Joe Weider was quite the marketer.
Here he is once again claiming anything ever done by a human being throughout all time follows one of his "principles." Some interesting, if not original in any way, training stuff buried in his self-glorifying lies, but depending on your view of the late Joe Weider, you just might wanna read this one on an empty stomach. I worry about Joe over there on the other side, in some heaven/hell scenario, peddling his "Weider Eternal Life Principle" and marketing "Soul-Clean 101" to the unsuspecting heavenly beings bearing harps.
We'd best make use of the Weider Warmup Principle and get in the right frame of mind here before venturing further . . .
Yes, it's the "Weider Assistance Situp" . . .
And, as always, no expense was spared in the editing department . . .
To the article!
When "Hercules Conquers Atlantis" appears on your local movie screen this summer, the star of it is the biggest star of them all . . . mighty, majestic Reg Park . . . the world's finest example of Weider bulk-power training techniques.
Now, when I say that Reg is the "biggest" star of them all I do not derogate the considerable acting talents of Steeve Reeves or Lou Degni. I speak here only of actual size, for in that area Reg Park stands supreme.Bone for bone, inch for inch, pound for pound and muscle for muscle, Reg is incomparable and no, that's not Betty, Ben and Joe in the photo on your right. Therefore I urge every bodybuilder living or dead to see Reg Park in his new film - he's the eighth wonder of the world!
One particular reason why I would like to have you see Hercules Conquers Atlantis is to discover the almost limitless possibilities that Weider bulk-power methods afford in building a truly Herculean physique.
When that fantastically muscular giant appears on the screen I should like you to reflect that once Reg Park was just an ordinary bodybuilder, with a fair-to-middling build, just like countless thousands of others.
I should like you to further reflect that even after Reg had won a number of physique contests his build was still not in a class with that of Clarence Ross, Steve Reeves, Jack Delinger - nor any other outstanding star of massive build of that period. In actual muscular massiveness, symmetry and definition, any one of those men was clearly Reg's superior.
It was at this time that Reg came to the U.S. to train under my direction. Reg instinctively knew that he had not even begun to reach his limit in physical development. The old-fashioned methods he had pursued simply could not project him further than the borderline between "almost great" and true physical magnificence.
When he could no longer make the progress he felt he could and should make, he arrived from England to be met by me and several other outstanding bodybuilders from Abe Golberg's gym on the lower East Side of New York.
Never one to stand on ceremony, Reg declined our invitation to tour the city and see the sights. Instead he suggested that we go at once to Abe's gym for a workout. He told us that he had become so enthused in reading about the possibilities of Weider bulk-power methods that he wanted to see these techniques demonstrated and, as he said, "there's no time like right now!"
When we reached Abe's gym the demonstrator we chose was young Marvin Eder, one of our "guinea pigs" who researched Weider bulk-training methods, and "the world's strongest youth" - a well-earned sobriquet for Marv at that time could bench press 475 and perform a standing press of 347! This exceeded the world's record at that time.
Now, by a slight backward thrust of the upper body and a quick "jiggle" of the thigh, the weight is started upward just to the point where the biceps takes over. It is then brought up to the shoulder and returned s-l-o-w-l-y . . . with the biceps resisting all the way. Just before it touches the thigh, the next cheating rep is begun, and so on until 8 to 10 reps have been completed. This one's ALL about the lowering.
Reg began to practice this curl the moment Marv had finished the set, and was thrilled to see how his arms pumped up like never before . . . flushed with a gorge of muscle-building blood that kept them blown up for hours.
Go Joe, Go!
When we began discussing and demonstrating new Weider techniques for rapid pectoral development, Reg was in for another surprise. Here, Marv demonstrated the Dumbbell Incline Bench Press and Reg was completely flabbergasted to see Marv's huge pecs ballooning like a pair of Navy blimps!
At my direction Marv showed Reg the Steve Reeves trick of pulling back the elbows slightly past the shoulders so that the serratus muscles were strongly worked with the pectorals and a greater stretch could be had. Marv also demonstrated how dumbbells work better for a man with Reg's huge chest structure. When the barbell is used the bar stops at the chest before a complete stretching of the pecs is achieved. But by using dumbbells the elbows are free to descend quite low . . . well past the back . . . hence the fullest pectoral stretch is achieved.
Now, for some bodybuilders it seems virtually impossible to use heavy dumbbells in this exercise . . . it's more difficult to maintain balance. Moreover, others seemingly can't get the weight started upward from a low elbow position, therefore a slight "cheat" is necessary. Thus it was with Reg.
Oddly, it is almost impossible to cheat in this exercise because the back must lie flat against the incline bench for balance, hence the "cheat" must come from somewhere else . . . from two training partners standing on each side of the lifter.
How is this done? Well, it's really more of a "psychological cheat" than actual muscular assistance. Each training partner "puts just a finger" under the elbow of the trainee, not a hand, nor several fingers, just the forefinger to give assurance that "help" is there if needed. This "psychological security" [what's with all these quotes on everything, buddy] removes the lifter's fear of losing the weight . . . hence the dumbbells go up perfectly and often such "psychological assistance" is never needed again!
Once the elbows have gotten past the "cheat" the pectorals pull the weight upward. And PULL is just what I mean. The entire force of mental and muscular concentration is focused on the pectorals at this point. They must be commanded to p-u-l-l the dumbbells upward.
Just me, but wouldn't "push" have been the choice of words here? I sat on an incline bench and tried to "pull" a pair of dumbbells from my chest to lockout. No matter how loudly I "commanded" the buggers it was a no-go, Joe. Best send the Research Clinic a letter on this.
Okay, here we go with the explanation of "pulling" a press . . .
It was here that Reg Park learned that the term "incline bench PRESS" is incorrect. It is really an "incline bench pectoral pull." Pardon me?
Although it is a press in the sense that the triceps work as they do in all forms of pressing, nevertheless, to achieve the full muscle-building effect of this exercise both the mental and muscular contraction must be directed into the pectorals so that they actually P-U-L-L the dumbbells above the chest. I told Reg that if he would always think of it as a Pull rather than a Press it would MAKE him pull. Thereafter, when he had completed 8 sets of the "pull" he was thrilled to see how this bit of psychology had caused his pecs to swell up full, round and flared out into his mighty deltoids!
I'm sold on this and will be pulling some PR incline DB presses in no time. Oh yeah, oi vey, no way.
Speaking of the Park deltoids . . . they developed easily and rapidly for Reg. He is that fortunate bodybuilder whose deltoids pump up unbelievably when even when he does no more than just think about them.
Invariably, Reg's attention was redirected to his arms. They measured 17 inches when he first came to these shores, but after a few months of cheating curls, Zeller curls and the two-dumbbell seated assistance curl they zoomed to well past 19 inches.
By now everyone knows and uses the Weider Heavy Cheating Curl. Okay. Yes. Absolutely. The Weider Heavy Cheating Curl. But perhaps you don't know the technique of the Assistance Curl.
Look at this photo in which Marv Elder, oops, there's that no-expense-spared proofing again, supplies the "assistance." Reg sits at the end of the bench grasping two heavy dumbbells. Marv simply "glues" Reg's knees in a stationary position so that the "cheat" will be done only by a slight "twitch-back" of Reg's upper body (Weider Twitch-Back Principle), just enough to get the dumbbells into orbit unto the biceps can take over and complete the curl. No great "sway" back in the cheat, just a slight backward twitch is all that's necessary. In triceps work Reg learned the Weider Assistance Triceps Extension and how the great "horseshoe" in the rear of his arms came out! Oh, those miraculous Weider innovations
and ooh, those damned proofreaders. The photo caption above should read "Weider Assistance Triceps Extension."
In this movement the lifter lies supine as shown above (fire that proofreader immediately!) with the barbell held at arms' length overhead, elbows locked, and with a training partner "stand-sitting" over the pelvis, hands clasped against the trainee's elbows. This provides maximum concentration of the exercise into the triceps so that all the work is done by these muscles with no "flailing around" with the elbows thereby bringing assistance of other muscle groups. It's pure triceps movement this way. From here, the barbell is lowered to the forehead by the mere bending of the elbows. And on the way back the triceps again "pull" the weight upward. [Okay, okay, now I get ya, Smith, you cagey old staff writer, you. You mean "pulling" the lever of the lower arm up and to lockout. Or "pulling" with the pecs in the DB incline press. Or Larry Scott talking about "pulling" yourself up in a pec dip.] It's in the "pull" that the effect of this exercise is so marvelously felt. Is the love of semantics generally platonic?
The "assistant" in this exercise is the famed Dom Juliano, the man with the fantastic "around-shoulders" measurement of 56 inches! Dom had a great deal to do with Reg's muscle-building progress because he FED him! As you know, a basic part of any bulk-power program is a high-protein diet. And at Dom's house Reg discovered for the first time the meaning of REALLY high protein or what cannibals call a pothead instead of "edible."
Although Reg is in no sense poor financially, he felt that to go into a restaurant and order the huge amount of meat he daily required would cause embarrassment to himself and the others since the waiter would undoubtedly call for the men in white(!) when Reg ordered "six large sirloin steaks, please . . . very rare . . . shaken, not stirred . . . bacon, not turnips . . . god told me to kill the American lizard-men . . ."
Will you bloody well get on with it already!
Dom, Reg, Protein . . . Reg circumvented this situation by the simple expedient of purchasing raw steaks, large veal cutlets and lamb chops and having Dom, who is also a master chef, cook them. So it was Dom's rich. homestyle cooking as much as our bulk-power methods that helped transform the Park physique into its now-famous greatness.
I wonder if Weider bothered to actually read much of what went into his mags. Here and there Smith may have taken advantage of that fact and had some fun with it, as he did above in playing down the miracle cure for low gainz that "Weider" bulk-power training is.
However, with this unusually high in protein diet, s-e-g-u-e, Reg prevented his midsection from thickening by following Marv Eder's abdominal program to the letter. In this, Reg performed just two exercises, but in high sets of high reps.
The first is the Weider Assistance Tickle-Situp, and you'll note in the photo on the left that I'm "assisting" Reg. In this type of situp no additional weight is used. The exercise is made progressively more difficult (and therefore more effective) when the assistant raises the exerciser's feet inch-by-inch with each succeeding rep. This provides a COMPLETE abdominal squeeze which is not possible with regular, feet-stationary situps. These latter situps engage only the upper two layers of abdominals, whereas the Weider Assistance Situp, by causing a great frontal arc of the body, forces the lower layers to get into the act.
Sheesh, Joe, my feets ain't gettin' assista-tickled but I'm still laughin' out loud over here!
The other abdominal exercise in Reg and Marv's program is the Hanging Leg Raise. Both situps and leg raises are done for a total of 50 reps per set, with about six sets comprising the entire abdominal workout.
There is one exercise to which Reg became addicted, and which has probably done more to widen his ribcage than any other. It's the
WEIDER CROSS-BENCH PULLOVER WITH DUMBBELL.
I swear to God I've never laughed this loud with my socks on.
In this exercise the bodybuilder lies across rather than along the bench. The top of the shoulders should be exactly on the end of the bench as shown, with the head OFF the bench and allowed to hang slightly downward.
A heavy dumbbell is grasped under the plates with both hands, with thumbs around the handle. Hold the bell over the chest with elbows locked. This is the starting position. Now, slightly unlock the elbows and allow the bell to travel downward as far as you possibly can. It is important that you seek a continuing downward pull, for only by this technique can you spread the ribcage and widen the lats at the same time.
Be sure that you feel a terrific stretch in the pecs and sternum as the bell is at its lowest position. The P-U-L-L the weight back to starting position. Do NOT press it. Think p-u-l-l and make the pectorals do ALL the work.
As you see Reg performing this exercise, note how amazingly wide the lats are pushed out, and how the sternum seems almost split between the two pectorals. This is chest expansion par excellence. Reg never fails to include this exercise in his workouts.
Of course, there are many exercises that Reg had already learned in England . . . the famous Reeves Curl or Incline Bench Dumbbell Curl as it is also known. It's one of Reg's favorites just as it is Steve's. This first-name-basis BS can get annoying, eh. Highly irregular. I propose we give each champion a number and from here on and into the eternal and never-setting suns we refer to them by their numbers. So . . . It's one of 2314's favorites just as it is 521's. Much better.
All kinds of leg exercises are popular with Reg, and some that he learned exclusively from us will be detailed in a future issue. I think you will be interested in learning how Reg discovered the effectiveness of the Triple Sissy Squat and how amazingly it pumped up his tremendous thighs . . . and how he performs the Assistance Heel Raise . . . the exercise that has largely been responsible for 2314's 18.5" calves!
These, and many other interesting Reg Park exercises will be thoroughly explored and demonstrated . . . be sure to read us next month*
Enjoy Your Lifting!
*part of the Weider Chronological Assistance Principle that includes, days, hours, and minutes.
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A candid, caustic, intensely human depiction of alcoholism. The novel, which offers no excuses, is as funny as it is gruesome and tragic. In addition to being an alcoholic, Jerzy is addicted to words. This interferes with his ability to lead a fully engaged life as much as his fondness for vodka does . . .
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