Called “The Godfather of Fitness,” LaLanne literally hit home with this writer a long time ago. As a young child, foggy memories cause a smile from mornings spent in front of the television set mimicking him leading the way in a precursor of the fitness class. “The Jack LaLanne Show” became the longest running exercise program and was a staple of society for generations.

In a day where doctors and pregnant women found nothing wrong with smoking cigarettes, LaLanne taught the world how to not only exercise, but eat properly. A big proponent of fruits and vegetables, he was frequently seen plugging his inventions on TV commercials and a good amount of households had items such as his Power Juicer.

The next time you’re in the gym and using a Smith machine, leg extension or anything using a cable pulley system, be sure to quietly thank LaLanne for them. He was an innovator and opened his first ‘health spa’ in Oakland, California back in 1936. Jack LaLanne’s eventually became what is now known as Bally Total Fitness, the most popular of it’s kind throughout the world.

Not accepting medical advice against weight training, LaLanne proved that this ridiculous diagnosis not only did not cause heart attacks and loss of sex drive, but actually improved them. He set the standard of everything we have today in the sport of bodybuilding, fitness, figure and even bikini.  Athletes in every category train and diet in a fashion that LaLanne scratched out and we all should be grateful.

LaLanne brought all forms of exercise and introduced it to housewives, the sick and elderly. These people became healthier with his programs and it proved that it wasn’t just for muscleheads.

We will never have another one like Jack LaLanne and his memory will live forever.

This is my write up of a training/supplement program I was on. The total program lasted 9 weeks and in that time I actually gained 20 lbs! I went from 174 to 194, now I have in the past weighed 188 and some of this was regained muscle, but on top of that I put on a fresh new 6 pounds.

Ok, some background on how I thought up this program, as you may already know, suggested programs for hardgainers are short and infrequent. I got to thinking that “what if you trained even shorter workouts and did them more often?” I was on a busy schedule and still wanted to train so I decided to try this to see how it worked.

I knew pre exhaust workouts were a very effective method, but in the past I had only done it here and there for one or another body part and I had never done it for every muscle group for weeks at a time. Below is the routine I used, most workouts lasted 5 minutes or less.

Workout 1 (Chest)

Dumbbell Fly

With no rest do Bench Press

Workout 2 (Back)

Dumbbell Pullover

With no rest do Row

Workout 3 (Shoulders)

Lateral Raise

With no rest do Press Behind Neck

Workout 4 (Legs)

Leg Curl

Leg Extension

With no rest do Barbell Squat

Workout 5 (Arms)

1 Rep Chin (Go very slow, 30 seconds up and 30 seconds down)

With no rest do Standing Barbell Curl

1 Rep Dip (Go very slow, 30 seconds down and 30 seconds up)

With no rest do Tricep Exertions

I did do a warm up of a lighter set of the compound exercise then I did just one hard work set as listed above. I tired to add weight to the exercises each and every workout and I stayed in the 6 to 9 rep range, except on the chin and dip, which is done for a painfully slow 1 rep.

The first 2 weeks I worked out Monday through Friday and took the weekends off, each muscle group was being hit once a week, but the soreness from the last workout was interfering with the next workout and I switched to training every other day. After 3 weeks I gained 11 pounds and then the gains seemed to slow down.

Starting week 4 I began taking an Andro Shock supplement and my gains started up again, I gained another 9 pounds over the next 6 weeks!

On diet I followed a zone type plan (40% Carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat) and I ate up to 7 to 8 times a day.

This program is very different then any you will see in the glossy muscle magazines but it sure does work, and if any one is feeling he can’t train because he “doesn’t have the time”, I’m sure you can squeeze in 5 mins every other day to make some great gains!

About The Author: Paul Becker is a natural (steroid free for life) bodybuilder and fitness consultant. For more information on Bodybuilding and Bodybuilding Supplements visit his website at http://www.trulyhuge.com.