Top 10 articles: Mike Mahler

Mike Mahler is a fitness information provider, a strength trainer and kettlebell instructor.  He is known for his interest in hormone optimisation via nutrition, training, and lifestyle as well as his rallying call “Live Life Aggressively!”

Here is my take on his top 10 articles:

1. Andropause: if you only read one of these articles, read this one.  Articles drawn from personal experience are, in my opinion, always better than those that have been created from research.  This one is no different.  Here, Mike describes how he came to be interested in hormones and healthy hormone levels.  He gives the background to how he came to have all the symptoms of andropause, including a low sex drive and a poor mood, despite being in his early 30s.  Mike goes on to explain how he dug himself back out of the hole and gives some general recommendations to how you can benefit from his experience. 
2. Leptin: in this article Mike explains how optimising hormone levels is critical to your health.  Hormones influence our moods, thought patterns, behaviors, physical composition and our ability to handle stress. Mike explains that focus of our hormone manipulation should be on the big three hormones, i.e. leptin, insulin, and adrenaline.  Of these three, leptin is the apparently the most important, since insufficient leptin further compromises testosterone and growth hormone.
3. Steve Reeves: as a fan of the oldtime strongmen, it should be no surprise to anyone that I picked this article by Mike on one of the all-time greats of the bodybuilding scene.  Mike gives ten pointers on how Steve trained and also gives a couple of sample workout programmes to boot.
4. Testosterone: as you’re probably gathering by now, Mike is a big fan of optimising hormones through appropriate workout protocols and nutritional programming.  This interesting article has a summary of two different workout programmes, one which he believes will boost testosterone and one which he believes will boost growth hormone.  Even more interesting is the list of key points at the end of the article of other things you can do to boost testosterone naturally.
5. Rest-pause training: this article that Mike did for T-Nation is particularly interesting to me at the moment as I experiment with some DC training.  Here, Mike explains how rest-pause training works.  As he puts it, “since the breaks are short and the weights are heavy, hypertrophy will follow like a charm”.  Sounds good!  In this variation of rest-pause training, Mike suggests that a good way to progress is to start out with 10 x 1 rep of a 3RM on 1 min and then to reduce the rest periods down to 45s, 30s and 15s.  Once 15s is achieved, put the weight up.  Definitely one to try, I think.
6. The swim back: in this short article, Mike gets a bit artistic.  He expounds on his life philosophy by talking about one of the great scenes in the film “Gattaca”.  The story of Gattaca describes how two brothers go through life and are marked by each others’ successes and failures.  As young boys, they often challenged each other to swim far out to sea, each daring the other to swim further.  Every time, the younger and weaker brother lost.  Then one day, the younger brother chose not to save any energy for the swim back.  This time, it was the older brother who gave up.  This became the paradigm around which the two brothers lived the rest of their lives.  The older brother always worked within his limits but the younger took bold risks and lived beyond his (perceived) abilities.  Great film.  Great article.
7. Take charge: Mike tells the story of Adam Shepherd and his book “Scratch Beginnings”, who sets out with nothing more than $25 and a basic education in order to see whether it is possible to get on in life with no head start.  Mike comes to the conclusion that attitude is everything and with the right approach, you can achieve anything.
8. The stair approach to pistols: I have linked to this article before, in my article introducing pistols.  I have found that (especially if you are tall) then it can be a useful way to learn the technique.  I personally believe that most people don’t find pistols hard because they are weak.  I think people find pistols hard because of the balance and the mobility that you need to do them without falling over.  This article is truly great because it recognizes that problem and provides a solution.
9. Protein bars and protein cookies: no Mike Mahler listing would be complete without a reference to his famous protein bars and protein cookies.  Look out for some variants on these coming out on my blog in the summer!
10. Your weakest link: sometimes I think I should print this article by Mike out and stick it on the wall next to my bathroom mirror so I can see it every morning while shaving.  How many times do I have to tell myself that it is pointless continuing to develop my strongest points and best lifts while completely ignoring my weaker ones?  I realize I need to work on my weak points and yet I still find myself in the gym doing pull ups with my bodyweight strapped to my ass and pistols with half my bodyweight in my hands.  On the other hand, I can barely good morning my own weight and my back squat sucks big time.

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So that’s my top 10 articles written by Mike Mahler, a writer who is probably much less well-known than he should be.  If you have a favourite that I have missed off, please let  me know in the comments!

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