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ARTICLES
Please read what I wrote at the bottom of the page before reading my articles.
"How would I describe my training philosophy? ... In a nutshell, it's Natural, Hard, Safe and Progressive."
-Bob Whelan
"Physical culture is about what you do in the dark. It’s about how hard you train when there is no one to impress. It’s about what you eat, how you think, and what you do on a daily basis. It’s about doing the right thing. The philosophy comes ahead of the end result. I don’t care if they don’t know anything and can’t bench press an Olympic bar without any plates. That’s not important. What’s important is attitude. It’s not how strong you are now, but where you are going that’s important as far as attitude is concerned… They must be interested in doing the right thing."
--Bob Whelan, (Super Natural Strength)
--Bob Whelan, (Super Natural Strength)
"If you ain't got the progression buddy, St. Christopher ain't got the time!" -Bob Whelan
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JOHN GRIMEK WAS THE MAN- By Bob Whelan
Real Men Do Grip Work - By Bob Whelan
Real Men do not ONLY do grip work! They also work their whole body with heavy weights! The main purpose of grip work is to enable you to LIFT heavy weight. Don't be yet another phony so-called "strong man" who can close the number 3 gripper but can't even bench press 275 or squat 350. We have far too many of them already!
ATTITUDE AND EFFORT: KEYS TO SUCCESS - by Bob Whelan
FOCUS YOUR TRAINING ENERGY - By Bob Whelan
TRAINING THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY - By Bob Whelan
WANT REAL RESULTS? JUST TRAIN FOR STRENGTH - by Bob Whelan
TOTAL COMMITMENT REQUIRED - By Bob Whelan
MAXIMUM BOB - Bob Whelan
I corresponded with Stuart for a few years by fax and mail after I opened my personal training business in 1990. He surprised me by forming my first article from this material and he gave it the title Maximum Bob as a sort of short introduction. He encouraged me to write and this is how it began. My nickname Maximum Bob was given to me when I worked at NASA. There was a best selling book out at the time by Elmore Leonard with the same title. (He was a tough hardcore "hanging" judge who took no prisoners and showed little mercy.) I guess they jokingly thought I resembled this guy and was a little tough on them. When I left NASA in 93, they gave me a copy of the book (Maximum Bob), that was signed by everyone.
Bob Whelan's Expert Q & A
THE CAMARADERIE OF EFFORT - By Bob Whelan
IT’S HOW YOU TRAIN THAT COUNTS! - By Bob Whelan
A Day Of Training And Eating In Washington, DC - By Drew Israel
TRAINING AND EATING IN THE BIG APPLE - By Bob Whelan
Sets From Hell! - By Bob Whelan
For many reasons too numerous to mention here, I ended the 30 minute workouts after a few months and went back to training everyone for an hour.
BALANCED TRAINING ROUTINES - by Bob Whelan
FORGET LABELS — JUST TRAIN HARD! - By Bob Whelan
BE PREPARED TO TRAIN! - By Bob Whelan
Getting Pervis Back in Service - By Bob Whelan
Nightmare on Seventh Street - By Bob Whelan
Effort and Dedication Make Many Methods Work - by Bob Whelan
MINIMUM MENTALITY - By Bob Whelan
LOWER REP - HIGH INTENSITY STRENGTH TRAINING - By Bob Whelan
GUYS WHO JUST LIFT - By Bob Whelan
The Second Capital City Strength Clinic - By Bob Whelan
ONE SET OR MULTIPLE SETS? - By Bob Whelan
BARE BONES TRAINING - By "Maximum" Bob Whelan
I went to Germany in 1976 and stayed there till 1984. There were two USAF Bases in the area that were only 10 miles apart. (Bitburg and Spangdahlem Air Bases) I worked at Spangdahlem but lived much closer to Bitburg for the first 3 years and did most of my lifting at the Bitburg gym. In the later years I lifted most of the time at Spangdahlem. (Bitburg is now closed but Spangdahlem is still there and has expanded.) My USAF Info
Commando Tough Intensity - By Bob Whelan
Training Strategies - By Bob Whelan
Champions Have the Will to Succeed - By Bob Whelan
What about Isolation Exercises? - By Bob Whelan
Tips from WST to Get You Stronger - (1-15) By Bob Whelan
Tips from WST to Get You Stronger - (16-30) By Bob Whelan
THE NOBLE HERITAGE - PHYSICAL CULTURE - By Bob Whelan
YOU'RE NOT AGING - YOU'RE YOUTHING! - By Bob Whelan
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO FULL RANGE MOTION? - By Bob Whelan
LET'S GET BACK TO PHYSICAL CULTURE - By Bob Whelan
The Capital City Strength Clinics 1-6
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These Articles, (even though about 25 years old), Are Golden and contain Rock Solid Weight Training Information. The principles do not change with time. A few things I say about nutrition and cardio might have changed slightly. You can only use the best information available at the time. Sugar is now the enemy, not fat. I now favor more of a keto diet and eat full fat dairy, not skim. (If I even eat dairy!) For cardio I now favor harder and shorter workouts (Interval style cardio) for most people. I now eat chicken breast (as a snack) and not tuna anymore. I'm a big advocate now of apple cider vinegar too.
I do not like labels, (such as HIT, DINO, NSCA etc), to define my training and no longer use them. (The HEAVY HIT I mention on this page is only to explain my previous use of the label High Intensity Training.) The way I train people can differ greatly depending on the goal of the client. I don't neatly fit under one dogmatic label and am not a follower of one camp. I'm a leader and do what I think is best. My Mecca was never Deland and was always York. My early influences were Bob Hoffman, John Grimek, Peary Rader, Brad Steiner, (and others), and not Arthur Jones. I'm an independent thinker, a hybrid of sorts, and do what works best to reach the goal for the individual being trained. "How would I describe my training philosophy? ... In a nutshell, it's Natural, Hard, Safe and Progressive. Please don't read a few of my articles and think you know 'how I train' or think that I train that exact way all the time. Remember that an article is a snapshot of one day or of one individuals workout. If an article has machines in it, it does not mean that I always use machines. If I do sets to failure in an article, it does not mean that I always do sets to failure ... and so forth. Progression is the unifying factor that makes all successful strength training programs work."
-Bob Whelan, (Super Natural Strength)
I have always been a poundage guy first and foremost. I was never a fan of the "Effort Only" philosophy. When I used the description "High Intensity Training" in my old articles, it is not the same as the "HIT" normally used today. My "High Intensity Training" would now more accurately be described as "HEAVY HIT" (rather than HIT). I always defined poundage progression as the top priority and number one way to increase Intensity. Going to failure was the secondary element. High Intensity just meant Heavy and Hard training to me. I learned to love and adapt some of Jones's methods such as doing sets to failure in my own training after I had already trained for over 20 years and my powerlifting days were over. It worked great for my training business and gave clients a good bang for the buck as they paid by time. Dan Riley had the biggest impact on me for adapting some of Jones methods to my own training and my business in the early 90's. Dan was the Redskins strength coach at the time. I visited Redskins park a few times and had many productive phone calls with Dan. Doing sets to failure is simply more time efficient, (you need less sets), and a great way to train for most clients, but not all. It is not the best way for strength athletes. LOAD PROGRESSION, not going to failure, is the Primary Way to increase INTENSITY as well as strength. There may be a few other minor things but if you have questions, get a consultation.
I do not like labels, (such as HIT, DINO, NSCA etc), to define my training and no longer use them. (The HEAVY HIT I mention on this page is only to explain my previous use of the label High Intensity Training.) The way I train people can differ greatly depending on the goal of the client. I don't neatly fit under one dogmatic label and am not a follower of one camp. I'm a leader and do what I think is best. My Mecca was never Deland and was always York. My early influences were Bob Hoffman, John Grimek, Peary Rader, Brad Steiner, (and others), and not Arthur Jones. I'm an independent thinker, a hybrid of sorts, and do what works best to reach the goal for the individual being trained. "How would I describe my training philosophy? ... In a nutshell, it's Natural, Hard, Safe and Progressive. Please don't read a few of my articles and think you know 'how I train' or think that I train that exact way all the time. Remember that an article is a snapshot of one day or of one individuals workout. If an article has machines in it, it does not mean that I always use machines. If I do sets to failure in an article, it does not mean that I always do sets to failure ... and so forth. Progression is the unifying factor that makes all successful strength training programs work."
-Bob Whelan, (Super Natural Strength)
I have always been a poundage guy first and foremost. I was never a fan of the "Effort Only" philosophy. When I used the description "High Intensity Training" in my old articles, it is not the same as the "HIT" normally used today. My "High Intensity Training" would now more accurately be described as "HEAVY HIT" (rather than HIT). I always defined poundage progression as the top priority and number one way to increase Intensity. Going to failure was the secondary element. High Intensity just meant Heavy and Hard training to me. I learned to love and adapt some of Jones's methods such as doing sets to failure in my own training after I had already trained for over 20 years and my powerlifting days were over. It worked great for my training business and gave clients a good bang for the buck as they paid by time. Dan Riley had the biggest impact on me for adapting some of Jones methods to my own training and my business in the early 90's. Dan was the Redskins strength coach at the time. I visited Redskins park a few times and had many productive phone calls with Dan. Doing sets to failure is simply more time efficient, (you need less sets), and a great way to train for most clients, but not all. It is not the best way for strength athletes. LOAD PROGRESSION, not going to failure, is the Primary Way to increase INTENSITY as well as strength. There may be a few other minor things but if you have questions, get a consultation.
THE WHELAN COMMANDMENTS
"The principles of physical culture don't change, but the modern application of them will."
- Bob Whelan
"Progression is the law of growth. Whoever accedes to that law will succeed."
- George Jowett
My good friend Dick Connor (seated) judging at one of his strongman contests at The Pit Barbell Club.
