15 BODYBUILDING SECRETS BY SERGIO OLIVA SR.

      15 SECRETS OF BODYBUILDING BY THE 3X MR. OLYMPIA

         1)      Warmup Very Lightly:

         This may be because at the time we went Chicago Sergio was 46 years old, so he needed lots of warmup. For example, when doing squats the first set he would actually squat with an empty 45 pound Olympic bar for 10 reps—and it looked like he was having trouble doing it, as his legs trembled and he had trouble going up and down. But by his tenth set he would squat with 550 pounds for four reps with no problem, going up and down like a jack hammer. On his first set of bench presses with 135 pounds his arms shook and Sergio got buried with the weight and could only do six reps (I thought he was just kidding around). But after eight sets he easily did 315 pounds for 20 reps, and on his final set, 225 pounds for 50 reps!

2)                    2) Use High Repetitions:
Sergio preferred to do high reps on all his exercises, at least 20 reps a set and sometimes more—even on biceps and triceps, deltoids, lats and pecs. On one set of bench presses he did 225 pounds for 50 reps! He never did less than 10 reps on any set, and that was mostly for legs. On upper body he preferred high reps—at least 15 to 25 reps. He said to Bob Kennedy, “I don’t do that 5-6 rep stuff anymore. It’s too hard on the joints.” Sergio said he felt he grew better using high repetitions and it was better quality muscle so when he dieted for a contest he maintained more muscle mass as he dieted down.

3)                    3) Use the Rest-Pause Principle:
I would estimate that Sergio used rest-pause on 90 per cent of his exercises. On all upper body exercises Sergio used the rest-pause principle on just about every exercise and every set. For example, on his final set of Smith machine seated behind-the-neck presses with three plates aside (about 300 pounds), he did 10 reps, paused maybe five seconds to take in some deep breathes, then pumped out another five reps, paused again to take in more deep breathes, and then pumped out another five reps. That way he got his 20 reps—which was the minimum number of reps he would do.

4)                    4) Keep Constant-Tension On the Muscle At All Times:
When I asked Sergio why he did only the bottom one-third of the range of motion on preacher curls and the top one-half on concentration curls he said to me, “Why go all the way up on preacher curls? That just takes the tension off the lower biceps. Just do the bottom one-third of the range of motion and keep hammering away at the lower biceps.” He said about concentration curls, “Why go all the way down on concentration curls? That just takes the tension off the part of the upper biceps that creates peak. Just do the top one-half and keep hammering away at the part that creates peak.”

5)                    5) Use Continuous Motion/Constant Tension:
When Sergio did curls, presses, bench presses, incline presses, decline presses, wide-grip chins, rows, pull downs, dips and other upper body exercises, the bar or dumbbells (or his body on chins and dips) never stopped moving during a set until exhaustion forced the set to end. There are no pauses at the top or bottom of the range of motion because his range of motion on upper body exercises was so small. The muscle was under tension from the first repetition until the last. The set only ends when the muscle is exhausted.

6)                    6) Never Train to Absolute Failure or Do Forced Reps:
Sergio, like Bill Pearl and Lou Ferrigno, did not believe in training to absolute failure on his sets, or doing forced reps and negatives, which are very taxing to the nervous and recovery systems of the body. He always trained well within his means. He felt the volume of sets he did and doing high reps and going to maybe one or two or three reps from failure is what gave him the best results. Although he did no forced reps or cheating reps it somehow seemed to me that he was working harder than anyone in the gym, as he was gleaming in sweat from all the sets he did. I would say many sets were taken to 95 to 98 per cent from total failure.

7)                    7) Do Supersets or “Combinations”:
Sergio employed antagonistic supersets a lot (for opposing or opposite muscle groups such as biceps and triceps and pecs and lats), but not in the traditional manner. He called his supersets “combinations,” while I called them “alternates.” Sergio would do a set of for pecs, and then rest for a minute or 90 seconds, and then do a set for lats. So after doing six sets of high reps of bench presses, he might combine five sets of bench presses with wide-grip chins, and three sets of bench presses with lat pull downs. Sergio felt training in this fashion allowed him to use heavier weights and to recover better between sets. He also felt it gave him a better pace or tempo to his workouts.

        8) Train the Muscle With a Variety of Exercises to Work It From Every Angle For Full Development:
Sergio did many exercises for each muscle group, working the muscle sometimes from every conceivable angle, to achieve full development. For example, to work biceps he might do seated barbell curls (which do not allow much range of motion because the bar hits the thighs) to work the middle or belly of the biceps. To work lower biceps he did one-half or one-third preacher curls, and to work the upper biceps he did one-half one-arm concentration curls. He also did wide-grip barbell curls on an Olympic bar (out to the collars) to work the outer and lower biceps.

            

             9) Work to Achieve a Maximum Pump in the Muscle:

Sergio tried to achieve the biggest pump in his muscles as he could, and I mean a real blood gorging, rock hard pump. As he did his sets it looked as if his muscles were getting bigger and bigger and bigger, as if someone had stuck an air tube in his butt and he was inflating, and he was simply stupendous to look at. Everything about his style of training was aimed at achieving a maximum pump—his preference for high reps, a large volume of sets, using the rest-pause principle to achieve high reps, sometimes doing super sets or combinations, and training in constant-motion/constant-tension style. 

10) Do a Large Number of Sets For Every Muscle Group:

Sergio’s training was the antithesis of Mike Mentzer’s Heavy-Duty training. As mentioned previously, Sergio never counted sets. He did the number of sets that he felt worked the muscle the way he wanted. On average it was 24 to 30 sets per muscle group, with maybe a few less sets when working biceps and triceps.

11) Train With Moderate to Moderately Heavy Weights But Don’t Get Fixated on How Much Weight You Use:

Some exercises Sergio used some pretty heavy weights, such as squatting 550 pounds for four reps, doing lat pull downs to-the-front with 300 pounds for 10 reps, and Smith machine seated behind-the-neck presses with over 300 pounds for 20 reps. But on some exercises he used what were probably moderate weights for him, or even fairly light weights, so he used a combination of heavy and light training, some sets for 10 to 15 reps, and others for 20 to 50 reps. He used weights sometimes that were 60 per cent to 75 per cent of max weight. 

12) Breakup Workouts Up:

Train a Muscle for a While, Then Stop and Train Another Muscle Group For a While, Then Go Back and Do More Sets For the First Muscle Trained. You are probably confused by this technique Sergio did. To make it clearer, Sergio might train pecs and lats with supersets or combinations for an hour, then he might train deltoids for 20 minutes to half an hour, and then he would go back and do more sets for his chest, and if he felt he needed it, and his lats too. I’d never seen or heard of a champion bodybuilder who trained this way, but it that’s what Sergio did.

13) Train Fairly Fast:

Sergio trained with Ron Hagen and as soon as Ron did a set Sergio would do his. He rested only as long as it took for Ron to do his set and to change the weight on the bar because Sergio liked to keep a steady pace to his workouts. Between sets Sergio would sing softly to himself, or wander around the gym and encourage members at his gym as they did their sets. “Come on, John, two more reps,” or “Good set, Bill, way to go,” “Good set, Joan,” and so on. It didn’t matter if the gym members had one-tenth the development of himself, Sergio sincerely seemed interested in their progress. Most pro bodybuilders are barely aware of the other bodybuilders training around them.

14) Train Some Muscle Groups On Consecutive Days:

Sergio would train the same muscle group on consecutive days and even sometimes three days in a row. Chest and deltoids got worked three days in a row, but with different exercises. This is not as strange as it sounds. Albert Beckles said his thighs greatly improved when he trained them six days a week. Frank Zane would sometimes train back or thighs on four consecutive days if he felt they were not as muscular as he wanted them to be before contests. Don Ross, 1977 WBBG Pro Mr. America champion, and one of the most knowledgeable experts in bodybuilding, encouraged MuscleMag readers when I was editor to train each muscle group on two consecutive days, which he called “Double Blasting.” Ross said he made great gains in size and muscularity training a muscle two days in a row.

15) Never Drink Water During a Workout:

I noticed that Sergio never drank water during his two hour workouts. He drank hot coffee from a thermos. Sergio said drinking water cooled him down too much, so that was reserved for the end of the workout. When I asked him why he drank hot coffee, he replied, “Because it makes me sweat and the caffeine gives me energy.” Makes sense, doesn’t it. In this regard Sergio was decades ahead of his time.

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