|
How
would you like to:
*Gain
pounds of solid muscle fast!
*Pack on slabs of rock hard muscle within a few
short weeks!
*Add inches to your arms, chest, back, and legs!
Without drugs!
Awesome
gains like these can be yours as you read about
the scientific realities of empirical bodybuilding
recorded at an actual Bill Pearl seminar. Read
on as this multi-Mr. Universe 1953, 1961, 1967,
1971 shares his 50+ years of training wisdom.
Q:
"Would you briefly tell us what a good basic
routine would be for gaining size when you're
not trying to totally cut up?"
B.P.
"If a person wants to gain massive muscular
bulk, if I want to get my arms as big as I can
possibly get them, I would probably do around
20 sets a day of say 4 exercises and 5 sets each
for the triceps and 20 sets for the biceps per
workout 3 times per week. That would be around
60 sets of triceps and 60 sets of biceps work
per week. I would keep the repetitions between
6 and 8 and I would do all basic movements where
I can handle as heavy weights as I can and then
I'd take my diet and I'd consume any nutritious
food that had calories in it and just flat eat!"
Q:
"I was wondering when you talk about volume
training like 20 sets for the biceps three times
per week, what you think about lower volume, high
intensity type of training that (the late) Mike
and Ray Mentzer use. They said you can theoretically
become a champion even if you're not a genetic
freak in just 5 years if you apply their method
of high intensity type of training."
B.P.
"Mike and Ray Mentzer used to write to me
when they were young kids back in Pennsylvania,
when Ray was 9 years old and Mike was 11 years
old. They'd send me little pictures of themselves
and all types of stuff. I'd answer them back.
I'd never dreamed they'd end up like they were,
but Mike and Ray are genetic freaks. Ray is one
of the strongest bodybuilders I have ever seen
in my life and Mike is equally as strong.
They
have trained heavy all these years. They must
have tendons like the size of my thumb. Their
bodies can stand that Heavy Duty type of training
where they limit the number of sets to no more
than five for either the triceps or biceps, while
carrying each set to total failure in both the
positive and negative rep levels for maximum growth
stimulation. I can say with all sincerity that
Mike and Ray do not train like this year in and
year out."
Q:
"About the use of dumbbells. Do you use a
lot of dumbbells in your training as opposed to
barbells or does it make any difference to you?"
B.P.
"Well, it does make a difference because
you want as much variety in your training as you
can possibly get and if I had to pick dumbbells
over barbells I would go with the dumbbells. I
think if anybody gets on a training program where
the same exercises, sets and reps are done day
in and day out, month after month, your body becomes
so accustomed to what you're doing that muscle
growth will stop altogether. I will change my
entire training program every 6 to 8 weeks. Different
sets, different reps, and a different goal for
yourself can generally shock you into a new growth
range."
Q:
"Can you give me a typical workout that you
might use from time to time?"
B.P.
"I train 6 days per week. On Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday I will train all the muscle groups
for just one exercise each for 6 sets of each.
I group the body parts in such a way so that I
can do super sets and in doing so I won't rest
too long between sets. I change the exercises
every workout day. As an example I might do Incline
Dumbbell Flys for the chest on Monday, while on
Wednesday I might go with the Bench Press and
on Friday it might be Decline Bench Presses. Each
of the 6 sets I do is increased from the previous
one and each week I try to add 5 pounds to all
my previous 6 set poundages.
On
Tuesday I will do 18 to 20 sets for the chest
and the back and on Thursday I will work the legs
and shoulders for 18 to 20 sets each. I break
up the back and leg training in the manner I have
just described because they're the two largest
muscle groups and it's not as tiring this way.
I work my calves every day for a half hour. Saturday
is arm day and just a laid-back fun day.
There
are four muscle groups which I work six days per
week for 6 sets of one different exercise each
day. They are the Forearms, Abs, Leg Biceps and
the Neck. I will train at about 85-90% of maximum
and I try to do 30 sets per hour which is 1 set
every two minutes. My rep scheme is varied in
that I will do 6 to 10 reps per body part, but
as I grow stronger I will up my reps to 15 for
the upper body and 25 reps for the legs."
Q:
"I was just wondering how long I should be
working out before I make the transition from
say a 4 day a week workout schedule to something
like 6 days per week and doing 18 to 20 sets per
muscle group like you just mentioned, or 6 out
of every 8 days like three time former Mr. Olympia,
Frank Zane, does or something like that? I mean,
how long should a bodybuilder be working out basically
before switching to something a lot more intense
like your workouts?"
B.P.
"If a bodybuilder is not responding on a
hard and heavy 20 sets per muscle group three
times a week and he is not growing, believe me,
doing five times that much is not going to do
it for you. There has to be a limit to this. There
is no set answer to this question. I know guys
who can train 3 or 4 days a week, 45 minutes a
day and make very good progress and others just
don't grow at all. I would never do more than
20 sets per muscle group three times per week.
I don't care what I did, to me it just isn't worth
the effort. You're going to spend your whole life
in the gym.
No
one says that more time in the gym is better.
Personally, I can tell you that I can get all
that I need in a lot less than 6 days a week,
3 hours a day in the gym. I don't have to train
that much, it just means I like it. I like the
surroundings, and I like the people. I use this
as my time of the day to do what I so desire,
but I'm sure I could be as healthy and fit as
I could possibly be in one-half of that length
of training time. But I enjoy the sport and I
don't mind being in the gym. The minute it becomes
a drudgery and I don't like it the smart thing
to do is back off. Making the transition over
from say a 4-day to a 6-day workout schedule and
going from multiple sets to mega sets of say 20
will depend on how much time you have had in the
sport of bodybuilding. I have trained for so many
years I am sure I could do 25 sets per muscle.
It's like trying to get 6 gallons of water into
a 5-gallon bucket. You can't do it because there
is going to be a gallon which will be wasted.
It's
just like in bodybuilding, you can only put so
much into a particular effort and get so much
out of it. Now for the length of time you have
trained it may be 8 or 10 or 12 sets or even 6
sets per muscle group would be just as good for
you as 20 sets would be for me. So you've got
to realize the length of time you've been in bodybuilding
and how much of a background you have understanding
what you are doing with regard to your training
and how mature your muscles are. All this has
a big bearing on this.
Now
I'm sure that if I do less than 20 sets per muscle
group I'm not even going to maintain what I've
got alone make any growth factor. The longer you
have in the sport of bodybuilding, if you want
to continue to improve, you've got to spend more
time at it. If you want to get big, thick, coarse,
bulky muscles, handle heavy weights, keep your
reps low at about 6 to 8, and do numerous sets
and you will grow!
I'll
say one thing. Any time a guy is training and
the minute something negative about whatever you
are doing comes into play, you had better get
off it. Say you're doing a really heavy bench
press like 300-400 pounds. You walk into the gym
on Monday and do it, no sweat. Now on Wednesday,
lo and behold you don't get the 300 or 400 pounds
that you easily got on Monday, because you're
still tired from your last bench routine. You
come back in the gym again on Friday and you blow
your benches again. Pretty soon you are gearing
your whole workout to that 300-400 pound bench
press. So you walk out of the gym and say 'I had
a lousy workout because I missed my bench presses.'
Psychologically, you can't succeed in your workouts
if you have a bad attitude toward it.
Another
example. Guys will come up to me and say, 'Bill,
my arms won't grow. Everything I do my arms won't
grow. What will I do?' If every time you pick
up a barbell and curl it they aren't going to
grow, because you are programming your arms not
to grow, isn't this true? Your muscle doesn't
have a brain. Your head controls the muscle. The
muscle doesn't control the brain. So you've got
to say, 'O.K., I'm going to work my arms and my
arms are going to grow.' I say, change your mental
attitude about your training, because if you don't
you can't take anything negative that you are
doing in the sport of bodybuilding and turn it
into positive results, it won't work. Everything
you do in the gym has to be done on a positive
note. You must condition your subconscious mind
to think that you are getting bigger and training
with more intensity, and your body will have to
respond accordingly."
Q.
You say that you train 6 days a week. What exercise
do you use to keep your abdominals in shape?
B.P.
"There is no one specific exercise that
I do for my abdominal development. I do 5 to 6
different abdominal exercises for 100 repetitions
each or maybe 7 exercises and 100 reps each. There
are plenty of exercises to choose from in the
abdominal section of my book Keys to the Inner
Universe, and the combinations are virtually endless.
I don't care how much you work your abs, if you're
carrying fat there you can't do situps and burn
that fat off your midsection. You cannot spot
reduce a bodypart through exercise. All those
situps are going to do is burn calories and tone
the abs a certain amount, then Mother Nature is
going to pull fat off your body where it wants
to, not where you want it to. If you have got
heavy, thick obliques, which is normal on most
guys, and you think side bends are going to reduce
them and you don't change your diet, you're crazy.
You're never going to get it off of there."
Q.
How much excess bodyweight do you think a
bodybuilder should carry before he begins physique
contest training?
B.P.
"I would think that you should try to stay
within 2 or 3 months of being in peak condition
at all times if you're constantly competing in
physique contests. Never let yourself get out
of position where you can't in a period of 2 or
3 months get back in the best shape you've ever
been in your life. If you gain more bodyweight
than that, you're asking for trouble."
Q.
Would you suggest taking a couple of days off
from training just prior to a physique contest?
B.P.
"I would think you should take a couple of
days off. For instance, if the physique contest
is on a Saturday, you should probably get your
last workout on Wednesday, but if you've been
on a very strict diet like most people are today
and you've been on this diet for the past 6-7
months, what happens if you take the two days
off before this contest which is so important
to you and you totally blow the diet? What would
this do to your mental attitude? It would ruin
it. So you will have to make this call yourself
based upon your knowledge of contest training."
Q.
Who do you think is the strongest bodybuilder
that you've ever trained with?
B.P.
"The strongest bodybuilder that I've ever
trained with was probably Franco Columbu on specific
lifts, but the guy I've seen handle the most weight
on all sets and repetitions on all the exercises
was Ray Mentzer. I saw Ray training at a gym over
in Germany a few years ago, and he was using about
240 pounds on a Nautilus bicep machine. Ray took
that thing and sat down and with one arm curled
that weight (240 pounds) up. When Ray went in
to take a shower, I went over to that machine,
and with two arms I could not curl it, and I consider
myself strong. All of a sudden my attitude towards
Ray changed tremendously."
Q.
What's the best bench press you've ever done?
B.P.
"Four hundred and fifty pounds. At my
age I don't squat 600 pounds any more. I've squatted
605, I've done the seated press behind the neck
with 310 pounds for 2 reps. I was probably one
of the strongest bodybuilders around for a long
time until recently."
Q.
Do you include running in your workout schedules?
B.P.
"I run at times, but I don't run on a steady
basis. I think it would be a good idea if a person
wanted to burn calories and consume more food,
then running is good, but I think if you're in
hardcore bodybuilding, I don't think you're going
to run too far because if you have got that much
energy left over, then you're doing something
wrong in your workouts."
Q.
There was a big change in your physique in the
late 1960s and early 1970s where your torso took
on a more muscular look. How did you do that?
B.P.
"By becoming more aware of my diet, which
meant just taking all the nutrition I knew and
started putting it into use."
---
Visit
http://www.billpearl.com
Dennis
B. Weis is a Ketchikan, Alaska based power-bodybuilder.
He is the co-author of 3 critically-acclaimed
books; Mass!, Raw Muscle and Anabolic
Muscle Mass (visit: www.amazon.com to read
about it), He is also a frequent hard-hitting
uncompromising freelance writer for many of the
mainstream bodybuilding and fitness magazines
published worldwide.
Contact
Information:
Email: tyukonherc@kpunet.net
Website: http://www.dennisbweis.com
|
