Doug Hepburn Training, Changes in Later Years - Twiceborn

 

One thing Doug changed later in his life is that you DO NOT do the Power and Pump programs together in the same workout. 

He felt the Pump program was overkill and probably did him more harm than good. 8 sets of singles followed by a full 5x5 would kill any of us over time. 

He refined the training he recommended  when older and wiser, in the late 1990s before his death. 

It went like this: 

"A Routine" 

Use singles, start with 4 total and build up by one single per workout until you hit 10 singles total. 

"B Routine"

Use triples and do the same progression. 4 sets of triples, add a triple each workout until you get to 10 sets of triples. 

"C Routine" 

5 sets of 3, add 1 rep per workout until you're at 5 sets of 5. 

Note: If using this routine, ALWAYS add the workout's rep to the FIRST sets until you hit the goal. For example: 

3/3/3/3/3

4/3/3/3/3

5/3/3/3/3

5/4/3/3/3

5/5/3/3/3

etc.

Contrary to some of the altered layouts online, Doug would NEVER superset. He mentioned that the idea was silly and it took away from focus on the lift you're working on. He liked to focus and would meditate between his lifts. 

He was a very big believer in self-hypnosis/auto-suggestion. 

Doug NEVER used percentages. 

Working weights were to be

"HEAVY ENOUGH TO STRAIN WITH BUT NOT YOUR MAX." 

He would use TWO exercises per day, split them into upper and lower body.

He would Overhead Press and Bench one day, and

Squat and Curl on the other. 

He used to shoot for two of the same workout in 8 days, i.e., 

one day on, one day off. 

At a later age he found he had even better results if he went one on and two off. 

So, to simplify the whole approach: 

First 3-4 months - 

4 singles working up by one single a workout to 10 singles. 

When you peak out and can't add any more weight . . . 

Second 3-4 months - 

4 sets of triples working up by one triple a workout to 10 triples.

This was used until you were using the same weight for triples as you did for singles on the A routine. 

Use them in order . . . A routine then B routine. The C routine is just a shortened version of the B routine. Choose the C routine if you prefer not to hang around for 10 sets as in the B, simple as that. 

Enjoy Your Lifting! 

Squatting for the Olympic Lifter - Tommy Suggs (1970)

 Strength & Health October 1970

The gym was a beehive of activity as quite a few members of the local high school football team were doing a bomb-blitz-type program in order to be ready for the upcoming pre-season practice. I noticed Charlie over on the lifting platform offering advice to the young trainees.

“Coaching now, huh?”

“Oh, not really. A few fellows were asking me about full squats for football.”

“What did you tell them?”

“Not much, since I don’t know that much. I told them that I do squats and haven’t had any problems with my knees. That seems to be their greatest concern. What should I tell them?”

“Well Charlie, since it’s obvious that many of the younger fellows coming in here will be turning to you for some sound advice, perhaps I’d better give you some information on which to base your suggestions.”

“Good idea, I hate to be left without an answer.”

“I bet you do.” He sat down on the incline bench and gave me his full attention. “The full squat has been under attack ever since Dr. K.K. Klein wrote his piece of research in the early ‘60’s. Doctor Klein said, simply, that full squats stretched the ligaments and tendons around the knee joint and made that joint more susceptible to injury, especially in contact sports.”

“Wow, and I’ve been having these guys do them.”

“Hold your horses, I’m not finished. Later research has contradicted this study. It has been found that full squats, when performed correctly, actually prevent knee injuries.”

“How can two pieces of research prove opposite points?”

“There is a lot more to research than merely reporting facts. There is always a certain amount of bias influencing any study, plus there are weak points in any study that other researchers can pick up and refute.”

“Which piece of evidence do you go by?”

“I base my ideas on the full squats more on what experienced coaches tell me. They have shown, as have weightlifters, that full squats are safe if they are done correctly. In fact, they can be helpful in preventing knee injuries.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask, but I guess I must. Am I doing my squats correctly?”

“As I haven’t watched you squat for a week or two, I’ll wait till I see you do them today before I answer that. Today is a squat day, isn’t it?”

“As a matter of fact, I have two more sets of hi-pulls  and then I’ll be ready.”

“Fine. I have a phone call to make and then I’ll skip right back and watch you.”

As I got back to the platform Charlie had set the bar on the power rack at shoulder height and had loaded it to 125.

“Ready to observe?”

“Ready”

He took the bar off the rack, puffed a few times and dipped to parallel. He came up quickly, puffed, and did four more similar movements. He looked over at me hopefully. “Okay?”

“Nope.”

With a disgusted expression, he took off his belt and sat down beside me.

“Who taught you to squat like that?” I asked.

“Joe Dobbs.”

Joe Dobbs is a linebacker on a pro football team. He trains with us just before summer camp. He weighs 265 and could hunt bear with a switch. Most of the fellows follow him around like puppy dogs listening to his grid-iron war stories.

“No reflection on Joe, but Joe is a football player an you are training to be an Olympic lifter.”

“So, we both need leg strength, right?” Charlie had a point and knew it so continued to push it across. “If he is getting his legs stronger with this style, then I should be able to do the same. Tell me that’s not true.” He sat back, crossed his arms and looked extremely content.

“Charlie, you will get your legs stronger doing squats like Joe Dobbs, but Joe does not need strength in exactly the same areas as you do.”

He unfolded his arms. “Explain.”

“In order for you, or any Olympic lifter to recover from a deep squat clean or squat snatch you have to have thigh and gluteus strength to bring you out of a rock bottom position. You never touch that position with your half squats that you are doing now. Also, you have your feet very wide. This throws the stress more on the lower back than on the legs. This is an area that the Olympic lifter works with other exercises. The reason he does squats is to strengthen the legs, not the back.”

Charlie looked a bit puzzled. “Then why does Joe do them that way?”

“Because he was taught that way when full squats were taboo. Besides, he is getting sufficient leg work for his sport. Joe Dobbs never, or almost never, comes out of a full squat position with a barbell loaded to twice his bodyweight on his chest – like lifters do. I might add that Joe would be far better off doing full squats, but he has been quite successful with his program so isn’t too keen on changing.”

“Go over what I should do again.”
“Step-by-step. First, set the bar high on the back, above the traps so that the legs will be doing the bulk of the work. Second, set the feet in a stance that you assume when you squat clean a weight. If your feet hit fairly wide at the bottom of the clean do your squats from that stance. You want them to relate as closely as possible to the lift itself. Third, go down slowly and do not rebound at the bottom, then come up as rapidly as possible. This is the key to protecting the knees. Rebounding is the culprit when it comes to injuring the knees.”

“Then I shouldn’t bounce? I can do more that way.”

“Perhaps you can’t now, but I can assure you that if you begin stopping at the bottom you will be able to do much more in no time. And you will never have to worry about hurting the knees.”

“How long should I pause at the bottom?”

“Just a dead stop is sufficient. Also, you should stay solid and tight at the bottom, don’t relax.”

“What else did you see?”
“You don’t need to huff and puff so much for each rep. If you were knocking out 10-20 reps it would be different, but you are only doing fives. Take a breath at the start of the squat, hold it while you go down and up, then exhale and inhale again.”

“I’m going to start over. Stay and watch!”

“Certainly”

This time he set the bar high on his back, set his feet slightly wider than shoulder width with his toes pointed slightly outward, took a breath, went to the bottom, stopped and came back erect. He shot a quick glance over and asked, “That better?”

“Much better. Try and look up a little more next rep. it helps to keep the back flat.”

He knocked out four more reps, loaded the bar to 150 and sat down on the incline bench.

“Well Charlie,” I asked. “how did those feel?”

“Fine. I just hope that I don’t drop the weight back too much.”

“I don’t think that you will. Anyway it’s more important to work the Olympic lifting muscles than just to handle big weights. I would rather have you doing five deep squats with 225 for 5 than 275 for 5 in the manner you were just doing them. This way we know how strong you legs really are. This is not the case in the half squats as the back does most of the work. How are your front squats coming along?”

“Not too good I’m afraid.”

“I’m not surprised. The half squats were not getting to the gluteus and that’s an important area in front squatting. The front squats will pick up once you get the back squats going in this style. You should have an almost identical body position for the front and the back squats. The only difference being the bar sets on the chest for one and on the back for the other.”

“Why do we bother with fronts?”

“Basically for positioning for the squat clean. Also they work the legs and glutes in a little different angle. The best way to check pure leg strength is with a front squat. The foreign lifters never ask ‘what can you squat’, but rather ‘what can you front squat.’ I once saw a lifter, who held the American record in the squat with well over 500 pounds get pinned with a 325 squat clean. That’s why we do front squats once a week.”

Charlie was attentively shaking his head and I saw that he had heard enough for one day. He jumped up, “Well I better finish these up. I have a date.”

“Sure, didn’t mean to hold you up. See how your legs feel tomorrow. I would venture to guess that they would be a little sore, indicating that you worked some new muscles today.”

“Oh, great. Nothing like some new sore spots.”

“All part of our happy sport, Charlie. You’ll learn to love soreness as time goes on.”

“Don’t count on that.”

A Leg Program for Fast Gains - Bradley Steiner (1980)

 

                                                                          From the May, 1980 issue. 

There's a simple and foolproof solution to almost everyone's weight gaining problems, yet bodybuilders continue to search about for "the answer" to how to effectively pack on some muscular bodyweight. 

The solution is, of course, intensive, properly performed LEG SPECIALIZATION, and it is astonishingly effective today, in 1980, as it was decades ago when in was first popularized. 

I know that it is easy to get sidetracked into following a crazy-nut routine when you want, desperately, to pile on some heft. This is why unscrupulous cranks can make fortunes by concocting outlandish courses, books and articles for the innocent to follow. It's too bad, but they continue to make a mint off of the honest desires of people like you. I assure you, the information and training schedule that I shall recommend in this feature will do more for you than every crank course on the market, especially if you're a hard gainer who has so far found it near-impossible to gain any weight. 

There are some simple, basic rules that you need to follow, rather rigorously, if you want quick, sure weight gains in a bodybuilding schedule. 

1) Avoid over-training. 

This is probably the SINGLE GREATEST REASON why persons seeking to gain weight on a lifting schedule fail. Usually, people who want weight gains will train all day for them, and that's the problem! They do an excessive amount of work, overexerting their systems, breaking down too much tissue and preventing their recuperative powers from meeting the excessive demands of the exercise program.

I never get tired of using this comparison . . . 

Generally, the trainee feels that if (correctly) three 45-60 minute workouts per week will trigger great gains, then five, six, or even seven workouts of an hour or two will do three times as much. 

Wrong. 

WRONG! 

The reason why a specified, limited amount of training will trigger gains is because training in small amounts STIMULATES growth. Stimulation carried too far becomes overwork, and it then creates a burden for the physical/psychological/ nervous system of the individual that their underweight physiques simply cannot cope with. 

It is better to train too little than too much -- if you've got to do things wrong. 

Remember this: Training on the wrong type of program will provide greater gaining results, IF YOU TRAIN HARD ENOUGH AND DO NOT TRAIN FOR TOO LONG, OR TOO OFTEN, than training on the right program, but doing too much training, too frequently. 

Avoid over-training. 

2) Concentrate on the basic, heavy exercises, preferably leg and back work. 

If you are underweight, it's a cinch your system cannot tolerate too much training . . . yet . . . it needs the right kind of training. This means, without a shadow of a doubt, LEG AND BACK WORK. For the legs and back, even of an underweight person, possess greater strength and bulk than the smaller muscles, and so they can exert greater strength in the better bodybuilding lifts. The larger muscles, when not overworked, and when properly nourished and rested, will grow in size and strength very rapidly, and will trigger reciprocal gains in the lesser muscle groups. 

You definitely don't need to do curls, for example, in order to make gains in your arm girth, if you're underweight! Heavy rowing, deadlifting, bench pressing -- or even squats! -- will make your arms grow. 

Perhaps the nonsense in some of the bodybuilding magazines has made you skeptical of what I say, so do this: try my method. Just give the instruction I give you a fair chance, and, if I am not correct in what I say, you can always return to the other training system. 

3) Maintain a good, balanced diet, and use basic supplements. 

You can't progress on a weight-gain program without following a good diet. And I don't mean following it when you happen to feel in the mood, and living on hot dogs at other times. I mean seriously planning, and consistently adhering to good, sound, sensible dietary habits all the time. 

Everyone who has ever picked up a bodybuilding magazine knows about the importance of protein. But vitamins and minerals, and even proper amounts (though never excessive amounts) of fats and carbohydrates are JUST AS IMPORTANT. Without them, you cannot put any solid heft on your frame, and you'll never maintain sufficient energy levels to train and recuperate between workouts, with an extra amount of vigor. 

If you have a special problem or questions regarding your diet, you can contact a good physician. Otherwise, assuming that you are in good health, and normal, you can assure yourself of adequate nutrition for gaining weight by following a menu something like this: 

Breakfast

4 eggs, any style

5 strips of bacon or 2 slices of ham

Serving of hash brown potatoes

2 slices whole wheat toast and butter

1 piece of fresh fruit

2 large glasses of whole milk, with protein powder added

1 multi-vitamin mineral tablet.

Midmorning Snack

Fresh fruit, your choice. 

Lunch

2 thick tuna sandwiches, or egg salad, chicken, beef, etc. 

1 serving of macaroni or potato salad

2 large glasses of milk with protein powder added

1 tbsp. of wheat germ oil.

Dinner

2 large servings of roast beef, or a big steak, etc. 

Baked potato

Large tossed vegetable salad

Any kind of desert you like

1 large glass of milk with protein powder added

1 vitamin-mineral tablet. 

Evening Snack

1 large glass of milk with protein powder added

1 grilled cheese sandwich.

That's just a simple menu, and it's intended ONLY for the youngster under 21 who needs some weight badly. It's not designed for the guy who'd like to bulk his arms, it's designed for a fellow who is terribly weak and thin, and who must gain weight. 

That's a lot of food, and it will cause problems to eat like that indefinitely. Follow the diet UNTIL you've gained the weight desired and then cut way back. You don't want or need fat, however much you want muscle. 

Naturally, anyone can MODIFY the menu I've given, and thus make it suitable for an older person, or for someone not desperately underweight. 

If you'll follow the diet I've indicated while adhering to the squat course I shall map out for you, I guarantee you'll pack on muscle, and make gains you probably wouldn't believe! 

4) Maintain a positive, healthy mental outlook, and an optimistic spirit. 

In the world of today (oh, that modern world) we all have plenty of reason to feel miserable, if we allow ourselves to dwell on what's wrong. But no person who strives earnestly after any goal can afford to do this, for it poisons his mind, stifles his energy, and makes him negative in all he thinks and does. 

Keep calm, and always try to look at the bright side of things. I realize this sounds foolishly naive, but the fact is it works. If you do this, you will find success easier to obtain, and you will have a more effective control over your time and energies. 

THE MIND RULES! Make no mistake about this, and let no one discourage your acceptance of my words. The role of your mind in your weight-gaining endeavors cannot be overemphasized. 

Note: I am certain we are all familiar with various forms of directing mental energy to a certain physical task. Consider breathing and meditative practices to quicken recovery times. Or not. It's a given behavior that can be extremely difficult to master fully. And more's the challenge! 

If you feel in need of some help in achieving a proper, healthy mental outlook, you cannot do better than to obtain, read, re-read and USE this excellent book, written by my friend, Dr. Albert Ellis. 

 PDF here: https://dokumen.pub/qdownload/a-new-guide-to-rational-living-0879800429.html 

Perhaps you wonder why a book on self-help and rational psychology is being recommended in an article on weight-training. Well, I assure you, the mind is so important in any form of physical training, FOR ANY PURPOSE, that every bit of help you can attain in cultivating healthy mental habits will aid you materially in your own quest. 

Check this one out as well . . . 

5) Obtain sufficient sleep always, and rest enough. Avoid, until you have gained the weight you desire, participation in any other athletic activity. 

One of the reasons why a hard-gainer finds gaining so hard is a poor inner-recovery system. That is, his recuperative powers, and possibly even the quality of his muscle tissue, is just not as formidable as that of others who gain more easily.

Now, a poor recuperative system can be corrected, in time, and with proper, sensible training and diet. You can renew yourself. But until you have succeeded in improving yourself considerably, you will have to make it your business to avoid, in every possible way, any form of physically draining activity, EXCEPT training. 

If you are serious you will take me literally. You will quit a physically demanding job, if you have one, and get a sedentary job. You will DROP all the late night dancing and partying, etc. 

Is this a sacrifice? OF COURSE IT IS! Do you believe that anything in this universe comes without paying the price? 

I am trying to lay all of the cards on the table for you. I want to be honest, straightforward and direct. In other words, I don't want to con you, as, perhaps others have done to you before. I know how it feels to be weak, under-par and physically inferior because a long time ago, when I was a child, I was in that unfortunate condition. So, believe me, I am giving you the scoop. It's up to you to perk up your ears and listen. I learned myself. I built my body up and I brought myself to a very solid 180 pounds of muscular bodyweight at a light-boned 5'10" in height. I maintain this condition today and thrive on DAILY workouts, alternating between martial arts (combato) workouts of about two hours, every other day. My original condition of being a hard-gainer and a light-boned person is no longer any bar to my continual heavy training schedule. 

Please follow my advice. 

YOUR TRAINING

Assuming that you have read over, digested and determined to follow the five rules I have enumerated, you are ready to be introduced to your course of training. 

Follow the program on three non-consecutive days per week (e.g. Mon/Wed/Fri). 

Stick with it for eight weeks, before taking a one-week break (and reducing food intake). Then, either resume the course if you need still more weight, or train on a regular all-round routine. 

1) Warm up with Stiff Legged Deadlifts. 

This is only to be done with light, easily-handled poundages. 

Do 2 sets of 12 reps. 

2) Press Behind Neck.

Do one set of 8 reps (light warmup), and then one set of 8 reps (heavy). 

3) Breathing Squats.

Do one set of 20 reps (using an easily managed poundage). Keep building on the weight you are handling until you are employing your bodyweight on the bar. Take three DEEP, HUGE breaths between every rep. As your bodyweight increases, keep adding weight to the bar. 

Do 2 sets of 5 reps (using every ounce of iron you can without collapsing under the bar). Be safe and use catchers or a spotter. 

4) After the one set of 20 breathing squats do 20 deep breathing pullovers using only an empty bar. Do not increase this weight. This is just a breathing/stretching and chest-expanding movement. 

5) Bench Press.

Do one set of 12 reps (light weight, wide grip) and one set of 10 (comfortable medium grip, heavy weight). 

That's it. Take a nice shower and forget about training until the next workout. Strive to add weight to what you do, but do not add anything if you feel it would be an excessive strain. Make haste slowly and patiently. 

The key exercise is the squat. Push that before you push anything else. In other words, see to it that at least some weight is added to the squats, even if you remain at the same poundages for the other movements. 

DO NOT exceed the sets given! No matter what you read elsewhere, and no matter what any "expert" tells you KEEP THE SETS DOWN TO THE NUMBER SHOWN. 

The idea is to push very, VERY hard on the basic, limited work given. Do that, always adhering to the dietary, rest, and attitude principles earlier described and you will not fail.

You will notice, if you push earnestly, that this limited workout is extremely tough. By the time you've been at it four weeks, and added weight to what you began on, you are sure to complete your workouts tired and thoroughly worked! This is as it should be, but at all costs, avoid overwork. 

If you perhaps find even the brief program outlined too much for your current condition, that's no problem. Just make these simple adjustments: 

A. Do 1 set of stiff legged deadlifts to warm up, instead of 2. 

B. Do 1 set of behind the neck presses instead of 2. 

C. Do 1 set of bench presses instead of 2. 

Above all, don't despair if the beginning is rough, or if you are starting in really below par condition. Be patient. Follow your diet, keep a positive outlook, rest and sleep enough, and KEEP WITH YOUR PROGRAM. This is the secret. 

The human body, like the human spirit, has enormous ability to rally itself and overcome hardship and obstacles. You can do it. Maybe it will be rough at the start, and maybe you've got to commence more on my faith in you than on your faith in yourself. But I have seen too many personal victories in the face of the so-called "impossible odds" to be daunted. 

I KNOW YOU CAN WIN. 

WILL YOU PROVE ME RIGHT? 

Enjoy Your Lifting! 

  

 

 

How I Gained 30 lbs. of Muscle in 6 Weeks - Randall Strossen (1969)

                                                                       https://www.ironmind.com/

Note: Mr. Strossen's name was misspelled as "Strosser" in this article, written when he was 18 or 19 . . . 

While visiting with Randy Strosser on the phone the other day he mentioned having gained 30 lbs. of bodyweight in 6 weeks and we asked him to describe his success for the benefit of other readers.

Here is what he told us: 

Previous to this program which gave me such remarkable results I had trained on low rep squatting but could never gain any muscle, only strength. I am very small boned with 6-5/8 wrists and 8-5/8 ankles and tho I had followed various other barbell programs I had never gained in muscular bodyweight previous to this. 

Information for this program had been obtained from back issues of Iron Man in which the high rep squats were emphasized for the gaining of muscular bodyweight fast. 

I decided to try it and so arranged the following program. 

Press Behind Neck, 3x12

Benover Row, 3x12

Bench Press, 3x12

Squat, 1x20

Straight Arm Pullovers, 1x30 (with light weight)

Stiff Legged Deadlift, 1x15. 

I worked hard on all exercises but concentrated most of my effort on the squat and as advised I added 5 lbs. to the bar every workout whether it seemed possible or not and I could always make it, I found. 

I worked so hard on the squats that I would sometimes become sick at my stomach. My primary effort on this exercise and by aim was to work it to the maximum. 

Deep breathing was done between each repetition of the squat, from 3 to 6 breaths or more. 

Squats are made to parallel position or lower but not clear to the bottom.

Concentration is very important during the squat for without it you will not be able to reach a full 20 repetitions with maximum poundage. 

I found that my gains depended on how hard I worked the squat rather than on how I did the other exercises. The other exercises acted as auxiliary exercises and probably one would would gain about as well with just the squat alone; however, I wanted to guide my development to an overall improvement.

I averaged a 5 pound gain per week and found that adequate nutrition was very important during this time. I don't know which is more important, the nutrition or the squat but feel that they go together as being absolutely necessary.

I was taking about 200to 250 grams of protein during this gaining period as well as vitamin supplements. I drank from 4 to 6 quarts of milk per day and usually used 1 to 2 cups of powdered milk as well. Of course I ate three good meals of nourishing food per day with plenty of meat, vegetables and other good standard foods. 

Another very unusual thing about my gains is that they were made during the hot summer time while I was on vacation from school and WORKING AS A CONSTRUCTION LABORER. Many people wonder if they can gain well during hot summer or while doing hard physical work. I did and I think others probably could with the right program and I think this is the right program. If you need other information it can be found in back issues of Iron Man over the past 30 years. 

I am now training on lower reps for power and I want to enter some lifting meets this year. I feel that I am now in about as hard a condition now as I was at the beginning of the program. 

Enjoy Your Lifting!