no, you don't have to be Superman to do this,although you may look like him if you keep exercising!) 192I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION CORRECTHANDPLACEMENT CLASSICISOMETRICS FORA POWERFUL PHYSIQUEI 193 EXTERNALOBLIQUES Exercise#1 Of Special Importance to Athletes and Sportsmen E XTER N A LO B L IQ UES POSITIONA:Stand erect with your feetabout12"apart.Placeyour hands behind your head and interlock your fingers.While inhaling slowly for3to4seconds,bend to the right until youfeelthe musclesin your right sidepowerfully contracting.Atthat point,slowly exhale for7to12 secondswhilemaintaining peak contraction.Upon completion,slowly release the tension while inhaling for3to 4seconds.Relax.Powerbreathe,then repeat on your left side. PO SIT IONB:Repeatthepreviousexercisefollowingtheexactsameprotocolsexcept you'll start with your feetjust 6"apart.(And,yes,this change of positionmakes a difference.) Besure to complete on your left side aswell. PO SIT IONC:Repeatthe previous exerciseexcept thistime your feetwillbetogether. Follow the same breathing and contraction protocols. 194I ISOMETRIC POWERReVOLUTION A B POSITIONS c CLASSICISOMETRICS FORA POWERFUL PHYSIQUEI 195 , ToStrengthen and Firm the Entire Abdominal Structure ABDOMINALS ABDOMINALSEXERCISE#1 IsoSit-Up POSITIONA,B,ANDC:Lieon thefloorwith your feettogether and toespOinted forward