Nothing new under the sun - Weight training

Weight Training in 2021 the Same Way I Trained at 14 in 1964

A few months ago, I received a well-thought-out and detailed communique from a young man named Andrew. He asked my advice on a wide variety of transformational topics. He described his physical self — tall, thin — and expressed a desire to add muscle. He related some of the weight training he had done and shared the research he had done. I was impressed by the clarity of the correspondence.

It would have taken me 800 words to answer his questions, so I suggested he call so that we could talk it all through, point by point. He called and it was only then that I figured out just how young he was. I was a bit taken aback when it came out that he was 15. I had suspected he was a sharp first-year college youngster. As we talked, I flashed back to myself at his age. There were some strange parallels.

Andrew and the Firehose of Information

Both of us were tall, thin boys. Both of us were and are highly motivated: ready, willing, and able to do what it took to add muscle and power. I burned for radical physical transformation. At age 15, I scoured the three muscle magazines: Iron Man, Strength & Health, and Muscle Builder every month for the latest weight training routines of the champion Olympic weightlifters and bodybuilders of the era. I then rushed to the basement to test drive the routines of champions. Some routines were excellent; most did not work.

This was the start of what, in 2021, was a vast storehouse of empirical iron knowledge, all lodged in the gray matter of my brain. I knew I was the guy to save young Andrew a lot of time and frustration sorting through the strength and muscle haystack trying to find the golden needle of true progress. I would give him that impossible-to-find golden needle of transformative weight training — but what would he do with it?

I sensed in Andrew that same sort of hunger, though in its infancy, that I once had and have to this day, though, like single malt scotch, it has mellowed with age. As we talked, it was apparent he had given the subject, muscle, and power a lot of thought. Whereas my burden as a 15-year-old was a lack of information, though most of my sparse information was extremely good, Andrew’s problem was that he was drinking from a firehose of information. He was being overwhelmed, deluged with possibilities. It was the curse of too many choices.

Apparently, I dropped into his life to provide some clarity. I set him on a path of ultra-minimalism that, factually, was a streamlined version of the training I was doing at his age in 1964, with a physique similar to his. It was déjà vu all over again.

The Ultra-Minimal Prescription

I got him to describe his goals and his current situation. After listening, I gave him my weight training prescription. We discussed his training schedule, and I told him that to grow he would have to eat amply and eat the right foods. At the end of our conversation, I offered to video conference with him each week for 12 weeks. Assuming it was okay with his folks, I don’t charge sincere, motivated 15-year-olds for my services. Within a few weeks we were up and running.

His goal was simple, my prescription was simple: he wanted to add size, power, and muscle. Like me at age 15, he was extremely limited insofar as gym equipment. He had a barbell, a flat weight bench, and a power rack that enabled him to do benches and squats. Which is exactly what I had as a kid: a barbell, a bench, and a set of York squat racks. Our weightlifting platform was a piece of plywood sheeting on the basement floor. Later, we jerry-rigged a dip bar.

Six Exercises, One Top Set, Once a Week

I had him do six exercises, each done once a week, working up to a lone top set: squat, bench press, deadlift, overhead press, standing barbell curl, and close-grip bench press for triceps. His total training time for all six lifts combined was around 75 minutes. Mercifully, he had terrific flexibility and was able to squat super deep while staying upright. His deadlift technique was solid. He adapted quickly and seemingly without difficulty to our highly specific and demanding techniques.

This was minimalist, not casual. Every lift had a purpose. Every weekly top set had a number. Every technical correction mattered. The program was not designed to entertain Andrew; it was designed to transform him.

Déjà Vu: 1964 and 2021

I found it interesting that the program I outlined for him was essentially a streamlined yet identical approach to what I used 57 years earlier to transform my 15-year-old self. I wanted to morph myself from what I was, an average boy, into what I wanted to be, a muscled-up sport dominator. I was already three years into my iron journey by the time I was 15. My mentors were muscle-mag scribes John McCallum, Tommy Suggs, and Bill Starr. I obtained first-rate advice from afar from these iron icons via the magazines.

There are some interesting commonalities and differences between the way I trained in 1964 and how I had Andrew train in 2021.

Commonalities

• Barbell only: no machines, no dumbbells, a barbell, a flat bench, and a power rack. Barbell-only training is paired with a high-intensity, low-frequency training split.
• Each lift done once a week, one top set, move on: self-explanatory. No multiple sets. No 5 x 5 with a static poundage after warm-up. You get one crack at making your number for the week.
• Fewer things better: the lack of equipment forced both of us to do fewer exercises and do them better. By limiting the exercise tools used, the exercise menu was limited. Forced specificity was a blessing in disguise.
• Technique stressed: an eternal avenue of progress lies in refining exercise technique. Our resistance-training techniques were handed down to us by our world champion mentors.
• Periodized: preplanning, periodization, seeks to nudge weight-training intensities upward, in some manner or fashion, on a weekly basis. Both Andrew and I used periodized cycles, 12-week training roadmaps.
• Psyching: on the top set of each exercise, an aggressive mindset improves performance. Andrew is learning how to psyche up and, equally important, how to decompress immediately afterward.
• Make your number for the week: Andrew has preordained weekly poundage and rep targets in the Core Four lifts. Each week he knows ahead of time what is expected of him.
• Synchronized with nutrition: when a thin young man seeks to add muscle size, power training needs to be supported by enough calories, enough protein, and enough quality food. If the surplus is derived from trash foods, results will be subpar.

Differences

• More advanced than Andrew: by age 15, I had a few years’ head start on Andrew. I had a lot of lifting hours under my belt. I was competing in Olympic lifting at age 14.
• Trained more often: the conventional wisdom of the 1960s was to train often. My crew and I would train two to three times a week, every week, doing the same whole-body workouts in each session.
• Used more exercises: as an Olympic weightlifter, I practiced the power clean, snatch, clean and jerk, jerk out of the racks, overhead squat, and other lifts Andrew knows nothing about.
• Less sophisticated: it was a less sophisticated era without the access to information. Nowadays I tell Andrew to YouTube up Kirk Karwoski to study squat technique or Dan Austin for sumo deadlift technique.
• Competed: I was competing in Olympic weightlifting. When a boy has an upcoming competition against and in front of peers, it elevates the quality of the workouts leading up to the competition.
• More athletic: I was playing organized sports all year round: football, baseball, softball, track and field, plus my competitive ventures as a lifter.
• Trained with training partners: my basement became a magnet for all the alpha males in the neighborhood who wanted to muscle up. Training partners take an athlete’s game to the next level.

Was Andrew Missing Out?

Is Andrew missing out by not performing the sheer number of exercises and the volume I used coming up? Andrew does not know how to do a snatch or a clean and jerk. I do not think they are important for his limited purposes. He is not a competitive Olympic weightlifter. Down the road, I will introduce him to the power clean, a fabulous trap, and erector builder and the easiest lift to teach explosive strength.

I trained a muscle two to three times a week, and in hindsight I feel this was, generally, a waste of time. I could have gotten further doing less. That does not mean every trainee should do one top set forever. It means that for Andrew, given his goal, equipment, age, attention span, motivation, and available coaching, less done better beat more done badly.

Nutrition, Bodyweight, and Muscle Gain

What does the future hold for Andrew? No one knows. At the time of the original article, he was 10 weeks into the program and had gained 10 pounds. His lifts had all steadily climbed, and when comparing his present-day workout performance to 70 days earlier, his strength had skyrocketed. He already had a fantastic technical base in all four core lifts.

This is not to say that he had perfected his lifting techniques. However, he was 90% of the way there, and his current techniques in squat, front squat, bench press, deadlift, and overhead press were evolved enough that going forward only subtle technical corrections were needed. Our technical tweaks at that point were minor, not major.

Because we did not have to spend an inordinate amount of time correcting major technical flaws, he and I could concentrate on building muscle. This quest for muscle was augmented by a weekly weight gain: ideally, he nudged the scale up one pound a week, no more, no less. Adding more than a pound a week risked adding an unacceptable amount of body fat. Any less weight gain than a pound a week was treading water and hard to measure.

Obviously, I urged him to eat as clean and healthy as possible. For weight gain to be lean and useful, calories need to be derived from potent proteins and natural carbohydrates. The point was not to stuff the kid with junk. The point was to support hard training with enough good food to grow.

Report-Card Day

His first 12-week cycle was scheduled to end within a few weeks. In week 13 we would have a report-card day where he would establish new single-rep benchmarks in the Core Four. For a minor, this must be understood correctly: a report-card day is not a reckless true-max carnival. It is supervised, technically conservative, parent-approved, and built on weeks of clean repetitions. The athlete earns the right to test by first proving he can lift safely.

We shall keep you posted.

Equipment Notes for Minimalist Weight Training

Andrew’s setup was simple: a bar, a bench, a rack, plates, and a place to pull. That is still the heart of a productive minimalist strength room.

For lifters and facilities building around the same minimalist template, compare Olympic weightlifting bars, weight plates, weight benches, power cages and platform racks, and weightlifting platforms.

A focused setup might include a rack such as the Legend Fitness 3121 commercial squat rack, a platform such as the Legend Fitness 3223-6 oak inset platform, a bar such as the CAP Barbell Beast Olympic lifting bar, and durable loading such as IRON COMPANY premium rubber bumper plates, when those tools match the lifter, room, training style, and stated specifications.

The equipment does not create the transformation. The lifter, the coaching, the progression, the food, the discipline, and the weekly report card create the transformation.

Safety Note for Teen Barbell Training

Youth resistance training can be useful when it is properly supervised, technically sound, developmentally appropriate, and approved by parents or guardians. A 15-year-old should not copy an adult powerlifting cycle without coaching, safe equipment, appropriate warm-ups, and clear stop rules.

Heavy squats, bench presses, deadlifts, overhead presses, close-grip bench presses, and report-card singles require a stable rack, secure plates, safeties or spotters where needed, conservative jumps, and a coach who values technique over ego. Pain, dizziness, numbness, loss of position, missed warm-ups, repeated form collapse, or pressure to “make the lift no matter what” are all stop signs.

Any teen with medical conditions, uncontrolled blood pressure, seizure history, cardiovascular concerns, major injury history, eating disorder history, medication concerns, or symptoms of illness should seek qualified medical guidance before hard resistance training.

This article preserves Marty Gallagher’s RAW coaching story and old-school weight-training philosophy. It is not individualized medical, pediatric, rehabilitation, nutrition, or programming advice.

Related Weight Training Reading

For a related minimalist transformation case study, read The Emergence of Mr. Perfect.

RAW with Marty Gallagher, J.P. Brice, and Jim Steel Podcast.

About the Author: Marty Gallagher

As an athlete Marty Gallagher is a national and world champion in Olympic lifting and powerlifting. He was a world champion team coach in 1991 and coached Black's Gym to five national team titles. He's also coached some of the strongest men on the planet including Kirk Karwoski when he completed his world record 1,003 lb. squat. Today he teaches the US Secret Service and Tier 1 Spec Ops on how to maximize their strength in minimal time. As a writer since 1978 he’s written for Powerlifting USA, Milo, Flex Magazine, Muscle & Fitness, Prime Fitness, Washington Post, Dragon Door and now IRON COMPANY. He’s also the author of multiple books including Purposeful Primitive, Strong Medicine, Ed Coan’s book Coan, The Man, the Myth, the Method and numerous others. Read the Marty Gallagher biography here.