- Why do we only do one set per muscle group?
The reason is because that first set you do is the most important and carries the bulk of the return you get on your investment of time and energy. You can do 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 sets of each exercise, but you are having diminishing marginal returns for each of the extra sets you do.
The more sets you do, the more likely you will burn out and stop exercising. It also increases your chances of getting an overuse injury such as tendinitis.
It is MUCH MUCH better to do something consistently, than to overdo it and eventually stop exercising altogether.
- How can you really get anything done in just 15 minutes? I’ve always heard you must exercise for a much longer time.
Our goal is consistency and sustainability. Think of the guy who every day got up and did a set of pushups. It’s 2 years later and you compare him with his twin brother who never did any pushups. How much stronger is the first brother in his chest, shoulders, and triceps? There would be a very noticeable difference, right?
So now think of this: we are that first brother, but not only are we doing a chest exercise every day, but we’re doing an exercise for every muscle group in our body. And it only takes 15 minutes. Why complicate it and do more with the risk of burning out, getting overuse injuries, or lacking the time to keep a longer workout program going?
- How many days per week should I work out on this system?
The answer depends on you and is personal. It’s based on a number of factors such as your schedule, your energy levels, what else you are doing that stresses your body (eg. a construction job vs. an office job), how much you eat, whether you are trying to gain weight or lose weight, how heavy of weights are you working with, etc. etc.
When you first start the program, I recommend you exercise every day for the first month, if possible. The reason is because we are going very very light. Our only goal is consistency and building the habit. But we are also preparing the body by strengthening the muscles, joints, tendons, bones, and making other physiological changes. As we work together, we will discuss your particular needs and land upon a frequency that works best for you.
- I have zero equipment. Can I start with nothing?
No, you will need at least some basics to get started. Plan to invest at least $200 to lay the minimal foundation.
You will need a yoga mat or foam floor tiles, a few sets of dumbbells, and something for a pulling movement (such as hanging ring handles, or “TRX”-type suspension, or similar. Does not need to cost much. You just need some handles to grip to pull yourself upwards or forwards from a leaning back position.)
You can add new pieces of gear slowly but surely, such as:
- a couple kettlebells
- a few more dumbbells
- a dip stand
- a bench
Really, we’re not using much more than this, if anything. The key is to utilize the least amount of equipment, but you want enough equipment to give you the variety you’re looking for.
- I saw some rusty old weights on Craigslist. Should I just pick those up to get started?
No. Whatever you use needs to be nice enough that it attracts you instead of repels you. The reason is: there is a big psychological barrier to overcome in order to be a consistent exerciser. Anything that turns you off from your activity of exercising makes your goal even harder to achieve. Choose materials that you will be working with carefully and make sure that you will look forward to handing them.
- Should I take supplements?
If you don’t eat enough protein, you might want to get a protein powder. If you don’t get enough vitamins and minerals, you may want a multi-vitamin. If there is one additional supplement you may want to consider, it is creatine monohydrate. That’s it. Most of the other supplements out there aren’t based on any real science and evidence. 99% of the supplement industry is a marketing scheme to separate you from your hard-earned money.
You don’t need a “pre-workout”, a “post-workout”, a “VO2 maximizer,” a “natural testosterone booster”, or anything else.
- How much muscle can I realistically gain?
The younger you are, the more easily you will be able to gain muscle. It also depends on how much you eat, if you have a small or large frame, and to a great extent… your genetics.
But if you want just a straightforward bottom line answer, most people can really only gain a few pounds of muscle per year. It would be extraordinary for someone to gain 10 lbs in a year. If it were possible, think of this: a 20-yr old who is 5′ 8” weighing 150lbs starts lifting, and by 21 he put on 10 lbs of muscle and now weighs 160 lbs. If he keeps up that pace, he could weigh 250 lbs at age 30. That’s how much Arnold Schwartenegger weighed as Mr. Olympia and at 6’2”!!! And with massive amounts of drugs.
So, the answer is clearly “No”, you cannot gain 10 lbs of muscle per year. You will be doing great to add a few pounds in your first year, and a couple of pounds in subsequent years. Your body can have a very good improvement over its past state of disuse and atrophy, but that doesn’t mean massive slabs of muscle are being added to your frame. But you can be much stronger and in much better and healthier shape just the same. Don’t overpromise yourself, that will only lead to disappointment. Make your goal only to consistently exercise. Let the results fall where they may.
- Can I use your program at the gym?
Yeah, you could, but it’s really not designed for that. I mean, if you’re having to take the time to go to the gym, you’re going to be spending a lot longer than 15 minutes per day on your workouts. And while you’re there, you’ll have access to a wide array of equipment. I would recommend you take advantage of what’s there rather than restrict yourself on what could be done at home. I would recommend you find a better fit for yourself than this program. I could design you a great gym workout, certainly, but I want to concentrate my efforts solely on helping men who are wanting to workout at home. That’s what I do, and I believe in practicing what you preach.
- Will this program turn me into an elite athlete, bodybuilder, competitor?
No. You can only sustain elite levels of performance for a short time, and not without an insane amount of time and effort*.
In fact, to get anywhere near those levels still requires an enormous sacrifice and dedication. My training system is designed to never take more than 15 minutes per day, and the amount of effort and energy required is low enough to be sustained permanently.
*(However, if you did want to maximize your gains by exerting maximum effort, you can certainly do that with this same system. All you will do is perform each rep with a very slow pace and enough weight so that you’re fatiguing your muscle(s) to the point of failure. You will want to split up which muscle groups you use on certain days so that you’re only working the same muscles once or a maximum of twice per week. This is not for the faint of heart, but if you’ve got it in you, you can go for it.)
- How long can I keep training on this method before I have to switch to something else?
Believe it or not, you never need to do anything else. You can keep training on just this method year after year after year. Sure, you can up your intensity at times if you’d like, or you can even lower it, but the system can run with no modifications for the rest of your life. I show you how to get variety within the system, so it grows with you. But it never requires more time or energy.
The biggest trap most people fall into is listening to the “siren song” of huge muscles. Because of the enormous intensity required, it will often shipwreck your training. It is so easy to burn out and soon after quit altogether when your intensity is high. Also, many of these “model bodies” you see are enhanced with TRT (testosterone replacement therapy), especially when the subjects are over 40 years old. Slow and steady wins this race. Once you “up the ante”, your complications and health risks increase proportionally.
- Do you recommend pairing other exercise with this training method?
For building a base level of muscle and strength, no. There is no need. But for getting out in the sunshine and riding your bike, or playing tennis or other activity with friends, yes. Get all the exercise you can and feel like doing. It’s all good. On a personal note, I pair this system with kickboxing workouts on the heavy bag. Meaning: some of my exercise days will be kickboxing… maybe once or twice a week. The other days will be this home workout system. Or I might go months and months only training this system. I count any day with exercise in it as a “win”; it doesn’t matter what you do.
- Is this superior to using an app that has different workouts built in?
By now hopefully I have won your trust that I am a straight shooter. So I am going to tell you what the good is with exercise apps, and what the bad is.
The Good:
Exercise apps take you through a whole workout. They will introduce you to exercises you didn’t know.
Many will demonstrate correct form, though not always.
The Bad:
Exercise apps don’t prevent “decision fatigue”. The reason is, there are a million of them. You can forever search for, download, try out, and use a myriad of these. And even if you landed on just one, there are usually so many different workouts and different preferences to set that you use an awful lot of mental energy just getting going.
The exercises are not curated. Sure, some apps may think they have, but nobody has curated exercises to the extent I have, with the specific goal of “not hating your workout”. They all have exercises in them, in fact lots or even most exercises, that you are not going to enjoy doing. My exercise selection is the only one on Earth that has the exercises for each muscle group specifically filtered out for the “finicky exerciser”. This is one of the essential keys to consistency. You have to always be on guard for “workout avoidance”. My program is the only one that has discovered this driving concept of why people quit working out and is specifically created to defeat this demon.
Most of these apps have you focused on the screen. When you have to look at a screen the whole time, you are not going to enjoy your workout nearly as much. I figured this out a long time ago, and made the adjustment. My system has you only going to the screen to “get” the exercise, then you’re on your own to do it in free space, where your mind can relax. This makes about a 50% difference in your workout experience, and remember, we want our experience to be as good as possible because it is so hard to keep working out consistently. We don’t want anything working against us.
Exercise apps are a commodity, a product, they were designed solely to generate revenue. My system was designed for one purpose: to be the absolute best way to develop a lifestyle of building and keeping strength. Nowhere in the creation of this training philosophy and methodology was thought given to selling it. Never. I only built it for myself. When someone once mentioned to me that I should do men’s coaching with it, I immediately dismissed the idea. But months later, I had a Eureka moment: “Yes! I should help other people roll this out in their lives too!”
So this is much more than a product, or an app, or a workout plan. This is a total philosophy with the accompanying physical actions it takes to make successful a lifestyle of consistent strength acquisition and maintenance. Nobody else has done this like this. Nobody.