Reg Park, bodybuilding legend

Reg Park history

Born in 1928 and three-time winner of the prestigious Mr Universe title in 1951, '58 and '65 (the Mr Olympia title didn't yet exist), Reg Park deserves to be counted among the "legends of bodybuilding" for several reasons.
In 1970, he still came 2nd in the Mr Universe at the age of 42, behind ... a certain Arnold! A certain Arnold!
Height 1m85 , weight fluctuating between 94 and 112 kg depending on the year ... and the evolution of pharmaceutical products in 20 years of professionalism . His biceps flirted with 48cm!
He was the body-builder who most inspired Arnold in his youth. Arnold's greatest sporting memory is not winning Olympia, but beating Park in '70.
Arnold can be seen asking Park for advice in the documentary film "Raw Iron", around a swimming pool, if I'm not mistaken.
At the same time, Reg Park embarked on an acting career, playing "Hercules" in 2 peplums in 1961 ... As did a certain Arnold 20 years later ... Reg Park was therefore a pioneer: a professional body-builder and an actor!
When it came to building muscle, his main concern was to plan and record his workouts, and he's left us his method, based on decades of training and reflection.

Reg Park's training

His training breaks down as follows:

Session 1
>Pec
DC : 5x5 rep
DI : 3x10 rep
Ecartés : 2x15 rep

Session 2
>Dorsals
SdT : 5x5 rep
Tirage nuque : 3x10 rep
Rowing : 2x15 rep

Session 3
>Legs
Squat : 5x5 rep
Forward lunges: 3x10 rep
Front squat: 2x15rep

Session 4
>Shoulders
Neck dev (dumbbells turning hands): 5x5
Lateral elevations: 3x10
Birds (or larry-bird): 2X15

This is a very good program. It includes the 3 basics of our sport, and allows you to work each of the 3 types of muscle fibre during each session.
The 5x5 at the beginning allows you to build up enormous muscle mass and also gain strength thanks to a basic movement as the 1st exercise.
The idea is to be at the break on the 5th rep of each series for the basic exercise.
The 5th rep just passes, the 6th rep would not be up. That's the fundamental idea behind this training.
This means you have to take off a few kilos with each set to be able to continue doing 5 times 5 reps.
For me, and just as an example, this would give me on the bench press (after warming up)
107 kg > 5 reps
105 kg > 5 reps
102.5 kg > 5 reps
100 kg > 5 reps
100 kg > 5 reps

For the arms, it's up to you:

From 1 to 2 workouts per week, sets and reps at will, to be included in the program, or to be added as a 5th session ... as you see fit.
The results obtained with this method, although old, are no longer in need of demonstration. I still use it in my annual schedule.
Rest times are 2 min 15 sec between each set of all exercises. This is a training plan valid for 6 to 9 weeks.

How about adopting it?

Author Alexandre CARPENTIER

Bodybuilding Champion N.A.C 2012

Alexandre shares his bodybuilding experience with MegaGear blog readers