Lifter Snapshot: Johnny Fuller- Bodybuilder, Powerlifter, Boxer, and Inventor of the Ten Sets of 32 Reps Lifting Regime

Jamie Chaos

May 25, 2021

Lifter Snapshot: Johnny Fuller- Bodybuilder, Powerlifter, Boxer, and Inventor of the Ten Sets of 32 Reps Lifting Regime

This article was originally published on Instagram and Facebook this week. Neckberg provided the majority of the training and diet info, and if you’ve not checked that site out yet, you should (the diet stuff is directly copied and pasted, by the way). I’ve added his forearm workout from the Gold’s Gym Book of Bodybuilding by Ken Sprague and Bill Reynolds (1983) and background info from Musclememory, BoxingRec, and various online bios.

Think a man who’s 5’6″ and 195lbs in competition shape could run a full marathon? Probably not, yet here he stands, and he was likely stronger, faster, and way weirder than you have ever considered being. Johnnie Fuller (1942-2006) was a one-time training partner of Arnold and Franco, banned from a gym in 1987 for hogging equipment because his workouts were so legendarily long and ridiculously structured that it likely looked like he was just trolling the gym, a pro boxer, powerlifter, and bodybuilder.

Fuller began his pro athletic career as a boxer, going a very tragic 3-12 with 3KOs at 145lbs before hanging up the gloves to take up powerlifting. After hitting a 650 squat (probably in one of those old marathon suits that have less pop than a pair of shitty modern knee wraps), 440 bench, and 665 deadlift at 181 (Sprague), Fuller moved into bodybuilding, winning his pro card in 1980 at the IFBB World Amateur Championships, but a pec tear kept him from winning the overall in any pro show (though he was almost always on the podium at the end of a competition).

Johnny Fuller’s workouts were fucking silly in their structure, and demonstrate exactly how stupid it is to stress over program structure because it’s the effort that yields results, not the program. Though his forearm workouts were exempted from his 10 sets of 32 rule, everything else was trained with such high reps and volume it boggles the mind… at least until you see how he ate.

Johnny Fuller’s Training Routine

Monday – Chest

Bench Press- 10×32

Dumbbell Bench Press- 10×32

Incline Bench Press- 10×32

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press- 10×32

Flat-Bench Dumbbell Flyes- 10×32

Incline Dumbbell Flyes- 10×32

Tuesday – Back

T-bar Rowing- 10×32

High Angle Cable Pulldowns- 10×32

Low Angle Cable Pulldowns- 10×32

One-arm Rowing With Dumbbell- 10×32

Bent-over Rowing- 10x32Chins- 10×32

Wednesday – Shoulders

Press Behind Neck- 10×32

Dumbbell Press- 10×32

Upright Rowing- 10×32

Floor Cable Laterals- 10×32

Thursday – Thighs – Triceps

Leg Presses- 10×32

Leg Extension- 10×32

Leg Curl- 10×32

Squats- 10×32

Hack Squats- 10×32

Pressdowns- 10×32

Lying Barbell Extensions- 10×32

Lying Dumbbell Extensions- 10×32

Friday – Biceps

Barbell Curls- 10×32

Scott Curls- 10×32

Incline Curls- 10×32

Concentration Curls- 10×32

Saturday

Runs Three Miles, Plus Calf Work

Sunday

Runs Three Miles

Monday: Starts Cycle Over Again With Chest Work

And as for forearms? He did them three or four times a week to ensure they always looked like canned hams hanging out of his short sleeves.

Forearms

Narrow Grip Reverse Curl- 4-5 x 10-15

Barbell Wrist Curl- 4-5 x 15-20

Using this as a guide, each of his three “milk shakes” consisted of
2380 calories, 126g protein, 182g carbs, and 126g fat.

Johnny Fuller’s Wacky-Ass Diet

Mon-Wed

Breakfast– Rises at 7 a.m. and consumes half a box of milk powder mixed with water. He takes the following supplements also: B-Complex, B15, ginseng, and potassium.

He then goes back to sleep and has the other half a box of milk powder mixed with water when he wakes up again at 11 a.m.

Lunch– consists of another half a box of milk powder mixed with water, plus the same supplements he had at 7 a.m.

Dinner– At night Johnny says he swallows a dozen soya-based protein tablets with water!It is really quite amazing that Johnny stays on this feeding regimen for a full three days [which is only 6 grams of protein according to the nutrition in modern soy protein tabs]

“These three days are my high protein days, and I take in nothing but protein!” he says

Thur, Fri, and Sat

Breakfast– One pound of liver. Six poached eggs. He then goes back to sleep for another two or three hours.

Lunch– 20 oz. of mixed vegetables including carrots, cabbage, turnips, peas, beans, etc.

Evening Meal– One whole chicken plus vegetables, or two and a half pounds of steak, plus vegetables.

On Sundays, Johnny has no food whatsoever, allowing his system to totally rest after all the heavy food it has digested throughout the week.

Are you crazy enough to try any of that? I have never done more than 4×20 for squats in a single workout, so I doubt my quads are in any kind of shape to take that kind of abuse, but given the fact that his quads were feathered in an era prior to heavy diuretic use, I’d say that crazy bullshit is worth trying.

And 10×32 on pullups? Sweet six pound, ten ounce, tiny baby jesus that is fucking preposterous.

Be better than you are. Johnny Fuller certainly was. And for fuck’s sake, stop naysaying and shitting on programs for being weird- the weird motherfuckers are the only ones in the gym getting shit done.

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Jamie Chaos

I am a former all-time, all federation world record holder in raw powerlifting at 181lbs, a record I broke just to say fuck you to the internet’s “lifting” community and the powerlifting community at large. Over the last ten years I’ve written over 500 articles on strength training, nutrition, and supplementation, and continue to do so simply to fight the tide of weakness and sadness that currently pervades the scene I’ve called home for the better part of three decades. I’ve got personal trainin certs, BodyPump and BodyCombat certs, a BA in History and East Asian Studies from the University of Arizona, and MBAs from the Vienna University and University of South Carolina on my side, in addition to some sick lifts and a hell of a lot of rage. What the fuck have you got?

17 responses to “Lifter Snapshot: Johnny Fuller- Bodybuilder, Powerlifter, Boxer, and Inventor of the Ten Sets of 32 Reps Lifting Regime”

Jon

May 25, 2021

Hahaha, many don’t train in their whole lives as much as Fuller in a week.
He seems to be in the Poddah/Michalik club, any crazy stories (apart from the training and diet) from this chap?
Frank O. Hamann

May 25, 2021

Very interesting,
sometime in the 90s a friend gave me a video of the 1983 Mr. Olympia contest. Fuller took part there and finished eighth (ahead of my old friend Hubert Metz). He was hard and massive, but unfortunately the pec tear was clearly visible. To this day I had known nothing of his extraordinary training and feeding methods.
1. Jamie Chaos
  
  May 25, 2021
  
  Apparently, everyone thought he was directly out of his mind. Maybe he was, but I like that kind of crazy.
  
  I’d never heard of Metz, but he definitely has the looks of a bodybuilder in the late 70s/early 80s, haha. That man was LEAN! Thanks for name-dropping someone I’d never heard of- I love finding a new name worth knowing.
Brandon Hewitt

May 25, 2021

10 sets of 32 lol what the fuck. I wonder what his rest periods were like? Either way, his muscular endurance had to be off the charts.
1. Jamie Chaos
  
  May 26, 2021
  
  I didn’t see any rest periods listed, but he did 60 sets in two hours- I’d say that’s a minute rest between sets, with about a minute to get the set done. That dude must’ve been literally addicted to being pumped.
2. Tom
  
  May 28, 2021
  
  Would love to know the weights he was moving
  1. Brandon Hewitt
    
    May 31, 2021
    
    By the end of it, probably about 20 pounds lol.
Rick

May 26, 2021

I love reading about these guys who threw conventional notions to the wind and did things their own way and forged their own path. Thanks for your brutal research, and talking about these “lesser known” guys, Jamie
1. Jamie Chaos
  
  May 30, 2021
  
  No worries bro! I’ll keep digging in the crates for more weirdos, haha.
Adeel

May 26, 2021

Almost vomited reading all of that…most would scoff at his routine but look nothing like him. I wouldn’t even dare attempt that…
Adeel

May 26, 2021

In March 1987, Johnny had an argument with the management of the gym and was banned after allegations that he was “hogging” the equipment.

But Johnny thought he was good for the gym, and said he offered help and training advice to other users.

At the time the bodybuilder told the Advertiser: “I’ve always been courteous and made many friends at the gym.

“I think the reason for the ban must be jealousy. Bodybuilding is a very competitive sport.”
Jason

May 28, 2021

I thought I might be over training, then I read this……
Chack

May 28, 2021

Every time someone reposts this workout, a Mike Mentzer disciple explodes.
Viva Steve!

May 28, 2021

I wonder if the torn pec led him to the very high rep range, I mean, maybe he saw it as a safety thing. I imagine that sets of thirty are going to be safer for the roider. I could be wrong.
1. Brandon Hewitt
  
  May 28, 2021
  
  How the fuck did you manage to bring steroids into that
raul

May 28, 2021

Why 32???
1. Jamie Chaos
  
  May 30, 2021
  
  He’s dead, so we will likely never know. It seems he liked that number, and it definitely worked well. People in the 70s and 80s didn’t pretend that science had anything to do with their training methods.