Below: Reg Park routine. Pay attention to the diet.
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Reg Park's program circa 1950 (from an old Iron Man issue from around 1985)
Mon - Wed - Fri
* Barbell Curl 4x6-8
* Seated Behind Neck Press 4x6-8
* Bench Press 5x5
* Barbell Row 4x6-8
* Barbell Squat 5x5
* Deadlift 5x5
I would typically do 1 or 2 sets off each of the above exercises when I was into this program hot and heavy. It was brutal as the months rolled on, but man I've never gained on anything quite like Reg Park's program. At first it took a few workouts to get used to it, but within a week or two i was hooked.
After a workout, I was *beat*. I'd sit down and eat..and eat...and eat. I just had this ability all of a sudden to shovel down huge amounts of food and I also found I could hit the sack at night and instantly fall into a deep and restful slumber. The heavy leg and back work really makes this program work.
After less than a month on the program I had gym 'buddies' almost accusing me of lying when they asked what kind of 'juice' I was on, and I told them 'none'. These guys were doing typical 'advanced' programs and thought I had a screw loose to do 'back and legs in the same workout', not to mention everything else too. But I kept at it, and I kept on gaining.
I remember once back about 15 years ago someone I met loaned me a really old copy of a Joe weider mag called 'Your Physique'. It was from around 1953 or so. Man talk about basic programs! One thing I found was back then, all the bigger guys trained the same way as Reg Park did, ie, 3 times a week whole body training. They would vary the exercises (ie, DB incline presses one workout, bench barbell the next, etc), but it was always 3 times a week only, and only one major exersice per bodypart.
You have to figure, if those guys were as big and strong as Reg Park was in the early 1950's they had to know what they were doing. Heck, Reg Park at that time was unreal: 20" arms, 245 lbs, bench was 500 (!) - the first bodybuilder to hit the 500 lb mark, squatted with 600 and could deadlift 700, behind the neck presses with 315 for reps, etc. Another thing i noticed (and copied as well), was their diet. Get this, here it was in a nutshell:
* red meat
* orange juice
* milk
* eggs
That's it, that was their diet. No wonder those guys were big and strong. Parks attiutude was to keep it simple, and work hard. Period. To him, there was no sense in messing around with laterals and reverse dumbell this or that. He wanted sheer muscle mass and strength, and he went about it in the most direct and effective way possible.
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T-nation also did a post on Reg Park's routine: http://www.t-nation.com/article/bodybui ... x5_program
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