It was in the context of my own training as a young teenager and
aspiring powerlifter and bodybuilder that I began determinately to
formulate my first progressive partial-repetition training programs
for muscle growth and strength.
Dr Ron Explains.......
As incredible as it may sound, I devised my first Matrix Principle
when I was only
seven
years old, while
living with my family in
Boston and training with my brother, James, eleven years older than
I.
He was a serious gridiron footballer and trained with a few team
members in our basement gym in which most of the machines were
designed by our father who was an extraordinarily talented
metalworker and machinist.
To build muscle power and size for arms my brother would have his
friends do 3-5 sets of 20 repetitions in the curl, for example,
using heavy weights and a bit of body sway to ‘cheat.’
Trying to keep up with them, I used a 24” long bar my father had
made for me on his lathe, weighing about 3.5 kg.
Given that my brother and his team mates would perform the ‘cheating
‘ reps at a brisk pace, I would do my best to imitate them by doing
7 reps half-up, then 7 reps halfway down and up, followed by 7 full
reps.
My brother and his friends used to laugh at me, on the assumption
that what I was doing was no more than a
little boy’s ‘cop-out’;
that is what they thought anyway until they tried the partial-rep
sequence and realized I had serendipitously come up with a great
technique which actually increased the intensity of the exercise.
We called my idea the ‘21 system’ and the whole group of us soon
used it to do every exercise, with impressive results for them and
me.
The following year my brother went to California to work at American
Health Studios, where he introduced my 21-technique to a group
of servicemen who wanted a quick and effective routine that they
could execute together in a circle as a way of motivating each other.
Consequently, my 21 System became known to some as ‘The Platoon
System’ and in another of its guises has been used by many
bodybuilders worldwide ever since, without knowing it was ‘invented’
by a seven year old boy, in a cellar home gym in Boston, U.S.A.
By the time I was in my teens I had developed twelve different
partial-repetition techniques, which in a slightly revised form,
were published nearly twenty years ago in my book The Matrix
Principle, whose title reflected the name that I had by
this stage given to my extended system of 21s.
In my competitive days I regarded this first program of 12 Matrix
techniques as my ‘secret weapon’ and relied upon it almost solely.
It was not long before I became a champion powerlifter, eventually
bench pressing
a
world record 350lbs at a body weight of 148lbs in
1963.
The rest, as the saying goes, is history..........
I continued testing and developing effective variations of my
original twelve Matrix techniques and have now created 48 Matrix
Principles on patterns of partial-repetition movements for every
body part.
With a growing interest in competitive bodybuilding I became close
friends with Joe Weider, the legendary trainer of champions,
from whom I leaned much and to
whom I owe much of my success in the world of bodybuilding. Weider employed me as a ‘ghost writer’ and a
feature writer for Muscle and Fitness Magazine, as well as
Flex.
“I
was so impressed with the initial 5 minute introduction
that I made the decision there and then to use the
Matrix training system to prepare for competition”
I was also appointed an International Judge for the IFBB, attending
bodybuilding contests around the world. I was thus afforded the rare
opportunity of getting to know, interview, train with and introduce
my Matrix System to a number of the world’s top bodybuilders,
appearing in the Weider Video Collection.
My Matrix System for bodybuilding comprises five volumes, the first
four of which each contain twelve distinct Matrix techniques, thus
making 48 Matrix Principles in all.
My fifth book in the series, Matrix Mindpower, is a necessity
for those understanding the role of the mind in bodybuilding and the
way in which meditative mindfulness techniques can be used to
maximise self-empowerment and success.
The Matrix System for Bodybuilding is designed to provide you a
progressive training program of increasing intensity spread over a
four year period.
You can use the Matrix System on its own or in combination with any
of an array of conventional training programs.
The original results enjoyed by early Matrix bodybuilding trainees
have been very impressive but, as the years have passed, and I have
improved the system, the results which many trainees have achieved
have been no less than astonishing.
Indeed, some of the gains made by drug-free Matrix trainees
under my own supervision have not only been remarkable but almost
unbelievable. For example, when Lee Martyn came to train with me 18
months ago (see photos in Matrix for Beginners), he weighed 61 Kg.
With
two training Matrix sessions a week Lee now weighs 100Kgs.
In the year and a half he has been using my new Matrix Principles
Lee has gained 5” on his arms (from 14” to 19”).
Although Lee is the most successful of my recent Matrix trainees,
every student I train has made fabulous gains. (See other results in
the testimonials on this site).
There is no doubt in my mind that anyone who follows the Matrix
bodybuilding program will achieve outstanding success in a very
short period.
I do believe, and I think it is now well-established, that the
Matrix system represents a major breakthrough in the physiology of
bodybuilding.
Why not put some Matrix Magic in your life and pull the fantastic
body you have always wanted out of the hat.
"After years of hard work with conventional weight routines, I
achieved a level of muscle development that allowed me to place
successfully in amateur
bodybuilding contests. But it was
Matrix Training that bought the
break through.
It gave me the extra size and cuts that I needed to have the edge in
professional competitions at national and international levels, and
I went on to take out Australian professional bodybuilding championship."
Ian Riley
Consequently, my 21 System became known to some as ‘The Platoon
System’ and in another of its guises has been used by many
bodybuilders worldwide ever since, without knowing it was ‘invented’
by a seven year old boy, in a cellar home gym in Boston, U.S.A.
bodybuilding contests. But it was
Matrix Training that bought the
break through.
