Training Down - Anthony Ditillo

Dave Hannah doing a bent-arm pullover with 430 lbs. He has made 455. This was performed on a bench 16" high and he started with the weight on his chest, then lowered it till it almost touched the floor and pulled it back over his head and chest.

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Casey Viator

Effective Methods of Training Down (1971)
by Anthony Ditillo

If you are one of the many lifters or bodybuilders who are trying to, or have tried in the past, to lose excess weight either for lifting competition or a physique contest, you have my deepest sympathy. No, I am not trying to be sarcastic with such a remark. On the contrary, I feel for you fellows like nobody else can, because I have experienced myself the frustrating feeling of having my muscle size slowly diminish, along with my power, while trying to lose weight. It is truly a heartbreaking occurrence when a guy knocks himself out for months on end, trying to really build up additional size and power, only to lose this size and power when competition time rolls around again. It doesn’t seem fair, really. It’s as though somebody is not ‘playing the game’ as it were. But as unfair as it may seem, and is, there is really nothing one can do in such a situation (up until now) except to accept the size and power decreasement as the price one must pay for a truly muscularly impressive and strong physique.

In the past, I myself have tried many training down programs and while I seemed to be partly successful each and every time, I never really struck paydirt’ as the saying goes. Sure, I always managed to lose the excess weight, once I made myself stick to the particular type of diet I was about to experiment with at the time, but whenever I would lose any significant amount of excess bodyweight, along with this positive reduction would go a good deal of muscle and strength as well as the fat.

To be sure, there are various ways in which to train down to a lighter bodyweight. This goes for weightlifters, powerlifters and bodybuilding enthusiasts as well as the normal, everyday health-conscious reader. All can benefit from this article and this is why I am so happy to be able to bring you fellows the great news. Believe me, this is just what you have been waiting for. Just bear with me for a while, while I go through the already accepted methods of weight reduction showing their good points as well as their bad points and how to reap as much of a positive gain from their proper utilization as you possibly can. The reason for my going into these various details is to the benefit of the ‘new recruit’, for the fellow who may be dieting for the first time and doesn’t even know where to begin. Besides, I have always said in my past articles, he’s the man (the beginner or intermediate) who I am most interested in anyway.

The first method of bodyweight reduction which we will be taking into consideration will theoretically be considered the easiest to follow as far as mechanics are concerned. This is the CALORIE COUNTING method. By using this type of dietary regime, the trainee will simply purchase a calorie counter at the nearest drug or department store and shall endeavor to count the calories contained in everything he eats or drinks each and every day. In order to determine just how many calories are allotted to him in order for him to reach his bodyweight goal, he usually is advised within the book to check his caloric requirements which are listed next to his ideal weight at the beginning of the book. Let us suppose then that he is told that may ingest 1500 calories per day. The only thing to take into consideration now would be therefore just how would the calories be divided up? Certainly, 1500 calories is 1500 calories, or is it?

Suppose two men were going on a diet. They had similar builds, similar metabolism, similar bodyweight, etc., and they both were going to go on a 1500 calorie per day diet to lose excess weight. Now the first fellow ate whatever and whenever he pleased. He partook of protein, fats and carbohydrates. He was sure, however, not to go above 1500 calories. He also exercised quite regularly with the weights. The second man, who was also training with weights, decided to partake mainly of high protein foods, leaving a few hundred calories left for the intake and enjoyment of carbohydrates. Now, I ask you, who do you think would be dieting properly. The answer is NEITHER.

When taking into consideration the necessities of a properly executed diet, we must remember that basically we need two types of food for our bodies: we need fuel to grow on and fuel to ‘go’ on. This means that although we must always be sure to obtain the necessary protein in our diet for adequate muscle growth, we also need foods to supply us with the necessary energy not only for our exercise periods but for our everyday living as well. The truth is that as far as we lifting enthusiasts are concerned, many, many times we miss up on the energy foods when we are dieting. This leads to many pitfalls in our training routine by way of lack of training desire or endurance, lack of pep, endless anxiety and frustration, lack of proper sleep, lack of confidence in our training capabilities and most important of all, an unhealthy, mono-faceted ‘fad’ diet which in the long run will bring us nothing but internal harm!

In comparing both types of diets which I have just outlined for you, in my opinion one is just as bad as the other. Let me explain just what I mean. The first diet, in which the man consumes whatever it is he wishes providing he does not go over 1500 calories, is the worst. In using this type of diet you can never be sure or certain that you are getting all the necessary nutrients for good health, let alone proper muscle growth or maintenance. Needless to say, such a diet might be alright from a convenience point of view, but from a healthy lifter’s point of view it is far off the beaten track. On this type of diet, if you wished to, you could eat 1500 calories worth of pizza pie and as long as you ate nothing else for the rest of the day you would be keeping your diet. But what about the necessary vitamins and minerals which everyone needs daily and in large doses for the proper maintenance of the body? What about the protein requirements of such a weight trainee? Could he be positive he was obtaining a correct amount for proper growth muscle-wise? The answer is no, he could not. And although this method of dieting is the most popular in this country, it is my opinion that it leaves quite a lot to be desired.

And what of the diet of trainee number two? Doesn’t the inclusion of a primarily high protein intake in such a diet guarantee that he will obtain the correct number of muscle and strength building nutrients? Doesn’t the inclusion of a moderate amount of carbohydrates and fats guarantee a balanced regimen of dietary significance? Shouldn’t this type of diet be the one to follow when one is trying to lose fat but build muscle at the same time? The answer to all these questions is a big fat ‘NO’!

Let me ask you a few questions. How many grams of complete protein do you think you can get into about 1000 calories? One lb. of lean beef has well over 1000 calories and it contains about 120 grams of protein per lb. Mild contains 32 grams of protein per quart so it would take 3 quarts to give you almost 100 grams of protein of high biological value, but the calorie content would once again be too, too high. To make a long story short, you are not going to get very many grams of complete protein in 1000 calories and this is why the second type of diet isn’t too good. You see, when you get into counting calories you are taking from Peter to pay Paul. Sure, your calorie level is low and adequate for you to lose weight with but just where will you be losing the weight from? A weightlifter or bodybuilder wants to lose fat, not useful muscle. And that is why such a diet of counting calories just will not work for him. No matter how you try to arrange it, either the amount of protein will not be high enough for proper muscular maintenance and the result would be a great loss in muscle size, or else the foodstuffs which produce training energy would be lacking and the result would be a loss of muscle power. In short, for the lifter, counting calories to lose weight will not work!

The second most popular type of diet for training down is the low carbohydrate diet. This diet centers around the ingesting of primarily protein foods while the carbohydrate is kept rather low, around 60 grams in most cases. One does not have to count calories while on this type of diet for on the low carbohydrate diet, calories don’t really count. One counts the grams of carbohydrates one ingests butt that is all. The amount of protein does not matter, and one can literally gorge oneself on steaks, eggs, fish, most cheeses and fowl. The good points in this diet are that the weight trainee is assured that he is obtaining sufficient protein in his diet for the mainstay of the diet would be primarily protein. Thus he is certain that he has enough protein to guarantee himself adequate muscle growth and repair. The sixty grams of carbohydrates give him a chance to vary his dietary schedule somewhat, by way of fruits and some vegetables (in small quantities of course) and all in all such a diet seems better than the first mentioned ‘calorie counting’ one.

However, even this type of diet has its drawbacks. For one thing, the energy level is not that much better than it was in the second trainee’s method of reducing while counting calories. Sixty grams of carbohydrates will not give you a great deal of energy, that’s for sure. And although I realize that the theory behind the low carbohydrate diet is one of utilizing your own fatty deposits for an energy fuel system while only partaking of primarily protein foods at the table, I still have not found many trainees who can thrive on such a diet for any length of time. Either their weight reduction comes to a halt or they lose training enthusiasm and endurance as well as strength. Now the average man might possible get by on only sixty grams of carbs per day. After all, he is not a weightlifter. But I sincerely doubt if the average trainee can do this. I myself have tried both the calorie counting and the high protein, low carbohydrate diets, and as I stated before, on both diets I lost excess weight, but on the calorie counting diet I also lost quite a bit of muscle, and on the high protein diet I lost quite a bit of training energy. It just seemed as though neither diet could really do the job.

This next diet is the one that I have been all along leading up to. It is the latest one I have tried and is, so far, by far the best. I ran into this theory some time ago while. Do you fellows remember a while back when the ‘high protein and cream’ diet was popular? Most claims were very impressive to say the least. And it was this diet which first prompted me to try my variation of it. I read how those famous bodybuilders would live primarily on a high protein diet mixed with cream and drunk throughout the day. Most of these fellows claimed that this type of diet really enabled them to grow like mad and also, they lost excess fat from around the midsection while their training energy really soared. Now I always understood this theory. The high protein assured the trainee that his muscles were fully nourished and the high fat (cream) part of the diet would perk up the metabolism and allow him to oxidate more body fat while the high caloric value of the cream would give the trainee more than adequate training energy. The end result: increased muscle size and strength, decreased body fat. The bodybuilder’s dream come true! The answer to the most frustrating problem of them all: how to lose excess body fat while you build or maintain muscle. So you see, it was not that I did not fully understand this particular method of weight reduction that made me go into the other various methods of weight loss, rather it was the depressing awareness that I had always loved and enjoyed eating and I would never be able to get used to eating only protein powder and cream no matter how fast I gained while doing so. So although I read and reread the many claims made for this revolutionary type of diet, I had never tried it myself.

Recently, my uncle had to see a doctor because of his cholesterol level. He was told that it was much too high and the doctor explained how my uncle was to try to relieve the condition by the proper diet and the proper exercise. In his diet, my uncle was told to consume only poly-unsaturated fats, not animal fats. He was told that there was contained in certain types of fats, a substance which would help reduce the cholesterol level and would also aid in the proper utilization and oxidation of body fat. He was given a list of foods to eat and was told to use either corn or safflower oil for cooking. This started me thinking. Was not this type of diet very similar to the protein and cream diet of the past bodybuilders? Was it primarily not a high protein and high fat diet?

Since by now my enthusiasm knew no bounds, I had to try such a diet on myself while using weight training as a physical catalyst. At the local heath foods store I purchased one quart of safflower oil and one container of 96% protein powder. My diet would consist primarily of protein supplements, various complete protein foods and no more than sixty grams of carbohydrates per day. As far as the high fat portion of my diet was concerned, I relied upon safflower oil used in cooking and corn oil margarine used throughout the day on my various foods with hopes that these measures would not only give me an abundant protein supply, but a high energy level (from the fats) and a desired well-roundedness (from the inclusion of the carbohydrates) which would insure proper weight loss, proper muscle growth and last but not least, proper energy level. The following paragraph shall explain the results of this experiment.

When I began to incorporate this training down procedure into my living habits at first I was alarmed at the amount of change I would have to undergo. Certain foods would have to be excluded from the diet, certain ones added. But after a while, when the results began to show, I knew I was on the right track and I did not mind the various inconveniences I had up to that point encountered. I ate approximately six meals per day and at each meal I would have some form of protein and some form of polyunsaturated fat. I would really take in the protein and I was always sure that my intake of water was adequate to insure proper ‘ventilation’ of the urinary tract. Thus I made sure that no protein waste was left over in the colon or liver, etc. My sources of carbohydrates were natural in content. A few pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables per day. My training was geared for bulk and power, high sets of low reps with limit poundages. I trained at a fast pace, not resting for more than two minutes for each set, and I trained three times per week.

In the beginning, my weight began to drop slowly but surely, from a high of 260 lbs. down to 248. Up until this time I had no trouble with either training energy or training poundages. Both were more than adequate. But as time went by and I began to lose more and more bodyweight the limit lifts also began to recede, once again, little by little. I did not let this deter me, however, and I continued on with my experiment, come what may. My squat had dropped from 515 at 260 lbs. down to 465 at a bodyweight of 245. I noticed that my training energy wasn’t lacking at all. It just seemed that the power just was not there the way it used to be and come what may, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that once again I was wrong with the method I had incorporated to bring about the sought after results.

Approximately five weeks ago I weighed in at 238. My squat was down to 425 lbs. My energy was more than adequate, however, at this time. It was then that I decided to use more of the fats in my diet. Three times per day, after each of my main meals, I would fill a whiskey glass with safflower oil and I would drink it down. I forced myself to bear the taste until now I don’t mind it at all. And suddenly things began to happen. First of all, my weight shot down to 228 in a matter of days. And for the first time since I began the experiment my lifts began to improve. Up, up, up went my squat. Down, down, down went bodyweight and most important of all, my waistline. And all the while I was simply overjoyed at the entire affair. It seemed that at last I had found the right way for me.

Today, at a bodyweight of 225, I squatted to just above parallel with 505 lbs. My waist is seven inches smaller than when I began the experiment. My chest is still 54” and my arms are almost 20”. My thighs are 31” measured while standing relaxed. I have about fifteen more pounds to lose and then my experiment will be over. In a few weeks I shall have reached my goal.

Sig Klein - Chapter Five

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The diamond scarf pin presented to Attila by Queen Victoria

which was found clutched in his hand when he died.

My Quarter-Century in the Iron Game

A Tribute to Attila

by Siegmund Klein

One evening during my conversations with Mrs. Attila, she brought forth the Attila scrapbook. This book, about the size of a large bible, was beautifully bound in heavy leather, and had on the cover an imprint of two dumbells crossed over one another, and in large letters, “Attila’s Scrap Book.” Naturally I read and re-read this book, and it taught me much. In it I found newspaper clippings about the Professor from all over the civilized world! There were articles in French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Russian, English and other languages. Old reproductions of photographs of Attila and Sandow graced many of the pages. In short, this book was really a goldmine of information about Professor Attila.

At night I would often sit before a huge oil painting of Attila, painted in London in 1887, representing the pose he always took as the curtains parted and the stage lit up at the beginning of his act. As I gazed at the painting in the dimly lit room, a feeling of nostalgia would come over me. I visualized many of the interesting happenings that I had read about in scrapbook, and suddenly the painting would seem to come alive and Attila would be actually performing for me. It was as if I was being tendered a command performance to the accompaniment of Victrola music that I always played during these daydreams.

I “saw” Attila going through his manual of arms with a huge ninety-pound steel bar, his famous Roman Column and Roman Chair feats, his juggling and his renowned “ball and cup” stunts. Again I would visualize Attila and Sandow performing, and would see them in the fashion of the day bow in acknowledgement to each other while one performed and the other stood on the side. Yes, it even seemed that Attila looked at me through his clear brown eyes and was pleased with his new successor. He was my spiritual mentor and my guide.

What a rare combination of mental and physical inspiration I had in Attila and Sandow, the two greatest forces in molding my life! While I exercised I would look at Sandow’s pictures. If any problems came up regarding my training, I tried to imagine what Attila would say or do under the same conditions. It helped me immeasurably; it gave me courage and fortitude. I knew m decision was then right. I patterned myself after these two athletes as much as possible. As to the extent that I have succeeded, I will leave to others to say.

This month (July, 1944) we are celebrating Attila’s hundredth anniversary. I think it would be very appropriate and fitting at this time to let my life story lapse for the time being and write about a man and athlete who was a guiding light and inspiration and was appropriately called “The Dean of Strong Men.” I will lift the curtain just a bit to reveal a few incidents about the man whose influence brought the strongman game and weightlifting to the heights of popularity it has enjoyed ever since.

Professor Louis Attila was born July 2, 1844 in Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany and adopted the name of Attila from Attila the Hun, also called the Scourge of God. Attila the Hun was a conqueror, and Louis Attila was a conqueror as well; not of men’s lives and possessions, but of the indispositions that made men weak and apathetic. True, he aspired to and became a leader of men. As a great influence for good and not one whom others had feared or obeyed because of dire consequences that would follow defiance; he was revered and respected for the rightful counsel he would give. Instead of a demolisher he was an upbuilder. Incidentally, the name “Attila” often spelled “Atli” means “Iron” in the Hunnic language; the modern Germanic form for Attila is Eitel. I have read articles by press agents about Attila where it was stated that he adopted this name from his mother’s family name as it would be most suitable in his profession, and that his mother was a descendant of the ancient Attila, the King of the Huns.

In his early teens Attila was on the stage doing a song and dance act. He was, however, interested in strength and strong-men even before this time and had taken some gymnastic lessons at the Turnvereins and also some private lessons from one Professor Ernst in Berlin. His decision to follow the strongman profession was at the time he first saw the great Felice Napoli (1821-1887) perform. Napoli was the greatest performer of strength feats from a classical point of view at the time, and engaged Attila to assist him. It was from Napoli that Attila learned the art of posing and doing pantomimes, for Napoli was, before venturing forth as a strongman, a pantomimist.

When Attila was old enough, he enlisted in the Baden Sharpshooters and soon became known as the best athlete amongst the outfit, excelling in swimming, running and jumping. While doing guard duty on the grounds of the Duke of Baden, a baby carriage in which the Duke’s son was sleeping accidentally rolled into a private lake nearby. Attila saved the baby fro drowning and thus gained the friendship of the elder Duke and the man who was later to become Duke of Baden.

After finishing his military service, Attila would accept numerous theatrical engagements. He would however open gymnasiums from time to time, and had them in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, The Hague, Vienna, Rotterdam, Leyden, London and other European cities.

Attila was the originator of many of the exhibition feats of strength and barbell exercises which have become standard. He was the originator of the Bent Press, having taught this famous lift to Sandow and Strongfort. Others have learned the style from these two strongmen. He popularized the Roman Column, the Roman Chair and the Human Bridge. he was the originator of the hollow globe barbell, being also he first athlete to use these weights on the stage, made with brass and nickel plating. He originated his famous Five Pound Dumbell System which was later adopted by Sandow, Desbonnet, Strongfort, and was used as the basis of the military gymnastics by the British German, French, Turkish, Bavarian and Italian armies. He also introduced the plate loading barbell, universally used today.

His fame was worldwide. he was an artistic performer, always preferring the artistic to a mere exhibition of strength. The highlight of his career was reached when he was summoned to appear at Queen Victoria’s Jubilee at Buckingham Palace, London, in 1887. Here, in the presence of practically the entire European Royalty, Attila gave his fabulous exhibition. One of the famous feats he displayed was going through the manual of arms with a ninety-pound steel bar about six feet in length instead of with the regular exhibition rifle. He would usually ask an officer to come on stage and command him through the drill.

Frederick III, father of the late Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, praised him thus: “You have done something that I have never seen before.”

Besides a huge financial remuneration for his exhibition at the Jubilee, he was presented by the Prince of Wales with a jeweled scarf pin the size of a half-dollar bearing a miniature of Hercules, with leopard skin and sandals all highly colored. This was carved out of crystal and was surrounded by thirty-six diamonds. The Prince, later to become King Edward VII, engaged the Professor as private physical instructor, and a class of Royalty was formed. Among his royal pupils were the six children of King Christian of Denmark, Crown Prince Frederick, the future King Haakon of Norway, King George of Greece, The Duchess of Cumberland, the Queen Mother Alexandra of England, the Princess Dagmar of Denmark (later Empress of Russia) and mother of the late Czar Nicholas.

His distinguished clientele brought him other pupils from among the elite. Among them were the Rajah of Haidarbad, the Rajah of Baroda in British East India, the Earl of Winchester, who presented Attila with a leopard skin and asked Attila to do the honor of making a leotard out of for his stage costume. The Count d’Oultremont, Grand Marshall of the Court of Belgium, Count Bielandt, General Aide do Camp of Her Majesty Queen Wilhelmina of Holland, Lord Lonsdale, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, and many other dignitaries, great financiers, noted men of state, dukes and duchesses, lords and ladies, princes and princesses, were also pupils of the famous Attila.

Attila was not only a strongman, but also a man of large mental caliber and of wide education. Among other accomplishments, he was master of five languages and was an accomplished pianist. The famous Professor Desbonnet of Paris was his pupil also.

His title “Professor” was not of his own creation but had been bestowed upon him by the beneficiaries of his scientific training. It was in 1886 that Sandow first came to him while Attila had a school in Brussels. Sandow, whose right name was Frederick Muller, was trained in the niceties of stage presentations and posing by Attila, and he even gave him the name “Sandow.” The Attila-Sandow combine would make a small book in itself.

In 1893 Attila came to America and opened his first school in New York City. Just as the prominent, the distinguished, the eminent and the great were pupils of his in Europe, he also had similar pupils in New York. He had here as pupils Supreme Court Judge Leaventritt, The Most Rev. Doctor Steele, Rector of Old Trinity, Richard K. Fox, owner and publisher of the Police Gazette, J. Pierpont Morgan, Jr., Julie Opp Faversham, Banker Seligman, Banker John C. Tomlinson, Alfred Vanderbilt, Florenz Ziegfeld, Oscar Hammerstein, Klaw, Erlanger, John Philip Sousa and hosts of other famous names too numerous to mention. His pupils among athletes, besides Sandow and Strongfort, of note were Louis Cyr, Horace Barre, Arthur Dandurand, Warren Lincoln Travis, G.W. Rolandow, H.W. Titus, Anthony Barker, Adolph Nordquest and many other athletes, some of whom became famous later. He had a way of inspiring pupils and had the knack of getting the finer qualities out of an athlete in the highest degree.

Before James J. Corbett’s match with Charley Mitchell in 1894, Corbett enrolled for lessons with Attila. So well pleased was he that during his performance at the Bijou Theatre in Brooklyn, he invited Attila to witness his act from a box in the theatre. During this act, he invited the Professor on stage and presented him with a beautiful locket. On one side was a figure of the champion in fighting costume and attitude, and on the opposite side was a facsimile and the right arm of the pugilist surrounded by the paraphernalia employed in the strongman’s methods for muscular development. Within the locket was a miniature photograph of the fighter and a graceful tribute of esteem.

During his professional career Attila was presented with over 200 medals. He had the honor of being a member in high standing in the lodge of which King Edward VII was Grand Master. He was also an Elk and a member of other orders and a Fellow Sloper, having received the degree simultaneously with King Edward VII.

Can Gottfried, the bandleader of the Coldstream Guard, London, honored Attila by composing “The Attila Waltz” and also the “Attila March” which was published later in England. Attila used both of these compositions during his act. Professor Attila was the only athlete, professional or amateur, mentioned in the National Cyclopedia of American Biography. The compilers, determining to make mention of the greatest of the then athletic trainers, after several months of careful research, were brought to the recognition of Attila as the man who deserved that honor.

In 1896 the Professor was married to Miss Rosa Sanders, who was one of his pupils. The event of the marriage of the strongman and the strongwoman by Mayor Strong of New York City attracted great attention, and although it was intended to be a simple, unconventional affair, many thousands of persons were gathered to witness it. Newspapers of that day used headlines mentioning that “Strongman and Strongwoman Married By Mayor Strong.” It was a newspaperman’s “natural.”

In 1908 Attila opened another studio in Chicago at 2001 Michigan Avenue, and in 1912 he opened a studio in Detroit. He did not, however, stay there very long, for his personality was missed so much at his New York Institute that he had to return.

When Attila was seventy-seven years of age, he still could do some exhibition feats of strength. He, on one occasion, lay on his back, brought a 220 lb. barbell over his head, and pressed it to arms’ length with a “shoulder-bridge.” I believe the last famous athlete to come to Attila for special training was Ernest Cadine, the French strongman, but Attila could not, at that late age, give Cadine the training that he needed; Cadine then went to Montreal and later returned to France.

Professor Louis Attila died March 15^th, 1924, at the age of eighty years. His name will live as long as barbells are used. Had it not been for Sandow, the physical culture teachers since his time would not have been the teachers of the present group of weightlifters and culturists, and you, reader, would probably not be reading this. Alan Calvert, who was the founder of “Strength” magazine, wrote some years ago that had it not been for Sandow, he would never have been inspired to make barbells and teach the methods of using them. It was through Attila’s famous pupils that the present generation of weightlifters and “Muscular Marvels” owe their success, for it was they who inspired us.

He was truly a “Friend of the Human Race.”

Back Specialization - Bradley Steiner

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Larry Scott, Steve Reno

Back Specialization
by Bradley Steiner

For gaining size, power and well-shaped bulk, your efforts in training should center around developing two major muscle groups to their maximum via hard work on the basic exercises for those groups. The first muscle group is the leg-hip structure. The second is the back.

You can, and should, alternate between programs of specialization for both these key areas, until you’ve finally gained your maximum desired bulk and muscular bodyweight. But doubt if it would be desirable (or even feasible) to include a full leg AND back specialization routine in a single workout. Done properly, a back OR leg specialization program is PLENTY of work. A back AND leg specialization program probably couldn’t be done “properly” unless of course you were such a miraculous physical specimen that you didn’t actually need either!

I have chosen to present a back specialization program because I feel that the leg emphasis program is by far the simpler of the two types, and beginners needing basic information on building up are likely to be confused when it comes to setting up a back program.

Leg specialization, besides, has been covered to a large extent by me before, in previous writings. It amounts to, in essence: SQUATTING HARD AND HEAVY, three times a week.

Back specialization is not quite that simple, and in order to eliminate any confusion about the subject, I want to deal with it now.

One question: “Why is leg and back specialization so important?”
Answer: Because your hip-leg and back muscle groups are the BIGGEST and the STRONGEST muscle groups in your body. You can handle the heaviest weights in leg and back exercises, and the carry-over value of leg-back work for EVERY OTHER muscle in your body is tremendous.

Leg work will build your chest, widen your shoulders and give you an A-1 heart and lung workout that will keep you in tiptop shape and health.

A second question: “What kind of results, specifically, can I expect from following a back specialization course?”
Answer: You will develop (if you work as hard as you’re supposed to) unbelievable upper-body power, width, bulk and shape. You will build arms that are strong and look strong. You will develop your vital lower back region, and this will have carry-over benefits that will last your entire life.

You will definitely, unless there is something wrong with you organically, pack on lots of solid, muscular bodyweight, providing you eat properly.

You will have real enjoyment and experience great satisfaction from dominating heavy weights, and from watching your working poundages go up.

Some basic facts you ought to know: The back consists of THREE primary muscle substructures.
1) The trapezius
2) The latissimus
3) The erector spinae
that is: the upper back, below the neck – the bulky, central upper-back – and the lower back. Each of these three muscle groups must be fully developed. Since the average bodybuilder usually devotes most of his back training, if not all of it, to the showy lats, that point about total development bears repeating:
DEVELOP THE WHOLE BACK. To neglect the erector spinae muscles is sheer insanity. If anything, this group is MORE important than the upper back, from a health standpoint. Fully developed, the erector spinae group will DOUBLE of TREBLE your present body strength. The lower back, in short, is not showy, it is essential.

The trapezius muscles ARE showy, in a way, when fully developed. They impart a slope to the shoulders that gives the impression of great power and athletic prowess. Perhaps you’ve noticed that boxers tend to have well-developed traps. This is the inevitable result of their boxing workouts, of keeping the arms up on the guard continually, blocking fast body punches, throwing fast, hard punches. Don’t worry – there are easier ways to build up the traps than going hard rounds every day with a sparring partner!

So – we’ve established the following:
1) the back consists of THREE main muscle substructures.
2) each of the three main groups must be fully developed.

From that beginning we go on to examine the best exercises for each of the major muscle groups in the back – then we will formulate a routine, employing selected movements.

For the trapezius group I recommend Presses behind the neck, Power cleans, Shrugs, High pulls, and Upright rowing.
For the latissimus I recommend BENT-OVER ROWING – nothing else!
For the erector spinae I recommend Stiff-legged deadlifts, Regular deadlifts, good mornings, and the Snatch.

Please be sure that you understand that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you EVER attempt to employ every one of the aforementioned movements in a single program! If you do try it, be sure to reserve a bed beforehand at your nearest hospital. Just don’t do it.

A good sample back schedule that I DO suggest you try, is the following:
1) Warm up first with 2 sets of 15-20 Prone hyperextensions.
2) Do one warmup set of Stiff-legged deadlifts, then do a very heavy set. 12 reps for the warmup. 12-15 reps for the work set.
3) Do 6 light Power cleans to warm up. Then do 3 sets of 5 Power cleans with every ounce of iron you can pile on the bar.
4) Do 3 sets of 12-15 heavy Bentover rowing movements with a barbell – or alternately for each side with a heavy dumbell.
5) Do 4 or 5 sets of VERY HEAVY Presses behind the neck. 4 or 5 reps a set
6) Do 2 sets of Shrugs with a weight that forces you to use wrist straps in order to maintain your grip on the bar. 20 reps a set.
7) Do a very light set of Stiff-legged deadlifts, again. This time, stand on a solid bench or box and lower the weight below your ankles. Use only a VERY LIGHT WEIGHT and try for maximum stretch. 15 reps.
8) Finish your workout with a single set of deep-breathing pullovers lying on a bench, with a very, very light barbell. The bar alone, in fact, will be quite sufficient. 12-15 slow, stretching, deep-breathing reps.

Such a program, followed THREE TIMES A WEEK, will build for you such great back (and, in fact, overall!) power, that you’ll literally be a new man.
The most effective way to use a back specialization program is by following it for two, two-month periods, interspersed with a two-week layoff so you don’t overtrain and go stale. Work out three times a week using nothing but this program.

This is a good place to point out that a layoff need not be spent in bed. The only requisite for a good rest is that you STAY AWAY FROM THE WEIGHTS. You can swim, if you like, jog, play tennis, ride horses or any other moderately vigorous thing – so long as you don’t work out with barbells or dumbells.

After a two-week layoff go right back to your same back specialization schedule. Be sure to start in again with REDUCED WEIGHTS, because a slight loss of power is almost inevitable after two-week layoff. Don’t worry about this slight loss of power. You’ll be much stronger in the long run, after a layoff, than you ever possibly could be if you were to train endlessly, with no break in your course at all.

Work into really heavy weights where I’ve indicated heavy weights are to be used. If you take it easy and train light, then forget about gaining anything worthwhile.

I do not suggest that any trainee employ this back routine – or any other specialization routine, for that matter – for more than two, two-month periods. To do more than this would, I am afraid, simply be overtraining on your program. After all, you can get just so much from a single routine before you’ll milk it dry and require a different program for continued gains. So be sensible. Follow this course as outlined for two months. Layoff two weeks. Go back and train for two more months. Then, STOP. After your specialization, you should go right into an all-round schedule that works your entire physique evenly. Keep at this for 6 to 8 weeks before trying anything resembling another specialization program.

Although a specific leg specialization program is not being outlined here, I want to stress that the same method of training (two months’ work, two weeks layoff, two months’ work) is the best for this purpose, too.

So that everything is covered, let me mention two other essential elements that must go with the training program if it is to be maximally successful: REST AND GOOD FOOD. Nobody can make maximum gains without either of them.

If you are young and growing, or if you are generally active outside of your lifting activities, you should get a bare minimum of eight hours uninterrupted sleep. Nine or ten hours is even better.

You should eat plenty of meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and poultry, rice, thick soups, spaghetti, cheeses, etc. Drink plenty of milk every day if you’re seriously underweight. Two quarts a day for underweight teenagers is a must. In the winter months take hot milk with Ovaltine.

Plenty of spectacular routines exist, other than the one I’ve given you here. But this basic back specialization program – for all its stark simplicity – will produce spectacular RESULTS. Train very hard – CONCENTRATE - and use HEAVY WEIGHTS. Train three times a week and try never to miss an exercise period. Then, after four and a half months of hard work, sit back and be proud of what you accomplished.

You will be.

Powerful Arms - Chapter Five - David Willoughby

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Powerful Arms

by David Willoughby

Chapter Five

Exercises for the Upper Arms

As previously pointed out, the best method of developing the arms is the method practiced by those subjects who possess the finest arms. In this connection an ounce of fact is worth a ton of theory. Some mail-order instructors have found it more convenient and more profitable to advocate some other form of training other than that actually employed by the outstanding examples of bodily development.

In considering the best exercises for developing the upper arms, one should bear in mind the chief functions of the muscles in that part. The muscles of the upper arm extend, or straighten the arm.

The most effective of all exercises for the flexor muscles of the arm is curling. To curl a weight means to raise, with one hand or both, slowly from a position in which the arm hangs straight, to a position in which the arm is fully bent and the hand is near the shoulder. In curling a barbell, the bar is grasped with the hands about shoulder-width apart and the palms facing upward. The commencing position of the exercise is with the body in erect standing posture, and the weight held hanging at arms’ length with the bar touching the front of the thighs. From this position the weight is curled or raised slowly to the shoulders in a semi-circular movement by bending the arm.

Throughout the movement, the elbows should be kept by the sides, a little to the front, and not allowed to move backward. The hands should be kept bent upward at the wrist, this position developing the flexor muscles on the inside of the forearm. As stated, the barbell should be raised to the shoulders slowly. By “slowly” is meant to proceed at a rate of motion that would allow the weight to be stopped at any stage of the exercise. In other words, you should avoid any swinging or sudden starting of the bell that would assist you in getting it past the “tough” stages of its travel. By observing this rule, you will train your muscles to possess equal strength and capacity of all stages of their contraction. In lowering the bell, let it down in the same slow manner until the arms are straight, meanwhile keeping the wrists bent upward, the elbows in the position stated, and the weight at the half-way stage well in front of the body, so as to throw the maximum leverage on the muscles being exercised.

Curling, as here described, is the best and quickest way of developing the biceps. The exercise may also be performed with a pair of dumbells, using the arms either together of alternately. Using a dumbell permits the wrist to be flexed further toward the little finger side, with added benefit to the inside forearm muscles. Otherwise, the use of dumbells possesses no particular advantage over a barbell in this exercise.

A second form of curling is with the backs of the hands uppermost. This exercise is usually termed the reverse curl. In raising and lowering the barbell the wrists are again kept bent upward, the only difference being that in the reverse curl it is the backs of the hands that remain uppermost. The reverse curl is particularly valuable for developing the forearm. During this exercise, care should be taken that the elbows remain close by the sides; for here more than in the regular two-arm, there is a tendency for the elbows to move outward as the barbell is being raised. If the latter tendency is not avoided, much of the developing effect on the forearms is lost. When the reverse curl is performed as a competitive lift, with the most weight that can be raised once, it is called the Rectangular Fix, and the forearms are raised only as high as the horizontal position where they are “fixed” momentarily at right angles to the upper arms – hence the name “rectangular fix”. As a development exercise, however, the reverse curl should be performed by raising the barbell all the way to the shoulders precisely as the regular two-arm curl.

In all forms of curling it should be remembered that the lowering of the weight develops the muscles almost as much as the raising; and that in both motions a bending of the wrists upward increases the developing effect on the muscles of the forearm. In performing the reverse curl the wrists should occasionally be held straight, rather than bent upward, so as to put the maximum effect on the muscles that extent the wrist. A suggestion is to do the first 4 counts of this exercise with the wrists straight, and the remainder of the counts with the wrists bent well upward. In this way, strength of the wrist in both positions will be developed.

A form of curling that is intermediate between the regular curl and the reverse curl may be performed with a single dumbell or a pair of dumbells. It consists of holding the dumbell with the hand pointing fore and aft instead of crosswise, and maintaining the hand in that position as the curling and lowering movements of the arm are made. This style of curling, with the hand in semi-supination, or supinated only half-way, is especially effective for developing the large brachioradialis muscle in the forearm, which when well-developed shows up on the top or front of the forearm in a swelling ridge. In this exercise, too, an appreciable developing effect is thrown on the grip if the dumbell handle is grasped in the middle, as shown in the illustration, so that the weight of the dumbell is sustained by the grip alone and not by the top of the fist. An even more effective form of this exercise is to curl with one hand a long barbell, by grasping it in the middle and levering it over to the shoulder purely by arm and wrist strength.

In any discussion of arm development, it is customary to mention the familiar exercise of chinning the bar. In actuality, however, this exercise depends to a greater extent upon the development of the muscles of the front chest and the broad of the back than upon the muscles of the arms. Although the flexors of the arm do come strongly into action in the first part of the chinning movement, they are not developed nearly so much by this form of exercise as they are by the curling movements with a barbell or dumbell that we have just described. Rope climbing, also, while often considered primarily as an arm developer, produces results similar to chinning. However, both chinning, and dipping on the parallel bars, are effective movements for exercising the muscles of the upper arms in conjunction with those of the chest and upper back, and they are useful supplementary exercises for specialized routines such as will be described in Chapter VII. In chinning, an overhead horizontal bar is grasped by the hands, which are shoulder-width apart, and the body is slowly raised by the flexing of the arms until the chin reaches the level of the bar. As with curling, there are two principle ways of chinning. In the regular chin, you grasp the bar with the palms of your hands facing toward you; while in the reverse chin the palms face away from you. Both varieties should be practiced. In chinning the bar for arm development, be sure to make the movement as complete as possible, both when raising the body and when lowering it.

The three forms of curling previously described, if practiced judiciously in accordance with the suggestions to be given later, are adequate for the full development of the flexor muscles in the upper arm. Variety in exercise is, of course, desirable to relieve what otherwise might be monotony. Therefore, a pair of adjustable dumbells may be used to advantage to supplement one’s exercise with the barbell. And by “barbell” we mean a modern plate-loading barbell that can be quickly adjusted to any of a wide variety of poundages. This barbell apparatus, being well-nigh indispensable to the body culturist, we shall throughout this book assume to be the mainstay of his exercising equipment. An adjustable barbell weighing, when fully loaded, from 150 to 200 pounds, is sufficient for the full and complete development of the average masculine physique. Such barbell sets, as sold today, almost invariably include two dumbell handles as well as a long barbell handle.

We may now opportunely turn our attention to the extensor muscles of the arm. The triceps muscle on the back of the upper arm, together with the anconeous muscle in the forearm, is brought into play in any exercise where against resistance, the forearm is extended into line with the upper arm. Lying flat on the back (supine) on the floor, and pressing a barbell to arms’ length, is one of the best exercises for these muscles. A modification of this “press on back” movement, about equally valuable for triceps development, and which permits greater poundages to be handled, is to press while in the “shoulder-bridge” position. In this latter position, the back is arched up off the floor and the feet are flat on the floor close to the hips, with the knees bent. (See Figure 5) There are various ways of getting the bell into position for performing the press on back or the shoulder-bridge press. If it lies on the floor behind the head, it may be drawn over the face into the starting position for the press. In doing this, it will be helpful to arch into the shoulder-bridge, whether one is going to press the bell in this position or not, and then arch again into the bridge when lowering the bell over the face to its position on the floor. It is a good plan to have the barbell rest on two wooden blocks, so that the bar is raised almost, but not quite, as high as it will be when in the starting position for the press. By then lying on the floor as it will be when in the starting position for the press. By then lying on the floor and sliding your head beneath the bell until the bar is directly over our neck, you can then easily lift the barbell off the blocks and replace it thereon at the conclusion of the exercise. Care should be taken to see that the bell does not roll off the blocks while one is sliding one’s head beneath it or crawling out from under it. A third method is useful if one does not exercise alone. Your partner simply hands you the bell and removes it when you have finished pressing. Your partner should grasp the bar with a narrow grip, so that his hands will not conflict with yours when he gives you the weight or takes it away.

Another effective exercise is to dip on the parallel bars. That is, to first support the weight of the body on straight arms between two bars, then lower the body until the arms are completely bent, and then return to the starting position by re-straightening the arms. A good substitute for the parallel bars, which as a rule are available only in a gymnasium, is to perform the dipping exercise between two chairs faced back-to-back, the hands grasping the backs of the chairs. In the latter form of dipping, in order for the feet to remain clear of the floor, the knees must be kept bent during the lowerings and raisings of the body. This movement of dipping between two chairs is one of the most result-producing exercises that can be performed with simple household furniture. Regular parallel bars, however, are much more satisfactory, since in using chairs one must waste a certain amount of energy in keeping them steady, and moreover, if the chair backs are not padded, they may cause uncomfortable pressure on the hands. But one can often find other articles of furniture that can be adapted to this dipping exercise, without the disadvantages possessed by chairs. A window sill and a typewriter table, for example, are often of approximately the same height. Or two tables can be placed near each other; or a table and a bureau. But one can sometimes find articles of furniture that are as high as regular parallel bars or even higher. Two bookcases, for example, of a bookcase and a chiffonier. In all of these cases, if one article of furniture is somewhat lower than the other, it may be equalized by placing upon it a book or books of the necessary thickness.

If the reader wishes to go to the necessary expense, he can have a pair of sturdy parallel bars made as shown in Figure 7. Someday, perhaps, architects will consider built-in chinning bars and parallel bars as essential and indispensable to a house as bathtubs and showers.

The exercise of dipping on the parallel bars, as customarily performed, although effective for the triceps in the final stage of straightening the arms, has even greater effect on the muscles of the breast. A method of dipping that has far greater effects on the triceps, is to grasp the bars with the backs of the hands uppermost and the thumbs nearest the body. This position of the hands causes the arms to point outward from the sides of the body, throwing greater leverage on the elbow-joints, and so in turn making greater demands on the triceps muscles. (See Figure 7) Because the hands, in this position, must push strongly inward, this exercise requires either regular parallel bars or solid and heavy pieces of furniture. It is one of the most strenuous and effective of all exercises for the triceps.

The familiar exercise known as floor-dipping, which consists of alternately bending and straightening the arms while supporting the body face downward on hands and toes, is somewhat similar in action to the exercises of pressing weights while lying on the back. The floor-dip, however, has its principal effect on the muscles of the breast rather than the arms. It can be made more effective for the triceps if the hands, instead of being placed shoulder-width apart, are placed together, with the fingers interlaced.

A very simple way to make the floor-dip more difficult and thereby increase its developmental effects is to do most of the work with one arm, keeping the elbow close to the side. Sway the weight of the body first over one hand, then over the other. This form of dipping may be made progressively more strenuous by resting one hand on a bench or chair (See Figure 8). In the latter style, after exercising one arm, be sure to reverse the position of the hands and do a similar number of pushups with the other arm. Gradually increase the weight on the hand on the floor until you can finally do a series of pushups with each arm while bearing little or no weight on the hand on the chair.

A highly effective gymnastic exercise for the triceps is the breast-up or full mount on the Roman rings. In this feat the performer first chins himself, or pulls his body upward until his shoulders reach the level of the rings; he then continues by a powerful downward pressing on the rings which brings his shoulders above his hands. From the latter position the movement is completed by a straightening of the arms which raises the body to a position of rest, as on the parallel bars. During the first half of the breast up, that is, until the body is pulled up to the stage where the turning over of the hands and the effort of pressing downward begins, the rings are grasped not in the usual manner, but with what is known as the “double grip.” This double grip is taken so that the ring crosses the hand diagonally, coming close to the wrist on the little finger side. While employing this grip the wrists are held in a bent position. Without the use of this grip, a breast-up becomes extremely difficult to accomplish. The effect of the breast-up on the development of the triceps muscles is most powerful at the halfway stage where the effort is changed from pulling to pushing. It would be hard to find another exercise, or feat that brings the triceps into as sheer and vigorous action as does the breast-up at this point.

A standard exercise of the weight lifter, and one that develops the triceps in addition to many other muscles, is to press a weight from the shoulders to arms’ length overhead in the standing position. This fundamental exercise of pressing admits of many variations. The exercise may be performed with both arms or with one arm at a time, using either a barbell, a single dumbell, or a pair of dumbells. Its performance depends more upon the shoulder muscles than upon the arms, although the triceps muscles are brought into action in the final stage of straightening the arms. Before continuing with the description of this exercise, it will be opportune at this point to mention, for the benefit of the beginner, some fundamental principles to be applied to the handling of barbells.

There are two main ways of holding a barbell while exercising: the “undergrip”, in which the bar is grasped with the palms of both hands turned upward, and the “overgrip”, in which the palms face downward. The undergrip is used in the regular two-arm curl, as already described. The overgrip is used in nearly all other barbell exercises, including the two-arm press.

The preliminary movement by which a barbell is taken from the floor to the shoulders, preparatory to lifting it overhead, is known as “cleaning”. The pupil must at the very beginning learn the technique of this method of shouldering a barbell, which will here be described in detail. Standing immediately up to the barbell (the ankles almost touching the bar), reach down and grasp the bar, using the overgrip, the hands being about as far apart as the width of the shoulders, and the arms straight. In stooping over the back should be kept as flat as possible, all the bending takes place in the hips, knees and ankles – the feet being flat on the floor, and about fifteen inches apart. In other words, bend over just as though about to sit in a chair, the legs being bent considerably and the body inclined forward from the hips, with the back straight. As soon as you have this commencing position right, straighten up suddenly, pulling the bar up close to you in a vertical line until it reaches the height of the chest; then shoot the elbows forward, turn the wrists over, and bend the knees very quickly – all at the same instant, and as the body is thus lowered several inches the bell will be “received” at the shoulders, after which you merely straighten the legs to be in a position for the exercise of pressing. (Note the this “clean” lift to the shoulders is accomplished mainly by the power of the back and legs, the arms acting chiefly as connecting-links which transmit this power to the handle of the barbell) Although the arms are straight at the commencement of the upward pull on the bar, they must be held loosely, in readiness to bend as the bar is “yanked” upward vertically and reaches its maximum height with straight arms.

Now to return to our description of the two-arm press. Holding the bar across the upper part of the chest, slowly press it upward by straightening the arms until it reaches full arms’ length overhead, with the arm or arms extended completely, with the elbow and shoulder joints “locked” – that is, with the arm bones in vertical alignment – so that the weight can be supported in the finishing position with a minimum of effort. In repeating the exercise, the bell is not lowered to the floor each time, but only to the shoulders, after which it is again pressed overhead. For the best results, the body should be maintained in an erect position, with the knees rigidly straight, and the feet on one and the same crosswise line about fifteen inches apart, as the barbell is pressed from the shoulders to vertical arms’ length. The movements, both of raising and lowering the weight, should be performed in a slow and steady manner, without jerk, swing, or other assistive maneuver. An important point of advice to beginners is that in every exercise where the weight is raised overhead, the gaze should be fixed steadfastly on the bell in order that it may be kept under control. Always watch your bell!

Pressing a weight with one arm and assisting the movement by simultaneously bending the body to the opposite side possesses no advantage over straight two-arm pressing insofar as development of the arms is concerned, although such elaborated movements are instrumental to the development of the trunk muscles.

A variation of two-arm pressing that is especially effective for the triceps is to raise and lower the barbell from behind the neck. The commencing position of this exercise requires that the forearms assume a more horizontal position than when the barbell is held in the usual manner in front of the neck. Consequently, in the act of straightening the arms and raising the barbell overhead, the triceps muscles are required to work against greater leverage and so take on greater development. The loser together the hands are placed on the bar, the greater the effect on the triceps. If the arms are tired at conclusion of the exercise of pressing from behind the neck, the pupil is faced with the problem of getting the bell over the head and back to the chest. This is accomplished by quickly bending the knees and then straightening the legs with a snappy movement, at the same time heaving upward with the arms. In the way the bell can easily be lifted, or jerked, over the head and brought to the chest.

After performing the two-arm press exercise, the barbell is lowered from the chest to the floor by a movement the reverse of cleaning, bending the legs as it descends from chest to hips to floor so that no shock may result to the back.

That portion of the triceps known as the middle or long head, which in addition to assisting the other two heads of the triceps to straighten the arm, acts to draw the arm backward and downward, is not affected in its latter function by any of the pressing or dipping exercises previously given. To develop the long head of the triceps completely, it is therefore necessary to use exercises wherein the arms are forced backward against resistance. Typical exercises requiring this movement of the arms are chinning on the rings or bar, rope climbing, rowing, and barbell and dumbell exercises in which the arms are raised backward and upward while the trunk is maintained bent forward parallel with the floor. In these exercises the long head of the triceps works in conjunction with the large muscles of the upper back. An effective exercise is the backward dumbell raise. With a pair of dumbells in the hands, bend forward from the hips, letting the arms follow so as to remain in a hanging position. Maintaining the trunk of the body parallel to the floor, and the arms straight, raise the dumbells straight backward as far as you can, keeping them close to the sides. At the finish of the movement, check the bells a moment before lowering and repeating. This is an example of an exercise where, due to ligamentous restriction (in this case, of movement of the head of the humerus in the scapular socket), momentum may be introduced to effect a more complete contraction, with consequent development of the muscles involved. So, after repeating the exercise at the usual rate of motion until it is felt that only a couple of additional counts could be performed, speed up the latter part of the backward arm movement so as to raise the bells as high as possible.

An exercise that has an isolated effect on the triceps similar to the effect that curling has on the biceps, has been called the “triceps push-away”. Grasping two dumbells with the undergrip, bend forward from the hips till the trunk of the body is parallel to the floor, the upper arms being held horizontal and the forearms vertical. Maintaining the trunk and the upper arms in the same position, the dumbells are then raised backward by straightening the arms. At the finish of the movement, the bells are held firmly for a moment before lowering and repeating. This exercise can be varied by grasping the dumbells with the overgrip, so that the palms are facing backward; and also by holding the bells with the handles pointing fore-and-aft.

Many other exercises could be given for the upper arms if it were of advantage to do this. The majority of such exercises are mere duplication, in effect, of those here recommended. Certain other so-called arm exercises, still prescribed by some instructors, are devoid of practical value. Such, for example, is that old-reliable exercise of the light-dumbell advocate wherein the upper arms are alternately flexed and extended. It should be superfluous to expatiate upon the unnaturalness and the inefficacy of such exercises.

For the beginner to insure that he adheres to his training to the stage where real results are apparent (from which stage on, he will need no extra stimulus!), he should rely chiefly on a limited number of exercises of general character, that is, exercises in which the effect is shared by various parts of the body rather than confined to some one part. Such general exercises, besides being the quickest and most satisfactory means for developing the entire body, educate the various muscle groups to respond in an efficient coordinated manner. Over and above these general exercises, as a supplement thereto when the student has attained a good all-around development, strength feats may be used to bring about whatever special ability is desired.

We wish to stress, however, that the beginner should take advantage of every habit that will make it easier for him to persevere with his exercising until the desired results appear. A limited number of far-reaching exercises, even though the repetition of them may in time become monotonous, is far more conductive to a fine physique than is a ceaseless searching for new variations and novel exercises before one has laid the foundation for complete physical development. Some instructors, in an effort to impress the pupil with their knowledge, prescribe for use an overwhelming number of exercises, when a few well-chosen ones would be far more practical and beneficial.

A point commonly overlooked by the teacher is that a comprehensive training system os remolding the body in order to be productive of the results desired must take into account the inconstancy of human will-power. A program of body building exercise, to be followed faithfully until the coveted physical qualities are developed, must be interesting, enjoyable, practical, conveniently accessible, economical (for most of us), result-producing, and last but not least, a refreshment rather than an added burden, to the mind. If too great a number or too exhausting a series of exercises is attempted, it is inevitable that in due course, often only a short time after commencing, the entire program will be dropped in despair. Our endeavor, in this book, is to present the student with the best means known for developing his arms to approximate perfection.

Enhancing Endurance, Part Two

In my last article I focused on athletes who participate in events that are long in duration and that don’t have rest periods. This time I’ll finish up with that group and proceed to those whose events are generally much shorter and give participants many breaks and time to recover.

I recommend that endurance athletes use the 5x5 formula for the core exercises and higher reps, 20s for 2 sets, for the auxiliary movements. The strength work should take priority over practicing the skills needed in a chosen sport as well as any other physical activity, such as running.

The time to begin the strength program is during an off-season or when there’s not an upcoming competition. Two months is best, but six weeks will also get results. After six to eight weeks of learning correct form on various lifts and moving the numbers as high as possible, athletes are ready to make some changes in their routine so that they can go back to practicing their sports skills at a greater frequency.

What endurance athletes are after is to maintain a high percentage of the strength they’ve gained while utilizing some of their newfound prowess for improving stamina and the skills needed in their sport. The strength they’ve gained in their arms, shoulders, back, hips and legs will enable them to run, row, bike or skate longer and with more vigor. An athlete who gained 30, 40 or even 50 percent overall strength is going to perform better right away in all facets of any sports activity.

There are two ways of shifting the weight training to strike that balance. Which way you choose is an individual matter. Most prefer to switch from lower to higher reps, some gradually, staying with a certain set-and-rep formula for a couple of weeks before moving to the next stage. Others prefer to move from 5’s to much higher reps in a matter of two weeks. The first step is to change from 5x5 to 4 sets of 8. The next move is to 4 sets of 12, then 3 sets of 15, and, finally, 3 sets of 20. That’s for the core exercises and works nicely for most of them. Any high-skill movement, however, has to be done a bit differently. Performing more than 10 reps on an exercise that requires a great deal of technique such as the power clean, isn’t a good idea because as you tire, your form begins to break down. An exercise is productive only when you use proper technique throughout a set. So stay with 8’s or 10’s for high-skill movements – even fewer than that if your form starts to get sloppy. Just add more sets to get the needed work in. You can also do this: Power clean a weight for 8 to 10 reps, then deadlift it for another 10 to 15 reps.

When you move to the higher reps, work quickly. A circuit can be very effective. Set up stations for your primary exercises, and move from one exercise to the next with a minimum of rest, only long enough to change the plates. You can, however, slow down for your final spin through the circuit because the final sets are the meat of the program. You want to be rested so you can handle as much weight as possible and crank out the desired number of reps in perfect form. If you’re not spent when you finish, you either need to move through the routine at a faster pace or use more weight on the final sets.

As you begin spending more time with your sport, you can drop a weight-training day. Also, if you feel you’re not recovering sufficiently from the weight work, eliminate some or all of the auxiliary movements. Most athletes are satisfied with moving gradually up to 3 sets of 20, although I’ve trained a number of endurance athletes who opted to run the reps even higher. I trained a mountain biker in Monterey, California, one fall. He had progressed up to the 3 sets of 20 and said he wanted to find out if pushing the reps a lot higher would benefit him. He was extremely fit, one of the top mountain bikers in the country, so I knew he could handle a great deal more than a beginner or intermediate. Eventually, he ended up doing 2 sets of 100 reps on a variety of exercises for his three major muscle groups, and, in his opinion, they served him well. He could tell for certain that the weight work helped him because his sport was based on time, and he was cutting valuable seconds off his training climbs.

The other way to alter the weight program when you go back to spending a great amount of time on your sport is to stay with the 5x5 and do only 2 workouts a week. You do one session heavy on a day when your other training is light. The second session is light and can be done on any day during the week – preferably when the training load for your sport isn’t severe.

If you decide to do the higher-rep routine, you should go back and perform a lower-rep workout every couple of weeks, even during the competitive season. You can do that for all the major groups, to reactivate the attachments to some degree, or perhaps just for one bodypart that’s lagging behind and is adversely affecting performance.

When the next off-season break comes around, repeat the process and move the top-end numbers higher than you did the first time. You’ll find that the gains come much faster because you now know how to do the various exercises and understand how your body responds to certain movements and workload. Over the course of a few years you’ll be able to greatly improve your overall strength, and that will have a direct, positive influence on your endurance and, ergo, your performance in your chosen sport.


Endurance athletes who start on a pure strength program for the first time need to pay close attention to several other aspects of conditioning, such as warming up thoroughly before doing any lifting or stretching during and after each workout. The hamstrings need special attention because the stress placed on them with squats and any heavy pulling movement is different from staying in constant motion. Hamstrings have a tendency to tighten up after heavy sets, and it’s smart to stretch them right away and after the session and again later on that night. Same with calves. While an athlete may be accustomed to doing a 20-mile training run or bike ride, hammering the calves for 3 sets of 30 with the last dozen reps slipping into the painful zone is a different ballgame. Calves need to be stretched after every set, and stretching more later on is always a good idea.

Be sure to stretch out your shoulders once you start lifting demanding numbers, especially after flat- or incline-bench presses. The shoulder girdle may tighten up, so deep in mind that the strength you gain can be converted to your sport only if you maintain a full range of motion. Use a towel, stretch between sets and again after the workout.

When you embark on a strength routine, try to get a bit more rest and increase your intake of protein, either in food or in supplement form. The additional rest will ensure that you’re fresh and ready for the next session. I know that most serious endurance athletes push their bodies to the edge of exhaustion regularly, and without the extra rest they’re going to be trying to lift with fatigued muscles, tendons and ligaments. That spells trouble. You need the protein because when you lift weights with purpose, you use up a lot of amino acids that must be replaced as quickly as possible or you won’t be fully recovered when the next session comes around.

I’ve offered advice that to a few endurance athletes, but they ignored me because they believed that if they could recover from participating in their sport for two hours without pause, the weight workout would be a walk in the park. False reasoning. The two disciplines are at opposite ends of the spectrum, and therefore the demands they place on the body are quite different. The weight work is much more stressful to the attachments, and tendons and ligaments need lots of rest and nourishment to recover sufficiently to work at full capacity again. I should add that those who didn’t bother upping their protein intake or obtaining more rest made no significant gains in the weight room.

I’ll now turn my attention to athletes who engage in sports that require short bursts of energy followed by brief periods of rest – or at least periods of lesser effort: Football, baseball, lacrosse, soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, fencing, wrestling, boxing, the martial arts, hockey and the field events in track all fall into this category.

Endurance is valuable in every one of those sports. The key to success for an individual athlete is to be able to reach into the tank at the end of a competition. In team sports those who are conditioned to have an abundance of energy left in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the ninth inning or final period of a hockey game will emerge the winner in almost every case.

Endurance is a genuine plus for competitive Olympic lifters, powerlifters and bodybuilders. Few think in those terms in the beginning, but as they become more advanced, it becomes clear that if they’re going to improve their numbers, they must be able to train longer than before – and more often as well. How is it that foreign Olympic lifters can train three times a day, six days a week? No secret. Other than that one. They’ve also built such a solid foundation over the years that they can recover from triple sessions and still be ready for the next day’s workouts.

The first top-notch bodybuilders I trained with were Sergio Oliva and Bob Gajda in Chicago when I moved there to attend graduate school. I was absolutely amazed at the amount of work they did in a session. My workload was maybe half of what they accomplished, and to add insult to injury, they moved through the exercises at a pace much faster than what I was accustomed to. That’s when I decided to stick with Olympic lifting. When Bill St. John and Val Vasileff came to York to train with the lifters, they would put us to shame with the intensity and volume of work they handled. Not one member of the York Barbell team, not even Bill March or Bednarski could stay with those guys.

Endurance can be enhanced in a number of ways, but it basically comes down to being able to handle a greater amount of work and being able to recover from the exertion. If you aren’t able to recover, then you won’t progress. In fact, you’ll start slipping backward. That means increasing workload has to be done slowly. So runners, bikers, rowers and swimmers deliberately add to their distances. Should they push out too far too fast, the consequences will be detrimental to their cause. The foundation has to be laid properly and over an extended period of time before it can be expanded to any significant degree.

The same rule holds true for strength training. The endurance factor can improve in the weight room, but it has to be done systematically and not be hit or miss. That’s why anyone who knows even the basic rudiments of strength training will tell you to start out training only three days a week. It would be foolhardy to attempt to work out four or five times in the beginning because the off days are vital for recovery; again, without recovery there are either no real gains or gains too slight to notice. In the same vein of thought, the exercises in a beginning routine should be limited to just three primary and two auxiliary, and the workouts should be done in an hour or an hour and 15 minutes.

If you train consistently and use good technique, your body will begin to adapt to the amount of work you do in a given week. That’s when it’s time to increase the load. The way I determine with my athletes is by watching them, checking mostly for form errors but also to see how they deal with the final exercises in their program for the day. When they’re making improvements on the final lifts, I know they’re ready for a forward push.

By using the heavy, light and medium concept, athletes can achieve that kind of success. Having the capacity to perform well at the end of a grueling session is what every athlete seeks. It’s functional endurance and can be used in any sport. We’ve all watched and marveled at the running backs who got progressively stronger and seemingly faster throughout the game. That was no accident, nor was it based on genetics. The players developed stamina through hard work over a length of time.

Expanding the workload had to be done with care. Obviously, the easiest way to do that is extend the time spent in the weight room. Training a little longer is okay for most, but when it goes past two hours, it becomes a negative. There just isn’t enough energy to sustain you so that the exercises at the end of the program are productive. In most instances all the extra-long sessions do is push you into overtraining. An athlete who’s paying attention will know when it’s happening and make some changes.

Adding another workout during the week is a better idea than extending the three sessions. Tuesday works well. As it follows the heavy day, it must be a light-light day, especially at the beginning. Over time you may feel that you can do more, but at first stay on the conservative side. The exercises you select for the light-light day should not be as demanding as those done at the other workouts. Not easy, necessarily, but not nearly as stressful – overhead presses with a bar or dumbells. You attack the lift with the same intensity as you do with flat- and incline-bench presses, but the workload is considerably lower. The same idea goes for the back. While power snatches require a great deal of concentration, they’re not as demanding as power cleans, deadlifts or shrugs.

Athletes who have been including a fourth day in their routine for five or six months will be able to increase the workload on Tuesday and still handle the numbers on Wednesday and Friday. They mustn’t try to add too much work, however, and that often happens, as they slip in several more auxiliary movements, typically for the showy muscles. The best way to prevent yourself from doing too much on the light-light day is to set a time limit and stay within it – 45 minutes at the beginning and never more than an hour. So if you want to squeeze in some curls or triceps pushdowns, you have to move at a faster pace.

A simple way to add to your load on any day is to do some overloading right behind a primary exercise: three or four sets of high pulls behind power cleans or power snatches. Push presses after regular presses. Heavy supports in the power rack after squats.

Learn to move through your exercises quickly on both Tuesday and Wednesday. The light-light day needs to be concluded in an hour ad the following light day in an hour and 15 minutes, tops. The success of the program really revolves around those two days. If you overtrain on either of them, the remainder of the week is going to be a wash, and that, in turn, will have a negative effect on the upcoming heavy day on Monday.

The next step in the progression will take three or four years. Yes, I know that sounds like a long time, but, in truth, it isn’t, especially if you view strength training as a lifelong endeavor. Yet it takes that amount of time to create the solid strength foundation that enables you to recover from greater and greater volumes of work. I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: Buy a notebook and keep accurate records of your workouts, listing everything that might have a bearing on your performance, plus the weight used on every set and how many reps you did. From that you can calculate your workload, and that figure will help you determine your next move. It may be a bit less for a few weeks if you believe you’re slightly overtrained. It will enable you to know, for certain, how much you can add to your volume. The rule of thumb I use is 10% a month. While that may not seem like much, over the course of a year, it’s quite a lot.

When you find that you want to do more work in a given week but understand that when you exceed the time limits on any of the days you become fatigued, consider multiple sessions. Start by having one day with two sessions. You will probably be able to add yet another two workout sessions later on, but start with just one.

There’s nothing new about the concept. It’s been used in a great many sports for a long time. The top gymnasts put in eight-hour workouts daily, six days a week. Swimmers of the Michael Phelps calibre do three tough sessions a day. I’ve already noted that foreign Olympic lifters regularly do three sessions a day, six days a week.

The notion had just begun in Russia when Barski picked up on it and wanted to give it a try at York. His problem was he hated to train alone, so he recruited Tommy Suggs and me to join him in the experiment. Knowing that we were flirting with overtraining, we moved cautiously, doing just one exercise at noon, then our regular program at four. W
e were overly weary for the first two weeks; then our bodies adapted, and we were okay. We had a few things in our favor that not many other lifters in the country had at that time. The gym was in the building, which meant we didn’t have to travel. After we finished our noon session and showered, we went directly into the dairy bar and drank a protein milk shake and took our vitamins. About an hour later we ate our lunches, and when four o’clock came, we were sufficiently recovered and renourished.

The extra work helped, and within the next month we added a second two-a-day. While we were running up our training volume, we decided it would be smart to improve our cardiovascular-respiratory base as well. Stamina was an important factor in our sport, although few think about that attribute in relation to moving heavy weights. At a contest a lifter might have to follow himself on the platform with a short rest. In the bigger contests where there were lots of entries, the meets would often drag on into the next day. At one Philly Open, I did my first warmup in the press at 4:30 p.m. and my final attempt on the clean and jerk at 2:30 a.m.

Barski didn’t join Tommy and me for our twice-a-week aerobics at the York Y. He never played any sports other than weightlifting and felt the work he was doing in the gym was plenty. He was probably right, as he did carry a huge workload. Tommy and I, however, believed that boosting our aerobic capacity would help in our training and at the meets. We chose activities that were fun. Racquetball was our favorite. We also played volleyball at the Y and practiced with the York College soccer team occasionally.

The first time Tommy and I played racquetball, we lasted 20 minutes and were blowing like asthmatics. Within a month we were able to go full-tilt for an hour. What we discovered – and it’s been reinforced for me over the years – was that if an athlete has a solid strength base, aerobic fitness comes quite readily. I once trained a female who decided she wanted to start running. She began jogging and within nine months had completed a marathon.

That’s good news. It means that if you’re already strong, you’ll be able to extend the time you spend doing whatever type of cardio you enjoy very quickly. The combination of gaining strength and improving aerobic capacity is a terrific one-two punch and makes for a better athlete in any sport. Keep in mind what I’ve been preaching: It’s much smarter to establish your strength base before embarking on any type of aerobic program, and for team sports that usually means running. I’ve had football players wait until two weeks before summer camp before they ran, and all were able to make it through the two-a-day sessions as well as or better than their teammates.

For those who are primarily interested in maintaining a high level of fitness and aren’t concerned with moving heavy weights or playing any sport, there’s an easy way to enhance endurance. Pick up the pace. Move through your weight workouts more quickly and walk or swim or bike a bit faster. You might also consider doing your aerobic activity more often, such as walking twice a day instead of just once. All the little things you do will begin to add up in a short period of time.

Endurance is a very valuable commodity. Older people covet it, since it enables them to pursue some of their favorite hobbies, like taking a long hike through a state park. Team sports need it to give them an advantage in a tough contest. I recently watched game five of the Stanley Cup, and it was a test of fortitude the likes of which I hadn’t seen for some time. Pittsburgh tied the game with 34 seconds left in regulation. The game went to three overtimes, which means the players were, in effect, playing a double header. The athletes were clearly exhausted near the end. Hell, I was exhausted just watching. The better conditioned team was going to win. Forget mental toughness. When strength and lungs give out, you’re not going to perform at a high level. The Penguins prevailed over the Red Wings, avoiding elimination. Now I’m curious to find out which team is able to recover form that epic match and be ready for game six.

I’m also impressed by the endurance of some individual athletes, such as those participants in the French Open tennis championships. The women often play for three straight hours, and the men are frequently on the court for more than four.

There’s no downside to having an abundance of endurance. It’s always an asset. Endurance is certainly a huge advantage for anyone wanting to sustain a higher quality of life.