The Physics of Fitness

About the Author

Doug Brignole began weight training when he was fourteen years old. His goal was to
increase his body weight because he was very thin, and his Junior High School coach
told him it’s better to gain muscle weight than fat weight. So, he convinced his mother
to buy him a home barbell set, and an adjustable bench. The barbell set came with a
“Weight Training Guide Book”.

Doug followed the advice and examples in the book, but immediately realized that many
exercises did not feel right. He felt that some exercises were either very uncomfortable,
or he was not able to feel the “target” muscle working. This alone is interesting,
because most fourteen-year-old kids don’t question the “correctness” of an exercise. If
they feel any joint strain, or don’t feel the muscle working, they might assume they’re
doing it wrong, or that they don’t know how to tell if it’s “good” or “bad.”

But, Doug noticed that some exercises DID feel right. Some exercises were
comfortable. They didn’t seem to twist or distort a joint. They didn’t seem awkward,
and they seemed to follow a path that permitted an obvious stretch of the “target
muscle”, followed by an obvious contraction of that muscle. Doug thought to himself,
“ALL exercises should feel like that.”

From the age of 14, Doug felt there should be some similarity in ALL the “good”
exercises. They should all follow similar patterns, he thought. “What’s good for one
exercise - mechanically speaking - should be good for all exercises, and what makes
one exercise ‘bad’, would make all exercises ‘bad’.” There must be a set of “rules” by
which an exercise can be qualified as “good” or “bad”, or somewhere in between.

Interestingly, no such reference book existed - until now - even though it’s reasonable
for a person to seek that information. Indeed, it’s prudent and wise for a person who
participates in resistance exercise, to want that information - or to insist that their trainer
be equipped with this knowledge.

Since Doug first began training, every one of his workouts have been “exploratory”.
He’s tried every single exercise, and noted the characteristics of each - the direction of
the resistance relative to the target muscle’s position, the angle at which resistance
pulls on the target muscle’s operating lever, etc. He’s participated in cadaver
dissections, created replica limbs and performed his own tests, studied the anatomy
and read physics books. He realized that - despite there being no reference book that
explains what features characterize an exercise as mechanically good or bad - there are
definitely patterns which all “good” exercise follow, and other patterns which all “bad”
exercises follow…as well as gradations in between.
Doug began competing in bodybuilding at the age of 16. By the time he was 19 years
old, he had won Teenage Mr. California and Teenage Mr. America. He won the 1982
AAU Mr. California title at the age of 22, and he won his division in the 1986 AAU Mr.
America and Mr. Universe competitions, at the age of 26. From 1991 through 2016, he
competed in a number of competitions, ending his competitive career in 2016, at the
age of 56 - forty years after he began. At the time of this writing, the outcome of his final
competition - the World Championship - is unknown. Although, it’s likely Doug will either
place very high, or win, his final competition.

Few competitive bodybuilders have had a 40-year span of competitions. Fewer still
have been able to achieve “as good” or “better” condition when they were over the age
of 50, than they achieved at the age of 26 - but this is the case with Doug. His condition
at 54 and 56 years old, is arguably “as good” or “better” than when he won the Mr.
America division at the age of 26. This is due entirely to his improved understanding of
biomechanics, and the ability to make each workout much more efficient than
“conventional” workouts. This results in less wasted energy, less strain on the spine
and the joints, and better overall benefits.

The author - Doug Brignole - at the age of 16 (far left), 22 (center) and 54 (far right)

Through his competitive career, Doug’s physique has been regarded as perhaps one of
the top 50 “most aesthetic” of all time. Some bodybuilding fans have included him in the
top 10, although this is extremely subjective. In any case, Doug’s physique has been
lauded for its balance, symmetry, definition and elegance. He is one of a handful of
bodybuilders who never competed in “professional” competitions, yet is compared with
the likes of Frank Zane, Francis Benfatto and Bob Paris - some of the greatest
professional bodybuilders in the history of the sport.

In 1984 - at the age of 24 - Doug opened a beautiful 10,000 square foot gym in
California, and managed it for eleven years. He has conducted seminars throughout
the U.S., as well as overseas. He has written numerous articles for the leading fitness
publications - most notably “Iron Man Magazine” - and has provided “continuing
education credits” (CECs) to Personal Trainers. He is the co-author of “Million Dollar
Muscle” (along with Adrian Tan, PhD professor of sociology) an academic book which
explores the fitness industry from a sociological perspective.

However, Doug’s greatest contribution might be the rational and scientifically sound
insight he has brought to the field of resistance exercise for physique development, in
his biomechanics teachings. These insights are profound, and will likely change the
way resistance exercise is taught, the way machines are designed, the way gyms are
equipped and the way trainers are certified. More importantly, they will allow consumers
to achieve their fitness goals with the utmost efficiency and safety.