Anthony Ditillo and the Development of Muscular Bulk and Power

Ditillo the legend in all of his massive and cool glory.

Lessons in Muscular Bulk and Power from Anthony Ditillo

(With a Little Help from Dezso Ban)

     Per a request from a reader, the other day I started to do some research on Anthony Ditillo to write the very thing that you’re now reading.  I have written about Ditillo’s methods here and there over the years, but have never written an article dedicated solely to the legendary bodybuilding writer/strength and power athlete.  It didn’t take long for me to realize that there’s not a whole lot on Ditillo’s personal life.  I think the man, to be honest, would have wanted it that way.  He dedicated his life to discovering, and then writing about, the best methods on the planet for building massive amounts of both size and strength.  He tried out numerous workout routines and programs in an attempt to find the very best of those methods and techniques on the planet, then passed that knowledge on to others through his writing.

      Ditillo died back in February of 2002 at the age of 54 (55?; his family never released his exact birth date, though he was born in ‘47) from an apparent heart attack.  His son Adam, when Ditillo’s death was announced, reported that the night before his father died—he apparently passed away in the morning—he had watched his dad do sets of shrugs with 405 pounds.  The man was still obviously committed to building that bulk and power he had dedicated his life to.

     Back in September of 2002, the website Joe Roark’s Iron History posted a few quotes from his son.  Here they are:

     "I'm not sure of all the gyms he went to but I know since I was born he went to Gold's Gym in Cranford and Kenilworth, and when he'd train with me we went to the New York Sports Club in Springfield."

     "He was a respiratory therapist. He never mentioned anything about retiring except that it was too far off."

     "He trained his whole life with no layoffs. He used low rep/high poundages."

     In answer to these questions, Adam offered his father's views:

     Current bodybuilding: "The sport has lost its authenticity, that the magazines don't tell the truth, and that the gyms are not what they used to be".

     Lifting sports: "He never believed in using suits and wraps like powerlifters use, and that Olympic lifting is the true sport producing the strongest lifters in the world".*

     Ditillo was best known for the many articles that he wrote in the ‘70s for Ironman magazine.  He also wrote two books: The Development of Muscular Bulk and Power (1971) and The Development of Physical Strength (1982).  Because of, you know, the internet, Ditillo is more well-known today—at least among lifters whose goal is serious strength and power—than he was when I first started training back in the late ‘80s.  The first time that I remember reading about him was, I think, in some article written by the late strength coach and popular bodybuilding writer Charles Poliquin in his monthly “A Question of Strength” column for Muscle Media 2000, possibly the best magazine of its time (mid ‘90s).  Ditillo was one of Poliquin’s favorite writers, and Poliquin had this to say about The Development of Physical Strength: “I bought it from Ironman magazine after reading several of his articles.  I thought his approach was logical and full of common sense; and more importantly, it worked! It is the only book I have read more than once, and I actually bought a second copy after I misplaced my original one. I always tell my interns to get their own copy. It is a gem."

     Back in the ‘90s, I still didn’t know much about Ditillo, and it would be another 15 years or so later before I really started to read his material and then apply some of his methods to my own training.  Sometime around 2010, I had retired from powerlifting competition due to multiple injuries.  Since I no longer needed to stay in a weight class, I set out to see just how big and massive I could get by using high-frequency training (HFT) and multiple sets of really low reps, the very methods favored by Ditillo.  Once I did begin reading Ditillo, I couldn’t get enough.  I also didn’t have to “buy” into the aforementioned methods that he pushed—HFT, lots of sets of low reps with super-heavy weights—becaused I already knew that they worked from utilizing Russian-style training, such as the programs of Boris Sheiko.

     One of Ditillo’s primary influences was the little-known, but elite, Hungarian Olympic weightlifter Dezso Ban.  If the name of Dezso Ban seems oddly familiar, you might be acquainted with the oddity of a blog titled “The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban.”  The creator(s) of the blog remain anonymous, as it has a byline that reads “My name is nobody and you have one eye.”  It’s a phrase used historically by writers wishing to remain anonymous—it probably has its roots in the Greek hero Odysseus and his encounter with the mythic cyclops.

     In an article in ‘76, aptly titled “Dezso Ban,” Ditillo had this to say about the Hungarian lifter:

     “I first met Dezso Ban some four years ago when I joined the Elizabeth YMCA. Immediately I was impressed with his solid, muscular physique and great all-over body power. Much of what I am going to relate to you here has been gathered by me throughout the years we have trained together. I would say, without reservation, pound-for-pound he is one of the strongest and most muscular men I have ever met and I have seen him lift some incredible poundages with strict, flawless style.

     “His musculature is truly dense and Herculean. The muscles of the upper and lower back look like thick ropes under the skin, with each massive lump fighting for room to breathe, so densely is he constructed. He has huge calves and incredible lower thigh development with a massive, yet trim hip and waist area with very well developed obliques and a lower back makeup that has to be seen to be believed. But of all his physical dimensions, his trapezius development remains paramount beyond description. When in hard training, his traps seem to have their insertions somewhere behind his ears, so high and thickly dense is their structure. His pectorals and shoulders are thickset and well-shaped and somehow hiding all their inner power. Such is his appearance.

     “The power this man has developed must be seen by an advanced trainee to be properly appreciated. I myself have seen “Dezzi” shrug 940 pounds for 3 repetitions at a bodyweight of approximately 190. This was two summers ago. He has also stiff-legged deadlifted 550 pounds and did 600 with a hitch. His personal records in the full squat, Olympic style, are 505x1 and 455x5. He has also seated incline pressed 255x2.

     “As far as Dezzi’s Olympic lifts are concerned, I believe he told me he pressed somewhere around 270 and clean & jerked 380-385. I’m sorry I can’t be more accurate but I am going by past conversations so you must bear with me. These Olympic lifts were done many years ago and Dezso is not one to bask in past glory.

     “He is now 45 years old but, believe me, he has the development, flexibility, energy and power of most men half his age. And even more important than his physique or his training poundages is the nature of his training philosophy, which has made him such an extraordinary physical specimen.

     “To start with, Dezzi feels the average lifter doesn’t train nearly as hard as he should for proper gains and he either uses weights too light or he goes overboard and uses loads far too heavy to complete the repetitions correctly, so excessive cheating comes into play.

     “Dezzi’s presses ARE presses. His squats are full and complete, thigh biceps resting on calves, back erect and bar placed high on the neck. All deadlifts are done stiff-legged. Benches and inclines are done with a dead stop at the chest and the bar is pressed, not thrust or jerked to arm’s length.”

     And just what kind of training did this seemingly semi-mythic figure use to achieve such a physique and such outstanding strength and power?  Well, be prepared but here it is:

• 25 to 30 sets of 3-5 reps on presses done 6 days per week

• 50 to 60 sets of 3-5 reps on various pulls done 3 days a week

• 50 to 60 sets of 3-5 reps on squats done 3 days a week

     Those are not typos!  Keep in mind, however, that those are not all “work sets” as Ban would have used progressively heavier sets—what I call ramps—done for multiple sets in working up to his top weights.  So, on his pull days, he might have worked up to 8 to 10 sets of 3 to 5 reps on power cleans, power snatches, high pulls, shrug pulls, and (sometimes) stiff-legged deadlifts.  For the squat day, it was 8 to 10 work sets after ramps of back squats, front squats, and lunges.  The presses performed every day would have been primarily military presses, push presses, or jerk presses, with the occasional bench press, incline press, or other prone pressing lifts.

     If you’re serious about getting as big (and strong) as humanly possible (for you) without the use of anabolic drugs, I think that a training program similar to Ban’s is a must.  Perhaps a slightly “kinder and gentler” version, but a similar one nonetheless.  Ban was a weightlifter, so he wasn’t concerned with how strong he was on movements such as bench presses, curls, or deadlifts.  If you want to use a program based on his methods, but also get stronger on some of the more popular lifts—such as bench presses, barbell curls, and deadlifts—then here would be a good program to follow:

Monday - Heavy Squat and Press Day:

Barbell squats: 8 to 10 sets of 3-5 reps.  The sets listed include all of your progressively heavier warmup sets.  So, if you have near-max set of 3 reps on the squat with 315 pounds, you might follow a progression such as this: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 255x5, 275x5, 295x3, 315x3x4 sets for a total of 10 sets.  Follow this method of training on all of your heavy day lifts.

Front squats: 8-10x3-5 reps

Bench presses: 8-10x3-5

Behind-the-neck presses: 8-10x3-5

Tuesday - Heavy Pull and Press Day:

Deadlifts: 8-10x3-5

Power snatches: 8-10x3-5

Push presses: 8-10x3-5

Barbell curls: 8-10x3-5

Wednesday - Light Squat and Press Day:

Barbell squats: 8 to 10 sets of 3-5 reps.  Use the same method as the heavy day, but only work up to around 80% of your top weight used at the heavy session.  Use this method for all of your light day lifts.

Military presses: 8-10x3-5

Thursday - Light Pull and Press Day:

Power cleans: 8-10x3-5

Weighted chins: 8-10x3-5

One-arm dumbbell overhead presses: 8-10x3-5 (each arm)

Friday - Medium Squat and Press Day:

Barbell squats: 8 to 10 sets of 3-5 reps.  Again, use the same method as the heavy day, but work up to a top weight in between the weights used on your heavy and light days, so around 90% of your top weights on the heavy sessions.

Front squats: 8-10x3-5

Incline bench presses: 8-10x3-5

Behind-the-neck presses: 8-10x3-5

Saturday - Medium Pull and Press Day:

Romanian deadlifts: 8-10x3-5

Power snatches: 8-10x3-5

Push presses: 8-10x3-5

Barbell curls: 8-10x3-5

     If that seems as if it’s too much or too complicated, we can look at it through a simpler lens.  Train 6 days a week or as many days in a row as you can before you feel as if you need a day off.  On 3 days, do a squat and some sort of press.  On the other 3 days, do some kind of pull and (optionally) another press.  On each day, do 8 to 10 sets of 3 to 5 reps on each movement and just go as heavy as you feel like it on each day.  So, your schedule might be as basic as this:

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: a squat and some kind of overhead press

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday: some kind of quick lifts and overhead press

     On Monday, you can substitute the overhead presses with bench presses.  And on Tuesdays, you can sub one of the quick lifts—high pulls, power cleans, or power snatches—with deadlifts.  Other than that, just stick with the program as written, basic as it might seem.

     Ditillo believed that this kind of training was the essential key to making gains for the drug-free strength athlete.  He had the opposite view of many of the bodybuilding writers that came after him, and that’s the view that the natural bodybuilder should do less and not more.  But he had this to write in his article entitled “Training for Strength Without the Use of Drugs” in 1981: “When it comes to developing Power and Muscle Size, we must realize that there is a big difference between training with the use of artificial aids and training without anabolic steroids. What I am trying to say is that the man who is not using steroids will of necessity have to train harder and longer in order to achieve the same results, genetics allowing. This is not to say that the steroid user will not have to train especially hard, on the contrary; if the drugs are to do him any good at all, he will have to train very hard indeed. But for the trainee who is not interested in experimenting with the use of the substances, the only road to the top will be one filled with a lot of hard work.”

     In the same article, he went on to write this regarding Ban’s theories on training without anabolics: “Dezso's theory of training to the limits of one's potential lies in the assertion that the body WILL adapt to most any stress if given enough time to become accustomed to the workload. In other words, if you allow the body sufficient time to adjust to a certain load, you will recover and actually become capable of even MORE work and heavier work when this adaptability takes place. The Russians and the Bulgarians have known this for years and their lifters make their entire life revolve around the gym and their workouts, and while this might be somewhat objectionable to the majority of lifters reading this article; their results speak for themselves.”

     Anthony Ditillo wrote a lot of training programs, however, that were different from how Ban trained.  He was, in many ways, a seeker of size and strength.  He wanted to experiment and try.  If it worked, then it worked.  If it didn’t, then he moved on to something else.  And if it did work, then he made sure that his readers knew about it.  For the remainder of this piece, we’ll look at some of the other and varied routines, workouts, and methods that he suggested.

     Ditillo didn’t just recommend HFT routines.  He also wrote a number of programs that only required three, or even just two, training days each week.  In fact, these are the kind of programs that you should start with if you’re just beginning your bulk and power training journey or need to get “back to the basics” after several months of HFT programs.

     Here’s a routine that he suggested for anyone new to his style of training.  Do the following workout 2x per week, such as Monday and Thursday, Monday and Friday, Sunday and Wednesday, or whatnot:

Squats: 5x5 using “all the weight possible for each set.”  Follow this protocol for all of the lifts.

Deadlifts: 5x5

Bench presses: 5x5

Bent-over rows: 5x5

Warm up with 2 or 3 light sets of 8 to 10 reps before starting your 5 working sets.

     Here’s another 2-days-per-week routine:

Workout One:

Squats: 5x10,8,6,4,2.  Do progressively heavier pyramid sets.  Leave a rep “in the tank” at the end of each set.  After you finish with the heavy double, drop back down in weight and do: 5x3-5.

Bench presses: 5x10,8,6,4,2, 5x3-5

Workout Two:

Deadlifts: 5x10,8,6,4,2, 5x3-5

Bent-over rows: 5x10,8,6,4,2, 5x3-5

     Ditillo was another one of my early inspirations for doing multiple sets of low reps.  He was particularly fond of 10 sets of 3—a method I don’t think anyone can go wrong with if they’re looking for both mass and the strength to go with the muscle.  Here’s a 4-days-per-week routine of his that combines 10x3 at one session and 5x5 at another.  Ditillo actually suggested slightly different movements on the 5x5 workout than what I’m going to recommend here, but the “gist” is the same:

Monday and Thursday:

Squats: 10x3

Bench presses: 10x3

Stiff-legged deadlifts: 10x3

     Use a weight for each set, after warmups, that you would use if you were doing one all-out set of 6 reps.

Tuesday and Friday:

Military presses: 5x5

Power cleans: 5x5

Barbell curls: 5x5

     Do a couple of warmup sets and then use a weight for your 5x5 sets that you would use for about 8 reps if you were going for one all-out set.

     Here is an example of a “full-body split” program that he suggested.  For this one, you train 3 days a week, such as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Use the same “weight suggestions” as the routine above:

Workout One:

Squats: 10x3

Weighted dips: 5x5

Weighted chins: 5x5

Workout Two:

Deadlifts: 10x3

Flat bench flyes: 5x5

Barbell curls: 5x5

Workout Three:

Bench presses: 10x3

Partial rack squats: 5x5

Rack pulls: 5x5

     Ditillo was also a big fan of “specialization” routines.  He believed that, once a lifter reached a more advanced level, he should focus on a certain lift or a part of the body while “slacking” off on other lifts or the remainder of the body.  For instance, he once went on an upper-body specialization program and entirely neglected his lower body just to see if it was possible to build a large amount of upper body mass without the use of heavy squats or lower body pulls.  And, to his slight surprise, it worked.  Though he did believe that, particularly for so-called “hardgainers,” a lifter would do better by focusing on a lower body/back specialization routine, even if he desired a lot of upper body bulk.  He also liked “rack specialization” programs, where the lifter spent most of his training time by focusing on rack lifts.  Here are a couple of specialization routines that he used.  The first one is a leg/lower back specialization routine and the 2nd one is his upper body specialization program that he favored.

Ditillo’s Leg Specialization Routine

     In an article for Ironman titled, you guessed it, “Leg Specialization,” he wrote this: “You can pump your arms and shoulders until they feel ready to burst. The chest can be red hot with blood. The size will come alright, but here there will be no deep down strength, no great increase in power. In short, without leg power specialization, you may be able to give the APPEARANCE of power with largely inflated tissue, but such will only be a facade. There will be no REAL muscle. 

     “The seat of all bodily power lies in the thighs, hips and lower back. And since all leg work requires huge amounts of oxygen and this intake catapults the metabolic processes of the body into reawakening at an intense rate, inadvertently leg work will result in an accumulation of bulk over the whole body, with the power developed from such movements overlapping into every muscle group.

     “Intermediates will likely have already realized the importance of such leg and/or back specialization, but beginners often fail to see that at this stage of their weight training career it is imperative that the proper foundation is built. Heavy and intense leg work will make you bulk up like mad!”

Monday and Friday:

Squats: 5x5.  After warmups, Ditillo wanted you to use as much weight as possible for all 5 sets of 5 reps.  He also wrote that these must be FULL squats, “ass to the grass” as I like to write.  Rest 3 to 5 minutes between sets.  He also suggested doing a light set of dumbbell cross-bench pullovers after each set.

Bottom-position squats: 5x5.  Same as the full squats.

Stiff-legged deadlifts: 5x3.  Again, use the heaviest weights possible on each set, but drop reps down to 3.

Power cleans: 5x5.  For this one, he recommended 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by 2 sets with the heaviest weight possible.

Front squats: 5x5.  Finish the workout with 5 straight sets of front squats.

Wednesday:

Bench presses: 5x5

Bent-over rows: 5x5

Barbell curls: 5x5

     For the one upper-body workout of the program, don’t worry about going “all-out.”  Train as hard as you feel like, but feel free to train relatively “easy,” as well.  I think a good idea would be to use a weight on each lift where you would get 8 to 10 reps if you were doing one set to complete muscular failure.

Upper Body Specialization

     Here’s the program that Ditillo recommended for anyone who wants to focus on upper body alone.  It still contains some leg work, though, as you’ll see, it’s primarily an upper body program.  This is NOT a program, however, for raw beginners or even intermediates.  If you’ve been training for a year or so, and have already developed size along with a decent work capacity, then feel free to give this one a go.  It’s a 6 days a week routine, however, so you do need to have the work capacity to handle the workload.

Monday and Thursday:

Incline Dumbbell Press – 5 sets of from 6 to 8 reps using all weight possible for each set.

Flat Bench Flyes – 5 sets of from 8 to 10 reps using all weight possible for each set.

Parallel Bar Dips – 5 sets of all possible reps per set.

Lat Machine Pulldowns – 5 sets of 5 to 7 reps using all the weight you can take.

Barbell Shrugs – 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps using all weight possible.

Stiff-legged Deadlifts – 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps using all weight possible.

Tuesday and Friday:

Press Behind Neck – 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps using all weight possible for each set.

Preacher Bench Curl – 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps using all weight possible.

Lying Triceps Extension – 4 sets of 6 to 8 reps using all weight possible.

Preacher Bench Reverse Curl – 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps using all weight possible.

Upright Rows – 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps using all weight possible.

Tiger Bend Pushups – 5 sets of as many reps as you can possibly perform. (Note: If you’re not familiar with tiger bend pushups, they are a triceps movement that, basically, turn a pushup into a triceps extension.  You can find a number of videos or tutorials online.)

Wednesday and Saturday:

Breathing Squats – 1 set of 20 to 25 reps using half of your usual squatting poundage and taking 4 deep breaths between each and every repetition.

Leg Presses – 3 sets of 20 to 25 reps using as heavy a weight as you possibly can. Lots of deep breathing on this one.

Deadlifts – Take half of your usual training poundage and strap your hands to the bar and get set for the workout of your life! Perform as many reps as you possibly can for 1 set.

Abdominal Work – Do whatever you want. Just work hard for about half an hour. Be sure to perform as many reps as possible in each set.

     All of the italicized suggestions for each movement above are Ditillo’s own words.  For this workout, I didn’t make any alterations or add anything that I would personally change.  Instead, I figured it’d be better to let Ditillo speak for himself.

Lessons Learned from Ditillo

     When I added a lot of muscle mass over a decade ago, despite being in my 40s, I did so using a program inspired almost entirely by Ditillo and his own Dezso Ban-inspired training.  I wrote about this program back in 2013, but it’s worth revisiting here.

     Although Ban, and therefore Ditillo, insisted on 6 days of training per week, I found that I got my best results with 5 days a week.  6 was too much.  4 days was too little.  5 days, however, was kind of the Goldilocks of frequency for me—just right.  Here’s an example of what a week of training looked like for me back then:

Monday:

Squats: 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by a set of 3 reps, and then an even heavier double.

Snatch-grip High Pulls: 3 progressively heavier triples, followed by two progressively heavier doubles.

Overhead Presses: 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by two progressively heavier triples.

Tuesday:

Deadlifts: 3 progressively heavier triples, followed by two progressively heavier doubles.

Power Snatches: 5 progressively heavier doubles.

Bench Presses: 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by two progressively heavier triples.

Wednesday:

Front Squats: 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by two progressively heavier triples.

Power Cleans: 3 progressively heavier triples, followed by two progressively heavier doubles.

One-Arm Dumbbell Overhead Presses: 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by two progressively heavier triples (each arm).

Friday:

Squats: 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by a set of 3 reps, and then an even heavier double.

Barbell Curls: 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by two progressively heavier triples.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses: 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by two progressively heavier triples.

Saturday:

Rack Pull Shrugs: 3 progressively heavier triples, followed by two progressively heavier doubles.

Deficit Deadlifts: 3 progressively heavier triples, followed by two progressively heavier doubles.

Behind-the-Neck Presses: 3 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps, followed by two progressively heavier triples.

     The results that I got with this training can be seen on the cover of my book Ultimate Strength and in the pictures here:

     As long as you have the work capacity to handle it, you will get great results by following the kind of Ditillo-inspired routine that I used.  Also, even if you don’t think you have the work capacity to handle it, as long as you’ve been training with something such as a 3 days a week, full-body program or one of Ditillo’s more “basic” programs above, your body will adapt to the training.  It might take a couple of weeks, but once you do adapt, then watch out!  That’s when the gains come.

     If you learn nothing else from Ditillo, here are the primary takeaways from his training:

• To quote the Bulgarians: How you feel is a lie.  Your body will adapt to the training, as just mentioned.  Don’t be afraid to use high-volume, high-frequency workouts or high-intensity, high-frequency workouts.  Don’t try to use all three—at least, not at first—but you can handle more frequency and more volume than you probably think.

• Perhaps there is nothing better than multiple sets of low reps, whether you’re training with high-frequency or not.

• If you are a natural bodybuilder who wants to get big, then higher volume and higher frequency programs are a must!  A natural lifter must train hard and train more than his steroid-using counterparts, but it’s often the inverse that is taught to most lifters.  Don’t let that be you and let Ditillo be your guide.

• Finally, Ditillo believed that it takes more than just training to get big.  It takes eating big, as well.

     With that last bullet point, to close out this essay, let’s look at some of Ditillo’s dietary recommendations.  “For getting big, It's all a matter of hard work on the right movements and an adequate and appropriate diet. If you think that eggs and toast in the morning, a sandwich, piece of fruit and glass of milk for lunch, finishing off the day with baked potato, two tablespoons of vegetables, 3 "massive" ounces of beef and a cocktail for supper is the epitome of healthful eating or even worse, eating for gaining, you are in for a big surprise. 

     “In order to gain weight, you must eat properly. If you prefer eggs and toast for breakfast, fine. Only make it 4-6 eggs with plenty of whole wheat bread flavored with honey. Add a few slices of ham or sausages, throw in a glass or two of whole milk mixed with protein powder, and your breakfast becomes a muscle building one, instead of a teaser that won't allow you to accomplish what you've set out to do.

     “You must do this with ALL your meals; include large quantities of good food and no junk foods.”

     Anthony Ditillo was one of the greatest bodybuilding writers who ever lived.  For me, he’s on the Mount Rushmore of writing greats along with Bill Starr, Vince Gironda, and (probably) John McCallum.  That’s a monument I’d like to see, by the way.

     Whether you’ve known about him for years or this is your first time hearing of Ditillo, don’t neglect the kind of workouts that he recommended or his hard-earned lifting wisdom.  He’s on that mountain for a reason.  Ditillo knew how to develop muscular bulk and power like few others before him or since.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, leave them in the "comments" section below. If you're a long-time Ditillo fan, tell us about some of the lessons YOU learned from him.

If you enjoyed reading this article, then you'll like the articles, workout routines, and training programs that I have in my books. Click on the link for info about all of my books that are currently available for purchase. After finishing this one, it'll probably also be a chapter of my upcoming book on old-school bodybuilding legends.

*Joe Roark’s IronHistoryArchives.com