Classic Bodybuilding: Jack Delinger's Bulk-Building

 The Bulk-Building Program of Jack Delinger

This photo was taken of Delinger after he won the '56 Mr. Universe.

Delinger was a well-known bodybuilder from the ‘40s and ‘50s that, unfortunately, just isn't as well-known today as many of his contemporaries.  This, despite the fact that he had an “All-American” look; blonde, aesthetic physique, young, and good-looking.  I have a feeling that the only reason he isn’t more well-known today—at least, it has to be a partial reason—is because he only won 3 contests his entire career.  (I have read conflicting reports as to how many competitions he actually entered.  In one article from the ‘50s, it said that Delinger only entered these three contests, but other sources show that he probably competed in 6 competitions, but it was only these 3 that he won outright.)

Delinger competed in, and won, the 1946 Mr. Northern California, the 1949 AAU Mr. America, and, finally, the 1956 Mr. Universe.  At the Mr. Universe, he became one of only a couple of competitors to ever beat Bill Pearl in competition.

He was born in 1926, in Oakland, California.  For the era, this was a real benefit for any young man who took up weightlifting in the ‘40s.  If you didn’t live on either the extreme East Coast or West Coast—Now York or California—then you had a hard time finding good gyms, and good training advice.

At the age of 16, he took up bodybuilding, inspired (as many young men were at that time) by the legendary John Grimek.  Jack signed up, and trained, at Ed Yarick’s gym when he was in high school.  Yarick would go on to be the coach of the 1952 Junior National Weightlifting Team, in addition to already being the mentor of Steve Reeves.

In addition to his looks, which helped to make him popular at the time despite his lack of competitions, he wrote quite a lot for the various magazines at the time: Strength and Health, the Reg Park Journal, Muscle Builder, Muscle Power, and Mr. America Magazine, to name a few, which were all the most popular muscle “rags” during Delinger’s heyday.  Even after his retirement from competition—he didn’t compete again after winning the ‘56 Mr. Universe—he was still well-known because he continued to train, appear in the various magazines, write training articles, and he (and his wife) opened his own gym around the same time where many of the most famous bodybuilders trained at in Northern California.

For this “classic bodybuilding” piece, I thought it would be best to let Jack’s words speak for themselves.  Unlike many other bodybuilding pieces “written” by the bodybuilder (but actually written by staff-writers and magazine editors), Jack actually wrote his own articles.

Here is his “Bulk Training” that appeared in a 1955 Strength and Health magazine.  All words are Delinger’s, however I have not included the entire article, but only the excerpts that I think readers would be interested in, and, of course, his actual bulk training program:

Bulk Training

by Jack Delinger

If you’re having difficulty gaining weight, don’t for one minute imagine you’re the only one with troubles. 80% of all bodybuilders go through the same trials and tribulations as you. Out of this vast number, a mere half-dozen will solve their problems through sheer luck. They’ll hit on the right combination of sets, reps, exercise and rest through the process of trial and error, and after many months of effort have gone by will eventually begin to put on the pounds. The rest will waste just as much time floundering around trying this or that routine without the remotest signs of success and will at last give up in despair and disgust.

I’m going to show you a sure way to gain bulk and power and I’m also going to show you how the “hit-or-miss” trainer and the “bulk-gaining failure” could have succeeded. All they had to do was try and completely understand their individual gaining problems, for the simple reason that when every side of a problem is understood, a man almost automatically knows what to do to overcome it. Plenty of people will tell you that your physical type has an influence on the degree of bulk you can obtain, and this is mainly true. Obviously no man with the framework of a Tony Sansone can hope to build the bulk of a Doug Hepburn. But such an individual CAN get rid of his skinny appearance, and gain the right amount of muscular massiveness and proportionate appearance that his frame is able to carry.

Perhaps the best thing a bodybuilder can do if he wants to gain bulk is to see that his meals are big and hearty. A nourishing diet is the only way to add weight to your frame. There is no escaping this fact, so determine now that you will fuel your efforts with the proper quantity of healthful food.

You MUST eat three big meals daily and you MUST drink plenty of liquids . . . milk with your meals and milk or fruit and vegetable juices between meals. Your diet should be high in protein. All types of meat should be eaten, starch intake should be stepped up, a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables should be eaten in abundance. In addition to the above changes in your diet, you should make use of weight-gaining and protein drinks prepared in a blender.

Close companion of the adequate diet is the exercise routine. It is useless for you to perform exercises which affect only local muscle groups. Increases in body weight come from OVERALL increases. Obviously you stand to gain more weight if EVERY muscle group in the body is worked than if you exercise say, only your back or your arms. Yet at the same time, such a weight gaining schedule must be planned with an eye to energy conservation. In other words the schedule must use as FEW exercises as possible yet effect affect as MANY muscle groups as possible. This is where cheating versions of compound exercises can be used.

There’s one other factor to take into consideration that some may disagree with. Contrary to popular opinion that low reps build bulk, it is my personal experience that a system of working up to 15 repetitions is best for bulk building. This will create an appreciable appetite for food, and effect changes in metabolism that will lead directly to weight increases . . . through the more efficient utilization of the food eaten.

Take my experience as an example. At the time I made my biggest bulk gains I did six sets of every movement using 15-20 reps. I gained 33 pounds in a 2½ month period. It seemed like each time I stepped on the scales I’d gained a couple of pounds! And let me again emphasize the high reps, which I used with all the weight I could handle in the various movements . . . AND I kept myself supplied with plenty of nutrient-rich foods.

The very best time any man can begin a bulk training routine is right at the start of his lifting career. After he has gained all the bulk he wants he can then begin to specialize for proportion and muscularity. But bear in mind that a bulk program does not imply that you pile on mere flesh. Hard MUSCULAR BULK is what you MUST strive for. Don’t overdo the eating and think it will miraculously turn to muscle. Beyond a certain caloric level all you will gain is fat that will have to be lost at a later date. I have chosen some of the finest movements for building bulk and which form the basis of any bulk training program. The first one is . . .

1.) Heavy Bench Press – Lie on an exercise bench with a barbell held at arms’ length above your chest, hand spacing about an inch from the collars. Lower the weight down with a slight bounce off the chest press it back to arms’ length. As the reps become increasingly tough, bridge up off the bench to press the bar to full lockout. FORCE out each and every repetition. Cheat all you have to and don’t be afraid to take several breaths between reps. Start off with the reps performed in fairly strict style and then bounce and bridge the barbell up to force out the repetitions.

2.) Heavy Cheat Barbell Curl – What is your best single curl performed in strict style?
Well . . . take that weight to use as your EXERCISE poundage in cheat curls. Standing, use your normal curl grip, bend forward at the waist, then return swiftly to an upright position, starting your curl at the same time and bending back a little to complete the curl. The motion of the body should assist the curl to the shoulders. Lower the weight back to starting position as steadily as you can and repeat the exercise. This movement, especially the lowering, forces the biceps into growth.

3.) Cheat Bentover Row – Grasp a barbell in your hands as you stand erect . . . your hand spacing should be a few inches wider than shoulder-width. Now bend forward at the waist until your body is level with the floor, forming right angles with your legs. Drop your body down a bit then pull swiftly up to just above parallel position, at the same time pulling the barbell up to the chest. The movement of the trunk and the pull up of the bar should be made together, so that body movement imparts motion to the barbell. Lower the weight steadily down from the chest and repeat the exercise. this is an all-round movement for the back.

4.) Squat – This movement has always been a mainstay of a weight gaining program since it works the largest muscle groups of the body. Take the weight off the squat racks, and spread your hands along the bar wide so the largest shoulder area supports the bar. Take three deep breaths, forcing the air in and forcing it out. On the third breath drop down into a deep squat and as soon as you hit rock bottom, bounce back up to the erect position, breathing out as you do so. Take another three deep breaths and repeat the exercise. Don’t forget to force that air into your lungs and force it out.

5.) Cheat Upright Row – Stand erect with a barbell held in your hands, fairly narrow grip, at full downward stretch of the arms. Lean the body forward a little at the waist and return it with a snap to upright position, at the same time pulling the bar up to the throat. The movement of your body and rowing motion should be made at the same time, so body motion helps with the pull up. Lower the bar down to commencing position steadily and repeat.

In all five of these movements, start off with a poundage you can handle for 9 repetitions and work to 15, 3 sets each exercise. As soon as you can manage the 3 x 15 increase the weight and drop back to 3 sets of 9.