Franco Columbu’s Complete Book of Bodybuilding

by Franco Columbu

  Training Partners

  To become a champion, it is most important to train hard to achieve your highest goals. Goals are necessary because they give us something to work toward. Whenever you set a goal for anything, you must also map out the road for maximum achievement. Personally, I have found that one of my tools for reaching each of my bodybuilding goals has been by training with the right training partner.

  When you and your partner work together, the results can be astonishing. Arnold and I have trained together since we first met several years ago in Europe. We always had fun training, setting up a competition between us so that we pushed each other to our maximum. We made a game out of training and looked forward to each session in the gym.

  If we didn’t feel like training, we would leave the gym and have breakfast or dinner instead. The next day we would have more energy and train very hard. Many bodybuilders are too rigid and set up too strict a program. If they miss one workout they beat themselves down and become depressed or nervous. Arnold and I always kept our schedules flexible. Whenever a contest was approaching we trained at full power and always pushed each other to the maximum; however, if we missed a workout we never became paranoid and felt guilty. We just thought that we would work harder the next day.

  There are several things to consider when looking for a good training partner. You should be of about equal strength, have the same motivation and desires of becoming champions. The worst type of training partner is one who has a negative personality. This type of individual can pull you down and drain you of vital energy that you need for training.

  One of the reasons that Arnold got in good shape was through me. I pushed him into heavy weights by going into them myself and because I would get lazy. He would make me do extra sets when I did not feel like it.

  Always be sure that your training partner (in this photo, Jusup Wilkosz) is pushing the weights in the right direction.

  It is also beneficial to be friends with your training partner because you can assist each other should either of you have a problem, such as an injury or illness, or if you just need some encouragement. Should you train for competition, your training partner can help you because he knows you well and knows your weak points as well as your strong points. You should be able to give each other constructive criticism because it is impossible to evaluate your physique or posing routine with only a mirror.

  I don’t believe in having a training partner actually help you to lift a weight. For the sake of safety, he should be there to remove the weight if it’s going to fall on your chest or throat. But if he helps you to lift a weight to help finish a certain number of reps, you don’t really gain anything. You may even become dependent on your training partner, and then you cannot train alone. His being there is like having control over your mind and body. If you can’t lift the weight another time, you shouldn’t pretend — with the help of a partner — that you can. You can’t fool your muscles.

  Concentration and stamina are necessary for muscle growth. Your partner should not distract, but help you to concentrate.

  Sometimes, I would be doing bench presses while Arnold would spot for me. I would have a hard time with, say, the fifth rep and he would say that I didn’t do it right, do it again. I would try and collapse, with the weight on my chest. He would leave the gym. Really! He knew that I would find the strength to lift the weight off. He also would know when to stay in the gym and help me. That is what I mean by finding the right partner!

  A partner with a good sense of humor can help ease the tension of a hard workout without disrupting your routine.

  Franco has been just as important to Arnold’s many successes as Arnold has been to Franco’s.

  Sharing dreams: two strangers in a strange land, who have made their wildest dreams come true.

  For a beginner, it is important to know that you need a spotter for bench presses and squats. That’s about all as far as safety is concerned. A partner will be able to use the Exercise Glossary at the back of this book to make sure that you are using proper form for all exercises and that you are not injuring yourself by using improper form or too much weight. Most important, though, your partner must pay attention to you and not distract you from putting your best, most intense effort into every exercise. If you do the same for your partner, you will both benefit tremendously.

  Attitude

  Now you should be ready to begin a bodybuilding program. I have told you all you need to know about weight training equipment. I hope you have learned how important it is to know about anatomy in general and how it applies to you and your efforts in bodybuilding. This knowledge of equipment and anatomy is just the start for you. Once you begin training, your body will teach you the rest. A good training partner can be of tremendous benefit as long as he can be honest with his encouragement and criticism, and as long as neither of you becomes dependent upon the other.

  With the proper training program, you will notice results immediately. As a beginner, you should be able to feel your training working even before you can actually see the results. Your muscles should feel sore and tight, if you train correctly and quickly. Increases in strength and decreases in fat will come soon. Just remember to pay attention to what your body tells you and trust your feelings when in doubt of everything else.

  That suggestion leads me to one final discussion before I begin to describe the training programs I have prepared for you. Attitude, the mental side of bodybuilding, cannot be overestimated. It is really so simple, and yet most people never seem to catch on. Don’t bother with negatives. People who are negative will never get ahead.

  Your attitude is what you see in a mirror. If you see something positive, congratulate yourself and be happy. If you see something negative, you can’t be happy. Attitude is more than that, though, because there are positive and negative things to see in the mirror, and attitude makes you choose one or the other. Since you have the choice, which should you choose? To be happy or not to be happy?

  When I am in training for a few weeks and I am getting very stale, discouraged, I go to see a very aggressive movie with a hero like Rocky or as in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Then when I leave the theater, I feel so tough and good that I go straight to my gym and I have more energy for my workouts. Maybe for you it would be some other movie or some rousing music. Maybe if you play football with a friend and really beat him — wipe him out — you will be encouraged.

  On the other hand, don’t let things that are beyond your control discourage you. You should never become discouraged about bodybuilding because it is an activity that can only make you feel better about yourself. It lets you become an artist and an object of art at the same time. It is an activity that will improve your health and your chances of living longer. So put away all of your negative thoughts, all doubts and worries — only you can do that, but believe me, it’s easier to do than you think.

  Chapter 3

  TRANING PROGRAMS

  Weight training and bodybuilding have excellent purposes beyond the mere development of muscles. Both sexes can not only improve their appearances, but enhance both their general health and their abilities for other sports.

  So for the bodybuilder who is not interested in the contest aspects of the sport there are two sensible approaches to training. One is simply to establish a good well-rounded program and exercise as many times a week as you care to. There will always be some improvements for you to enjoy. The second approach is to write down specific goals that you wish to complete. Be sure that your goals are within reason. Next map out your plan for achieving your goals by indicating specific exercise routines and a nutritional program. Each time you reach your specific goal work toward another.

  To avoid boredom you periodically should have new stimuli. Otherwise your training will become too mechanical and at some point you will tend to slack off. Therefore, move on to another challenge. And either revise your present program or move on to a new level of sets and reps.

  On any given day,
you should begin your training with stretching exercises, do all your exercises with weights for that day, and then your abdominal exercises. I know there are plenty of books around advising you to begin with those abdominal exercises to get them over with quickly, but that is not good advice, The reason you shouldn’t train your waist first is that your body will still be relatively cold. The efforts you put into those early sets really go toward warming your body. Therefore, if you do abdominal exercises first, you won’t burn off enough fat, which is the main purpose of the exercise. Once you’ve begun to sweat and grow tired, as you surely will in lifting weights, fat begins to burn off.

  You can make abdominal exercises exciting by setting challenges for yourself. No matter how much development you enjoy in other muscle groups, that washboard look in your waistline always makes everything look that much better. So work your waist hard, and do it correctly and in proper sequence. It’s good for your posture, your discipline, and your health.

  I will now present training programs for novice bodybuilders. Although these programs are designed specifically for men, they can be modified for use by women (as will be explained in Chapter 5). I have prepared these programs with a great deal of care; they will take you through beginning and intermediate levels to advanced routines. As we get into these programs, you will see that bodybuilding, like other sports, has its own language. Each complete movement is called a repetition, or rep, and a number of consecutive repetitions is called a set. To know how much weight you need to use when the program says to do 10 reps, for example, the weight should be heavy enough so you can only do 10.

  Beginning Level Program

  This program should be done 3 times per week for 4-6 weeks. By that time, you will be seeing improvements, and will be ready for something a little more challenging. Begin with two stretching exercises (see Exercise Glossary):

  1. The back leg stretch simply involves placing the back of your leg on a bench and stretching toward your toes, as dancers do; this will stretch your hamstring, calf, and lower back regions. Do 10 repetitions (reps) for each leg, two times (sets) each.

  Franco lifting 525 pounds — a new world’s record for the bench press.

  2. Standing side bends — standing with arms on your waist and with feet about a yard apart, bend to each side. Do 10 repetitions (reps) for each side, alternating back and forth, two times.

  Your weight training begins at this point. For the most part, these are fundamental exercises. You can refer to the Exercise Glossary for a detailed explanation of how to do each exercise.

  Return to the same two stretching exercises you began with and do one set of each, 10 reps for each leg or side. If time permits, go for a good brisk mile run. The benefits of running have been discussed in a thousand other books; its importance here is as a waistline trimmer and an all-around muscle definer for the lower body. For maximum results, run after, not before, you train.

  Intermediate Level Program

  Within 4-6 weeks you will be looking and feeling much better. Everything will be ready for you to map out a new goal. Your technique, strength, and general appearance will be conditioned enough to rapidly move onward into the intermediate level for novice bodybuilders.

  You should add another day for training and follow this program for four days. You will still be training your entire body in one day; however, this program will prepare you for dividing the body parts for the advanced level programs.

  If you miss training for one or two sessions, just go back to the gym and continue with this program. Because your body has rested for a few days, you should try heavier weights. Thus, you will have a harder workout. As I mentioned in Chapter 2, when Arnold and I were training together, we decided not to train on several occasions and had breakfast. Instead of feeling guilty, we remained positive about ourselves and thought that we deserved a rest. The next time we trained, we were able to work harder and accomplish more. I can’t stress this enough: Always keep a positive mental attitude and acknowledge each gain. Guilt and negativity will only pull you down.

  During this intermediate level program, try to increase the amounts of weight you lift and force the training more. This program should continue for 2-3 months. Then move on to the advanced level program.

  Intermediate Level Exercises

  Research has proven that the lack of proper stretching is the main cause of sports injuries. Therefore, it is most important to begin with the stretching exercises from the beginning level program (back leg stretch and standing side bends). Again, numbers in parentheses refer to the Exercise Glossary where full descriptions of exercises are presented.

  When your training is completed, hang for 2-3 minutes from the chinning bar to stretch your spine and muscles to relieve Compression of the spine, which can result from heavy weight training.

  Advanced Level Program

  With this advanced level program you can achieve champion status. This applies to amateurs as well as to professionals. I trained with this program and won the Mr. Universe title and several of my students also have won major titles with it.

  As you begin this program, you should also begin to monitor your diet more closely. Research has indicated that, as you increase your training, you must also increase your intake of calories. You need additional amounts of complex (unrefined) carbohydrates to give you more energy for training. You also will need more protein foods (not protein powder) for building and repairing muscle cells.

  Other nutrient supplements might be considered. For example, chelated multiple minerals should be substantially increased as you train more, because you will require more minerals to train the muscles more efficiently. Every time you increase your protein intake you need more minerals. Vitamin B-12 should be increased because your liver is working harder to manufacture and store more glycogen. Vitamin B-6 should be increased because B-6 aids in food assimilation, and in protein and fat metabolism. Furthermore, it is necessary for synthesizing protein into amino acids. Good digestive enzyme supplements that contain HCl (hydrochloric acid) should be taken to break down and digest the increased protein. To prevent dehydration, and to improve the transport of nutrients and the elimination of bodily waste, at least 8-10 glasses of water should be drunk daily.

  Advanced Level Exercise Routine (Series One)

  This advanced level program is designed to divide your body part training into two-day workouts. Ideally, you should train your upper body and stomach on Mondays and Thursdays, your lower body and stomach on Tuesdays and Fridays, and take Wednesday off completely. Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday are recuperation days. This program can be used indefinitely. However, if you wish to compete, after a few months you should proceed into Superset training.

  As for the previous programs, numbers in parentheses refer to full descriptions given in the Exercise Glossary.

  Note that I recommend repeating your abdominal exercises on all four workout days. You can either run after training or, if you prefer, you may run on another day, following your own schedule. I personally have found running very good for bodybuilding, but it should be limited to less than three miles and no more than three times a week. If you run more than that, the muscles in your upper body will lose size.

  Do two stretching stints on the chinning bar for two minutes or so each stint. Remember to bend your legs; it aids in decompressing the spine after training, particularly after squatting exercises.

  Advanced Level Exercise Routine (Series Two)

  I have found that to continue muscle growth and increase your power, the muscles have to be worked and stimulated in different ways. I suggest that every 2-4 months you alternate your advanced level training routine with this training routine. This routine is for training six times per week, dividing the body parts into three two-day workouts. It is very important to follow this program in the order or sequence in which it is presented.

  The following chart includes the standard notation for listing sets and reps used by most professional bodybuilders. For
example, “4 x 8” simply means “4 sets, 8 reps” as was presented in previous charts. When you see a series of such numbers (e.g., “4 x 8, 3 x 6, 2 x 4, 1 x 2”), it indicates that you should begin with light weight and increase poundages as you decrease sets and reps. When a bracket ( { ) is used on the chart beside two or more exercise names, it indicates that you should alternate exercises from set to set — just as you rotated exercises for the waist and abdominal movements in the previous programs.

  Before you look at the second advanced routine, I have one more thing to tell you: It is the exact program I used prior to training for my Mr. Olympia victories.

  The Bodybuilding Lifestyle

  I am certain that sometime in the first 4-6 weeks of using my beginning level program, you will notice a difference in your life. Your body may well ache from the stress of weight training, but it will also vibrate with strength and vitality. You will look and feel better — you will feel like a bodybuilder. You will begin to look forward to your training sessions and to learning how each exercise affects your appearance. You will come to agree with me that there is nothing more important for you than a nutritious diet, a positive attitude, and hard training.