Morning Report and review of Muslce Logic by Charles Staley

You can not make this stuff up.  I go into neighbor Bob's cabinet this morning for a mug in which i would soon fill with hot coffee.  The heat/humidity wave that marked all of last week has subsided, and so a nice cool 65 degree morning was met with a cup of joe.  If you did not know this about me, i have weirdness all over.  I can't just open a cabinet and grab the first glass or mug that i see, i have to grab the far right on the 2nd row.  I don't know why either.  This was the mug that i removed from the cabinet.

And now for the 'meat' of the post.
Review of Charles Staley's Muscle Logic, published in 2005.

Reaching back to the year Two Thousand and Something, i can [again] recall now defunct publication Muscle Media changing the way i thought about exercise.  First, it was the introduction to Pavel, the man who i've studied under for the last 5 years.  After that, it was an abridged article on Escalating Density Training, patented by Charles Staley, an American born 'searcher' who did not rely on the bodybuilding dogma that programs are universal and one size would fit all.  In those days, i did not have a computer [i never owned a PC until January 2005] and when the awesomely brief article ended, it hinted that the EDT secrets were available online.  I hadn't the option, so i familiarized myself heavily with the 5 pages of content that the generous MM staff offered us.  EDT is about increasing your work capacity and charging towards matching your rest time to the work time [% density] in 10:00-15:00 minute zones and building a hard mass of tissue that will get you feeling amazing and working like a machine.

When Pavel referenced Staley later on, and the two collaborated for a workshop that was eventually pressed to DVD, i was not surprised.  And though i will admit to not having purchased/seen the DVD set [i will before i die], my hopes for what it contained did not line up with my impression of their relationship after i read Muscle Logic.  And, regardless of how you feel about me now as compared to 6 weeks ago [ex-girlfriends and prior landlords need not apply], i am one of Pavel's 'top guys', and you should heed this review.

Muscle Logic was pretty awesome.
-My sparse slams to this book will only charm followers of Gym Movement and if you happen to read this without knowing about biofeedback testing prior to loaded movement training, go read Mike T Nelson's blog.  Or Adam T Glass' blog-
  Staley does not inflate this book or himself in any way.  It is top sirloin and stir fry, with just a wee bit of user-friendly low sodium steak sauce.  Damn near everything you need and nothing you don't.  In order to not waste my time or yours, i will only detail the things in the book i disagreed with and you may assume that i am a huge fan of the rest of the book, specifically the bullet points below.

-The four 'commandments'
-PR Zones
-Antagonistic pairings
-Macro-movements rule!
-Use great form and great things will follow
-Do not seek pain or fatigue, seek to manage it [see 'Elements of Effort']
-Pavel is smart and knows his stuff

What i could not dig about the book were very small effects such as exercise selection and steering points of progress.  For example, i know Charles and Pavel are homies, yet not a single mention of kettlebells anywhere in the book.  The Evil Russian is on the back cover and quoted within the first 50 pages [which does not mean that Pavel = Kettlebells (well, not anymore) to everyone on Earth], however the handle-bell is left out entirely.  This can only lead me to make an uneducated guess based on conversations i've had with John 'The Train' Hackleman, Marty Gallagher, and several hundred  coaches, trainers, and fit pro's, and that is that kettlebells are not trusted.  My guess is that Mr. Staley has kettlebells in his home and training facility in Arizona, and likely uses them for swings, squats, rows, and maybe even throws, yet [AND THIS IS JUST CONJECTURE FROM SOME A$$HOLE IN PHILLY], my bet is that he thinks presses, snatches, jerks, and any overhead lifting is not accessible to everyone and should be treated as molten hot with a chance of death/dismemberment.  Just a guess.  In addition, it made sense to me that, though Mr. Staley trumpets the free weights and barbell lifts heavily and nearly comes off as abhorrent towards tiny machine lifts like calf raises and bigger wastes of time leg the leg press, he does reference machine Hack Squats and lat-pulldowns in his Session 1-Session 2 AB splits.  I understand that not everyone is going to use exclusively the barbell and body weight drills, and the book must have been made palatable for the gym rat [whose mind the book is intended to change], still, some of the lifts and the segmented approach to training the muscular system were the only things i could not get down with.

So what does that mean to the author or to his trainees, nothing!  I bet you everyone he trains is in love with their coach and that he has had unparalleled results with what he does.  I would profess that if i save the coin to go out and take a fine young lady [or my only man-crush Matthew Fox] to his Bed & Barbell, i would learn more than i would hope to ever forget and that my battered bones would love some lat pull downs and triceps extension drills.  And what's more, Coach offers that you modify the PR Zones to reflect what your body needs, and if you can make his system fit your body, and not vice versa, you will win!  And all this while training your body to look like it has been 'on' EDT.  I believe that we have a winner here, and pardon me for being 5 years late to the party, but i have always been the cat that shows up at last call and steals your honey. . .

Numerical Value: Not assigned, this book is better than any monthly fitness pub and simpler than a Rubick's Cube, which appeals to my cranial capacity [Willy like eggs for dinner] and it'll allow you to make it work with your own desired drills while giving you nice knowledge nuggets in the first 30 pages before you even begin to select your exercises.  With what we have cooking at our studio in Paoli, Gary Berenbroick and i will likely have lots of people training in 15 minute PR Zones, however they will be guided by testing, rather than incremental increases in weight.  Thank you coach, for giving us some flexibility, and thank you Pavel, for giving us the handled bell.

So stand up and stretch, already!

Addendum: I could not let this go, i'm sorry.  I have three words for you: Hank Williams the m*^#er f^@%^ng III.
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