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Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 286: Don Howorth’s Legendary Delts

When you meet your cellmate your first day of prison and he says, “We’re going to have so much fun,” do not believe him.

Don Howorth posing at Vince's Gym

That’s actually Don Howorth, a Vince Gironda disciple and 1967 Mr. America. The photo was taken under the skylight at Vince’s Gym and had the bodybuilding world buzzing about his incredible shoulders. (Steve Downs photo)

One of Gironda’s and Howorth’s favorite cannonball delt moves was wide-grip upright rows. Vince often had trainees use a Smith machine, but dumbbells can be less restrictive…

Always stop the upward movement when your elbows are on the same plane as your shoulders to avoid joint injury.

Vince was a legendary Hollywood trainer who berated, er um, convinced us to move to Density Training—short rests between sets with moderate poundages.

He emphasized sculpting the physique rather than hammering it into submission. Here’s how Vince looked in his late 50s…

Vince Gironda at almost 60 years old

Now that we’re past middle age, we’re glad we latched onto his advice before the hammer—and possibly scalpel—came down on our joints.

Remember, you don’t have to use joint-crushing poundages to build massive muscles. And you should be able to train hard as you age without debilitating aches, pains, and/or surgery.

Use Density Training, like moderate-poundage STX, and emphasize the ideal exercises, the safest, most effective mass moves. For more, see the ebooks below.

Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.

Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
X-Rep.com
 

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Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 133: Vince Gironda’s Aesthetic Physique

This classic shot of Vince Gironda, the legendary Iron Guru, was taken way back in the 1950s. His aesthetic physique, with its symmetry, lines, and rippedness, holds up today.

Yep, even now most guys would kill to hang out by the pool looking like Vince… [Read more…]

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 111: Freddy Ortiz Freak Physique

This shot of Freddy Ortiz from the early ‘60s shows his incredible genetics. Freddy often trained at the iconic Vince’s Gym in Studio City, California. [Read more…]

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 43: Arnold’s Mass

We’ve mentioned in previous newsletters how Arnold had an instinct for training every muscle from the three critical angles—midrange, stretch, and contracted, what we call POF.

And it’s why he built one of the most massive physiques of his era.

 Arnold, most muscular pose on stage

Loaded stretch exercises may have been the biggest key to his mass. Check out this quote from respected researcher Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D. on a recent stretch study [“Stretch training induces unequal adaptation in muscle fascicles and thickness in medial and lateral gatrocnemii,” Scand J Med Sci Sports, Jan 30, 2017]…

Studies in animals have shown that loaded stretch is a potent stimulus for muscle growth, most notably shown by the early work of Jose Antonio…. [But] this is the first study I’m aware to show that a relatively modest loaded stretching protocol produces significant hypertrophy in humans.

Notice the words “modest loaded stretching” and “significant hypertrophy.” Exciting stuff!

Arnold made it a point to do pain-inducing stretch-position moves for almost every muscle—like biceps…

Arnold doing incline curls

Stretch-position exercises are the most neglected in the gym because they can hurt—but they work…

It’s clear that muscle stretch is one of the 3 hypertrophy keys that you should attack for freaky muscle growth. And many researchers think stretch is the ultimate get-bigger trigger. For you, that means in the gym…

Do loaded muscle elongation for super-size stimulation! Here’s how to do it…

The Freak-Physique Stretch-Overload Workout contains mass-building research, stretch exercises for EVERY muscle plus multiple workouts supercharged with anabolic stretch, including 3D Power Pyramid (Positions of Flexion) and Pure-Positions STX (slow-twitch exhaustion). This may be the most important mass-building information you’ve ever read, and for a limited time you can add it to your mass-building library, a $19 value, for ONLY $9 HERE.

Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.

—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com

“[Arnold’s] just a fat f#@k” — say what?

Iron Man Publisher John Balik worked at Vince’s Gym in Studio City back in the ’60s. He has great memories—and funny stories—like when Arnold walked in for the first time…

“I am Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mr. Universe,” the Oak proclaimed proudly…

Vince looked up over his glasses, paused and said, “You look like just a fat f#@k to me.” And looked back down.

It brought Arnold down to earth and made him realize he needed to be more polished, more ripped, to be the greatest of all time…

And that’s what he did, winning the Mr.Olympia seven times…

We can say from experience that Vince was unique in his approach to both people and training…

We’ve got the over-300-page e-book anthology on Vince and all of his methods, and it’s a treasure trove of mass-building, physique-etching info. You’ll definitely want this in your mass-building library for sure…

–> Check out Vince Gironda: Legend & Myth HERE

It will blow your mind and blow up our muscles—everything from Train 21 Rest 7 to 10-8-6-15 to Vince’s Stone Age Nutrition to Failure vs. 60-80 and much, much more (remember, it’s over 300 pages!). 

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 36: The Arnold Stroll

It’s winter, so many of our Zen newsletters these days are motivation oriented. One of the photos that inspired us way back was this one of Arnold walking through the streets of Venice, California… [Read more…]

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 23: Don Howorth

Our biggest training influence as we got older—and wiser—was Vince Gironda. In our last Moment of Bodybuilding Zen, we featured Larry Scott and Freddy Ortiz, a photo from the ’60s taken in front of Vince’s Gym in Studio City, California. [Read more…]

Mass-Building Lessons From the Master Trainer

Vince Gironda was the Iron Guru, a bodybuilding legend ahead of his time. Ask anyone who knew him and trained at his famous Vince’s Gym in Studio City, California, and they would say Vince was a sheer genius when it came to building muscle. (They would also say he was one of the most bombastic, outspoken S.O.B.s around–LOL!)

His most famous pupil in the bodybuilding world was the very first Mr. Olympia Larry Scott, who overcame many genetic flaws to make it to the top, thanks to Vince. The Iron Guru also trained many Hollywood stars back in the day, like Clint Eastwood, and even Arnold consulted with him and was a fan (even though Vince told Arnold that he was a “fat fuck” when he first arrived in the U.S.).

[Read more…]