98 – Doug Holland on Powerlifting as a Hardgainer, Running a Lean High-Intensity Training Business, and Living a Spartan Lifestyle in the Modern Age

Revered by many in the high-intensity training world, Doug “The Sickness” Holland is one of the most interesting and accomplished men to ever make waves in both powerlifting and HIT. Not only is he a degreed mathematician, he has also been a competitive powerlifter in three weight classes (132 lbs,148 and 165), has been a personal trainer for decades, and of course, he is also an experienced and successful business owner.

Today, Doug runs Intelligent Exercise, a 4,000-square-foot gym filled with Nautilus, MedX, and Hammer Strength equipment (just to name some of what’s available there) operating out of Shreveport, Louisiana, powered by his business philosophy of “the four P’s: pencil, paper, phone, and personality – that’s all it takes to succeed in this business!”

Contact Doug:

• Doug Holland’s Intelligent Exercise: +1 318-458-1487
• Email deepsquat1: [@] aol [.] com

Check out Doug’s workout videos (age 58):

• Deadlift reps with the iron wheels 397lbs
• Squatting 315lbs
• Doug’s Gym Tour (updated)
• Another extremely slow pull-up. 60 second positive, 30 second negative
• Extremely slow pull-up. 41 sec positive, 38 sec neg
• Paused narrow grip bench press 219lbs

In this episode, we cover:

• How Doug got into High-Intensity Training and Powerlifting
• How he helps clients progress, optimize gains, and reach their maximum genetic potential
• His surprisingly Spartan lifestyle and the lean way he runs his HIT business
• How he prepares for powerlifting competitions
• … and much more!

 

Download How to Attract Great Personal Trainers PDF

 

• Listen to it on iTunes.
• Stream by clicking here.
• Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as”.

 

This episode is brought to you by ARXFit.com, ARX are the most innovative, efficient and effective all-in-one exercise machines I have ever seen. I was really impressed with my ARX workout. The intensity and adaptive resistance were unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I love how the machine enables you to increase the negative load to fatigue target muscles more quickly and I love how the workouts are effortlessly quantified. The software tracks maximum force output, rate of work, total amount of work done and more in front of you on-screen, allowing you to compete with your pervious performance, to give you and your clients real-time motivation.

As well as being utilised by many HIT trainers to deliver highly effective and efficient workouts to their clients, ARX comes highly recommended by world-class trainers and brands including Bulletproof, Tony Robbins, and Ben Greenfield Fitness. To find out more about ARX and get $1,000 OFF software licensing fees, please go to ARXfit.com and mention Corporate Warrior in the how did you hear about us field.

This episode is brought to you by Hituni.com, providers of the best online courses in high intensity training that come highly recommended by Dr. Doug McGuff and Discover Strength CEO, Luke Carlson. Course contributors include world-class exercise experts like Drew Baye, Ellington Darden and Skyler Tanner. There are courses for both trainers and trainees. So even if you’re not a trainer but someone who practices HIT, this course can help you figure out how to improve your progress and get best results. Check out Hituni.com, add the course you want to your shopping cart and enter the coupon code ‘CW10’ to get 10% off your purchase!

Subscribe to my emails to get a FREE HIT workout progress sheet and eBook with 6 podcast transcripts with guests like Dr. Doug McGuff, Drew Baye, and Skyler Tanner – Click here

QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: Do you consider yourself a hardgainer? What have you found works well for you in optimizing gains? Please let me know in the comments at the bottom of this post.

Check these photos from Doug. They are amazing:

Show Notes

Click the link below to listen from the exact time stamp on Overcast:

• How Doug “The Sickness” Holland got his nickname [6:44]
• The story of the Doug Holland T-Shirt Dr. Doug McGuff wears [8:02]
• How Doug got into High-Intensity Training [9:32]
• On powerlifting, the progression of HIT from Doug’s perspective, and how the two worlds melded together for him [13:02]
• On planning and preparing for powerlifting competitions [14:45]
• Doug talks about his post-deadlift beer ritual [19:52]
• Does Doug think HIT gave him an edge in powerlifting? [21:35]
• Doug talks about his achievements and personal bests in powerlifting [24:25]
• On supportive lifting gear [25:33]
• On injuries and injury prevention [26:36]
• On training frequency, his height, and struggling to put on muscle [29:01]
• Doug’s current workout regimen [31:15]
• What does Doug think about Super Slow, and how much does cadence matter versus going to  momentary muscular failure? [32:51]
• How does Doug help his clients progress beyond sticking points and plateaus in their training? [37:57]
• On Time Under Load (TUL), Increasing Resistance, Rest-Pause, and Progress [40:01]
• How does Doug approach helping hardgainers maximize their genetic potential? [42:16]
• What does Doug think about CrossFit and Kettlebells? [46:18]
• Doug’s quick thoughts on how to get started with powerlifting [47:55]
• The story of how Intelligent Exercise got started [48:38]
• On the challenges of doing things his own way and running a business [53:23]
• On marketing and growing his business [55:08]
• Doug talks about his Spartan approach to living in contrast with modern life and living [57:20]
• What does an average day look like for Doug? [59:48]
• What does Doug’s diet look like? [1:02:27]
• Doug talks about his work ethic and the long hours and days he spends working [1:03:36]
• Doug on the infamous bicycle race [1:04:24]
• What does Doug do for fun? [1:06:39]
• Doug talks about the rules and client session length and frequency [1:08:50]
• Doug’s thoughts on recovery and workout frequency [1:10:14]
• Does Doug still do powerlifting nowadays? [1:12:19]
• On coffee and beer [1:13:35]
• On habits, routines, schedules, and keeping it simple with “the ‘four P’s'” [1:15:08]
• What’s the best piece of advice Doug has ever gotten? [1:16:23]
• What advice does Doug have for budding entrepreneurs? [1:19:26]
• Is Doug Holland a spiritual person? [1:20:23]
• Doug on reading [1:21:53]
• Has Doug changed his mind about anything regarding exercise recently? [1:22:54]
• On flat-soled footwear, how these help you get better squats and leg presses, and Doug’s extensive collection of Converse sneakers [1:23:53]
• Doug’s analogy on how his gym differs from the exercise and fitness industry at large [1:26:03]
• What’s the best investment of time, energy, or money Doug has ever made? [1:27:20]
• On Intelligent Exercise’s location [1:28:58]
• How does one go about getting in touch with the elusive Doug Holland? [1:29:41]
• Parting words of advice for entrepreneurs, and Doug talks about how he just walks up to people and walks away with new clients [1:31:29]

Selected Links from the Episode

• Dr. Doug McGuff wearing a Doug “The Sickness” Holland T-Shirt
• Ideal Exercise’s Greg Anderson Passes Away
• Iron Man Magazine | Website
• Powerlifting USA | Website
• High Intensity Training For Powerlifting: An Interview With Doug Holland
• Nautilus
• Hammer Strength | Plate-Loaded Linear Leg Press Machine | Plate-Loaded V-Squat
• Frank Zane’s Leg Blaster
• Super Slow
• CrossFit
• Kettlebells
• YMCA
• Intermittent Fasting
• You’ll See It When You Believe It by Wayne Dyer ( Amazon US / Amazon UK )
• Sometimes A Great Notion by Ken Kesey ( Amazon US / Amazon UK )
• Blood Meridian by Cormack McCarthy ( Amazon US / Amazon UK )
• Converse | Website | Chuck Taylor All-Stars ( Amazon US / Amazon UK )
• Pilates
• Yoga

People Mentioned

• Skyler Tanner (Listen to previous episodes with Skyler here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5)
• Dr. Doug McGuff (Listen to previous episodes with Doug here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3)
• Greg and Ann Marie Anderson
• Arthur Jones
• Ken Leistner
• Steve Maxwell (Listen previous episodes with Steve here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3)
• Drew Baye (Listen to previous episodes with Drew here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5)
• Frank Zane | Website
• Ryan Hall (Listen to my previous interviews with Ryan here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4)
• Wayne Dyer | Website
• Ken Kesey
• Cormack McCarthy | Website