roy” se S* HOW TO INCREASE YOUR MUSCULAR BULK & STRENGTH LE INTERNATION éy SS og 1. Bench Press: shows completion with rib-box arched. Also sponge pad to protect the chest during heavy training.SPECIALIZATION COURSE HOW TO INCREASE YOUR MUSCULAR BULK AND STRENGTH This specialization course applies to anyone who wishes to greatly increase their muscular bulk and strength simultaneously. It can also be used to increase strength only, without any increase in bodyweight. The routine outlined here can be used by the beginner, the advanced trainee or after a lay- off, in fact, whenever the basic purpose is to make quick gains in bodyweight and strength. By utilizing this routine to its full capacity, you can take the opportunity of making really big gains in both bulk and strength. So set yourself big goals, with the knowledge that if you follow the information EXACTLY then success is assured. Most trainees can give this routine their best for about twelve weeks and then, by that time they have made really good gains in both bodyweight and strength and need a less demanding routine for awhile otherwise they are likely to go stale. Then when necessary you can return to this routine for another twelve week period at a later date. This, of course, is left up to the individual, as the more advanced trainee could probably train on this type of routine indefinitely if required, using it mainly as a strength routine for powerlifting. Please follow the instructions carefully. Don't start the routine and then gradually com- mence to alter it here and there. If you introduce any variants of your own, then you are do- ing a different course and the results will be of an unknown variety. For example some trainees like to add a few exercises of thelr own, arm work or something in case their arms might go down whilst on the course. Because of this diversification of energy progress is considerably slowed down. So make sure you stick exactly to the routine for the best results. (Incidentally, neither your arms nor any other bodypart will go down whilst on this routine even though they may not get worked directly. Because of the heavy training and the bulking-up as a result, they will get bigger!) If [have managed to persuade you of the importance of following the instructions exactly, then please let me also stress that to substantially increase your bulk the advice on the in- take of food must be strictly adhered to as well. Some trainees think that because they are diligently following the instructions regarding the exercises, that this alone will bring about the desired increase in bodyweight. They think that the mere execution of the exercises, simply because they belong to a bulk routine will bring about an increase in bodyweight ir- respective of any increase in their diet. This is, of course, not-correct. In fact, a hard routine such as this, because of the great demand of energy, will actually reduce the bodyweight, unless compensation is made in the way of an adequate food intake. If you are going to train very hard for twelve weeks, then isn't it sense to do everything cor- rectly and so get the maximum results for your efforts? Therefore, don't deviate from the ex: ercises and pay as much attention to your diet as to the exercise routine. Plan everything out carefully before you commence, so that you can execute the whole operation, including the routine and diet perfectly from the moment you start. Firstly, get the new diet planned and under way, so that everything you require is avail- able. As for the routine, go over it carefully for a few workouts, until you are familiar how to correctly perform the exercises and know the correct weight to use for the sets and repeti- tions.2. Deaduift (a) Commencing position with reverse grip. (b) Shows completion of lift. Body erect and shoulders back.As for the diet, you should know exactly how much weight you wish to gain over the twelve week period. Some will want to gain the maximum amount of bodyweight possible, whilst others will want to gain only a certain amount of extra bodyweight. USE YOUR FOOD INTAKE AS THE CONTROLLING FACTOR in the amount of bodyweight you wish to gain. You can alter your diet accordingly during this period, to either increase or slow down the rate of Jurther gains, or to stop the gains in bodyweight, so that at the end of the course you have attained as near as possible the increase in bodyweight you set out to achieve. In order to do this keep a regular check on your weight, so that you can take swift action should it deviate from your set goal. If, for example, over a period of a week, there has not been the necessary constant increase then don't just continue in the same way, hoping that the coming weeks will probably rectify the matter. If there has been no increase or not suffi- cient then not enough food is being consumed. Time won't correct this, the only remedy is to further increase your intake of food. Further checks on the scales will show if the in- creased food intake is sufficient to maintain the rate of increase you require to achieve the total amount of increase you have planned for the period of the routine. If on the other hand, you are gaining more weight than you require, then reduce the quan- tity of food being consumed. The point to remember is to use your food intake as the CON- TROLLING factor in the amount of bodyweight you wish to gain. This can be done by taking regular checks on your weight and then adjusting the future intake of food accordingly. If you want to add a lot of bodyweight then it is necessary to include many bulk foods in the diet, as well as your normal meals. The following are some that are recommended: whole-milk, oats, soya flour, wheat germ flakes, eggs, cheese, bananas, peanuts (unsalted) and honey. Also, vitamin-mineral supplements, such as kelp tablets, brewers yeast tablets or powder, vitamin C, E and desiccated liver tablets. It is the bulk foods that are needed to in- crease the weight rapidly. An old motto once used is, “If it's not nailed down - EAT IT!” Of course, bodybuilders have to be more mindful than powerlifters or trainees just wanting to be big, because they need more definition and so will need to gain weight less rapidly. Consuming large amounts of food comes close to what is sometimes called ‘forced- feeding’ and brings its own problems. It becomes necessary to space it out over regular periods of the day rather than just eating at normal mealtimes. Apart from the difficulty of eating large amounts at one time, as the body can only digest so much protein at any one time, it is better to consume such amounts that can be fully digested, rather than too large amounts where only part can be digested. So plan out your diet so that the total amount of food to be consumed is spread out over the day at regular intervals, thus ensuring not only that the total amount can be consumed without too much ‘forced-feeding’ but that it will be utilized fully by the body. Although it is necessary to greatly increase the intake of food in order to acquire rapid gains in bodyweight, once the gains have been made, it is not necessary to continue to the same extent with the greatly increased diet to maintain the extra bodyweight. The same careful attention given to the diet must also be given to the routine. The regular increases in bodyweight will greatly assist your capability of progressively handling heavier weights. Check over each week to see that you have forced yourself to make good progress. It is imperative for increases in bulk and strength to use the heaviest weights possible and to use and work hard the larger muscle groups. Some trainees attempt to gain weight using exercises that work only the smaller muscle groups and therefore, as only small muscle groups are being worked, only comparatively light weights can be used and so a vicious cir- cle is set up defeating its own purpose. Working the larger muscle groups allows the heaviest possible weights to be used and makes for the biggest gains in both size and strength. Increasing the size of the chest, upper back and lower back and thighs means big weight gains, whereas increasing only the size of the triceps, biceps and deltoids etc, won't make much difference. What is needed is to use the MINIMUM number of exercises to work the LARGE muscle groups. Any OVER USE of ex- ercises means an unnecessary outlay of energy and a wastage of energy means LESS in- crease in bodyweight, apart from the likelihood of staleness. The best exercises for this purpose are the bench press, squat, deadlift and pull-up. (This is a special sort of pull-up, explained later) Not only do these exercises work the larger mus- cle groups but they also allow the heaviest weights to be used. Therefore, use ONLY THESE EXERCISES whilst on this course. Don't waste energy on any other exercises.3, Squat (a) Commencing position, having taken one step back only from stands to conserve energy. (0) Parallel position, ready to rise to the upright position.Now to the schedule: The bench press — Use a style that permits the heaviest weight to be handled. Go into a supine position on the bench and whilst remembering that the head, shoulders and but- tocks should remain on the bench, keep the feet and legs still and force the body down towards the hips, thus creating an arch of the lower back 0 that the rib-box is raised up. The breathing can be utilized to complement the above style. When you have taken the bar off the stands or training partners, take in a huge gulp of air through the mouth and at the same time commence to lower the bar. Keep the air in the lungs, as this internal pressure helps to keep the rib-box raised up and exhale forcibly when the bar has been pressed to arms length. Take a slightly wider than shoulder width grip. The squat — Perform in the normal way. Control the weight on the way down and as soon as the parallel position is reached, immediately rise to the upright position. NEVER attempt to bounce when squatting, as this could very easily lead to a serious back injury. Don't do a quarter squat or half squat but exactly parallel. Use a rubber pad around the bar to make it more comfortable on the shoulders. Keep the head well up, as this helps to keep the back straight and will develop a good style. Rounding the back and bending forward from the hips is NOT a good style and should be avoided The deadlift — Perform this in the normal way, with a reversed grip. After each repetition replace the bar momentarily on the floor, pause slightly just allowing time to breathe in, then commence the next repetition, so that each repetition is from a dead start. Exhale on completion of the lift. Use a style that befits the heavy weight that you will be using. Position the feet correctly; not too far away from the bar. The arms slightly out from the perpen- dicular. Squat down keeping the back flat, head up looking straight ahead. When lifting keep the back flat,deviating as little as possible from the form you took prior to commencing the lift. The big error is to drop the head, bend the back forward, slightly straightening the legs and then attempting to lift from that position, with the likely result of a bad injury The Pull-up — This is NOT a bodybuilding exercise, but a SPECIAL version that is meant to be a POWER exercise designed so that the maximum weight can be handled. Take the nor- mal grip as for the clean and press, then pull the bar up until it reaches between the waist and the lower chest, at the same time throwing the chest out as far as possible and rising slightly on the toes to keep your balance. The amount of weight used should be heavy enough so that the bar can ONLY be pulled up to the position stated and no further. If you can pull it up further than that, then the bar Is too light and more weight should be used. It would be impossible to perform all these exercises, in the PRESCRIBED manner, at any ‘one time and still use the MAXIMUM poundages and effort. So, they are split up into pairs, as follows: Bench Press and Deadlift. Then Squat and Pull-up. They are done alternatively so that the bench press and deadlift are performed at one training session, and then the squat and pull-up at the next session. If possible it is best to train every other day, so that the schedule would be as follows: Training day — bench press and deadlift. Rest Day Training day — squat and pull-up. Rest Day Then repeat as above. There are eight sets in all, comprising of two warm-up sets and six heavy sets. The two warm-up sets are used to work up to the maximum poundages used for the six heavy sets, to avoid the risk of strain or injury. Having already gone over the routine for a few work-outs to ascertain exactly what weight can be used, you know what weight can be used for the six heavy sets, so for the first warm-up set take a weight that can be fairly easily handled. Then for the second warm-up set take a weight that is mid-way between the weight used for the first warm-up set and the weight to be used for the six heavy sets. So, if say, 300 Ibs was the weight to be used for the six heavy sets, then around 220 Ibs would be used for the first warm-up set and then 260 Ibs for the second warm-up set. The routine should start with 3 repetitions for each set, then as soon as you can do the 3 repetitions for ALL the 6 heavy sets, at the next work-out, you attempt to increase the number of repetitions. You may manage to increase the repetitions from $ to 4 for all the sets, if not do 4 repetitions for as many sets as possible and finish off with 3 repetitions for4. Pullup (@) Shows starting position, with usual overhand grip. (b) Shows completion of lift to lower chest only. All lifts photographed during normal workout, not specially posed for, 10 impress that the heaviest possible weights MUST be used on this routine.the remainder of the sets. Then when you can do 4 repetitions for all the sets you will be able to increase to § repeti- tions for some of the sets, finishing off with 4 repetitions for the remainder. Eventually you will be able to do all 5 repetitions for all the sets. AT THIS POINT ADD WEIGHT SO THAT YOU CAN ONLY DO 3 REPETITIONS. Then repeat as above. Each time the repetitions reach 5 for all the sets add more weight and start with 3 repetitions again. As this routine necessitates that the HEAVIEST weights possible are used for the final 6 sets you will require sufficient rest between each set. Between the warm-up sets 3 minutes rest will do, but when doing the 6 heavy sets take 5 minutes rest between each set. It is best to time the rest period exactly as too little rest will not give enough time to recover and will mean either not getting out the repetitions or having to lower the weight. Whilst too long a rest will result in cooling off with the same result. If you follow this routine EXACTLY as instructed, together with the information on your diet, then you CANNOT fail to greatly increase YOUR muscular bulk and strength