The Key to Effective Organization of Training Routines - Bradley Steiner (1971)

From this issue: March 1971. 
 

There are certain exercises that must be done to obtain results. This article pays attention to arranging a good all-round program for maximal gains. 

In briefest essence, the real "key" to the successful organization of effective training programs is summarized in the York axiom, "First do what you should, then go on to what you like." 

The difficulty facing the weight trainer, however, is the problem of knowing just what he "should do," and as a result, he fails to apply the axiom for his greatest physical benefit. He doesn't know how to set up his training schedules. 

The wide variety of possible exercises also presents an obstacle to what should ordinarily be a simple task: arranging a good all-round program for maximum gains. This difficulty is especially bothersome when a trainee passes the beginner's stage, or "foundation period" of his career. At this point, all too often, the bodybuilder neglects what are the more important exercises, and he begins to include the less effective movements in his routines, thus failing to continue making satisfactory progress. 

As previously stated, the hippos were pissing on each other, and the organization of all-round routines ought to be, and really is simple -- provided the bodybuilder adheres to certain principles. These principles are: 

1) Never include an excessive amount of work for any one particular body part or muscle group. It is necessary to keep a routine well-rounded, so as to give every major muscle group a fair share of developmental work. Remember, this principle applies even if you intend to specialize on a particular body part. 

We shall discuss the organization of a routine for specialization purposes later. For now, get this into your cranium: 

REGARDLESS OF ONE'S PURPOSE IN TRAINING, THE WHOLE BODY SHOULD GET A GOOD WORKOUT.

2) When you set up your routine, be certain that the workout you employ will not exceed an hour or so. That's plenty. Too much training is responsible for a heck of a lot of frustration and failure among overanxious bodybuilders. Don't be one of those failures. 

Your body can take only so much and still continue to gain. Force it beyond that point and you're defeating your own purpose.    

3) Unless you are a fantastically easy gainer (which you're almost definitely not), don't ever work out more than four times a week. Three or four sessions of training are more than enough to induce gains if sensible training is employed. 

I hope that it is needless to say that one should train on alternate days.

Having digested the above bits of wisdom, you are now ready to set up the actual training program that you'll use. And at this point, I should very much like to interject a solemn warning: Don't, don't, DON'T try to emulate a Mr. Universe routine or any of the oddball, super-systems that you may have read about. Don't copy Bill Pearl's training, thinking in the back of your skull that you'll look like him within three months. IT WILL NOT WORK. 

The spectacular programs are fine to look at and admire, and perhaps to follow after fifteen years of training, but these schedules are not intended for fellows desiring to build up or stay in top shape. Bill Pearl is in a class by himself -- ditto for men such as Reg Park, Chris Dickerson, etc., and so forth. 

You are YOU and your training will be effective only if it suits your physical potential and makeup. You are to select only one, or at the very most two exercises for each major body part. YOU SHOULD NOT EMPLOY "SPLIT" TRAINING. 

Use a number of sets and repetitions per set that will enable you to complete each exercise with the particular muscle group that has been worked feeling congested. 

Do not use excessive pumping. 

Employ poundages that make you work hard -- but do not force each rep of every set. It is, however, a good idea to make the last rep or two of each work set a "forced" or hard rep, as this will get the deep-lying muscle fibers into action. 

Don't do an entire set on nerve force. The best gains are made when the muscles are coaxed over time, not violently jolted. 

Your health and stamina are just as important as your appearance, so it is a good ideal to always include one very heavy movement to stimulate rapid growth throughout your entire body. The squat, the clean & press, the repetition snatch, and the power clean are all examples of such movements. 

A very common error that advanced as well as beginning and intermediate trainees make in following their schedules is to neglect frequent program changes. Any specific routine of exercises is good for only so long. Regardless of the exercises that you use, if you use them over too long a period you will become "stale," fall into a physical and psychological rut, and cease to make gains. You might even begin to slide backward if the situation isn't corrected. 

Generally, five to eight weeks of intensive effort on a particular routine will exhaust the value of that routine for some time. Some few men will continue to progress on the same schedule for a longer period of time -- after all, we are all different -- but never should a routine be followed for more than 12 weeks. Any time the same routine is employed over so long a period, it is advisable to take a week or two off from training entirely. If you worked hard, you need rest at this point whether you realize it or not!

https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2024/11/layoffs-can-mean-bigger-muscles-bradley.html

Learn to recognize the symptoms of physical and psychological staleness . . . a general antipathy towards tackling one's training; a lethargic, effortful grind, instead of a zestful, challenging workout; seeking excuses to miss one's scheduled exercise period; obvious physical reluctance to exert oneself . . . every one of these are bright red warning signals that are telling you that you need CHANGE and REST. 

There's another very practical reason why frequent changes in your routine are not only desirable, but necessary for continued physical improvement. Since a large number of exercises should be employed by every bodybuilder seeking optimal progress, it is only logical to switch one's training around from time to time so as to use this wide variety of exercises. After all, too many exercises can never be employed in one routine -- that's inimical to progress -- but over a year's time, with changes in routine made every five to eight weeks, a tremendous number of good, result-producing exercises can be used. Thus, if you follow this system, you benefit from every possible exercise without ever running the risk of over-training. 

 I do not by any means wish to let the above remarks imply that "anything goes" in setting up a training schedule, just so long as you do a few exercises and work hard on them. Far from it. This is not the case, and there are seven "must" exercises that you should use IN SOME FORM in every workout. 

These exercises are: 

1) Curl

2) Press

3) Squat

4) Bench press

5) A lower back exercise

6) An abdominal exercise, and

7) A rowing movement

Build every routine that you arrange around these movements. Since an overall schedule will include up to a dozen exercises -- that's five over and above your basics -- and since you can adopt a myriad of variations on the basics themselves, there is no real reason why any trainee should ever go stale. You can avoid the frustration of "working like crazy and getting nowhere" if you use your head and adopt some sensible routine arrangements. 

Now, as we've mentioned earlier, we shall examine a typical arm specialization routine, set up along the lines of routine organization that we've discussed, and you'll be able to see exactly how our principles apply in practice. 

I chose a routine for the arms because that's what always seems to pop into mind when "specialization" is mentioned, but the PRINCIPLES apply to any specialization program, and you should keep this in mind. Two rule apply. 

First, do your OVERALL routine. That is, do "what you should" -- your seven basic movements to insure good, all-round progress and muscular development.

Second, do "what you like." Follow whatever exercises you favor or wish to employ for specialization.

I have divided the following arm specialization routine into tow segments, so as to make perfectly clear the two rules stated above: 

Segment 1: 

Warm up with light snatches.

1) Barbell curl, 3 x 8

2) Alternate dumbbell press, 3 x 10 

3) Squat, 2 x 15

4) Lying laterals (one set after each set of squats), 2 x 15

5) Bench press, 3 x 10

6) One arm rowing, 3 x 10

7) Good morning exercise, 2 x 10

8( Side bend with dumbbell, 2 x 20

Segment 2: 

9) Alternate curl and press, 3 x 10

10) Concentration curl, 2 x 12

11) Triceps extension, 3 x 10

There you have your sample. For a good general workout, you can eliminate the last three exercises entirely . . . but in case you've got hang-ups about your arms, the inclusion of those last three exercises will see two or three inches of meat slapped on your appendages within the year. 

"Do what you should, then do what you like." It's been a York axiom for decades, and maybe, just maybe, Grimek, Hoffman, Eiferman, Stanko, Bacon, and every other York champ who made it to the top (and stayed there) can pass something on to you. 

Now that you know "what you should do" . . . 

DO IT! 

Enjoy Your Lifting!  

  

   

Layoffs Can Mean BIGGER Muscles - Bradley Steiner (1970)

 From this issue.

March 1970.
 

Every so often we have to come back to the essential fundamentals of bodybuilding. So much confusing and contradictory information is beginning to appear concerning the various new "super-duper" type training systems that many beginners, and advanced men as well, are forgetting what are, and what will always remain, the necessary conditions for sensible superior physical training and development.

A factor that, especially today, is becoming more and more overlooked, is the need for adequate rest in bodybuilding, and the desirability of taking periodic layoffs from one's training. 

Whether this has been overlooked due to the erroneous idea that the more one trains the better one gets, or because many weight trainees have adapted an almost compulsive adherence to their scheduled training sessions, the fact remains: Too many men overtrain, and anyone desiring bigger and stronger muscles should bear in mind that in order to get them, he MUST be certain that his body receives adequate rest as well as hard workouts. 

Layoffs -- that is, a complete rest of several days or perhaps a week or two from one's training, are at times a NECESSITY. 

It may perhaps appear at first to be a contradiction to advocate layoffs and training breaks as "essential" to physical development when, in any legitimate course of physical development, "Never miss a scheduled exercise period" always appears as advice to an aspiring bodybuilder. Confusion arises only when one fails to interpret the "never miss a session" piece of advice correctly. 

Quite simply, this means that when no logical reason to miss a training period exists, one should not look for excuses to skip a workout. 

This does not apply when one is ill -- yet I know one fellow who actually forces himself to work out at such times -- nor does it apply when one is genuinely tired from overwork. To compel oneself to train at such times is self-defeating. 

Within reason, then, a bodybuilder should see to it that his training is regular and persistent. Since human beings are human however, and since they are not machines or robots who function like chronometers, they fluctuate at times in their physical and psychological readiness for heavy weight training.   

At times, various physical and mental symptoms will manifest themselves as a warning. If he wants to avoid staleness and an overtrained condition, the wise bodybuilder will heed these warning signals, and he'll take a layoff. 

Okay, so layoffs are necessary at times. How does one tell when one needs a layoff? When? What are the warning signals?

Briefly, if you're suffering from any of the following, you can take it for a fact that you had better stop battering your weary little carcass with heavy training . . . if you want to continue to progress.

1) Any psychological disdain for an approaching workout. A reluctance to "get up and go" with the weights. 

2) Actual physical strain when going through a routine that had formerly been invigorating and a pleasant challenge. Finding that you are forcing yourself to train, rather working hard out of ambition. 

3) Failure to fell fully recuperated and "alive" on Wednesday, from a vigorous workout that you took on Monday.

4) A complete standstill or an actual setback in your physical progress. 

5) A loss of muscle size, despite heavy training and appropriate nutrition. 

These are the danger signs fellows, and if you ignore them you're only kidding yourself. Mother Nature must be coaxed. She cannot be bullied, pushed around or deceived. 

WHEN YOUR BODY NEEDS REST, YOU GOTTA REST. PERIOD! 

If you fail to heed the warning signals of an overworked body and you press yourself to work out in spite of them, you will pay the consequences. You will, instead of enjoying your training, come to despise it. You will, instead of feeling exhilarated upon the completion of your training, feel dragged out and depleted. You will, instead of gaining size and strength, find that you are rapidly losing both. Your body will let you know when it is ready to work hard, and it will let you know when it requires rest.

One of the "secrets" of steady bodybuilding progress is learning to adjust your training programs to your individual inclinations. 

Aside from the obvious times, when only an idiot would question the need for a layoff -- such as illness or injury -- there should be regular, periodic, scheduled layoffs as a precaution against staleness and overtraining. 

In fact, a well-planned layoff can trigger gains where further workouts would prove futile. 

A good general policy for those who train with weights is to take a solid week off from training every 6-8 weeks. Do not cringe. In the long run, a sensible policy such as this will insure much steadier, longer lasting physical development. 

After your layoff, begin training again, and switch to a different routine, perhaps employing a different scheme of sets and repetitions for your exercises. The renewed enthusiasm, and the frequent changes in program arrangements will keep your desire to work out at a peak, and you'll always do justice to each training session. 

You may have never tried training in this manner before, but rest assured (ba dum sss) it is a system very worthy of your efforts. Heavy training, day in and day out, year after year is not the answer to sensible physical training -- or to the best possible development. 

No one can constantly hammer away at his body with ultra-heavy, severe workouts, and continue to progress indefinitely. It just cannot be done. When you hit the point in training where your workouts tear down more than your metabolism can rebuild -- brother, you need a rest. 

Scheduled layoffs and rest breaks are a MUST to insure continued, steady progress. Train hard, but be certain that you provide your body with a  chance to rebuild what you are tearing down. 

The best way to do this is with the proper combination of barbell training, good nourishing food, and never forget -- REST. 

Enjoy Your Lifting! 

Favorite Exercises of Champions - John Grimek (1974)

 Strength & Health October-November 1974

*not to be confused with Favorite Exercises of Old-Time Champions

https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2018/01/favorite-exercises-of-old-time.html

Everybody who takes up weight training for improved physical development eventually gets to favor one or more exercises, and physique champions are no different. Like other barbell trainees they tend to favor some specific exercise which they like because they found, from experience, that it works the muscles precisely the way they like, and for them it seems to bring better results than other similar movements. This alone is often enough to make it a “favorite” of the champion… or the non-champion!

This month we feature the amazing Bill Pearl, whose massive arms, particularly the triceps mass, is the result of numerous triceps exercises, especially “extension” types of movements. At one time his favorite exercise was the triceps extension movement which he performed in various ways: on the lat-pulley machine (illustrated here), lying in supine and incline positions while using dumbells or a barbell in executing the exercise. Obviously, the exercise in his case paid off because Bill had acquired one of the most massive developed triceps anyone has acquired for his size. The pose of him used here (above – in our case below) shows the thick, massive horseshoe outline., and most extension action of the triceps help to define and isolate this horseshoe shape.

However, too many young bodybuilders, mostly those still inexperienced, try to handle heavier weights than they are capable, whereas the more experienced champions, such as Bill Pearl and others, know that they must go through a preliminary warming up period before attempting something near their limit.

There is valid reason for this. Although all triceps extension movements benefit the triceps to an optimal degree, it is important to warm-up the elbow joints before trying to handle maximum weight. Anyone who tries to use heavier poundages than they can negotiate easily can injure the elbows. In fact, more inexperience bodybuilders who employ triceps extension exercises always suffer some form of elbow trouble. Yet when the elbows have been sufficiently warmed up by using lighter weights with more repetitions, maximum weight can be handled minus injury.

Although Bill Pearl has used the exercise extensively during his contest training days, never once have I hear, from him or from others, that his elbows pained, so obviously experience taught him how to handle the exercise with good results. Yet among beginners the complaint is common. They fail to warm-up then try using more weight than they can handle to produce results…. Instead they produce injuries! And anyone who has had that type of injury knows how problematic it can be, causing one to forego all arm training for months, perhaps.

Therefore, to enjoy the effectiveness of the movement, and to acquire massive triceps such as Bill Pearl displays here, include the exercise but do it sensibly by warming up the elbows first before handling your maximum poundage. Naturally for your first set use a lighter weight and more reps. Example: If you normally do six to 10 reps per set, do at least 12 or 15 using, of course, less weight than you normally use. This action should lubricate the elbow joints and prepare them for the heavier work that you will provide as you increase the workload and decrease the repetitions. However, never do less than five reps, unless you are trying for a personal record. Also, NEVER attempt any heavy single reps until you have fully congested and warmed up the area… then there is less chance of injury even if you failed to handle the weight you tried.

Triceps react best when the exercise is done smoothly without the usual jerking action to provide impetus from the shoulders. This is the point where elbow strain is the riskiest: when the weight is down behind the neck and the upper back and shoulders, and to get it moving, the bodybuilder usually gives it a fast start, often imposing unusual stress in the elbow sections. Nevertheless, if you do the exercise sensibly and correctly, the exercise should develop the triceps and define that sharp horseshoe outline.

An Interview with the Young Man from Georgia (USA)... Lee James, Jr. - Howard L. Miller (1975)

 International Olympic Lifter October 1975

In my report on the 1974 Cincinnati Open Weight Lifting Championships (IOL Vol. 1 #3) I wrote the following enthusiastic lines: “An unknown lifter, Lee James from Georgia [maybe another lifter of Anderson’s caliber in the making] did some mighty fine lifting… His lifting won him the outstanding lifter award over Ball, Yahraus and Stock.”  Well, many months have passed since that day in Cincinnati and Lee James, Jr. is no longer unknown. My prediction of his abilities has come true, Lee James has made his mark in American lifting. 

At the recent USA Championships I had the opportunity to interview Lee and delve a bit into his background. As he had just lifted that day and the interview didn’t start until after 1:00 AM this report is obviously not as complete as I would like. Still, it gives an impression of the type of man Lee is and the fantastic progress he has made in so short a time. 

James is 21 years old, having been born October 31, 1953 in Gulfport, Mississippi. He has one older brother and one older sister. Lee was small as a child, by the time he reached the eight grade he was only 4’11” and 85 lbs. At that time his family had moved to Albany, Georgia and Lee embarked on a course in bodybuilding to gain  some size. His family had the usual objections, waste of time, muscle-boundness, etc. but young James stuck with it and in October 1970 he had started doing the Olympic lifts, having become bored with bodybuilding. He had only what he read in Strength and Health to learn technique. James entered his first meet in Atlanta, Georgia as a middle weight and did 90.7/200.0-88.5/195-115.7/255.0. His style was pretty rough and he realized leg work was needed. At that time he was working out three to four times a week. 

At a meet in Eastman, Georgia, Lee met Rod Lapin of North Carolina. Rod gave Lee some advice to aid his technique which helped greatly. James entered four meets in the next two years culminating in the 1971 Teenage Nationals. He placed fourth in the light heavy weight class at the low bodyweight of 78.5/173.0 by doing 113.4/250.0-104.3/203.0-133.8/295.0 for a 351.5/775.0 total. All the cleans, by the way, were power cleans! (Lee gave up training for a while after this contest. He was still not too serious and still had no training partners. But the bug bit Mr. James again soon and by January of 1972 he was back in training.) In March of 1972 he entered a meet in Hampton, Virginia and posted lifts of 113.4/250.0-113.4/250.0-140.6/310.0 which was his best total. He entered the U.S. Army in June of 1972, there were many reasons for this move, not the least of which was marriage. Lee says his wife Susan has backed him 100% in all his endeavors, and acts as a trainer, even gives him massages. 

James was a paratrooper until his division was taken off jump status and he is now on special duty service but still stationed at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky where he has been stationed for his entire Army career. 

In August of 1973 Lee made a 269.9/595.0 total at the Winston-Salem Open (USA) in the biathlon which brought notice to his weight lifting ability. Still in October in a contest in his home town of Albany he added 6.8/15.0 to his total. At this time Dale Rhoades and Ben Green wrote to USA Weightlifting Chairman Bob Crist about James. Crist along with military service AAU representative Sgt. Herb Gowing helped Lee get more time to train and approval grants for more contests. In December of 1973 he journeyed back to Atlanta, Georgi and did 29.9/595.0 total. Lee considers this to have been his first big push as he snatched 131.5/290.0 for the first time. This encouraged him to work even harder on improving his technique and to enter more meets. After hitting the national scene at Cincinnati in January 1974 the rest, as they stay, is history. Lee’s best contest total to date is the 315.2/695.0 he did at the Monroe J.C.’s in Des Moines, Iowa, February 22^nd. He is especially proud of the fact that he broke Rick Holbrook’s meet records with a 142.9/315.0 snatch and 172.4/380.0 clean and jerk. 

Here now are Lee James answers to some specific questions:

What is your rank in the Army?

SP/4 (E-4) attached to DCO. 1^st BN. 503^rd Int.

How big is your family now?

I have a wife, Susan and one son. His name is Steve.

What does your typical workout consist of?

Early in the year, I handle repetitions of five or six, working up toa single with about six to seven sets for a given exercise. During the middle of the year, around March, I use repetitions in triples except for legs, working up to singles. Six weeks before a contest I do singles in everything except leg work (I do singles for legs about two weeks before the meet.) I train five times a week, two times a day, concentrating on one lift a day and break the lift down in stages.

Monday Morning

Snatch Pull (complete)

Pull (stage 1)

Pull (stage 2)

Snatch Pull-ups [edit: fairly positive these are high pulls]

Monday Afternoon

Power Snatch

Front Squat

Bent Over Row

Press

Tuesday Morning

Clean Pull (complete)

Pull (stage 1)

Pull (stage 2)

Clean Pull-ups

Tuesday Afternoon

Hang Cleans

Back Squats

Hyperextensions

Shoulder Shrugs

Thursday Morning

Same as Monday except substitute Pull-ups with Shoulder Shrugs

Thursday Afternoon

Hang Snatch

Pre-exhaustion Front Squats

Bent Over Rows

Lock Outs

Friday Morning

Same as Tuesday except substitute shrugs for Pull-ups

Friday Afternoon

Power Cleans

Back Squats

Good Mornings

Shoulder Shrugs

Saturday (only one workout)

Snatches

Cleans

Jerks

Leg Extensions 

Leg Press

 

Twenty minutes of stretching is done before and ten minutes after each training session, also sit-ups after each workout. 

Best lifts in training: Snatch-145.1/320.0 and Jerk-180.0/396.0. This was at the time I had peaked for the Pan Am Championships in April 1974, before the date was changed. I am going to try a cycling routine in the future. 

Any thoughts on drugs?

Before accepting Christ as my Savior in January I had experimented a little with steroids with little success. I didn’t feel like I could witness properly and take steroids. And I’ve done much better without them. In York I had 147.4/325.0 locked out parallel and did a good 180.0/396.0 clean and jerk.

Who do you consider the most knowledgeable people in the game in the USA?

Carl Miller, who has done American weightlifting a big favor in spreading up-to-date training information. Dick Smith, who is so experienced in working with lifters, (He should be picked for many more international trips.) Marty Cypher, who was my first real coach and Dick Green who has given me encouragement. I still train alone for the most part by the way. 

What is your proudest accomplishment in the sport so far?

That would have to be the European trip with the Junior team in 1974. In a matter of days I improved at every contest (four: USA vs. England, Germany, France, and Spain.) I think Carl Miller’s help and interest in me during that trip was another turning point for me. Since I was on the World Championships team last year, I was not allowed to enter the Junior Nationals this year in Cleveland. I was very disappointed but as I had hurt my elbow two weeks prior perhaps it was for the best. 

What weight lifter do you most admire?

Ivanchenko. I feel he epitomizes what a weight lifter should look like and act like. All functional muscle and neat in appearance. Also his seriousness and machine-like actions are very impressive. His flexibility is unmatched and technique fantastic!

https://youtu.be/hJ90qqbJZTg?si=JPOwrp6UL6D1ZsYb

What do you see as the future of lifting in the U.S.A.?

The national organization seems more interested in young people now. This is going to help lifting all together. Lifting information should be made more available and more wide-spread.  We should get away from the same old lifters making all the teams and going on all the trips. Young fellows who are just starting out must get a good foundation of technique. There are so many very strong lifters around, who’d poor technique will always keep them from the top. I don’t like the power lifts! There is no skill involved, no coordination. Just brute strength. Same for bodybuilding. All that type of training does is to produce a lot of pretty, nonfunctional muscles. 

And what do you see as the future of one Lee James, Jr?

I predict that I will break all the light heavy weight American records within the next two years, next year (1976) barring injury. I also predict that I will be in the top three at the Olympics in Montreal next year. I hope the Army will let me off to train at York more often as that will be a real key in my progress. 

One final thing, Lee. During the competition yesterday you were heard to shout out “Eat More Grits.” Would there be any specific significance to this strange battle cry?

Ha! That just means the South is on the rise in weightlifting. We have Felton, Jones, the Cohens, Harvey Newton and, of course, myself. 

 

Here’s hoping that Lee James reaches all his goals. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

https://youtu.be/DfA0HdX1v0E?si=PnYr5bzrcKRbvSsO