Reg Park Routine Circa 1950

[glwanabe]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Reg Park Routine Circa 1950

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Barbell Curl 4x6-8
Seated BTN Press 4x6-8
Bench Press 5x5
Barbell Rows 4x6-8
Squat 5x5
Deadlift 5x5

I may just give this a go next week. I'll vary the order of the moves based on my own history of what I feel is comfortable with this type of work. this would give me a break on my delts by taking a bit of work off them, but it still has good overall coverage.

I need to think about this.

[Casey Butt]

Something I'd like to point out is that Reg Park rarely did Deadlifts for any amount of time himself. Park had a long-running history of minor lower back problems since he was a teenager, so he favoured the "quick lifts" such as Power Cleans and High Pulls in his own personal training rather than Deadlifts. By the early-to-mid 1950s he recommended that experienced trainees only work up to one top set of Deadlifts and that should be done only once or twice a week - not three times as the routine seems to imply. It looks to me as though this routine came from possibly an old Reg Park Journal and the original presenter left out the special considerations Park added in about the Deadlifts, or the details just got lost over the years.

[glwanabe]

Originally Posted by Casey Butt

Something I'd like to point out is that Reg Park rarely did Deadlifts for any amount of time himself. Park had a long-running history of minor lower back problems since he was a teenager, so he favoured the "quick lifts" such as Power Cleans and High Pulls in his own personal training rather than Deadlifts. By the early-to-mid 1950s he recommended that experienced trainees only work up to one top set of Deadlifts and that should be done only once or twice a week - not three times as the routine seems to imply. It looks to me as though this routine came from possibly an old Reg Park Journal and the original presenter left out the special considerations Park added in about the Deadlifts, or the details just got lost over the years.

Thanks for adding that point Casey.

There is another routine of his where he specifies 3x5 on the deadlifts, but the first two are warmups, with only the one working top set. I've used that configuration before and It works well. It still leaves enough room to get a few BB rows sets completed in the same workout.

I also really like the inclusion of high pulls, and front squats in the same session.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Casey Butt

Something I'd like to point out is that Reg Park rarely did Deadlifts for any amount of time himself. Park had a long-running history of minor lower back problems since he was a teenager, so he favoured the "quick lifts" such as Power Cleans and High Pulls in his own personal training rather than Deadlifts. By the early-to-mid 1950s he recommended that experienced trainees only work up to one top set of Deadlifts and that should be done only once or twice a week - not three times as the routine seems to imply. It looks to me as though this routine came from possibly an old Reg Park Journal and the original presenter left out the special considerations Park added in about the Deadlifts, or the details just got lost over the years.

Thanks Casey for this post. It really shines a light on the reality that I need (and want) to study these guys more. I am just beginning to tap into the lifting habits of old school lifters and had no clue that Reg rarely deadlifted.

[Casey Butt]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Thanks Casey for this post. It really shines a light on the reality that I need (and want) to study these guys more. I am just beginning to tap into the lifting habits of old school lifters and had no clue that Reg rarely deadlifted.

Actually, it was never very well published - you'd probably have to be a bit of a Park fan to have come across that. As far back as his track running days in high school Reg spoke of having lower back pains ...incredible when you consider what he went on to lift. He had a long torso and that made Deadlifting and Squatting problematic for him - so he relied heavily on High Pulls/Power Cleans and Front Squats in his training.

For beginners he did prescribe Deadlifts three times per week, and also didn't seem to take such a cautious approach in the Weider magazine articles as he did in the Reg Park Journal. However, after 1952 Park never had good relations with Weider, broke off business ties with him, and it's not unlikely that Chas Smith was the actual author of at least some of the articles that appeared in Weider magazines under Park's name (Smith ghost wrote many of the articles appearing in Weider magazines in those days).

Park also trained for times with experienced Olympic Lifters (for instance, British Champ George Popplewell) who had much better mechanics and conditioning for frequent Deadlifting than himself and those influences probably affected his advised training courses at times - but he, himself, could not tolerate frequent heavy Deadlifting and when he did include the Deadlift eventually he settled on building up to only one top set once per week. I think he may have seen himself as somewhat uniquely disadvantaged in that regard, so it seems that sometimes he cautioned trainees to Deadlift only once per week, other times he assumed he was speaking to beginners and intermediates with better leverages than him and not handling nearly the amount of weight (Park Deadlifted up to 700 lbs). But to make up the training effect for his lower back he mostly relied on Power Cleans and High Pulls, as well as started every session with 3-4 sets of hyperextensions with a barbell across his shoulders (he did this from the early days throughout his entire career). In fact, whenever I see a supposed full-body Park routine that doesn't start with hypers I know it's either a routine written by someone else to be "Park-ish", or Park may have wrote it but left the hypers off the beginning because he considered them a regular part of his "warm up". Later, towards the late 1960s when Park was performing split routines he didn't start every routine with hypers, but in his full-body days he did from the early 1950s on.

Just goes to show that despite his gifts, he was human ...at least in the lower back.

[glwanabe]

Nice post Casey.

Do you have some actual Park routines that you could post?

There is this article with some routines. Do you find these to be legitimate?

The Real Arnold Schwarzenegger Beginner Programs

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by glwanabe

Nice post Casey.

Do you have some actual Park routines that you could post?

There is this article with some routines. Do you find these to be legitimate?

The Real Arnold Schwarzenegger Beginner Programs

Very good question. Those routines aren't exactly filled with hyperextensions.

[jhuse2]

A good thread. Alot learned about the reg park routine. If we had a one week contest that included this routine how would the rule be. I like the routine I want to get something together

[Trevor Ross]

Originally Posted by DocColossus

I sorta feel it lacks in the strength department, for my needs anyways, but seems like a great routine!

Lacks in the strength department!? This was one of the routines of the second man to Bench Press 500lbs raw! I think it'll do.

[Seppe]

I don't understand everything about this.
But did he realy wrote that program or one like this?

Hyper extensions 3 x 10 (warming up)
squat 5 x 5
Bench Press 5 x 5
Deadlift 5 x 5

2 warming up sets and then 3 work sets,not training to failure.

That for three months and three times a week.


Is this not to much?
Has some one used this routine?