Need Help?

I have had the privilege of being able to share my training philosophy and technique with people that have e-mailed me for advice. In the majority of cases people needed to up their volume of body weight exercises, particularly pull ups. Ideally you need to do between 70 and 140 repetitions per workout about twice a week. For most people this will not happen unless they spend the day in the gym. The reason is that pull ups are so difficult that after three or four sets of 5 to 8 reps they cannot do anymore. This gives them less than half of the absolute minimum required to obtain strength, muscle and endurance from your pull ups.

The answer lies in what I call the Need Help resistance bands – you can add 60 plus pounds of lift to your body as you perform pull ups. You have the same range of motion and all the benefits of a pull up but you are now 60 pounds lighter. In addition to that advantage you can vary your grip that changes the difficulty of your pull ups. Years ago before the arrival of the Need Help resistance bands it took me an hour just to complete 70 total repetitions of my pull ups. I would start with the widest grip and proceed narrower after a set or two of that particular grip. After each set I would sit and watch television for three or four minutes before I could continue with my next set. This was way too much of a time commitment and it was not the ideal format for overall development of muscle and endurance.

The 12 BX Fitness Formula solves that problem by using the NH bands and various grips so that the lowest Novice Level will complete 96 pull ups in about 20 minutes. So if you can do 2 or 3 pull ups with your body weight and are not 40 or more pounds overweight you will be able to do Level 1 of the 12 BX Fitness Formula.

What about the people that cannot do body weight pull ups? In short this program is not for you, but some people will not accept that. If you are one of those people that desperately want to be able to do pull ups, 12 BX has a further modification to the lowest level Novice level 1 that will train you to be able to do Level 1.

Pull ups are without question the best upper body exercise. My shoulders, traps, back, biceps and even my forearms as well as abs were built by pull ups. Watch the video of 12 BX trainer Marlene MacLennan using the Need Help resistance bands for her pull ups.

The Birth of 12BX Fitness Formula

For ten years now I have been documenting, comparing, modifying and perfecting a workout regiment that I call the 12BX Fitness Formula. It is a 12 level progression that uses bodyweight exercises to build muscle, lose fat and gain functional fitness. For years now there have been copious notes, charts and nutritional guidelines that have been at my disposal. In that time I have had the privilege of sharing by e-mail to hundreds of people that have asked for workout advice. This help, though well appreciated by those inquiring, was only a tiny fraction of what I have learned, experienced and wish to share with as many people as possible.

Now it was time to put everything together and produce both a book and a set of DVDs for people to follow. In total 24 different workouts have been digitally shot. 12 for pull ups and 12 for dips & pushups.

I remember the exact moment that 12BX went from my personal workout to an entity that could lead thousands into lean muscular fitness. It was the last day of a 10 day photoshoot. The last 3 levels of the pull up portion of the 12BX was shot back to back in less than 2 hours. In that particular week I had performed over 1200 pull ups for the camera. The last day about 240 reps in sets of 5 reps. It was as I approached the end of the shoot, completely fatigued, that it hit me. 12BX is here! Look at both the fatigue and satisfaction in my face as I complete the last set!