Reg Park on Strength and Muscle Size

[BendtheBar]

A quote from Reg Park that I wanted to share>

Reg Park's Bulk and Power Course:

Strength Training for Body Bulk and Muscle Size: Far too many body builders spend too much time exercising the smaller muscle groups such as the biceps at the expense of the larger muscle groups such as the thighs, and then they wonder why it is that they never make gains in overall size and strength.

I believe that from a body building point of view only physiques which have been developed by strength principles will bear the true characteristics of a champion physique, these characteristics in my opinion being maximum muscular size with definition and strength in proportion to one's size as, for example, possessed by Grimek, Eder, Dellinger, Brenner, Robert, Peals and McShane, all of whom are not only champion bodybuilders but also extremely powerful men.

[glwanabe]

I could easily add this to my list of BS rants from the misconceptions thread.


I read it all the time from the kids.

"I'm not interested in a strength routine, I want a hypertrophy routine."


To which I reply,

[Off Road]

A quote from Dr. Ken along the same lines...

Why so-called compound movements? Before I actually knew anything about proper training (and this is not to imply that I know even a fraction of what there is to know now), I realized that there was something, an indefinable something, that wasn't "right" about a number of bodybuilders who trained in the gym where I also trained. (This is not to be misconstrued as a criticism of all bodybuilders. Many have a great deal of athletic ability and fine, athletic-appearing physiques.)

One such man was an advanced trainee (in the sense that he had been training a number of years and had won a number of local physique titles). However, he was missing a certain athletic quality, a harmonious look. My brother put the finger on it when he observed, "He looks like a bunch of bodyparts pasted together. He's all there, big and all, but the total picture looks awkward-no grace, no glow, no..." The point had been made.

[bamazav]

Originally Posted by Off Road

A quote from Dr. Ken along the same lines...

What I don"t want to happen is to look weird, I want that athletic, strong look. Compounds just make sense. Wish I understood why people just don't get it.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Off Road

A quote from Dr. Ken along the same lines...

One such man was an advanced trainee (in the sense that he had been training a number of years and had won a number of local physique titles). However, he was missing a certain athletic quality, a harmonious look. My brother put the finger on it when he observed, "He looks like a bunch of bodyparts pasted together. He's all there, big and all, but the total picture looks awkward-no grace, no glow, no..." The point had been made.

Glwanabe and I have talked about this topic, and I think it's a good one. The power/strength moves seem to create a naturally more balanced and eye-appealing physique. It's hard to describe but there is a certain physique harmony, flow and better overall aesthetics.

When I attend a natural bodybuilding show I can almost instantly tell who uses squats and deadlifts (and maybe even other power moves like dips). More than half the physiques on stage at a local show don't look strong or athletic. They lack that spark that says powerful, healthy and strong. Truth be told, a lot of them look frail and weak.

[BigJosh]

See my signature below. I think this applies to any and all healthy novice lifters.