My friend's life-changing discovery

My friend (let's call him Jack) called me recently excited to tell me something.

He was being mysterious about it--so I let him talk.

He said, "I've spent the last month doing something that has changed my life, but I kept it a secret from you."

He said his arms felt big and strong.

He said he had a new mental clarity and confidence like never before.

He said he no longer had back issues--after struggling for YEARS with chronic low back pain and doing EVERYTHING under the sun from stretching to yoga to make it go away.

He said he now understood that the body is a SYSTEM and not a bunch of individual muscles.

Unfortunately, I spoiled his surprise.

I said, "you started lifting weights didn't you?"

Jack said, "yes, you got me! You kept telling me about barbells and strength training and I made all the excuses."

"But then you sent me a link to a book, and recommended a barbell and plates, and a power rack. And when the rack was out of stock you said 'don't let that be an excuse; let's find another one,' and you kept pushing and pushing, and I THANK YOU for that."

Mind you, this is a friend of mine, not a client or family member.

We are sympatico like that. I can "push" my friends like few other people because we understand each other.

We support each other.

As my friend Carl would say, we give each other a spot when they need it.

So after a few years of showing Jack with my actions that you could massively improve your health, well-being, and yes physique, he made the inevitable and logical conclusion:

I've gotta get me some of that special strength sauce.

I sent him a simple program, some equipment recommendations, and some videos I had made about getting started with lifting.

Then he started taking ACTION.

And like many of us, he wasn't sure if it would work, so he kept it private. Even his wife wasn't sure why he wanted the book I recommended so badly. "You're not going to do it anyway."

But he did. He jumped head first into the self-experimentation.

Oh, and I left out the best part.

He didn't even have his power rack yet. He had a bar and plates and could only deadlift.

Well, that's not entirely accurate. He was so itching to workout he also did bodyweight and dumbbell work to bide his time until the rack came in.

But the deadlift alone, which uses so much of the body, was enough to get him a massive increase in results in less than 30 days.

His arms, back, legs, and mental health all improved.

And this is "only" at sets of 5 for 135 lb--not very strong for his size but WAY STRONGER than he used to be.

That is an important realization.

I asked him about his low-back pain, and Jack said, "nah, completely gone...I literally have ZERO pain with just a few weeks of deadlifting."

Isn't that crazy?

Well, I would think so except I've seen this happen countless times.

In fact, EVERY time someone picks up a bar and challenges their body to perform in ways it possibly has never experienced before.

It doesn't take much. A bit of simple equipment, a bit of good form, and increasing mechanical tension through progression over time.

Strength training with barbells, specifically compound lifts, is about as "simple" and effective as it gets.

I call it the "lazy person's" way to a better physique.

It doesn't take much equipment, time, or even "effort" in terms of overall volume and recovery.

It's a bit "hard" because you are telling your muscles they need to get big and strong, but it's "easy" in that when you see progress so quickly you start to LOVE respecting your body by using it in a way it was built for.

In a way that aligns with your anatomy, your hormones, your need to feel and be useful in this wonderful world of ours.

Oh, and I mentioned earlier that it improved Jack's mental health.

This is no small thing.

He said to me, "Philip, I can't believe how much more I can accomplish now, just because I've been able to add a few pounds to the bar each session. I feel like I can do anything. I'm performing better at work, speaking up, and getting things done. I feel more energy and less tired. I can be strong for my family. This is freakin awesome."

I couldn't have said it better.

If you want to talk about using barbells to be more useful, have more energy, be more present, and achieve a bad-ass physique, just click HERE and I'll help you out.