Over the last couple of articles I have joked about the near-mythical status of the badasses of the 1950s and 1960s, all of whom made insanely heavy lifts commonplace by taking every single modern truism about lifting, dumping it in the fucking trash, and deciding that the solution to every problem in the weight room is more food and harder training. An anathema to the broke dick, science-tastic, weak-as-fuck “evidence based” lifters of the modern era who have deluded themselves into thinking that aping the methods of the successful is preposterous, the lifters of the mid-20th Century actually succeeded in the weight room by applying a little observation and introspection and a fuckton of effort.
One such lifter is Chuck “The Iron Warrior” Sipes, a paratrooper / lumberjack / powerlifter / bodybuilder / proto-Bear Grylls. More hardcore than one of the kill scenes in I Spit On Your Grave 3, Sipes managed to rock one of the top three physiques in the world while benching 570lbs and working 12 hours a day slaughtering trees like they were hymens after the prom. Though the Olympia title eluded him like he was an ICE agent chasing Dan Akroyd across the US in a eerily precognizant social commentary on American isolationism, Sipes managed to snag the 1959 IFBB “Mr. America”, the 1960 IFBB “Mr. Universe”, the 1967 NABBA “Mr. World”, and the 1968 IFBB “Mr. World”, while natty as fuck and out-benching every single person on the planet not named Pat Casey (who, incidentally, outweighed Sipes by 135 lbs.)
Chuck Sipes was apparently conceived with the grip strength that later served him so well as a strongman, and he literally just grabbed fistfuls of his mother’s uterus and ripped her abdomen open, forcing himself into the world in a Chuck Norris-esque manner in late 1932. In spite of the brutal manner by which Sipes birthed himself, he grew up a somewhat scrawny kid. As he wanted to play high school football like any other red-blooded, commie-hating, steak-loving American boy, he enlisted the aid of his neighbor, weightlifting equipment luminary Chuck Coker (who later founded Universal Equipment Company).
Utilizing the techniques he learned from Coker, Sipes became a beast on the football field and after graduation joined the US Army as a paratrooper. In a bizarre effort to demonstrate the fact that the only person who could kill Chuck Sipes was Chuck Sipes, he found himself tangled with another trooper during a practice drop when he chute didn’t open, and then free-fell 70 feet to the ground. Though he steadfastly refused to die, Sipes was stuck in the hospital for four month recuperating from grievous head injuries. Upon receiving a medical discharge in 1952, Sipes went home with a headful of epilepsy and depression and the brass fucking balls of a man who could free fall out of an airplane without a parachute and not only live to tell the tale, but go onto be one of the greatest bodybuilders of the golden era and the greatest drug-free 220lb bencher of all time.
Because the concept of a “natural genetic limit” had not yet been set, Chuck Sipes went about his business in happy ignorance of the “facts” the evidence-based fuckwits spreading their specious claims across the internet like cancer. Training with Mr. Universe Bill Pearl, Sipes set his sights on being the greatest bodybuilder to ever live, though he didn’t give two shits about posing and spent the vast majority of his time heaving huge weights around like toddler throwing his toys during a tantrum. In spite of that fact, he racked up an impressive number of wins, including pulling down the “Mr. Pacific Coast” title at the ripe old age of 41.
Unlike modern lifters, who possess all of the personality of a wax replica of Ben Stein, the depth of a spilled shot of vodka, and the varied interests of autistic trapped in a stairwell, Chuck Sipes didn’t just lift weights and stare at himself in the mirror. He organized the American Bodybuilding Club in the 1960’s, which was practically free to join, and gave exhibitions and lectures on the benefits of fitness and recreational sports. After he hung up his posing trunks, Chuck volunteered with crippled and retarded kids, which is impressive because he was not too far removed from a time when humanity either euthanized them or stuffed them in the basement of a mental institution until some shitbird doctor wanted to torture, lobotomize, or starve them to death.
“According to [Chuck’s best friend] Norm, Chuck began his competitive bodybuilding career unwillingly. Chuck Coker recalls that when Sipes was a lifting competitor in his junior college days in Modesto, there was one occasion when a physique contest was held in connection with the lifting. Chuck’s buddies on the team filled out an entry form to the physique contest, then informed Chuck that he had to get up on stage and pose. He said no at first, but then did sort of a stroll across the stage and hit a few poses” (Roark).
“Norm recalls trips into the mountains and workouts involving cables, which would be tied around trees and then stretched in various exercises. Their conversations around campfires on such outings were the underpinnings of a lifelong friendship, and now, when Norm speaks of Chuck, it is with warmth, love, respect, and bewilderment as to what changed Chuck’s outlook later in life. After a month in the woods, Chuck’s bodyweight often decreased by 15 to 20 pounds, and Norm remembers the amazing transformation Chuck could undergo in regaining the lost weight and muscle. He simply ate more and lifted. No drugs” (Roark).
If nothing else, Chuck Sipes should stand as an example of how to approach training- with an open mind and zero fucks given. His method was essentially a weightlifting paean to Bruce Lee’s philosophy of amalgamating the most effective fighting styles into his own, and a nod to everyone whose ever thrown anything they could find in the fridge and cupboard into a pot and unwittingly produced the best fucking chili anyone ever ate. Additionally, it’s not unlike the Paleo crossfitter who buys a burger and tosses the bun- there’s something to be learned from just about everybody, and no one’s above analyzing the greats from any sport to help propel themselves to a semblance of that greatness.
That said, here are some of the methods Sipes employed over the course of his career (and those methods were fucking legion).
Chuck Sipes’ Power Routine
Monday/Thursday
Back Squat – 6, 6, 4, 4, 2, 2
Bench Press – 6, 6, 4, 4, 2, 2
Conventional Deadlift – 6, 6, 4, 4, 2, 2,
Shrug – 4 x 8
Cheat Curl – 4 x 6
Preacher Curl – 5 x 10
Situp – 3 x 20
Leg Raise – 4 x 15
Overhead Press – 5 x 6
Incline DB Flye – 3 x 8
Calf Raise – 4 x 20
Tuesday/Friday
Heavy 1/4 Bench Press – 5 x 8
Heavy 1/4 Back Squat, (no lockout, 50-100lb over your max squat) – 5 x 8
Stiff Legged Deadlift off Bench or Box (bodybuilding-style deficits) – 5 x 4
Chins – 6 x 6
Dips – 5 x 8
Lying French Press – 5 x 8
Abs
Chuck Sipes’ Bench Routine
Chuck Sipes’ Alternate Bench Routine
Chuck Sipes’ Squat Routine
Interestingly, Chuck Sipes and I arrived at the same solution for getting stuck in the hole on squats. Great minds and all that, it seems.
“Chuck recommended incorporating jumping squats with a barbell of a dumbbell in each hand, using a light weight. He mentioned 4 sets of 10 reps. The last 2 reps should feel hard but you should still be able to spring up forcefully. When you can do 8 out of 10 reps the weight is probably just right. When you achieve 10 proper reps it is time to add 20 lbs. to the squat bar or 10 lbs. to each dumbbell. This exercise will build the initial driving power” (Weis Power).
Chuck Sipes’ Forearm Routine
Guaranteed to turn your hands into immobile claws for a couple of weeks, this brutal routine is what resulted in Sipes’ insane 18″ forearms… along with a hell of a lot of chopping wood. How the man managed to do both is a mystery for the ages, because a day of swinging an axe alone is enough to reduce most humans to a pile of blubbering bullshit, and this dude did both.
Reverse Curl (slowly) – 4 x 8
DB Wrist Forearm Curl (off knee) – 4 × 15
Cable or Pulley Reverse Curl – 4 × 12
Rubber Ball Squeeze, Newspaper Roll-up, etc.
Chuck Sipes’ Ab Routine
“I feel that SPEED OF MOVEMENT in abs training is the KEY to ZENITH development in the abdominal region. I always tried to CONCENTRATE on rapid, quick movements with continuous tension and flexing in the movements of waist work. I might mention that that I didn’t sacrifice strictness of movement in the exercises. The speed of movement is obtained over a period of many months while on this SPECIAL program. The increased speed of movement per rep doesn’t happen in the first month of training. From what I have observed from my many travels and training with many bodybuilders, most don’t concentrate on this speed of movement in their abs programs” (Weis Power).
Incline Situps – 2 x 25
Incline Situps (25lb plate behind head)– 2 x 8 at each position on a 7 run incline board.
Front Bends – 2 x 50 (done with a stick or bar held behind the neck, he would expel all the air from my lungs and bend forward to a parallel position to the floor)
Side Bends – 2 x 50 (done with a stick or bar held behind the neck, bending from side to side in a rapid succession, touching the elbows to the sides)
Incline Board Leg Raises (with iron boots for resistance)– 4 x 8.
Stomach Vacuums – 4 x 8.
Chuck Sipes’ Shape and Size Arm Routine
As with every other bodypart, Sipes had a lot of different methods for training his gigantic arms, each one crazier than a bunny in a blender on Easter morning. Interestingly, Chuck had extremely different methods for training his arms based on what he was doing- when it was for shape and size, he focused on biceps, but as you’ll see in the power section, triceps were his focus in training for pressing power. In his own words:
“Many bodybuilders say the triceps is first in arm importance, saying it is the largest muscle in the arm. I rank the triceps last on my list. Why? An unimpressive, large but droopy and poorly shaped arm is not what I want. Besides, the triceps are not as important in my strength feats.
With the triceps last, next up the list with me is forearms. This muscular area of the arms is vital both to appearance – nothing is so unsightly as a big upper arm and a pair of sticks for forearms – and for gripping strength well developed forearms are essential. Every bodybuilder should work the forearms regularly as part of their workouts. I worked in sawmills and lumberjacking when I was younger, and this helped my development and strength quite a bit.
But, at the top of the list is the biceps area. The better developed and stronger your biceps are, the better off you will be physically. They should be #1 on your arm training list. Therefore, this arm development article will concentrate on developing this area, the biceps” (Sipes Biceps).
Monday/Thursday
Barbell Curl 21’s
7 reps from bottom position to middle position,
7 reps from middle position to top of movement,
7 full-range reps
4 sets x 21 reps
Cheat Barbell Curl: 16 x 4 (You read that right- sixteen sets of four)
Alternate one set of 21’s to each 4 sets of Cheat Curls.
Lying French Press 21’s
Conventional Lying French Press: 16 x 4
One set of 21’s to each 4 sets of regular French presses
Chuck Sipes’ Power Arm Routine
Monday/Thursday
SUPERSET ONE
Cheat Curls – 5 x 6 – 8 (explosive cheat on the concentric, extremely slow descent on the eccentric portion)
Concentration Curls – 5 x 10 – 12 (Elbow braced on the thigh, one second peak contraction, one second pause fully relaxed at bottom)
SUPERSET TWO
Alternating Dumbell Curls – 5 x 6 – 8 (ultra heavy with a slight cheat)
Alternating Incline Curl – 5 x 8 (moderate weight, slow and controlled)
Reverse Barbell Curl – 6 x 6 – 8
“The history of weight training has proved to be a constant game of hide and seek. Truant muscles are no longer safe from the prying efforts of modern power lifters. In the case of the bench press, the triceps, with its natural capacity for development, became suspect when it appeared to be riding on the efforts of the delts and pecs.
At first, no one could say for sure. Maybe it was the delts. So they tried military presses. they didn’t prove to help the bench a great deal. So they tried parallel dips with plenty of weight. Pat Casey did them endlessly, dropping to an extremely low position, but they ground up his shoulders, and he stopped. Extreme range of motion like the military and dip was out; the pecs and delts were out. That left the triceps” (Sipes Tricep Power 109).
“Thus comes into being the ‘Triceps Power Cheats,’ a movement that is spanking the triceps into unprecedented effort and routine [bench press] records up the line. The movement flanks the regular bench press on the alternate workout of the week in which the bench press and [box squats]. In terms of two workouts a week, Saturday (heavy) and Tuesday, the power cheats fall on Tuesday” (Sipes Tricep Power 112).
Tuesday/Friday
Chuck Sipes’ Diet
Sipes was not a complicated man- like a lot of wildly successful maniacs, he preferred a simple plan involving a headlong charge into the proverbial teeth of the enemy to a complex strategy with a lot of moving parts. As such, his diet was so simple even a Trump supporter could follow it, if they could fit the feedings in between tent revivals, denouncing science, and attending Flat Earther conventions.
“Eat a well-balanced diet of meats, fish, fruits and vegetables. Avoid high-calorie foods such as bread, cake, candy, macaroni products and all foods containing white flour and white sugar. High-calorie foods add fat to your waistline and will make your abdominal training a whole lot tougher than it should be. [The most important additions to your regular diet are] germ oils, sunflower seeds, papaya, peanuts and lots of milk.
Drink 3-4 quarts of certified low-fat raw milk each day, a Chuck Sipes favorite for gaining (at least one pint or more with each feeding)” (Weis Huge).
Never one to follow the same day to day program like a mindless robot hell bent on mediocrity, it’s impossible to get a highly accurate depiction of what Chuck ate day to day, but this is a general overview of his daily eating habits.
Meal 1
4 eggs with cheese
Whole-wheat stoneground bread and honey
Wholegrain cereal milk and fruit
Meal 2
Fresh fruit and almonds
Meal 3
Fruit juice
Large salad with sunflower seeds and 2 large whole-wheat peanut butter sandwiches, two classes of milk
Meal 4
Nuts and fruit or his bulk drink, which was:
- 2 cups milk
- Protein powder
- 2 spoonfuls Blackstrap molasses
- 1 spoonful honey
- 1 spoonful Ovaltine
- 1 banana
- 1 scoop natural ice cream
Meal 5
Steak or fish with salad and brown rice
Some whole-wheat bread and butter
Tea with honey
And some natural ice cream
Meal 6 (Bedtime)
A glass of fresh juice and sunflower seeds
- Chuck was a bad motherfucker
- He trained around the clock on lifts on which he wanted to improve.
- He was strong as a fucking bull moose and took no shit in competition.
- He was simultaneously ripped to fucking shreds and insanely strong.
Certainly, none of the bitch-made charlatans out there promoting evidence based training would support Sipes’ methodology, but none of them could reproduce Sipes’ results, either. That alone should point to the fact that their methodology is flawed, but given the fact I would have a better chance convincing a born-again Christian that Jesus is sharing a bunk bed with the Easter Bunny in hell than convincing a fan of evidence based training that the “facts” they hold so dear are anything but, I suppose I’m just pissing in the wind and calling it rain. Nevertheless, you ignore the methods utilized by this mythic badass at your peril. Don’t imperil yourself.
Sources:
Duckett, Ian. Chuck’s eating plan. Old But Strong. 3 Aug 2016. Web. 6 Jun 2018. http://oldbutstrong.co.uk/nutrition/chucks-eating-plan
Kelly, Bradley Joe. Bodybuilding’s original superhero: Chuck Sipes. T-Nation. 2 Nov 2012. Web. 5 Jun 2018. https://www.t-nation.com/training/bodybuildings-original-superhero-chuck-sipes
Neil, Garrett and Sean Neil. Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan. Something Awful. 7 Dec 2013. Web. 6 Jun 2018. https://www.somethingawful.com/movie-reviews/paul-bunyan/1/
Pearl, Bill. Chuck Sipes- “The iron knight.” Reprint from Legends of the Iron Game. Bodybuilders Reality. http://bodybuildersreality.com/chuck-sipes-the-iron-knight/
Roark, Joe. The Roark Report – Chuck Sipes. Iron Game History. 1993 May;2(6)20-21.
Sipes, Chuck. Ab specialization routine. The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso ban. 9 may 2014. Web. 5 Jun 2018. http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2014/05/ab-specialization-routine-chuck-sipes.html
Sipes, Chuck. Biceps development. The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban.29 Aug 2009. Web. 5 Jun 2018. http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/04/biceps-chuck-sipes.html
Sipes, Chuck. Put the slant in your abdominal training (1968). The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban. 5 Feb 2012. Web. 5 Jun 2018. http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2012/02/six-pack-circa-1968-chuck-sipes.html
Sipes, Chuck. Routines. The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban. 15 Sep 2013. Web. 5 Jun 2018. http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2013/09/chuck-sipes.html
Sipes, Chuck. Triceps power cheats (1966). Muscle Builder Magazine. Reprinted in Forgotten Secrets of the Culver City Westside Barbell Club Revealed by Dave Yarnell. Lexington: Self Published, 2014.
Weis, Dennis B. Chuck Sipes on Power Training. The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban. 1 Aug 2009. Web. 5 Jun 2018. http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/08/chuck-sipes-on-power-training-dennis.html
Weis Dennis B. Huge and freaky mass concepts! Gain herculean muscle mass and power fast! Dennis B. Weis. Web. 6 Jun 2018. http://www.dennisbweis.com/Articles/HugeandFreakyMassConcepts.html
Just for a little clarification, "prone" – does that mean anatomical position; when you're laying on a bench, you would be doing reverse grip bench?
Any clue what the 2 a day ab routine was?
Good read. Thanks.
Glad to see people still bending. I thought I was the only idiot (besides John Brookfield and Gary Gazza)
I'm looking to start bending pretty soon. Unfortunately I have no idea if it's "safe" to just do a shit ton of contrast baths, juggling and then bend barehanded.
I may want sick calluses but the idea of using my hands properly is also quite attractive.
Anybody know what Sipes' diet was like. Just curious to see how close it was to the C&P diet philosophy.
Dray I wouldn't start off bending barehanded for braced or unbraced. I mean you can however a more progressive way to get there is just use the Iron Mind or some non-puncture wraps and then start bending. Also if you do decide to continue working towards barehand, you will do nerve damage. Plenty of times where my hand would go numb for 5 minutes after a difficult bend. Work with 3/16 at different lengths (if braced) from 7 inches to 5 inches, move up to 1/4, hexagonal and square then bolts (G5 and G8) up to 5/16 and beyond.
If you need more info go to Gripboard.com, very good place. FBBC (Fatbastardbarbellco.com is a great site to get metal from) or you can go to Lowes/Home depot.
Hope it helps
His diet seemed very standard for bodybuilders of the time- meat, milk, veggies, but then, if he was a lumberjack, he was probably eating anything that would hold still long enough for him to stuff it down his throat.
As for his ab routine- it's likely on in the power routine article I cited.
Goddamn. All these partials are becoming infectious. I did some lockouts for the squat the other day and loved them, made worksets the next week feel easier.
And Jamie, I'm pretty sure prone is facing downward.
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Prone+position
You're right. I had a horrible brainfart. Although I was thinking that palms-up is supination, and prone would be palms down, I still managed to cock up the explanation to the point where it had nothing to do with hand position at all.
Ketosis does not impair mental function! LIAR! Hahaha.
No big deal. I've only just lost all respect for you.
I keeeed, I keed. You can still find some old poorly edited texts where they have the bench listed as "prone press", which would make the exercise rather hard to do.
Dude in regards to your muscle and brawn interview i'm going to give your beginner advice a go as i'm not a fan of the starting strength routine that everyone harps on about. In regards to the low volume you mention what sets/reps would you recommend on the heavy exercises? Cheers.
I'd go with 5×3 or 6×3.
Wow what a trip finding this site about "Chuck". I happened to work at the same youth facility where Chuck was the weight trainer.This was around 1986. His hair was gray and shoulder length.He usually was in his classic gym shorts and tank top. This O.G. was still cut up, I couldn't believe someone at this age could continue to stay in shape and have the strength as he. An amazing man. I'm glad to have known him the years he was there.
Re the disdain for posing…yep, posing as some sort of way of sorting out some sort of ranking in bodybuilding is dumb. So some beast gets up, walks around and shows his back and hits a double bicep, and some other fucker does backflips and pretends to be a robot and sings along to some shit tune and wins…like that Kai Greene shit where he does a bit of dancing…how fucking sad is it?
Essentially bodybuilding as a sport with a winner is highly dubious but you know how the world is, the rule of the commodity and anything to make coin.
Being strong and muscular is just the right thing to do. Posing ripped glutes and breakdancing at 300lbs…maybe not so much.
I thought i was the only one with the opinion that these science based folks are of limited value.
If you go on YouTube you'll find kids that resemble pasty streaks of piss that tell everyone that only genetic elites ever squat 500lbs drug free and anyone benching over 315 MUST be enhanced of using fake weights
These sack-less fuckers have hundreds of thousands of followers and make fortunes per month spreading their very own sickening brand of mediocrity.
WTF is happening to masculinity?
That last question is excellent.
Science is not religion, it has to be conducted and the costly process means that it does not focus much on the world of sticking beefburgers on your body. So it is limited and we are still reduced to experimentation.
Having said that, I was convinced by this scientific presentation that should be of general use … worth 9 minutes…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pkbrTpKaj4
My next article will bury those science fuckers- they're outright lying to the general populace, especially about the maximum amount of lean mass a natural lifter can gain.
Look forward to that. Science is not about "This is the truth, fixed for all eternity"
Maybe worth mentioning Jim Stoppani Phd…he is a science guy with deep studies about gene activation blah blah blah and he says full body every day, no rest days. I mean, that sounds right up the chaos and pain alley.
2 minute video
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Jim+Stoppani+youtube+full+body+every+day&view=detail&mid=15B3651CD4B8FC704FFC15B3651CD4B8FC704FFC&FORM=VIRE
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Jim+Stoppani+youtube+full+body+every+day&&view=detail&mid=3A0220C49891787046433A0220C4989178704643&&FORM=VDRVRV
I think material reality does not depend on our understanding of it, but our knowledge of that reality is limited and develops over time.
So I am ambivalent over science in regard to the lifting/training process.
None of these things are fixed…the masculinity promoted by the means of mass brainwashing in a time when human body power was more important to the productive process and at a time of robots, automation, internet, and the like are not the same. Similarly, low wage work means that some mega man cannot support the family he lords it over and women are often at least as good in the work roles available. Masculinity, human nature, whatever you care to imagine, is simply a process, nothing is fixed for all eternity. The driving force in the final analysis is the productive process, the economy. Hopefully I got that over without going full on revolutionary.
https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/3-reasons-why-you-should-eliminate-rest-days.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZGxwjp76wc
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