The things I used to think I couldn't do.

[Greg Newton]

In 2004 I read Ric Flair’s bio. In it he described the brutal training during Verne Gagne’s wrestling camp. It started with a two mile run around an icy creek followed by 500 deep knee bends, 200 pushups, and 200 sit-ups. After that, they started training.

At the time I thought that conditioning program was only for a genetic standout and something that was far, far, far out of my stratosphere. In 2009, I realize that even for an average guy like me it is obtainable and something I’ve actually duplicated.

Too often we follow the paradigm that tells us that high rep conditioning is only for a genetic standout like Woody Strode or John Peterson. Or else we take the opposite approach and dismiss the high reps as being for some sort of male aerobics bunny, with a sensitive physique and a headband.

Over Christmas I got 200 reps in the Tiger Stretch Pushups. This month I had a goal of 100 strict reps in Atlas pushups. Yesterday I did it. Was it hard? Of course it was. Was it impossible? No.

I’ve mentioned some of these things before, but it is primarily mental when reaching for those high reps in any exercise. Here are some tips.

1. Set your goal and repeat them over and over to yourself.

2. Visualize your goal.

3. Don’t think about anything else while doing your set. If you get distracted, you’ll shipwreck. Especially thinking about the exercises to follow.

4. After the first 30 or so, it gets hard. When it does, focus on 50. After 50, think about getting just ten more for 60? If you can do 60, why not 75? If I can get 75, why not push on through to 80? If I have gotten 80, surely 100 are not far away. If you think about 100 when it starts getting hard at 30, you’ll stop.

5. Use rest-pause. There is nothing wrong with stopping in the up position and taking a couple of extra breaths. I do them after every ten, whether I need them or not. The mistake is trying to jet propel through the first fifty or so.

6. Also, listen to your body. There is a big difference between the discomfort of training hard and the pain of a joint tearing. You can work through discomfort. Pain is a warning mechanism. I found that for Atlas pushups to be productive for me, a medium/close hand spacing and keeping my elbows toward my body was a necessity. Otherwise it played havoc with an old rotator cuff injury.

Was mastering a 100 worth it? In terms of the shaping, conditioning, and strength brought on by that exercise I’d have to give a resounding YES. And guess what? I don’t have a bunny tail either.

* also want to add one tip I forgot. Do a backdown set with a repetition range that is well within your capabilities. It facilitates recovery and puts a success pattern in your thinking. You always want to leave your training with a positive note.

[JoeJustice]

At the time I thought that conditioning program was only for a genetic standout and something that was far, far, far out of my stratosphere. In 2009, I realize that even for an average guy like me it is obtainable and something I’ve actually duplicated.


Nothing average about you, Gregan! :)

Great post!!

-Joe

[Max McKinley]

And guess what? I don’t have a bunny tail either.

I think I hear a collective WHEW!! from the members of the forum! :act-up:

Actually, this is another exceptional post Greg. Thank you.

[Hopeful]

Greg: As always good advice, and advice well worth placing in one's routine. I've done so with what you have told me and I can see the value of it. Pretty soon 100 Tiger Stretch Push Ups for me. I know it is possible and doable.

Thanks for your advice Greg and keep these great posts coming.


HOPEFUL

[John Peterson]

Hey Greg,

When your forum friends see photos of you looking like a 'dead ringer' for Charles Atlas it's impossible for them to think of you as an "average guy," or for that matter anything less than a stellar example of the results that can be achieved with our training modalities. In fact, it should not even remotely surprise anyone considering that Mr Atlas did exactly the same exercises to develop his incredible physique that you have been performing for the last few years to develop yours.

BUT NOW, let me address something else in your post Greg. Your post offers a brilliant insight and guideline for anyone that wants to succeed with high volume training. In fact, I could not agree more with every detail that you have posted about how to achieve ultimate success with this training modality. All six points are right on the mark and create a synergy of benefits that amplify each other. But there is one that from a purely functional standpoint , may be the most important and that is point number 5. I hope everyone reads and re-reads all six points but I hope they pay special attention to point 5. Why? Because infusing the muscles with highly oxygenated blood exactly as you have underscored in point 5 can mean the difference between success and failure. Brilliant post in every detail Greg. Thank you.

---John Peterson

[gs300tx]

Awesome post GregNewton, couldn't agree with you more. You are an inspiration to us all. Keep up the good work!!

[GB]

Great post Greg - Thanks.

GB

[Nathan]

Hey Greg,

Awesome post my friend! What you have posted is so true and on the mark. I really like what you posted on number 4. I actually used this same technique last Thursday and I was able to knock a set of 150 Hindu/Tiger Stretch push-ups. I just kept saying to my self just five more, just five more . And I ended up stopping at 150. But anyway again awesome post Greg and Great job on the 100 Atlas push-ups that is amazing. All the best and God bless.


---Nathan

[Greg Newton]

Guys,

I was never much of an athlete. You could say I was never a contender. I did a few things when I was young. Endurance and giving up was a problem for me. I never was the fastest, the strongest, or the most conditioned or coordinated. But, by the grace of the good Lord, and by the style of training promoted here by John Peterson, I've been able to turn back the clock and do things I never thought possible. I wish I had bought into this training paradigm decades ago.


I also want to add one tip I forgot. Do a backdown set with a repetition range that is well within your capabilities. It facilitates recovery and puts a success pattern in your thinking. You always want to leave your training with a positive note.

[monty]

Greg,

Nice job!! 100 Atlas PU, man thats incredible. You post are always positive and thought provoking, I am sure you are loved by your students, and you set a great example for them, keep it up.

Monty

[stingray]

Way to go Greg. You have inspired me again. It's amazing how much failure we have before we even try. It is so easy to defeat ourselves mentally. You are smashing those mental (and physical) barriers. It makes it easier for the rest of us to attempt it when you tell us that yes it is hard, but you keep going.

[MAD]

Great post Greg! You make some great points and have some excellent advice. I suddenly feel inspired for a high rep workout!

Mike

[VRT Man]

I was never much of an athlete. You could say I was never a contender. I did a few things when I was young. Endurance and giving up was a problem for me. I never was the fastest, the strongest, or the most conditioned or coordinated. But, by the grace of the good Lord, and by the style of training promoted here by John Peterson, I've been able to turn back the clock and do things I never thought possible. I wish I had bought into this training paradigm decades ago.


Greg, I was never an athlete either. But you have proven them all wrong that you don't have to have the elite genetics to do well with an exercise system like Transformetrics. Bravo, my good man.

--Greg Mangan

[Andy62]

Greg you are an athlete and you are not restricted to any venue of competition or time limit. Transformetrics trains you for the most important game of all "the game of life". It reminds me of a great book that I read years ago "The Ultimate Athlete."

[b38]

Greg,

Excellent. Thanks for sharing your success plan. I was particularly taken with the un-numbered but just as important ending:

"* also want to add one tip I forgot. Do a backdown set with a repetition range that is well within your capabilities. It facilitates recovery and puts a success pattern in your thinking. You always want to leave your training with a positive note."

Ending on a positive note - now that makes it perfect!

All the Best
B38

[vegetus25]

Hey Greg,

Fantastic work!!

My sister runs marathons and during the last two years trained for and ran a 50 miler and a 100 miler. She said increasing the mileage in training and the races was more mental than anything. I can see how it would be the same w/ Power Cals.

I think I remember you posting that you use to do a lower number of reps per set and did more sets to reach your rep goal. Is that right? If so, how would you compare the results you experienced using these two different methods (more reps in one set vs. less reps per set, but more sets).

Again, great job and God bless,

Veg

[Greg Newton]

Well Friends,

I got to say this about the folks here. I've been a lot of things in my life and I have had a few successes and few failures along the way. I may never have caught the winning pass or got the winning tournament pin, but one thing I can say - the people who post here make me feel like a winner. You guys are the best. I just hope I can do the same for you.

Veg,

To answer your question, I built the foundation to do the consecutive reps with multiple sets of the Tee's. Sometines 3X15/20, other times 10X10. The strength was there; the muscular and cardiovascular endurance had to be developed. That was done by doing the Atlas pushups. The backdown set helped to consolidate the gains. The marathon analogy is a good one. John passed that on to me as well.

[isorez]

Greg,
Nice post and very inspirational.

Now for those who can't do the uninterruped numbers that you have mastered, another workout that Ric Flair used to do (and he did these almost every day...so he says) was to set a number , say from 30 to 50.
He would start at 50 for squats and 1 at pushups. The goto 49 and 2, 48 and 3, 47 and 4.....on down until he was at 1 and 50.
THis is a definite burner of a workout and the work loads add up.
I think in the past I hit the 50-1; 1-50 only a few times. But for a shorter workout, that is still a killer and you will get a nice sweat collar down to your belly button onthe t-shirt... try 35-20 and 20-35.

THis will still give you a hard workout of 440 each of pushups and squats. This is an advanced killer to try and do with the hindu/tiger/furey pushups, too. But substitute in regular pushups and the Atlas style an you'll have an awesome workout.

[Nathan]

Hey Greg,

I made this a sticky my friend. You just really made some completely awesome points about how others can reach their goals and smash through mental barriers. Anyway All the best my friend.


---Nathan

[mattman]

Greg,

I just wanted to say hello and respond to this thread. Yesterday my goal in the hindu pushup for one set was 250, obviously i would puase and catch my breath, but always in the up position, my hands and feet never left the floor. When I got to 250, although i truely felt tired, i still had more in the tank to use. So i topped off at 301 hindu-pushups. I felt beat and very happy all at the same time. Now, my reason for sharing this isnt to brag and be a jerk, honest. My point is, although i am only 34, there is no way that i could have done that many, or half that many 10 years ago, even when i was in the army. So, after all my rambling, my last point is this. If you have a goal in mind, do it. You can become as strong as you want to become as you age(granted 34 isnt old, but you get the point.)And if the goal is hard to obtain, so much the better. Be tenacious.

Take care,

Matt

P.S.
this morning my triceps and shoulders are sore but nowhere near what I was expecting. I will still do my 250 atlas push-ups.

[Greg Newton]

Go Matt!

Whether 25 or 250, when you go your best, that is what counts. That 301 is a wonderful accomplishment. I was going to move to the 300 club this summer when I was out for school. But, with your inspiring post, I may jump start it sooner.

I also want to encourage others to start on this quest that I or Mattman or many others thought at one time was impossible. It takes time and persistance to get there, but it is not the inconceivable feat we once thought it was.

[Nathan]

Hey Matt,

Wow!! 301 Tiger Stretch push-ups is amazing. That is one of my goals this year too. I want to be able to do 300 Tiger Stretch push-ups. I wasn't planning on doing this until summer time BUT like Greg said I might have to start sooner! Anyway Matt again Awesome job and All the Best.

---Nathan

[Andy62]

Don't limit your increased aspirations to exercise goals exclusively. DVR/VRT, Isometrics and Isometric Power Flexing draw on the power of your subconscious mind and as a result not only increase physical strength and muscularity,but your creative and intuitve abilites as well. They empower you in all facits of your life.

[dynogoalie30]

Mattman, thats great stuff on the hindu- push ups, and Greg you have great numbers too, my problem is that after 40 reps my shoulders are fried, any special tips for me , I would like to get up to 100 in one set someday, but I am not setting any timetable, mattman do you train squats the same way also? thanks for any help take care.

[Greg Newton]

Hi Dyno,

My advice, which is going to sound backwards, is to ease the tension up and try to relax as much as possible. The more tension, the more muscular hypertrophy and strength is developed, but it will rob you of the muscular endurance to do high numbers. Does that make sense?

In the beginning of doing say 100 reps, you try to relax the body as much as possible. That doesn't mean flopping around like a jellyfish, but it does mean only using as much tension as is needed for doing the set. After you develop the ability to do a certain number, then you begin tightening up your form and adding tension. I hope this helps.

BTW - currently I only do 100 consecutive Tiger Stretch Pushups in the morning, but I have tightened my form up considerable by using more tension in how I position the body. However, now I have the muscular endurance to do so.

[keith james]

Hi Greg

Great post, i have agree with you, if you put in your all you acheive the impossible.

For ages i was stuck on 60 reps for the liederman pushups, but now iam 100 reps per set a,d i can 1000 reps in about 40 to 50 minutes.

On the atlas pushup 1, i was stuck on 50 for a while now i am up to 70 to 75 reps per set, will i hit the 100 mark, i know i will soon, it is just a matter of visulising your workouts and exercises.

In the best of health.

KEITH JAMES.

[Greg Newton]

Hi Keith,

Your experiences parallel mine. The Liederman pushups came about first. Then the Tiger Pushups. You wouldn't think the Atlas pushups would be harder, but they are . The one thing I recommend is not to get so focused on the 1000 pushups once you get where you can do them. That is just one tool in the arsenal. Once you can acheive 100 consecutive repetitions in any exercise, that is a good benchmark to start tightening up your form and concentrating on DVR, DSR and ISO exercises.

[stingray]

Greg,

Just reading your advice on doing the 100 consecutive Tiger stretch. I have done this several times and stopped short many other times. I think your advice about the additional tension makes a lot of sense. I will apply this tomorrow morning as I work towards my set of 100.

[jasonbird]

In 2004 I read Ric Flair’s bio. In it he described the brutal training during Verne Gagne’s wrestling camp. It started with a two mile run around an icy creek followed by 500 deep knee bends, 200 pushups, and 200 sit-ups. After that, they started training.

At the time I thought that conditioning program was only for a genetic standout and something that was far, far, far out of my stratosphere. In 2009, I realize that even for an average guy like me it is obtainable and something I’ve actually duplicated.

Too often we follow the paradigm that tells us that high rep conditioning is only for a genetic standout like Woody Strode or John Peterson. Or else we take the opposite approach and dismiss the high reps as being for some sort of male aerobics bunny, with a sensitive physique and a headband.

Over Christmas I got 200 reps in the Tiger Stretch Pushups. This month I had a goal of 100 strict reps in Atlas pushups. Yesterday I did it. Was it hard? Of course it was. Was it impossible? No.

I’ve mentioned some of these things before, but it is primarily mental when reaching for those high reps in any exercise. Here are some tips.

1. Set your goal and repeat them over and over to yourself.

2. Visualize your goal.

3. Don’t think about anything else while doing your set. If you get distracted, you’ll shipwreck. Especially thinking about the exercises to follow.

4. After the first 30 or so, it gets hard. When it does, focus on 50. After 50, think about getting just ten more for 60? If you can do 60, why not 75? If I can get 75, why not push on through to 80? If I have gotten 80, surely 100 are not far away. If you think about 100 when it starts getting hard at 30, you’ll stop.

5. Use rest-pause. There is nothing wrong with stopping in the up position and taking a couple of extra breaths. I do them after every ten, whether I need them or not. The mistake is trying to jet propel through the first fifty or so.

6. Also, listen to your body. There is a big difference between the discomfort of training hard and the pain of a joint tearing. You can work through discomfort. Pain is a warning mechanism. I found that for Atlas pushups to be productive for me, a medium/close hand spacing and keeping my elbows toward my body was a necessity. Otherwise it played havoc with an old rotator cuff injury.

Was mastering a 100 worth it? In terms of the shaping, conditioning, and strength brought on by that exercise I’d have to give a resounding YES. And guess what? I don’t have a bunny tail either.

* also want to add one tip I forgot. Do a backdown set with a repetition range that is well within your capabilities. It facilitates recovery and puts a success pattern in your thinking. You always want to leave your training with a positive note.

Great post~~~~~~!Uppppppppp for you~~!

[JoeJustice]

I'm going to move this to the Important Articles section of the forum.

-Joe