Friends of KSI #1 - The Legend Speaks on Making Your Waist Thinner

We recently received an email question from a long term KSI client, which was the catalyst for a topic in 'The Huddle' Series #1 - How to make your waist thinner http://bit.ly/waistflatter.

Going the extra mile as we like to, we wanted to add even more value on this topic. I thought of my friend Jon Jon (John) Park, son of the Legend Reg Park. The late Reg Park was one of the greatest bodybuilders in my life-time, and a man whose legacy expanded beyond his strength and shape. He was known for his integrity and qualities of a great man, qualities that could do with a resurgence in this era.

So we took our clients question to John Park, who had the rare honor and experience of growing up learning from the Legend. Reg Park was more of an innovator than many people realize. John Park runs a gym in Los Angeles and we encourage all visitors (and locals) to get along and experience the memories on the wall that carry the Legacy of the Legend.

We are honored to be able to share the wisdom of John and Reg, true friends of KSI:

John Park

"Firstly I agree with you that the physiques of the past looked better than they do now. With the rare exception the physiques of today have very little appeal. They look like oversized drug induced cartoon characters with no symmetry at all. In response to your question re narrowing the waist I would have to say that genetics does play a large part however there are certain things that one can do to achieve a tighter midsection, give the illusion of a small waist and prevent it from getting thicker.

The most important exercise one can do is Vacuums which I have been doing daily since I was very young. There are several ways to perform this exercise which is extremely important for strengthening the internal abdominal wall. This exercise activates the internal oblique's which if too developed makes the waist appear a lot thicker. Also no other exercise other than Vacuums works the internal abdominal wall or the TVA (Transverse abdominal muscles) which are not visible and not part of the abdominus rectus structure (six pack). The TVA muscles are triangular in shape and are located on the sides of the lower abdominals and into the pubic area. Why it is important to work these often neglected muscles is because they are attached to a belt like tissue that connects to the lower back so if they are strong, they in turn help with lower back strength.

The easiest way to perform the vacuums is to lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor both hip distance apart. Keep your chin tucked at a ninety degree angle and your eyes looking downwards towards your sternum. Keep your lower back flat into the floor, make sure there is no arch. Place your hands so that your finger tips are touching your TVA muscles. Inhale through the mouth and then immediately exhale through the mouth and then draw your navel in towards your spine. Repeat this three times but on the third one hold your stomach in for a count of three to activate the abdominals. Repeat again for a fourth time but hold the stomach in for as long as possible without breathing.

More important than how long you can hold your stomach in for, is how tight you can hold it in. You should feel some discomfort and tightness in your abdominals especially in the lower portion. This whole procedure would be considered one rep and one should do five reps of this. As you get more proficient with this exercise you should be able to hold the stomach in for longer. I am able to do this for one minute each fourth time on each rep but I mostly do it for thirty seconds as it is more efficient and I am not trying to set records for holding my breath. I find the best time to do the vacuums is first thing in the morning on wakening on an empty stomach. Empty your bladder first and then do the exercise.

Once you are able to master this exercise then you should be able to perform all abdominal exercises and vacuum every rep simply by doing the following, exhaling pulling your stomach in and then performing the rep, whether it be any variable of leg lifts, sit ups or side crunches. Most people in my opinion don't work the abdominals correctly they exhale whilst doing the movement and tend to rush each rep. However if you perform the reps in the manner described above you will slow the tempo down, activate the internal abdominal wall and increase the intensity. If performed in this manner the abdominals will fatigue sooner and you will not have to perform hundreds of reps, perhaps twenty to thirty would be your maximum.

There is a progression to this exercise and that is, whilst you are on the fourth one of each rep, to shift your hips in a controlled manner from side to side by sliding your lower back across the floor from side to side keeping your lower back in contact with the floor. Do not do a see saw type motion whereby you are lifting your hips off the floor. By adding this new dimension you will activate the TVA more as well as the internal oblique's.

Another way of performing the Vacuums is rest on your hands and knees and make sure that all angles, your wrists, armpits, chin, hips and knees are at ninety degree angles and your hands, knees and feet should be shoulder width apart. Start with the lower back arched and the stomach lowered towards the floor. Repeat the same technique as the Vacuums lying on your back but every time you pull your stomach in lift your lower back (arched) towards the ceiling. I find this exercise is also helpful if you have tightness in the sacrum as it helps open it up when lifting your lower back up.

Another way of performing this exercise is to stand bent over with your feet hip distance apart and your hands resting on your knees and go through the whole procedure.

Incidentally in preparation for a competition, Frank Zane would stand upright in front of a mirror every day and vacuum for up to an hour in various positions sideways, front and back and he would incorporate this when practicing his posing routine and regulate his breathing whilst doing this. When you are able to master the Vacuum technique, you should be able to do this whilst sitting, standing and even walking which I would call semi Vacuums. You don't necessarily go through the whole procedure of performing the reps.

Another technique that Zane used to incorporate whilst training which I learnt from my dad many years ago, is too inhale whilst doing certain exercises. I know this is contrary to the norm of exhaling on the effort and would not do this when performing squats, dead lifts or chest presses but if you are training purely for aesthetic reasons and not necessarily strength, then this technique is very helpful. When you think about it when you are exercising and you exhale whilst performing the concentric part of the exercise, especially if you are using heavy poundage's, your waist and stomach distend. Doing pull downs in this manner is very effective as you are exhaling on the upward (eccentric) portion of the exercise when your abdominal cavity is lengthened and stretched out and hence there is no distention. I would also strongly urge you not to use any weight whilst doing abdominals for the same reason.

In short the more you contract a muscle specifically the stomach, the tighter it will ultimately become.

Best of luck."
--John Park

Helping as few as one person avoid damaging their body through the training is worth the effort!

I received this email today and I thought it was such a great email that it was worthy of a longer reply. So here it is!

Hi, I was listening to Mike Mahler's podcast with Ian recently and what he had to say was very eye opening and went against some, actually most of my perceived training wisdom I have garnered over the years from the internet and other sources that Ian would probably find appalling. The more I listened and read up on Ian's concepts the more I realised maybe I have been doing everything wrong.

I had walking lunges in my warmups, I didn't stretch until the end of a training session. Anyway I could gone on forever in that vein, I would say I am general population, no athlete. I know Ian doesn't coach general population. Hence I am writing this.

I am over 40 male carrying a bit to much weight. I tried to get strong over the years, but I say I did more damage than good. Never had great flexibility and probably have enough imbalances to write a book on. I injured my knee (mild cartilage damage), but recovering well with physio exercises. So range of motion has returned and I am pain free with just some minor stiffness.

Finding bodyweight and 16kg kettlebells good in my rehab and might continue in that vein for a time.

So I guess it comes down what product of Ian's would be good for a 40 plus male (general population) looking to train and enhance his strength, flexibility, iron out imbalances and give longevity to his training life. If Ian doesn't have a product that' suit me, that's fine. I would assume his business is mainly built around elite athletes.

Any help with this inquiry would be greatly appreciated. Yours Sincerely, --xxxx

P.S. Apologies for the long winded email, but I just can't afford to many more mistakes with my training.

So I wrote back:

xxxx– great to hear you received value from the Mike Mahler podcast! I like the way you say ‘perceived’ training wisdom. Because at the end of the day, that is all it is when we take on others thoughts. When they are truly our own, based on our own experience and analysed as objectively as we can, then they can be more than this.

Most people I talk to are little more than a collection of other peoples thoughts, and the threads are so clear to me I can typically trace their influences.

I like the way you are willing to review your current training habits. I share my conclusions to help people just like yourself, not to be right. So it’s rewarding to hear you have at least paused to reflect on your choices.

I am also impressed with your realization and conclusion about your pursuit of strength that ‘I did more damage than good.’ This rings a bell of familiarity in my writings!

I have formed the opinion that most strength training programs do more damage than good. However it takes many years for the average person to realize this, if ever. The short-term results cause pleasure, but the long-term results inevitably pain. King, I., 2004, Get Buffed!™ III, p. 8-9

…in my opinion most people do more damage to their bodies and long term health than good, through their training. Amazing when you consider the aim of training generally is to improve your body. King, I., 2007, Email to clients – KSI pre-production offer, 6 June 2007

So to answer your question – which of my products would serve? I would recommend the education in the Get Buffed! book combined with the info in the GB II book. I am not suggesting that all the programs in the book are right for you right now, but they are only generic programs and I have always recommended you individualize your training. And the content in the book will help you do that.

Whilst our main focus has been elite athletes, the GB range (an extensive range of products for people just like you) is a by-product of the conclusions I reached during my many decades of training a high volume of elite athletes. The content and methods published in these books have been very well received, changing the way the world trains arguably more than any other single source. And amongst the most plagiarized books as well, so it’s great if you can get the original intent from the source.

In conclusion, I like your PS – you can’t afford to make many more mistakes in your training. I agree, which was my motive for publishing as extensively as I have during the last 20 years – if I can prevent as few as one person from damaging their quality of life, it’s worth my effort. So I look forward to what you can change for the better in your training with my published training information! --Ian King

Helping as few as one person avoid damaging their body through the training is worth the effort!

Build 12" Guns!

You too can build 12” guns!! Excited? Okay, I agree, not very appealing. The only reason you would have been attracted to this headline is to see what’s wrong with the writer. But this is exactly what you are going to get when you take advice off people who probably have exactly that – 12” biceps.

I have read of late (more times than once) that you don’t need to do specific bicep exercises to build big biceps. Mmm. Wonder what the definition of big is? 12”?

Now before we get into it I want to make it real clear I am not glorifying big upper arms. I can take them or leave them. In fact when you look at my list of the disadvantages bulging biceps present you will appreciate this. What I am simply seeking to do is put forward a version that may help you get sucked into the bullshit, if in fact you do want to build big upper arms.

The proposal that you don’t need to do specific bicep exercises to build big upper arms can only, I conclude, come from the minds attached to bodies that have never build big upper arms.

Here are my concerns with building big biceps:

• Powerlifters are more likely to tear them in deadlifting

• Weightlifters struggle to catch the bar on their shoulders in the front squat/clean recovery position

• Athletes get distracted from effective strength training by building big upper arms

But apart from that, if you want to build big guns, go for it. If you want to take them significantly past 12”, you might want to ignore the no-bicep exercise bullshit.

You can see I’m not a big fan of bicep focused training for anyone other than bodybuilders and body beautifuls. But I am as equally not a fan of bullshit like this theory.

I found an example of this ‘no-bicep curl exercises needed’ theory in a book (1). I believe that the authors specifically set out to shape the readers value system and induce compliance to their theory with the following subjective statements:

• If they thought that doing a lot of sets of bicep curls every week would help them build their own biceps, they would be going out and doing this, just like the ‘meatheads and mooks’ do.

[You probably don’t want to think of yourself as a ‘meathead’ and/or ‘mook’ - so you may think twice about doing a bicep curl]

• Curls are mostly for newbie’s and juicers.

[You probably don’t want to feel or act like their definition of a newbie or a drug user, so you may choose to avoid doing bicep curls]

• The changes in muscle size would not be dramatic.

[A statement of fact, of dubious accuracy, but perhaps enough to discourage you from, God forbid, doing a curl]

• Unless you had a specifics reason for doing arm-isolated exercises, you should save your time and energy for other pursuits.

[Now if you needed any more discouragement, you just got it – no way are you ever going to do bicep curls again!]

Let’s take a step back. Where did these beliefs come from? Science of course. Three studies were quoted, none of which have any guarantee they relate to you. But let’s humor their ‘evidence’ for a bit longer.

The first study was conducted 13 years to the release of the book, was based on a research group of elderly m en. Unlikely to have any bearing on you, however that was enough for the writers to conclude that doing bicep curls only work for beginners.

The second study cited was conducted 14 years prior to the release of the book, and was based on competitive bodybuilders, again unlikely to have any specific bearing on you. But it was enough apparently for the authors to conclude therefore that any one beyond a beginner will see minimal if any hypertrophy from doing isolated bicep curls, because these competitive bodybuilders, during the period of this research study, didn’t.

With the third study cited, comfortingly was conducted in the same millennium, no details were provided of what they did, who they were, and there were allegedly no changes in arm size in the nine weeks of the program. It’s difficult to give any comment as to how this result may relate to you or not because inadequate details were given. Suffice to say it was allegedly research and therefore we don’t need details – we just need to believe! [Sounds a bit like sciences predecessor of social conditioning, religion…]

That’s it - on the basis of the above, you are to stop doing specific bicep curl exercises…..

Now what are the other alternatives that these writers and anyone else, yourself included, may reach a conclusion. That is, other than be basing your thoughts and actions on the apparent authority of the printed word, or on the basis of research with limited application to yourself.

Well, there is experience. You could come to your own conclusion based on your experiences. Let me share you mine. Now according to this theory, or at least this theory as presented by these ‘experts’, I should not get any results in increased upper arm girth from adding isolated bicep exercises. Why?

Because that only works for beginners and juicers, of which I am neither. And because a study conducted nearly two decades ago allegedly using experienced, competitive bodybuilders, failed so see any change in upper arm girth during the period of that particular study, that is further evidence that I would be wasting my time. After all, I too am experienced aren’t I? After all, these authors appear to have categorized themselves as experienced.

So furthering this line of thinking, what constitutes experienced? What equates with being a competitive bodybuilder? What if a person is one but not the other? Does that mean that this research applies still?
I can tell you this – I consider myself to be experience (continual strength training for approximately 30 years) but I am not, have never been and will never be a competitive bodybuilder. I know these authors have not, are not, and probably never will be competitive bodybuilders either. So it must be their experience that places them in the same category of non-response to isolated bicep curl as this study group cited above?

So how do you measure experience? Is it on number of years alone? Or is there potential for some level of qualification? Say an upper arm circumference measurement. Let me give you mine. Anything less than a 16” upper arm on an average height male is not advanced.

Anyway, as an experienced person (based on both years in training and passing this arbitrary upper arm circumference), what happens when I do isolated bicep training – they grow. Immediately.

So the value to you of the cited science is dubious, and the belief-shaping message by these authors (and others of their ilk) was not based on the writer’s personal experience, which is understandable as if you were as familiar with the upper arm circumference of the authors….

Yes, you can build big upper arms through heavy pressing and pulling, especially with the way the triceps dominate the bulk of the upper arm. But if you want to create specifically large biceps, create a peak in them, and maximize the contribution of the biceps to upper arms – you are not going to do this by avoiding specific bicep exercises. What research can I quote to give my statement credibility? None.

Or at least none that would fit the expectations of those who want to see a research article quoted, irrespective of whether it is relevant or not. Irrespective of whether it is valid or not. Irrespective of whether the researcher was even in town the day the research was allegedly conducted…

Just the observations over a few decades are used to support this conclusion.

This is just one example of how easily your conclusions and behavior can be influenced by people who seek to shape your beliefs, in the absence of personal experience.

[This is an extract from my upcoming book 'Barbells & Bullshit]

 
(1) Schuler, L., and Cosgrove, A., 2006, New Rules, Penguin Publishing

This is the best book in the world for strength training!

A few weeks ago a young man was speaking to his naturopath about his new passion for developing his physique. The naturopath was quick to say:

'You have got to get this book - it's the best book in the world for strength training!'

And showed the Book of Muscle to his young client.

The young man went home and said to his mum, the Managing Director of a national division of a global company:

'Mum, you've got to buy me this book! The naturopath told me it's the best book in the world for strength training!'

Mum walked over to her bookshelf, pulled out a book and said:

'You mean this one?'

Not only was the son shocked at his mums book collection, she also felt she gained credibility points with her son!

Thanks Owen at Suite 206, no 33, Lexington drive, norwest business park, bellavista nsw 2153 att. We trust you enjoyed our gift of 'Ask the Master'!