Greg Kovacs Training

[Equalizer]

I was flipping through an old Flex magazine from the late 90's and came across an article on Greg Kovacs. Greg, to my knowledge, was the biggest pro bodybuilder to ever step on stage. I had forgotten that he was also a low volume trainer using 6-8 sets for each bodypart. This is the training routine listed in the article:

Sunday: Quads/Calves:

Leg Extensions- 2 sets 6-8

HEAVY DAY:
Smith Machine Squats- 2 sets 6-8
Hack Squats- 2 sets 6-8

LIGHT DAY:
Leg Presses- 2 sets 12-15
Hack Squats- 2 sets 12-15

Donkey Calf Raises- 2 sets 6-8
Seated Calf Raises- 2 sets 6-8
Standing Calf Raises- 2 sets 6-8

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: Shoulders/Triceps:

Military Presses- 2 sets 6-8
Dumbbell Laterals 2 sets 6-8
Cable Laterals- 2 sets 6-8
Shrugs- 2 sets 12-15

Close Grip Bench- 2 sets 10
Skull Crushers- 2 sets 6-8
Pushdowns- 2 sets 6-8

Wednesday: Back/Hamstrings/Calves:

Machine Pullovers- 2 sets 6-8
Close Grip Pulldowns- 2 sets 6-8
Barbell Rows- 2 sets 6-8
Dumbbell Rows- 2 sets 6-8
Stiff-Legged Deads- 2 sets 6-8
Lying Leg Curls- 2 sets 6-8

Thursday: OFF

Friday: Chest/Biceps:

Barbell Incline Press- 2 sets 6-8
Barbell Bench Press- 2 sets 6-8
Dumbbell Flys- 2 sets 6-8
Cable Crossovers- 2 sets 6-8

One Arm Preacher Curls- 2 sets 6-8
Barbell Curls- 2 sets 6-8
Alt. Dumbbell Curls- 2 sets 6-8


Pretty close to Yates' routine as far as exercise selection.

 

[kscowboy]

I remember Greg very well. He was definitely a huge man.

 

[kscowboy]

Also put him on the list of pro's from the 90's that died of heart failure. 44 yrs old.:banghead:

 

[LW123]

Yeah, but how much is a bodyduilder's workout program that's printed in a bodybuilding magazine is believable? But then again what is printed in any bodybuilding magazine pertaining to any bodybuilder's workout, diet, et cetera is believable--especially Flex and Muscle & Fitness. It's all about generating interests to sell magazines!

 

[PitbullTank]

smith machine squats? ewwww... :star-:ars ...

 

[TrinityD]

This musclemag routine is b/s because I can assure you this guy didn't just use 6-8 reps exclusively.

It may be pretty accurate, but honestly we can't say for sure.

I believe the routine works, because I train very similar ( very low volume, even less volume than him) and it definetly works.

However, most people would be better of training muscle groups 1.5-2x a week rather than 1x. Keep in mind, the guy was already very capped out and using IMMENSE amounts of PED's.

All the principles are very good though. I really like the way this workout is -- if the rep ranges were changed and frequency was increased it would be quite nice. I personally use even less exercises and less volume ,but his is a 1x/week routine, so it makes sense to compensate with less volume to increase the frequency.

Looks nice

PS: Smith machine squats > Freeweight anyday for quad growth
Hacks are still king for me IMO hehe

 

[PitbullTank]

PS: Smith machine squats > Freeweight anyday for quad growth

LOL ....complete bullshit

 

[TrinityD]

hehehe

you mad?

 

[PitbullTank]

hehehe

you mad?

no, just surprised that a semi knowledgeable guy would make such a post... do u have pics on here?

 

[flexdurden]

hehehe

you mad?

no, just surprised that a semi knowledgeable guy would make such a post... do u have pics on here?

Trinity said "quad growth" and although we don't have a test subject that did muscle biopsies to show growth, it may be true... There is more overall leg muscle activation with BB squats, but with smith squats you can adjust your foot placement to place greater stress just on the quads.

 

[TrinityD]

bro, you realize there are tons and tons of top notch pros, including people on olympia stage that dumped barbell squats because it sucked for their quad growth right?

is dorian yates retarded too?

i'm not saying i'm special because i'm really not, but i coach several bodybuilders and they now have procards...none of them use barbell squat. in fact, dropping barbell squats is usually one of the very first things I do for people unless they're mechnically built for it(and that's not very common nowadays)

squats blew up my hamstrings and gave me piss poor quads. are you telling me I'm wrong and I'm imagining it? is phil heath also wrong that he primarily uses legpress and hacksquats for quads? i guess mr.olympia isn't knowledgeable?

come on man

 

[PitbullTank]

bro, you realize there are tons and tons of top notch pros, including people on olympia stage that dumped barbell squats because it sucked for their quad growth right?

is dorian yates retarded too?

i'm not saying i'm special because i'm really not, but i coach several bodybuilders and they now have procards...none of them use barbell squat. in fact, dropping barbell squats is usually one of the very first things I do for people unless they're mechnically built for it(and that's not very common nowadays)

squats blew up my hamstrings and gave me piss poor quads. are you telling me I'm wrong and I'm imagining it? is phil heath also wrong that he primarily uses legpress and hacksquats for quads? i guess mr.olympia isn't knowledgeable?

come on man

find me some vids of any guy u mentioned that uses- smith machine squats... i wasn't talking hack/leg press....as i believe in those, they take the low back out and allow, like mental said, different foot positions... Ive seen literally ONE big guy in my whole life use smith machine squats, and u know what happen, he blew out both his pattelas at the same time... i just don't believe in smith machine squat at all and I've never seen any of my fav pros use it as a bread n butter quad developer.... yet I've seen hundredssss of peeps w huge quads that squat barbell.... again, not talking press or hack or even v squat... just saying #s and statistics in general for the avg person...

if 100k dollars was on the line and you had to build your clients legs 2" the fastest, and the only choice u had was smith or free bar squat, u are telling me you would put him on the smith????

 

[Jeremy24]

find me some vids of any guy u mentioned that uses- smith machine squats... i wasn't talking hack/leg press....as i believe in those, they take the low back out and allow, like mental said, different foot positions... Ive seen literally ONE big guy in my whole life use smith machine squats, and u know what happen, he blew out both his pattelas at the same time... i just don't believe in smith machine squat at all and I've never seen any of my fav pros use it as a bread n butter quad developer.... yet I've seen hundredssss of peeps w huge quads that squat barbell.... again, not talking press or hack or even v squat... just saying #s and statistics in general for the avg person...



if 100k dollars was on the line and you had to build your clients legs 2" the fastest, and the only choice u had was smith or free bar squat, u are telling me you would put him on the smith????

Cutler switched to them exclusively bc he said he could get a constant tension on the quads


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PitbullTank]

i just watched vid of him and lee priest doing them.... i guess i was a little hard to trinity on the reply, as some top guys do use them i see now actually searching for them...

but wondering- Jay switched to them, ok, but when? was it when his quads were already pro size?


i mean, this vid is from last year-

[ame="http://youtu.be/N5wTt6Y1ZtM"]http://youtu.be/N5wTt6Y1ZtM[/ame]

 

[kscowboy]

i just watched vid of him and lee priest doing them.... i guess i was a little hard to trinity on the reply, as some top guys do use them i see now actually searching for them...

but wondering- Jay switched to them, ok, but when? was it when his quads were already pro size?


i mean, this vid is from last year-

http://youtu.be/N5wTt6Y1ZtM

Yeah one thing we need to also keep in mind is the body's ability to channel muscle memory. Jay, Ronnie, Dorian, etc…. were all pounding heavy weight from early on. After they have been in the game for 10-20 years, then yeah i can see them switching because their bodies have enormous muscle memory but that was built from years of slag iron.

 

[TrinityD]

hey bro, i wasn't actually really arguing for smith squats, i was kind of talking about the whole trio in general(hack squat/leg press/smith squat).

i think all 3 are superior for most people, but actually... I 100% agree with you: I hate smith squats. I don't touch them at all, and it doesn't feel right. i was simply stating that many people do use them because they technically are much more effective at hitting quads for most people(not all)

i believe hacks/leg press are the best. most pros i know and people i coach use these 2 movements for quads versus squat.

my quad routine doesnt have any smith squats. leg press hurts my knees too. i only do hack squats personally.

problem is everybody's mechanics different. most people look at me and scratch their head because hack squat+lunges dont hurt my knees, but leg press does and bb squat does lol.

you and i actually agree on everything lol(with the exception of smith vs freeweight squat ....but i never tell people to smith squat anyways)

 

[PitbullTank]

its a good debate broth, no ill feelings lol.....

just some other key things about free bar squatting that isn't just quad activation-

Coordination
Balance
mental toughness, either stand up or get buried.... on smith, u know u can just flick wrist and rack... when ur halfway up the free bar squat there is no give up and quit bc "i don't know if i can get this up"... i think this will increase ones mental toughness and intensity over time as well... for most guys that need to lift PROGRESSIVELY heavier and more reps, this is a huge factor... when guys like Cutler and Priest who are much older and already developed, trying breaking their PRs of when they get older every time just isn't going to happen, so they need to find alternative ways to eek out those last details etc...

 

[TrinityD]

yeah bro, i know
but honestly , although it's definitely nothing impressive compared to a lot of people on this board(i mean shoot...even some of my friends squatted 700+), i worked up to a 460 squat within about 3 years. i feel like if i was a physique guy at the time, i would have wasted all that time with the exception of maybe the first year because it helped develop my CNS. i could have gotten much much much better results doing hack squats

i mean, when exactly would i have finally started getting better quads?! when my squat becomes 600 ?!? even though 460 is nothing compared to others, its kind of ridiculous that at the time i had quads worse than some asian guys that could barely do 275 for reps. im very good irl friends with an asian guy with great looking quads(he's natural). squats are his #1 exercise for building quads, hands down. when he squats, everything goes to the quads and it burns bad. you can see the results because his quads look really good. same thing happened with me and BB bench. 315 for reps, and had a bird chest. switched to incline db bench and boom tons of growth.

a lot of people get caught in the whole "be tough,sthu and squat,get big squat numbers" mentality and it really decreases their ability to develop giant quadriceps.

a good happy medium IMO would be to just do both if you find it's that important to you...

ex:
1-2 sets bb squat
1-2 sets hacks or lpress
1-2 sets lext or lunges

 

[Uncle Z Rep]

Only they truly know what routine they as actually do.

 

[richiec]

JM uses Smith Squats, but also utilizes Barbell Squats.
I think both can be used effectively.
The guys who "switched", when and why did they switch? Did they do it to gain their size, or did they already have the size and were using smiths now?
These are all things to account for. I mean, we see videos of guys using "light" weights and think, "how the hell did they get that big on light weights", could be similar here, just throwing it out there