Rules From the Bodybuilding Legends
Transcript of 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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