A typical workout exercise with Mike Brown

Here is a typical workout exercise--work large muscles for strength.

Note that my trainee, Derek, fails two attempts at 225# in June and then succeeds with 230# a few weeks later in July.

You may wonder why a bodybuilder should use a push press, involving the legs and hips, as opposed to simply lifting the weight in good form.

You can handle more weight if you push press, as the push press helps get the weight "started" and moves it past the normal "sticking point" (normally about the bridge of your nose). More weight equals more muscle size. More muscle size equals more strength. More strength, even when the press is done in strict form, allows you to handle more weight.

Back in 1971 a fellow named Bob Simpson out of Knoxville, Tennessee trained in this fashion. At a height of 5' 7" and a bodyweight of 250 lbs. he could press 550 lbs from a squat rack: in strict form.

Doing a 330-lb. Bench Press

Bridging (or arching) your back during bench presses will give you better leverage. There is a reason for this. The strength you gain from bridging or arching will "spill over" to your strict lifts. What you do with a strict lift will never "spill over" to a heavier bridge lift.

Strength at Any Age

You may think that a 315-lb bench press doesn’t amount to much. Let’s consider a few factors. First, Mike Brown is 68 years old. How many other 68-year-old men do you know who can bench press 315?

Second, Mike Brown does not—and has never—taken a steroid. As Doug Hepburn points out in his book, Strongman, if you take steroids you will normally add 30% to your lifts. E.g., if Mike Brown took steroids, he could conceivably bench press 409.5 pounds.

Third, as late as 1959 there were only 13 men in the world who could bench 400, according to the Bench Press book written by Bill Anton.

Fourth, as you can see by the video of the lift, Mike Brown probably could have done 325. Mike has two training partners (one is 20 and weighs 250 pounds and the other one is 33 and weighs 220 pounds). They both lift the same weights as Mike. Mike has trained more than one 400-lb. (steroid free) bencher.

Mike predicts that both these young men will bench over 400 before the end of the year. Anyone care to bet that Mike won’t bench over 400 himself at the age of 69 before this year is over?

THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION

On September 23, 2010 I went to a seminar given by Pilates instructor Shelley Hampton at Cox Hospital in Springfield, Missouri.

One of the things she demonstrated was the connection between the mind and the body during exercise. The way she demonstrated it didn’t appear—at least to me—to be very convincing. Her opinion was that you could increase another person’s strength by simply putting your hands on that person, which would help them to concentrate and, by that, increase their strength.

The next day I tried it on a fellow I was training named Adam. Adam had done his first set of bench presses with 250 pounds. He did 3 reps and then failed halfway up on the 4th rep.

Then I had Dianne place her hands on his upper pectoral muscles for his next set with the same 250 pounds. He did 5 full reps.

Seeing is believing.

We took this video afterward just to demonstrate the concept.

Warming Up To Do Military Presses

If you want to use a light weight--but not too light--to do military presses, you don't need to go to the dumbbell rack.

Simply grasp the middle of the bar with one hand and use the other to stabilize the bar. What you will have is the equivalent of a 45-lb. dumbbell

Winner of Samson Cable Set Video contest

The winner of the video contest is Joe from Texas showing his unique use of the Samson Cable Set to strengthen his core.

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.