This is a great site that focuses on the bodybuilders/powerlifters/Olympic lifters of the past.
Lots of great articles and old pics you would have trouble finding anywhere else. it seems to be by Anthony Ditillo, a former write for Ironman magazine.
It’s amazing how much that might sound like ground-breaking and new in exercise science is actually not new at all.
I wanted to add this great passage by Bradley J. Steiner:
The argument that too much work on the basic, heavy exercises fails to produce a shapely body is utterly false. Heredity, diet, posture, etc. have the final say regarding how “shapely” you eventually look. Your choice of exercise movements, per se, has little to do with this matter of muscle shape. Remember, your muscles don’t know what exercise is being used when you train them. Doing heavy military presses works the shoulder girdle. Doing lateral raises also works this area, however, with the basic press you can strive for much greater poundage increments and a more complete and natural muscle involvement, and, as a result you will build much greater strength. The effect on the muscle’s appearance of shapeliness is little affected by the particular exercise you do. In fact, providing your inherent characteristics make you prone towards the “right”? appearance when flexed, and provided your diet is right, there is every reason to believe that the heavier and more basic exercises will produce superior shapeliness.
This point, again, must be carefully and clearly understood: the type of exercises you do with weights will have an effect on the development of a muscle’s size and usefulness, and a muscle’s power and strength. But, the effect upon its appearance of shapeliness is negligible. Diet and heredity mean everything here, and since diet is the only factor under your control, I suggest you begin to appreciate its importance.
So take a look at this inspiring website. Just tell me when you figure out why it’s called The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban!
One of my favorite sites, I think this article pretty much covers the basic training methods. There really is nothing new out there. From an article entitled Ego Training by Anthony Ditillo:
[quote]
I truly believe that the major reason why so many fellows do not gain the way they say they would like to is because they just donâ??t know what it is to work and work HARD! I also feel that it would indeed be absurd if I went through all this verbal rigmarole without giving you fellows workable examples of just what kind of routines to use in order to be sure that you are indeed working and working hard. And hard youâ??re gonna work, Joe Buck. Well, the following three routines will fully enable you to utilize our prementioned â??hard workâ?? principle and I can assure you, none of these routines could ever be considered â??Ego Training.â??
Our first routine consists of using one exercise movement per body part. We begin with one light warmup set for about eight or ten repetitions. From here we make consecutive jumps with the weight and we perform one set each with these weight increased sets. We perform as many reps as possible for each of these sets and we should wind up with a weight which we cannot possibly perform for more than three times in succession. Do not be concerned with how much weight is on the bar. Just keep forcing out all the reps possible and keep the weight increasing set for set. I am sure you will not need more than three or four sets for each exercise movement. If you make the weight increases correctly spaced poundage-wise, by the end of any exercise movement you should be up to heavy weights.
The second method of hard work consists of warming up for one or two sets with light weights and then jumping up to a weight which is about twenty pounds below your one rep limit. Do one set with this weight, forcing out as many reps as humanly possible. Now drop the bar by twenty or thirty pounds and do another set of as many reps as possible. Keep decreasing the weight on the bar and keep striving to do more and more repetitions. By the time you are down to a light poundage, none of them will feel really light! You have more than adequately worked for power and muscle size and shape using this particular method of training.
Our third example of really hard training is the â??forcedâ?? or â??cheatedâ?? reps type of routine. In this type of routine he weight on the bar stays the same, but, in time, you try to perform more and more work with this same weight. For instance, you press overhead 200 for five reps, then you continue on cheating or push-pressing as you go along in reps, but continuously trying to do more and more reps no matter how you get them up. Another way is to have a training partner help you finish off each set by aiding you slightly in forcing out as many reps in addition to the ones you can perform yourself in the correct manner.
All three of the routines I have outlined for you require very hard work for proper performance. They will aid you in developing both muscular power and muscular strength. In short, these types of approaches require both HARD WORK for their performance and HARD WORK is what you need of you are ever going to become the man you have always wanted to be. [/quote]
Great website. Here’s an excerpt that I think a lot of people here need to read:
[quote]:
When it comes to development of the thighs, you CAN obtain adequate development without straining to back squat with six hundred pounds. All you have to do is change your squatting style to the style used by Olympic lifters and the results will be forthcoming.
Do NOT use a wide stance. Do NOT drop the bar low on your back. Do NOT wrap your knees and wear a thick belt. Do NOT stick your butt out as you lower yourself into the bottom squatting position, and finally: do NOT squat flatfooted, but use a raised heel. You will eventually find that you are squatting more upright, your buttocks will be somewhat tucked in UNDER you at the bottom position of the squat and you will feel most of the stress of the movement in the THIGHS, not in the buttocks and hips. [/quote]
[quote]mr popular wrote:
Great website. Here’s an excerpt that I think a lot of people here need to read:
[QUOTE]
When it comes to development of the thighs, you CAN obtain adequate development without straining to back squat with six hundred pounds. All you have to do is change your squatting style to the style used by Olympic lifters and the results will be forthcoming.
Do NOT use a wide stance. Do NOT drop the bar low on your back. Do NOT wrap your knees and wear a thick belt. Do NOT stick your butt out as you lower yourself into the bottom squatting position, and finally: do NOT squat flatfooted, but use a raised heel. You will eventually find that you are squatting more upright, your buttocks will be somewhat tucked in UNDER you at the bottom position of the squat and you will feel most of the stress of the movement in the THIGHS, not in the buttocks and hips. [/QUOTE][/quote]
Switching from squatting low bar with flat soles to high bar with weightlifting shoes is the very best thing I’ve ever done for my quads.
Weights dropped substantially, but my quads have seen some significant growth. Especially the VMO.