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From: http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2008/12/triceps-training-reg-park.html

Triceps Training
by Reg Park (1952)

I have been asked one question thousands of times since I became prominent in the bodybuilding game. Whenever a group of the “uninitiated” and I get together they always want to know what satisfaction I get out of working with weights. It is hard to explain to those who have never used barbells. That you realize this I am sure, but one would think the obvious signs a weight training course stamps on the general bearing and appearance of a man would be sufficient explanation. But, no . . . always that old sleeping pill crops up: WHATEVER do you see in weight lifting? I can’t understand what you get out of picking up lumps of iron.” Maybe the person who asks me this question happens to be a golfer, so I promptly ask him what joy there can be in knocking a small ball away from you and then running after it.
When he recovers from this reply, and gives me a somewhat weak grin, I then start in to sell him workouts with weights. I tell him first of all how barbell exercises and kindred heavy resistance movements are recognized and respected all over the world by physicians and surgeons. I also indicate that these exercises have done wonderful work with the war wounded. I talk of the increased self-respect, the better posture, the greater joy experienced in living a life that is healthy, carefree and happy. I tell him how personal appearance can be improved – the clear eyes and complexion, the upright carriage and springy step etc., and then I invite him along, if I happen to be training at a nearby gym, to take a workout with me. And this I have NEVER seen to fail, that these skeptics become the greatest and most enthusiastic missionaries for weight training inside of a month.
Perhaps it is because of the near miracle that barbell work accomplishes, or that feeling of overflowing energy that makes them want to run everywhere instead of walk. But whatever it is that brings the swift conversion from skepticism to a missionary-like fervor, or whatever they may think, I have my own ideas.
Now, all pressing movements are good triceps builders but they hardly place direct stress on the muscle. Presses are performed by a wide range of muscles with the triceps playing a part. Exercises in which the forearm is straightened out on the upper arm are best for maximum triceps development. However, if you are working solely for triceps size and strength it is best to incorporate a number of pressing movements in with the direct triceps work. Thus you can add thickness to the muscle as well as definition and an increase in LOCAL power. If, however, you are working for maximum arm size, that is a horse of another color and thus I will discuss at the end of the article.
So, let’s get to my favorite triceps movements. The first movement is one that Charlie Smith introduced me to about a year ago and since then I have worked very hard on it and I believe that it has affected the overall growth of the triceps, particularly the inner head, more than any other movement. Charlie told me, as I also knew, that it wasn’t a new exercise by any means, but he thought that with my rather long upper arm it would be particularly effective.
It is performed as follows; You lie on a bench and you have the barbell handed to you as you hold your arms straight up. You take a rather narrow grip . . . the hands should not be more than 5 to 6 inches apart, with the palms facing to the front. From this initial position the bar is lowered by bending the forearms . . .THE UPPER ARMS DO NOT MOVE . . . and the weight is lowered either to the forehead or behind the top of the head, as you lay on the bench, and raised back again to straight arms. You will find that the movement is harder when the barbell is lowered to the forehead than behind the head. The reason is that the upper arms are forced to come out of perpendicular when the bar goes behind the head. After you have broken in to the exercise, you can have someone hold your elbows so that the upper arms get no “play” at all and are kept absolutely immoveable. Use 3 to 5 sets of the movements and with a poundage you can squeeze 5 reps out of. When you can do 9 reps, it’s time for a weight increase. The important point to remember here is that you DO NOT MOVE THE UPPER ARMS.
My second favorite triceps exercise is the movement popularized by Johnny McWilliams – the triceps curl, or as some call it, the french press. Here, you stand upright, with a barbell held at arm’s length overhead. Your grip is narrow again . . . the same as in the first movement. From this arm’s length position you simply lower the barbell back of the head, again keeping the upper arms as immobile as possible. You will also find it best to have a training partner place his hand in the upper section of the back for support. You can do this movement two ways . . . in strict form and with slow and deliberate movements, or with a bouncing motion. And it is also good to force the reps by using a slight body movement or “push” to get the bar up when the last couple of reps get tough. Start off with a barbell you can use for 4 sets of 6 reps and as soon as you can do 4 sets of 10, increase the poundage and start back at 6 reps.
Parallel dips are wonderful triceps builders, but as in the other exercises, it is that “special” way of performing them that makes all the difference. Dips are my third favorite triceps exercise and it was Marvin Eder who got me to include them in my routine. It is advisable that you practice them for form until you are able to rattle off a fairly rapid 4 sets of 12 reps, before you start to increase the resistance. Keep the body as straight as possible and the arms CLOSE to the body and go all the way down. When you start up force to arm’s length with everything you’ve got, and LOCK the elbows. Take care that you don’t strain the elbow joint by being foolish in your progression or careless in your performance. It is a good idea to rub warm olive oil into the joint after you have finished. When adding extra resistance I tie weight around my waist, letting the triceps get full benefit by having the weight in back of my body.
No muscle specialization course is really complete without at least one dumbell movement. I have included one that Clancy Ross has used. As in the other exercises, there are particular ways of performing it for certain results. Simply hold a dumbell at arm’s length above the head. Press the upper arm against the head, lower the dumbell behind the head by bending the arm at the elbow and then straighten the arm again. KEEP THE UPPER ARM STILL, DON’T MOVE IT. When you’ve finished working one arm, change over to the other hand. You’ll find 4 sets of 6 reps, working up to 4 sets of 10 to be just right.
Now, you can work this triceps schedule in one of two ways. If you want to work solely for triceps specialization, then it is best to use it just as I have given it here. But if you want to obtain MAXIMUM arm size and power, you would do well to remember that the main muscle groups of the upper arm are the biceps AND triceps. I generally spend three months on a biceps specialization routine, then three months on a triceps specialization routine. Then I take a three week layoff and start in again as follows. I perform one triceps movement and then a biceps exercise, alternating one triceps and one biceps exercise until my entire upper arm program is completed. I would advise that you try both approaches at first to see what reactions you get personally.

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Exercises and workouts / Calf training, by Reg Park (1974)

« on: April 12, 2020, 08:09:49 PM »

From ditillo2.blogspot.com/2018/09/calf-training-reg-park-1974.html

Calf Training - Reg Park (1974)

I have mentioned previously in articles on arm development that two factors other than direct exercise influence ultimate size development of the arms, and these factors are body weight and the actual length of the upper arm. Similarly, the ultimate development of the calves are also determined by two main factors, once again bodyweight is of the utmost importance and the other factor is the flexibility of the Achilles tendon.
When I refer to bodyweight I simply mean that in order to increase your calf size it is vitally necessary to increase your bodyweight; this of course applies to muscle size on any part of the body but the lower leg and arms are more influenced by actual bodyweight than other parts of the body.
There are those fortunate ones who are blessed with either natural calves or arms and even with a loss of bodyweight these people lose less on their natural areas than do their less fortunate brethren. By and large, however, if you tend to be light in the calves you must accept the fact that even with all the sets possible you will gain little or no size on them unless you have a marked increase in bodyweight.
The question of flexible Achilles tendons is what primarily determines the shape and size of your calves. You will note that bodybuilders with a good stretch in the Achilles tendon such as Steve Reeves have a naturally large lower calf development. A good test to ascertain whether or not your tendon is tight or flexible is to stand in a shallow lunge position and, keeping the heel of the front foot on the floor, bend your knee and stretch it as far past the toes of your foot as possible. Bodybuilders with the greater flexion have naturally larger lower calves -- the soleus tending to blend in with the gastrocnemius -- whereas even advanced bodybuilders who lack flexibility in the Achilles tendon whilst they may possess a heavy gastrocnemius are usually very poor in the soleus group and this gives their calf development a 'high' look in appearance.
Let's take a wee break from this lifting thing and enjoy some excellent descriptive writing in a noir vein . . .
The concierge was a snapper who was over the hill and down a disused mine shaft. Her hair was every bit as natural as a parade goose-stepping down the Wilhelmstrasse, and she'd evidently been wearing a boxing glove when she'd applied the crimson lipstick to her paperclip of a mouth. Her breasts were like the rear ends of a pair of dray horses at the end of a long hard day. Maybe she still had a few clients, but I thought it was a better bet that I'd see a Jew at the front of a Nuremberg pork butcher's queue. She stood in the doorway to her apartment, naked under the grubby toweling robe which she left open, and lit a half smoked cigarette. -- Philip Kerr, from "March Violets"
I can't resist. One more quick bit from same . . .
She had mustard colored hair, coiffed by a competition sheep shearer, and a nose like a champagne cork. His mustache was wider than the brim on a Mexican's hat. The other one was the racial archetype with the sort of exaggerated chin and cheekbones he'd copied off a Prussian election poster. They both had cool, patient eyes, like mussels in brine, and sneers like someone had farted, or told a particularly tasteless joke. Knuckles in suits.
Okay. Calf Training, eh.
I have seen many bodybuilders make very marked improvements in their calf development. The most notable for me would have to be Clarence Ross. If you've never seen photos of Clarence when he won the 1945 Mr. America weighing 168 pounds and noticed his calf development, or should I say lack of it, and then looked at later photos when he weighed 205 the improvement in his calf development and shape is astonishing. As a point of interest, Ross performed several sets of heavy standing calf raises followed by several sets of free (bodyweight) heel raises without any weight where the emphasis was on slow full range movement.
Other bodybuilders attempting to stretch their Achilles tendon do so by walking up a steep incline bench taking small steps and endeavoring to keep the heels on the bench as long as possible.
That's a new one for me. Never thought of it before!
I am sure that all the readers are versed in the different calf exercises but let me just list the more popular ones.

1) Seated Calf Raise
2) Calf Raise on Leg Press
3) Donkey Calf Raise
4) Standing Calf Raise

Many authorities advocate different foot positions (toes front; pointing out; pointing in) in order to work the calf from different angles but I do not believe this is necessary. I simply exercise the calves with the feet comfortably apart and parallel to each other. In addition I try to take most of the stress on the base of the big toe, and on exercises 2, 3, and 4 I find it more beneficial if I exercise with the knees slightly bent as this works not only both heads of the gastrocnemius but also the soleus as well.
[How often and how many sets? They should certainly be exercised no less than three times a week. You can also try working them daily. Another method that may work for you is to exercise the calves four days in a row and then rest them for three days. As regards the number of sets and reps I believe in a minimum of 5 sets and maximum of 15 sets per workout, with reps ranging from 15-20.
You may experience days when after four or five sets your calves feel pumped to maximum. In this case I see little or no point in continuing further sets. Similarly, you may also have days when after four or five sets you have little or no response or pump whatsoever. If this happens I cease all further sets and usually the next workout I experience a better pump.
In conclusion, remember that if you desire more size on your calves, unless you are already overweight and not exercising them enough, the only way that you will increase your calf size is through the combination of exercising them regularly and increasing your bodyweight.