Ditillo's Leg and Back Specialization Program

Anthony Ditillo’s Leg and Back Specialization Program for Bulk and Power

Ditillo as cool as ever.

“The quickest way to a massive upper body is to specialize on lower back and thighs. Believe me, there is no other way.” ~Anthony Ditillo*


If you’ve read my blog, or any of my writings elsewhere, for any length of time, then the chances are that you’re familiar with Anthony Ditillo. Even if you don’t know it. He was one of my early inspirations, as both a lifter and a writer, that inspired a lot of the programs that I would go on to write about in the pages of Ironman or MuscleMag International early in my writing career.

Ditillo himself was inspired by lifters that had been around before him, namely the strongman Doug Hepburn, and the bodybuilders Reg Park and Marvin Eder. You can see their “inspiration” almost everywhere in his programs, along with other great—but not as well-known—lifters and bodybuilders from the ‘50s.

One of the things that Ditillo believed in was “specialization.” He wrote articles on specializing for muscle growth on different body parts, and he also wrote a lot of “strength” specialization articles for lifters who wanted to focus on one of the three powerlifts, or for lifters who wanted to work on their Olympic lifts. You name it, and Ditillo wrote about it.

But you can tell, based on the quote that I started this article with, that when it came to adding mass and bulk (even for the upper body), Ditillo believed a lifter needed to specialize on heavy leg and back work above all others!

“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.”

So, yeah, Ditillo didn’t pull any punches when it came to what he thought proper training involved. Later in the same article, he wrote this:

“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.”

With that out of the way, you may ask, “Okay, Sloan, that’s nice to know, but what did Ditillo actually recommend that the lifter do?” Below is Ditillo’s “Leg and Back Specialization” as he wrote about it in the pages of Iron Man magazine in the early ‘70s.

The Leg and Back Specialization Program for Bulk and Power

Full Barbell Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps
Work up over 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps until you reach your top set. You may or may not get your last set of 5 reps. Add weight at each session once you do get the last set of 5.

I write “full” squats here (as Ditillo did) so you know that these are to be done as deeply as possible. “Ass to the grass” as the saying goes.

Ditillo recommended that you take between 3 to 5 minutes of rest between each set.

He also believed in performing light dumbbell pullovers for sets of 10 to 20 reps using as little as 15 pounds. This should be enhanced by breathing deeply on each rep. “Old-timers” believed this “expanded your rib cage.” Although I don’t personally believe that is the “mechanism” by which they work, they do seem to expand your upper body size.

Bottom-Position Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps
Unlike the “full” squats above, this exercise, and all that follow, should be done for “straight sets” using the same weight on all sets listed.

Use a weight here that you can “full squat” for 10 reps.

Again, rest 3-5 minutes between sets.

And again, Ditillo recommended you perform dumbbell pullovers between sets.

Stiff-Legged Deadlifts: 5 sets of 3 reps
Due to the more direct lower back work on this exercise, Ditillo preferred sets of 3 reps on these, as opposed to 5.

Take a full 5-minutes’ rest between each set.

Although Ditillo didn’t recommend exactly how “heavy” to go on this exercise, I would start with a weight that you know you can get 5 to 6 reps with.

Power Cleans: 3 sets of 5 reps
On this exercise, since your back won’t be completely warmed-up, Ditillo suggested 2 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps before proceeding with all 3 “work” sets.

Ditillo recommended 3 to 5 minutes of rest between each set.

Front Squat: 3 sets of 5 reps
Once again, he recommended between 3 to 5 minutes’ rest between sets.

Additional Suggestions

Train on this program twice weekly. I recommend that you begin your “training week” with this workout so that you will be as fresh as possible.

Ditillo recommended sticking with this program for at least 10 weeks before changing to another program.

Using this program, you can train either 6x each week, or just 4x weekly. If you are not advanced, then only train 4 days per week. Do this program on, say, Mondays and Thursdays, and train the rest of your body on Tuesdays and Fridays. On the Tuesday and Friday workout, do some form of pressing (bench press, barbell overhead, one-arm dumbbell overhead, etc.), some form of chins or pull-ups, and some form of curls. Limit your exercises to just three for this secondary workout.

From the same article, here are Ditillo’s words on how and what to eat: “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 properly, 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.”

And, finally, I will leave you with the EXACT sentence that Ditillo left his readers with: “Brother… you are gonna grow!”




*All quotes in this post are taken from Anthony Ditillo's 1971 article "Leg Specialization Program" from IronMan Magazine.