TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword by Pavel “Thinking Simply and Seeing Clearly”

I Prometheus

The Purposeful Primitives

There Is No School Like Old School

Standing On the Shoulders of Giants

IRON MASTERS

Paul AndersonPrimitive Patriarch

Typical Paul Anderson Workout

Bill PearlAnti-Aging Role Model

Bill Pearl’s Classical Bodybuilding Training Regimen

The Anti-Aging Role Model

Bob BednarskiIron Icarus

Clash of the Titans: Barski goes to work for “The Man”

Training

Bob Bednarski Training Template

Aftermath: The Iron Icarus melts his wings

Hugh CassidyIron Master Renaissance Man

Eat Your Way Through Sticking Points!

All Aboard the Pain Train!

Hugh Cassidy Training Split

Lift Big, Eat Big, Rest Big, Grow Big!

Mark ChailletPowerlifting Ultra Minimalist

How Little can you do and still get Super Strong?

Mark Chaillet’s Super Simplistic System

Competition Training Cycle

8 Week Periodization Cycle

Stopping Machine Gun Sales at Chaillet’s “House of Pain”

Doug FurnasThe Athlete’s Athlete

Near Death Experience Leads to Iron Introduction

Dennis Wright: “Simplistic Genius”

Coaching Coan, Furnas and Chaillet Simultaneously

How did Doug train?

Ed CoanThe Greatest Powerlifter Of All Time…

How the Greatest Powerlifter in History Trained

Coan Trains

Ken FantanoPower Theoretician

Powerlifting Architecture

“The Weight Don’t Care; It Has Only One Friend: Gravity!”

Power Enduro

Fantano Phase II Competition Training Template

Dorian YatesThe Iron Monk

The Quantum Leap Forward

Blood & Guts: Film Noir Extraordinaire

My Day with Dorian

Bodybuilding, Blood & Guts Style

Kirk KarwoskiPrototypical Purposeful Primitive

Karwoski’s Four Day/Week Power Training Program

Karwoski 4 Day Training Split

Karwoski Reemerges

IRON METHODS

The Purposefully Primitive Resistance Training Amalgamation

Recapitulation of Modes and Methods

What the Iron Masters Have in Common

How to Build Muscle

Getting Started

Primary Exercises

Squat

Bench Press

Deadlift

Secondary Exercises

Overhead Press

Biceps Curl

Triceps Extension

Tertiary Exercises

Romanian Deadlift

Calf Raise

Decline Sit-up

Auxiliary Exercises

Legs

Chest

Back

Two Day A Week Training

Two Day Split: Simplistic, Time Efficient, Deadly Effective!

Three Day A Week Training

Three Day Split: Work the Whole Body Thrice Weekly

Four Day A Week Training

Four Day Split: Ground Zero Split Routine

Five Day A Week Training

Five Day Split: Iron Immersion

Six Day A Week Training

Six Day Split: Volume Over Intensity!

The Purposefully Primitive Training Week

Periodization and Preplanning

4 Week Peaking Cycle

Periodization and Creeping Incrementalism

8 Week Beginner Periodization Cycle

Logging Entries

IRON ESSAYS

Primitive Roots

Build a Retro Home Gym

Stone-Age Tools for Accessing the Third Dimension of Tension

You’ve Got About An Hour

Capacity is a Shifting Target

Progress Multiplier: The Training Partner

How Simple can the Physical Renovation Process be made Without Losing Effectiveness?

Ebb and Flow

Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis Embrace Change, Legislate Contrast

No One System, Mode or Method Trumps All Others

Better To Use a Lousy System with Great Intensity Than A Sophisticated System Halfheartedly

Don’t Turn a Once Effective System into a Religion

Legislating Contrast

Contrast Is King

Direct Muscle Soreness and Deep Muscle Fatigue

Progressive Pulls

Six Week Progressive Pull Periodization Cycle

Base Strength

The Seductive Siren Song of Machine Exercise

Spawning Season

Back in the Day

What Not To Do How Not To Train

Remembrances of Days Past

MIND MASTERS

Mental Mentors

The Functions of the Human Brain

Jiddu KrishnamurtiIntuitive Primitive

Aladar KoglerIron Curtain Brain Train Grand Maestro

MIND METHODS

The Tao of Fitness

Shikantaza Checklist

Auto-Visualization Ideo-Motor Checklist

Suggested Reading

A 10 Step Program Based on the Kogler Brain Train Approach

MIND ESSAYS

Purposefully Primitive Psychology

Reprogram the Central Processing Unit of the Soft Machine

Making the Mind/Muscle Connection

Physical and Psychological Weak Points

Brain Train

The Psychology of a Champion Athlete

Purposeful Layoffs

Brain Train Feats and Tactics

Want to Change Your Physique? Start by Changing the Way You Think

CARDIO MASTERS

Purposefully Primitive Cardiovascular Exercise

Mr. Analogous Strikes Again

Many Roads Lead to Cardio Rome

Getting Our Cardio Facts Straight

Leonard Schwartz, M.D.Aerobic Avatar

Birth And Death Of An Exercise Craze

Len Sets Me Straight

CARDIO METHODS

The Three Types of Cardio

The 1st Way: Steady-State

The 2nd Way: Burst or Interval

The 3rd Way: Burst or Interval

Muscle Fiber Nuts and Bolts

Muscle Fiber Reference Guide

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Way Cardio Modes

Every Self-Respecting Purposeful Primitive Needs this High-Tech Gadget

The Three Benchmarks of Aerobic Activity

Six Week 1st Way Periodization Cycle

Nine Week 1st Way Periodization Cycle

The Heart Rate Monitor Allows Aerobic Mode Cross Comparisons

CARDIO ESSAYS

Aerobic Exercise Is Irreplaceable

Step Outside the Cardio Box

Walking for Exercise is Different Than Normal Walking

Zen and the Art of Walking

The 1,000 Calorie Cardio Burn

The Carefree Psychotic Peeks Inside Ali’s “Near Room”

Hammer Time!

Martial Artists and 3rd Way Hybrid Cardio

In Praise of Steve Justa Sustained-Strength Grand Maestro

NUTRITION MASTERS

No Need to Square the Nutritional Circle

John Parrillo

Bigger and Leaner

Build the Metabolism

A Day In The Life Of A Parrillo-Style Dieter

Parrillo On Manipulating The Insulin/Glucagon Axis

Ori Hofmekler

The Warrior Diet Template

“Avoid Extreme Low Calorie Diets.”

“Detoxify the Body”

NUTRITION METHODS

The Nutritional Amalgamation

The Right Tool for the Right Job at the Right Time

Which Way to Jump?

Jumping into the Deep End of the Pool

A Hypothetical 12 Month Rotational Nutritional Macro Cycle

The Psychology of Taste

Where and How to Start

Purposefully Primitive Performance Eating

Thermodynamic Reality Check

Periodized Nutritional Rotation

Parillo Nutritional System Synopsis

Warrior Diet System Synopsis

NUTRITION ESSAYS

The Anabolic Effect of Food

Post-Workout Smart Bomb

Ori’s Take on the Window of Opportunity

Getting in Touch with Hunger

My Meal with Mongo

The Diesel Leads the Way

Dorian Yates Daily Meal Schedule Pre-Competition Phase

Holiday Hedonism Setting Up the Anabolic Burst

What’s the Biggest Myth in ALL of Fitness? Spot Reduction!

Where Body Fat Is Drawn Down From Is Beyond Your Control

Want a Ripped Waist? Reset the Metabolic Thermostat

Ab Exercise Heretic

The Caloric Cost of Exercise is Vastly Overrated

The Procedural Consensus of the Iron Elite

Food Tricks

Magnificent Mini-Me!

EPILOGUE

The Purposefully Primitive Manifesto Doing Fewer Things Better

An Inch Wide and a Mile Deep

Rationalization, Visualization, Actualization

Fitness from Big Pink

RESOURCE GUIDE

INDEX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR