Rules From the Bodybuilding Legends

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    Rules from the Bodybuilding Legendsby Bradley Joe Kelly 03/14/13

    Bodybuilding from the 1930s to the early 1960s was much simpler !reatine

    monohydrate was decades away" protein powders were in their infancy" and the military

    press was still an #lympic mo$ement %t was also a time when anabolic steroids were

    not widely abused

    &he fact that drug use wasn't rampant not only helped (eep the athletes healthier" it also

    helped (eep )the physi*ue ideal) somewhat attainable

    %t meant that the a$erage trainee could emulate the routines from top guys li(e +eg

    ,ar(" -eroy !olbert" John .rime(" !larence +oss" ar$in ider" or John a$is ande2perience some degree of success

    &his article is intended to ser$e as a wa(eup call to the modern bodybuilding industry

    and the gym rats5 to get bac( to the basic principles that built the healthy champion

    physi*ues of not that long ago

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    The Good Old Days

    &he )good old days) phenomena e2tends beyond the bodybuilding conte2t espite ashorter life e2pectancy than today" people bac( then ust seemed a whole lot healthier in

    general

    &hey were more acti$e" wal(ed more in daytoday life not ust on a treadmill5" and their

    (ids grew up playing sports outside" not on 7bo2's" which made for healthier teenagers

    and adults

    %t also made for betterconditioned gym rats &a(e a loo( at the ageold lift" the behind

    the nec( press 8ifty years ago you'd see it recommended e$erywhere" but today in a

    world full of limited shoulder mobility" poor fle2ibility" and wea(ened rotator cuffs" this

    mo$ement that built countless championship shoulders has almost been blac( balled

    hat's happened in the last :0 years; 8irst" apart from the bench press" people ust

    don't seem to li(e to lift hea$y any more

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    &oday the hot point in the maga when applied by a gifted bodybuilder on a

    cornucopia of pharmaceutical goodies > will actually yield results

    ?o young" misguided trainees gra$itate towards these easy routines instead of

    practicing a more basic" yet pro$en routine that the great Bill ,earl used and

    recommended in the early 1960 > a routine that would gi$e them twice as much armmass" twice as fast=

    2ercise ?ets

    @1 ?eated umbbell !url 3

    @ %ncline &riceps 2tension 4

    B1 -ying umbbell Biceps !url 3

    B -ying umbbell &riceps 2tension 4

    !1 !oncentration !url 3

    ! umbbell 8rench ,ress 4

    Bill ,earls' routine attac(s the muscles with intelligent e2ercise selection along with

    moderately hea$y weights > a classic e2ample of an old school arm wor(out

    ,ersonally" %'$e added 3 inches to my arms in a year on modified wor(outs li(e this i2

    it in with modern training disco$eries such as loaded stretches and you'll be shoc(ed by

    the results

    Strong and Big

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    Bill ,earl is a perfect e2ample of a physi*ue built with hard" hea$y training Ce s*uatted

    60: pounds at 1A pounds bodyweight5" deadlifted 6:0" benched 4:0" military pressed

    30" used : on barbell curls and barbell wrist curls" and 13: on re$erse wrist curls

    Deedless to say" he was built a li(e a bric( house &hat" howe$er" was how it was done

    bac( then > hard" hea$y" and constant training forged some of the greatest physi*ues of

    all time

    &hen you had the )Biceps from the Bron2") ar$in der" who could perform a dip with

    an additional 434 pounds two men hanging from his legs5" press 30: behind the nec("

    bench press :1:" and perform A onearm chinups with either arm

    &he sad truth is" three of those foundational lifts that ar$in lo$ed so much the dip"

    chinup" and behind the nec(/military press5 are li(ely not practiced by 90E of today's

    traineesF

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    Cross Training

    &hese men might not ha$e had access to the hightech e*uipment a$ailable today" butthey still built mindblowing physi*ues through a $ariety of hard wor( ar$in and John

    .rime( e$en competed in the #lympics during their bodybuilding careers

    %n fact" it was common for bodybuilders bac( then to not only ha$e to show off their

    physi*ues" but also be udged on their strength in lifts li(e the military press for points

    ?o if you were training in the 19:0s" you would'$e been luc(y to ha$e read some of

    .rime('s articles" such as )e$eloping .reater ?trength") which was originally

    published in 19:A and discussed things li(e support and e2plosi$e mo$ements for

    building ma2imum strength

    Cere's a brea(down of an o$erhead pressing routine .rime( recommended :: years

    ago=

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    1 ?tart with a weight you can strict press : or 6 times with ease to warm up

    &hen mo$e up to G:E of your best press and perform it 3 times

    3 !ontinue increasing in :10 pound umps" performing singles until your daily limit

    has been reached

    4 Dow add 0 pounds to the bar and perform 3 push presses !ontinue adding

    weight in :10 pound umps

    : Hpon reaching a weight you can no longer push press" unrac( the weight and do

    a static hold until you can't sustain it any longer +epeat this once

    %'$e used this routine myself and while %'m no worldclass presser" it did ta(e my press

    from my bodyweight for one repetition to eight full repetitions

    De$ertheless" it's basically the opposite of what's typically recommended today > thegeneral training public has long forgotten the military press since it was dropped from

    the #lympic games in 19G

    What Can We Do?

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    hile the training landscape may seem blea(" fortunately all is not lost for those with

    the wisdom to remember the past

    Cere is a list of guidelines to follow to ma(e sure your training is on trac( with that of

    +eg ,ar(" ?te$e +ee$es" John .rime(" ar$in ider" -eroy !olbert" and countless

    other greats from the era before the anabolic arms race

    +ule I1 %f you employ pumping mo$ements" ma(e sure to always perform one hea$y

    compound mo$ement as well

    ,umping mo$ements can be $ery $aluable training tools if used effecti$ely Cowe$er"

    somewhere along the way" lifters started to belie$e that all they needed was the pump

    &his line of thin(ing se$erely limits results as progressi$ely adding weight on the

    compound mo$ements bench press" s*uat" deadlift" dips" and barbell curl5 is what

    allows subse*uent" lighter" )pump) training to be beneficial

    hile some old school lifters li(e ?erge Dubret did use a form of )pump training) almost

    e2clusi$ely" ?erge still (new the $alue of progression and always recommended adding

    weight whene$er possible &he fact is" his short rest inter$als were a form of

    progression in itself" as seen in the ne2t rule

    +ule I&hin( of intensity as a measurable factor" not ust an effort factorou should

    thin( of intensity as something that can only be increased by doing the following=

    %ncreasing the load weight5

    @dding repetitions

    ecreasing the rest between sets

    %ncreasing the number of e2ercises or sets per body part within reason5

    !ertainly" approaching your training more passionately or being )psyched) up canincrease focus and moti$ation" ust ensure that it leads to one of the abo$ementioned

    )measurable intensity modifiers) regularly" or your socalled )intensity) is being wasted

    +ule I3orry about your whole food inta(e before supplementationuality

    supplements wor( ama

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    De$ertheless" once you ha$e your daily nutrition dialed in to promote ma2imum muscle

    gain and limit fat accumulation or possibly cause fat loss5 % urge you to e2periment with

    supplements" especiallyperiwor(out nutrition protocols" because they really do wor(

    +ule I4o not toss out full body training completely especially for beginners5?ure"

    split training wor(s" but some of the greatest physi*ues of all time" such as -eroy

    !olbert and +eg ,ar(" were built by full body training $en if full body wor(outs are not

    something you personally enoy" mi2ing them in periodically can help spi(e growth and

    training enthusiasm

    !olbert trained e$ery other day" hitting his entire body in one wor(out and performing si2

    sets per body part with 1minute ma2imum rest between sets &his ta(es around 1 1/

    to hours to complete" depending on the speed of the sets > longer than what science

    says is )optimal") but it clearly wor(ed for himF

    +ule I:!onsider your training a team sport&his is something that came about

    naturally decades ago" yet the idea seems to ha$e faded today +emember how

    in Pumping Ironall the bodybuilders trained" tanned" ate" and posed together;

    ou may not li$e down the road from other worldclass athletes" but than(s to the

    internet and sites li(e & Dation you ha$e access to a community of thousands of li(e

    minded lifters and brilliant coaches to bounce ideas off of and (eep you moti$ated ,ass

    up on this in$aluable resource and you deser$e e$ery plateau you find yourself stuc( in

    +ule I6o not ust accept criticism > embrace it" lo$e it" and mo$e in with it &here's

    nothing % lo$e more then being able to tal( with e2perts in their field and hear their

    criticism

    &his is something $ery $aluable to ha$e in your training world because specific criti*ues

    can often ma(e a world of difference

    %magine aspiring to s*uat :00 below parallel and ha$ing someone li(e a$e &ate

    e$aluate your form and offer feedbac( ou couldn't as( for a more efficient way to

    identify and o$ercome shortcomings Hnfortunately that simply isn't the mindset today

    ost lifters men especially5 are far too proud to as( for ad$ice" as if by ha$ing a set of

    testicles they're supposed to (now anything and e$erything about wor(ing out

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    Cowe$er" Bill ,earl said that other champions li(e a$e raper" Boyer !oe" &om ,lat

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    &a(e a few moments to learn about the training practices of guys li(e !olbert" ,earl"

    .rime(" and others" or at the $ery least put these 6 tips to wor( ou may ust

    e2perience newfound gains from some old school tric(s

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