Who are your top 10 influences?

[He-man]

1.-5. Arnold
6.-10. Chad Waterbury (can't wait for his new book!)

[gobbla]

No order. Just numbered to help me hit "10"

1. Ian King
2. Louie Simmons
3. Alan Aragon
4. Stuart McRobert
5. Lyle McDonald
6. Mark Rippetoe
7. Charlie Francis
8. Vern Gambetta
9. Dan John
10. Ross Enemait

[BamaDave]

My list is not really all that long, because I don't do a lot of extensive reading/research on the subject (I have to do too much of that crap at work!!! )

JP - I've learned almost everything I know about fitness here. Without JP's dedication to keeping this place up and running and populating it with good people, I don't know that I would have an internet fitness home. And without an internet fitness home, I suspect I may have fallen off the wagon a long time ago. 6 years on the wagon and counting!

JP Fitness members: Since I don't read/research that much, I learn stuff from the people here. And the inspiration, accountability, and motivation is what has kept me going.

Ancient MH Fitness Board members: Many are here now, but I owe a lot to the crew who lived over at MH back in 2002-2004.

Lou Schuler - It's not a coincidence that almost every fitness book I own has Lou Schuler as a co-author.

Ian King - His workouts were the ones that REALLY whipped my ass into shape several years ago.

Alwyn Cosgrove - His workouts have helped KEEP my ass in shape and have led me to most or all of my strength maximums. I love it/hate it that he NEVER gives you even an inkling of a break (if you don't sandbag his programs).

Crossfit Group - I thank Buk for steering me in the direction of Crossfit back in 2005. I haven't done their workouts on a regular basis, but I try to at least do something Crossfit-like on occasion.

[Lou Schuler]

In chronological order:

1. My older brother.

He bought our first weight set, got me interested in muscle and strength, and most important of all convinced me that conditioning is the only hope for guys who're born smaller, slower, and weaker than we need to be for the sports we want to play.

2. "Gold's Gym."

Even though I started working out when I was 13, I didn't buy a book about training until I was in my 20s. The first one, I think, was called "The Gold's Gym Bodybuilding Book," or something like that. This was the first time I ever had a workout system, vs. a collection of exercises. Alas, I lent the book to a friend and never got it back.

3. Bill Starr.

I started working at Weider in my mid-30s, and for a while just went to the gym and did all the bodybuilding stuff I saw in our company magazines.

After three years I got promoted to fitness editor at Men's Fitness, and even then, talking to trainers and helping them put together their workouts for the magazine, I still wasn't necessarily using the advice I was giving readers in the magazine.

Then I did a story with Bill Starr. It was a modified version of his "Big Three," only instead of bench press / squat / power clean, we subbed in a high pull for the last exercise. We did "heavy," "light," "medium" days, total-body workouts, put variety into the movement patterns ... basically, all the things I advocate now and do now.

I wrote a bit about this in NROL, and it still amazes me that I'd been introduced to the best way to train, but didn't realize it at the time.

4. Mike Mejia.

Quick point before I talk about how influential Mike was to my training education:

My accumulation of training knowledge is kind of like Moore's Law -- there's a huge gap between when I started lifting and when I actually bought a book about lifting, then a slightly shorter gap between that and really learning how to train from Bill Starr, then a much shorter gap from Starr to Mejia. Each time, my training knowledge probably doubled.

I started working with Mike at MF in '97, IIRC, and then when I got to MH in '98 he was my main guy. He told me about T-mag (now T-nation, of course), and about this guy named Poliquin with all these crazy-cool ideas about how to build muscle.

I remember going to a little conference Mike cosponsored at his gym in Manhattan in early '99.

In one day, I met Alwyn (who worked with Mike at the gym), Rachel (the future Mrs. Cosgrove), Poliquin, and Eric Serrano, who was presenting there with Poliquin. I also met Ming Chew, the ART guy, who ended up fixing my shoulder, which allowed me to start lifting serious weights.

All those connections in a single weekend!

5. Ian King.

Once I started reading T-mag, I began hearing about Ian, first through Poliquin, then through Ian's own articles. I thought his ideas might work for MH, so I contacted TC out of the blue and asked for Ian's contact info.

I was half-afraid TC would tell me to fuck off and go find my own experts, but instead he immediately sent me the info -- part of a pattern of really generous help whenever I needed it.

Ian was amenable to working with MH, and we got together for lunch at an NSCA conference to talk about a workout series. Alwyn wandered by, and I tried to introduce him to Ian, which cracked up both guys. They were actually working together at the conference.

Ian ended up doing a breakthrough training series for the magazine, and of course we did Book of Muscle together. But aside from our successful business relationship, I learned about balanced, systematic, periodized training, and for the first time ever found myself sticking with long-term programs, rather than just bouncing around from program to program, depending on what we were planning for the magazine.

6. Craig Ballantyne.

Craig introduced me to Westside training, and shared his workouts with me for the better part of two years.

I eventually introduced myself to Louie Simmons and Dave Tate, culminating with a trip to Columbus and a workout at Westside for a feature I did for Men's Journal.

While I was in Columbus, in October 2004, I got a call from my agent, who'd just sent NROL out to editors. I had to cut short my interview with Dave Tate, run back to my hotel room, and call an editor at Avery who had read the proposal and liked it. She ended up publishing NROL and NROL for Women.

So even though, Craig, Louie, and Dave had nothing to do with NROL, I'll always link them to that book.

7. Mark Verstegen.

This one is kind of out of sequence, but while I was immersed in Westside workouts, I went to an NSCA sport-specific training conference in New Orleans, and was just blown away by Mark's presentation. I sat in the audience drawing little stick figures to represent the multiplane, rotational exercises he was showing on his slides, ran up to the podium to introduce myself to him after the lecture, then immediately went up to my hotel room to email my colleagues at MH to tell them I'd just seen the future of training.

A short time later we got a proposal from Mark and Pete Williams for the book that eventually became Core Performance. Editing that book -- especially the part where I got to visit Athletes' Performance in Tempe and work out with one of Mark's trainers -- was one of the best working experiences I've ever had.

The book was an editorial and financial success, but the best part was knowing that it actually made a difference in the way people train. All the trainers at my gym started incorporating the mobility drills from the book with their clients, and today Verstegen-inspired exercises and techniques are ubiquitous there.

And I also ended up working with Mark's agent on my post-Rodale books, which wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gotten acquainted with him via Mark and CP.

8. Chad Waterbury.

Here's where I give props to JP: I hadn't paid much attention to Chad's articles at T-nation. But then JP brought him out to a Summit (I think we still called them "retreats" back then), Chad and I stayed in touch, and we ended up working on two books together: Muscle Revolution, and the upcoming Rodale book.

The really cool thing about Chad's programs -- which I've been doing off and on for at least three years now -- is that they bring me back to the Bill Starr system I learned in '96 or '97.

Chad's version of the Big Three is different from Starr's, and he has a different take on incorporating heavy, medium, and light training days, but there's still that basic philosophy that I wasn't astute enough to grasp 11 or 12 years ago: get in, work hard, go home.

In part 2, I'll describe the influence John Basedow has had on my training philosophy.

[Phaedrus49er]

I'll try to go in chronological order since there's no way I can really rank these in terms of importance--they've all had serious impact on me. I also say this is "so far" because there will most assuredly be others to add to this list down the road:

1. My family - If not for the Jerry Springer nature of my parents' divorce and my subsequent change of high schools, I would've never been thrust into a totally new environment (and peer group) where no one knew anything about my past, just what I presented to them, which combined with my interest in wrestling and led to THE weight loss event of my life (~110lbs over the course of a year, 50lbs of that during the four-month wrestling season; hey, I didn't say it was healthy).

2. College classmate (and later roommate) - We got/get along in very small doses, but he was the one who took me to our college gym in August 2000 and showed me the basics of lifting free weights, not purely out of compassion since he wanted a training partner, but it worked out for both of us. Needless to say, I haven't looked back.

3. Men's Health forums (many members who migrated here as well as a few who haven't, like popeye) - This was my first "fitness" community, and I had the great fortune of joining the forum when a lot of the great people here were still over there. While MH was still going strong...

4. Lyle McDonald/Mike Mejia/Anthony Galvin/Brooke (my then-girlfriend) - I know a lot of people eschew a ketogenic diet, but it did great things for me when I was really immersing myself in plyometric training, though I didn't have enough foundational strength to be successful at that style of training for the long-term. I've since used keto a few times just to break things up and complement specific training phases. Mike and Anthony let me play at Spectrum Conditioning one afternoon and put together a speed development program for me, elements of which I still use to this day. My then-girlfriend Brooke jumped into the training thing with both feet and made a LOT of progress (that girl was solid), so we did a lot to coach, evaluate, and motivate each other.

5. Brothers In Iron - Though short-lived, I think that core group mostly migrated to this forum. It was a great idea with poor execution. I don't remember the guy who was trying to run the operation, but he was a great co-conspirator in my ketosis adventures. Too bad he disappeared.

6. T-Nation stable - Waterbury, King (pick a program), Alessi (damn you for Meltdown!), Cressey (namely rotator cuff issues), Telle (my intro to joint angle manipulation), Poloquin (structural balance), and on and on and on.

7. JP Fitness - What can I say that hasn't already been said?

8. Charlotte Fire Department - If not for having my ass handed to me during a "media day" run-through of part of their physical assessment program, I would've never started considering endurance training to add to my repertoire (even though I've scaled it WAY back, I don't want to ever get back to where I can't at least run a 5K at the drop of a hat).

9. Drs. Burroughs & Altieri (my sports doc and physical therapist, respectively) - Burroughs addressed an IT band issue I'd developed after almost two years of running with atrocious form and got me started looking at the idea of mobility, though I admit I didn't get too far into it. Altieri rehabbed me through a blown hamstring (almost eleven months ago that it happened) and introduced me to a much more regimented approach to mobility, dynamic warm-up, post-work isometric stretching, etc.

10. Mark Verstegen - Immediately following clearance to return to normal training activities, I picked up, read, and completed Core Performance, which was extended the (p)rehab, mobility, and movement prep work I'd first gotten in rehab. Lots of structural balance and core/foundational strength and awareness. These last two items (9 & 10) really got me to appreciate taking time and presence of mind to focus on the little stuff, build a good base (and do it evenly), and only after laying the groundwork should I begin to add to it (which Lou and Alwyn are currently helping me with in NROL).

[Kevin T.]

Not particular order, and I don't know if I'll be able to get just 10.

1) JP's Place - duh
2) Mike Robertson - I view him as the mobility guy for the lower body.
3) Eric Cressey - ditto for the above, but for the upper body
4) Tony G. - I read his blog.
5) Mark Verstegen - Core Performance really got me thinking about training for sports more.
6) Dave Tate - Under the Bar was awesome. Good info about how to get stronger.
7) Mike Boyle - the athletic training guru
8) Kelly Baggett - Vertical Jump Development Bible got me thinking more about plyos rather than just doing them
9) Alan Aragon - great nutritional advice and a nice perspective
10) John Berardi - first got me looking at my diet and nutrition
11) Lou Schuler - The Home Workout Bible helped me get started lifting
12) Mike Mejia - not particularly proud of this moment in my training career, but hey you live and learn. And Mike brought about the "ah-ha!" moment when I realized that Compound Movements pwn isolation.
13) Dos - total awesomeness
14) Zach Even Esh - a new addition to my group of authors I read, but I really like his idea of get out of the gym and get back to the simpler times. Heavy stuff is heavy stuff. Go find a big rock or log.

[Lost Dog]

Damn. We were supposed to use words, too?

I can do that, but I want to take a different tack on that.

For every famous guy (or chick) I listed, there have been at least as many knowledgeable friends and "family" that I should point to as influences.

Most of us fitness laymen go through waves of understanding, comprehension, awareness, etc. We can read up and absorb all the info from every book we read. We try to apply it to ourselves, but we often don't see the forest for the trees. It takes a knowledgeable friend or trainer or coach that actually sees you to snap you back to (or into) reality.

Many of these people are professional, published, and in their own ways famous (or infamous), but despite that, they have had a personal effect on me and many others. It's just as scary to list these folks as it was to list my original 10, as I've already thought of yet another 10 that should have been on that list...

But, here goes.

• Lisa~
• Galya
• Julie
• Bill
• Lou
• Adam

On the motivational front, I can't even count the people who've motivated me over the last few years, so I'll just highlight.

• Everybody I met at the JP Summit '06. Lots of friends met and made.
• Gabe, Tony, Jill, and Tina. All of whom have challenged and inspired me specifically and and personally in various contests, challenges, and personal crisis.

Also, sometimes it just takes a voice of reason to wake you up. Snap out of it, mister! Here are some voices of reason.

• Coach Hale (yes, he's cryptic, but so was the Oracle at Delphi)
• Leigh Peele (not because she's cute, either)
• Alan what's his name (rhymes with marathon?)
• My friend Tony (gobbla)
• Matt (PowerManDL)
• That guy, Manny (GQArtGuy)
• dos

[rem1956]

Wow....interesting question. But my answer is quite simple.

1. My father. Aging in years, failing in health. Worked hard as a factory laborer all his life, then retired and did nothing! For the last 20 years his overall health and general wellness has steadily declined. Now at 81 he has become more and more dependant on others. When I get to be 81, I want to depend on no one!

2. My son. Now almost 10, he has gone through a period of unhealthy eating and has slowly started going in the other direction. He has seen his father exercise, make good food choices, and improve (although slowly) his overall health. He is becoming aware of the relationship between junk food and moods, activity and sleep.
I try to be the best role model I can be, under the circumstances!

3. JP formuites....all of you....each and every one of you.

[Depalma2002]

• Mike Boyle
• Alwyn Cosgrove
• Mike Robertson
• Bill Hartman
• Eric Cressey
• Louie Simmons
• Dave Tate
• Joe DeFranco
• Brooks Kubik
• Tony Gentilcore (for his academy award worthy performance in Building the Efficient Athlete. A co-starring role with Jennifer Garner is in his future.)

[gregl515]

I have had an up and down road with fitness as many amateur folks do. Still, I have had many influences starting with:

1. GySgt Roller and Sgt Laskodi, USMC. Kind of like Dale Carnegie only tougher, more brutal, louder and smellier. Roller's motto was, "Mind over matter. If your mind can do it, your body doesn't matter." He often said this while standing on your fingers as you did pushups." Laskodi's motto, "If you can't feel pain, you're dead!" He was usually breaking something or doing something terrifying when he said this."
They taught me that I could do much more than I thought I could, if only to get away from them.

2. Mike Mejia. My first workouts were Mejia workouts. More important, his descriptions of exercises always clicked with me. Home Workout Bible is the Home Workout Bible. T Advantage was my starting point diet wise.

3. Lou Schuler. All the books, columns, postings and helpful e-mails. He is Sparticus and he has led us.

4.. Adam Campbell. Strangely, I had trouble grasping Adam's Diet at first, but it has taken and I am glad. Blood sugar down and I intend to prove to my doctor that I will get off meds.

5. Alwyn Cosgrove. Books, articles, postings. Once again, his descriptions are first rate.

6. Ian King. When I was first beginning organized exercise programs he was there.
Book of Muscle. Though if you pick up his other works, you can really see Lou's magic in this.

7. Craig Ballantine: Supersets.

8. Clarence Bass and Dave Draper: I first heard about HIIT on their websites.

9. Mahler: When I think about skipping my workouts, I realize Mahler did his at 4:45 a.m.

10. JP and this site: When I lost my leg, you guys brought me back into training. Thanks.
3.

[THEBEAST]

1.Ian king
2.Dr.Mel C Siff
3.Vladimir M. Zatsiorsky
4.Dave Tate
5.Stuart Mcrobert
6.Joe Defranco
7.Chad Waterbury

Couldnt name 10 dont read many authors just ones i trust.

[Terry Monk]

No order.

JP
Ian King
Chad Waterbury
Adam Campbell
Arnold
Frank Zane
Jean-Claude Van Damme (I know, but he inspired me when I was a kid)
Lou Schuler
John Berardi

[kaydubya]

Jason Ferruggia -- his Muscle Gaining Secrets made me realize I'm a lot stronger than I was allowing myself to be

Zach Even-Esh -- go listen to the MaxOut Radio episode where Mike talks with Zach. If you're not fired up to go lift some heavy shit after that, you're hopeless!

Robert Dos Remedios -- I can't say enough good things about Men's Health Power Training!

Craig Ballantyne -- Great fat loss workouts. It was also his Barely Legal program that helped me finally achieve 3x8 chinups.

Lou Schuler -- I credit NROL with opening my eyes to compound lifts and why they make so much more sense than isolation lifts.

Alwyn Cosgrove -- he always has something interesting and thought-provoking to say, plus he really does sound like Shrek!

The FitCast crew

Tony Gentilcore

The JP faithful

[Biskit]

Ok, I have a few. I don't know many people in this industry but:

1. Tony Gentilcore (Tony is a great trainer and he is the man!)
2. Eric Cressey (Ggrrrreat guy!)
3. My husband, (Never compains about my time spent training)
4. The Y (I learned a lot there, good and bad)
5. JP fitness cast of many supportive friends-in-fitness
6. PN and John Berardi

That's all I can think of for now.

Deb

[Cynic]

Lou! I'm waiting for part II!

You left off at #8.

[Cynic]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

[*]Alan what's his name