Muscle Growth Without (Excessive) Stress

Arnold is slapped down to size by his maverick mentor with some tough love and a lesson in humility for all of us. How to grow muscle without grinding your joints to dust and adding to your stress.

The year was 1968 and an Austrian behemoth wearing flip-flops and a string t-shirt strolled into Vince Gironda’s gym. The Iron Guru was chilling with a couple of guys at the counter, absently chewing on a cigar he hadn’t got around to lighting. The young man announced in very broken English, “I’m Arnold Schwarzenegger – Mr. Universe.” Vince looked him over, took the cigar out of his mouth and replied (sic), “You just look fat to me”. Unfazed, Arnold shook his hand and proceeded to become his star pupil.

This story has nothing and everything to do with the rest of this Post. Firstly, it is a lesson in humility. Most people would have taken offence and walked straight back out the door but Arnold was smarter than that. He could see the truth behind Gironda’s assessment and from that point onward worked on the quality of his physique rather than just simply training to get bigger. Soon he was unbeatable.

┃all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

~ Luke 14:11

The main relevance of this story is the depth of Gironda’s wisdom. The eccentric trainer of movie stars and bodybuilding champions was the pioneer of Density Training. The basic premise is to maximise the amount of work done within a certain period of time. This is done by utilising short rest periods and working to failure on only the final set of any exercise. He advocated a number of set/rep schemes (e.g. 10x10, 8x8, 15x4) and rest periods from 60 seconds down to 15 seconds, with 30 seconds as a baseline.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND DENSITY TRAINING

Exercise science supports this protocol. With regard to different muscle fibre types, there is a sequence of recruitment known as the ‘size principle’. As a muscle applies force, it starts by activating the smaller type 1 motor units. When these units can’t provide the required force, the larger type 2A’s will be called upon until near-maximum force is supplied by the type 2B’s if required.

Vince Gironda had a mighty impressive physique himself!

How to Use this Information

The simplest way to implement Density Training is to follow a 4x10 rep scheme for larger muscle groups (chest, back, quads) utilising 45 second rest periods, and a 3x12 rep scheme for the smaller muscle groups (except calves, which respond better to 3x15) resting 30 second between sets.