Health and Fitness Vault: Reg Park's Beginner Body Builder's workout plan

Thursday, 18 October 2012

Reg Park's Beginner Body Builder's workout plan

Reg Park was a legendary natural bodybuilder from the 50's and 60's that people like Arnold Schwarzenegger grew up idolizing. He won bodybuilding competitions such as the Mr. Universe (3 times) and also starred in movies in roles such as Hercules. He was even the first bodybuilder to ever bench 500 pounds. To say that he understands fundamentals would be an understatement. His son became a well known Hollywood trainer and still owns a gym in the area.

So who better to provide a classic muscle building beginner workout that numerous people, including Arnold, used to build the basics of a brawny physique?

Reg's Beginner Routine

Reg Park

This routine is meant to be done three days a week on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule or similar timetable with at least one day off in between. Reg used an A workout and B workout. Then he would alternate them each session. This would mean one week you would do an A-B-A combination followed by B-A-B combination.

For many exercises you will do a 5x5 scenario for sets and reps. The first set will be done 5 reps of 60% your working weight (the heaviest you can handle for 5 reps), the second is at 80%, and the final 3 sets are for 5 reps of your working weight. The exception is deadlifts which includes only 1 set at your working weight.

Workout A

Squats - 5 sets for 5 reps
Chin Ups - 5 sets for 5 reps
Bench Press - 5 sets for 5 reps
Wrist Curls - 2 sets for 10 reps
Standing Calf Raises - 2 sets for 15 to 20 reps

Workout B

Front Squats - 5 sets for 5 reps
Barbell Rows - 5 sets for 5 reps
Standing Barbell Press - 5 sets for 5 reps
Deadlifts - 3 sets for 5 reps
Reverse Wrist Curls - 2 sets for 10 reps
Seated Calf Raises - 2 sets for 15 to 20 reps

Abdominal exercises are done on cardio days. Depending on what your goals are for weight loss, cardio should be kept at a minimum to save energy for muscle building. Two sessions of 30 to 60 minutes of moderate cardio should be adequate to keep your cardiovascular health at a moderate level.
All Reg's bodybuilding exercises emphasize perfect form, slow negatives, and powerful positive motions over using overly heavy weight and momentum. Figuring out your 'working' weight will take a session or two as you should warm-up and see how much you can lift. Then it is a good idea to keep a journal so you know when to add weight to an exercise. Typically if you can increase the rep range to 8 on your work weight then it is time to add another 5 or 10 pounds.

Dane Carpenter is a writer for Nutribomb.com. Please follow him via our Google Plus page.