Classic Bodybuilding: The Natural Power-Bodybuilding Methods of Chuck Sipes

Chuck Sipes as he appeared in the pages of the original Ironman Magazine.

For a while now, I have wanted to write a piece on one of my favorite bodybuilders of all time: Chuck Sipes. I had relented in doing so until now only because there are so many good pieces that you can find on the internet just from doing a cursory search. But I finally figured, you know, what the hell, you can never have too much Chuck Sipes. Also, in addition to my own memories and thoughts on Sipes' totally bad-a training, I've tried to find some of the best information from various sites, and include a lot of that here.

For those of you that don't know much about Sipes, he was one of a kind. I know that's a bit cliché, and I've used such terms before when it comes to other "classic bodybuilders", but there was nothing cliché about Sipes, so it's completely true in this instance. Don't believe me? Then read on.


First off, he was natural. In fact, he was one of the last great, truly anti-steroid bodybuilders. Apparently, one of the reasons that he quit bodybuilding was because of the influx of drug use. Some of you may look at his physique - not to mention his insane training regimens which we will get to shortly - and think that there is no way on God's green earth that Sipes could look the way he did, move the tonnage that he moved on a regular basis, and follow the uber-crazy training programs he followed and possibly be natural. Well, I believe he was, and I believe it does a dishonor to his memory to suggest that he was anything but an entirely "natty" lifter.

Second, Sipes was the second strongest bench presser on earth, and only second to the great Pat Casey, who, incidentally, outweighed Sipes by 135 pounds. Oh, and Sipes used a relatively close grip, a "flat back" on the bench, and a 2-second pause on the chest to bench press 570lbs!

Third, Sipes was, by all accounts, a great man, and one of the nicest guys you ever could have met. For over 20 years, he worked with the California Youth Authority, taking young disadvantaged men on expeditions in the wilderness of California for rehabilitation. He also used his strength to perform exhibitions at many high schools and colleges around the world.


Lastly, this brief mentioning of Sipes wouldn't be complete without telling you that he took his own life in 1993. He suffered severe depression throughout his life, and it was exacerbated late in life by the fact that he had some debilitating injuries that kept him from doing the activities that he loved the most, such as training and spending time outdoors.


I remember reading about his suicide shortly after it happened in the pages of all the major bodybuilding magazines at the time. It saddened me, and it still does to this day. But as someone who has suffered with severe depression throughout my life, and with various injuries and illnesses that have kept me from lifting, I can relate to Sipes, and it is another factor that makes him all the more special to me personally.


Okay, on to his diet and training!


Here is an example of his "basic" training, when he was simply attempting to gain a lot of overall strength and power. It's not one of his specialization routines, as he had others that focused on the bench press, the squat, arm size and power, and a forearm-specialization program that he occasionally used (Sipes' forearms were massive!). And I must mention once again that this is an example routine! Sipes was very instinctive in his training, and changed sets/reps/exercises for his muscle groups based on how he felt. The common term for this nowadays (if it's still a fad) is auto-regulation. In these terms, Sipes was one of the original auto-regulators.

Chuck Sipes’ Power Routine

Monday/Thursday

Back Squat – 6, 6, 4, 4, 2, 2

Bench Press – 6, 6, 4, 4, 2, 2

Conventional Deadlift – 6, 6, 4, 4, 2, 2,

Shrug – 4 x 8

Cheat Curl – 4 x 6

Preacher Curl – 5 x 10

Situp – 3 x 20

Leg Raise – 4 x 15

Overhead Press – 5 x 6

Incline DB Flye – 3 x 8

Calf Raise – 4 x 20

Tuesday/Friday

Heavy 1/4 Bench Press – 5 x 8

Heavy 1/4 Back Squat, (no lockout, 50-100lb over your max squat)– 5 x 8

Stiff Legged Deadlift off Bench or Box (bodybuilding-style deficits) – 5 x 4

Chins – 6 x 6

Dips – 5 x 8

Lying French Press – 5 x 8*



Here's the thing: What is listed above is a very "basic" and "low-volume" training program, as well - at least compared to some of his specialization programs where he trained each specialized muscle with more volume as above and typically three or more days per week! Crazy as it sounds, it's exactly what produced his very dense, hard physique, I believe.

The website T-Nation has this to say about Sipes' form of "auto-regulation":

"Old time bodybuilders like Chuck Sipes, Leroy Colbert, and Reg Park seemed to almost have a type of "sixth sense," and would frequently do things completely different from their peers, and profit greatly from it.

Often, exercise scientists would validate these techniques decades later, with some becoming staples in modern strength training application.

Sipes method of starting his routines heavy and then performing hypertrophy work after is a perfect example of this. He did this by instinct alone, and half a century later it's backed by evidence and used by smart trainers everywhere."**


The 16/21 Method of Training

To give you example of what author Bradley Joe Kelly writes above, here is a method he used for building his massive biceps. And please do keep in mind that it was nothing to do this insanity 3x per week!

barbell cheat curls: 4 sets of 4 reps
barbell 21s (7 reps at the bottom half, 7 reps at top half, 7 full repetitions)
barbell cheat curls: 4 sets of 4 reps

barbell 21s (7 reps at the bottom half, 7 reps at top half, 7 full repetitions)
barbell cheat curls: 4 sets of 4 reps
barbell 21s (7 reps at the bottom half, 7 reps at top half, 7 full repetitions)
barbell cheat curls: 4 sets of 4 reps
barbell 21s (7 reps at the bottom half, 7 reps at top half, 7 full repetitions)


Yes, you read the above correctly. That would be 16 sets of cheat curls, intermixed with 4 sets of 21s!


Ladder Training Before Ladder Training was Popular

Sipes called it the 1-10-10-1 method. He would pick an exercise and do the following:
1 rep
2 reps
3 reps
4 reps
5 reps
6 reps
7 reps
8 reps
9 reps
10 reps
10 reps
9 reps
8 reps
7 reps
6 reps
5 reps
4 reps
3 reps
2 reps
1 rep
If he failed before reaching the 10th rep, then he would stop there and simply begin working his way back down.

Sipes, apparently, was a no-frills dude when it came to diet. He believed in a lot of raw milk in addition to plenty of meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads, seeds, and peanuts.

Below is an example of the diet that he followed. After reading some different articles, it was hard to pin down exactly what Sipes ate, since - as with his training - he was instinctive and added or subtracted food based on how he was feeling/looking at the time. With that being said, here is his daily diet (courtesy of the blog "Chaos and Pain"):

Meal 1

4 eggs with cheese

Whole-wheat stoneground bread and honey

Wholegrain cereal milk and fruit

Meal 2

Fresh fruit and almonds

Meal 3

Fruit juice

Large salad with sunflower seeds and 2 large whole-wheat peanut butter sandwiches, two classes of milk

Meal 4

Nuts and fruit or his bulk drink, which was:2 cups milk
Protein powder
2 spoonfuls Blackstrap molasses
1 spoonful honey
1 spoonful Ovaltine
1 banana
1 scoop natural ice cream

Meal 5

Steak or fish with salad and brown rice

Some whole-wheat bread and butter

Tea with honey

And some natural ice cream

Meal 6 (Bedtime)

A glass of fresh juice and sunflower seeds

Sipes deserves more interest and more praise than he has acquired over the years. Even though he was posthumously entered into the IFBB Bodybuilding Hall of Fame, not enough interest (in my humble opinion) has been generated. I hope this article helps to in some way generate that very interest.

Life is strange yet poignant. It is filled with a dichotomy of joy and pain. In Chuck Sipes's case, you had a man that helped others - sometimes tremendously so - but couldn't help himself at the very end. But it is his life that should be remembered in all of its power/bodybuilding, giving-to-others glory. And, yes, how he died should be remembered as well. By all accounts, Chuck was a religious man. Death will always be a mystery to those of us on this side. But I like to think that, in death, Chuck Sipes was embraced by a Transcendent Other that he loved, and in so doing did not fall into nothingness but was, and is, held in an eternal embrace.




Sure, rest-in-peace, Chuck, but also rest in all of the bodybuilding glory that you most assuredly deserve!







*From the article "Baddest Mofos Ever: Chuck Chuck "Wrath of the Natty Axe Giant" Sipes" from the website Chaos and Pain.

**From the article "Bodybuilding's Original Superhero: Chuck Sipes" by Bradley Joe Kelly on the website T-Nation.