Big Muscles Forever

This was a great article from the May 1974 Muscle/Builder Power. This powerful article is more like a training course that highlights the necessity of having well developed traps for that complete look. For any type of most muscular pose you need to have well developed traps. Most bodybuilders avoid working the trapezius.

The nice thing about working the trapezius is that you will also be working the lower back in the process. Fraanco was using a double-split routine where he worked his back, shoulders and trapezius all in one workout. This was Franco’s trapezius routine:

1). Dead lifts: On every repetition of the dead lift Franco will also perform three shoulder shrugs. If he is doing three dead lifts then he is also doing nine shrugs. Franco was doing the following reps and weights for this combo: 300 X 8 reps, 400 X 7 reps, 500 X 6 reps, 600 X 5 reps, 650 X 3 reps and 675 X 3 reps. The traps and lower back both get a tremendous workout.

2). Special Lat-bar Rowing: This is using the floor mounted T-Bar where Franco does 4 sets in a normal fashion. He then lowers the weight, moves his elbows out and rows up to the face. He does 3 sets of 8 reps in this style.

3). High Upright Rowing: This is where you are rowing with your hand winding up by your chin in a standing position. Franco does 5 sets of 8 reps. He goes from 120 pounds to 200 pounds increasing 20 pounds at a time.

4). Bent Over Laterals. A great exercise for the traps and rear deltoids, according to Franco Columbu. These are done for 3 sets of 8 reps.

5). Heavy High Power Pulls: This exercise is performed one day only for 3 sets of 8 reps. Franco mentioned doing three hundred and fifteen pounds. This exercise resembles a partial clean.

Blogger note: It would be a good idea to buy this issue in order to get this routine. To do the exercises properly you probably need to view the photos in the article. A fantastic trap routine, maybe the best I’ve seen in the old mags.

Here was an article by Larry Scott which stated how Kent Kuehn had let himself get way out of shape at the age of twenty seven. He had gone from a muscular 150 pounds to 189 and a thirty nine and a half inch waist. It was at this time he joined a health club and dropped thirty six pounds in six weeks. A couple of months later he saw his first physique contest-the 1963 Mr. Michigan show. At this point Kent Learned all he could about training and nutrition and was off and running.

after a year of training Kent tried his hand at heavy weightlifting but returned to bodybuilding due to injuries. Kent went on to win 30 physique titles including “Mr. USA”. This article focused primarily on Kent’s six weeks of training while in Southern California. Kent stated that the bodybuilders in SoCal train as opposed to just merely working out. Kent got to meet and train with Ken Waller, Bill Grant, Franco Columbu, Bob Birdsong and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Kent considers himself a slow gainer and prefers to gain weight more slowly so that every pound is solid muscle. At the time of the article he weighed in at two hundred pounds at a height of five seven and a half. His goal was to weigh two hundred and twenty pounds.

Before training in California Kent never used a double split routine. He went on a modified double split working out twice three times a week and once three times a week for a total of nine workouts. This was his contest routine. His off season routine was four times a week training two times a day twice and once a day twice for a total of six workouts.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday Kent worked the chest and back with superset combinations. Bench press for five sets of twelve reps was supersetted with chins to the front for five sets of ten reps. Incline presses for five sets of twelve reps were supersetted with five sets of ten reps with chins to the front.

Chest: Flat bench flys were supersetted  with cable crossovers for five sets of twelve in each exercise.

Back: Seated cable rowing was worked with lat machine pulldowns for five sets of twelve reps in each exercise.

Rib Cage: The straight arm pullover was employed for five sets of twelve reps.

Monday-Wednesday-Friday (Evening workout)

Thighs: Leg extensions were worked for six sets of twelve to twenty reps. Parallel squats were worked for six sets of eight to twelve reps. Leg bicep curls were worked for six sets of twelve to fifteen reps.

Calves: Calf machine raises were worked for six sets of fifteen reps. Donkey calf raises were done for six sets of fifteen to twenty reps.

Waist: (Tri-set for a total of three hundred reps) Abdominal squeezes 1X100, Roman chair sit ups 1X100, Bent leg raises 1X100.

Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday

Shoulders: Press behind neck 5X12, Lateral raises 5X12, Rear cable laterals 3X12, Bent over rear laterals superset with bent over dumbbell rowing for 3X12 for each exercise, alternate front raises 3X12, Barbell front raises 3X12, shoulder shrugs done with 300lbs on calf machine for three sets of 20 reps.

Arms-Bicep: Incline dumbbell curls 5X12, Scott bench barbell curls 5X12, Nautilus machine curls 5X12, Concentration curls 5X12.

Triceps: Lat machine pressdowns 5X12, Reverse tricep pushups 5X12, Lying tricep extensions 5X12, One arm extensions 5X12.

Kent never rests longer than 30 to 45 seconds between sets and exercises. He tries to finish his workouts in two hours. while training for a contest he goes high protein and low carb and uses supplements. As of this date Kent was aiming for the Mr. Universe crown.

Blogger note: An intense regimen for sure. Not for the beginner and probably too much for most people. Nice selection of exercises.

The Biggest Bodybuilder of All Time-and Soon to be the Greatest.

Blogger note: Let me remind the old-time bodybuilder aficionado that Lou Ferrigno appeared in the Dan Lurie Magazine Muscle Training a year or two earlier! At the time most of us met Lou Ferrigno but apparently he signed on with Weider and was new to the Weider Organization. On to the article.

Joe Weider wrote a short but informative article introducing Lou Ferrigno to the readers of Muscle Builder/Power magazine. The article starts out with a full page photo of Lou the day after he won the Mr. America tile, looking smooth. On that day Joe Weider showed Lou how to pose and drop some weight for greater definition. It worked as Lou went on to defeat Ken Waller and Mike Katz for the Mr. Universe title. All this at the age of nineteen with four years of training. ”At 6′5″ and 260 pounds he is already the biggest bodybuilder extant. His skeleton, bone and joint size can accommodate muscle mass previously unthinkable! 25-inch arms and a 60-inch chest will fit comfortably on this man.”

Lou won the Teenage Mr. America at 19 and uses all Weider routines. Lou was also an ardent Muscle Builder/Power reader. The article highlighted Lou Ferrigno’s training methods which included instinctive training and forced reps with no more than 30 seconds rest between sets.

Utilizing the split-system, and spending an hour per body-part, Lou would work the arms and shoulders on Monday and Thursday. On Tuesdays and Friday Lou would work the chest and back. On Wednesday and Saturday Lou would work the legs and abdominals. Calves were worked seven days a week by Lou.

At this time Lou would eat four eggs and water for breakfast. Noontime Lou had fish and fruit. In the afternoon Lou would eat lean meat. Dinner consisted of lean meat and vegetables. At bedtime Lou would have food supplements, especially a protein-rich drink.

Lou’s before and after measurements included:

Weight 175 to 280

Arms from 14″ to 22.25″

Chest from 41″ to 57″

Waist from 29″ to 32″

Thighs from 21″ to 30″

Calves from 13″ to 19″

Bench press from 135 to 430

Squat from 150 to 500

Deadlift from 180 to 680

Loe Ferrigno is a great example of Big Muscles forever as he is still training and looking good.

This article was an interview of Vince Gironda by Joe Weider with regard to Nautilus Machines. Basically Joe Weider and Vince Gironda did not like the equipment in any way. First of all they mentioned how the machines were expensive. They also did not like the movements of the machines citing injuries to Franco Columbu and Arnold Schwarzenegger. They also said not even one champion was ever produced from a Nautilus training system. Arthur Jones told Vince Gironda you could train with Nautilus machines exclusively but that was also debunked in the article. Blogger note: Nautilus was a competitor, in a sense, to Weider which might explain the motivation behind this series. In his auto-biography Arthur Jones thought that this was the case.

First of all, is Rick Wayne the best bodybuilding writer of all time? He gets my vote. In this article Rick rants about leaving the Mr. Olympia alone with regard to having one overall winner. Rick Wayne points out that the Olympia was designed to be a winner take all contest to determine the number one bodybuilder for the year.

Basically, Rick goes on to explain that there is no need for weight or height classes nor second or third place designations. Winner take all, period, according to Rick. Rick also suggested letting contestants win the Mr. World, Mr. America, Mr. Universe and other contests as many times as they can. He ends by stating, “That should be enough reason to keep training-I think!”

The cover tells all for this classic issue that introduces Lou Ferrigno to Weider readers. There is Arnold’s routine. Gene Mozee has an article about chemical bodybuilding. Kent Kuehn talks about transforming his physique to win the Mr. U.S.A. Why the American bodybuilding movement is screwed up. Don’t touch the big “O” by Rick Wayne and much more including Oscar State, The Greatest Monster Muscle show ever and a power routine from Franco Columbu.