Building Massive Biceps on the Scott Curling Bench - Vince Gironda (1969)

 

From the early Weider/Arnold era, when every second article had Arnold photos included. Hand, wrist, elbow placement from Gironda, bomb and blitz . . . 

Save some wasted time and skip ahead to the paragraph beginning with 

"There's a cool photo in this article . . ." 

At least there's something almost funny there. It's just more Gironda nonsense and hooey here . . . more paid for hyping of an early Arnold what's-his-name that also helped The Vince promote his gym and "techniques" or whatever you'd call his crap. 

So many bodybuilders have concluded that the Scott Curling Bench (the so-called "preacher" bench) was designed solely for exercising the under-belly of the biceps that I should like to clear up this misunderstanding by stressing that its importance goes beyond this. In fact, it is an absolute must for anyone who expects to build the fullest biceps. 

Of course the bench is incomparable for developing the lower biceps. No other piece of auxiliary exercising equipment makes this area so accessible to heavy bomb and blitz attacks on the outer and inner heads of the biceps simply through variations in placement of elbows and spacing of the hands. 

But that's not all! Not only can you develop rounded biceps with this bench, you can also build fantastic curling power  because the ligaments, tendons and muscles directly involved in the curling are totally isolated, and cannot therefore be "assisted" by other muscle groups. Everything else, to use a military term, is "neutralized." Consequently, you can quickly perform curls with the greatest stress placed on your biceps only! 

Developing Thickness in the Lower Biceps

Many bodybuilders favor just one height of the Scott curling bench, and this is wrong. Invariably the adjust the bench so that the top of it comes above the pectorals, when actually it should come exactly even with the lower pectoral area.  

In this position the lower biceps is isolated, with only the lower biceps and brachialis anticus (the shell-like muscle under the biceps) doing the work. Since the brachialis is a lengthy muscle stretching from upper forearm to lower biceps, it is the muscle responsible for bending your arm to the point where the lower biceps takes over. Thus is it responsible for the development of thickness in your lower biceps.

However, if you use only this position of the Scott curling bench, the end result will be a flat-appearing rather than a round-appearing over-all biceps. You might call it a "maxi-low" and a "mini-high" biceps. This, of course, is not what you want because it is not complete. You can that that full completeness through other adjustments of the Scott curling bench. 

There's a cool photo in this article I can't be bothered to scan. It features a bored looking roided Howorth (turns out to be Don Peters in trunks doing that leg up balls out pose) standing behind the drug- and as always proud to be ego-bloated Arnie as he makes use of the miracle-for-biceps, gift from above "preacher" curl bench at Vince's Gym. Howorth's face says, "What's all the fuckin' fuss about THIS fat fuck?" I believe Arnie's a mouth breathing inconsiderate ego-fuck misrepresentation of what bodybuilding can be, but hey, that's just me and my view, hopefully, has no clout whatsoever. 

No matter . . . it's more Gironda "stuff" . . . put your arms in worst possible position to "get at" the inner or outer or length of or peak of your biceps. You know the stupidity of this all I am sure . . . one "technique" learned at the foot of the "master-Vince" is to put the elbows real REAL close and position the hands very VERY wide on the bar, then go to it until a physiotherapist arrives. Garbage. More garbage from a sham and a scam artist full of hype and lies. Wait . . . no steroid use at Vince's? What was this guy . . . blind? No, but it paid the rent. 

Okay . . . nix on this one, it's another dead end lacking any humor or interest for me in any way, other than the way The Arnold got shot into "muscle stardom" as paid for and directed by Ben & Joey. 

Now . . . how 'bout some real lifting stuff already. That Belknap pair of articles was rather pointless, really, aside from my obsession to find all articles written by Anthony Ditillo during his life on Earth.

It would be heaven and one helluva treat to find some of what Tony discarded after being in a bad mood and ranting on the whole lifting establishment, wouldn't it!  

Okay then . . . moving on . . . 

 

Bench Press Specialization with Tim Belknap - Anthony Ditillo (1982)

 

Reg Park

First mag I picked up off the first pile in the storage room had this in it! 

Tim Belknap possesses one of the most massively muscled and dense physiques to come along on the bodybuilding scene for quite some time and I feel that one of the main reasons for his success in developing such density and muscularity is his usage of strength moves in his training, all year through. 

From Tim's own mouth I have learned that the base of his physique development came from years spent while specializing on a few basic movements concentrating on developing as much muscle size and power as possible while not allowing himself to become fat. 

In other words, he constantly tried to add to his physical size and power but his diet was geared more towards bodybuilding success. How well he has succeeded is mutely expressed by his winning the Mr. America this year, and in my opinion there is NONE to equal his sheer muscularity and density at such a height and bodyweight.  

The cornerstone of Tim's upper body training is the Bench Press. He feels this movement is unsurpassed when it comes to adding allover upper body size and strength as well as impressive muscularity throughout the chest, delts and upper arms. 

While he realized early in his career that to shift heavier and heavier poundages in this movement without any concern as to the style used or the method of operation would be a mistake, since this would not in itself guarantee an increase in muscularity, he did reason that if the movement was performed strictly and without any exaggerated movements, in the long run, the more he could correctly bench, the more impressive he would appear physically. 

Coupling this trend of thought with the correct amount of assistance work for the additional upper body muscles and using his tried and proven methods of mental control and training intensity he formulated for himself quite a BENCH PRESS SPECIALIZATION routine. One that most assuredly aided him in his quest for greater size and power and one that will undoubtedly help YOU should you care to emulate his performance. 

While specializing on the bench press, Tim recommends that you still train six days per week, working each muscle group twice weekly. This way, with the major aim slanting towards size and power gains, the entire body is still trained hard and regularly with no section being neglected, nor weakened. Also, by limiting the daily workout to one or two body parts you are able to generate enough mental energy into each workout to assure that it will become as result-producing as possible.

To try and work the entire body three times weekly while at the same time trying to maintain sufficient mental energy and physical aggressiveness throughout each total body workout would be close to ridiculous, at least for the average bodybuilder, so Tim advises to group the movements in such a way (each man choosing his own groupings) that each muscle group it hit twice weekly, with each workout hitting the muscles completely and HARD!

We must also repeat here, from articles dealing with this man in the past . . . 

so far, one other from the four-part series Mr. Ditillo did on Tim Belknap for IronMan magazine:

https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2024/02/tim-belknap-on-strength-training.html 

. . . that for bench pressing success, positive mental attitude is absolutely necessary for optimum results. 

First of all, you are in a precarious position lying on the bench with all that heavy weight over your head. This will have some of us feeling inadequate and vulnerable. This is what you have to try and fight from entering into your consciousness. You must sincerely believe that you WILL succeed just as many others have done, in moving your bench press poundage up to an all time high, a poundage you and your household pet will be proud of for several eternities. 

Also, emotional aggressiveness is a very necessary when trying to greatly intensify your workouts, so I myself can see why he believes in working only one or two muscle groups each workout since the amount of energy expended on this type of routine will take its toll physically, to be sure. 

Regarding diet, Tim feels we should follow a high-protein, high-carbohydrate diet for adequate training energy and adequate muscle recuperation and growth. To try and go without carbohydrates is like trying to run a car on distilled water. You need the fruits and vegetables as much as you need the meats and milk and to do without either is going only halfway. 

When not working toward any physique competition Tim will allow his bodyweight to rise somewhat to aid him in elevating heavier and heavier poundages in his exercises; also, this additional bodyweight means somewhat larger muscles when it comes time to train down for physique competition. To be sure, he will not allow himself become soft or fat, but during this period of the training year his bodyweight may go up to around 225 or 230. Can you imagine what he looks like at 230 pounds with a 52" chest, 21" arms, 29" thighs and calves of almost 19"???

When specializing on the bench press, Tim recommends the following exercises: 

Wide Grip Bench Press

Bent Arm Flyes

[I got my right arm run through a thresher as a kid

so that'd be one-arm, right side flyes, right?] 

Side Lateral Raise

Press Behind Neck

Lying Decline Triceps Extension

[What's a standing decline triceps extension?]

Close Grip Bench Press

Cambered Bar Curls

One Arm Concentration Curls

For the upper back and thighs he advises: 

Bentover Rowing

Chins

Heavy Full Squats

As can plainly be seen, this type of routine will most adequately work the entire body, with supersetted Low Pulley Forward Bends and Crunches with Side Bends for 6-8 supersets. 

Let us assume today he is working Chest and Back. He would begin with a few warmup sets on the bench performing 8-12 repetitions per set and going from 225 to 275, 315, 385; all of these sets being done for 8-12 reps, then going on to 430 for 5 and finally 455 or heavier for a double. For his final set he would drop down to 385 and do as many reps as possible, usually around 10. These sets would be done with a very wide grip in the beginning phases of his specialization routine to fully overwork the pectorals, then after three or four weeks, he would begin to bring the grip in somewhat and towards the end of his specialization cycle, his grip would be in where it normally is, with a great increase in pectoral size and power. 

After the benches he would move on to Bent Arm Flyes. 2 or 3 sets with 110-pound dumbbells after a few warmup sets to get the muscles "in the groove" as it were. 

Depending on his mood he MIGHT do 2 or so sets on the Pec Deck machine, but this is not absolutely necessary, or done religiously. The heavy flyes really stretch the pecs and do the same job that a cambered McDonald bar does for the powerlifters. 

Note: A couple of guys mentioned to me that the McDonald bar was originally used with a pause, bar not touching the chest, held there in the extended stretch position, then blasted back up. A variation to try with a cambered bar. 

He does not use this bar, however, since it causes shoulder strains for him. 

For the upper back Tim would begin with heavy Bentover Barbell Rows. Maybe 3 or 4 sets of 10's with up to 285 pounds on the bar. Then he'd include 3 or 4 sets of weighted Chins in Front and Behind the Neck. Once again, we must realize that he trains instinctively and while the basic training theory stays the same, the movements themselves may be increased or decreased as the mood dictates. Also, it is necessary to keep in mind that while the actual number of sets may not seem excessive, he trains with the heaviest weights possible for every set and repetitions are carried on to the point of failure! All movements are done slowly and strictly, with no arching, twisting, bouncing, etc., aiding him in elevating the weights. This is how he trains. This is what he advises us to do also. 

Note: If you're like me, you're better at lowering the damn things than elevating 'em some days, much like expectations. 

Twice per week, he will hit the Shoulders and Arms. Naturally, the shoulder work will come first. Two basic movements he regularly uses, especially when concentrating on building bench press power, are the Behind the Neck Press and Dumbbell Side Laterals. 

First would come the presses. Taking one or two warmup sets he would wind up with around 240 or so for maybe 3 or 4 sets of 8-10 all-out repetitions. He uses aa medium grip on the bar as too wide strains his shoulders and too close hits mainly the triceps. 

After these, he goes to dumbbell side laterals, once again warming up slightly to get the groove and laying on the poundage until he is at the level of round 70-80 pounds for forced all-out repetitions. There is SOME swinging on these, but all in all, there is not too much cheating, as compared to others when handling such immense weights. 

After a brief rest, he would begin with the Arms. Triceps would be worked first, as this muscle is more important to bench pressing success and also, it is larger than the biceps and therefore requires more attention. 

He would begin with decline triceps extensions (lying?) using 4 sets of 8-12 repetitions handling a heavier weight and doing each set to all out muscular failure. He uses a cambered bar for these . . . 

  

 . . . as it takes pressure off the wrists. 

If unusually energetic, he MIGHT include some Triceps Pressdowns for an additional 3 or so sets with the same rep scheme and rep-forcing to failure. 

Finally, on the arm-and-shoulder day, Tim would get into his biceps. He does nothing unusual or eccentric for the biceps, two exercises (usually) done for 4 sets each, 8-12 reps per set and working to failure on each of the heavy sets. He favors cambered bar standing curls and one arm concentration curls. 

As you can see, his movements are simple and basic. What makes the difference is the intensity he generates into each and every set. 

For working the lower body, Tim favors heavy full squats, leg extensions and leg curls. Recently, during his training for the Mr. America, he favored hack machine sissy squats, since his thighs were monstrous from the full squatting done for so many years (720 x 1 max). But primarily, during the growing years he did plenty of HEAVY FULL SQUATS. Tim does not believe in wearing wraps when training for physique competition, doing hack squats, etc., but rest assured when full squatting he feels wrapping the knees is a necessity. He favors a medium stance of the feet with the bar high on the back and not using the hips when coming out of the lift. He tries to use primarily his thighs and NOT the hips as so many powerlifters do. He also favors sets of increasingly heavier weights with rather high repetitions, as this assures muscle growth and protects against joint and tendon injury. Favoring sets of 8-12 reps, he would perform 4 or 5 or perhaps 6, some days going on to 7 or 8 sets of 8-12 reps with heavier and heavier weights. 

From here he would go into 4 all out sets of Leg Extensions and 4 sets of Leg Curls. These sets would all be done to failure so as to maintain intensity throughout the entire training routine. 

Tim credits proper squatting technique in enabling him to hold such a heavy bodyweight for his height with such unbelievable development. 

He tries (at least, he did try) when working for bench pressing power, to make the heavy full squat secondary in importance as he feels proper work on this movement acts as a physical catalyst for the entire body and you benefit all over from such intense repetition work using these two heavy, very fatiguing movements.  

As I mentioned earlier, he favors Low Pulley Forward Bends, Crunches, and Side Bends for the abdominals. These are done 2 to 4 times weekly, as he happens to feel at the moment. He supersets the first two in between the side bends. Even on his stomach work he will work each set to failure, or complete burnout. He leaves little to chance when it comes to training thoroughness and training intensity. 

Before I forget, I must also mention that during times of bench press specializing, he will include the 45 degree Incline Press along with his bench presses. During these times the pec deck work is curtailed, but the Bent Arm Flyes will remain. On the Incline he would similarly do sets of 8-12 working up to around 315 for a few sets of 10 repetitions. These would be done either after the bench pressing that day or sometimes thrown into his shoulder routine, depending on his mood at the time. 

Tim also warns you not to fall into bounding, shifting, thrusting the bar when trying to increase bench poundages. In the long run, you will either go stale or get hurt, or at worst, both. Take your time and do the movement correctly for best all around results. 

As I may have mentioned earlier in past articles on this man, he uses no exotic movements and no fancy routines. Every workout is short, condensed and as INTENSE as humanly possible. This is what he advises you to do when trying to add to your bench pressing poundage and to your allover upper body size and muscularity: 

1) Work each area hard and completely.  

2) Do not use cheating movements in your routine. 

3) Even with dumbbell movements, use the heaviest weights possible.  

4) Hit each basic area HARD, twice weekly.

5) Work to total failure on each set (besides warmups). 

6) Maintain the proper muscle-building diet. 

And there you have it. 

Enjoy Your Lifting!  

  

 

Hyping the Head to Reach GTO - Denie

From this issue. 

Quite a nameplate:

The Powerful Adventure of Dan Lurie's Muscle Training Illustrated! 
Hey, no insult there, I bought this issue when it first came out. 

 

Here's a taste of "Psycho Blast" by Denie. I had a copy and it wound up in the bin . . . no worries . . . this gives us a taste of his weird bodybuilding writing style. What language is this guy speaking? Nah, it's a good read and shows perfectly how Mr. Walter chose to write articles and books. The one on the bench press is very strangely constructed fun as well. Me calling his training articles strange is a lot like the pot calling the kettle black . . . 

No matter, check out some external stuff on the Golgi Tendon Organ, then read/listen to Denie Walter do his thing . . . 

HYPING THE HEAD TO REACH GTO

Training in "Psycho-Blast" form means training until you reach GTO. In the Q&A portion which ran in the last issue of MTI, the name "Golgi Tendon Organ" (GTO) was introduced. And it was noted that the Golgi Tendon Organ immediately shuts off a muscle contraction when the tension threshold is reached . . . or the muscle stress is transferred to the tendon.

Many trainers overlook this . . . these are the "ironheads" who train for pain, rather than stimulation, the momentum boys, and excessive cheaters. And, in truth the way they work the muscle GTO is never truly reached to begin with.

True GTO can only be reached with total control of the muscle, and intense concentration. GTO is the highest and most critical stimulation state geared to maximum set performance, and only "will power" can get you there. 

Hyping your head to reach GTO can be even more potent using "psyching techniques," which I'll touch on shortly. Let me inject this note on "will power" early on . . . "Motivation is related to emotion." 

First a more accurate look at the GTO. (If you go to GTO carefully each time you train a bodypart, size and strength follow rapidly). 

GTO interplay is different from motor neuron stimulation. GTO units are detectors of stress rather than activators. GTO directs stress of tension applied to the muscle tendon at contraction or stretch receptors . . . they operate on a subconscious level. No conscious control can deactivate them.

Operating at a subconscious level, no sensory feeling is evident at all. The pain or fatigue in a muscle is in the muscle, not the tendon. Only damage to a tendon transmits pain, after the damage is incurred.    

GTO's . . . 

    

. . . not THOSE GTO's you idiot! But feel free to "contact one of the stage hands" about bookings anyhow. 

GTO's lay within the muscle's tendon, and just beyond the muscle fibers where they bond into the tendon. 10 to 15 muscle fibers are connected in series with each Golgi Tendon Organ . . . 

 

. . . that's the best older illustration I can find. It'd  fit a few Lovecraft novels real nicely if large enough. Don't know about you but I for one don't ever wanna walk out into the barn and see this thing waitin' for me in the dark. My muscles would a-tremble, backbone grow soft as I was sucked into and processed through the being's digestive tract. I'll pass for now and get one of the hired hands to check out that eerie sound emanating from the oddly lit barn. Do these things from other worlds bring their own TP? Best stock up. 

Where was he, where was Denie? Ah, yes . . . 

10 to 15 muscle fibers are connected in series with each "Golgi Tendon Organ" of the many located in any one tendon. There are thousands of muscle fibers making up each muscle system. 

Yes-yes, these beings from distant worlds posing as our muscles in order to control our movements and parasitically live on us until they drain all precious bodily fluids, leaving only a husk of humanity, which likely can't be much worse than the regular full and healthy version. Our tissues vaporized in a chemical system relaying the desired lode to the Mother Ship. They do it all for the free TP, I am told. Which certainly explains that whole Covid-era fiasco that took place when the Star-People overdid it, got overzealous and almost blew their cover. 

Damn it! Denie? Hello? Come in . . . copy that . . . asap . . . for the love of the gods please continue before we're all non-existent again at the "hands" of the Golgi Organ Beings from Planet Zuluu with three U's. 

Hang on, Buddy. The illustrations that accompany a Denie article shouldn't be missed, and so says Mike Ashley, now-disembodied and floating about somewhere in the old neosphere, still smiling that big smile and bouncin' the memory of them pecs as though they were again part of some form of physical world . . . 

Folks, spare your tears, for it's not the drugs that are killing off overzealous bodybuilders . . . IT'S THE GOB'S . . . GOLGI ORGAN BEINGS! Living in the cord of our spine, branching out to all skeletal muscles, feasting on human flesh and eliminating the waste in areas unexpected . . . patiently waiting for some dog to step in it, so there IS justice after all you canine types. So there. Of course, time will pass as it always does when trying to create an illusion of movement/change for us human fool/tools here on Earth. Dogs will become incensed and offended, mistakenly blaming we humans for their filthy detritus-coated paws, large barks of militarism spewing from their incisor-heavy maws, the world we once knew as new, no longer as it was and where in hell is Denie! 

"Hey, Hi There! Let's continue."

 Generally, when these muscle fibers fail to contract because of overload of exhaustion of stress . . . the tendon-bonding materials start to stretch. GTO kicks in feedback to the brain. The muscle is turned off or totally relaxed to protect the overtaxed fibers from tearing. 

A GTO circuit only affects the individual muscle it's connected to . . . whereas specific motor neurons which tell a muscle what to do can activate other neurons of other muscles. 

This is important, since the GTO cuts off the muscle in use entirely when fatigued . . . therefore the trainer may pull other muscles into the action, which for our purposes is a waste of energy. This is going to be momentum, or cheating, etc., and also is why so many trainers under stress pull tendons or irritate them. 

When GTO "cuts in" (the muscle stops due to fatigue; you should stop, in isolated or restricted exercises), it's time for the training to "cut out." 

We're dealing of course with fractions of seconds here and extremely rapid "recoup" time . . . but also the most potent force ever waged upon a muscle strategically "weight training" till failure. This is not training for pain, but muscle stimulation with the GTO as the gear shift to stop action. Brake pedal? Gear Shift? 

GTO protects the muscle and tendons from tearing; however, GTO's do not prevent abuse of the tendons by continual improper performance. Use their input, don't abuse it. Only accurate control activates the bet GTO response. Once the forces of inertia come into play with heavy resistance uncontrolled they can't be stopped even by the GTO. 

Glibly stated: You can rip the hell out of your muscles when you lose resistance control by not motivating the GTO carefully. 

Training to the limit of "Psycho Blast" requires massive amounts of emotionally directed energy into the muscles to motivate them. I call this "hyping your head" or maximizing your "will-power," since it takes vast stores of it to continually break through to the ultimate "Psycho Blast" state at the GTO level of cut out.  

All emotions have various frequencies or vibrations which activate them, based on your mental brain waves and electrical patterns. Since stimulation to a muscle is an electrical current of a low charge, the question is how to get more from the brain down into the muscle to really reach GTO when "Psycho-Blasting." 

Athletes and world heroes have long used emotional techniques to personally psyche-up before a crucial test or contest of skill, even a life and death decision. The problem with dynamic emotional system psyching is the diffusing of its energy patterns everywhere; rather than a single bodypart as "Psycho-Blasting" into GTO requires. However, it can be done with practice, since you're not training for explosive power, but directing a controlled current to where you want the stimulation. 

The foundation is developing emotional decision to endure until GTO is achieved; not exploding against the weight to keep lifting the resistance. It is to this point of "sheer emoting decision" that all allotted energies and electrical currents of the brain be directed. 

Now he's rolling! 

The brain has its own set of frequencies which can be activated by thought and decision. Perhaps there are other natural external ways to tap them and turn them on using external methods that trigger them . . . thereby making "Psycho-Blast" more pleasant and efficient. 

A couple of guys I knew ages ago made what they called "goon juice" to drink; a temporary respite from sobriety and sanity with a helluva kick. Yes. The stuff was potent and unpredictable . . . the one guy pretty much went mad when he indulged in the potent potable concoction. Came up with this idea of giving it to unsuspecting friends, and it didn't taste anything like how strong it actually was. Let's just say he "Psycho-Glassed" 'em. 

"Will-power" and concentration levels can always be at maximum if techniques which are individual to the user can be developed. And they can by the intelligent trainer. 

Key note: What makes you feel good makes you go. The best two hypes are: 

1) Thinking of achieving the internal need; and

2) External sound which motivates and excites the nervous system at the brain causing it to release more neuro-transmitters and hormones. (Simple example: your favorite music). 

Here's my favorite go-to music for this purpose: 

 

This can create even more concentration levels and sub-stimulation. 

To reach GTO you've got to keep hyping the need . . . not, think of the reps, other than to keep track, but, keep hyping the need up until you stop (there's more on that discussed in a future MTI on "will-power," but here we want a solid technique established.

To understand how to naturally hype the need consciously and safely a few facts first: 

All existing matter has what's known as a resonance factor, or set of vibrations at the sub-atomic level where it is held together. Discovering how matter resonates or its frequencies of vibration can change its substance . . . the human brain too has frequency patterns of performance; sound has its own resonance patterns as well, especially music. Matching the musical patterns to our internal moods is a key to emotional enjoyment. Therefore, the right set of sounds should release more effective neurotransmition when tuned to the emotional need of "Psycho-Blasting" and this is really all driving me to "Pscho-Glassing." 

That could be an effective supplement (not the goon juice) when your emotional interest level is lagging in a workout (okay, okay, you're permitted a few alcohol-based bracers before, during and after your workouts). In other words, you could develop your own external system to pscyho-physiologically hype your head for concentration to reach GTO . . . I've tried . . . and it's a gas, better or almost as good as sex. [One can only imagine the sad, tiresome quality of sex that's barely better than lifting weights].

Yeah, I know the author is a banana . . . but remember this: brain chemistry is everything in life. That's where it all comes together, Baby. And GTO is a "how win" self-love hungry need to be better than you have ever been . . . the "Psycho-Blast" ego must gain endurance release potential.  

For hundreds of centuries, and more so today, the basis of all music has been "the beat." That low undertone which lies directly behind the general instrumental pattern, possesses the power to attune and even correlate with the rhythm of our heart beats . . . and scientifically proven as doing so. 

Note: refer to Wee Bare Bears video above for further concrete scientific evidence of this.

Both pleasant and unpleasant music patterns release feelings of passion or direction, whatever, in the visioning mind.  

The correct musical stimulation or tonal frequencies of sound, of which music is the simplest to control -- stimulates the primary emotional center of the brain sections called the Limbic System. This system is an action hormonal control center also the most primitive evolutionary portion of the brain matter complex.

According to research studies, when the central aria, er, area of the Limbic System is stimulated, highly reinforced behavior is produced. As an example: Rats with their Limbic System stimulated would press a lever several thousand times an hour for at least 10 hours because of the pleasure centers activated in the Limbic area.

Consequently, using the right background rhythms during the workout, no doubt, could zonk [zonk!] the muscle with more active direct "primal raw power" force . . . that is, unless you dig "the sounds of silence" more. 

The relation of goal-reaching definitely points to the bonding points of emotion and motivation interlock. In common terms: You've got to want that set bad, then head into it.

And I do mean HEAD into it . . . GTO will shortly and effectively follow these "Psycho-Blasts" directed into the contracting muscle fibers . . . and believe you me, you'll dig the flow. 

Enjoy Your Lifting!   

How I Exploded My Chest to 58" -- Arnold Schwarzenegger (1968)

 

From This Issue, Oct. 1968. 

I'm guessing it wasn't C-4

and not Arnold writing. 

Whether you believe it or not, when I first became interested in bodybuilding, my chest was not very outstanding. It measured only 39 inches and looked very flat and sunken. 

After training for six months I noticed that my arms, shoulders, back and legs showed good improvement but my chest, especially the pectoral muscles, showed little if any improvement. Naturally I was disappointed about this. 

I asked my instructor's advice(s). He explained that I had to concentrate on two things: the expansion of the thorax (rib box), and the development of the pectoral muscles. I suddenly realized that I had been only working on my chest muscles and not my rib box, which I now realize is responsible for bigger chests. 

About this time I found and read a copy of a German athletic magazine . . . 

In this magazine there was an article that stressed the importance of expanding the thorax for maximum chest size. This article made me think, and as a result I made up a new training program with the idea of expanding my chest. 

I knew that if I could expand the size of my rib box . . . 

  

. . . my whole upper body would be bigger and look better. I decided to concentrate on the chest and decided on the routine I have outlined here. 

I included three basic exercises, namely: 

 - Bench Press

 - Dumbbell Exercise for Chest

 - Flying Movement

Today, five years after regular weight training, my chest has increased to 58 inches, representing an increase of nearly 20 inches! 

During this time my bodyweight increased by 88 pounds, but even with this added bodyweight and increased chest size my waistline did not get more than two inches larger, which isn't much. But this is because I worked hard to expand my chest and trained my abdomen to keep it small, and I think I have succeeded well in this. 

Of course, one of the main exercises I added to my chest routine was the stiff-arm pullover. This exercise has done much to increase the size of my thorax. In fact, during the first two-and-a-half years of my bodybuilding my chest increased to 47", then withing the next year-and-a-half it grew to 52", which is about the size it was when I first entered the Mr. Universe contest in London. 

With continuous training and following the chest program I give you here, I have succeeded in "exploding" it to my present size of 58 inches! I continue to use this same chest program even today. I don't know how much more my chest will expand but I will continue training and let the measurements take care of themselves. 

Though I speak of increasing the muscle mass of the chest, I must add that the biggest gain you can make in increasing chest size is by expanding the thorax. In fact, now every time I give an exhibition and show my chest the audience gives me the biggest round of applause, which to me is remarkable because when I started bodybuilding I had a very small, fallen chest. I am real proud of what I have achieved so far. 

While visiting South Africa as Reg Park's guest I discussed my chest program with him and asked his opinion of what I was doing. He said that he used the very same routine and showed me some of the exercises that developed his big chest, which to me is enormous. 

I just further add that this routine I have listed is not meant for beginners but for those who have been training regularly for a year or more. I am sure that if you follow this program and the advice I present here, I can almost guarantee an increase of five or more inches. 

It is also important that you do some pushups after doing deep knee bends to warm up the chest. Then, after the chest is warmed you can use the other chest expanding exercises illustrated in this article after doing squats.

While training the chest remember these five points and use them as guides: 

1) Don't train too slow.

2) Use heavy weights. 

3) Do all exercises correctly.

4) Concentrate on every set. 

5) Use a protein [ba-dump-bum] supplement.

I'm sure you'll have greater success in developing a bigger chest with this training routine. I wish you luck! 

Okay, okay . . . here's the best part of the article, some photos that aren't too well know yet . . . and no, there was no mention made of sets, reps, frequency, etc. in this one.   

Enjoy Your Lifting!