The Workout:

Warm up – Do a quick 6 minute run or ride on a stationary bicycle. Begin at a moderate pace, then do a 10 second sprint. Then pedal/run some more and then sprint again a bit harder. Do this 3 to 5 times and then pedal/run slower to bring your heart rate down.

Start with dead lifts and squats and do a 5 x 5 routine – Do 5 consecutive sets of 5 repetitions each. You should have enough weight on the barbells to give you a slight burn at the end of the fifth repetition, but you should NOT go to failure.

Follow the 15-8-4 routine for all other Upper Body and Lower Body exercises – Do a set of 15, a set of 8, and a set of 4 repetitions for each exercise using progressively more weight on the latter two sets if you can. Once again, go for a slight burn – not to failure.

Follow the 2 x 2 routine for the Isometric exercises – Do a set of 2 very slow repetitions and repeat. These are less designed for strength training and more designed to develop balance and agility.

Important Tips:

Protect your spine – Always brace your abdomen whenever doing any lifting (even when changing weights). Pay special attention to this when doing dead lifts and squats.

Protect your heart – Never strain or go to failure as this raises your blood pressure unnecessarily. Do not clench or grip things too hard, and don’t hold your breath – be sure to exhale as you push or pull the weight.

Protect your joints – Avoid any twisting motions with your knees, shoulders or lower back, especially if you are lifting or carrying any weights.

Keep moving – Do not rest between sets or exercises. Try to average 10-15 seconds max in between sets. Important - The compressed intervals between sets and exercises are the primary factors driving the success of this type of training. By keeping the rest periods to a minimum, you significantly increase the levels of human growth hormone (hGH) in your system without increasing your stress hormone levels.

Smooth movements are best – Lower more slowly than you raise the weight. Up a bit quicker than down is the rule. Move faster on the lighter part of the set and near the end of each sequence.

Do not eat or drink anything during a work out – If you are thirsty, have a sip of water (i.e. no “energy drinks”).

Keep your workouts very short and intense without overtraining – Get in and out of the gym in 45 minutes or less. You should feel fresh and alive when you leave the gym. If you leave tired, you over did it.

Work out no more than once or twice a week – Pick a random day and don’t always do it on the same day of the week.

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Post workout

- Don’t eat anything right away. Walk around (outside in the fresh air if you can) for about an hour and then ingest some water, some lean source protein, and some “wet carbs” such as fresh fruits or vegetables. Be sure to avoid “junk carbs” and grains – they will severely curtail the effectiveness of this routine.

- Get plenty of sleep over the next few days and don’t feel guilty about foregoing any physical activity. This rest period is crucial to the development of the optimal type of lean muscle tissue.

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Background Notes

If you take away all of the trappings of your modern life, you are still the same Cro-Magnon that walked the earth over 50,000 years ago. This means that your body is optimized for specific types of activities – and not optimized for others.

The overarching truth is that you are physiologically designed for low intensity/moderate duration activities accompanied by intermittent, variable, and high intensity “short burst” events. In ancient times, this meant long periods of walking, carrying food and water, and occasionally sprinting after prey or fighting/fleeing predators. In modern times, this translates to “power law” activities such as bicycling, volleyball, basketball, soccer, and tennis – all of which involve intermittent “explosive” physical activity coupled with extended periods of lower energy movements.

Endurance activities such as treadmill workouts, aerobics classes, marathons, triathlons, and long distance swimming (yikes!) are unfortunately NOT power law activities. While these activities may be highly rewarding and enjoyable, they are actually “anti-evolutionary” and therefore physically detrimental to humans if sustained over long periods of time.

This is the endurance athlete’s dilemma. And it ultimately begs the question, “How can a person insulate his or her body from the potential negative long-term effects of endurance training?” The answer lies in power law strength training, which is designed to mimic our paleolithic activity patterns and develop the optimal balance of slow twitch (ST), fast twitch A (FT-A), and fast twitch B (FT-B) muscle tissue.

This strength training routine was put together based upon the power law hypothesis. It is designed to develop high-energy, lean muscle mass which is very different from “bodybuilder bulk.” Everyone I’ve introduced this to has had amazing results. In short, it is a simple and elegant routine that results in high levels of strength, power, flexibility, and agility.

Giving credit where credit is due, I pieced most of it together from Arthur DeVany’s web site, which I highly recommend you check out as well.

Final note: We live in nature, and nature is a highly dynamic and uncategorizable environment. As such, there are no absolutes in anything – even with this workout. I expect that this routine will evolve over time as we all collectively learn more about what we’re really optimized for as human beings. My goal is to provide you with the best possible information in the moment while always remaining receptive to new ideas and discoveries.