Serge Nubret's Training Methods

[massnup]

Paul Dillet trained like this.

Do you really think Ronnie trained the way you see on the "lightweight baby" videos?

The difference between Nubret and Ronnie relies more on HGH and insulin than anything related to training.

How do you think Ronnie really trained?

 

[st114]

How do you think Ronnie really trained?

I know some guys who trained in metroflex when Ronnie was competing, and he always trained how he did in the videos. Heavy for high reps. Now, he wasn't maxing out on squats and deads every training session, that was for the videos. But he wasn't pumping the muscle Dillet style either

 

[marshallmadman]

I agree with you on ego. Confidence is important. I train H.S. football players, so confidence and ego are something I work toward developing within them.

I also agree with going after a particular training style without giving up on it too soon. I find that people are "instant gratification" when it comes to muscular development. Some of this has been brought on by the promise of the latest greatest supplement/workout strategy/steroid stack...whatever. You have to keep hammering at the basic premise of bodybuilding. If you want to powerlift, do that. Bodybuilding is about pumping the muscles full of blood, not lifting the heaviest weight possible.

The thing about Ronnie is that most of the time, he was lifting heavy weight for a lot of reps. In his videos, he does a heavy squat and deadlift for doubles, but other than that, the reps are high. Leg extensions were always 30 reps...done with the whole stack plus a 45 pound plate for the heaviest one.

Crazy because a lot of those guys would tell you the opposite.

Even Ronnie said he trained the same way for 25 years which is basically high volume with more rest.

Serge never trained any other way and scoffed at "changing things up". He recommended it for beginners and told one guy who asked about other programs to quit doubting himself. He advocated more ego.

There was no "build strength and then use that strength to squeeze your fibers harder". Nope, just high volume.

There was no, "you need to squat to build your arms" bs. He would tell you to train your arms more.

 

[nothuman]

LOL'd at natural

 

[brutus69]

how about this. does anyone know from experience that if you train high volume/light weights for years, when you stop you will shrink up more, and faster, than someone who's built actual muscle tissue through years of heavy weight/low volume?
I see some ex-bodybuilders out there who don't even look like they ever lifted a weight, then I've seen powerlifters who quit and are still relatively big.
unless it's wherever yr genetic setpoint was......

 

[zachbean79]

I have alot of Zanes books.

I wouldn't say he and Nubret trained alike at all. When Zane was at his best(77-82) He used a basic puch/pull/legs split. Each workout started with a power movement which he would pyramid up in weight over 6-9 sets or so while increasing the weight each set. He mentioned in his training journal that it was because of his focus on these heavy compound lifts that he was at his biggest those years. He was deadlifting over 5 hundred pounds at one point. benching about 300 and squating high 300's.

Then he would do 1-2 more movement for each bodypart for about 3 sets pyramiding up in weight and usually staying in the 8-10 rep range.

If anything, I would say Zane trained more like Arnold than Nubret. Zane just didn't bulk and eat alot.

Zane also trained according to the season

winter = low frequncy, volume but emphasis on heavy and work on weak points
Spring = transitioning into growth phase, increase in volume and frequncy
Summer = high volume/frequncy getting into peak shape
Fall = continuing to train all out for compitition

 

[zachbean79]

how about this. does anyone know from experience that if you train high volume/light weights for years, when you stop you will shrink up more, and faster, than someone who's built actual muscle tissue through years of heavy weight/low volume?
I see some ex-bodybuilders out there who don't even look like they ever lifted a weight, then I've seen powerlifters who quit and are still relatively big.
unless it's wherever yr genetic setpoint was......

Good question. But I dont have any examples off the top of my head.

Vince Gironda didn't always train with sarcoplamic(is that the right way to say that?) muscle growth in mind. He had workout that where down in the 3-4 rep range with longer rest between sets.......however there were still alot of sets and rest between sets was still less than most use.

However, Vince did call the 8x8 workout "the honest workout" because of the degree of growth a person would get from using that system. It was not recomended for beginners and vince still emphesized the importance of trying to progress in weight with this system.

I think Nubret is the only one I am Aware(I know other have more knowledge of prior bodybuilders than I do) that trained exclusively with relatively light weight for high volume low rest. He also looked better at 70 imo, than yates looks in his forties/50's. But we don't know all the other variables involved(drugs and diet). We do know that yates probably can't train very well due to injuries while Nubret was able to continue training right up near death.

The OP did say something interesting that reminded me of what Vander V used to say. Vander believed his training directly correlated with how his physique looked(Vander had imo the best physiqu this board has seen).....He trained similar to Nubret but with less frequency. He said he never made good gains off of heavy HIT style workouts and he believed if he trained that way he would become big and blocky and lose the classic/symmetrical look he had.

I say if you loike training like NUBRET than do it. It may not be the best but there are certaily pros to it.......like longevity and hopefully less injury

 

[ALLEX]

Guys who were already big when started juicing don't shrink much. Those who grew on drugs since the beginning will shrink a lot.

 

[zachbean79]

Guys who were already big when started juicing don't shrink much. Those who grew on drugs since the beginning will shrink a lot.

That right there makes alot of sense to me. But in either case wouldn't both just return to whatever their pre-determined natural limit was?

Hopefully that question made sense

 

[Beaver]

Serge Nubret

I just want to let you guys no that Serge Nubret was not at all natural, when he was living in CA. Trust me on this, he took a lot of stuff !. He may be natural at this time because of his age.

 

[superset]

very interesting post bro. thanks for putting this up.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jm425]

Serge was my all time favorite bodybuilder. I watched him guest pose in the early 90's. He was a very nice man and had what I consider to be perfect symmetry.....a true work of art.

I hate to ruin your fantasy about being natural. My boy was friends with his girlfriend, a flight attendant back in the day, who used to bring him parabolan from France and everything else they all used in the 70's, but who gives a shit really. There is nothing wrong with using anabolics. It's all about building the perfect body and he trained like an animal. He told me he did 1,000 full sit ups every morning which took him 45 minutes non-stop and he did it for 40 years at the time that I met him.

Exactly. Serge had good genetics but to claim he still had 20 inch arms naturally is nonsense. His workout philosophies were definitely not mainstream during his time, but he knew what worked for him.

 

[tr]

Great physique, great routine...For me personally I like to use heavier weights and go to failure here and there so this is too high volume. When I am on decent cycle and try to grow I use Arnold mass program, always works great for me, I can grow very fast and stay the same or even lose body fat with this:

Mon- Day 1. Chest and Back
Chest
Bench Press
Incline Press
Pullovers
Back
Chin-ups
Bent-Over Rows
Deadlifts
Abdominals
Crunches 5 set, 25 reps.

Tue- Day 2. Shoulders and Arms
Shoulders
Barbell Clean and Press
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Heavy Upright Rows
Push Press
Upper Arms - Biceps and Triceps
Standing Barbell Curls
Seated Dumbbell Curls
Close-Grip Press
Standing Triceps Extensions with Barbell
Forearms
Wrist curls
Reverse Wrist Curls
Abs
Reverse Crunch

Wed- Day 3. Legs and Lower Back
Legs
Squats
Lunges
Leg Curls
Calves
Standing Calve Raises
Lower Back
Straight Leg Dead-Lift
Good Mornings
Abs
Crunches

Thurs, Fri, Sat - reapeat
Sun - off

I think most guys are undertraining and not allowing themselves to grow faster. Art Atwood RIP once told - if he would be trained body part once a week he would have given up working out a long time ago due to slow progress...

 

[anab0lic]

While its true Nubret was on anabolics (thought this was common knowledge) there is some pics of him he posted in a thread on a forum he shared a lot of his nutrition and training methods on and his before steroids pic he was in better shape than many guys who juice like crazy...he had insane genetics for sure.

 

[anab0lic]

Great physique, great routine...For me personally I like to use heavier weights and go to failure here and there so this is too high volume. When I am on decent cycle and try to grow I use Arnold mass program, always works great for me, I can grow very fast and stay the same or even lose body fat with this:



I think most guys are undertraining and not allowing themselves to grow faster. Art Atwood RIP once told - if he would be trained body part once a week he would have given up working out a long time ago due to slow progress...

depends a lot on your intensity tbh, Yates was only hitting a bodypart around once a week and look what happened to him.

 

[petersouth]

Serge actually posted pictures showing how he looked before touching AAS and he looked good enough to win any state show in the USA. Genetics are always the most implant factor.

I like his style of training. I respond so much better to very high volume, although I rest longer than he did. I like to train for 2 1/2 to 3 hours with weights followed by a half hour or more of cardio. My whore body feels full for days after that. I get around 50 total sets in on upperbody days. I train my entire upperbody 3x/wk and legs twice, depending on recovery.

Thanks, that's what I was getting at.

 

[petersouth]

I know some guys who trained in metroflex when Ronnie was competing, and he always trained how he did in the videos. Heavy for high reps. Now, he wasn't maxing out on squats and deads every training session, that was for the videos. But he wasn't pumping the muscle Dillet style either

I think Ronnie was resting longer between sets than Nubret.

When you think about it "heavy for high reps" you can't really do that.

It just look heavy because he's that strong and he's resting more.

Cut his rest down to 15-30 sec and he will lift lighter.

 

[petersouth]

That right there makes alot of sense to me. But in either case wouldn't both just return to whatever their pre-determined natural limit was?

Hopefully that question made sense

See that's the problem, look at Larry Scott's arms years later.

But everyone else just "shrinks back" to their natural limit.

hmmmm

Are we saying Serge was on steroids at 50, 60...70?

When did he stop?

I think we all know he was out by at least 50s, still looked amazing.

 

[zachbean79]

See that's the problem, look at Larry Scott's arms years later.

But everyone else just "shrinks back" to their natural limit.

hmmmm

Are we saying Serge was on steroids at 50, 60...70?

When did he stop?

I think we all know he was out by at least 50s, still looked amazing.

I don't know at what age serge stopped using steroids(if he ever stopped). In pumping iron they say he was 41 years old. I don't know if he went on to compete for a long time after that or not. But obviously he continued to train right up until passed away(or pretty close to that time).

So the question is whether serge maintained all that muscle post steroids just by continuing with his training and diet methods or he was still using into his old age. I guess we can never know for sure.

 

[Bronstonian]

Serge advocated competitors coming completely off steroids at least 4 months every year.

He was fat for his standards when he was training at 65-70, even though he was still lean and looked amazing compared to most lifters, so odds are if he was still using it was minimal compared to his past, especially because he wasn't competing anymore.