John Thomas, competing in the 1972 Mr. Britain contest. This is the man
the two posted courses were designed for.
Monday/Thursday
1) Alternate DB Press, 8x8
2) DB Forward Raise, 8x8
3) DB Bench Press, 10x5
4) Dips, 8x10
5) Barbell French Press, 10x8
6) Floor Dips, hands together, 8x8
Tuesday/Friday
1) Full Squat, 7x10
2) Bentover Row, 6x8
3) Chins to Front, 8x6 (add weight when needed)
4) Incline DB Curl, 10x8
5) Barbell Preacher Curl, 10x8
Plenty of heavy calf work also.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
Very much Gironda inspired, yeah?
ReplyDeleteYeah! I was thinking the same thing.
DeleteThe rests between sets and weight selection was what I was considering there.
You was, were you?
DeleteThis is more like an intermediate routine not a Mr Britain one.
ReplyDeleteSideburns were huge at the '72 Mr. Britain!
Deletehttps://tinyurl.com/24xtn9f5
Those are most definitely intermediate to advanced level bristles.
DeleteAnyhow . . . the routine above . . . done at a fair-quick overall tempo ya figure?
Maybe an early season/out of season build-up routine ahead of the final contest preparation routine that then put on the finishing touches? I think competitive bodybuilders in the seventies trained four days a week in the off-season; plus most or all would have had to work to earn a living so trained at night. For example, in September 1974 IronMan it says Albert Beckles was a civil servant in the Ministry of Defence in Britain and trained trained five days a week in their workplace small gym.
DeleteMost bodybuilders in the 70s trained like Arnold did, 6 days a week even in the off season.
DeleteThey just cut back on sets.
They're were a few that trained 4 days a week. Ken Waller mentions this. Back then standard was one day chest/back, one day shoulders/arms , one day legs.
Hi! This explanation by Bill Luttrell shows a fine example of the Golden Era approach used by most with a six-day split. I like that he showed how the first three days were heavier, and the last three were "lighter".
DeleteNo need for anyone to chime in with the overtraining schtick here, really.
Just look the other way if it offends thee.
https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2011/03/golden-era-bodybuilding-routine-bill.html
The overall shoulder-usage deal can be a thing over time for some guys.
DeleteSome people find splitting like this works better for them:
Chest/Back
Legs
Shoulders/Arms
Day Off
Repeat
That's outside the sacred 7-day cycle!
DeletePretty interesting, I've been nursing a chest strain for some months and thought I'd go really blood flow and pump-y since it seems to worsen with heavy weight but is basically fine with very light weights. I was looking for an example of a 8x8 routine by a respected lifter with some level of high frequency in it just to sanity check myself. Came in clutch here, love this blog as always.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin . . . I ain't too bright at all and very proud of this
Deletebeing
said . . .
It seems to me in this dimness I inhabit that many lifters are drawn to a finality of the "correct" way to do this thing across the board. Come on now, each "superhuman star at the center of the universe lifter" trained in all sorts of ways during his life.
The higher volume, rapid sets approach is a great choice when nursing a tweak or minor injury, no doubt.
And incidentally, don't get confused and think Mr. Gironda "invented" this stuff.
I'm just sayin'.