Stuff We Like
Consumer Reports for Bodybuilders
by John Koenig and Chris Shugart

There are literally thousands of bodybuilding tools on the market today. These include exercise gadgets, athletic training devices, books, videos, and supplements. They run the gamut from complete garbage to products you shouldn't live without. It's probably no surprise to you that most of these toys and tools fall into the recycle bin category.

Therefore, we've decided to act as a sort of bodybuilding Consumer Reports and review all the various stuff aimed at the typical Testosterone consumer. Don't worry, though, we won't waste your time writing about the infomercial crap you see late at night on cable. Well, maybe we will, but just so we can poke fun at it and humiliate the shills who push this crapola.

Instead, we'll focus on the more serious side of training devices and information sources. That doesn't always mean we'll give the product a glowing review, but we won't waste the space reviewing something that you and everyone else already knows sucks. And since we don't accept outside advertising here at the web site, we're free to tell it like it is without having to worry about da man telling us what to think about a product.

Each product will be rated on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best. At the end of the article, we'll tell you where the items can be purchased.

Power Wheel

Ah, ab training devices, the scourge of wannabe buff boys and housewives who still believe in spot reducing. As anyone with an IQ higher than their hat size can tell you, the vast majority of these gadgets are worthless — pure garage sale fodder and closet clutter.

There are a few exceptions, however. The Swiss ball is a great ab training tool as is the old-fashioned ab wheel. (Check out our "Evolution of Ab Training" article here for more info on these items.) Anyhow, when I evaluate any type of new ab gadget, I’m a little more than skeptical. It was with this mindset that I approached the Power Wheel.

The Power Wheel, despite the name, isn’t a big plastic tricycle favored by four-year-olds with ADD and a mean streak. Instead, it looks like a unicycle without a seat. Attached to the thick 12" wheel are two plates for your feet, which are locked into place with Velcro straps and tubing.

If you’ve ever used an old ab wheel device (which looks like a lawnmower wheel with two handles sticking through it), you’ll have a pretty good idea of how the Power Wheel works, only this time the wheel is on your feet. The basic movement is the pike, where you bring your legs toward your head while sticking your butt high into the air like you’re trying to get free cigarettes in prison. You can also do roll outs, hip-ups, and "walks" using the wheel.

It was a little tricky at first getting myself strapped in, but I got the hang of it after a while. The first exercise I attempted was the pike. As soon as I got into the push-up position I could feel my core muscles start to contract and stabilize. After five controlled reps, my abs were starting to burn. After ten reps I crashed onto the floor, totally spent. In a word—ouch. There was no doubt this thing hit the abs nicely. When I woke up the next morning, I was pretty sore even though I thought I’d only played around with the device.

The other exercises you can do with the wheel fall under the category of "okay." Performing push-ups with this thing strapped on really ups the level of difficulty. Walking on your hands (regular or "alligator" style) also proved to be an effective finisher on my last upper body day of the week. Now, you can also use the Power Wheel as a regular ab wheel by putting your hands where your feet normally go. This works, but it wasn’t very comfortable. I’ll stick to my regular old six-dollar ab wheel for that.

According to the distributor, gymnastic coaches and martial artists are supposedly really impressed with this device and many coaches are already buying them for their weight rooms. The $40 Power Wheel is a lot more expensive than a regular ab wheel, but it seems to be well made and there’s no doubt it obliterates the core muscles in a whole new way. I think the company, Lifeline USA, needs to improve the way you strap your feet in, but overall I think it’s a good tool for core, functional strength.

If you decide to pick one up, I suggest you get it from Matt Furey’s website. Furey was nice enough to donate this and other products to T-mag for evaluation.

Rating: 7 — CS

Power Push-up 2

The Power Push-up 2 is an even more powerful version of the regular push-up bra. In fact, two women have already died because they smothered on their own breasts.

Okay, I’m kidding. The Power Push-up is a device that utilizes resistance bands to make push-ups harder. That’s good, because with a regular push-up you’re moving less than 65% of your bodyweight. Once you’re strong enough to crank out dozens of push-ups, then the load isn’t heavy enough to build any real muscle.

There are several levels of resistance to choose from. I received the "heavy" model which adds 60, 120, or 180 pounds of resistance according to how many of the bands you use. I was very skeptical about how tubing would provide any real resistance. It struck me as something a woman afraid of weights would use in her "toning" class.

I slapped on all six cables and awkwardly got into the push-up position, which takes a little practice. I took a breath, exhaled and pushed! Nothing happened! I didn’t budge an inch! I thought I must be doing it wrong. I adjusted the strap across my back and tried again. After much straining, farting, and gnashing of teeth, I got one rep. I began to reevaluate my ideas about resistance bands. These things were tough! Humiliated, I took off a set of cables and was able to crank out a few decent reps.

Just to make sure I wasn’t a wiener, I let my training partner try it out. This guy, on dumbbell bench presses, can do 10 sets of 10 reps with 100 pound hex bells. Using all six cables, he was able to knock out only a handful of reps using the Power Push-up. I felt a little better.

The real "fun" with this thing comes when you resist the pull of the cables as you lower yourself back to the ground. Very difficult. A controlled eccentric seems to be tougher with cables than it is with a bar, or maybe I just wasn’t used to the movement.

You can use the Power Push-up 2 to perform other exercises like one arm rows, step-ups, and standing chest presses, although none of these beat good old free weights. But if you’re traveling and don’t have access to a gym, then using these exercises beats not training at all. Still, this thing is built primarily for push-ups; the rest of the movements illustrated in the instruction booklet are kind of gimmicky. That manufacturer also says you can use it to add resistance to dips. I tried it and found it very uncomfortable and rough on the neck. I’ll stick to my dipping belt.

The only thing I worry about is people getting the pad that goes across the back in the right position. Most people get it too low and this creates an awkward pull on the lower and mid back. If you have to, get a buddy to make sure you’ve go the thing adjusted correctly.

The Power Push-up is nicely made and it’s powerful enough for even the biggest guy. If not, then you can also order the "Extra Heavy" bands which adds up to 240 pounds of resistance (that’s in addition to 65% of you bodyweight.) This device is a bit of a one trick pony, but it does that trick well. It won’t replace the bench press, but it takes the push-up to a whole new level. And I will do all six bands for reps someday, dammit!

Rating: 7 — CS

The Westside Seminar Videos

If you’ve been reading Dave Tate’s articles here at T-mag, you know that the training done at Louie Simmons’ Westside Barbell Club is radically different than anything else out there. If an outsider were to look at the way they structure their training and the crazy exercises they do, he’d think they were nuts. The thing is, this little gym produces the strongest powerlifters in the world. You say you can bench 350 pounds? "Which hand?" Louie and Dave will ask.

Suffice it to say, if you’re serious about powerlifting, then you better get serious about learning what goes on behind the walls at Westside. The best way to do this is to attend one of their seminars conducted by Dave Tate. Can’t fly to Columbus, Ohio? No problem. "The Development of Maximal Strength" seminar is now available on video.

When I say this is a seminar on video, I mean that literally. Dave simply had someone stand there and videotape an entire six hour seminar. You get two videos that cover the classroom or lecture part of the seminar and one video of the hands-on work in the gym. Plus, Dave throws in an extra video that features a short interview with Louie Simmons.

The whole shebang is packaged in a nice plastic case and comes with a seminar manual that contains all the slides Dave shows during the lecture portion, plus charts, complete training programs, pictures of the exercises (which are a bit dark and grainy), and many of Dave’s published articles from T-mag.

So, is it any good? In a word, yes. Now don’t expect George Lucas special effects and a bunch of bells and whistles. The quality of the tape and the sound are good, but still, it’s just someone standing there with a video camera. Dave is a good speaker, though, and his voice comes through fine. Actually, there’s one part of the training tape where Louie is drowning Dave out by talking in the background. (I wouldn’t tell Louie to shut up either, Dave.) You can’t see the slides Dave is showing on the tape, but he has them for you in the manual, so that’s no big deal.

The best part of the seminar is, of course, the hands-on stuff. Here Dave takes everyone attending the seminar and puts them through all those brutal Westside exercises you hear so much about: box squats, JM presses, benching with chains and bands, good mornings, glute ham raises, the pull through, reverse hypers, board presses, floor presses and sled dragging (in the snow no less.) Watching these movements performed on tape is the next best thing to being there. I’ve read all of Dave’s stuff, but I realized I was still doing a few of these exercises wrong after watching the tapes. For example, I never appreciated the speed and explosive power these guys use until I watched the video. There are just some things a photo can’t capture.

The best part of the training tape is the trouble shooting. The seminar attendees are run through every exercise while Dave and sometimes Louie correct their form. It’s amazing to think that most of these guys will immediately set new PRs just because of tips on form they learned in three minutes at Westside. If Charlie Francis is the brain surgeon of sprinting, then Dave is the brain surgeon of powerlifting. He can spot flaws in your exercise technique and correct them, instantly in many cases.

The most interesting part of the training tape for me was watching Dave demonstrate how to take several inches off the path the bar has to travel in the bench press (which leads to an instantly bigger bench.) If you’re a powerlifter and you don’t know these little tricks, then you’re SOL in your next meet.

The bonus interview with Louie proves that Louie is the meanest, toughest, most cantankerous sumbitch on the planet, which of course, is why we like him. And although Louie would probably kick my ass for calling him "motivational," I immediately felt like hitting the gym after hearing him speak. Considering that he squats over 900 pounds at 54 years old (after breaking his back twice), well, he is pretty motivational whether he likes it or not.

If you were to attend this seminar at Westside Barbell, it would cost you $175. The set of tapes and seminar manual retail for $200, but Dave will hook you up at his Elite Fitness site for $154.95.

The disadvantage of the tapes is that you don’t actually get the personal, hands-on help you’d get at a seminar. The advantage is you can watch the tapes over and over again and you don’t have to pay any travel expenses. So the tapes are a pretty good deal. If you’re really serious about hitting the big numbers on your lifts, then attending a Westside seminar or picking up these tapes is a must.

Rating: 9 — CS

Built To Survive!: A Comprehensive Guide to the Medical Use of Anabolic Steroids, Nutrition and Exercise for HIV (+) Men and Women
by Michael Mooney and Nelson Vergel

What can I say about the AIDS virus that hasn’t been said before? It’s killed millions, and it sure isn’t done yet. Given its prevalence in the world, it’s amazing that it remains so misunderstood. There are new treatments coming out every day, but sadly, the magic bullet remains as elusive now as it did when the disease first reared its ugly head.

There is one treatment, however, that despite its effectiveness in keeping AIDS patients alive, keeps meeting resistance in the medical community. That treatment is one that many bodybuilders are intimately aware of: anabolic steroids.

AIDS, which is called "wasting disease" in Africa, literally eats away lean body mass (among scores of other horrible things) and when you lose enough, you simply die, regardless of gender, sexual preference, race, religion, or nationality.

That’s where anabolic steroids can help.

Of course, when the use of steroids pays off in substantial increases in life-saving lean body mass gains and incredible quality of life changes, you’d think the medical community would be lining up in front of the mass media, chanting in unison, "Steroids are good!" But no, and as authors Mooney and Vergel chronicle, this remains an uphill fight for them and other progressive physicians as they try to convince the medical community at large that it's not only okay for doctors to utilize steroids to fight a variety of illnesses, but absolutely essential in the fight against AIDS.

There is, of course, a direct application to the findings in this fascinating book for most bodybuilders, strength athletes and anyone interested in how steroids work and what they really do to one's body. Without going into detail here, you'll find an extensive series of chapters talking about everything from "Testosterone and Anabolic Steroids - Adverse Effects, Rumors and Reality" to a great deal of information about applying nutrition to your workout, dietary and drug plans. This book is very easy to digest and understand; it's written for the layman, not the scientist or researcher. If I can handle all this science, so can you.

Michael Mooney should be well known to many of you as a longtime writer for the bodybuilding community, but with Built To Survive! he's doing great and valuable work indeed. Not only is the information revolutionary for the medical community, but one hundred percent of the profits from this book will benefit non-profit HIV organizations.

Rating: 8 — JK

Charles Staley's Training-Nutrition Manager 2.0

Years ago, few weight trainers kept close track of their workout programs, or if they did, it was a nonchalant operation. The same applied to food consumption; ask a bodybuilder from the '70s or '80s how many grams of carbs or protein they consumed in any one time period and they'd probably shrug their shoulders and tell you they just ate until they were "real full."

Most of us are now aware of the importance of actually knowing what we're jamming into our pieholes. Nothing goes better with an intense will to train than making the most intelligent decisions possible about both our diet and workouts.

But when you go to set up periodized schedules and special diets, suddenly you're faced with an impossible situation. How many little notebooks can one carry in his gym bag, and how many times do you want to look up the nutritional data for those sweet potatoes? Charles Staley, familiar to Testosterone readers as one of the premier trainers in the world, gallops to the rescue with his Training-Nutrition Manager software.

Upon purchase, you receive a unique password enabling full download of the entire program. This turns out to be quite a massive, comprehensive series of books. It’s really like having a bunch of reference books in your back pocket, or at least on your hard drive. Each area is self-contained, with all manner of info built in (workout protocols, nutrient data for specific foods including fast foods and commercial brands etc.) Areas covered are Resistance Training, Nutrition and Supplements, Notes and Observations, Recovery Index, Endurance Training, Technical/Tactical Writing, Testing, and Medical/Therapeutic.

An important distinction of the Training-Nutrition Manager is that Charles didn’t design it to create programs; rather, it's to give you the ammunition to design and utilize your own programs. This is high-powered stuff, easy to digest and use, and for those inclined to keep detailed track of their workouts and breakdowns of their food and supplements, easily the best such software system I've ever worked with. Every single workout can be built in; think of the advantages of running off a copy of your next few training sessions and taking that to the gym with you.

Coaches and personal trainers will find this incredibly useful, too, as one can keep track of many different peoples’ workouts and diet plans. For my money, Charles Staley has a solid gold winner here.

Rating: 9 — JK

Where to Buy

The Power Wheel ($40) and the Power Push-up 2 ($29.95) can be purchased at CombatWrestling.com.

The Westside Seminar Videos run $154.95 at EliteFitnessSystems.com

Built To Survive! can be found at Medibolics.com/toc2.htm for $24.95, or call 1-800-350-2392 to order.

The Training-Nutrition Manager software can be downloaded instantly at www.Myodynamics.com. The price is $59.95 or $10 to upgrade from the old version.

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed by John Koenig and Chris Shugart are not necessarily shared by the rest of the Testosterone staff, the US Congress, the star of Fox TV’s hit series, V.I.P., Pamela Lee, or the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

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