The New Age of Fitness
Adam Bornstein and John Romaniello, two of the brains behind this site, have a fantastic book, Man 2.0: Engineering the Alpha, that just hit the shelves across the country. I wrote the foreword, which they told me I'm allowed to share with you here. Enjoy, and pick up a copy to thank them for volunteering their wisdom here. The following passage is my foreword from the book.
It started in the most primitive way you can imagine.
Before the championships or my move to America, and long before anyone talked about a Golden Age of bodybuilding, it began with a fantasy in the forests of Austria.
My friends and I imagined ourselves as gladiators. During the summer, we would charge up dirt trails all day, stopping to pound out sets of push-ups and squats. We would struggle through chin-ups on tree branches so thick our hands would slip off after the first few reps. And then, when we’d exerted ourselves, we would build a fire and cook our meat under the stars.
You could analyze the hell out of what led us to that particular fantasy. But if I had to guess, it was about escaping the depression that surrounded us by dreaming about men who created their own destiny by building their bodies, honing their skills, and, yes, engineering the Alpha.
The next summer, I would discover weights, and I was only a few years away from making my escape real by coming to America. The rest, you know.
That commitment to fitness that I developed as a young, imaginary gladiator has stayed with me all my life. After I won my titles, I wasn’t content putting them on the shelf and walking away. I wanted to inspire others to join me in my fitness crusade.
When I began my career, if you asked someone where the nearest gym was, they would most likely look at you like you were a serial killer. If you were lucky, they would point you to some faraway dungeon with a few barbells and some weights.
Today, it’s hard to find a strip mall or a building without a fitness center, and for the most part, you would never mistake a modern gym for a torture chamber. We’ve come a long way, but I know this is not a crusade that has an obvious end point. We will always have to keep pushing forward and fighting to show people the benefits of health.
I met Adam and Roman because they share my commitment to health and fitness. When I decided to get back into the fitness game, I sought out the best and brightest experts in the field. In that search, I asked everyone from my fans to my advisors who they recommended I look at. Without fail, the names Romaniello and Bornstein kept floating to the top. They’ve spent their careers inspiring people to live better lives. We got to know each other when they collaborated with me on my website to share the latest information and to spread our message as far as we can. For me, it’s been an incredible experience. I’ve seen the fitness industry move from the workout pamphlets I used to staple together and walk to the post office to the lightning-fast sharing that happens over Twitter and Facebook. We can cast a much bigger net these days.
Within just a few months of connecting with Roman and Adam, I knew that they were the real deal. For me, it was very much was like the old days, only instead of doing chin-ups on trees and hoping for results, they were suggesting advanced concepts backed by science, methods to increase testosterone or manage insulin. I have even used some of the concepts you will read about in this very book.
As you can probably guess, the techniques work, otherwise I wouldn't have written the words you're now reading; I wouldn't be endorsing Roman and Adam as strongly as I am. These two are the pioneers of the new wave of fitness. They are innovators who have worked tirelessly to discover new ways to motivate and continue the crusade that I started before they were born.
Their book, Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha, is the latest weapon in their arsenal.
The research and methods contained here are cutting edge, but the foundation is timeless. Every man, no matter how primitive, has dreamed of channeling his Alpha. It’s a concept that goes beyond human evolution and explains the social hierarchies of the animal kingdom. But don’t think this is about turning yourself into a silverback gorilla hybrid, pounding your chest as you ruthlessly intimidate your weaker counterparts.
It’s about being happy, fit, and ready for anything. It’s about finding your self-confidence and continuing to push yourself every day. It’s about being hungry to be the best version of yourself.
Becoming the Alpha is different for every man. Maybe it’s traveling across the Atlantic to become the world’s best bodybuilder, becoming an actor or a politician, or even transforming into the gladiator you once dreamed of being. This is your shot at something bigger.
If you pick up this book it’s because you’re searching for the same thing I was when I sat under the stars after a long day of big visions in the Austrian countryside. So grab a copy and start finding it.
— Arnold Schwarzenegger
