Reg Park's Routine for Size & Strength

[Mehdi]

Reg Park was 3x Mr. Universe. His stats: 20" arms, 245lbs body-weight, 500lbs bench press, 600lbs Squat, 700lbs Deadlift, 315lbs behind neck press. Reg Park was a bodybuilder and actor. Arnold Schwarzenneger mentions Reg Park a lot in his book the new encyclopedia of bodybuilding. Bradley J. Steiner also mentioned Reg Park in this post.




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

[Young Athlete]

Great article, yeah all older routines are very basic from what I have seen myself

[Rob_M.]

^Yeah, they obviously work though. He looks mega strong in that pic, a much better physique than any modern bodybuilders imo.

[Tresbien]

It's funny how Reg Park had that physique all the way in the 50's. I used to watch a lot shows from that era as a kid and the "strongmen" always had these physiques that didn't resemble what had come into fashion. It seems that the "advanced routines" came into being for commercial purposes, not really strength. The inspiring thing about Reg Park is that he was living proof that so-called basic exercises are good not only for strength but size. It seems that up-and-coming weight lifters and current bodybuilders freak when there isn't a forearm curl or a calf-raise, or even a split routine. Noticeably absent from his body is the modern "wasp-waist." At a future date his routine might be worth a try.

I say let Reg Park speak for the 5x5, 3 days a week, barbell training. Or at least make this forum post a blog entry for easy finding.

This line from the T-nation site stood out: "Notice, there really aren't any isolation exercises until the third phase, when you've been training consistently for six months. Only then can you break out some curls for the girls."

[Ryan_carpediem]

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

No offense, but how on earth can he fit so many COMPOUND EXERCISES into 1 workout? SQUAT + DEADLIFT+ BENCH + ROW+ PRESS??!! Since this was in the 1950s...they had not started using drugs yet, right? So does this guy have INCOMPARABLY FREAKY genetics or does did the magazine really give us the specifics of his routine?

[Mehdi]

I say let Reg Park speak for the 5x5, 3 days a week, barbell training. Or at least make this forum post a blog entry for easy finding.

That's the point of this thread, I will link here in future posts, as reference.

No offense, but how on earth can he fit so many COMPOUND EXERCISES into 1 workout? SQUAT + DEADLIFT+ BENCH + ROW+ PRESS??!! Since this was in the 1950s...they had not started using drugs yet, right? So does this guy have INCOMPARABLY FREAKY genetics or does did the magazine really give us the specifics of his routine?

No steroids yet in Reg Park's time. The 5x5 deadlifts 3x/week, I don't know about that, maybe he did 1 heavy set of 5, 4 lighter sets of 5 there. The rest is do-able. He was a big guy, 245lbs, check what he ate, probably lots of sleep. If you start light enough with anything, and progress slowly but systematically, your body gets used to it.

[bigwhat62]

i love the physique. so natural compared to the dudes at the mr. olympian.

[parabellum]

Here's a new article by Mike Mahler on Reg Park's workout. The answer about his set/rep scheme is that the first two sets consists of ligher weight (second set heavier than first) and the last three sets with the same weight, which he referred to as "stabilizer" weights.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... d_strength

[jak3dude]

I think he's too big...is that possible?

He looks much more beastly than Mr. Olympians...he looks like he can tear them in half with his pinkys....

He has a very "raw" look to him

I think he looks better in this pic

[eamon]

Very inspiring. Thanks for posting.

[5M1L3Y]

Cool routine but no way could I live off that diet...

He actually lived really close to me in Leeds, sad that he passed away last year...

[killerdude494949]

his diet does not look that hard. just because it says red meat, orange juice, milk, and eggs doesnt mean it must be straight up red meat, orange juice, milk, and eggs to work.

red meat means fatty meat and creatine, OJ means vitamin C and fruit in general, milk means dairy, eggs can be made into protein shakes, boiled, omelletes.

diet is not that bad if you look at it that way

[Young Athlete]

Yummy... not like you can't add stuff to it

[killerdude494949]

yea i love how he eats no complex carbs and has that build. the things that would puzzle todays "gurus"

[killerdude494949]

I say let Reg Park speak for the 5x5, 3 days a week, barbell training. Or at least make this forum post a blog entry for easy finding.

That's the point of this thread, I will link here in future posts, as reference.

No offense, but how on earth can he fit so many COMPOUND EXERCISES into 1 workout? SQUAT + DEADLIFT+ BENCH + ROW+ PRESS??!! Since this was in the 1950s...they had not started using drugs yet, right? So does this guy have INCOMPARABLY FREAKY genetics or does did the magazine really give us the specifics of his routine?

No steroids yet in Reg Park's time. The 5x5 deadlifts 3x/week, I don't know about that, maybe he did 1 heavy set of 5, 4 lighter sets of 5 there. The rest is do-able. He was a big guy, 245lbs, check what he ate, probably lots of sleep. If you start light enough with anything, and progress slowly but systematically, your body gets used to it.

10 hrs a night and he drank 6 protein shakes a day made of milk, cream, and honey.