Your Complete Barbell Training Program (Part 9) - Peary Rader (1953)

 Iron Man October-November 1953

In the July issue we closed with the promise to tell you of three exercises which would form a specialization course for problem cases. You may wonder why we suggest just three exercises for such a course. It has been found that quite often the reason for not gaining is too many exercises and overwork. This is essentially true where there might be a question of poor nutrition. Poor nutrition doesn’t mean lack of food but usually poor selection or poor quality. There are also numerous occasions where the function of the organs is so poor that the food eaten cannot be properly utilized by the body. In other instances there may be certain substances lacking to make the proper combination for use in building muscular tissue. In the latter instances special substances in the form of supplements will usually correct the condition and made normal gains possible. Protein supplements which are well balanced have been especially valuable in this instance. In some few cases a special medical examination to determine the exact condition of the body and to find out what it lacks, should be made.

Many problem cases have been solved by following program of special exercises and the addition of a great deal more protein to the diet. In the days before special protein supplements, we made this addition in the form of foods such as meat and milk. This was probably the secret of the success of the milk diet in combination with heavy muscular exercise. The milk being an excellent protein food, supplied the necessary proteins for muscular growth. Milk is still a major food in most bodybuilder’s diets for this reason, though it must be taken in comparatively large quantities to supply enough of the needed elements for progress.

So the reader may suit himself regarding diet. He can either increase his quota of meat, eggs, cheese and milk or he may add a good quality protein supplement to his diet. We would like to recommend that he do both however, as it has been found that progress is much more rapid if both food proteins and protein supplements are taken in adequate quantities. The most used protein supplement is probably a product made from Soya Flour. However we have found that it contains so much starch that one gains as much fat from it as you do muscle, so we recommend the high percentage protein supplements be taken even if they do cost more, for actually they are no higher due to the fact that they are about twice as valuable as far as usability is concerned.

There are some who criticize the abbreviated program because they feel that it does not cover the entire body well enough. It is true that an abbreviated program would not be the best for a permanent schedule if one wanted the finest shaped physique. However many of these critics have never been in the shoes of the poor fellow who finds it almost impossible to gain on the standard programs with 15 to 25 exercises. They do not know the thrill of the big gains in strength and bodyweight that come from these abbreviated programs after being so long without gains at all. After a satisfactory degree of progress has been made on the abbreviated program and you find your gains come easier you may then add other exercises to your program to balance up your development.

We have known many men who made little if any gains after years of hard training, who, upon adopting an abbreviated and specialized schedule, made very rapid and almost unbelievable gains. Some people say that you get to be nothing but a big fat slob from abbreviated programs. This is a lack of clear and intelligent thinking. You only get fat because you eat too much of the fattening foods. There is no other way to get fat. Such foods as starches, sweets and fats cause you to become fat when you eat in excess of your body’s needs for fuel foods. Protein foods will not allow you to get fat. Eat plenty of them and you will gain muscle only. Don’t let any crack-pot critics worry you with their faulty arguments. Sure – there are a lot of barbell men who have gotten quite fat but they got that way only because of their diets as mentioned above and they can remove this fat any time they want to cut down on the foods that caused their trouble.

Remember, you are the master of your body. You can mould it as you wish according to the INTELLIGENT EFFORT and control you are willing to exercise in the operation. There is no such thing as a man or woman who cannot made progress (except in diseases conditions – and most of these could progress also.) It is all a matter of studying the body, it’s functions and malfunctions and applying proper treatment. The proper treatment for a lot of you fellows who consider yourselves problems, is an adequate diet and a specialized and abbreviated exercise program.

Now there is very little POSITIVE knowledge about bodybuilding so we don’t like to state beliefs as absolute facts, but we are often very emphatic with our beliefs.

One of our beliefs is that in addition to a good diet you must also have ample rest and sleep between exercise sessions if you wish to make good progress. Have you ever noticed how a bull will bulk up when kept penned up and fed on a nutritious food (most usually special supplements with a high protein concentration.) He gets huge and muscular. The protein in his diet keeps him from getting very fat but he becomes very muscular. If he could be made to do heavy exercise in a scientific manner he would probably become unbelievably large and muscular but then his meat probably would become too tough to eat. Much of my convictions on nutrition have come from observation of scientific feeding of animals which has progressed much farther than the study of correct feeding of humans. Living in in an agricultural community where much of the beef of the world comes from, I have been amazed at the minute care and attention given to the exact correct feeding of cattle compared to that given humans. Most of these feeders have a wide knowledge of “diet” for animals, but know almost nothing about the correct “diet” and its values for humans. The comparison makes one wonder at the sanity of the human race. We have done so much for the animals and so little for ourselves. 

By now most of you are getting impatient for the exercises we promised you so here they are. Very simple and common exercises – the bench press, rowing exercise and the squat. You may wonder why we have made this choice. We could have selected several others almost as good and sometimes in your personal training we do, but with the exception of the rowing exercise all three of these are simple and almost fool-proof and the rowing exercise can be easily learned correctly.

The squat is easily the most important of the three. It used to be thought that the main reason the squat was such an effective body-builder was because it stimulated the metabolism and increased the functional vigour of all the organs. This has never been proven however, so it still remains more or less an opinion – nevertheless one that seems well founded. Be that as it may, it has been found that the squat is a most important exercise in that it works large muscle groups very vigorously. It is an exercise that is convenient to use and it is difficult to do it wrong. It is a good all round exercise – not because it works all the muscles – because it doesn’t – but it seems that growth stimulated by the squat exercise is not confined alone to the legs and other muscles it effects directly, but also effects added growth to the entire body. It is generally recognized by most bodybuilders and lifters as the most valuable single exercise known.

The bench press has, in recent years, become known for being an upper body counterpart of the squat in its value and effectiveness. There are those who feel this is a very poor exercise but this I believe is because they do not understand it properly and have attributed the effects from other exercises to the bench press. When I mention the bench press I also include the supine press on floor for it is so close in its relationship as to be considered almost one and the same. In years past the supine press on floor was very popular until the bench press came along. Then because the bench press, as practiced by most bodybuilders, is a rebound exercise (see a previous article in this series on rebound exercises), it proved more effective than the floor variety. On some men It is possible to lower the bell farther in the bench press tool I say some because some men have such deep chests that they can’t lower the bell any farther than if they did a supine press on the floor. Whenever we do a supine press on the floor we use the rebound system. The sticklers for the rules want the press started from a dead start at the bottom. This is OK for record purposes but to follow this practice in exercising is foolish for you waste a very valuable adjunct to your training, “rebound.” Rebound, as we have said before, accounts for much of the value of the squat as well as the dead hang cleans and snatches.

The rowing exercise is one exercise that most bodybuilders dislike because it can become a little uncomfortable during performance. However when properly performed it is a superb exercise. There are several methods of “correct” performance. The style which you choose depends on what you desire in the way of development.

If you want good latissimus muscles and deltoids then perform it as follows: Assume the bent over position and grasp the bar. Pull bar to chest then hold it high while bringing elbows to sides and shrug shoulders toward hips then slowly lower the bar close to legs all the way. Concentrate on this strongly. You will find that this works the Trapezius also. It is the proper way to perform the exercise for best development. If you want power, you of course grasp as large a weight as possible and pull it to the waist or chest fast with power and even a little cheating. Rowing should be done with both wide and narrow grips (hand spacing.) The rowing motion will work the entire back more or less when properly performed. It also works the forearms for you should curl the wrist as you pull the weight up. When you use a narrow grip you also use the biceps some. Certain parts of the movement even effect the triceps somewhat.

Of course, we also have the upright rowing for the lifter and for developing deltoids, trapezius and arms. We are not concerned with this variation in this issue, however.

Many of our readers wish a detailed procedure outlined to follow so we will give it at this time.

The Flat Footed Squat

Your first exercise is the squat. We want you to start out doing 15 repetitions of this exercise one set. As you gain in strength and endurance and the need, add more sets up to 4. You will probably find it necessary to reduce the poundage with each set. When adding weight to the bar you will probably find your repetitions dropping to about 11 or 12. Gradually work back up to 15 however, then ad poundage again (usually in 10lbs jump.) Use all the weigh you can for the necessary repetitions. For these squats we want you to do them flat-footed, not on a block. This will work the entire leg to better advantage. (Using a block under the heels localizes the effort more on the lower front of the thighs.) We want to work the entire leg and buttocks, as well as lower back and somewhat the upper back. Point the toes well out and keep the feet about 10 inches apart. Keep the head up and the back as flat as possible while you squat. Take a deep breath just before squatting and then hold it until the squat movement is completed. Go straight down in the squat until your thigs on top are parallel or slightly below parallel then come back up. Don’t listen to some self styled expert who tells you to go into a full squat. When you do this you run about a 70 percent chance of hurting your back.

Only a few people can do a full squat with heavy weights without danger of sacro-illiac injury. Those who can think everyone should be forced to do it this way. Don’t take a chance. Tense the muscles for a muscular rebound just before you reach bottom and don’t allow momentum to carry you to bottom. Jump right back up as fast you can.

Do the first 5 repetitions of your squats with one breath for each squat. After the first 5 repetitions take 3 to 5 deep breaths between each repetition. Don’t breathe into the abdomen however. Lift the shoulders up and back and breathe high into the chest, lifting the chest high with each breath. Watch this breathing. It will be hard at first but well worth the effort of learning. Rest about 2 to 5 minutes between sets or only until your breathing begins to return to normal. Don’t sit down between sets but walk slowly around. Remember these are bodybuilding squats, not power squats, although they will give you great power too.

The Bench or Supine Press

Now take about a 10 minute rest after your squatting session. If you are doing supine presses on the floor you can roll the weight up over the abdomen and by arching the back you can lift the bar with abdomen up on the arms supported by elbows on the floor. If you are doing bench presses you will either need helpers or else special built pair of supports from which to take the weight. Some men can even pullover the weight over their heads for their bench presses but to do this you must either be specially constructed for great power in this position or else you are using very light weights in the bench press. If you have a long bench you can sit down with the bar across the hips and then lay on bench and pull feet under hips and from there toss the weight to the arms as in the supine press on floor.

After weight is at arms length take a deep breath and lower the weight fairly fast until it almost touches the chest, then drive it back to arms length, take another breath or two and repeat. We do not recommend bouncing the weight from the chest though some fellows do this. Catch the weight with the muscles of the arms, shoulders and chest. Give them the benefit of this rebound training. Start the program with one set and gradually work up to 4 sets of from 8 to 10 repetitions. That is, you add 5 pounds to weight of the bar and you will only be able to do 8 repetitions but work up to 10 reps and then add another 5 pounds, dropping back to 8 reps again. In other words use the double progressive system in addition to the sets. Some may be under the impression that we do not favor the so-called double progressive system because we don’t mention it as such, but the fact is we consider this system so common that everyone uses it. In spite of Mr. Paschall’s fears, we know of no bodybuilder  who doesn’t use this system. You can’t avoid it. A man will be forced to use it as he adds weight. For instance if you do a press 10 reps with 100 pounds and then add 10 pounds, you won’t be able to do over about 6 reps. You will have to work back up to 10 reps again before adding weight again. So we take it for granted that everyone uses this double progressive system because it is impossible not to.

We want you to use the narrow grip (about 6 to 8 inches apart) and the medium grip and then the wide grip for different sets of this exercise. This will give you a wide range of action. Learn to fight the weight in both the bench press and the squat. If you don’t you will never handle big poundages or develop big muscles and the power to go with them.

We have already described the correct performance of the rowing exercise but we want you to start with one set of 10 to 14 reps and work up to 4 sets in this exercise. Use light poundages until you get the right form, then add  weight to your maximum for CORRECT PERFORMANCE. You should be able to feel quite an ache in the latissimus muscles a short time after doing a set of rowing carefully. Work very hard on this rowing. Most men quit it before they have done enough to benefit because they don’t like it. While resting between exercises do a set of either the “Rader Chest Pull” or a good set of pullovers. This will stretch your chest and aid in its development.

Follow the suggestions for diet as given in the early part of the article. Get all the rest and sleep you can. DO not indulge in any other exercise or sport. Conserve all the energy possible for your workouts. Most fellows can grow well on three workouts per week but if you are especially low on energy (as many men are who have to use abbreviated, specialized programs( you may find two workouts per week enough. In extreme cases, do two workout programs but split them up so that you do the squats in the morning and the bench presses and rowing in the afternoon. This will enable you to work very hard on each one without becoming exhausted.

Now this type of program is primarily for problem cases who have had trouble gaining and for those with low energy reserve. However many advanced bodybuilders and some of the top weight lifters have found great improvement coming from such abbreviated programs. It is also ideal for the man with but little time who wants the best exercise for maintaining the maximum of fitness, strength and condition in a minimum of time. These exercises  can be done one set each in about 10 minutes or less if you are in a hurry.

From these exercises and diet you can expect quite a rapid increase in muscular bodyweight and great improvements in strength. When you reach a satisfactory degree of bulk and power you can change to a more general power for specialization on certainly parts and definition.