When I first viewed the photos of Tim Belknap in IronMan magazine, I and, I believe, hundreds of other readers, were flabbergasted at the awesome density and great muscle size and shape of this man and I certainly wanted to know just HOW he got to be that way.
There is literally no fat on this man. He reminds me of a cut up Mel Hennessey (the great bench presser of years ago). Each muscle group is literally cramming the joints and gives the appearance of tremendous size and power.
Fortunately, a mutual friend gave me Tim's phone number and this enabled me to contact him and to obtain from him a great deal of training material, as to just what he does and WHY he does what he does, in order to look and to lift the way he can. As time goes by I will endeavor to share with you readers the entire training concept of this man, with hopes it will entertain some and inspire others to greater heights of physical prowess.
Note: This was part of a four-article series Mr. Ditillo wrote on Tim Belknap.
1) Tim Belknap Talks Strength Training.
2) Tim Belknap Tells How He Trains and How You Should.
3) Tim Belknap: Pre-contest Training and Diet.
4) Tim Belknap: Bench Press Specialization.
There are many massively muscular men around today, but NONE have the thickness and physical impressiveness of Tim Belknap. There are a few who are bigger or taller, but when it comes to sheer muscular bulk and the look of power, none can stand up to him.
He reminds me of a combination of Casey Viator, Ron Teufel and Mel Hennessey and when you pack all this size and muscle on a compact, yet thickset frame of short stature, you certainly have quite a man!
In this first article dealing with his training we will be primarily concerned with his STRENGTH TRAINING principles which I consider make him unique in the world of competitive bodybuilding: this man is as strong as he looks. The poundages he handles for sets and repetitions stagger the imagination and when we take into consideration the rather light bodyweight he is carrying while still being able to handle all that iron, his strength becomes all the more impressive.
This man can perform 10 repetitions on the bench with 385 pounds! And we're not talking about a super-heavyweight powerlifter, we're talking about a competitive bodybuilder with a bodyweight somewhere between 200 and 230 pounds.
When discussing training for power and strength as well as muscle mass increase, Tim believes the most important concept of mental conditioning within the realms of physical training. To Tim, your mind will make you or break you when it comes to reaching into the very depths of your strength levels. Without the proper mental attitude, you simply cannot hope to acquire the results necessary to stimulate a great degree of muscular size response.
To Tim, great strength should also be coupled with a great looking physique. The two go hand in hand. The reason why bodybuilders cannot lift as much as their powerlifting brothers is because they do a great many additional movements in their training, in order to further shape their physiques, and this additional workload doesn't allow them to recuperate FULLY between workouts in order for their systems to be able to handle the heavy poundages for singles and doubles the way powerlifters can do regularly.
In other words, there are many bodybuilders who are QUITE strong; stronger than many an intermediate powerlifter. Only their strength lies within the realms of repetitions, like 5 or 8 reps with a heavy weight, not a heavy all-out effort, like a maximum bench press or a maximum squat. It is not that either are superior; both are just different.
It is Tim's belief that a calm, clear head, uncluttered with distractions is of the utmost necessity when it comes to training for great physical strength. You must literally FORCE yourself to negate any negative thought to distract you when you are beginning your training routine for any particular day.
If you have everyday problems, you must get yourself used to pushing them out of the way until you are finished with your workout. Training time is to be spent solely involved with training, nothing else.
He reiterated over and over again: "Learn to get into the gym, train fast, train hard and then get out. You have to psych yourself up mentally that you ARE going to get stronger and you simply will not allow anything to get in your way.
Finally, when training is finished, you should adjust your mind to be able to turn any inner tension off and to attain a state of emotional and mental tranquility until the next training session. This, to Tim, is one secret to great gains.
One training concept of Tim's which I find particularly interesting is his use of non-lockout exercise movements for fairly high repetitions with some very heavy poundages. His reason for doing these is to try to both overload the muscle groups involved with additional repetitions and with heavier than usual poundages and also, to increase his capacity for hard work which in a roundabout way will aid him in both developing additional size and power in the affected muscles.
It is in this style that he can perform the 10 reps on the bench press with 385 and his pectoral development an his all-over body-power gives mute testimony to the effectiveness of this training method. To him, it makes no sense to lock out every one of your bench presses, as long as you can lock out the first and the last repetition being performed. For the repetitions that come in between, he believes in keeping as much tension on the pectorals as possible and this comes from not locking out at the top of each rep. Just make sure you have a good spotter or two, or work in a rack with catchers, if you decide to copy this training method.
On questioning him on his opinion of power rack work, he mentioned that although he believes it would stimulate the deeper fibers and then would hence, aid in the addition of increased mass, he himself had never worked for any length of time in the power rack. And now, with his primary aim being to further densify his physique, the use of the rack would most assuredly be out of place in his present training routine.
I wonder what his results would have been when he was solely training for bulk and power, had he fell prey to the lure of heavy, partial power rack movements???
On dieting for gaining size, Tim believes in a basic well-rounded diet, high in both protein and carbohydrates and low in fats. No junk food is recommended as this will simply be lodged as fat within the muscle fibers and will only have to be burned off and dieted off later on in the competitive part of the year. Better to eat the right way all year round, and then whatever you gain will be primarily useful, functional muscle.
Tim's method of gaining or losing or maintaining bodyweight deals with the AMOUNT of foods he allows himself to consume during any particular phase of the training year. In other words, he does not alter his basic diet to any great length or degree, he merely adjusts the total food intake depending on just what he wishes to accomplish during any particular training period in his yearly schedule. Basically, the diet remains the same, with the sole adjustment coming in the reduction of CALORIES in the pre-contest training period of his preparations.
He ate the same when he weighed 230 (which was his heaviest bodyweight) as he does today, when not preparing for a contest. At this top bodyweight he boasted the following measurements: chest of over 50", thighs of 28.5, calves of 19", and arms of 21". Quite a combination of size, power and muscularity, I would say, wouldn't you?
His top lifts during this time were the following:
Bench press - 485x2, 505x1
Squat - 720x1
Bentover row - 285x6
Press behind neck - 245x8
Barbell curl, no cheat - 185x10
Concentration curls - 85-lb. dumbbells for sets and repetitions
Dumbbell flyes - 110 for sets of 10-12.
As can be plainly seen from the list of these training poundages, this man is no weakling by any means, and when you realize that he has been able to obtain this outstanding degree of power without getting sloppy looking and at the same time maintaining a muscular physique, his attainment seems all the more noteworthy.
He comically mentioned to me that when he was specializing on his thighs with those monstrously heavy FULL squats, his legs literally began to dwarf his entire upper body. It looked like he did primarily squats and nothing else, while all during this time he was training the upper body quite hard and regularly. This only goes to show what a bone structure this man has, particularly in the lower body. A bull gorilla would be proud of such a frame!
When considering Tim's general strength training program, we can begin by mentioning that he believes in training each bodypart twice per week. Also, I might mention that he works the chest and back muscles TWICE DAILY, ON TWO TRAINING DAYS PER WEEK. For strength training, this is most unusual, at least it's the first I've heard of such a schedule. This, he feels, enables him to concentrate on BOTH the basic strength movements and also, on the necessary shaping movements, without either on harming the volume or intensity of the other.
A sample bench press schedule would be the following: 225x10, 275x10, 315x10, 385x10, 430x5, 475 or maximum single, 385x10.
He follows such a routine twice per week, either in the morning or afternoon. In another workout during the later part of the day, he will hit either the legs or the back, whichever he would be specializing on at the time. Right now, it would be a back workout, in which he would choose from the following movements:
Wide grip chins with weight, 4 sets, 2 wide and 2 narrow.
Heavy seated rows, same as above.
Pullovers, light weight for a basic stretch.
Hyperextensions, very heavy, supersetted with ->
Stiff legged deadlifts.
Thigh work would be done on two other training days and when he was concentrating on squatting poundages, he followed the following schedule:
He would do close-stance FULL squats for 10-12 sets of from 10-4 repetitions and finish up with 4 sets of hack squats and 4 sets of leg curls. These were the only squatting movements he has ever included in his training routine and the most emphasis is placed on STYLE of performance as well as strictness of exercise style.
He does not believe in power squats, nor does he believe in partial squats, at least, not for bodybuilding purposes. To Tim, a FULL squat is what makes the difference when it comes to developing the thighs to their maximum. I might add that he also makes sure to thoroughly warm up the knees and he also wraps the knees when he is doing heavy full squats so as to try to circumvent any possible oncoming knee injury.
For upper arm work Tim believes in basic strict movements and also, isolation movements, done with increasingly heavier and heavier weights. Naturally, when training solely with size and power in mind, the poundages used are of paramount importance and the repetition scheme is somewhat lower than when pre-contest training is employed during the competitive part of the year.
For the biceps he favors straight barbell curls, sets of 8-10 repetitions; dumbbell concentration curls; pulley one arm concentration curls; alternate dumbbell curls and seated incline curls. What he will normally do is choose perhaps three movements for this area and concentrate on them for a few months to reap whatever benefits he can. Then, when boredom steps in, he would merely change movements and begin again.
The number of sets varies with how he feels, but for the most part, rests around 4 sets per movement.
For the triceps he employs decline triceps extensions, seated dumbbell triceps extensions, parallel bar dips with weight, and lying triceps extension as well as triceps pressdowns on the lat machine.
These are also done for around 3 movements per workout and 4 sets of each movement with repetitions varying between 6 and 12.
As with the other bodyparts, he works the arms twice per week when training for size and strength.
In closing this segment of the Tim Belknap training regime let me end with a few strength-gaining tips given to me by this powerful young man:
Get in the gym and work out HARD, then get out of the gym.
Forced repetitions with a partner is only ego inflation and non-reality.
Cheating movements will eventually lead to staleness and injury.
When trying to increase your bench press try for 5 or 6 weeks to bench with the WIDEST grip you can manage on the bar, doing the usual sets and repetitions with appropriate weight. It will be hard and uncomfortable at first, but when you have finally gotten used to it, you will find to your surprise that when you once again bring your grip in to where it usually is, your poundage will most assuredly have jumped!
Enjoy Your Lifting!
Tim was my neighbor and friend. I really miss those days.
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