Buzz
“I CAN TRANSFORM YOUR ARMS, SHOULDERS, AND CHEST INTO MASSIVE, BULGING MUSCLE IN JUST FOUR WEEKS,” promises the Body-Tone brochure. Touted as the “World’s Fastest Strength and Muscle Building System,” it was priced at $20 in the late 1950s. I found the program's details in the Stark Center Archives, and now I’m ready to start.
In the past, I would have stumbled upon Body-Tone through a mysterious ad tucked away in the back pages of a magazine.
After sending a letter to the specified address, you would receive an envelope containing three items. (Someone preserved theirs, and I was fortunate enough to see the original envelope on Etsy; bless you, Etsy.) The first item is a letter from Tom Buckley himself, proudly displayed on his own letterhead, grinning and muscular. The second item is a set of nine pages filled with questions and answers printed on orange paper, subtly persuading you to purchase the program. Finally, there’s an enrollment form. You’ll need to take fifteen body measurements, write an essay about your current exercise habits and health condition, and choose whether to pay the full amount upfront or in installments. In today's currency, the program would cost $169 if paid all at once, or $42 in five installments, totaling $211.
The Q&A section is filled with real nuggets like these:
Question: What is the quickest way to increase both muscle strength and size?
Answer: Any muscle in the human body can be made to grow bigger, thicker, and stronger at the fastest rate simply by contracting that muscle once a day—but doing so with maximum effort—and for about 6 seconds.
Question: At that pace, you could increase your strength by 50 percent in just 12 weeks, right?
Answer: Absolutely. However, this applies if you perform the single contraction daily. If you do it every other day, or less frequently, the strength gains will be much slower.
Question: Why can’t I simply do this on my own without enrolling in a Course?
Answer: Well, as a matter of fact, you can. That is, if you understand the actions of the muscles involved and the points of attachment of each muscle. Typically, however, this knowledge is only covered in college-level KINESIOLOGY courses.
Well, I’m convinced. The first lesson promises to enhance my upper arms, especially my biceps, but before Tom Buckley dives into the details, he wants me to consider my nutrition first.
To get enough protein for muscle growth, he suggests I divide my body weight in pounds by 2.2 (essentially converting to kilograms) and then consume that many grams of protein daily. For me, that comes out to a modest 64 grams. While this might seem low compared to the common one-gram-per-pound guideline among modern weightlifters, it’s actually a solid recommendation: 1.0 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight. The average person requires about 0.8 g/kg, and serious athletes need 1.2 grams or more.
Tom, my new buddy, says I don’t really need any protein supplements aside from milk, but he himself prefers to get all his protein from a special shake he makes every morning:
I’m not entirely sure what pre-cooked soybean granules are, but they sound very much like TVP, which I can buy in bulk at Whole Foods. TVP is made from soy flour, which I can’t seem to find on its own, so I decide it will substitute for both ingredients. Then I just toss in some wheat germ, skim milk, a raw (pasteurized) egg, and...hold on, what’s with that yeast? 20 grams in one heaping tablespoon seems way off; the highest amount I found online was eight grams per level tablespoon.
Anyway, I throw everything into my Osterizer Classic (since I don’t have a Waring Blendor) and call my husband into the kitchen to try it with me.
The result is a frothy, delicious drink that tastes remarkably like a vanilla milkshake. I dub it a “Muscle Cocktail.”
Vanilla milkshake, really? The soy granules didn’t quite dissolve in the blender, or maybe that’s the wheat germ I’m seeing floating. Vanilla does improve the taste, but why would you need two whole teaspoons of it? Is there some unpleasant flavor hiding beneath?
We take our first sips. I immediately find it awful: the liquid is bland and watery, while the flakes are mushy and nauseating. The vanilla does little to mask the fact that it tastes like drinking a soup made of sawdust.
My husband slurps it thoughtfully. “It’s not bad. You know what it reminds me of? Bran muffin batter.” He fondly recalls helping to make bran muffins as a child. But after this glowing review, he places his almost full cup in the freezer to “see if it tastes better cold.” (It does not.)
On to the vintage exercises
So, what exactly do you do in the world’s fastest muscle and strength-building system? Each week, you examine an anatomical diagram of the muscles you're aiming to develop, followed by performing a few exercises, each lasting precisely six seconds as promised.
Exercise 1.
To target the inner, or short head of the biceps, assume the position shown in Exercise 1. Keep your elbows close to your sides. Your fists should be clenched with knuckles facing outward. The arms should be fully flexed, and your head should be slightly bowed. Now, flex your arms with all your strength, then push harder, harder, and harder until your fists and forearms begin to tremble. This should take about six seconds. Then, fully relax.
I tighten my muscles as instructed, and within six seconds, I can feel the burn. A few minutes later, I've finished my daily exercises, and my arms feel like I’ve just completed an intense gym workout. Could there really be something to this method?
The next day, my biceps and triceps are slightly sore. While soreness isn’t a foolproof sign of muscle growth, a completely ineffective exercise wouldn’t result in any soreness. I’m still a bit skeptical, but I’m certainly impressed.
Lesson three kicks off, just like all the others, with some rather optimistic expectations:
By now, those upper arms of yours should be starting to really “pop” and show noticeable improvement.
I’m fairly certain that it’s not realistic to expect to see results in just one day, or even within the original two-week period. The diagrams depict individuals with perfectly sculpted muscles, seemingly devoid of any body fat. No matter how effective the exercise program might be, I doubt it’s going to transform me into a character straight out of a Superman comic book.
Each lesson is supposed to add on to the previous one, and you practice every exercise every day. I don’t have twelve weeks to spend on this, so on the first day I do the first two lessons (biceps and triceps). I add on a few more each day, until soon I’m doing the full set of eleven lessons. (The twelfth is a wrap-up that talks about maintaining strength, and also provides a handy chart of all the exercises we’ve learned so far.)
In lesson three, I flex my forearms while standing in a bunny hop pose. In lesson five, I contract my pecs in three different ways by crossing my arms in front of me. In lesson seven, I learn to suck in my stomach and do a hollow body hold. I clench my buttocks in lesson nine, stand on my tiptoes in lesson 10, and strike a fancy bodybuilding pose in lesson 11.
My legs cramp up in some of the calf and hamstring exercises. Not to worry, Tom says; just walk it out. Tom also keeps up our enthusiasm for the program with stories of how strong people have more fun:
When two men start jostling with each other the superior leg strength of one becomes immediately evident. And quite often it is the little fellow who manhandles the bully. I am thinking now of the situation where one man tries to throw the other fellow into a body of water. They grip at each other’s bodies and use the legs for driving, balancing movements. Here the sheer total strength of one man against the other comes forth with complete disregard for any learned skills of combat.
Once I know the exercises, I can run through the full workout in about 12 minutes. I do it standing in my kitchen, where the needed equipment is close at hand: a dish towel to squeeze for the grip exercises, and a chair for a few things that are seated. At one point I am supposed to thread a broomstick through the rungs of a ladder so I can pull down on a bar at three different heights. Instead, I just place my hands on high, medium, and low shelves.
Yes, I still wake up feeling a bit sore each morning. It’s not painful, just a slight stiffness that gives the impression I had a good workout the day before. Maybe in twelve weeks, I could transform into a muscled Greek god after all.
Do old-school exercises actually work?
In his introductory Q&A, Tom Buckley refers to research by Erich Müller of the Max Planck Institute, explaining that the concept of six-second daily muscle contractions originates from Müller. Unfortunately, Müller's earlier papers aren't easily accessible online, but this 1959 article (behind a paywall) summarizes his research. Buckley faithfully presents Müller’s findings: Müller claims that contracting a muscle just once a day is sufficient, and that switching to weekly training will slow down muscle loss once you stop training. (Buckley advises switching to weekly sessions when you’ve reached your natural limit.)
Some individuals develop quickly, while others take longer. Some reach their full potential in two to three months, while others might require a year or even longer. You’ll know which group you fall into after just a few weeks.
However, Müller doesn't address Buckley’s more extreme assertions: is it really possible to improve by 4 percent each week? And does that imply you could gain 50 percent more strength within just 12 weeks? Isn't that a bit hard to believe?
To find the answers, we need to jump forward in time to 1981, when John Atha from the Loughborough University of Technology published this review of strength training methods (unfortunately, behind a paywall). He writes: "The idea that such minimal training could produce such significant strength gains, and that years of intense resistance training, lifting weights totaling over 1,000 tons annually, were unnecessary, caused shockwaves within the strength community—shockwaves that, even a generation later, have yet to settle."
However, the promises didn’t hold up. Instead of the 4 percent improvement every week, later studies revised this to just a 1.8 percent increase. Then, in 1960, researchers pointed out the weak foundation of conclusions drawn from observing 71 different training methods applied to only nine subjects.
That still sounds promising, but the real problem emerged. Instead of achieving peak strength in a few months or a year, as Buckley suggested, it turns out those practicing isometric exercises stop seeing progress after just two to five weeks. If you're already fit, you're looking at the two-week mark. For beginners, you might see a 10 percent improvement early on, but after five weeks, that’s all there is. Any more time on the program won’t yield additional benefits. You’ve hit your limit.
Well, my friend, I trust you’ve enjoyed this course as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together for you. ...may you continue to grow stronger, more powerful, and perfect your physique. Good luck!
I think I'll keep doing these exercises for a while longer. The routine only takes 12 minutes, works every muscle without breaking a sweat, and is perfect for days when I can't make it to the gym. I could always slip the chart into my suitcase next time I travel.
However, the promises of achieving massive arms and a huge chest are ultimately unfulfilled. I can't help but wonder how many people contacted their buddy, Tom Buckley, requesting a refund under his money-back guarantee.
This post was first written in 2017 and updated on November 3, 2023, to restore missing images and reformat some quotes.
