Just as an example of my own varied training style:

Today's workout:

Pushups X 2 sets

Cable expander pull aparts 2 sets

Cable behind neck pressouts 2 sets

Cable shrugs 2 sets

Lat "pulses 2" sets

Seated curls self resisted with strap 2 sets

Triceps: wall pushaways 2 sets

Abs contractions 2 sets of 8 contractions (at red lights while fetching my wife's Dunkin Donut coffee and mine too - real life intrudes, as Greg noted)

Couple of notes and observations: I used to squat 320 for one rep, bench 310 and DL 400 years (centuries!) ago when I was younger - I'll be 74 in early June so those days are long gone, and unlamented. By that standard the above is pathetic to a hardcore gym rat. But that misses the whole point - I love this stuff, its good for me - with my sports injuries I'd be a crippled old guy by now if I hadn't been doing this (hockey, sparring and lifting: one ruined knee and shoulder, slipped disc in my back, arthritis in my hands) and probably sitting around feeling sorry for myself. The hell with that. This keeps me focused and "in the game" and if that's an illusion then leave me to enjoy them. And in the interests of full disclosure the pushups are done with feet on the floor and hands on a small/low storage trunk. Can't risk another shoulder malfunction and doing another face first plant on the floor. Yesterday was 10 upper body self resistance exercises. So - do what you like doing, don't let anyone tell you that you're wasting your time, if you are really interested in workout information there's a wealth of information out there (and a lot here on Greg's site) and enjoy what you do. There's what I've been doing - until I change it around.

Well, it is all about money and networking, even back then. Liederman had both weightlifting and self-resistance courses. Both he and Atlas toured together as professional strongmen. Atlas went his way and Liederman told him he'd be out of business in a few months. The converse happened. Atlas trained all of his life. At different points in his life he looked more fit than others. It happens as you age and as life gets in the way, but at least he still trained and looked like a right healthy old man. Liederman in his later years was a skinny, pot bellied fellow who ghost wrote articles for Joe Weider.

No knock on Liederman, he was a man of his time and was trying to eck out a living.

The history of weight training is illusive. Drugs came into weight training early on and probably earlier than most want to admit. That blurs results. I'm not dead set against weight training. If you have the right genetics and leverages, it can be very beneficial. If not, you can waste a lot of years beating your joints up and tearing your body down with not a lot of results. That is why so many guys gravitated towards kettle bell and bodyweight training in recent decades. It is something that is more conducive to a wider variety of body types.

Resistance on a muscle is resistance on a muscle. It doesn't matter where it comes from. Weight training was fun when I was young, but this is a different age of life for me and I have to be more wary of what I do and how I do it, and that includes how I do bodyweight training or what little weight training I occasionally do. So, I look at video of an elderly Atlas, smiling as usual, doing his DT and running down the beach, and say - that's for me.

I have heard two versions too, that he was a weight lifter and changed and the other side too. I grew up in Little Italy and the Grandpa's & Great-uncles taught boys to do push-ups, sit-ups and calisthenics. Telling us the ancient Romans & Greeks used that training. A Gym Coach said the method came from the Fencing Schools.

What matters is the Charles Atlas Course worked for millions!

What kind of information on self resistance are You looking for? There are some books with exercises and the people who wrote them have their own ideas on how to imply them to a routine. You can do any kind of routine You want with them. Just like weights, cables and other stuff there are many routines that can be done with them. Everyone is going to like what they like, nothing wrong with that. Some people don't want to try anything else, that's ok to. No matter what we do in life there is always going to be doubters. If we worry about what someone thinks, especially on the internet, we'll just keep spinning our wheels.

Now this is my opinion, actually I agree with a guy who use to post on the old board. The first couple of years is when You're going to build most of Your muscle. The only thing You may do later on is lose weight or look more muscular. With self resistance I can keep the same muscle size.

Very good opinions, MichaelS, ddmoates29. It's true, there are many myths out there... it would have been perfect to live in those years.

Currently there is very little information about self-resistance training, and there are a lot of doubts.

But as you say, it is better to try and find out what kind of training is best for each person.

I know this was about Atlas but I think people get caught up in,"This or That, Either Or". I'm no bodybuilding but I lost 50 lbs with calisthenics and self resistance. One thing about me is I don't hate on any one method of exercise. I like all types of training. I choose not to lift heavy for two reasons; past injuries and it makes me eat like a horse. I have also learned that the only time success comes before work is in the dictionary. No matter what You do there has to be a combination of variables for it to work.

Degenerator, you have arrived at one of the never ending physical culture debates of our time. There will never be any resolving it. There is testimony on both sides: weights yes and weights no. There are people who trained with Atlas/Siciliano and said afterwards that he was an ironhead and others who said he wasn't. I'm with Michael - I've done both ways - and I found that what we have here is a sensible and sustainable program for progress, both strength and appearance-wise. Nowhere near the likelihood of injury or burnout that the iron brings. I have the injuries to back that up. So - if Atlas lifted, so be it. If he didn't - good for him. I don't think he lifted as the staple of his workouts - too many people would've called him out on that while he was still alive. But - if someone thinks weights are the way to go that's what they'll do. Been there and done that. For years.

Degenerator, honestly I have no idea. People seem to make a big deal about this but it doesn't matter to me. I honestly think almost everyone that has exercised has used or tried weights one time or another. Even if he did( which I have no idea) build his physique with weights he never really had a bodybuilding physique. It's definetly a physique someone could build with calisthenics and self resistance exercise.

There are alot of ways to exercise that can make You look more muscular. You might of mentioned it before Degenerator but I forgot: How do You exercise? Weights, Cals, ect..? Self resistance exercise can make a person look more muscular and build more muscle. There are alot of ways to set up a routine. If one was to put some effort into them they would be surprised. I like all types of training but not everyone is the same. We all have differant likes so we should do what we enjoy.