The Best Form Of Bodybuilding, Part III

by Bob Hoffman

If you have read the first two articles of this series [ here and here ], you will have learned that I favor weight training and weight lifting [the three olympic lifts] for the physical ability developed and for the symmetrical physique produced. Rarely do you see a truly symmetrical weight-trained man where weight lifting type movements have not been an important part of his training. Trainees have a tendency to perform movements they like best, and to continue to work on the muscles which are already better developed, having responded more easily in the individual case. This type of training produces muscles, but too often the lumps are too big and in the wrong places.

Too many body builders seek to attract attention by building unusual muscles. Certainly it is not natural to have huge pectorals and exaggerated latissimus dorsi out of proportions to the rest of the body. The over-lumped pectorals come from excessive wide-grip bench pressing and varous supine dumbell raises, and the unusual latissimus development from too much pulling down on overhead pulley machines. I have visited gyms where where the trainees are lined up practicing just the pull-down on the "lat machine". There may be a dozen taking turns, most of them handling so much weight some one else has to hold them down. In other gyms it seems that little is done except bench pressing. The bench press is a good exercise if it is not over-emphasized, if it is just one of a series of good exercises.

At an outdoor lifting and physique contest I attended, I was pleased to see a number of men entering both events, but most of them had atrocious form in the lifts. They were strong, but they cleaned without splitting and heaved with a very poor imitation of the jerk.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well, and if a man wants to be a lifter, why not be a good one ? The strongest man alive cannot beat a man almost as strong who has good lifting technique.

The men who entered the curling and bench pressing contests were the men who in a number of cases almost broke my heart. I must apply the word grotesque to what several of these men had done to their bodies. One fellow, short and broad, won the curling contest by lifting 180 pounds at 170 body-weight. He did well in the bench press, too, pressing 370 in good form and 380 in not quite passable style. He had pectorals you could use as a foundation for a building, a broad back and average legs which looked small under his top-heavy body. He entered the physique contest and finished well down on the list. He could not understand why he did not place higher, but he lacked symmetry, was badly out of balance. Weight lifting with his bodybuilding training would have helped normalize his physique.

There was another fellow entered who had sideburns almost down to his chin. He had won a number of physique contests, but could do no better than a minor place in this one. Here again was a case of a man who was not a weight lifter, and who lacked balanced proportions. I try to help, even when it might make me unpopular, so asked him why he wore the sideburns. I felt they were a retarding factor and might add to the opinion some people have that physique contests men have odd personalities. I told him I though he would do better with a more average hair cut and with some weight lifting to balance his physique. he told me he wore his hair that way because he was part Indian, but I was under the impression that the Indians wore very little hair, no sideburns, leaving just enough for a scalplock at the top. Once again I repeat, anything worth doing is worth doing well. If you are going to enter physique contests, don't do anything that might spoil your chances of winning. Strive for symmetry and good general appearance, for more and more judges will be scoring this part of the contests carefully.

It's pretty hard to select a list of exercises which are better developers than the three Olympic lifts, plus the better-known assistance exercises. All lifters practice the press, and this is also a "must" for bodybuilders. Many people think the press is an exercise which affects only the deltoids and triceps, but to be a good presser requires strength throughout the body, all the arm, chest and back muscles, and the legs and loins which must hold the body rigid. A good presser, barring a few overweight heavyweights, is always a well-built man. In addition to the regular standing press, consider theis list of assistance exercises fro the press, movements which are performed by leading weight lifters, and you will see why the lifters are well-built men: 1) Wide grip pressing. 2) Alternate press with dumbells. 3) Seated press. 4) Seated press behind neck. 5) Half press (this consists of jerking a weight heavier than you can press overhead, then lowering it slowly to the lowest point at which you can control it, and then pressing it back up again). 6) Forward raise with barbell. 7) Alternate front and back of neck press with barbell. 8) Press on inclined bench. 9) Press on flat bench.

Many authorities consider the two hands snatch to be the world's best single exercise. Certainly it is one of the very best. Repetition snatches alone will do things for the muscular development. And consider these execellent two hand snatch assistance exercises. 1) Dead hang repetition snatch. 2) Pulling to arms' length without splitting or squatting. 3) Pulling from thighs to arms' length overhead. 4) Upright rowing motion. 5) Snatching from boxes to develop second pull. 6) Stiff-legged snatch. 7) Forward swing.

It has always been my opinion that a championship clean and jerk requires more athletic ability than any test in any sport. A rare combination of strength, nervous energy, skill, determination and speed is required to make a great clean and jerk. You get out of exercise what you put into it, as we so often reinterate. Handling the heavy poundages which must be lifted in the clean and jerk will build a magnificent body, along with these assistance exercises; 1) Repetition rapid dead lift with moderate poundage. 2) Clean without splitting. 3) Repetition dead hang clean. 4) Kneeling clean. 5) Clean from two chairs. 6) High pull up to belt height. 7) Lowering under weight and standing erect (weight suspended from chains). 8) Repetition jerk. 9) Partial squat (quarter or half-way down).

You'll get all the muscles you'll ever need from exercises such as these. And besides, we need good weight lifters in the United States. What a laugh the Russians must get when they see many of our strongest young men striving for the titles "Mr. This-and-that". Muscles are made to use, and the Russians are using them. Only a handful of Americans stand between the Russians and complete domination of international weight lifting. No one other than an American has outlifted one of the first flight Russians since Hamoundi of Egypt beat Sveltko in 1950.

We have always had a number of good dogs at home; Great Danes, Dobermans and Chows - big, tough, rugged-looking dogs. Lots of times I would look at our 190-pound Great Dane while working around the garden and say, "Boy, if you could use those muscles, what a help you would be!" And when I see the masses of muscles in physique contests, I think the same thing. Boys, if you could use those muscles to the limit of their capacity in weight lifting, what a wonderful thing it would be.

We need weight lifters, but I don't expect ambitious body builders to become lifters simply because I believe it would be a good thing for America to have the world's strongest team. Men who want to win the "Mr. So-and-so" titles, however, should become lifters because lifting will help them to develop the best possible bodies. I have been illustrating that weight lifting builds the best physiques, citing examples like Steve Stanko and John Grimek, the first two Mr. Universe winners. So be the best if you are a bodybuilder - be a lifter too. Every bodybuilder presses, every bodybuilder squats, every bodybuilder does rowing motions. Keep on with these exercises. You can practice the lifting assistance exercises as well as your special bodybuilding movements. Let's show the world the kind of men we have in this country. Let's have more and better lifters, better physiques and stronger men.