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[Grim83]

Im sure we all know what the golden era refers to in bodybuilding parlance, so heres my question, how do you use the old school golden era training ideas and routines to augment your routine

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Grim83

Im sure we all know what the golden era refers to in bodybuilding parlance, so heres my question, how do you use the old school golden era training ideas and routines to augment your routine

I trained for over 20 years ignorant of anything other then Joe Weiderism. I never used these principles, though. Then came the Internet.

Despite my handicap, I developed my own approach to training. Oddly enough, it revolved around:

--Compound movements
--Few (mostly zero) isolation movements
--Workouts less then one hour
--Simple progression of weight
--No fancy training techniques like supersets, etc.
--No need for muscle confusion

I remark "oddly", because this approach is very close to the approach presented by Casey Butt, and used by many golden era lifters.

While I have never used a full body approach, not because I was against it, but because I wasn't aware that it was an option, I still managed to thrive on the above principles.

The only tool I have added to my toolbelt over the years is the inclusion of rest-pause and defined rest periods into my training. This isn't anything revolutionary, as Doug Hepburn monitored his time between sets in some of his programs.

[Grim83]

Thats cool MAB, i was similar, starting more modernly, and then began slowly moving back to the golden methods. anyone else have something to say

[Grim83]

for those of you who have yet to see it, take a look at MAB's newest article in natural muscle mag, the one about squats and milk, that is the meaning of modernizing a golden age routine

[BendtheBar]

I also use some of Doug Herburn's progressing approaches.

[thumpinos]

I don't use many isolation exercises. And I only train 3 days a week. bench, deadlift and squat day. But each day if "kind of" a full body. It's a mix between powerlifting and more old style training.

[Fcat611]

i am tryign to understand. i do the reading on here and I see that those guys like regie parks and steve reeve used that full body approach but i still don't understand why you guys prefer it to the routien sused by the modern bodybuidlers??? isn't it evolution and we know more now? i cant understand why people use that old methiod when the new one might be better???

[Grim83]

Originally Posted by Fcat611

i am tryign to understand. i do the reading on here and I see that those guys like regie parks and steve reeve used that full body approach but i still don't understand why you guys prefer it to the routien sused by the modern bodybuidlers??? isn't it evolution and we know more now? i cant understand why people use that old methiod when the new one might be better???

well for one, just as an example, to the natural trainee, a routine from reg park or reeves is more reliable to us, because they weren't using steroids to build they're bodies, there are no natty pro's in the IFBB. another reason is that some of us prefer a physique like those guys. and finally these ideas have never been proven as inferior in comparison to the more "modern training approach", and there are less variables to deal with, like who wrote this routine orused this method, a steroid user, a supplement company?

[glwanabe]

Originally Posted by Fcat611

I still don't understand why you guys prefer it to the routines used by the modern bodybuilders??? isn't it evolution and we know more now? i cant understand why people use that old method when the new one might be better???

Why?

Why do some people sail, when they could have power? Why do people still bowhunt when we have rifles? Why do some people still navigate with a map, and compass when we have GPS? Choice. Some people want a challenge, and to experience things through a more viseral experience.

I prefer the look of the golden era BB's. They had a natural, raw, powerful, athletic look to them. I much prefer this type of look as compared to todays style of training.

Building your body with mainly compounds gives the appearence of a body that flows gracefully. Highly trained bodies that have been built using lots of isolation movements seem more like a collection of parts, as opposed to a whole system.

Is the new large split system better? Not as far as I'm concerned. Thats my opinion, and your free to disagree with it. A lot of what drove these routines was something new to sell magazines. Publishing a magazine requires content. Without something to give to the people you have nothing to sell to generate revanue.

There was a big publishing war between Hoffman of York, and Joe Weider. Weider won the publishing war, and his ideology was allowed to flourish. He's been both good, and bad for the sport in my opinion.

Has there been advancements in weightlifting science? The answer is of course yes. However, those advancements are less revolutionary, and more evolutionary. How much equipment do you really need to build your body? Not much as it turns out. I prefer to challenge myself by keeping it simple, and overcoming the supposed obstacle of not having all of the machines.

I read all the time about people saying wholebody is to hard, and that they could never keep up with the workload. That the volume per session is to high, that you will overtrain. They continue, and say you should not squat and deadlift in the same session, or that they could never do that. Then these same people lament there lack of progress while continuing with there 10 set of low intensity squats. You think they would get a clue right about there. It's called conditioning. Train your body to handle the workload, and you can, and will be able to do it.

It's not as if nobody ever trained this way. Everybody used to train this way, and it flat out works. We of course know a lot more today about muscle gains, and dimishing returns, and natural limits. All of this can be used to our advantage. Again, this would be evolution not revolution in it's nature. Sometimes change is not for the better.

Put me down for a sailboat, a bow, and a map. I think you know where I stand on my training.

[BendtheBar]

Good post GL. I can't add anything to perfection.