Why Strength Matters

Could you save a child from plunging to death by climbing 4 stories in 30 seconds?

As men, its our nature to protect people we love (and even strangers) from physical harm.

Emergencies happen. When seconds count, decisive action and raw strength is required.

History repeatedly shows us that society respects strong and capable men. And strong men have self-assurance that makes them natural leaders.

Strength is the most general of all adaptations — the foundation which allows us to do  everything else better.

Bullys Sensed My Weakness

Bullys suck.

The only thing that sucks worse is not standing up to them.

When I was fat and weak, I was wracked by self-doubt when dealing with bullies. I sometimes felt intimidated by them and I regretted not pushing back harder.

But then something interesting happened.

I saw lean men stand up to much larger heavier bullies — and a suddenly a light switched on for me.

I saw that physical strength leads to mental self-confidence. I saw that people, even bullies, sensed that self-confidence and respected it.

In that moment I resolved to learn how to become stronger so that I would fully respect myself and never doubt my capabilities again.

Since then I’ve come to learn through firsthand experience that:

1. Strength and lean muscle mass is the #1 predictor of longevity and energy.

• It also confers numerous other positive health and productivity benefits.

2. Strength and lean muscle mass can be built quickly:

• In as little as 6 minutes a week using 3 basic movements.

3. Bodyweight training (below) is ideal for use at home or when traveling.

• No trips to the gym or special equipment required.

Principles of Strength

The loss of 40% of lean body mass is usually fatal, and the loss of muscle mass is a very accurate predictor of mortality.

Longevity  is primarily the result of strength (lean body mass).

Clearly our ancestors were strong across a wide spectrum of modalities: pushing, pressing, pulling, throwing, squatting, lunging, jumping, twisting, and hauling. These movements were essential to our survival historically.

Essential movements are those actions for which are bodies are designed to execute without injury on a daily, near-constant basis. Pushing, Pulling, and Squatting are all essential movements.

How Do You Measure Up?

Male Push-Ups

Here is a cohort (age-categorized) table for male pushup strength.

Please see the notes below the table on how to use/adjust these figures.

Strength Norms CAUTION: You must always be careful of which specific cohort you are comparing yourself to:

• Some comparison tables are to elite athletes are are too high for average guys like us
• Most tables give figures for 95th percentile performance (too high)
• Some comparisons are to out-of-shape average people and are too low for us
• These tables give figures for 50th percentile (too low)
• This table is 50th percentile for the average out of shape population
• I suggest you add another 50% to these figures

Male Muscularity

Fat-free mass includes all of our body’s components, excepting fat. An individual with higher fat-free mass index (FFMI) is more muscular.

You can easily calculate your FFMI using this handy online calculator.

Here are averages and percentiles for male FFMI.

• 18 — slight build with low musculature
• 20 — average musculature
• 22 — distinctly muscular
• 22+ — not normally achieved without weight training
• 25 — the upper limit of muscularity without pharmacological agents (e.g., anabolic steroids)

How To Progressively Build Strength

Strength and lean muscle are beneficial adaptations that occur incrementally over time (i.e. progressively).

Increasing strength and muscle is simple: progressively add repetitions, add resistance or weight, and/or decrease leverages, and/or increase the range of motion (a larger movement requires more muscle than a smaller movement). There are of course an infinite variety of programs that combine these principles in myriad ways.

The system below systematically decreases leverages and increases range of motion while keeping reps and weight constant (see ‘Why Bodyweight Exercise’ below).

When you reach Level 4 (see below) you will be at 85% of your genetic potential and stronger than 90% of the population. Level 4 represents an optimal ROI of solid strength/muscle in a minimal amount of time (there more levels beyond this, but they offer demising gains for time spent).

The 3 movement patterns (squat, push, pull) use the most amount of muscle in the simplest movement(s) and result in a reasonably balanced and useful physique. There are of course much more complicated programs that promise the moon and stars, but my approach is build a practical foundation on the irreducible minimum.

1. For each of these exercises, do as many reps as you are able in 2 minutes (stop and rest as required)
2. Push-ups (see below)
3. Pull-ups (see below)
4. Squats (see below)
5. When you can do the specified # reps continuously in 2 minutes or less, then progress to next level.
6. Can you do more than this?

• Its 100% voluntary, but if desired you can build additional muscle mass and strength…
• How? Simply do 2 sets of each exercise in each weekly session

“Nobody can do your push-ups for you ”

Healthy Executive Pushup Progression

Healthy Executive Pull-up Progression

Here is a 4-minute video from one of my mentors that shows you exactly how to do the pull-up progression: https://youtu. be/76HjVOoUX6U

Tip:Most schools or parks have moneybars which is a great way to do pull-ups when traveling or even just out for a walk or run at home.

Tip:Table pull-ups work great when traveling or when you don’t have a pull-up bar.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woGSKA2tPrY
• Adjust the table height and your body geometry to work for your range-of-motion
• Start with your feet on the floor
• Putting your feet on a chair (as shown in this video) can come later on

Healthy Executive Squat Progression

Where To Start? How Often? How Hard? How Fast?

• Research shows that you will get better long-term results if you start low and progress slow.
• Lab measurements show that the “tortoise” strategy outperforms the “hare” strategy for exercise.
• Think long term. In just a couple of months my program produces good results with minimal time spent.

One pass-through all the exercises on the list equals 1 set.

• 3 sets a week for a total of 10 sets yields the fastest progress (this takes 3.3 weeks).

However, I recommend 2 sets a week for 5 weeks for the following reasons:

• Going slower in the beginning yields better long term gains (strength built quickly is lost quickly)
• Going slower in the beginning allows you to fix any ‘weak links’ in your kinetic chain (i.e. joints, ligaments)
• If you go too fast, its easy for your primary large muscles to leave your smaller stabilizing muscles underdeveloped.

After your initial progress period, you can drop down to 1/week for strength and lean muscle mass maintenance.

What you want is the muscles in question to feel a pleasant or noticeable burn on set completion.

• If the exercise is too easy:
• Increase the number of repetitions.
• Drop your reps to the point where your form is good.
• It also helps a great deal to feel and visualize the muscle(s) being exercised.
• Doing this will help you develop correct form.

These exercises should be performed at the following pace: approximately 2 seconds up and 2 seconds down.

• What you want to avoid in these exercises is going to fast and creating ‘body momentum’ (also known as ‘kipping’).
• Avoid explosively flinging a body part to create inertial momentum as a way to deload the muscle under tension.
• We always want to aim for keeping the muscle in question under as much continuous tension as practicable.

If you are not sure if you are performing an exercise correctly, please send me a short video of yourself using your smartphone. I will review your technique and give you feedback and pointers on your form.

What about Abs? What about Cardio?

In the short term your abs will get a good workout performing the 3 essential movements in the program I’ve outlined above.

There is nothing wrong with cardio per se (I’ve indulged in ultra-racing like Ironman and the Death Race).

The thing is, cardio is time-consuming and too much of it (5+ hours) can be counter-productive in building lean body mass.

The good news is, cardio and increased V02 Max can be hacked in as little as 10 minutes a week.

Why Bodyweight Exercise?

I designed my program as the “irreducible minimum” for increasing strength and muscle. You are free to exceed this minimum as your time permits and your motivation inspires you.

So why bodyweight exercises for fitness?

• It produces functional strength that matches real-life activities
• It’s compound movements provide a full range of motion
• It activates 40% more muscle than machines
• It improves overall flexibility
• It’s cheap
• It’s portable
• It’s takes no time (6 minutes)
• It’s easy to schedule (once a week)
• It’s expedient (I do it in airports or car rentals or hotel rooms)
• It’s consistent (don’t you hate figuring different machines in different gyms?)
• It’s scalable (I’ve given you just 4 levels, butI can increase the intensity 6 levels MORE)
• How do you think convicts get so strong in their cubicles (i.e. prison cells)?

PRO TIP: Essential strength and a reasonable amount of lean muscle is achievable by the average guy with average geneticslike myself. It is not necessaryto become a bodybuilder, powerlifter, or strongman.

CAUTION: Many elite strength sports are inherently unhealthy and elite athletes will be the first to admit this:

1. Bodybuilders compromise their hormone systems due to extreme dieting and performance enhancing drugs.

• Elite bodybuilders die as young as age 43 whereas the strongmen of old lived to 82 years.

2. Powerlifters compromise their cardiovascular health and mobility in their relentless pursuit of the “Big 3” lifts

• Elite powerlifters are willing to add 50 lbs of fat to add 50 lbs to their 3 lift grand totals.

3. Strongmen force-feed themselves 14,000+ calories per day which leads to numerous health issues including high blood pressure and cholesterol.

• Elite strongmen are willing to add over 100 lbs of bodyweight to slightly increase their mechanical leverages.