I read an article and thought they might be of interest to my fans. The University of California findings on the effects of Triclosan on muscle contraction seemed to impair heart and skeletal muscle contractility in living animals. The study was done on fish and mice. Triclosan is an anti-bacterial chemical found in soaps, tooth pastes, hand sanitizers and other household items. Mice given a single dose of Triclosan had 18% reduction in grip strength for over an hour after only 20 minutes from being given the dose.

The Super Squat Routine

Press behind neck 3 x 12

Squat 1 x 20 supersetted with Pullover 1 x 20

Bench press 3 x 12

Rowing 3 x 15

Stiff legged deadlift 1 x 15

Pullover 1 x 20

(add a gallon of milk a day!)

The above routine is the ultimate ‘hard gainers’ routine and was done 2-3 times a week.

In an article in Your Physique magazine (Sept 1950 issue), Alan talks about the general rules for a beginner to follow in putting together a muscle building program. He said:

"All you need to do is follow the right exercises, eat plenty of nourishing food and get as much rest and relaxation on your non training days as you possibly can." 

"Let's deal with the right exercises first. If you build a schedule around either the deep knee bend (squats) or the dead lift and take it from there, you are on the right track." 

"The fundamental movements such as the supine press (bench press) or any of its variants - bench presses of incline presses - , curls, rowing motions, squats, or dead lifts or leg presses combined with sets of bent arm pullovers, are the best." 

For the beginner - do 1 set of each exercise for the 1st month, 2 sets the second month, 3 sets the third month. Workout twice a week (e.g., Tue and Sat, or Mon and Fri). For the 1st workout, use light weights just to get used to the exercises. For the second workout, try to determine for each exercise the amount of weight you can handle to complete 8 reps (with good form) and no more. Then, at each successive workout, try to increase your reps by 1 or 2, until you reach the top of the rep range. At that point, add a little weight to the bar. Continue in this fashion for the course. Keep your focus on this process of increasing reps, then increasing poundage. This is how you use the principle of "progressive resistance." It is this process of gradually increasing your strength and poundage that will result in larger muscles!

Reg Park’s Beginner’s routine below was also used by Arnold Schwarzenegger in his late teens to get big. Reg Park trained using this routine 3 times a week and it comprised mainly of heavy compound movements done with his “5×5″ program. Reg Park advocated that sets 1 and 2 are to be warmups for sets 3,4 and 5.

"The following diet is based on the frequent-small-meal principle and supplies just over 5,000 calories and 300 grams of protein.

Breakfast: 7:30 A.M.

3 Eggs; 1/4 to 1/2 beef patty; 2 pieces of buttered toast; 2 glasses of milk

Midmorning Snack: 10:00 A.M.

Half sandwich, meat; 1 hard boiled egg; 1 glass of milk

Lunch: 12:30P.M.

1 meat sandwich; 1 cheese sandwich; 2 glasses of milk; fruit

Midafternoon Snack: 3:00P.M.

The following workout routines are from Reg Park's 1960 training course Strength & Bulk Training for Weight Lifters and Body Builders.

Reg Park's Strength and Bulk Three Phase 5x5 Program 

Phase One 

45-degree back extension 3x10 

Back squat 5x5 

Bench press 5x5 

Deadlift 5x5 

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno and more legends speak at Joe Weider's memorial service. Watch video below courtesy of Bodybuilding.com :