Robertson Training Systems Newsletter 4.27

In This Issue

- Robertson Training Systems Updates
- Testimonials
- Nutrition Tip
- Exclusive Interview:  Paul Kelso
- Upcoming Interviews
- New Articles and Blog Posts
- Schedule

Robertson Training Systems Updates

Congrats Dan New!

Dan New is an MMA fighter whom I've been training over the past four to five months.  Saturday night, he won his bout in the first round via arm-bar.  I know how hard Dan has trained over the past couple of months in lieu of this fight, so congratulations Dan on the big win!

New audio interview

I recently did an audio interview with Anthony Renna for the Better Golf with Fitness Podcast.  In this we talked about knee health, and the most famous knee in the golfing world, that belonging to Tiger Woods.

You can check it out below:

www.BetterGolfwithFitnessPodcast.com

New video clips up

I just threw ~20 new video clips up on the site - be sure to check them out by going back to the home page and clicking on the "Video Clips" link on the left.

Here's a link to a new window, just in case you forget!

www.RobertsonTrainingSystems.com

Testimonials:  Bulletproof Knees

Hi Mike,

Your timing couldn't have been better!

I had to re-read the manual again last week, in its entirety, because, you see, I hurt my knee sometime last week. I first noticed it walking up some stairs after having been in a chair for about an hour and a half. The later that day while in the middle of my workout, doing step-ups with a 22" step, I knew I was in trouble! I had the foresight to stop my workout at that point, grabbed some ice and BPK. Read through the entire manual in one sitting, took about 3-4 hours. Started with the foam rolling and stretches the next day.

I should note, that my pre-workout warm-up ALWAYS consists of foam rolling and then mobility exercises as outlined in BPK. In fact, before I do any exercising like playing basketball or lifting, I follow the same warm-up! It gets me ready in all aspects to do my best. I digress.

So, here I am about 5 days after the initial knee pain and I am 99.999% pain free! In other words, doing well for a recently turned 39 yr old guy. I will continue on phase I for sometime now, I want to make sure that no matter what I do, heavy squats, hi step-ups, running, whatever, I will not have any more knee pain and I know that with Bulletproof Knees, I will do just that!

Thanks Mike for putting this together. It has and will continue to be a constant reference!

Sincerely,

Gary Ullery

Nutrition Tip

If you like this tip and want to learn more about JB and his products, check out his Precision Nutrition website.

Exclusive Interview:  Paul Kelso

MR:  Paul, thanks for being here today. Please take a moment and introduce yourself to our members.

PK:  I am now 71 yes of age and retired with my wife Sumiko at Matabugkay Beach in Batangas, Philippines. I have been in the iron-game since 1953, and writing for the muscle mags since 1984. I have an MA in American Studies from the U of Iowa, served two tours as an Army medic, and have been a teacher, journalist, folksinger, and even Dean of Students of a small Texas college.

MR: What’s your background in strength sports? Have you ever competed in powerlifting, Olympic lifting or bodybuilding.?

PK:  Wrestling, initially, AAU and YMCA starting in high school in 1953. I began using weights then, against the advice of all coaches, who had all the old prejudices against the iron. I was fortunate, training at the old Dallas Y with Sid Henry and the Gilliland brothers, and entered local meets. I wrestled and lifted in the Army and pro-rassled in tank-town shows until I was about twenty-three.

Powerlifting did not get started until the early ‘60s. I didn’t try it till I was over forty years old, in the early ‘80s. Had terrible leverages and was advised to gain from 220 lbs at 6’ 2” to 275 or 300 lbs! Do steroids, etc. I said nuts to that. I weigh 220 lbs today and still use DBs, the Trap Bar, and swim.

MR:  HA!  I was told the same thing as well - unfortunately you're not nearly as sexy when you're 5'10" and 275, like I was supposed to be!!!

You’re probably best known for your book, simply titled Kelso's Shrug Book. What prompted you to write a book?

PK:  Actually, that’s my third book. I was never a famous lifter or a “Mr Wonderful,” but I published my first shrug course in 1981. I began writing training articles and meet reports for mags in 1984, and maybe eighteen shrug variations articles by 2001. A series of related articles leads into a book rather naturally.

THE KELSO SHRUG SYSTEM was released in ’93, and by 2000, having collected a lot of new materials and ideas, I thought it time to do an update. Apparently a lot of folks agreed. The book took off like crazy and is still doing well.

MR:  Toward whom is the book geared?  In other words, who can take something away from the book and apply it to their own training?

PK:  Everybody!  There is something in it for everyone who trains. The twenty-seven plus shrug variations have applications for lifers, bodybuilders, what have you. The book is broken into chapters for weightlifters and powerlifters, with specific advice for each lift, and a bunch of hints for bodybuilders. But, none of my books are for beginners; they assume at least basic training experience on the part of the reader.

The book also has an extensive chapter on using parallel grip bars, and one on weight gain and chest expansion. I worked in a little history throughout. 

MR:  Beyond the books, you’ve written numerous articles as well. What magazines have you written for, and on what topics?

PK:  About 55 articles for Powerlifting USA, maybe fifteen for Hardgainer, 4-5 for Iron Man, others for Muscular Development, American Fitness Quarterly, International Powerlifting (IPF) and three Japanese mags. Over 100 pieces in all.

If I am well known, it’s for the Kelso Shrug articles, the Gerard Trap Bar articles beginning in 1987, and the goofy 1988-90 PLUSA series about a college PL team in East Texas. That series became Powerlifting Basics:  Texas Style (1996).

The dozens of contest reports and interviews from Asia surely helped. I went to Japan in 1989 to teach English. I hooked up with the Japan and Philippine PL teams to travel across Asia to events. Nobody writing in English has had that opportunity, and I am quite proud of those reports. I’ll cover the World Games in Taiwan, 2009.

MR:  That's very cool.  Seeing as how you’ve been around the game for quite some time now. What are some positive changes you’ve seen in the last ten-twenty years?

PK:  Positive changes include the acceptance of weight training as an excellent adjunct to sports of all kinds and the debunking of old myths like weights making you slow, or causing heart trouble, or making you “muscle-bound” – a term that cannot be defined medically.

Powerlifting is growing by leaps and bounds all over the world, but I worry about the situation in the USA where multiple Federations cause confusion with differing rules and record keeping. The growth of high school powerlifting is terrific, while weightlifting lags. I realize there are different views about use of AAS and other compounds, but I am heartened by the growth of WADA/IOC testing programs and the coming United Nations push against use of illegal and/or banned substances in sport.

MR:  You wrestled in your past as well. What kind of carry-over did you see in wrestling via strength training?

PK:   I think one helps the other. I recall old-time coaches telling us that “natural” muscle was better than “artificial” muscle built by weights. I don’t get it. Can a muscle know the difference between a barbell and a bale of hay? I’d say too much pumping for hypertrophy is not good for translating into “mat strength” but Olympic-style lifting helped me on the mat. I also used bulk programs, as I was a tall, lanky kid needing beef.

MR:  Any good training stories from the past?

PK:  Maybe 1000?  My shrug variation “Eureka” moment is probably my best personal story. I think it was in the late ‘50s when I casually bent over and carelessly shrugged a bar aside, felt a new response in my back, and spent that day and hundreds thereafter experimenting with ‘shrug’ moves from every angle and position possible. The original Kelso Shrug was done in the bent over row position with a curl grip.

I had no scientific training at that time – few did in those far off days. My insights came from trial and error and personal results. When others began to report my ideas worked I knew I was on to something.

My basic observation was that in pulling or rowing motions the arms and other small muscles in the back failed before the large target groups, so that when a set is taken to failure a lifter can continue the exercise by ‘shrugging’ while keeping the arms out of the movement.

Mike, you identified the cause of that failure in your work, and thus we got together for this interview.

MR:  Paul, thanks for taking the time to be with us today. How can my readers find out more about you?

PK:  There are other interviews with me on the Net. One by Fred Hatfield II at www.drsquat.com and another at http://SFUK.tripod.com/sfukmainframe.html

That’s a British site. Googling my name will also get a lot of hits.

Kelso's Shrug Book is published by Wheatmark, Inc., and Powerlifting Basics comes from Ironmind. My new Powerlifting Timeline - a wall chart history of powerlifting is distributed by John Wood, the grip gadget guy who has recently brought back the original Gerard Trap Bar. See Wood’s site at www.trapbartraining.com for the Timeline.

Thanks, Mike, for the opportunity to talk about some of my favorite topics. I am pleased that you are expanding on and explaining some of my ideas and making me, a scientifically untrained person who had a brainstorm long ago, more confident that I was not howling in the dark all this time.

Upcoming Interviews

July 7th - Dan John, author, speaker, Olympic lifter and living strength legend (www.danjohn.org)

July 14th - Julia Ladewski, assistant strength coach at Buffalo University, powerlifter, and member of Elite Fitness training staff

July  21st - Shawn Windle, Indiana Pacers head strength and conditioning coach

July 28th - Robb Rogers, Director of St. Vincent Sports Performance in Indianapolis, Indiana

If you would like to submit a question for one of our upcoming interviewees:

1) Please send an e-mail to info@robertsontrainingsystems.com
2) In the subject heading, please list the person your question is directed towards (i.e. Mike Boyle)
3) In the body of the text, list one or two questions you'd like to have answered.

We can't promise that our interviewees can answer all questions, but we'll do our best to get a nice mix of questions. Thanks for your support!

Stay Strong

MR

www.RobertsonTrainingSystems.com

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