Strongfortism for the Martial Artist (Part 2)

Reprinted by permission of the author, Copyright © Raymond Brennan 2002. All rights reserved.

So, I had identified these eight problem areas. What to do? The solution lay in the training methods of one of the old-time "Mail Order Muscle Men". Through participation in a number of internet message boards, I was directed to two websites devoted to the old-time strongmen , which had their entire courses freely available for download, thanks to the hard work of people such as Roger Filary, Gil Waldron, Gordon Anderson and many others. I owe these people a debt of gratitude for making this information available.

I perused both websites and tried out a number of these old-time courses, many of them dating from the early to mid twentieth century, though a few are even older than that. Many of the names on there -- Eugen Sandow, Joe Bonomo, Martin "Farmer" Burns, Sig Klein, Maxick, Otto Arco, K.Y. Iyer , to name but a few -- will be unknown to most people today. Yet, in their own era, these men were renowned far and wide for their feats of strength and endurance. I urge anyone with an interest in sound, sensible methods of physical culture which have had proven results to visit both of these websites. The addresses are:

www.sandowplus.co.uk; and www.maxaldingplus.com

The second website is devoted exclusively to the training methods of Maxick and has a number of his Muscle Control courses freely available. However, I am interested here in going to the first website, which is where you will find the Strongfort course, all ten Lessons of it. There are also a number of booklets written by Lionel Strongfort, one of which is entitled "Intelligence in Physical Culture". I heartily recommend a reading of this. With its sensible, rational and honest approach to exercise, health and strength, it is typical of what appealed to me about Strongfortism from the start.

So what does Strongfortism consist of? It is much more than a set of exercises. It contains detailed instructions on diet, sleep, bathing and skin care as well as a number of tips on dealing with head colds, chills and psoriasis and is well worth reading for these alone, quite apart from the exercises. It is equitably suitable for males and females. Mrs. Strongfort published a book in the 1920s for women which had basically the same exercises, except that they were illustrated by her rather her husband.

However, in this article, I am concerned with the exercises. Though dumbbells are used in most of the exercises, they are very light. I have been practising Strongfortism myself for over six months consistently at this point and am only using a pair of five pounders. I find that they provide more than enough resistance. Strongfort himself states clearly in several places that , for the majority of people, heavy lifting is not advisable. Over a period of time, it can tear down the body, whereas his exercises are concerned with building the body up. He did lift heavy weights himself and had a gym in Newark, USA for a number of years. However, he was very careful about who he selected as students and was reportedly quite particular about technique. He also advocated slight moderate increases in the amount lifted. For most people, his course is more than sufficient to meet the needs of physical culture. The bulk of his own personal training (despite the fact that he was a professional strongman and held shows in several major cities) was done using his own exercises.

Strongfort did not believe in deep breathing exercises, being of the opinion that they placed an undue strain on the heart. He was also against training to failure, as this tears down the muscles and internal organs of the body and over the long term does far more harm than good. He was in favour of breathing normally while exercising and advocated exercising such that a slight local fatigue was the desired object. He did not regard his exercises as weight-training, but rather as a system of callisthenics with a little added resistance. They number over thirty in all and are a mixture of isolation-type moves, whole body movements, tensing exercises and ballistic drills. They are arranged in such a way that each part of the body is exercised then rested, in turn. Like any good system of exercise, they begin with the core and work outwards. Lesson One is mainly a set of stretching exercises to prepare the body for the coming exercises. The second and last exercises in this Lesson alone are excellent for the spine and abdomen. By the time you get to Lesson Ten, you should be able to manage a one-legged squat without much trouble and a one-armed dip with relative ease. Believe me, it takes someone fit and strong to be able to do either one.

Because of the large number and different type of exercises contained therein, the interest of the person is held throughout a training session. However, the next Lesson builds on the work of the preceding one. Muscle groups are strengthened in preparation for coming exercises. Hence, it is important that the exercises be done in the order in which they are given and that none are excluded. Overall, the exercises are gentle and could easily be done by someone over the age of fifty. This is important for those of us under fifty, as it means that we won’t be worn out by the time we reach the magic half-century, due to damaging exercise methods in our youth.

Strongfort, like a lot of the old-time "Mail Order Musclemen", did not give repetition figures for most of his exercises. This seems to have been standard practice for the most part in those days, especially the early twentieth century. I found this difficult to cope with, brought up as I was on sets and repetitions. Through trial and error, I devised a scheme of repetitions, which I offer for your perusal. You may come up with a better one, or at least one more suited to your own needs and likes. If so, fine by me.

Each Lesson is meant to be added to the ones preceding it and there are 10 Lessons in all. A new Lesson is to be added every two weeks. I train six mornings a week, Monday to Saturday and rest on Sunday. When I began Lesson One, I proceeded like this:

Monday to Wednesday First Week-five reps each exercise Lesson One
Thursday to Saturday First Week-ten reps each exercise
Monday to Wednesday Second Week-fifteen reps each exercise
Thursday to Saturday Second Week-twenty reps each exercise
I then dropped the reps for Lesson One to ten from here on out and added Lesson Two in the same manner. Thus, by the time I got to Lesson Ten, I was doing ten reps for all of the exercises in Lessons One to Nine on the first Monday of that fortnight, before doing the Exercises in Lesson Ten.
I hope this is clear.

I raised eight issues about training with heavy iron. I propose to relate how Strongfortism overcame these issues. Remember that this is not opinion or theory, but rather my own concrete experience.

1. Danger
What danger ? After six months, I have moved from 4LB dumbbells to 5LB ones. Strongfort sold his own brand of dumbbells, which were sent out with the course. The heaviest they went up to was 8LB. One’s weekly grocery shopping these days is much heavier. Strongfort admonishes in several places to avoid strain. Keep exercising consistently and regularly and “practice will make you perfect”. The lumbar region of my spine is no longer being strained by holding huge weights overhead and my knees are no longer getting supra-bodyweight shocks like they used to. My joints are getting exercised as much as my muscles, so I have no stiffness of motion. There is a lot to be said for common sense and a rational approach to exercise.

2. Loss of Flexibility
The only effect Strongfortism has had on my flexibility is to increase it markedly. Also, I now have pain-free movement, despite having a number of old injuries. A lot of the exercises, particularly in Lessons One to Five, are merely stretches with added resistance. After my morning session of Strongfortism, I feel (and look) much more limber than before.

3. Muscular Hypertrophy and Rest
My muscles were a bit sore for the first fortnight, but it was very mild indeed compared to what I had when I did heavy lifting. Also, the soreness was due to the muscles and joints loosening up, not as a result of strain. It was a “strengthening soreness” if that makes sense. Since then, I have had no soreness, yet my muscles have increased in size, plus I have a lot more definition and tone. My upper back in particular resembles an anatomy chart. I don’t consider myself overly vain, but I am human all the same. Also, my kids especially are grateful for Strongfortism, as I now have (almost) enough energy to keep up with them.

4. Lack of Symmetry
Symmetry is a must, in my opinion, for anyone engaged in any kind of grappling activity. This is because of the need to be able to move in a large number of planes of motion and across many angles. The same is true for people who train in striking arts. The power in a punch starts, not in the shoulder of the punching arm, but rather in the abdomen if not the snap of the hip. In other words, muscular arms and legs alone won’t cut the mustard. The torso and all of the stabilising muscles need to be worked on also. Strongfortism, because of its scientific and graduated approach and the means by which it takes a trip around the body, ensures symmetry of development. Also, you are only as strong as your weakest link. You may have bulging biceps, but they won’t be much good to you on the mat if your abdomen has the consistency of day-old soup. One punch there from your opponent and the only thing you will be punching is yourself, after you are lifted up from the floor. The simplest and most effective way 'round this is to have no weak links and that is possible if you train for symmetry.

5. Loss of Endurance
It certainly was not obvious to me at first glance, but subsequent experience has shown to me that Strongfortism builds endurance just as much as it does strength. An average morning session with all ten Lessons contained in it takes anywhere between forty and fifty minutes. During that time, even though the exercises are gentle, the body (either all of it or one part) is in constant motion. Oddly, I have never felt tired after a session of Strongfortism. I do feel some localised fatigue sometimes, but I have never felt weary. Rather, I feel energised and invigorated. I have enough energy left over for the rest of the day. To my mind, that is how exercise should make one feel. I am not overdoing it , but neither am I doing too little.

As regards martial arts in particular, I can hold my own without any trouble on the mat. If I am beaten these days when sparring, it is due to lack of skill on my part, not because I have run out of steam and need to take a break or because my muscles have given out. Also, my rolls are soft and fluid and my breakfalls are firm without feeling as if I have been kicked by a ploughhorse.

6. Boredom
Despite the lack of lycra-wearing gym bunnies in my garage in the mornings, the low reps and sheer number of exercises mean that my attention is held throughout a training session. Changing exercise every ten reps, as well as avoiding overdoing it, means that I constantly have something new to think about when exercising.

7. Strength in Motion
A good number of the exercises are whole body exercises, particularly in the last three Lessons. Their similarity to martial arts moves (both striking and grappling) is readily apparent. However, the same is true of Lesson Four. Nearly every normal plane of motion and angle is covered in one or other of the exercises. On the mat, I have definitely found that my strength has increased across the board, unlike the solitary angle of power that heavy lifting gave me.

8. Weak muscles and Correction of One-sided Movement
As I mentioned earlier, I had some muscle wastage in my right leg. While it didn’t mean I had to use a walking stick, it did interfere with my martial arts practice and made me predictable. Lessons Two and Three in particular helped me to correct this, as the exercises are to be done on each side. I simply did a few more repetitions on my weak side, until it came into line with my strong side. With Strongfort, symmetry is one of the foundational principles of his system of exercise. I never appreciated how important this is to martial arts in particular until recently -- since I have become a lot less predictable on the mat than I used to be.

***Raymond Brennan can be reached at nafs65@hotmail.com***