I was sad to read of the passing of Akira Toriyama, the creator of the Dragon Ball Z anime series. Like many 30-something men, I grew up on the action-packed cartoon, which pitted "Super Saiyans" against the forces of evil in epic martial arts battles.
In hindsight, the plot lines were contrived, the acting poor, and the fight scenes way too long. But I like to think I got something of value from those late nights watching Cartoon Network. For one, years before I ever stepped foot in a Muay Thai dojo, the show sparked my interest in physical culture. I was captivated by the massive, chiseled chests of the heroes and villains. Big pecs seemed like the ultimate measure of a man's strength and virility. I started doing pushups in middle school in the hopes that I would look like them.
C.S. Lewis coined the phrase "men without chests" in his book "The Abolition of Man," using it as a metaphor for a certain manly virtue lacking in modern society. Of course, Lewis wasn't referring to literal pec muscles. On social media, you’ll often see muscular men posing shirtless in front of the mirror, revealing big muscles but shallow chests, just as in the world at large we see men with bellies but no guts. Yet, there's a sense in which a strong, developed chest can be seen as a symbol of inner fortitude and resilience. Although I've outgrown my middle-school fantasies of going Super Saiyan and transforming in the Rock on steroids (is that redundant?), I've continued to rely on pushups as my go-to exercise for functional, hylomorphic upper body strength.
Having a strong upper body provides numerous functional benefits. From pushing a stalled car to lifting a child and hugging a loved one to throwing a punch, a strong chest and shoulders make life's physical challenges easier to handle. The pecs also stabilize the shoulder joint when lifting, throwing, or carrying overhead.
In short, men need chests.
A Challenge
Recently, I had fallen out of my old routines when my brother-in-law told me about a pushup challenge he was doing, inspired by a workout mentioned in a book called Living With a Seal by Jesse Itzler.
That SEAL, it turns out, was David Goggins – the no-pain, no-gain motivational fitness guru known for his extreme endurance feats.
The challenge was simple but brutal: do one pushup, rest 15 seconds, do two pushups, rest 15 seconds, and so on until you reach 18 (171 total).
By the time I hit 12 reps, my arms were shaking.
The next day I managed to squeeze out 13, and my chest felt pumped ("swole") – getting closer to the classic action figure physique. But it came at a cost: intense soreness. I was feeling the effects of the prolonged lactic acid buildup, a byproduct of anaerobic metabolism.
I'm sure if Goggins were to hear me complain, he would tell me to man up and keep grinding out pushups day after day. My brother-in-law assured me that the soreness would get better, and I believe him.
In my younger days, I would have pushed through, but I stopped the challenge—not for a lack of grit (or so I tell myself) but out of questioning whether this was a smart way to get stronger. Goggins, for example, has faced the consequences of his extreme approach. After years of pushing through ultramarathons and Spartan races despite injuries, he's worn out his knees and required multiple surgeries just to be able to walk.
It's a good reminder that toughness alone isn't the goal—we need to train smart, not just hard.
The "Failure Workout" Approach
For years, I subscribed to the "failure workout" approach. The idea was simple: push yourself to the point of muscular failure to stimulate maximal growth and strength gains.
My go-to routine was a 90-second pushup "drop set" that I invented. I'd start with my feet propped up to maximize the resistance and go till I couldn't do another rep. Then I'd drop down the resistance by switching to regular pushups. The goal was to keep going until I hit “failure” right around 90 seconds, even if I was reduced to knee pushups at the end.
Even better is the Bring Sally Up challenge, that usually gets me right to failure over the course of the 3:53 second song.
This approach was based on the principle of momentary muscular failure (MMF), the point at which you can't complete another rep with good form. Dr. Doug McGuff, in his book Body by Science, argues that MMF is the key driver of strength and muscle gains. By recruiting high-threshold motor units and maximally stimulating muscle fibers, you create metabolic stress that triggers the release of growth hormone, testosterone, and other anabolic hormones. These hormones, in turn, stimulate protein synthesis and muscle growth.
However, there are potential drawbacks to training to failure. It requires increased recovery time between workouts. That's why McGuff recommends working each major muscle group only once per week. In my experience, this works well for building a foundation of strength, but you still end up feeling sore and fatigued for a day or two out of the week following the hard workouts. If you do the same workouts too frequently, you can end up in a state of chronic fatigue and plateaued progress.
Finally, I've become aware of another potential concern around this kind of workout, highlighted by the late Dr. Ray Peat, a biologist known for his “bioenergetic” approach to health. Peat preached about the dangers of chronic lactic acid exposure. He argues that lactic acid isn't just a harmless byproduct of exercise but a key player in cellular stress and aging. During intense exercise, when oxygen is limited, cells switch to anaerobic glycolysis, leading to the production of lactic acid. Even when oxygen is available, an excess of glucose can inhibit mitochondrial respiration, a phenomenon known as the Crabtree effect, which also leads to lactic acid buildup. Over time, Peat argues, chronic exposure to lactic acid can damage mitochondria and impair cellular metabolism. He believes that this metabolic dysfunction is at the root of many age-related diseases.
A Challenge to the Hormesis Framework
As someone who has long subscribed to the concept of hormesis – the idea that short-term stress can be beneficial due to the adaptations it triggers – Peat's ideas present a significant challenge to my fitness framework.
Could it be that stress is simply to be avoided rather than strategically embraced? If lactic acid is truly a driver of cellular damage and accelerated aging, then pushing ourselves to the point of failure may be doing more harm than good.
However, I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle. While chronic exposure to high levels of lactic acid may indeed be problematic, occasional bouts of intense exercise – balanced with adequate rest and recovery – can still provide hormetic benefits. Namely, an ability to tolerate more intense activity before the production of lactic acid kicks in.
The key, it seems, is to avoid overtraining and to give our bodies sufficient time to clear lactic acid and repair any cellular damage. This means listening to our bodies, varying our workouts, and prioritizing restorative practices like sleep, nutrition, and stress management.
To minimize lactic acid buildup, Peat recommends a multi-pronged approach:
1. A diet high in saturated fats and low in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) to support healthy thyroid function and cellular respiration.
2. Avoiding excessive exercise, especially chronic cardio or anything that induces a prolonged "burn."
3. Favoring gentle movements like walking, yoga, swimming, and light weightlifting to stimulate metabolism without overwhelming the body's ability to clear lactic acid.
4. Managing stress, getting enough sunlight, and avoiding environmental toxins to support the body's natural metabolic processes.
While I may not agree with all of Peat's conclusions, his work serves as an important reminder that more isn't always better when it comes to fitness. The "no pain, no gain" mentality applies some of the time, but not always.
The Naked Warrior Approach
Pavel Tsatsouline, a former Soviet Special Forces instructor and renowned strength coach, offers a different approach to building strength and muscle. In his book The Naked Warrior: Master the Secrets of the Super-Strong—Using Bodyweight Exercises Only," Pavel advocates for a more minimalist, skill-based approach to bodyweight training.
At the core of Pavel's philosophy is the idea of "greasing the groove." Rather than pushing yourself to failure on each set, the goal is to practice perfect form with submaximal weights or reps. By focusing on quality over quantity, you build the neural pathways that underlie true strength.
In practice, this means doing frequent, short sets throughout the day. Pavel recommends doing no more than 5-10 reps per set, with plenty of rest in between. The idea is to avoid the "junk" reps that often creep in when you're pushing to failure. When you train to failure, he notes, you train for failure.
The key is to maximize tension throughout each rep. By learning to engage your muscles more efficiently, you can get more out of each rep without necessarily pushing to your limit.
Pavel also emphasizes the importance of full-body tension. By creating a "hydraulic effect" throughout your body, you can generate more power and stability in each movement. This is especially important for advanced moves like the one-arm pushup or pistol squat.
Another key principle of the Naked Warrior approach is the use of "specialized variety." Rather than doing the same exercises over and over, Pavel recommends varying your movements to target different angles and muscle groups. This could mean doing pushups with your feet elevated one day, and then with your hands on yoga blocks the next.
The goal is to keep your body adapting and growing without overtaxing your recovery systems. By avoiding the "burn" of lactic acid and the CNS fatigue of high-intensity training, you're able to train more frequently and consistently.
I've found the Naked Warrior approach to be a game-changer for my own training. By focusing on skill and tension rather than just raw reps, I've been able to build strength with way less soreness. Best of all, you don't need any fancy equipment or gym memberships to get started. All you need is your own body and a bit of floor space.
Putting It All Together
The key to sustainable, long-term strength is to build up your tolerance to stress gradually. This applies not just to strength training but to all forms of exercise and physical activity.
Take running, for example. If you go out every day with the goal of pushing yourself to the point of breathlessness and exhaustion, you're likely to burn out. You might even damage your metabolism due to the lactic acid toxicity Ray Peat warns of.
When I run, I try to limit my pace to what I can do while breathing through my nose. Push yourself right up to the point where you feel the need to start huffing and puffing, and then dial it back a notch. This might mean running slower than you're used to, but it's a great way to gauge your body's tolerance for stress.
That's not to say there's no place for high-intensity training. Occasional workouts where you push yourself to near failure can be a great way to stimulate maximal strength adaptations and test your limits. Pavel himself incorporates "power days" into his routines. Just balance these intense sessions with plenty of skill practice and recovery.
My brother-in-law shared that his primary motivation for completing the Goggins pushup challenge was more about grit than strength. There are indeed times in life when this grit is necessary. That’s one of the reasons I continue to do an annual 50-mile march. Even though the act of walking 50 miles may not be “optimal” from a health standpoint, it’s good training for the endurance challenges of life.
The combination of Naked Warrior-style training and the rare high-intensity workout works best for me. This approach has allowed me to build strength without the constant aches, pains, and injuries that used to plague me. It's also made my workouts more enjoyable and less mentally taxing. This method might not maximize hypertrophy or give us the big rippling chests of Dragon Ball Z characters. For the Goggins types, it can be harder to rest than to go hard every day. But even Goku and his friends had long periods of rest between their epic battles.
If you’re still set on building a Goku-like physique, I googled it for you and found this: