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.
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!
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