Classic Bodybuilding: How to Gain 50 pounds of Muscle!

 

Part One:
Arnold’s “Golden 6” Workout for Bulk-Building
(Plus a Bulk-Building “Extra”)

     I often wonder what my teenage life would be like if I was a teenager right now in this generation of text messaging, smart phones, Wikipedia (and therefore information at your fingertips), along with blogs, YouTube videos, and Instagram stories filled with an absolute plethora of mass-building, strength-gaining information.  But, the thing is, I’m glad that I was a teenager in the 1980s.  I think it’s the reason I have a vast, encyclopedic, almost kaleidoscopical knowledge of hypertrophy training and strength-building.  And I’m really not bragging about my bodybuilding “expertise.”  You see, I don’t think I’m different from anyone else.  Because anyone who read every single bodybuilding magazine that hit the newsstand month-after-month, year-after-year from cover-to-cover many times—and did so from the mid ‘80s all the way up to at least the start of this century—would have the same amount of knowledge as I.  Even though there is a superabundance of knowledge available these days at the click of a button or the tap of a phone screen, there is also a profusion of misinformation.  That misinformation coupled with the fact that good information is readily available at all times, and, therefore, there is no need to internalize said information, means that—if I was a teenager in the year 2024—I don’t think I would know the same thing now as what I knew back then… and still know to this day.

     It also helps that I never got rid of a single magazine that I bought—much to the chagrin of my parents when I was a teenager, and equally to the chagrin of any one of my ex-wives—and so I still have an attic full of almost every magazine that I ever purchased.  Which means that if I want to come up with an idea for a “classic bodybuilding” piece, all I have to do is head to my attic and see what memories await.  That’s exactly what I did this morning when I came upon a ‘92 IronMan magazine containing an article from Gene Mozee with the (rather hyperbolic) title “Gain 50 Pounds of Muscle! Three of Bodybuilding’s All-time Greats Reveal Their Techniques for Maximum Development.”  The three legends in question were Arnold, the first Mr. Olympia Larry Scott, and (perhaps the greatest of them all) Bill Pearl.  But then I came up with the idea for what you’re now reading.  I thought it might be a good idea to write a 3-part series with each part dedicated to one of the legend’s training secrets for getting big-as-a-house.  However, instead of just regurgitating the information from the article—which you can find on the internet, anyway, with just a little bit of patient searching—I thought I would present the program of each bodybuilder, and offer my critique, both the pros and the cons of some of the aspects of the programs, along with a few other thoughts.  If you don’t find it exactly enlightening, I hope you do find it informative, and, if not that, perhaps at least inspiring.  (If nothing else, I find reading “old-school” programs and profiles of classic bodybuilders from the era to be inspiring to me, which is why I still enjoy writing about them; often I simply write the stuff that I myself would like to read.)

Arnold’s “Golden 6” Program for Mass-Gaining

     We will start this series with Arnold’s program in the article because his is the most “basic,” and, thus, it would be the best for anyone just starting out on their bulk-building journey or it would be good for anyone who needs to get “back to the basics” no matter how many years you’ve been training.  We all need to get back-the-basics sometimes in our training.  Myself included; I’m especially guilty of not following my own advice.  Sometimes—perhaps oftentimes—you need to return to the basics when you most think that you don’t need to.  It’s human nature when stuck at anything—building muscle included—to try to do more, or make things more complicated, or just overdo all aspects of everything in general.  But that’s not what is most needed when you’re stuck in a rut.  What you need is to simplify and get back to the very thing that worked in the first place!  And that means the basics.

     Before we get to the program outright, here is what Arnold had to say about it.  (All quotes from Arnold are italicized, with my non-italicized thoughts thrown in on occasion.)

     Arnold believed that this program, and others very similar to it, was what was needed for natural, non-steroid-using bodybuilders to achieve success.  “Superstars of the past such as Reg Park, John Grimek, Steve Reeves, Clancy Ross, Jack Delinger, and Bill Pearl, reached the ultimate in massive muscularity without steroids.  So can you with proper training and diet.

     “Some advanced bodybuilders can train three hours a day and show amazing gains, while others cannot make any kind of improvement if they train much more than an hour or so.  When I was trying to get more massive in my early years of training, I followed a routine I called the Golden Six.  I made tremendous gains on this program and so did hundreds of others who trained at my gym in Munich, Germany.  All agreed that this simple system of training produced excellent gains in muscle size and bodyweight.”

     I think that for even “advanced bodybuilders” three hours might be too much.  Not to say that it can’t work.  For instance, I often trained about that long while powerlifting, but those three-hour-long workouts were because of how many minutes I had to rest in between sets due to the amount of ponderous weight being hoisted throughout the session.  But bodybuilders—and by “bodybuilders” I mean anyone who’s interested in hypertrophy and aesthetics over strength—need to rest less in order to stimulate growth.  None-the-less, what Arnold says here is essentially correct.  Some bodybuilders will make better results with longer workouts.  And some won’t.  And don’t think that “genetically gifted” bodybuilders are the ones who can “get away” with long training, while “hardgainers” need less work.  Sometimes, genetically gifted bodybuilders actually thrive on only a little bit of work, whereas some hardgainers actually need longer, more voluminous workouts to make progress.

     Here are Arnold’s Golden Six:

Barbell Squats: 4 sets of 10 reps

     “This exercise not only develops the thighs, but it strengthens the heart and lungs while improving the general circulation as well.  Use a weight that will permit you to perform 4 sets of 10 reps.  To ensure better balance and to put more stress on your quadriceps, place a one-inch board under your heels with your feet about 15-18 inches apart.  Inhale deeply as you squat down and exhale as you come up.  Do 10 reps, rest two minutes, and repeat.”

     Arnold is correct about some of the other benefits the squat has to offer.  As I have often said, and will continue to do so until I leave for that final “Gold’s Gym at Venice Beach in the Sky,” the squat is the king of all exercises.  Squats do improve the strength of your heart and lungs, and they do improve circulation.  They also increase your testosterone levels, boost your sex drive, and are the all-around best of all mass-building movements.

     Arnold was a tall bodybuilder, so his advice for using heels-elevated squats may not apply to you unless you're tall, as well.  The quadfather himself, Tom Platz, didn’t use heel-elevated squats.  He knew that the best way to stimulate the quads was through a high-bar placement, a relatively narrow stance, ass-to-the-grass depth, and FLAT heels.  That is, by the way, exactly how Olympic lifters perform their squats, and they have superior quad development compared to other strength athletes (such as powerlifters who use a wider stance, and don’t squat as deep).  Either way, use the form of squatting that will work best for your leg development.

Barbell Bench Presses: 3 sets of 10 reps

     “This is my favorite upper body exercise, and almost every training program that I’ve used includes it.  Take a fairly wide grip—your hands about 32 inches apart.  Inhale as you lower the bar to your nipples and exhale as you push the weight back to arm’s length.  Don’t bounce the weight off your chest.  Pause about two minutes between sets.”

     For Arnold, the bench press was a good movement because of his body structure.  Being taller, with longer arms, he was able to really work his chest well using a wide grip.  Another classic bodybuilder, Sergio Oliva, was similar.  Oliva rarely used anything other than the bench press for his chest development.  Regardless of whether or not it is good for your chest development, the bench press is a good all-around exercise for developing upper body mass.  However, if I were to substitute an exercise for the bench press, I don’t think you can go wrong with weighted dips.  Dips have often been called “the upper body squat” for a reason.

Chins or Lat Machine Pulldowns: 3 sets of maximum reps

     “If you have limited training experience, you may find chins difficult at first.  If you have access to a lat machine, you can perform pulldowns until you’ve developed sufficient strength to do chins.  Use a wide grip on the chins and try to bring your chin over the bar.  Do as many reps as you can for 3 sets.”

     Here is where I would depart quite a bit from Arnold’s advice.  As long as you can do at least one repetition on chins, stick with chins.  Lat machine pulldowns may not even have a carryover to chins, meaning that no matter how much stronger you get at pulldowns, you’ll see little cross-over to your chinning strength.  If you can do at least one repetition on chins, then simply do as many singles as you can at each training session.  Once you build up enough strength to do 10 singles, then you can start doing doubles following the same paradigm.  Once you can get at least 5 reps on one set of chins, at that point you can start doing 3 sets of maximum reps.

     Another option is to replace the chins with a rowing movement.  Barbell rows or one-arm dumbbell rows would both be top-notch replacements for chins.

Behind-the-Neck Presses: 4 sets of 10 reps

     “This exercise reigns supreme for widening and thickening the shoulders.  I prefer to do it seated.  Use a wide-grip—your thumbs about six inches wider than your delts on each side.  Don’t pause at the bottom of each repetition.  Do four sets with about two minutes’ rest between sets.”

     The behind-the-neck press has gotten somewhat of a bad rap in the bodybuilding press starting sometime in the ‘90s.  When I was young, almost every bodybuilder used the BNP as, probably, their primary shoulder movement.  But then I can remember several articles in the ‘90s with authors blaming the movement for many of the injuries that plagued the modern bodybuilder.  Charles Poliquin, for instance, loathed the exercise, and several authors in IronMan magazine seemed to have an almost equal disregard for it.  But there have always been its defenders, too, such as Bradley J. Steiner who thought it helped to keep the shoulder girdle injury-free.

     If you opt for another exercise, however, because you are worried about this movement’s safety and/or efficacy, then select either standing barbell overhead presses or seated or standing dumbbell presses.  Do not replace it with a movement such as lateral raises or machine work of any sort.

Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 10 reps

     “This is the great mass builder for the biceps.  The triceps have already been thoroughly exercised during the bench press and the behind-the-neck press.  Use a shoulder-width grip and a weight you can curl without any body movement.  Exhale as you curl the weight up until the biceps are fully flexed.  Don’t let your elbows move away from the sides of the body.  Inhale as you lower the bar in a slow, controlled manner to your thighs.  Make sure you straighten your arms completely before doing the next rep.  Rest about 90 seconds between each set.”

     I really have nothing to add to this.  I think Arnold is simply correct in that this is the ultimate biceps movement.  In fact, I think it might be the sole biceps exercise that is also a total-body mass builder, so don’t replace it with cable curls, dumbbell curls, or anything of the like.

Bent-knee Sit Ups: 3 to 4 sets of 20 reps (or more)

     “It’s only sensible to keep your midsection firm and toned when gaining muscular weight.  I prefer to do this exercise with my hands behind my head, but if you’re just starting out, you may find it more beneficial if you hold your arms straight out in front of you and touch your toes.  The knees are kept in a bent position throughout the exercise.  This helps focus the stress more on the abdominals, not the hip flexors or the lower back.  Don’t pause between reps but continue for 20 or as many reps as you can do without stopping.  Exhale as you sit up; inhale as you lower your torso.  Do three or four sets, resting one minute between sets.”

     While I agree that it’s “only sensible” to keep your midsection toned while gaining muscular bodyweight—in other words, you don’t want to get fat—I think the jury is still out as to whether or not sit-ups (or whatever abdominal work) can actually aid in doing so.  For years, I would have said that it’s a myth that abdominal work can help to keep your midsection lean, but I’m sort of “on the fence” about it now.  Regardless, you need to do midsection work to develop your ab muscles (abs are a muscle group, the same as all the others, and, so, if you want to develop them, you need to train them similar to other muscles) and to keep your hips and lower back strong.  Even if you’re just interested in being strong, and don’t care anything about aesthetic development, you would still need to do some ab work for your strength.  That’s right, without sufficient abdominal strength, your lifts (squats, deadlifts, etc.) will suffer.

Final Thoughts (and a Bulk-Building “Extra”)

     “I feel sure that if you use these basic exercises for a minimum of three months without missing any workouts, doing them three-times-a-week on alternate days, you can gain many pounds of new, impressive muscle size.  Paul Grant, former Mr. World, used almost this exact program and gained 65 pounds of muscle in less than a year.  All he did was increase the sets to 4 on each exercise after three months, and after six months he went to 6 sets.  Always strive to continually add more weight to each exercise when you can do two or three more reps over the recommended amount.”

     Personally, I believe that, if you’re going to use this for around a year straight as Paul Grant did, you should probably make a few adjustments.  For 6 weeks, perform the program exactly as Arnold has written.  After that, change exercises but use essentially the same sets and reps.  Remember, when selecting new exercises, think same but different.  After another 6 weeks, you may want to change not just exercises but set/rep ranges.  Switch over to a 5 sets of 5 reps program, or perhaps even some lower reps for a cycle or two.  5 sets of 5/4/3/2/1 would also be a good set/rep range.  After some time spent with such heavy training, then you could return to similar set/rep ranges that Arnold recommends.

     Along with training, make sure that your diet is “on point,” too.  You’re not going to gain any muscle (no matter how good your training), much less bulk up with some quick gains, unless your diet has sufficient calories, protein, carbs, and good fat.  Interesting enough, in the same issue where I found the above program of Arnold’s, Faith Walker (who had a regular column at the time called “Gainer’s Gourmet”) had an article called “Bulk Builders” where she outlined three different recipes for some homemade bulk-building, weight-gaining protein drinks.  If you have a hard time packing on the bodyweight, then give one of the following recipes a try.  Walker added this caveat before giving away the recipes: “The possible ingredient combinations are endless.  Use the following recipes as a base and build upon them.  You can also make a large batch and put it in a Thermos to augment your meals.”

Tastebud Tweaker

2 cups raw milk

2 raw eggs

2 tablespoons powdered milk

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons brewer’s yeast

2 frozen bananas

This makes two servings, each containing:

Calories: 460

Protein: 25 grams

Carbs: 65 grams

Fat: 15 grams

No-Frills Muscle Maker

8 ounces half-and-half

8 ounces yogurt

3 raw eggs

½ cup dry nonfat milk

½ cup protein powder

This makes two servings, each containing:

Calories: 470

Protein: 38 grams

Carbs: 23 grams

Fat: 24 grams

Randal Strossen’s Basic Super Squat Protein Drink

4 cups milk

2 cups powdered milk

¼ cup brewer’s yeast

1 banana

2 tablespoons lecithin

1 tablespoon wheat germ oil

1 large scoop vanilla ice cream

This makes one all-day serving containing:

Calories: 1,890

Protein: 121 grams

Carbs: 209 grams

Fat: 76 grams

Sources

“Bulk Builders” by Faith Walker; October 1992 issue of IronMan Magazine

“Gain 50 Pounds of Muscle: Three of Bodybuilding’s All-Time Greats Reveal Their Techniques for Maximum Development” by Gene Mozee; October 1992 issue of IronMan Magazine