MAX CITRIN, BS, CSCS*D, NSCA-CPT*D1) Regular Workout schedule:

DIGGING UP THE SECRETS OF BODYBUILDING’S FATHERS: THE ULTIMATE PROGRAM TO BE LEAN, CUT, PERFECTLY PROPORTIONED AND SYMMETRICAL.

THE PROGRAM I USED TO WIN THE MR. GAINESVILLE 2006:

This is the program I crafted for myself based on Arnold’s Old school routines in which he worked every bodypart three times, that’s right, three times per week. It may not be in vogue right now, and it may be difficult or near impossible to fit around your other commitments…believe me, I know from experience. I tried to do this while going to medical school and it didn’t work out. This is one instance where you can actually say “I don’t have time” and I won’t blame you.  “I don’t have time” is usually just another way of saying you don’t feel like making time, and you would rather remain status quo than put in the extra effort to improve yourself and reap the attendant rewards.

Whenever you say, “I don’t have time” ask yourself “Am I just being a Poon.” I will write a whole article on pinpointing excuses some other time. For now, lets focus. TRAINING STRATEGY: This program, is designed to give every muscle the stimulation it needs to be constantly growing, even on a low-calorie diet. Because when you are working out this much, you constantly partition nutrients to the muscles to recuperate. The more neural stimulation the muscle gets the more nutrients are partitioned there. And the more blood flow the muscle receives, the more nutrients arrive there. If you are a natural competitor, this is the only edge you can get. It is better than more sleep, it is better than more supplements. The only catch is you have to commit time. It is the only way to build mass while dieting. Nowadays, everyone talks about overtraining, and making sure you eat enough to gain mass.

But what about when you are dieting? How do you maintain or even gain mass when dieting, especially if you’re natural? Its not impossible, despite what you hear around the gym, and from the “experts.” I know because I’ve done it. Don’t you ever notice how some of the most symmetrical professionals to ever grace the bodybuilding stage were not concerned with today’s buzz-word. Overtraining. Shawn Ray called it a myth, and we know Arnold worked at super high volumes. Why did they train at such high volumes, and how could you do the same? Have you ever noticed that Shawn Ray had perfect proportions in every pose, even the most muscular, where smaller guys are supposed to flounder. He was great in every shot. Front Double was ridiculous. The vacuum and the V-taper were insane. The Back-double was insane his back actually looked thicker than the huge guys because he was hard and his proportions were correct. The proportions were correct down to every small muscle in his back.

Where smaller guys were lacking, he was great. Think Most Muscular. His hands on hips pose was awesome. One hand on hips was also, even his crab pose, where smaller guys get swallowed up looked fantastic. When he hit a most muscular it looked perfect, not small. That’s because every muscle was full from all angles and each muscle matched the others. You don’t have to be the biggest on stage to be the best. Although Shawn never won an Olympia because of his size, he was hardly small, at 5’7”, 210-220. Most guys would actually prefer that to looking like a bloated 280 pound mastodon. Not to mention, Shawn will probably have a longer lifespan, and he did come in second at the Olympia, and 12 times placed in the top five over guys who regularly outweighed him by 30,40,50 pounds.

Summary statement: Symmetry and proportion are best achieved by the man who thinks that overtraining is a myth. Arnold was the best because he attacked his weakpoints with determination, imagination, and enthusiasm. He was famous for his high volume style of training. He would say “attack every muscle from every angle.” He viewed the body as not just some lumps on some bones, but a living, breathing work of art. To sculpt the statue to perfection you must work every angle. This ends up taking more time, but does not necessarily lead to overtraining. His calves where something that he worked 4-6 days per week for 45 minutes for 3 years. That’s basically an extra hour of training per day on top of his regular workouts. This is something that truly made him the best. It set the frame for him to display his peaked biceps, magnificent ribcage, and otherworldly deep and full chest, that was additionally so broad that it practically touched his biceps when standing relaxed and made him look a very imposing countenance. Imagine how his side chest shot would have looked without calves. Or imagine a front-double biceps without the lower-leg sweep. Without the calves and the legs, no Olympia.

The problem with most guys physiques is more easily corrected by putting a little more time into weak points than to simply adding size for the sake of size. You may think it matters that you are now 190 instead of 180, but you still look a lot smaller than big guys. What you can have over a lot of big guys is symmetry and proportion. Lets face it. For most people, trying to compete with Markus Ruhl is going to get you nowhere. Both these men have been called the most symmetrical of all time. They got that way because they thought overtraining is a myth. Shawn Ray used to do 2 and 4 hours of cardio per day, while on a low carb diet. During that time, what do you think was happening? Do you think he was improving the circulation to his muscles, funneling nutrients to them and speeding his recuperation? Of course he was. Recuperation comes from places other than the bottle.  But most people just don’t have the work ethic, discipline or patience for it…the vision or the determination. It takes time to build up one’s work capacity. It takes patience, and discipline. It takes determination and vision when you feel you are worked to the bone but know that if you keep on plugging and don’t back off, the work that seems impossible for you now will soon be your new baseline, and to trust that you are on the right track, over the feeling of pain and difficulty. Now they use science to justify American Laziness.

Ray used to pose the rhetorical question, “if overtraining is so scientific and so factual, then explain how professional athletes work out 8 hours per day? Are bodybuilders not professional athletes?”  His point was that, like other pro athletes bodybuilders can adapt their bodies to higher workloads. Like tennis players who wake up in the morning and practice some serves, continue on till lunch by practicing other shots and some windsprints, then come back after lunch for to do their strength training and agility drills and practice some match-style play. Like tennis players bodybuilders have many aspects of their game. They need to work on the density with heavy weights, the definition with lighter weights, the V-taper of the back with wide-grip pullups, and the depth of the chest with pullovers. There are many aspects to the game. They can be addressed in a professional manner.

Some work is more intense, some is less intense. The more time spent doing intense work, the more time must be spent doing light work to recuperate, until the point that the body can handle intense work all the time. Sure you can get big and muscular by working out a muscle and then giving your body a week to recuperate. But will you ever perfect that muscle? Will never feel what it feels like to be able to work out for two hours at full-intensity at 5am and then work out for another 3 at full-intensity later in the day, holding nothing back on any of your sets? Talk about feeling alive. You may get bigger, but you are not going to get perfect proportion and definition without putting the time in. You may get bigger, but you’re not gonna be Branch Warren anyway, so what does it matter if you are 10 pounds bigger when you look basically the same to everyone. You want to look better, not just bigger. Better only comes from adding quality size, shape and proportion.

DISCLAIMER**Keep in mind that I built up to this workload over time with diligence and persistence by slowly raising my general physical preparedness and work capacity. It would not be advisable to jump into this program without a couple months of progressive work. I give some tips on how to approach building your work capacity to the point that you can handle this level of volume with full-intensity during all sets. But, I would urge anyone who is seriously thinking of trying this program to contact me so I can guide you to where you can reach this workload safely.

TRAINING TACTICS:**I do a double split: Mornings and Evenings, Working Each Bodypart 3 times per week.M/W/F: Morning: Chest, BackM/W/F Evening: Legs, Back, CalvesT/TR/SAT: Morning: Shoulders, PullupsT/TR/SAT Evening: Arms, Calves **20 minutes warm-up on bike before every workout. **Calves 4-6x/wk: 12-20sets @ 10-20 reps: **Cleans 2-5x/wk: 2-5 sets of 10 @135-165.**My baseline is to do for each 3 exercises/per bodypart/per workout, AND 4 sets of 8-15reps per exercise. I use that as my baseline and work from there. I stick to that pretty strickly for arms, and for shoulders. I stay somewhat close to that for chest and back. I use higher reps right now for legs to make sure I warm my knees up very well.**I need to put up some heavier weight for chest and legs. I need to do some high rep leg workouts. I want some leg workouts that make me puke.

MWF Morning: Chest and Back1. Flat Bench Press: 8 of 3reps @ 155-185/ 2 heavier sets up to 285x1 **Getting closer to the contest I supersetted Flat bench with Flat Dbell presses with 40pnds for 10-15reps. Superset2a) Incline Bench Press: 5 sets of 20/15/8/8/4 2b) Behind Neck Pullups: 5 sets of 15/10/5/5/10 SuperSet3a) Incline Dbell Flye: 4 sets of 20/10/10/83b)1-arm Rows: 4 sets of 20/10/10/8 4. Dips: Bodyweight: 4 sets of 105. Shrug Machine: 4 sets of 30/20/20/20 *I typically practice posing in between sets of shrugs ***In the off-season I plan the following changes: 1. Add Pullovers, 2. Add Cable Crossovers 2. Increase my Bench press and Incline Press by focusing on going heavier 4. chest 2x/week. MWF Evening: Legs and Back1. Walking Lunges: 4 sets of 60/60/60/60 reps Supersetted with Bodyweight squatsx202. Hack Squat: 3 sets of 30 @ no weight (10/10/10 at each foot position)                        3 sets of 30 @ 25’s1 set of 24 @ 45’s                        1 set of 20 @ 45+35’s*I warmup with three sets of 30 then I go by feel, I may workup to higher weight most days and superset them with leg extension. I really try to focus on contracting all the way up and down and focusing on my sweep more than the weight.  3. Leg Extension: 4 sets of 15-20 *Last two sets supersetted with hacksquats Superset4a) Squats: 4 sets of 10 @ 45’s4b) Leg Extensions: 4 sets of 10-15 5. Seated Leg Curls: 6 sets of 30/25/20/25/10/106. Lying Leg Curls: 4 sets of 10-15 (light weight, focusing on the contraction) *As I write this I see the mistake I have made by including hamstrings late in the workout. I did this because my #1 priority while recovering from my hamstring tendonitis was that they were warm before I worked them. Now that tendonitis has abated, I need to add intensity to them. Meal Replacement Shake: 400 Calories, 40 grams Protein 7. Calves:Standing Calf Raises: 4 sets of 25/20/15/15Seated Calf Raises: 4 sets of 15 -20      supersetted with Reverse Calf raises.Donkey Calf Raises: 6 sets of 15/15//15/12/8/8 *I often do some work for my upper back thickness after working legs. Often I do some moderate bench work in between sets, using dbells or straightbar.I do this for two reasons. Firstly, I needed to do some extra work for my upper back thickness. Secondly, the leg workout itself is long (2 hours or more) so it catabolizes upper body mass, just like long cardio. The goal is to stimulate the upper back and chest, enough to counteract this. Stimulating the muscles promotes nutrient partitioning to those areas following the workout, so that I do not start a day behind at the next chest workout. I only recommend this for those who are in extreme condition. It worked well but is not necessary. 8: T-Bar Rows: 4 x10 (heavy)     *Sometimes SUPERSET widegrip bench to the neck9: Bent-over Rows overhand: 4 sets of 10         *Sometimes SUPERSET closegrip to neck10: Bent-over Rows underhand grip 4 of 10 @22511.*Sometimes I do a burnout with overhand for 6 then underhand for 6 @225 ***Leading up to the contest in the last four weeks I did fewer of these extra back exercises because I did not have the energy. But in the couple months before that I added this upper back work and saw results fast. T/TR/SAT Morning: Shoulders and Pullups1) Standing presses: 4 sets of 10          *Supersetted with Close-grip pullups 2) Quadset2a) Clean and press in 1 movement: 4 sets of 12/10/7/72b) Side Lateral Raise: 4 sets of 10/10/10/102c) Rear Delt Raise: 4 sets of 30/30/20/402d) Behind the Neck Pullups: 4 sets of 10 3) Quadset: 3a) Front Raise: 4 sets of 20/10/10/103b) Arnold Press: 4 sets of 10/8/8/6 *Final two sets are superslow dropsets.3c) Front Raise: 4 sets of 15/10/10/103d) Static Arm Raise: 4 sets of 30-60seconds *I did calf raises while holding my arms out to get in some extra work for the calves.*I burn out the Arnold presses with superslow shoulder presses in the last two sets. Dropsets. 4) Shrugs – same as MWF with little variations in direction (backwards vs.. Forwards) and intensity (weight).  ***I plan to make the following changes in the off-season: 1) Increase weight, decrease supersets. 2) Behind the neck presses switched for clean and press in one mvmnt. 3) Some other superset for front Delts. T/TR/SAT Evening – Arms and Calves*Warmup for Calves: Prevents tendonitis from calfwork.1) Hacksquats: Unweighted 2-3setsx30reps2) Lunges: 1 set of 60 @ 1/2 regular work-weight3) Leg Extensions: 3 sets of 15-204) Lying Hamstrings: 5 sets of 15/15/15/12/15/155) CALVES:Standing Calf Raises: 4 sets of 25/20/15/15Seated Calf Raises: 4 sets of 15 -20      supersetted with Reverse Calf raises.Donkey Calf Raises: 6 sets of 15/15//15/12/8/8 UPPER ARMS:  1) Triset 1a) Barbell Curl: 4 sets of 20/10/10/81b) Cable Tricep Rope pulldown: 4sets of 20/15/15/121c) Cable Tricep bar pushdown: 4sets of 20/15/15/12*I like to do a triset to make sure my elbow is warmed up before moving to barbell tricep extensions. This keeps my elbow healthy and uninjured. 2) Superset2a) Seated incline Curls: 4 sets of 12/8/8/82b) Lying Barbell Extension: 4 sets of 12/8/8/8 3) Superset:3a) Incline Preacher Curls: 4 sets of 7/6/5/63b) 1 arm overhead extensions: 4 sets of 20/15/15/15 @35pnds*Very little rest in between sets. Forearms:1) Superset: Seated Forearm Dbell Curl: 4 sets of 30/15/15/15Seated Forearm Reverse Dbell Curl: 4 sets of 20/15/15/15 2) Superset: Forearm Hanging Dbell Curl: 4 sets of 30/20/20/20Forearm Hanging Reverse Dbell Curl: 4 sets of 20/10/10/10

 Pre-contest routine…Very similar to regular workout schedule, I add more sets (4-6 instead of 3-4), take less rest, and superset more, and I run more regularly. While preparing for a contest I run 3-4x/wk. In normal training I run 1-3 times per week for 3-5 miles for cross training, active-recovery and to clear my mind.

I also add in posing pre-contest. I had some difficulty deciding when I should use posing as my conditioning instead of doing extra cardio. I don’t really think I needed much extra cardio because my general conditioning is good, and I can burn so many calories anyway with my workouts. Posing would be more specific conditioning. Also, there are only so many hours in the day.

  2) Typical Diet: **Bascially try to eat every 2-3 hours and have some protein in every meal. My flaw is not eating enough in the middle of the day because I’m not hungry and because I do not want to upset my stomach before doing legs later in the day. Since the contest I have not been keeping with my normal diet but that will change. 5am: ¾ Chicken leg7:30am Post Workout Shake: 40 grams protein 10oz of water8:30am Post-Workout Meal: Oatmeal: 150-250cals, 1 piece Wheat Bread, 6 egg whites, 1 yolk, 10oz water11am: ¼ Chicken Leg, a 5 broccoli heads and 5 carrots with a teaspoon of ranch sauce12:30 Lunch: 1 can tunafish with 2 pieces Wheat Bread and vegetables as above.2:30pm: I may have a shake during a my workout or eat some chicken when I get home6:30pm: Post-workout Shake: 40grams Protein7:30pm: 1 chicken leg, Lipton’s noodles plus a can of tuna fish9:30pm: 6 egg whites, 1 yolk and a piece of bread *Note, I do not know exactly how much water I drink; probably a gallon. I’m pretty good about this, although I sometimes don’t drink much in the morning during or between classes. **I usually eat brown rice instead of wheat bread. But I got tired of brown rice recently.**I often do not eat much in the middle of the day, sometimes going 5-6 hours without too much. I need to change that.***I don’t use many condiments. Just Spaghetti sauce or whatever sauce is on Lipton’s noodles.  ***That is an estimate. I have not been following it for the past three weeks after the show. But generally I am pretty good about it. I ate like this for months leading up to the show. I like to keep things simple. People worry about taste too much and end up with so many cravings. For me, if it is part of a ritual, I don’t have to think about it, so I have that much more mental energy to pour into training. PRE-CONTEST DIET: I like to think of this more as a transition than a diet. First I substituted things I was craving for healthy stuff. I did this many months ahead of time, as soon as my training is getting serious and I am getting in shape. Then I switched out bread for more vegetables a few weeks out. Then as the final weeks came close I ate a bit less, carb-depleting for 4-5 days, and then repleting on the weekends, and I played with my salt and water. I did not know much about contest dieting and some of the people who worked out at Gainesville gym tell me I could have been 5-6 pounds drier, and they are probably right. But it was my first show. **In the final week or two, I ate 1 or two pieces of chocolate in the morning to get me going—about 50-100 calories.**I ate more fats in the final two weeks, particularly in the form of egg yolks. I feel that saturated fats are needed for normal metabolism and cell-turnover when exercising a lot.**In the final 5 weeks I started cutting out lipton’s noodles with dinner. That really wore on me hard. Next Time I should only do that for 2-3 weeks at a time because it lowered my BMR after 3 weeks and gave me more cravings on cheat days, and post-contest.**In the final weeks I cut out oatmeal with breakfast. I think that is ok. That was easier than not eating my pasta or noodles with dinner.**In the final weeks I did not have any carbs in the shake I drank during long leg workouts. It was just protein, 40grams. Normally it would be 40grams of protein and a total of 400-500 calories.**In order to fight cravings and feel more satisfied and give me a boost I would eat 1 or 2 dove chocolates if I felt I had to. I usually ended up doing this twice a day. I do this in the gym as well during workouts. It takes my mind off the pain and can only help psyche out competitors.**On cheat days I did not drink enough water because I was too full from stuffing myself with foods I had been craving. That needs to be different.  3) Injuries Past and Present:1) I had a sports hernia from 16-19yrs old. It still hurts a lot to do direct ab work. But I need to do some work for my obliques, very badly. I did ab work every morning and some evenings from the time I was 12, until I got the hernia at 16. But I did not do work for the obliques, and now they are behind. 2) Knee tendonitis/Gastroc tendonitis/Hamstring tendonitis – Knee pain had me laid up for the past year and a half. I still need to warm my knees up very well before doing direct work for them. I have only been back using my legs since this spring when I decided that I needed to use what potential I have while I still can. So I rehabbed them with a lot of high re lunges.  3) Rotator cuff tears and Sprains: Rehabbed with Band exercises. If I do too many heavy squats it gives me problems.  4) Tendonitis in my left wrists. If I do too many heavy benches or presses it starts to give me problems.  

4) Next year’s calendar…I am definitely willing to do the work, and I like the mental discipline and focus of bodybuilding. I am excited at the possibility of improving and moving up in the sport.