Isometric Fraud

Imitation is the highest form of flattery

By Paul "Batman" O'Brien 

B.A., N.C.E.H.S., Dip. Acu., Cert Clin. IMed., Dip. Adv. OBB, Dip. CHM, Pn1, PN-SSR, PN-NCA, M.AFPA., M.C.Th.A.

Isometric Fraud is a subject close to my heart. There’s one big lesson for improving your fitness and strength and building the body of your dreams but it’s not a workout or fitness principal. No this lesson is about spotting an Isometric Fraud.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery….and I feel flattered. I’ve been online since 2004; and since I developed isometric-training.com the site has been and continues to be the number one site for promoting the fastest and most efficient form of exercise available – Isometrics. And now we’re seeing a spawning of copycat sites, new releases, DVD’s and more.

2005 saw the release of the first modern compilation of isometric exercises, based on indisputable scientific principals, my own research and personal experience, and the independent results achieved by my clients. When I released the first volume in 2005, it was eaten up and those who applied the methods taught in the program produced and continue to produce astounding results, far outstripping those who stick rigidly to poor methods and unreflective, unscientific routines.

In 2007, my work was first noticed by the mainstream, the results being produced and talked about on Internet forums and in gyms around the world got people’s attention. Gurus and so called fitness instructors I had never heard of started taking credit for training me in these disciplines, and claimed to have the real knowledge. A great example of Isometric Fraud, they were quickly forgotten. But why did they make these claims? Simple - because the free exercises on my website and the Perfect Body system produced results theirs hadn’t.

Fitness companies began to steal my articles and the content of my website and even images of me to promote and push their fraudulent products. I have a 0 tolerance policy for that type of action – and I took legal action to prevent the people that trusted me after all the years I’d been writing, training and coaching clients, being duped by an Isometric Fraud like this and these con men. Those who may have missed that should check out the hilarious sequence of events that encompassed the “Bully-Xtreme saga”.

If this sounds arrogant and self promoting I suppose it is in a way. I’m proud of what I’ve done, proud of what I’ve built and proud of my clients and customers who have taken this information made it their own and built perfect bodies with incredible strength. And I get really angry when I see bad sites, promoting bad information that damages the reputation of Isometrics. Each of these incidents of Isometric Fraud sets the adoption of simple, effective, brief exercise back a decade if not more.

This happened before – as I wrote in Perfect Body, Isometrics had been proven, the system worked and produced incredible results and was adopted by the US Olympic team under the coaching of Bob Hoffman. But Hoffman wanted even more and supplied his athletes with steroids. When it was revealed that the stunning gains these men achieved was because of a new training method and drugs – they cited the drugs as the sole factor and isometrics was forgotten - forgotten for close to 50 years. I don’t want to see that happen again. I don’t want poor instruction and a bad understanding of the science to undermine the system.

But for all the fakes, frauds and charlatans there are genuine honest pioneers of research and scientific method. Men like Bruce Lee, Metzner, Sisco, Little, Sears, McDuff take what’s come before and build upon it pushing the boundaries of our knowledge and re-defining efficiency in exercise both in terms of training and the results achievable.

Unfortunately there are more of these isometric frauds, those who steal and rip off these peoples work then there are those that produce any original content.

Today – the benefits of Isometrics are under threat again from Isometric Fraud. Recently I have been contacted by a number of eagle eyed readers of this website in relation to a new isometric product been heavily advertised. Always eager to see the advancement of Isometric principals I was excited to see if this new information had built upon what was known, produced new and exciting information, and discussed existing or new studies that showed advancement.

Instead I was greeted by plagiarized information – whole sections of my website, all the free information I provide ripped off and put in a book. I was then further discouraged when I saw another new product promoting isometrics – that contained text lifted from my Perfect Body program – featuring exercises, including those I designed and teach, with photo and illustrations that were inaccurate and could cause injury, worse yet the information in the book would quickly lead to chronic overtraining, strain and injury.

So here it is – my ultimatum. If you can advance the concept and studies of isometrics and the principals of great health achieved in minimal time I’ll promote you – I’ll shout about it from the rafters and make sure as many people as possible are aware of the benefits you offer.

But equally – if you rip me off, or any of the other great authors in the field, steal their or my work and reproduce it for your financial gain, while providing poor instruction that can lead to injury and isometrics being written off by those that place their faith in you– then you can be sure I will out you, I will take legal action against you and I will make it my mission that you are exposed as the isometric fraud you are.

In closing my piece of advice to you the reader is this –

  • Make sure the people you got to for ANY fitness advice, not just isometrics is a qualified professional, with recognized endorsed accreditation.
  • Make sure that they have done the research.
  • Make sure they have gotten the results they claim.
  • Make sure they are not simply parroting the views of others without fully comprehending them.
  • Make sure they are not just a keyboard fitness enthusiast, that doesn’t have the physique or physical abilities that illustrates they make use of their own advice.
  • Make sure they have the full knowledge of the scientific background and understand the underlying principals of human physiology and that what they say is in accordance with that.

If ANY of those crucial factors are missing THINK TWICE about investing in their program and take the information they provide with a grain of salt.

And that applies to me too.

If you’re unsure of a principal, a methodology, a claim I make - call me on it. Email me and I’ll answer it. I’ll show you the reports, send you the scientific references, and let you independently confirm every last thing I say. In a few weeks I’ll be launching an even more open way of doing this.

I’ll be launching isometric-training 2.0 – you’ll be able to comment DIRECTLY on my articles, ask in front of the whole world your questions and get public answers. You’ll be able to add not just your comments, but I’ll let you submit your own reviews, your own articles, pictures and videos.

I want isometric training to be more than my site – I want it to be OUR site – OUR community and I want the world to see without any ambiguity the strength and power of isometrics not just demonstrated by me – but by you.

I know I’ve gone on a bit in this article – but it comes back to what I wrote in my newsletter a few weeks ago. One of the most important aspects of success in ANY endeavor is to find someone that has succeeded before you and ask them to help you do the same. That’s why I put on isometric-training.com in the first place. That’s why I wrote the Perfect Body program. And this is why in a few short weeks, YOU will be able to pass on what you have learnt from me, from others and share it with all of us, and together we can make sure that no one falls for an Isometric Fraud.





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