Lost Training Files from Iron Masters
I recently finished reading “The Purposeful Primitive” by Marty Gallagher. In the book there is a rather large section towards the beginning titled, “Iron Masters” which features guys like Hugh Cassidy, Mark Chaillet, Doug Furnas, Ken Fantano, Kirk Karwoski, and many others. These men might not be the first people that come to mind when you think of iron elites from years past, however, each of these larger than life men were able to become insanely strong human beings. I was captivated reading each individual's story and learning about their ideas on strength training. Each man’s program was different in some ways but they also had many similarities. However, what stood out to me the most was how infrequently some of them trained and how few exercise variations were performed. It was a drastically different take on training programs than you typically see and are told you must do in order to build big muscles and powerful bodies. This alone amazed me.
Their training was simple and as the book states, “primitive” but getting strong, as evidenced by the results of these men in powerlifting competitions and the training protocols used to achieve those results, doesn’t require a gazillion accessory movements and fancy equipment and machines. It takes a barbell and working the piss out of yourself. Guys like Hugh Cassidy, Mark Chaillet, and Ken Fantano all used a twice per week training system and built ridiculously strong and powerful bodies. Take a quick look at their powerlifting competition bests:
Hugh Cassidy 745 squat, 570 bench, 790 deadlift
Mark Chaillet 925 squat, 523 bench, 848 deadlift
Ken Fantano squat 890, bench 610, deadlift 650
And another guy mentioned in the same book, Kirk Karwoski trained just four times per week and was able to achieve these powerlifting numbers:
Kirk Karwoski squat 1003, bench 562, deadlift 777
If you’re not impressed by these gargantuan lifts put up by larger than life men, something is wrong with you. And to believe they achieved this with basically a barbell and minimal training days — some with only two days per week and Kirk with four days per week. The results fly in the face of the thought that more is better. Obviously, more is not always better.
Recently, I’ve come to learn that in order to get strong, you need to not only train incredibly hard but once training has culminated, you need to rest just as hard. The body needs an equal amount of time to train as it does to recover, refuel, and repair. If you are constantly training and thereby using the body's energy capabilities, when does the body have time to grow? I’ve learned these concepts not only in The Purposeful Primitive but also from reading books and listening to by guys like Mike Mentzer and Dorian Yates (who is also mentioned in Gallagher’s book) who espouse similar ideas. Work as hard as you possibly can while you're in the gym by giving your absolute 100% maximum effort, and then when you’re finished for the day, get out of the gym so you can eat, sleep, rest, and recover… then repeat. Which is exactly what these men did for their training and by doing so became some of the strongest men to walk the face of the earth.
How many people would think you could build a 700+ lbs squat by training 2 or even 3 times per week using just a barbell? Most people would assume that to build that level of strength, you must live in the gym and perform a million exercise variations! Obviously this is not the case as these Herculean men are clearly evidence of the contrary.
Mark Chaillet only performed the three competition lifts during training (squat, bench, deadlift). Hugh Cassidy had a similar approach but added in a couple accessory movements for bicep and triceps. Ken Fantano had more of a push/pull approach to his 2 day/week training approach that included some incline dumbbells and close grip bench press in addition to his competition lifts. And of these men listed above, Kirk Karwoski, who trained 4Xweek was the only one to add in what I would call supplemental and accessory movements on each day of his training.
What are the big takeaways from all this?
There is no one size fits all approach to strength training
You can become incredibly strong by training way less than you probably think
Strength training does not require much more than a barbell
For me, it took awhile to come to the realization that the way to get truly strong is by removing the extra exercises from my training, reducing the training days, and focusing just as much on recovery as training. I love training and I love being in the gym so coming to grips with the idea of being in the gym less and doing less when I’m there was, initially, a hard pill to swallow. Over the years you become programmed to think if what you’re doing isn’t working, you just need to do more. If one hour of training isn’t enough, if 5 days isn’t getting the job done, well, you need to train 2 hours and 6 days instead. You think you need to just do more and work harder. When you realize that doing more doesn't mean you’re working harder, it just means you’re doing more, there comes an epiphany that actually the opposite is true. You cannot train hard and train long. And the more frequently you train, the body will naturally just not be able to push as hard because you’re not truly and completely recovered. You may not even notice it because you’ve become accustomed to training in a fatigued state.
The truth is, training must be 100% and recovery must be 100%. How can training be 6 days a week and recovery be 1 day per week and they’re both 100%? The math doesn’t equal out. When training so hard that you force your body to grow and become stronger, because that’s the type of effort that’s required, you need to give yourself time to recuperate. By reducing your training days and getting rid of the extra junk volume from pointless accessory movements that enhance fatigue and inhibit your ability to recover and at the same time properly fueling your body in the form of food and recovery in the form of sleep and rest you provide a physiological atmosphere that allows the body to grow exponentially.
For me personally, I’ve also noticed a mental benefit by reducing the training days. Because I’m not in the gym as often as I used to be, I miss it. When it’s time to get back in the gym, I’m eager and ready, excited for training. I have more enthusiasm to attack my training and give 100% of what I have towards my training. This has been a noticeable and positive change and is also an indicator of being recovered completely.
At this point, you’re probably wondering how exactly can I structure my training in a similar fashion to these men in order to achieve my strength goals? That is the million dollar question. In training, there is some science to programming and there is some art. Some of the things science has shown us (in conjunction with practical evidence) is how to manipulate some of the training variables like intensity during different periods of training; exercise order and rest time for specific goals; and that progressive overload must occur in some fashion to become bigger and stronger. The art of training is fitting these variables into a program that works for you based on personal preferences to training, enjoyment, results, and time availability.
Below I offer 3 basic sample training variations for 2, 3, or 4 days per week training based on strength goals. These are only basic templates and would need modifications based on many factors but it could be a good starting point for many. I hope this helps you achieve the strength performances you have always desired. It took me many years to finally have all of this click and produce results. I hope this article expedites that process for you.
