Samson Cable Set Video Contest

Some of you may have seen the video of Mike Brown doing 115-lb. dumbbell bench presses with the hot chick in the background (we didn’t even know she was there at the time) and the many comments. That video has generated over 50,000 “hits” on YouTube.

We want to get the same type of reaction with our Samson Cable Set in a video. For this contest we’re looking for a video, such as you take with a cell phone or camcorder, that we can post on YouTube of someone using the Samson Cable Set.

So here’s the deal.

If you have one of our Samson Cable sets, take a video of yourself using it that you think will draw attention. Please, nothing that will get any of us arrested. Use your imagination. Be creative. Try to keep it less than 2 or 3 minutes. The video needs to be submitted by March 31, 2010.

What will the winner get?

First, you’ll get exposure. If a girl in your video is so hot she’s smoking, she may get offers (such as modeling, etc.). If you’re the star, anything is possible.

Second, and most important, the winner gets $500 worth of products from Dianne Miller at leviticus11.com. There will be two honorable mentions that get $100 each worth of products. Dianne and I will determine the winner and the two honorable mentions.

Born to Run

If you include running in your training (as you should), you need to read this book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougal. McDougal demolishes the idea that you need expensive shoes to run in. In fact, he demonstrates the fact that a lot of running injuries are caused by expensive running shoes.

McDougal even goes on to show that the best way to run may be barefoot and that you need to run on the balls of your feet, as nature intended। He then gives specific examples, including the story of a tribe of Indians in Mexico whose members regularly run 50 to 100 miles.

McDougal also refers to a sort of gel that you can make out of chia seeds, called iskiate (see Chia Drink below)। One of our trainees tried it and said it doubled the distance he could run.

If you want to increase your endurance, read the book. It is on sale at major bookstores. Or, click on this link: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

CHIA DRINK

It looks strange, but tastes good and helps to recover after a run. To make 1 serving (a glassful):

8 ounces of water
2-2.5 teaspoons of chia seeds
1 lime to squeeze
2 teaspoons of sugar (or your favorite substitute, i.e., honey, stevia, etc.).

Mix water, sugar, and juice from the lime until dissolved. Add the chia seeds and shake or stir. Serve chilled. If you put it in the refrigerator overnight, it will attain the consistency of jello.

The chia seeds turn into a slimy substance, but it isn’t that noticeable unless you try to chew the seeds. The drink is very refreshing and clean tasting. It also goes down easy and quick.

Experiment with Sticking Point Smashers

Mike,
I wrote to you about a year ago after purchasing your “sticking point smashers” (one of the greatest training aids ever invented in my opinion). I have a question and was wondering if you had or any of your clients had tried to do this.
Have you thought about adding a little bit of “weight” every day to your sticking point smashers and doing “presses” every day for a few reps? If you have tried this, was it successful or did one quickly burn out? I am tempted to take full advantage of this type training but unsure how well it might work in the real world? What would you suggest I add everyday if you think this is a worthwhile endeavor?
Love your blog and health tips. Keep up the great work.
--Sincerely, Patrick

Patrick,
I suspect you might be on to something. Back in 1915 Henry Higgins taught his trainees a “ten minutes a day program” and almost all of them could “put up” 200 pounds overhead with one hand (though I suspect it was a bent press). You can read more about him and other old-time training methods in my book, Diagnostic Bodybuilding.
My suggestion would be to add one .44 caliber lead pellet to each of the sticking point smashers every day, do several sets, add cleans, vary your hand spacing, and restrict your workouts to ten minutes a day (or less). Then report back to me. I’m as curious as you are.--Mike

Letter from a Fan

Every once in a while, I get an appreciative letter from someone who benefited from one of my books or equipment. I just had to share this one I received recently.--Mike

15 Feb 09

Dear Mr. Brown:

I just wanted to write you a few lines to relate to you how much I have enjoyed your books and equipment. Diagnostic Bodybuilding is the most informative book on this subject that I have ever read.

I am 74 years old and still train three to four times per week. In 1952 I started training and went to California. I trained at Babe Stansbury's Gym with Bob Shealy, Kim Fox, Bud Counts and none of us ever saw a steroid.

I also trained at Bill Pearl's and went to Gironda's Gym on two occasions. In that time and since then I have read countless books on training and nutrition. I still have a collection of the old Iron Man magazines. They were in my opinion the best of the bodybuilding books.

However your books cut through the crap and get right to the real issues. Since I have read your books, I have quit eating pork and have changed my diet.

At the present time I am working on grip strength and really like your wrist roller. It is like no other I have seen. I also have two of your cable handles, which I ordered from you when you were in Kentucky (ad in Iron Man magazine). I still do some cable pulling along with the weights.

I have a picture from May 1992, when they had the Gathering of the Great Bodybuilders in San Diego, Mits Kawashima is in that picture along with my friend Babe Stansbury.

In closing Mr. Brown, let me thank you again for helping me with your book and equipment. They are the very best.

Very truly yours,
BB

Tapered Wrist Roller Q&A

Hello, I was interested in this wrist roller. I currently use a small 1.5" wooden dowel wrist roller. How does this wrist roller differ in terms of forearm size compared to a normal wrist roller? I mean will I see more size with this one? I usually stand on something and hang my arms down and do the wrist roller because I have read that it takes the shoulders out of the movement. What is the difference between doing it with the arms out at shoulder length and the way I do it? Thanks, Joe

The rule of thumb is, the thicker the handle of an exercise device for use with the hands—whether it be a wrist roller or a thick-handled dumbbell—the more grip strength it requires to use it. The corollary is that the more grip strength that is required, the more forearm development you will achieve.

Hanging your arms down is not really a good idea. You simply will not achieve the same level and intensity that you will with your arms held straight out, parallel to the floor. Your hands and forearms will exhaust long before your shoulders.

For more information on why you should use a tapered, rather than straight, wrist roller, see the website linked in the title.

Warning on One-Arm Chin Training

Doing one-arm chins by holding the wrist of the hand doing the chinning can create a problem if you’re not careful.

The wrist and elbow of the arm doing the chinning (the “primary arm”) have to be exactly perpendicular to the floor. If, for example, you are dong one-arm chins with the right arm and your elbow is sticking out to the right, the tendons and/or ligaments in the right elbow may have a tendency to “jump the track” and leave you with a very sore elbow that only a chiropractor can fix.

Norman Cantwell, formerly a nationally ranked powerlifting champion and an expert on removing circulation blockages, is of the opinion that one-arm chins are a bad idea and can lead to other problems (Norman is featured in Diagnostic Bodybuilding and in the Self-Defense with Norman Cantwell video)

Norman worked on me and thought that the problems he detected were from the one-arm chins. As my training partner pointed out, the “jammed elbow” I has was just as likely (if not more than likely) caused by the fact that I had been doing partial military presses rapidly with 225 pounds. Any time you do any partial movement with a heavy weight, do it slowly.

If you decide to do one-arm chins, do it slowly and carefully, using plenty of counterweight to ease the potential strain on the elbow.

A Different Angle For Back Development

Very few of the “mirror athletes” (if you can’t see it, what good is it?) who clutter up today’s commercial gyms spend much (if any) effort on back development. For those who do, their stable of exercises is really limited. Bent over rows, one-dumbbell rows, lat machine pull downs, power cleans, and perhaps dead lifts and hyperextensions.

Take a close look at most of the people doing those exercises. They have a “valley” between their shoulder blades (no muscle) and little or no (i.e., they’re flat) on the outside of their shoulder blades. How you cure the first is in Diagnostic Bodybuilding. How you cure the second is with one-arm chins.

Can’t do a one-arm chin? Not to worry, a lot of the 275-pound steroid-induced monsters can’t do a single chin with both hands. It isn’t whether you can do one-arm chins—it’s how you train for them.

First, find one of those dip/chin combos in the gym with an offsetting weight stack. That is, if you weight 200 pounds, start with a 100-pound counter-weight on the weight stack.

Second, if you start with left-hand one-arm chins, grab your left wrist with your right hand in order to also engage the back muscles on the right. Then do the chins. The back muscles on the left side will do the majority of the work but from a different angle than what you have experienced before. 2-4 sets of 3-5 reps will do. You may find it hard to hold on after 4 or 5.

In a few weeks you will feel the back muscles you develop from this exercise pressing against your triceps.