Maxick’s First book
I bought this book a long time ago. You can also find it on Internet Archive if you wish to look further. I’ll pepper this post with a few important quotes to provide you with more idea of what this training system is about and how it differs from other forms of tension-based training.
The Rabbit Hole
Disclaimer
Tiny Tim Energy
Loss Of Energy
Peddle To The Metal
Driving With The Parking Break On
Concentration & Will Power
For The Future
Wrap Up
The Rabbit Hole
As yall know I’m a nerd for history and while reading John E Peterson’s “Isometric Power Revolution” I first learned about this guy named Maxick.
His system of training revolved around the mastery of one’s muscle tension. The mastery could be guided towards making the muscles stronger, making the muscles bigger, lifting more weight, or making a simple bodyweight exercise more difficult. In addition to this, it was used to help rehabilitate some WWI soldiers like Alan Mead who lost a leg…
20-year-old me - “No…. this isn’t possible. You need weights and protein to build muscle and get strong. My world is falling apart!!!!”
But seriously I was pretty open to this possibility as I bought “Muscle Control” while in Okinawa and had already experienced putting on muscle with progressive calisthenics.
However, I put the book down after finishing it and never revisited it until recently. It was at the time too complex for me. It’s more than just flexing my muscles in the mirror super hard until my eyes pop out. Although flexing our muscles does have benefits…
…It was much easier to apply myself to progressive calisthenics and overcoming isometrics.
This system is difficult not in a push yourself till your heart pops type of way but in a ride across a thick rope between cliffs on a unicycle type way.
This is part of the reason why I think this system was legit. During, “Physical Culture” in the early 20th century many fitness influences were running around. A good chunk of them were into lifting weights and in the progressive overload/lift till failure camp. This approach is easy to grasp just push myself till I can’t move anymore.
There were more level-headed folks like Earle-Liederman who trained in a hybrid fashion with calisthenics and weights.
“If after you exercise, your bath and your rub-down, you feel fit to battle for a kingdom, then your schedule is right.” (p 150 Liedeman Secrets of Strength)
The were several camps but those most notable and still remembered today are those who took this level-headed approach.
But Maxick took a very different route. Very little equipment would be required which allowed for a more convenient entry into his system. However, the mental demands on the trainee would make up for the lack of equipment.
Special note: I have several of the pictures from the book in this post. The intent is to show you some of the positions he and his students would take with certain muscles.
Disclaimer
“I do not, and never have, claimed that by muscle-control alone, unaided by mechanical exercises, each muscle may be brought to its highest state of development: but I do claim that mechanical exercise, either with or without apparatus, will never produce the limit of strength and development of which the individual is capable unless combined with muscle-control.” (Maxick)
No one system of training can account for everything. If someone does claim that they’re smoking something. Therefore, it’s important to have a hybrid training schedule. My training schedule is a hybrid of most of the minimalist forms of hypertrophy/strength training. But the more forms of training you have that address the roots the less you have to devote yourself to other things in my opinion.
For Maxick, his system was not the end all be all, and some of his opponents not truly grasping the nuance of what he was trying to bring forth would accuse him of this. But he did argue that it would provide a strong foundation from which you could branch into other things.
He would participate in lifting competitions only to show the benefits of such a form or training.
Muscle contraction is involved in almost everything we do. What he discovered is that perfecting this to a high degree would lead to more muscle, strength, energy, and as we shall read in a bit…concentration.
Tiny Tim Energy
“I am a native of Wiirttemberg, in Germany, and was born on June 28th, 1882.
Being an only child, my father and mother devoted themselves to my upbringing; every care was bestowed upon me, but I was so sickly an infant, that despite their unremitting attention and the efforts of the doctors, the congenital weaknesses developed, and I contracted diseases such as usually spell death to a child of tender years” (P 7, Maxick, Muscle Control)
He was born Max Sick, but Maxick was his stage name. But if you recall the character of Tiny Tim from “The Christmas Carol” that was him pretty much.
So his parents forbid him from any kind of strenuous work. One day he said screw it, started flexing his muscles, and after the success/failures along the way came up with a system that would last into the 1980s led by Court Saldo who was the son of his business partner, Monte Saldo.
“During the bedridden days of infancy I had often stretched and contracted my muscles, and it now occurred to me to do this again, but in a more strenuous way, with certain mechanical movements that would tire the muscles.” (P 10, Maxick, Muscle Control)
Loss Of Energy
“I procured light dumb-bells; but found that I made no headway: that instead of benefiting, I felt tired after exercise. I reverted to my old system of muscle movements, body contortions, etc.; but although these did not tire me so much, I was conscious that there was little improvement, whereupon I took the dumbbells again in hand, with results as before.
I was nonplussed and chagrined, when it dawned upon me that I was using and tiring my muscles instead of making them stronger. And then it occurred to me that it is not work but nourishment, which makes muscles strong. Exercise of the muscles, rational exercise, aids the muscles to obtain nourishment, but as I observed later, rational exercise must be accompanied by mental concentration on the muscles to be exercised.” (P 11, Maxick, Muscle Control)
This concept didn’t mean anything to me at the time but as I would pour myself into more overcoming isometrics over the years it began to make more sense to me. This approach would later affect how I train progressive calisthenics in my hunt for the one arm-pull-up.
Building strength or muscle around this time, at least among the stronger personalities, was talked about differently compared to today after all the science of the past century.
"It is amazing the agreement between all great old strongmen about Maxick’s ideas. Strong muscles cannot be really developed straining the body with heavy weights until failure. This deserves a deep reflection. Have we really advanced so much in sport training from the golden age of great strongmen? Unfortunately no, all modern research has been directed (apparently?) to the design of most effective drugs and to the quicker destruction of the champion bodies. For example, why has not training to failure been removed from Earth, if it is proved its dangerous effects over the health? Who is interested in sustaining such absurd practices? Why have we to explore texts almost 100 years old in order to learn correct training and dietetic habits? Too many worrying questions without clear answers." (p 47, Professor Juan Antonio Martínez, Philosophy, Science, and Practice of Maxalding)
That quote above is from a huge pdf on Maxick’s system and the author asks this question. Have we really improved?
Just like back then, today there are training systems for building strength and muscle that are more nuanced. But there are also training systems whose approach is to train harder.
“There is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9
But what’s changed is that we have more chemical cocktails to help people train harder and get bigger. When they’ve reached their limit more chemical cocktails come out to help them train even harder and get even bigger.
These chemical cocktails have gotten into the younger generations, unfortunately. All they have to look at for role models are people who due to the size of their muscles are the size of Jupiter and who breathe heavily when walking up a flight of stairs.
As I stated in that note above, humanity has been trained over the past few decades to look outside the body for improvements in health and fitness. Call me crazy…
Someone - “You’re crazy!!!!”
…But something tells me the human body is perfect as it is. If we get to the point that we understand the body to a greater degree we would not eliminate suffering, but we would eliminate unnecessary suffering.
Peddle To The Metal
“But it seemed to me that the more I contracted, the tougher the muscles became, and improvement was checked. Yet, by the aid of a little kneading of the muscles, and by application of the knowledge which I was now gathering from the perusal of scientific works, which, among other things, taught me to use less effort in exercising, I found my development and strength increasing; and this without the regular use of weights or dumb-bells.” (P 11, Maxick, Muscle Control)
This is just more of the same stuff I talked about above. Some tension-based training systems, like one from a bodybuilder by the name of Mike Dayton, call for the participant to flex with a high degree of intensity. There are times in life that call for Intensity. However, in the realm of fitness and since the days of Arnold Screw Your Freedoms Schwarzenegger most tend to believe that intensity is the only answer to progress.
I’m not here to say, “No” but I will say, “Not really.”
Driving With The Parking Break On
“And there it was that I learned that while one group of muscles is being employed, other muscles are involved which, by their resistance, hinder the free action of the first group. When I had grasped this fact, the idea came to me that, to allow each muscle to put forth to the utmost the energy therein contained, it was absolutely necessary that other muscles must not be allowed to interfere— in a word, they must, by the effort of will, be relaxed. And to be able by the exercise of will-power to contract certain muscles while relaxing others antagonistic to them is what is meant by muscle control.” (P 13, Maxick, Muscle Control)
This is the main thing that differentiates this system from others in that one’s success is not dependent on flexing your muscles as hard as you can. What success is dependent on is learning to relax those muscles that shouldn’t be involved. This mastery will lead to the proper distribution of energy/force. This proper distribution of energy/force would lead to greater strength.
Tromp Van Diggelen was Maxick’s home boy and he was the main strongman of South Africa. Tromp weighs 185 but he has accounts where Maxick was able to press him overhead multiple times with one arm.
Is this strength feat nonsense? Possibly.
But, is this because modern exercise science has done a great job of making us look outside the body for improvement? We shall see.
“One has his driving muscles under control, and the other has not. It may be that the surrounding muscles are hampering or causing a deviation of the muscles required for the particular stroke; but in any case, perfect control and suppleness are not present, or he would make the same stroke in precisely the same manner, and with the same result, as many times as the endurance of the muscles would allow.
The endurance of a controlled muscle is very great indeed.” (P 22, Maxick, Muscle Control)
Concentration & Will Power
“The serious student of muscle-control will soon become aware of the fact that his will-power has become greater, and his mental faculties clearer and capable of increased concentration.
Thus it will be observed that the controlling of the muscles reacts upon the mind and strengthens the mental powers in exactly the same proportion that the control of the muscles strengthens the body and limbs.” (P 21, Maxick, Muscle Control)
Many things in life will require and can build our concentration. Religion, work, raising kids…
How we train our bodies can improve this concentration too. Activating specific muscles while ensuring the surrounding muscles aren’t contributing too much is difficult.
Doing this while doing push-ups takes this difficulty to a whole new level.
Although there’s been no noticeable jump in my ability to focus there has been a subtle change in my ability to relax. Trying to active my tricep and my shoulder, bicep, and trapezius are like,
“Yayyyy can we contribute to?!?!?”
….will cause one over time to be more aware of any unnecessary tension. I was driving somewhere the other week and noticed my trapezius were activated for no reason whatsoever. Or I’ll notice my face is more tense than it should be. I guess this is what my high-school biology teacher meant when he said I always look like my dog just died.
When I notice I’m tense like this it provides me an indication that my thoughts are not where they should be and that I should let someone take the wheel and
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
And save me from this road I'm on
This training has provided me with a way to check myself…before I wreck myself.
For The Future
“I assert without prejudice to the other many excellent methods of exercising in vogue to-day, that the greater advances made with the all-powerful march of civilisation, the greater will the need of muscle-control become; for a great brain will not be at its best in a debilitated or unfit body, and there will be little time for sports and games, saving for the few. The light for supremacy will become too keen, and the fit body and quickly-working, responsive brain will be the greatest assets of the bread-winner.” (P 21, Maxick, Muscle Control)
I look through history and I look back on my life at the benefits the more minimalist forms of training have provided me and I see a place for them in the future.
Do I really care about getting jacked not really. Do I want you to become jacked well…only if you want to. If I cared about myself and yall getting muscle I’d just tell yall to get a gym membership, lift weights, and consume all the protein powder in existence.
I’m concerned with how we train and how we put on muscle(if we choose). Because I don’t see things getting better.
I see some of these forms of training like overcoming isometrics or Maxick’s Muscle Control as a way to help myself and others survive the onslaught of long work hours due to neo-feudalism.
If some of this stuff doesn’t come to fruition then people would have been taught a convenient and effective way to train.
“I believe the more nerves you bring into play in training the better overall health you’ll have and the better your energy will flow from one part of your body to another and the more coordinated you’ll be and the more stamina you’ll have.
In my opinion the better you train your nerves the faster your body recuperates and the less sleep you actually need.” (P 21 Steve Justa, Iron isometrics)
There was a short period of time when I came back to the States from Okinawa in 2019 and given the right conditions I could wake up naturally after four hours of sleep and I would be wired for most of the day. I’ve tried to replicate those conditions from time to time with no real success but I’ve gotten a bit closer a few times with overcoming isometrics. This is another white whale for me.
Someone - “How many white whales does this guy have?!?!?”
Wrap Up
Who knew so much could be accomplished by properly activating various muscles!!!
I see health as an important piece of the puzzle in the years to come and I’ve noticed that certain forms of training might be more advantageous for the average person. The human body is an amazing work and if we nurture it I believe it can be prepared for anything that’s to come.
Thank you for making it to the end and let me know your thoughts below.
Until next time…