Classic Bodybuilding: How to Gain 50 Pounds of Muscle! PART 2

How to Gain 50 Pounds of Muscle
Part 2: 
Larry Scott’s Mass-Building Program

     A few days ago, I posted PART 1 of this 3-part series based on an article by Gene Mozee in a ‘92 issue of IronMan.  I won’t get into many details of the original article itself, but, if you haven’t done so, I would encourage you to read Part 1 first before reading this one.  In fact, if you’re interested in actually doing the program presented here, I would also encourage you to try your hand at Arnold’s “Golden Six” before embarking on this routine.  Scott’s program (as we’ll see shortly) is very similar to Arnold’s, but with a couple more exercises, and several more sets of each exercise.  It makes the program below sort of the “intermediate” workout of the 3 programs presented in Mozee’s piece.

     For anyone who doesn’t know, Scott was the first Mr. Olympia, having won the inaugural Mr. O competition in 1965.  After that, he defended the crown a second time in ‘66 before retiring at the very young age of 28.  Although he may have retired from the sport of bodybuilding after his second Olympia win, he most certainly did not retire from training in bodybuilding.  When I first started reading bodybuilding magazines in the mid to late ‘80s, Scott was still regularly featured in many of the magazines (at that time, he would have been in his mid to late 40s), and he still had those massive guns that he had always been known for.  (It was always said in the magazines that he was the first bodybuilder who legitimately had 20-inch arms.)

     This essay follows the same format as Part 1.  All italicized quotes are directly from Scott (as taken by Mozee for the article).  The non-italicized remainder of the essay are my thoughts about the program.

Photo of Larry Scott in the Public Domain.  This photo was taken by Gene Mozee, the author of the article in which this information first appeared.

     “Gaining muscular weight is a problem faced by nearly everyone at one time or another during his or her bodybuilding career.  I was no exception, weighing in at only 120 pounds as a beginner.  The first few years of my training were devoted to gaining additional muscular weight and size.  Through scientific training and proper nutrition, I reached a bodyweight of 215 pounds, a total gain of 95 pounds of muscle.”

     I believe that Scott was listed as 5’7” in all of the bodybuilding magazines—or during competition—which means that he was probably closer to 5’6”.  And since I’m 5’6”, I can relate.  (He was around 215 lbs in the picture above.)  When I graduated high school (which was more than 30 years ago, by the way), I weighed maybe 130 pounds, but by the time I was 20 years old, I had bulked up to a solid 220.  But Scott was a solid, lean 215, which means that if he had been carrying my body fat when I was 220, then the legendary Mr.O winner would have probably been 230 (or more).  Now, mind you, I was not fat when I was 220.  I probably had 10-12% bodyfat, but Scott was even leaner, not to mention the fact that he had such round, full muscle bellies.  That’s incredibly impressive when you consider the era that Scott was training, without the “assistance” or the supplements of later bodybuilders.  As we’ll soon see, however, Scott had a secret weapon that any bodybuilder today would be lucky to have.

     “When it comes to gaining weight, the real secret is diet.  Only by supplying your body with the proper nutritional elements that it requires will you be able to build maximum size and strength.  It’s my opinion that 75 percent of the battle to build a championship physique is proper nutrition.  Exercise and proper rest and sleep are also important, but diet builds muscle tissue when the exercise stimulates the body to grow.”

     Here, Scott echoes a popular refrain.  When I started bodybuilding training, you read it in almost every single ‘80s bodybuilding magazine each month: that diet is 80% of bodybuilding success.  Of course, Scott said it was “75%” but you’re really just splitting hairs if we’re only talking 5%.  And you still hear/read the same advice to this day.  I think it’s just fair to say that when it comes to gaining mass while also staying lean—which should be the goal of every bodybuilder—diet is a little more important than training.  But you need to make sure both of them are “on point.”  Confusion often sets in for bodybuilders when they see (or read about) the diets of strength athletes.  If you’re a powerlifter or an Olympic lifter, then I would say that training is by far the most important factor.  But if you’re attempting to get big and lean, then stick with the dieting advice of the bodybuilder.

     “One of the best mass-training routines that I used was to select one exercise for each major muscle group and do 6 sets of 8 reps on each.  The following workout is intended for the intermediate bodybuilder who is not a total beginner and wants to pack on a lot more bodyweight and muscle mass.”

     Here is where I finally mention Scott’s secret weapon.  The fact that it’s a full-body program using 6 sets-per-muscle group might give it away to you, and once you see some of the exercises below, it might give it away even more.  But there’s no need for suspense because Larry Scott’s secret weapon was none other than (possibly the greatest bodybuilding trainer ever) Vince Gironda.  Even though Scott was an IFBB pro, and therefore an employee of Weider, and only appeared in Weider magazines (the picture that I embedded in the logo at the top of this article, for instance, was from a ‘63 issue of Muscle Builder, a Weider rag), he didn’t get his advice from the so-called “Trainer of Champions” Joe Weider (who was a good businessman, but I doubt he ever trained anyone) but from the real trainer of champions: Gironda.  If you know anything about Gironda, you know that probably his most recommended routine for packing on mass was his 6x6 program, which was typically a full-body routine (or a two-way split, at most), and so the influence of Gironda becomes quite obvious once you see Scott’s recommended program.  With that out of the way, here is Scott’s complete mass-building program:

Bench Presses to the Neck: 6 sets of 6-8 reps

Barbell Squats: 6 sets of 8 reps

Machine Calf Raises: 6 sets of 15-20 reps

Behind-the-Neck Presses: 6 sets of 6-8 reps

Front Pulldowns: 6 sets of 8-10 reps

Lying Barbell Triceps Extensions: 6 sets of 8 reps

Preacher Bench Curls: 6 sets of 8 reps

Bent-Knee Leg Raises: 1 set of 100-150 reps

     “This is a rugged routine.  You might wish to begin with just 3 sets of each exercise and add one additional set every 30 days until you work up to 6 sets.  Do this program three days a week.”

     Now that you’ve seen the program let’s break it down a little.

     You can see the influence of Gironda from the get go.  Vince believed that one of the best exercises for the chest was the bench press to the neck.  He was also fond of what was known as the Gironda dip, but the bench press to the neck was an easier exercise to master, so he recommended it first and foremost for chest development.  The bench press to the neck has been maligned since at least the ‘90s—in much the way that I mentioned behind-the-neck presses were maligned in the previous article of this series—but Gironda always insisted that it was a great builder of a complete chest.  If you, however, decide to use this program and you don’t want to do bench presses to the neck, then I would substitute incline bench presses.  You can still do the incline presses to your neck, but the angle of the bench will prevent the potential shoulder damage that the bench press to the neck often gets blamed for.

     Preacher curls are another obvious influence, as the preacher curl was invented by Gironda!  The funny thing is that by the time I was a teenager, they were often called “Scott curls” just as much as preacher curls.  This shows that even though it was Gironda that invented them, it was “The Legend” (one of his nicknames) Larry Scott who popularized them even more, and made them a household biceps exercise among almost every single elite bodybuilder.

     One area where Scott digresses from Gironda—and I believe this to be wise—is in his use of the barbell squat.  Gironda absolutely maligned the traditional barbell back squat!  He thought the exercise created a big ass and a big waist, whereas Gironda wanted his bodybuilders to have a thin, lean waist coupled with large quadriceps, particularly around the lower part of the quad.  Although I think Gironda is correct in what the desired look of a bodybuilder should be, I think that he incorrectly associated the traditional squat with a large waist and large buttocks.  Sure, you have always seen big squatters with those features, which is what makes them big squatters!  But it’s not the exercise per se that delivers that look.  Rather, it’s simply the genetics of the big squatters themselves.

     If you would like to attempt this program yourself and you have not yet utilized Arnold’s “Golden Six” routine from Part One, then I suggest that you do what Scott recommended, and begin with 3 sets of each exercise.  Add a set after every few weeks of training—not necessarily the 30 days recommended by our champion here—and slowly work up to using 6 sets per muscle group.

     I think the best way to end this is with the words of Scott himself from the original article:

     “Think big and train with all the enthusiasm you’re capable of.  You can go as far as you want when it comes to getting more massive if you train intelligently, eat properly, and get enough growth-inducing sleep and rest.”

Sources

“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