| Greg Sushinsky Bodybuilding Fitness, Nutrition & Health |
| Training Vince's Way |
By Greg Sushinsky
Vince Gironda–the name reverberates. Though he’s been dead for a couple of years now, Vince
Gironda’s training ideas still live on–or should. Perhaps no trainer in the history of bodybuilding has
been more controversial, loved, hated, disputed, ignored, embraced or misunderstood than the
legendary champion of the lean, symmetrical, Apollo-type physique was. It’s unfortunate, but says
more about the world of bodybuilding than about Vince, that he became known to some only for his
opposition to squats, his advocacy of the meat and eggs zero carb diet (a.k.a. “meat and water” ),
his tirades against running and aerobics, and numerous other bodybuilding rants that a lot of people
found fault with. Some simply felt that his ideas on training and nutrition were okay for Hollywood
stars, but not applicable for hardcore bodybuilders, and dismissed him. What’s been overlooked is
the great value of his approach, his teachings, and the great contributions the man himself made to
bodybuilding.
This all came to mind when talking to a young upcoming bodybuilder. This young guy was
dedicated to his training, fairly knowledgeable (as far as that goes), and really wants to do well. At
twenty years old, he’d already competed in bodybuilding and powerlifting (a potential Vince problem
right there), in novice events, and had a decent start on building considerable size...or bulk (more
about that later). He goes to school, works, trains, and mans the counter part time at a local health
food store, downing seven protein shakes a day, as he told me. He was concerned, though, about
doing well in open competitions, and of course, about getting bigger.
How big is big enough, I thought? In the age of the 300 pound bodybuilder (or more), it was obvious
this guy, unless–or even if-- he resorted to huge amounts of drugs, was probably never going to be
cut at 250 to 300 pounds. He didn't have the frame for it. Yes, he was building a fair amount of size–
but mostly not muscle mass–so much unmass–(fat?)! And then, there was the problem of
proportion–where he’d packed on what he’d put on. Bluntly, it didn’t look good. Many of you
reading this right now will protest and say that you have to pile on the pounds in the offseason, lots of
fat along with muscle, and then you’ll get rid of it and be cut and in shape when you enter a contest.
Maybe. The pros do it, and most of us non-pros still follow that. Drug-free naturals everywhere were
bulking up this winter. Or still are in the summer. They’re busy adding 25, 35, 50 pounds or more to
their physiques. Most will never lose the weight. Most will never be cut. Most will never have a
proportionate physique. Most will never look good. A subjective judgement, true, but worth looking
at.
What might Vince have said to this young guy? Vince probably would have made it clear to this guy
that he was misguided in trying to put on so much weight, so much bulk. He was putting on fat to the
point that, even in clothes, it was apparent that all the muscle groups ran together. On a lean,
proportionate physique, even dressed in street clothes, you can often detect the end of the deltoids
and where the bicep begins, or where the upper part of the pec ties in (or separates, actually) from
the delt. Not on this guy. If you’re in tune with the proportionate, lean style of physique, you could tell
this young bodybuilder to quit packing on so much weight. Quit eating so much. Size–proportionate
muscle size, is one thing; bodyweight, bulking up, fat are something else again. Most of us have
fallen into this. We should know better; this young bodybuilder really doesn’t.
A Vince re-make would have this bodybuilder rein in his massive eating. The guy looked to be
about 225 at about 5-9 or 5-10. A muscular bodyweight for him–his frame, his metabolism, might
be 180 or 190. So, instead of gaining weight, he should be dropping weight, letting it go back at
least to a more reasonable 200 or less. Then he could look at his physique and see what he had.
The powerlifting was a problem, as it often is. For those of us who’ve powerlifted and bodybuilt,
there sometimes comes a realization, that powerlifting beyond a point becomes not only unhelpful to
bodybuilding, but detrimental. A radical thought–bodybuilding heresy, no doubt. Isn’t bodybuilding
really just powerlifting plus dieting? No! Powerlifting, or too much power-bodybuilding, will likely
build disproportionate muscle even without heavy eating. Squats, benches and deadlifts are good
exercises in their place (though Vince wouldn’t have agreed), but power squats can build a lot of
high thigh bulk, along with hip and groin. And, yes, a big ass (as Vince used to rant) if you are
genetically predisposed that way in structure. Benches build lower chest or front delt, and deadlifts
may widen your hips; they certainly won’t build lats the way most people do them. This isn’t just
Vince stuff. You can test it out. While these can be productive exercises in their place, they
comprise too much a percentage of the workout for some. The people who make great progress
on power-type exercises alone in terms of bodybuilding results have genetic structures that allow
them to do so. Most of us don’t. Vince would be trying to save this guy a lot of wasted time.
Vince’s training methods could turn this guy around. While getting him to drop the bodyweight,
Vince would go to work on re-shaping this young bodybuilder’s physique. He would need a lot
more shoulder width to offset the disproportionate amount of thickness he’d built. So, lots of lateral
raises instead of pressing. It works. Upper pecs would get the bench press to the neck, or the
neck press in Vince parlance. This would raise the height of the young guy’s pec mass, giving him a
better look. No lower chest work for a while. His back needed width also. Chinning and various
pulley rows would replace barbell rows and deadlifts. Arm work: this guy needed shape, badly.
Incline dumbell curls plus preacher curls for the biceps–or better yet, the body drag barbell curl–a
Vince alone special exercise. Our guy would need outer head work (long rope pulls) along with
lying extensions to combat shapeless triceps–that would be the working prescription . Hacks for
quads and Vince-style thigh curls for hamstrings would bring better shape and balance. Twenty reps
in ultra-good form (full stretch and extension, done barefoot) on standing calf raises or donkey raises
would pump the calves. Selected crunches for the abs, while not overworking the area, would flesh
out the routine.
Vince would determine a reasonable amount of volume and intensity for this particular bodybuilder’s
stage of development. Eight sets of eight, one exercise per bodypart, might be too advanced for
the moment, especially as the young guy was overweight and used to slower, heavier training. But
Gironda, though often regarded as inflexible, would have found a reduced or modified level of
training for this young bodybuilder to pursue. The reps would probably be eight or higher, and the
critical training tempo would be pushed, to help in burning fat.
Along with that, the diet would be revised (reversed, at least calorically) to a protein oriented one of
two or three daily meals instead of six, with more emphasis on beef, eggs, (possibly chicken and
fish instead of beef if the bodybuilder responded better to those), but with far fewer carbohydrates
overall. Milk would likely be eliminated for a time and starchy carbs would be vastly reduced in favor
of some salads and light greens. The role of fats in helping build testosterone naturally was
something Vince maintained, so the carbs more than the fats would be cut down. Supplements
would likely be added to this young bodybuilder’s regimen, though the seven protein shakes would
be whittled down to one or two (or none). Basic amino acids and liver tabs (those old standbys)
would be emphasized instead. No running or other sports would be allowed while on this routine.
This young bodybuilder would be encouraged to train not only on the different exercises he’s been
given, ones to replace his less effective, bulk-oriented routine, but he’d also be encouraged to train
with stricter form and feeling on the exercises, while using poundages he could control in a smooth,
deliberate cadence, instead of ramming up the weights in too-loose, non-muscle-working style. The
workouts would be brief, concentrated and difficult. Vince Gironda, though it was said he used to
patrol his gym floor with a hawk’s eye watching the training around him, would have been trying to
teach this young bodybuilder to be cognizant of his own training; to monitor his own rest periods
between sets, rep speeds, noting the feel of the various exercises and poundages, and most of all,
monitoring the results. Concentrating in your workout and monitoring feedback–taking responsibility
for your own training and nutrition, ultimately, are what Vince was all about.
So what’s the outcome of all this? If our young aspiring bodybuilder would heed the Vince-style
advice and change his training and nutrition, he would doubtless look almost infinitely better. He
would have dropped many pounds of unneeded flab, and been in better shape with both the lighter
bodyweight and the improved conditioning from the stepped up tempo. Along with that, the better
nutrition would see him not very readily putting on fat again. He would have vastly better shape and
proportion, and though he might not yet be super-defined or ripped, he probably would have sharper
definition than in any of his previous contests, without having gone on a special definition diet. And
though lighter in bodyweight, he might have had more actual muscle size, contrary to the Gironda
critics who consider all lean physiques small (anything less than gigantic is small to them). This
bodybuilder would certainly have looked bigger, and undeniably he would appear more impressive,
especially on stage at a contest. He would have the kind of physique that would suit his body
structure at a bodyweight that would suit his metabolism, also. Simply stated, if our young
bodybuilder would liberate himself from the goal of hugeness at any cost, adopt and apply this
training and nutritional advice, he would have a vastly better physique than he had before.
So this might be a Vince-like prescription for the young bodybuilder whose dreams are high and
who seems willing to work. But this bodybuilder didn’t ask–and probably wouldn’t have believed or
taken the input, so he didn’t get to hear the Gironda-style makeover information for his physique.
Too bad. He would have a better chance of achieving his potential and undoubtedly end up with a
better physique had he been open to a Vince Gironda type of training approach. And that’s what it
is, an approach. It’s not necessary (or probably even desirable) to be a disciple or follower or clone
of Vince’s or anybody else to use good ideas in bodybuilding–good ideas, sound training
information, is just that. It’s up to us to use it.
What Vince Gironda really seemed to be about was training intelligently and utilizing nutrition
intelligently, to create or re-create your body. It’s true the style of physique he favored–lean,
proportionate, defined, with aesthetic shape, has fallen almost completely out of fashion in
bodybuilding, yet men such as Steve Reeves, Frank Zane, Chris Dickerson, Bob Paris and Serge
Nubret and others–none of whom were explicit followers of Vince, exemplified this type of physique,
and won more than a few honors with it. Larry Scott and Mohammed Makkawy, who trained directly
under Gironda’s supervision, did very well, as did numerous others, most of whom aren’t famous,
but who nevertheless achieved great results using Vince Gironda’s methods. Drug free trainers can
profit greatly from many of his ideas, and even more so from understanding and incorporating his
approach. His ways and his approach as well as the integrity with which he passionately lived his
bodybuilding convictions are his true legacy. Though he is gone, the wisdom of his ways are still
available to us all.
Vince-Style Solutions to Common Bodybuilding Problems
1. Narrow Shoulders:
Side laterals, wide grip upright rowing; de-emphasize pressing.
2. Narrow Back:
Chins, Pulley/cable rows, some pulldowns.
3. Poor Quad shape & definition:
Hack Squats, Front Squats, Sissy Squats; eliminate back squats.
4. Thick Waist:
Diet! (Reduce Carbs). Less ab work/volume but more concentrated (Crunches).
Changing over from back squats will slim hips (see #3).
5. Poor Calves:
Donkey Raises 20 reps or Standing Raises 20 reps (size). Work heavy-light either every workout
day or two on one off. Raise up with pressure on big toe and rotate calves slightly inward (feet
outward) for added shape. Complete extension and lowering.
6. Sub-par Arms:
Shape: Preacher curls (low biceps) incline dumbbell (high biceps) & concentration curls (peak);
Body Drag Curl for size.
Tricep extensions (size) & Rope Pulls (shape & outer head).
7. Unimpressive Chest:
Neck Bench Press(upper chest), V-Bar Dips (wide lower chest); reduce use of flat benches.
What You Can Expect From Vince-Style Training
1. Better shape.
2. Better proportion.
3. More concentrated, effective (shorter) workouts.
4. Better cardio condition. Vince’s workouts are also aerobic with short rest time between sets.
5. Better definition. Your nutrition & bodyweight will be straightened out.
6. Size that counts. More muscle size in needed areas of your physique, for a more impressive
overall look.
7. Results! You’ll have a much better “complete package” whether or not you wish to compete.
Vince Gironda–the name reverberates. Though he’s been dead for a couple of years now, Vince
Gironda’s training ideas still live on–or should. Perhaps no trainer in the history of bodybuilding has
been more controversial, loved, hated, disputed, ignored, embraced or misunderstood than the
legendary champion of the lean, symmetrical, Apollo-type physique was. It’s unfortunate, but says
more about the world of bodybuilding than about Vince, that he became known to some only for his
opposition to squats, his advocacy of the meat and eggs zero carb diet (a.k.a. “meat and water” ),
his tirades against running and aerobics, and numerous other bodybuilding rants that a lot of people
found fault with. Some simply felt that his ideas on training and nutrition were okay for Hollywood
stars, but not applicable for hardcore bodybuilders, and dismissed him. What’s been overlooked is
the great value of his approach, his teachings, and the great contributions the man himself made to
bodybuilding.
This all came to mind when talking to a young upcoming bodybuilder. This young guy was
dedicated to his training, fairly knowledgeable (as far as that goes), and really wants to do well. At
twenty years old, he’d already competed in bodybuilding and powerlifting (a potential Vince problem
right there), in novice events, and had a decent start on building considerable size...or bulk (more
about that later). He goes to school, works, trains, and mans the counter part time at a local health
food store, downing seven protein shakes a day, as he told me. He was concerned, though, about
doing well in open competitions, and of course, about getting bigger.
How big is big enough, I thought? In the age of the 300 pound bodybuilder (or more), it was obvious
this guy, unless–or even if-- he resorted to huge amounts of drugs, was probably never going to be
cut at 250 to 300 pounds. He didn't have the frame for it. Yes, he was building a fair amount of size–
but mostly not muscle mass–so much unmass–(fat?)! And then, there was the problem of
proportion–where he’d packed on what he’d put on. Bluntly, it didn’t look good. Many of you
reading this right now will protest and say that you have to pile on the pounds in the offseason, lots of
fat along with muscle, and then you’ll get rid of it and be cut and in shape when you enter a contest.
Maybe. The pros do it, and most of us non-pros still follow that. Drug-free naturals everywhere were
bulking up this winter. Or still are in the summer. They’re busy adding 25, 35, 50 pounds or more to
their physiques. Most will never lose the weight. Most will never be cut. Most will never have a
proportionate physique. Most will never look good. A subjective judgement, true, but worth looking
at.
What might Vince have said to this young guy? Vince probably would have made it clear to this guy
that he was misguided in trying to put on so much weight, so much bulk. He was putting on fat to the
point that, even in clothes, it was apparent that all the muscle groups ran together. On a lean,
proportionate physique, even dressed in street clothes, you can often detect the end of the deltoids
and where the bicep begins, or where the upper part of the pec ties in (or separates, actually) from
the delt. Not on this guy. If you’re in tune with the proportionate, lean style of physique, you could tell
this young bodybuilder to quit packing on so much weight. Quit eating so much. Size–proportionate
muscle size, is one thing; bodyweight, bulking up, fat are something else again. Most of us have
fallen into this. We should know better; this young bodybuilder really doesn’t.
A Vince re-make would have this bodybuilder rein in his massive eating. The guy looked to be
about 225 at about 5-9 or 5-10. A muscular bodyweight for him–his frame, his metabolism, might
be 180 or 190. So, instead of gaining weight, he should be dropping weight, letting it go back at
least to a more reasonable 200 or less. Then he could look at his physique and see what he had.
The powerlifting was a problem, as it often is. For those of us who’ve powerlifted and bodybuilt,
there sometimes comes a realization, that powerlifting beyond a point becomes not only unhelpful to
bodybuilding, but detrimental. A radical thought–bodybuilding heresy, no doubt. Isn’t bodybuilding
really just powerlifting plus dieting? No! Powerlifting, or too much power-bodybuilding, will likely
build disproportionate muscle even without heavy eating. Squats, benches and deadlifts are good
exercises in their place (though Vince wouldn’t have agreed), but power squats can build a lot of
high thigh bulk, along with hip and groin. And, yes, a big ass (as Vince used to rant) if you are
genetically predisposed that way in structure. Benches build lower chest or front delt, and deadlifts
may widen your hips; they certainly won’t build lats the way most people do them. This isn’t just
Vince stuff. You can test it out. While these can be productive exercises in their place, they
comprise too much a percentage of the workout for some. The people who make great progress
on power-type exercises alone in terms of bodybuilding results have genetic structures that allow
them to do so. Most of us don’t. Vince would be trying to save this guy a lot of wasted time.
Vince’s training methods could turn this guy around. While getting him to drop the bodyweight,
Vince would go to work on re-shaping this young bodybuilder’s physique. He would need a lot
more shoulder width to offset the disproportionate amount of thickness he’d built. So, lots of lateral
raises instead of pressing. It works. Upper pecs would get the bench press to the neck, or the
neck press in Vince parlance. This would raise the height of the young guy’s pec mass, giving him a
better look. No lower chest work for a while. His back needed width also. Chinning and various
pulley rows would replace barbell rows and deadlifts. Arm work: this guy needed shape, badly.
Incline dumbell curls plus preacher curls for the biceps–or better yet, the body drag barbell curl–a
Vince alone special exercise. Our guy would need outer head work (long rope pulls) along with
lying extensions to combat shapeless triceps–that would be the working prescription . Hacks for
quads and Vince-style thigh curls for hamstrings would bring better shape and balance. Twenty reps
in ultra-good form (full stretch and extension, done barefoot) on standing calf raises or donkey raises
would pump the calves. Selected crunches for the abs, while not overworking the area, would flesh
out the routine.
Vince would determine a reasonable amount of volume and intensity for this particular bodybuilder’s
stage of development. Eight sets of eight, one exercise per bodypart, might be too advanced for
the moment, especially as the young guy was overweight and used to slower, heavier training. But
Gironda, though often regarded as inflexible, would have found a reduced or modified level of
training for this young bodybuilder to pursue. The reps would probably be eight or higher, and the
critical training tempo would be pushed, to help in burning fat.
Along with that, the diet would be revised (reversed, at least calorically) to a protein oriented one of
two or three daily meals instead of six, with more emphasis on beef, eggs, (possibly chicken and
fish instead of beef if the bodybuilder responded better to those), but with far fewer carbohydrates
overall. Milk would likely be eliminated for a time and starchy carbs would be vastly reduced in favor
of some salads and light greens. The role of fats in helping build testosterone naturally was
something Vince maintained, so the carbs more than the fats would be cut down. Supplements
would likely be added to this young bodybuilder’s regimen, though the seven protein shakes would
be whittled down to one or two (or none). Basic amino acids and liver tabs (those old standbys)
would be emphasized instead. No running or other sports would be allowed while on this routine.
This young bodybuilder would be encouraged to train not only on the different exercises he’s been
given, ones to replace his less effective, bulk-oriented routine, but he’d also be encouraged to train
with stricter form and feeling on the exercises, while using poundages he could control in a smooth,
deliberate cadence, instead of ramming up the weights in too-loose, non-muscle-working style. The
workouts would be brief, concentrated and difficult. Vince Gironda, though it was said he used to
patrol his gym floor with a hawk’s eye watching the training around him, would have been trying to
teach this young bodybuilder to be cognizant of his own training; to monitor his own rest periods
between sets, rep speeds, noting the feel of the various exercises and poundages, and most of all,
monitoring the results. Concentrating in your workout and monitoring feedback–taking responsibility
for your own training and nutrition, ultimately, are what Vince was all about.
So what’s the outcome of all this? If our young aspiring bodybuilder would heed the Vince-style
advice and change his training and nutrition, he would doubtless look almost infinitely better. He
would have dropped many pounds of unneeded flab, and been in better shape with both the lighter
bodyweight and the improved conditioning from the stepped up tempo. Along with that, the better
nutrition would see him not very readily putting on fat again. He would have vastly better shape and
proportion, and though he might not yet be super-defined or ripped, he probably would have sharper
definition than in any of his previous contests, without having gone on a special definition diet. And
though lighter in bodyweight, he might have had more actual muscle size, contrary to the Gironda
critics who consider all lean physiques small (anything less than gigantic is small to them). This
bodybuilder would certainly have looked bigger, and undeniably he would appear more impressive,
especially on stage at a contest. He would have the kind of physique that would suit his body
structure at a bodyweight that would suit his metabolism, also. Simply stated, if our young
bodybuilder would liberate himself from the goal of hugeness at any cost, adopt and apply this
training and nutritional advice, he would have a vastly better physique than he had before.
So this might be a Vince-like prescription for the young bodybuilder whose dreams are high and
who seems willing to work. But this bodybuilder didn’t ask–and probably wouldn’t have believed or
taken the input, so he didn’t get to hear the Gironda-style makeover information for his physique.
Too bad. He would have a better chance of achieving his potential and undoubtedly end up with a
better physique had he been open to a Vince Gironda type of training approach. And that’s what it
is, an approach. It’s not necessary (or probably even desirable) to be a disciple or follower or clone
of Vince’s or anybody else to use good ideas in bodybuilding–good ideas, sound training
information, is just that. It’s up to us to use it.
What Vince Gironda really seemed to be about was training intelligently and utilizing nutrition
intelligently, to create or re-create your body. It’s true the style of physique he favored–lean,
proportionate, defined, with aesthetic shape, has fallen almost completely out of fashion in
bodybuilding, yet men such as Steve Reeves, Frank Zane, Chris Dickerson, Bob Paris and Serge
Nubret and others–none of whom were explicit followers of Vince, exemplified this type of physique,
and won more than a few honors with it. Larry Scott and Mohammed Makkawy, who trained directly
under Gironda’s supervision, did very well, as did numerous others, most of whom aren’t famous,
but who nevertheless achieved great results using Vince Gironda’s methods. Drug free trainers can
profit greatly from many of his ideas, and even more so from understanding and incorporating his
approach. His ways and his approach as well as the integrity with which he passionately lived his
bodybuilding convictions are his true legacy. Though he is gone, the wisdom of his ways are still
available to us all.
Vince-Style Solutions to Common Bodybuilding Problems
1. Narrow Shoulders:
Side laterals, wide grip upright rowing; de-emphasize pressing.
2. Narrow Back:
Chins, Pulley/cable rows, some pulldowns.
3. Poor Quad shape & definition:
Hack Squats, Front Squats, Sissy Squats; eliminate back squats.
4. Thick Waist:
Diet! (Reduce Carbs). Less ab work/volume but more concentrated (Crunches).
Changing over from back squats will slim hips (see #3).
5. Poor Calves:
Donkey Raises 20 reps or Standing Raises 20 reps (size). Work heavy-light either every workout
day or two on one off. Raise up with pressure on big toe and rotate calves slightly inward (feet
outward) for added shape. Complete extension and lowering.
6. Sub-par Arms:
Shape: Preacher curls (low biceps) incline dumbbell (high biceps) & concentration curls (peak);
Body Drag Curl for size.
Tricep extensions (size) & Rope Pulls (shape & outer head).
7. Unimpressive Chest:
Neck Bench Press(upper chest), V-Bar Dips (wide lower chest); reduce use of flat benches.
What You Can Expect From Vince-Style Training
1. Better shape.
2. Better proportion.
3. More concentrated, effective (shorter) workouts.
4. Better cardio condition. Vince’s workouts are also aerobic with short rest time between sets.
5. Better definition. Your nutrition & bodyweight will be straightened out.
6. Size that counts. More muscle size in needed areas of your physique, for a more impressive
overall look.
7. Results! You’ll have a much better “complete package” whether or not you wish to compete.
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