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| Reg Park didn't worry about research studies - he just trained hard and heavy, and figured things out as he went along. |
I've been talking a lot about my new
course on Heavy Partials - and about
John Wood's Bone Strength Training
Project - and about the importance
of building your bones, tendons and
ligaments.
And, of course, I've received a ton
of emails asking me for research
studies "proving" that Heavy Partials
and Bone Strength Training really do
build your bones, tendons and lig-
aments.
One guy wrote:
"Show me the research!"
So here's the answer to THAT one.
Note: I say "THAT one" because this
sounds to me like an excuse not to
try the program.
And I hate excuses for not trying things.
So excuse me if some of what follows
sounds like a bit of a rant.
The answer is:
I'm not aware of any - and I don't
care to waste my time looking for them.
Here's why.
The type of training I cover in my
Heavy Partials course - and the type
that John covers in his Bone Strength
Project - is an advanced method of
strength training - and it's designed
for advanced trainees who have been
hitting the iron for a long time and are
ready for a heavy specialization program
that builds their bones, tendons and
ligaments to a greater degree than
conventional training (even if it's
heavy training on basic, compound
exercises).
So that means it's for a limited and
relatively rare group of trainees.
Where are you going to find a bunch
of those people for a research study?
Answer - you won't.
They're a very rare and elite group.
Especially if you're looking for a group
of older trainees who are advanced
lifters.
And if you DO find them, will they
agree to stop what they're doing and
be part of a multi-year research pro-
gram -which means they have to
follow the program the researchers
write up for them, not their own
program?
Very few advanced trainees would
agree to do that.
I sure as heck wouldn't.
Also, bone mass - and tendon and
ligament strength - depends in part
on diet and nutrition.
So you would have to control for diet
and nutrition.
Which means your research subjects
would have to follow a particular diet,
as well as a particular training program.
Again, what advanced trainees would
agree to follow a diet outlined by a
research guy in a white lab coat who
may or may not have ever done a
single heavy squat in his entire life?
Once again, I wouldn't do it.
And then there's the drug question.
Many advanced trainees have used
steroids or other drugs in the past -
or use them now - and past or current
drug use would obviously affect the
study - so once again you'd have to
control for it - and once again the
research guys would be telling the
advanced trainees what to do, and
the advanced trainees wouldn't
agree to do it.
So instead of a study of advanced
trainees doing the things that John
and I recommend, you'd have studies
of:
a. Six to eight "previously untrained"
college freshman who do a very basic
beginner program for 6 to 12 weeks;
or
b. A small group of sedentary and inactive
elderly men or women who do a basic
beginner program of some kind of resistance
training.
Both studies are interesting - and they
both might show some increases in
bone, tendon and ligament strength -
but they are NOT studies of the kind
of advanced training in my new Heavy
Partials course or in John's Bone
Strength Project.
They can't possibly test what we're
teaching - because what we're teaching
is ONLY for advanced trainees.
OR - you might have studies of bone
mass in elite athletes - but again, they
are not using the workouts that John
and I teach in our courses - and there
is no control for different diets - and no
control for steroids or other drugs.
And in the case of elite athletes, you're
not testing a particular training program.
Instead, you're looking at their current
condition, based on whatever workouts
they've done in the past.
I mean, seriously - is an Olympic athlete
or a pro-football player going to drop his
or her training program and start doing
a program the guy in the white lab coat
writes up?
I don't think so.
I think it's more likely that the athlete's
current strength coach would strangle
the guy in the white lab coat - and
that would be the end of the study.
In short:
The only way to test the program is
to give it a try yourself - and see how
it works for YOU.
In other words, conduct your own
research study.
And when you do - be sure to let me
know what happens - so I can share
your results with the Dino Nation!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Go here to grab John Wood's Bone
Strength Project - and then grab my new
course on Heavy Partials:
The Bone Strength Project
https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/bone-strength-projectPDF.html
Dinosaur Strength and Power -
Course No. 2 - Heavy Partials
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurstrengthandpower-02.html
Good luck and good training!
