Today we finish our series on the 29 principles of bodybuilding laid out by the great Joe Weider. I hope this series gave you guys a new understanding on just how influential Weider has been on everyone who ever walks into a gym.
More than that, I hope reading through these 29 principles reinvigorated your desire to get in the gym and put in that work. All the fads that have come and go in weightlifting, exercise and bodybuilding over the last few decades really have done a disservice to people who just want to get in there and build strength, mass, definition and symmetry.
Mr. Joe Weider passed away in 2013 at the age of 93 but not after changing the way the world thought not just about body building, but about exercise and bodies in general. His contribution to the world of fitness is unmatched by anyone and can never be understated.
Without further ado, here is the conclusion of this series.
No Arnold…this is the way you do it……again, really think about this.
Weider Principle 21: The Retro-Gravity Principle: Using the muscle to struggle against the resistance of the weight in the negative motion (when you lower the weight) is an intense form of training resulting in a lot of DOMS, but also maximum stimulation to muscle growth. Retro-Gravity training strengths muscles and connective tissues and builds strength as well as size very quickly.
As an example, think about a bench press. Imagine you are doing 8 reps of 225. Add another 40 pounds and have a training partner help you make the left. Once you are at the top part of the motion the training partner can let go and you can do the negative, downward motion by yourself. On some lifts, like dumbbell curls, this can be done without a training partner.
Weider Principle 22: The Intensive Reps Principle: Intensive reps is a training style used by a lot of professional body builders and is most helpful to people who are in absolute peak shape and have a genetic predisposition to being able to lift. Intensive reps stress the muscle fibers well beyond normal points of exhaustion and stimulate even stronger muscle growth.
An example of the intensive reps principle can be seen if we think about barbell bench presses. If you did 8 reps at 9.5 RPE a training partner can help you from there on just pulling enough on the center of the bar so you can get a few extra reps.
Weider Principle 23: The Double Split Principle: Many bodybuilders train one or two parts of the body in the morning and then go back in the gym in the evening in order to work one or two other areas. This is called the double split. The advantage of the double split is that if only one or two areas are trained per training session, all the energy you have can be focused on these areas and only these areas. It is possible to do more sets and lift more weight, which naturally brings more muscle growth. This is tricky to do for us who have a day job, but it is absolutely possible.
Weider Principle 24: The Triple-Split Principle Some people just have a genetic predisposition to faster recovery. I, unfortunately, am not one of them. However, for those of you who are there is the triple-split principle. This would mean doing three gym sessions a day. So instead of one gym session where you train, say, Back, Chest and Biceps you would have one back session, one chest session and one bicpes session all in the same day. The sheer amount of time this takes means it really is only feasible for professionals unless you just want to try it out one day.
Weider Principle 25: The Burns Training Principle: Adding two or three short partial reps to the end of normal sets will get
The First Mr O, Larry Scott.
more blood and lactic acid flowing into the muscles. The extra lactic acid results in a burning sensation in the muscles. From a physiological point of view, the products of catabolism and the additional blood flow into the muscles after the partial reps swell the cells and new capillaries are created. This will lead to increased mass as well as better circulation. Mr Olympia number one, Larry Scott, used this technique in nearly all his exercises.
Weider Principle 26: The Quality Principle: Quality training signifies gradual decrease of the rest time between sets while still maintaining or even increasing the number of sets. Quality training is something I believe very strong in. You will notice in my workouts I never give a set rest period between sets. The rest period is always the same; as little as physically possible in order to get your next set done with proper form. Quality training helps to develop definition and the much sought after vascularity.
Weider Principle 27: The Descending Sets Principle: A common technique since the days of Arnold has been “stripping.” This requires two training partners, once on each side of the barbell. They can take weight off the bar when no more reps can be completed. Basically a massive drop set. The set is extended thanks to the lowered weight for a few more reps repeatedly until you are left with failure on just the bar.
Weider Principle 28: The Instinctive Principle: In bodybuilding there is only one rule that applies to all people: only you can know what is best for your body. Sooner or later, all bodybuilders develop the ability to organize their own training programs in a way that is best for them. This is what we do here at WB. I will give, for instance, J.Nyx a program which I have custom designed. While doing it he will tweak it using the base line sound WB principles, so that it will be custom fit to him in a way that only he can understand.
Weider Principle 29: The Partial Reps Principle: In order to develop more strength and muscle pass, it is possible to train the start, middle or end phase of any motion of basic exercise in isolation using a partial rep. The most common version of the are the barbell 21’s for the bicep where the bottom partial rep is worked for 7 reps, then the top partial rep for seven and then the full range of motion for a final seven.