Challenge Yourself At Any Age: Review by Richard Winett, IRONMAN Dec '99

[The latest] book by Clarence Bass is a major event in our field. His work has set the standard of quality since Ripped was introduced 20 years ago. Given the clarity of writing, the expansive and prescriptive information and the overall presentation, Clarence’s books are in a class by themselves. With this project he has taken on the daunting task of producing a book that surpasses his prior works—and he has succeeded.

Challenge Yourself picks up where the Ripped, Lean Advantage and Lean for Life books left off. Ripped and Lean Advantage chronicle Clarence’s training as a top masters bodybuilder. They detail his transition from using higher-volume routines to brief, intense, relatively infrequent training. Clarence then modified that approach by introducing an adaptation of periodization to bodybuilding in 1986. The books also detail the development of his complementary approach to cardiovascular training and nutrition, which, combined with weight training, enabled him to achieve the startlingly low levels of bodyfat that became his trademark. These earlier books and Clarence’s training foreshadowed a much stronger interest in a training and nutrition program that would lead to optimizing his overall health, including cardiovascular fitness and strength. Lean for Life, published in 1992, describes the gold standard for his overall program, the head-to-toe physical exams at the Cooper Institute, where his results were outstanding.

Challenge Yourself represents the next logical steps in Clarence’s evolving approach. It represents a fine-tuning, rather than something totally new. Thus, for readers who are searching for ways to keep motivated, this book provides some great lessons.

The programs in Lean for Life try to balance weight training and cardiovascular training within a periodization plan. Clarence was weight training twice per week, once hard and once moderate, and cardiovascular training twice per week, once hard and once moderate. The weight training was generally done with whole-body routines, and the cardiovascular training was done with a variety of equipment. The result was a good balance of strength and cardiovascular fitness, excellent health and a very low percentage of bodyfat.

High-intensity-training advocates like Mike Mentzer recommend much less frequent training and much more focus on recovery. In taking such an approach, Clarence reduced his weight and cardiovascular work to once per week for each, performing both at very high intensity, although still within a periodization model. Basically, he simply stopped doing the moderate workouts and increased the intensity of his other workouts. Because he wanted to peak for his 60th birthday, he didn’t do more frequent cardiovascular training, as he didn’t want to take the chance that he’d lose some strength and muscle mass. Clarence added quick lifts (along with conventional movements), which represented a return to his first passion, Olympic lifting. He also somewhat modified his diet based on new information about the role of essential fatty acids such as those found in fish oil and the importance of the glycemic index for foods rich in carbohydrates.

With one weight-training session and one cardiovascular session every seven to nine days, Clarence reached an incredible peak, showing the appearance of a top bodybuilder. Perhaps more significantly, his overall results at the Cooper Clinic were again off the charts. The approach worked perhaps even better than Clarence’s own expectations—and those expectations were very high. As with all of his books, he provides exquisitely detailed training and nutrition advice.

Challenge Yourself is a provocative book. I made the mistake several times of rereading parts of it late at night and then staying up most of the night thinking about the points Clarence made. That’s the sign of a good book.

There are a number of things that I question, however. For example, there’s an extended discussion of the uses and possible different mechanisms involved in high intensity compared to volume training and the general periodization plan using different repetition ranges. For volume training he follows the work of one well-known proponent and proposes an energy-depletion model, indicating that volume training increases muscle mass but has less effect on strength. The exercise science literature does not appear to support the energy-depletion model. Moreover, Clarence cites literature in which no differences in muscle mass or strength were found when subjects performed one or multiple sets per movement, which tends to undermine the value and differential impact (except taking more time for training) of volume training for beginning or advanced trainees. Then, too, the literature suggests that a range of repetitions promotes increases in strength and muscle mass and that there are no special outcomes that can necessarily be attributed to one range. Thus, both six to eight repetitions and 15 to 20 repetitions in a set seem to increase strength and muscle mass as long as intensity is high and there’s some progression scheme. A trainee may prefer to stick with a specific repetition range, vary the range for different exercises or emphasize one range at some times and at another range at others. The outcomes, however, are likely to be similar as long as some reasonable range is used. Elaborate periodization plans do not appear to be required to enhance strength or muscle development.

Nevertheless, by carefully focusing on diet and activity, Clarence can routinely achieve an amazingly ripped physique. Hours per week of weight training and cardiovascular work, which are thought to be absolutely required, are unnecessary. Just focus on getting stronger, staying very fit, eating the healthiest foods, managing your weight and being active each day.

Challenge Yourself is a book you should not miss. It may be the only training book for which the brief description on the cover truthfully captures its essence: “A guide to intelligent training by the foremost proponent of the all-around fitness lifestyle.” Read it and, indeed, challenge yourself physically and intellectually. IM