Bodybuilding Wisdom

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I’m preparing to give a 30-minute presentation on the importance of weight training in living a healthy lifestyle. It will be part of a seminar on looking and feeling your best at any age. I could, of course, spend hours on the subject and put everyone to sleep, but I learned my lesson long ago.

In the mid-’70s Arnold and I were presenting a series of one-on-one bodybuilding seminars, an all-day session that included time in the gym with Arnold as well as time in a classroom with the two of us. I handled the nutrition end of the presentation. It was a limited-attendance event with fewer than 20 people.

The seminars were short-lived because Arnold’s life was about to be transformed by a movie, “Pumping Iron,” and his time became so expensive, it made my business model impossible. What I learned from that experience, however, is that you must understand the needs of your audience.

I was educated as an engineer and always loved science—I still do. I had never given a seminar, so I prepared one that I would like to attend. At that point nobody had ever done anything like what Arnold and I were attempting, so I was creating the material with only my own very narrow sensibilities.

Read the rest of the entry at John’s Blog