Big Muscles Forever

(From the May 1971 Muscle Builder/Power) In this article Arnold talks about the great strides in bodybuilding made over the past ten years. He mentions the photographs of the greats such as Sergio Oliva, Franco Columbu, Rick Wayne and Frank Zane among others. According to Arnold, Joe Weider and his Weider System made this happen. Weider turned bodybuilding into a science, according to Arnold. Joe Weider has been at it since the late 1940’s in developing new training methods.

The split system, The double split, forced reps, super sets, power routines, flushing, and cheating are just some of the techniques used by the Weider champs. Arnold Schwarzenegger in this 1971 article says that Joe Weider is the man responsible for the present fantastic generation of fabulous stars! (Blogger note: But would Arthur Jones agree? :)).

This is a nice article by Frank Zane from the May 1971 Muscle Builder/Power on how to add shape to your muscles. Zane starts out by stating that physique contests are going more toward the streamlined physique as opposed to the monster type physiques. That later proved true in his case when he won the Mr. Olympia. ( This is no longer the case in 2008 ). Rather than bulking up and trimming down these training tips are more for the guy who wants to train less with more of a quality, concise and precise workout.

Here are the seven tips provided by Frank Zane in the article.

Biceps Training: At the conclusion of each set of curls place the barbell or dumbbells down and immediately assume the double biceps pose. Hold this pose for twenty to thirty seconds. Relax and go to your next set of curls. do this until all your sets of all your curls are completed.

Thigh Training: After each set of squats, leg extensions, or leg curls tense the thigh muscles and hold the contraction for thirty seconds. Do this for all your sets of leg work. If you find this too tough then alternate each thigh for a total of sixty seconds.

Calf Training: After each set of heel raises hold your calves in the low position for twenty seconds then up on your toes to lockout for another twenty second hold.

Lat Training: Same technique on this one. Upon the completion of each set of chins or other lat work assume the front lat-spread pose. Exaggerate the pose and hold it for thirty seconds to a minute.

Other tips by Frank Zane on training for shape included: Practicing an entire posing routine after each workout. Cable work either separate or integrated with your barbell and dumbbell work. Isometrics.

Do these exercises non paused for best results.

Frank Zane can be reached at www.frankzane.com

In the May 1971 issue of Muscle Builder/Power Rick Wayne offered up a great arm training article he used after a layoff.

Comeback Procedure: Phase One.This workout is not for the faint of heart which he explains in detail. Joe Weider had asked Rick Wayne to guest pose at the Mr. Western America contest that was scheduled for September 19th. Rick got back into the gym on June 1st. For that first month he picked a few basic exercises for three sets each using light weights and high reps. The exercises were chins, leg presses, dumbbell rows, bench presses, barbell curls, presses behind the neck and chinning bar leg raises.

Phase Two: Weight-Gaining.By the end of June Rick was looking to pack on more size. He stuck to the basic movements but was eating to gain weight. For breakfast Rick had a grapefruit withhoney, a bowl of raw wheat germ withmilk, honey and bananas and a two egg omelet with a glass of CrashweightFormula 7. As a mid morning snack Rick had a cup of cottage cheese and another glass of Formula 7. For lunch he had broiled fish and a lettuce and tomato salad withdressing. Around three Rick had a milkshake. For supper he had either meat or fish withrice or sweet potato. He trained at 6:30 pm. He now trained with higher weights for six reps and eight sets of each movement.

Phase Three: Muscular Definition. By the end of July Rick had gained thirteen pounds. He started to train in real ernest from the second week of August. Now he was training four times a wee. On Mondays and Thursdays he hit legs chest and back for two hours each session. On Tuesdays and Fridays he trained arms, shoulders and abdominals. The following routine is a “killer” pre-contest program. Rick uses seven exercises for his arm routine. The first four are performed with no rest between movements. Rest only a few seconds after the fourthmovement. Force out each rep and mentally contract your biceps and tense your triceps during the movements. Use as much weight as you can that will allow proper form. Rick warms up with four sets of chins and three sets of presses, sometimes behind the neck.

Part One: Cheat barbell curl. Do six reps per set and then immediately follow with lat machine pressdowns. Rick didn’t count reps on this one and would go by feel. What he suggested was to take a weight you usually use for ten reps and squeeze out twelve. Now decrease the poundage by twenty pounds and go for broke. Without rest perform the seated dumbbell curls next. Vary the rest positions during the exercise and do eight reps. The last exercise in the group is the dumbbell concentration curl. do twelve reps with no more than a forty five dumbbell. After a three minute rest you are ready for part two.

Part Two: The second part consists of four tri-sets. Rest only after the third exercise. Start with a close grip barbell concentration curl. Aim for a burn in the biceps. Do this exercise for ten reps. Next up is the seated triceps stretch with a barbell. You do not need a heavy barbell. According to Rick, eighty pounds will do . Do twelve reps and then move on to seated dumbbell curls. The dumbbells are curled sideways out from the body. Do ten sets. Practice posing and muscle control.

Rick also changed his diet for cuts. Again this workout is a pre-contest workout. I think you can see where there are a lot of good exercises in Rick Wayne’s arm routine that you might want to add to your own no matter what level you are at.

This article starts out with a picture of Arnold being interviewed by ABC’s Bob Beattie after beating Sergio Oliva for Mr. World. A young Arnold who looks totally huge. In the short class Franco Columbu defeated Boyer Coe. In third place was Ladislav Szalai.

In the tall class was an all star lineup of Dave Draper, Arnold and Sergio oliva. Arnold won with Oliva in 2nd and Draper in third. Oliva was smooth and over oiled. Arnold won the grand prize of $500.00. Forty eight year old Zabo “Mr. Abs” Koszewski and Dennis Tinerino also competed.

There was also the amatuer Mr. World which Ken Waller won. Other notables were Gene Massie and Carl Smith and Curt Haywood. Jim Lorimer was the promoter, a trend that would last for 4 decades.

In a letter dated October 19th 1970 Arnold wrote the following thank you note to Joe Weider, “Joe, I want you to know how grateful I am for all you have done for me. I know that at times I must have seemed unworhty (yikes did Arnold really say this ). But you stuck with me, helped me; you were patient withme. Even when I sometimes thought I would never make the Mr. Olympia title you never lost faith. I enjoy your company even when we are discussing business and training. I hope you will continue to guide me in my training for this is merely the beginning (that was for sure ). Thanks again Joe for doing so much to help me win the Mr. Olympia title. Hope to see you soon.”

And so starts this month’s blog revue of another fabulous issue of Muscle Builder/Power.

To conclude the review of this great issue I’ll briefly cover the rest of the story. There was a reply from Serge Nubret to Joe Weider basically in response to an article with regard to Serge’s weak points. Wouldn’t you like to have those weak points? There was a brief article on how Arnold regained 35 pounds of muscle after filming Stay Hungry to win the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest.

For you real old time bodybuilding buffs there was an article on John Grimek. If you like reading about John Grimek, Bob Hoffman and Steve Reeves than get this issue. There was also an article on how to pump up for a contest.

Muscle Builders in the news was an two page segment that highlighted some social events related to bodybuilding. Frank Zane and Arnold had European tours. Roger Callardhad an ad for Pioneer stereo. A fight between ex-boxer Franco Columbu and Muhammad Ali was talked about. The Mentzer brothers and Rick Wayne were mentioned in Muscle Builders in the news also.

Also included were the usual training articles in the back of the mag. Viewpoint with Eddie Giuliani talked about training and competing. Larry Scott answered letters. Franco Columbu offered advice to your training problems. Interestingly enough he talked about squats and mentioned differing viewpoints by Vince Gironda and Joe Weider. Ask the Champ answered questions on how the superstars train.

For the newcomers, even the ads were dynamite in this issue.