Ah, I feel much the opposite: highly processed and refined ones. Stuff that comes in cardboard boxes and plastic wrappers that has an almost indefinitely shelf-life. I heard Mark Bell refer to a pantry as “a closet full of dead food” and it was such a paradigm breaker
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Ok, since I can’t train, and I’m a bit burnt out with some other stuff, here’s the two versions of the first Milo course.
These are just the core “Regular Exercises”. Both courses have some preliminary and supplementary exercises, to be used as needed.
Printed version, from Bill Hinbern’s site.
Lifting 3x a week. 1 set only. Reps are increased every other session.
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Barbell curl. Work from 5 reps to 10, increasing 1 rep every other session. Add 10 pounds once you hit 10.
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Z press. Legs in front, overhead press. 5-10 reps, then add 5 pounds.
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Bent rows to the upper chest with elbows flared. 5-10 reps, add 10 pounds.
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Behind the neck press, from the shoulders. Slow[er] eccentric. 5-10, add 10 pounds.
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Straight-arm pullovers on the ground. 5-20 add 5 pounds. Intentionally slow progression. Don’t ever use more than 50 pounds.
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Weighted straight-leg situps with bar behind the neck. 5-10, add 5 pounds.
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Deficit Jefferson squat. Bar should go as low as your feet. Pictures have the guy with feet on two chairs (wtf? I’ll share a picture). 10-20. Increase by 2 reps, not 1. Add 10 pounds.
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Barbell shrugs. 20-40, increase by 2 reps. Add 10 pounds.
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Heels-together knees-out barbell back squats. Go up on your toes at the bottom. 12-24. Increase by 2 reps. Add 10 pounds.
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One-arm dumbbell side press with VERY SLOW eccentric. Palm forward. 3-6, add 5 pounds.
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Hand-to-hand kettlebell swings. 10-20, increase by 2, add 5 pounds.
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Reverse-grip one arm kettelbell row to the shoulder. Palms should always face the ground. 5-10, add 10 pounds.
And the other version of this course, that was online at sandowplus:
Lifting 3x a week. 1 set only. Reps are increased every other session.
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Barbell curl. Work from 5 reps to 10, increasing 1 rep every other session. Add 10 pounds once you hit 10.
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Floor press. Legs in front, overhead press. 5-10 reps, then add 10 pounds.
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Bent rows to the upper chest with elbows flared. 5-10 reps, add 10 pounds.
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Behind the neck press, from the shoulders. Slow[er] eccentric. 5-10, add 5 pounds.
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Straight-arm pullovers on the ground. 5-20 add 5 pounds. Intentionally slow progression. Don’t ever use more than 50 pounds.
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Heels-together knees-out barbell back squats. Go up on your toes at the bottom. 12-24. Increase by 2 reps. Add 10 pounds.
THEN, keeping the bar on your shoulders, 30-40 calf raises.
THEN, walk around the room a few times on our tip toes, keeping legs and knees straight. -
Barbell shrugs. 14-30, increase by 2 reps, not 1. Add 10 pounds.
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DeficitJefferson squat. Bar should go as low as your knees. 10-20. Increase by 2 reps. Add 10 pounds. -
Weighted straight-leg situps with bar behind the neck. 5-10, add 5 pounds.
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One-arm dumbbell side press with VERY SLOW eccentric. Palm forward. 3-6, add 5 pounds.
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Hand-to-hand kettlebell swings. 10-20, increase by 2, add 5 pounds.
So, the differences:
- The stuff I bolded, mostly rep ranges, but some technique
- A minor bit of exercise order
- Floor presses vs Z presses
- Calf stuff after the squats
And the ridiculous Jefferson squat photos:
There are some rules-of-thumb in the course about when to add in exercises from the next course, and so on. Also it seems like the intent was that you were in fairly regular communication (via letters) with the company anyway, so they’d suggest and customize things based on your own progress.
But this was the starting point for a whole lot of big name people in the early days of bodybuilding, powerlifting, weightlifting.
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Recovery had some rough days in there, but no longer needing any [real] pain meds nor OTC stuff.
I also had/have some weird joint pain; woke up Saturday morning and my right arm basically didn’t work. Almost all movement was painful; shoulder, elbow, forearm. Knees also weren’t working well. Hydration helped a lot.
Knees, right elbow and shoulder, still not happy, but better than it’s been.
I had a few nights waking up with arm pain especially. It does seem worse than before I stopped training. Possibly a bounceback from pain meds? Possibly being too sedentary? It’s weird and annoying.
There’s a knot in my right upper trap that seems like it may be related to the shoulder pain. If I press on it while moving my right arm, it relieves the pain.
I’m going to avoid squats and deadlifts for now (due to vasectomy recovery, not knee pain)
I have two directions I’ve thought of going:
- another cycle of power to the people
- the Calvert program above
So I’m going to give the Calvert program a shot, skipping some stuff for now.
A couple main reasons:
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being realistic, there’s no way I’ll be pressing 225+ without putting a bit more meat on my frame. Like another 20-30 pounds at least. The Calvert routine seems more likely, on paper, to help with mass-gain goals as compared to power to the people
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I’ve been doing stuff to combat my kyphosis for awhile, but it seems like a bit of time doing some (carefully executed) behind the neck press will probably help me with this, based on some initial trials.
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My replacement barbell arrived finally, I’m coming back from a break, and I finished a PttP cycle, so the time is right for some changes.
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Switching from 5x a week to 3x a week will be more flexible through the holiday season.
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Glad to hear you’re back.
A few years ago (during my previous log here) I had appendicitis. Had an emergency appendectomy and took a few weeks off training. When I came back, guess what - had major tendonitis/tendonopathy whatever you want to call it in my elbow.
after NOT lifting for a few weeks. WTF.
Bodies are weird.
Good luck and I hope the rest did you some good!
I’m on a mission to squat 225 for 100 reps before the year is out so - good luck to me too.
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@jdm135 I’m having a hard time imagining what it’s like to lift more than about 25 reps with 225. 50 is pretty hard to imagine, nevermind 100. Good luck!
My right elbow already doesn’t have any cartilage, so that’s a known issue, but yeah, this was weird.
Barbell Curl: 45# x 5
Z Press: 45# x 5
Flared BB Bent Row: 55# x 5
BTN Press: 55# x 5
Pullovers: ? x 3. These didn’t feel good today.
Backbend Situps: 10# x 10
Jefferson Squats
Shrugs - don’t know if I’ll ever do these given how presses grow my traps
V Squats
DB Side Press: 30# x 3 (per side)
H2H KB Swings
Notes:
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Nearly everything is light. Just feeling out the routine.
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V Squats? What do you call a heels-together feet-in-a-V squat where you come up on your toes?
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My right wrist is still not a fan of barbell curls. I tried his approach where you hold the bar in the top of a wrist curl position the whole time, and that wasn’t exactly pleasant either. I think I’ll stick with my technique using straps.
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Bent rows are with the elbows flared; straight line from elbow-to-shoulders-to-elbow at the top.
Life stuff:
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I feel like I finally made some progress work-wise. Been working on like 6 things simultaneously, but finally got one of them past the hand-wavy bit. It’s still not useful data, but at least people can see something.
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I was dumb and broke my Mandarin lesson streak. 66 day streak, and just forgot to do it. I did other stuff that day, but just not those lessons. Kind of disappointed I broke the streak.
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I am, however, continuing to make progress with both Mandarin and Classical/Literary Chinese. One is a spoken (and now written) language, the other was the written language until early 1900s. It’s kind of like if everyone in Europe spoke Italian, but everything was still written in Latin. For 2500 years.
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Oh let me be clear, it’s not a single widowmaker set. It’ll be broken up, such as 2 EMOM for 50 minutes. Which is still a major accomplishment FOR ME though it may be trivial for some.
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Yesterday I read that the USSF and thus their Strengthlifting competitions will be shutting down.
Guess there’s no need to train the OHP and deadlift any more…
Barbell Curl: 55# x 5 - figure 8 straps around bar, fingers in the loops
Z Press: 55# x 5
Flared BB Bent Row: 65# x 5
BTN Press: 65# x 5
Pullovers: 26# x 10
Backbend Situps: 15# x 5
Jefferson Squats: 75# x 10 (5 per side)
V Squats: 75# x 10
DB Side Press: 30# x 4 (per side)
H2H KB Swings - next time
Notes:
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The weights I used last time + an extra day break, was not enough to achieve any real stimulus of any kind. It felt like I was just pretending to train. Faking it.
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I bumped the weights up this time. Felt a bit more like I was actually doing something. BTN press especially.
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Right shoulder doesn’t like pressing right now, and knees don’t like squatting. Whatever.
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Jefferson squats started on the ground and came back down maybe 75%. More than the knee, less than the floor.
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Got my blood pumping at least. Still felt like not much work.
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Z Press: 60# x 5
Flared BB Bent Row: 60# x 5
Barbell Curl: 60# x 5
Flared BB Bent Row: 70# x 5
BTN Press: 70# x 5
Pullovers: 26# x 10
Backbend Situps: 15# x 6
V Squats: 80# x 10
Jefferson Squats: 80# x 5 (per side; 10 total)
DB Side Press: 30# x 5 (per side)
H2H KB Swings: 60# x 14 (28 total)
Notes:
- bumped weights up another 5 pounds; will start double progressing from here. May increase every session instead of every other at first.
- forgot to do curls first so did rows twice
- kb swings are the only thing actually “hard” with this. Situps are maybe second.
- I hate curls and they may be stuck at this weight for awhile. Not going to let that hold anything else back.
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Some early thoughts.
The new barbell is proper weight; my old one was light. So “125” before may only have been like 110 actual.
Shoulders already feel better and back alignment too. So far I think my guess was correct that BTN presses will be beneficial for that. Also turning the side presses into more of a back exercise with his form cues.
Current programmed weights are far more like rehab work. Which means it’s going to delay progress, but also probably fix/correct a few underlying problems. Not a complaint, just observation of tradeoffs.
There’s no doubt I’ve been program hopping and it shows.
I’m probably going to be a bit more diligent about weight gain soon. However I don’t think the barbell weights are going to be enough for a few weeks more. (Even with it being a more difficult variation, squatting 80 pounds is still only 80 pounds. I was doing high rep Jefferson squats with “160” not long ago, albeit smaller ROM.)
Improving 3 different pressing movements is probably a good thing though.
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Barbell Curl: 60# x 6
Z Press: 60# x 6
Flared BB Bent Row: 70# x 6
BTN Press: 70# x 6
Pullovers: 26# x 12
Backbend Situps: 15# x 7
V Squats: 80# x 12
Jefferson Squats: 80# x 6 (per side; 12 total)
DB Side Press: 30# x 6 (per side)
H2H KB Swings: 60# x 15 (30 total)
Notes:
- everything felt hard
- asthma-like breathing kicked in; required a few long breaks to let it settle, there’s an accompanying feeling of anxiety that also comes along for the ride when that happens, and some dizziness. Nausea too!
- been feeling increasingly sick starting Saturday morning
- but every exercise still went up a rep or two
Goals:
- one goal: stick with this for at least 8 weeks unmodified
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Barbell Curl: 60# x 7
Z Press: 60# x 7
Flared BB Bent Row: 70# x 7
BTN Press: 70# x 7
Pullovers: 26# x 12
Backbend Situps: 15# x 8
V Squats: 80# x 14
Jefferson Squats: 80# x 7 (per side; 14 total)
DB Side Press: 35# x 3 (per side)
H2H KB Swings: 60# x 16 (32 total)
Notes:
- holiday schedule is starting to get crazier between work, parenting, birthdays, and guests staying at the house
- v squats are harder than you’d think. I think everyone should try these. Pretty surprising what actually gets worked.
- getting to 100# with these h2h kettlebell swings will be quite the feat. These are already challenging.
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Lots of recent PRs around the forums. Awesome job everyone.
Barbell Curl: 60# x 8
Z Press: 60# x 8
Flared BB Bent Row: 70# x 8
BTN Press: 70# x 8
Pullovers: 26# x 14
Backbend Situps: 15# x 9
V Squats: 80# x 16
Jefferson Squats: 80# x 8 (per side; 16 total)
DB Side Press: 35# x 4 (per side)
H2H KB Swings: 60# x 18 (36 total)
Notes:
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As much as I hate to admit it, training right now is pretty humbling. Doable, but much of it is harder work than I feel like it should be.
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Humility is an ok place to be.
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The hard part of the BTN presses isn’t the pressing, but holding and stabilizing my torso. Really thought it would be shoulder mobility or shoulder pain as the limit, but it’s actually in my lumbar spine.
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I’m in a slow reversal with my diet. The recent break from training + pain meds + limited movement led to some weight loss. I’ve also still been having intermittent swallowing issues/esophageal flare-ups since early October, mainly with meats. Painful at times, but mostly just annoying it hasn’t gone away.
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I’m currently hovering around 151 rather than 153.
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Do you notice it more with any certain meat-type or maybe differences in if it’s lean or more fat rich?
Yes but I also think it has some to do with lazy chewing; stuff not quite soft enough.
Typically I have genuine problematic issues with chicken thighs and drumsticks (chicken adobo especially), and beef chuck pot roast. By genuine problematic I mean I have to excuse myself from the table because I’ll end up with something where the bottom half of my esophagus wants the food to come up, and the top half to go down, and they just fight it out and it hurts a lot. Eventually one of the two wins.
But I think before that happens, something is triggering a tightness/swelling that prevents it from going down. So far I can point to a few common things: chicken adobo (vinegar, bay, soy sauce, pepper), alcoholic cider, hoppy beers, “wild yeast” beers, sourdough bread. Not every time, but enough to make the list. So maybe it’s a certain acid or yeast that triggers it. I don’t notice issues with vinegar or fermented foods in other contexts.
Flovent, swallowed so it coats my esophagus, seems to be the only thing that “works” to manage it. Tried a number of other things in the past. EOE is the only diagnosis I have, and that’s really just a description.
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Went to a Christmas Eve feast. They made 13 dishes. Buns were from scratch too.
Then our Christmas meal.
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Barbell Curl: 60# x 8
Z Press: 60# x 9
Flared BB Bent Row: 70# x 9
BTN Press: 70# x 9
Pullovers: 26# x 14
Backbend Situps: 15# x 10
V Squats: 80# x 18
Jefferson Squats: 80# x 9 (per side; 18 total)
DB Side Press: 35# x 5 (per side)
H2H KB Swings: 60# x 20 (40 total)
Notes:
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ran out of time before people came over, but almost finished everything
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slowing down the curl progression
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Interesting stuff for sure.
Are your bites and/or the quantity you’re trying to swallow large? If so, maybe you’re just trying to push too much through a small pipe?
These are a little fattier, so maybe that has something to do with it?
This is especially interesting. There’s both the fermentation/yeast piece and also gluten/wheat components in each (soy sauce, beer, bread). Maybe it’s the combo of the two things together causing the reaction. That would help explain why you don’t notice it with other fermented foods. Do you tolerate stand-alone gluten containing foods that haven’t had ay fermentation?
EoE is tough, if you really want to explore that avenue and find your triggers, you could do an elimination diet with no wheat, dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, fish and/or shellfish (these are common triggers), for 2-4 weeks and then re-intro each component one at time to see if/when the swallowing problems return. It would be rough for a little while, but might give you some answers.
I wish I could be more helpful and please let me know how things continue going or if you notice any other patterns. Maybe we can figure it out.
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This esophagus thing is fascinating. I’ll share a story about my wife:
Since before we married, and for the first several years we were married, EVERY DAY her lunch (and often dinner) would be a plain grilled chicken breast.
Then, several years ago, something happened at dinner… she “choked”, had to excuse herself, and explained later that it was like the chicken was halfway down; she needed to vomit and couldn’t; and this lasted a long time. She couldn’t finish the meal. This happened regularly, to the point that we just quit eating lean chicken breast as a staple.
Never understood why it happened.
But incidentally she’s chronically had a bit of heartburn and takes a nightly TUMS.
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My ex-boyfriend had this SAME issue. He ended up in the ER twice because of chicken breast getting stuck. It’s so weird!!!
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I don’t really think much different than any other bites I take. Maybe though. I think the pipe is just smaller sometimes.
Yeah I don’t have any other issues with gluten containing foods.
There’s a dish I make that’s basically just lightly floured sautéed chicken breast cubes with shallots and I’ve never had issues with that. Another that’s drumsticks/thighs boiled/braised in just water, garlic, salt and pepper. I’ve done noodles or flour-based gravy or spaetzle with the remaining liquid and no issues.
I can’t really seem to isolate any obvious patterns like lean/fatty meat, particular meats, garlic/shallot/onion, soy sauce/tofu/fermented soybean paste. I can pretty much throw in all the main allergens into a single dish and have zero issues.
I do have (different) issues with nightshades, and cooking methods can seem to make a difference.
It’s very confusing.
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