Life is too short not to be strong.
I decided that early on and started lifting weights in 7th grade, after I saw the late Steve Reeves in the movie, “Hercules.” Hercules was the ancient superhero who killed the nine-headed Hydra, captured the dog Cerberus, cleaned the Aegean stables, and performed other uncommon chores. After cleaning things up and making the world safe for democracy, Hercules started the Olympics, according to Greek mythology.
Reeves had been Mr. Universe and parlayed it into films. I thought he was cool and heroic and I wanted to be like Hercules and slay the Hydra, capture the guard dog of Hades and clean my room. And get the girl. So my dad bought me a Healthways 160 pound barbell set for Christmas and I started lifting in the basement but could barely pick up the full set. My dad would go down and curl the whole thing for a set of 10. Right then I figured I would never be able to beat his ass. He never lifted weights. He was just a big, strong construction worker.
Those were the very humble beginnings of The Formula, which I used to build an interesting if not very profitable career in the athletic world. If you use The Formula, you can get faster, stronger, bigger, be more than you thought you could be, and never have sand kicked in your face at the beach. It won’t guarantee you a spot at the Olympics, but it might get you a spot on the varsity squad — track and field, football, soccer, tennis, badminton, whatever — and then you might be able to parlay that into a scholarship.
If you’re past that age, and just want to be a weekend warrior, The Formula will help you make friends and influence people. You’ll look good on the beach, at the gym or in the office.
The Formula was confirmed by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom I met at the Gold‘s Gym in Venice Beach back in 1980. In his early 30s then, he had retired from bodybuilding competition, but would make a dramatic comeback that year to win the Mr. Olympia title for a 7th time. He also was preparing to run for governor of California through his role in “Conan the Barbarian,” the film that made him a household name in 1982. He was already training for that film, taking sword fighting and acting lessons and learning how to emote.
I was training for the Olympics, having been re-instated back to amateur status following a court battle with the U.S. Olympic Committee. Arnold and I just happened to run into each other at the gym and struck up a friendship of sorts and a mutual admiration society. Oddly enough, the Terminator also started out admiring Steve Reeves in his role as Hercules, so we had a common film hero. And we were both seeking perfect pumpitude. He was more buffed than I was, but I was stronger.
When he told me he was going to write a book on bodybuilding and would include a chapter on bodybuilding for competitive athletes, I told him I was going to write a book and would include a chapter on him. That was 30 years ago and I’ve finally got around to the book and Arnold’s chapter. This is part of it.
I remember he said he admired that I used weight training to enhance my athletic performance, rather than to just enhance my appearance. Body building for sports was how he referred to it in his book and said it was great to have that sort of objective. He put my name in there, too, and I don’t know that I ever thanked him for that.
Body building is a cosmetic pursuit, and Arnold used it to get bigger, stronger and prettier. I used it to get bigger, stronger, faster and more gnarly. Looking back, I think we were both in the business of setting a new blueprint for the modern male, Arnold on the pages of health and beauty, me in the pages of Sports Illustrated and Track & Field News.
The Formula is a combination of strength training, endurance, flexibility, speed work and feasibility. Feasibility because there are always limits. If you are a 100 pound woman, the laws of biomechanics say there is only so much you can do. Most people also have to make a living and so time in the gym is limited. In my prime, I used to work out six to eight hours a day. That’s a heavy load and very few people can do that. So you must adjust The Formula to fit your personal constraints.
There are four 12-week cycles in The Formula and the novice must start by getting oriented physically and mentally. By orienting mentally, I mean getting into the existentialism of training. If you’re not thinking about work or the other important issues in your life, you are thinking training. You are thinking about never missing a workout. You are thinking about what to eat to help your workout. You are thinking you can’t wait to get to the gym, or the track, or the practice field, or the ball court. You will become a team of one, directing yourself, and developing into the person you have daydreamed about. Don’t doubt that you have the strength to do it, because when you doubt your strength, you strengthen your doubts.
By Brian Oldfield with George Houde