Plague of Strength

Click these words for Part One

As I established in part one, powerbuilding godfather Bill Seno is a man of whom you should know far more than you do. If you do recognize him, it is likely from one of Seno’s photographs posted online- pics which have probably inspired more homoerotic comments and sentiments among the most steadfastly hetero goofballs on the internet than has even future American president The Rock. He set a world record in the bench press while in the middle of winning the Most Muscular in a bodybuilding competition and dominated the muscularity portion of the bodybuilding world, all while serving as the primary influence for Ed Coan and heavily influencing Louie Simmons’ bench press techniques.

What follows is shit that did not fit into part one, beginning with his wildly unconventional beginner’s routine and some of his recommendations for accessory lifts for the bench press, in addition to some dieting notes and other assorted training minutiae. Though I wouldn’t call the man exactly Yoda, he was certainly a highly intellectual meathead, so bear in mind that he was almost certainly better educated than you are if you’re in mind to scoff at his techniques.

Bill Seno’s Completely Unique Beginner Program

“We all must start somewhere, so we begin where we are, with what we can lift for one maximum effort. If this is either your first time lifting or just getting back into training, it is best to stop at the maximum single. The mistake so many health clubs make with new people is the instructors start the prospects very light but carry them through many exercises for many repetitions. This method builds up too many toxins and creates swelling in muscle. They believe light is the key. It is not. One can and should go heavy enough to a near maximum effort. I always feel that maximum effort that which a lifter may think is maximum at one time, but may find that with more determination, he has now lifted a heavier poundage and reached a depth within his mind that he never knew before” (Seno).

Seno never actually outlined an exact program for beginners, but instead recommended a month or two of doubles and singles on the major lifts in order to build a baseline of strength. It’s an interesting counterpoint to my own experience, and I believe I’ve determined the reasoning- people were in better shape back then. Not due to any inherent goodness about theim or their quality of character, but simply because everything back then was a bigger pain in the ass. Ever try to use a manual lawnmover? Even the new, finely tuned, machined-to-exacting-tolerances manuals are a fucking workout to use, and most of the shit in Seno’s life was like that- the Type 500 telephone literally every house in America used at the time weighed five pounds and could serve as a deadly weapon in a pinch. Back then, no one killed anyone while writing a letter the way people do texting and driving, but it’s pretty impossible to kill a person with an iPhone any other way.

So, bear in mind when you read the following recommendation that Seno was a highly conditioned college athlete who did hundreds a pushups a day before he ever touched a weight, that he had to use a mechanical calculator and slide rule rather than his phone to convert fahrenheit to celcius, mowed his lawn with a unpowered lawnmower, and probably walked more in a single day than you do in a week- he is not your average couch potato or otherwise detrained and overfed with terrible foods fed in disastrously massive amounts to lazy, ill-behaved children of modern America.

Additionally,

“The novice begins where others do, at the local YMCA or health club. Most of the lifters, through hearsay, either follow something similar to 5 sets of 5 reps or follow a routine found in a magazine illustrated by some noted bodybuilder or powerlifter. Often the problem of stagnation develops because the lifter is following a prescribed routine set upon paper which may not be precisely for his body’s recuperative powers. So he finds himself making no progress, or he finds a weakening in the strength level. It is difficult for a novice to follow a routine which took years for a master athlete to develop. It is comparable to placing a novice boxer in the ring with a champion and expecting the novice to do well.”

“It takes time to find one’s strong points and weaknesses: how many sets and reps work best for gains, how many workouts of the same exercise per week, the difference between various exercises, and how one rule for one exercise does not apply to another, how a rule may be for one lifter but not another, the rest period between sets for best results and various other factors that make a difference: hyperactivity, little sleep, improper diet, emotional disturbances, or just plain getting cold between sets and lack of concentration. These are just some of the variables” (Seno). 

A Sample Bill Seno Beginner Program

This program is not a set program, as like any rational, thinking human being Seno believed that hard-and-fast training programs were about as useful as Adderall for making gains in the gym (meth is not your friend when training, no matter how hard Gen Z might try to campaign for its utility and efficacy. Amphetamines do not make you a better person- in fact, the opposite is generally true). As such, the following is my best approximation based on his lack of details and his overall training methodology, which should be pretty accurate given our similarly powerbuilder-y approach.

Notes

• lifters should follow this program for a month or two, after which Seno says “the body should be ready to handle more sets of more repetitions.”
• rest at least 3 mins between sets, but not more than 8-10 lest you cool off
• all singles should be Deadpool style- maximum effort motherfucker, unless otherwise noted

Day 1- Upper Body

Bench Press– 3-5 x 1

Standing Military Press– 3-5 x 1

Pulldown– 3 x 6

Curl– 3 x 6

Day 2- Lower Body

Squat– 3-5 x 1

Stiff-Legged Deadlift– 3 x 6

Calf Raise– 3 x 6

Day 3- Off

Day 4- Upper Body

Seated Military Press– 3-5 x 1

Incline Bench Press– 3-5 x 1

Curl-Grip Pulldown– 3 x 6

Reverse Curl– 3 x 6

Day 5- Lower Body

Same as Day 2

Day 6- Upper Body

Same as Day 1

Day 7- Off

“Routines are not a panacea, nor are they the only consideration. Again, a major principle in strength gain is low sets, low reps, more intensity devoted to the sets done, and only a few exercises working masses of muscle, not singularly isolated muscle.” 

Bill Seno On Dieting to Look Like a Fire Hydrant with Cinder Block Abs

“Our bodies differ, and because of this, some people can eat all day long and hardly gain an ounce of bodyweight while others gain easily with little intake. Body metabolism is subject to change by the individual if proper training and eating habits are used. Some people run around, constantly busying themselves every minute and making sure there is something to do until slumber. Others live at a slower pace and shun too many chores or socializing and, therefore, rest the body more. These lifestyles linked with either power training or conditioning can alter the body metabolic rate to suit one’s goal. Why would one want to alter this metabolic rate? Why, to become bigger and stronger or smaller and more defined or, possibly, other combinations such as smaller yet stronger by body formula, that is, more power pound for pound of bodyweight. Of course, attitude is important in any sport or endeavor – the power of positive thinking; many lifters discover this in their training” (Seno).

…. And the Weaklings on the Internet Screamed Endlessly About How Modern Bodybuilders are Pussies and Guys Like Bill Seno NEVER USED MACHINES

“The ordinary Olympic or power bar cannot be beaten when pushing for power. The stabilizing muscles are used to steady the bar. These smaller muscles are either cut off or interfered with by machines. The machines stabilize for the lifter who only concentrates on the push, and spring or rubber equipment is too much in the other direction. Spring equipment is akin to lifting on ice in which balance becomes primary and the push or pull secondary. Both are necessary, and the best way to develop powerful stabilizers and major muscle groups is by using them all as nature intended, which the free bar provides, not by confining or confusing either one” (Seno).

The problem with machines, as Bill explained in his book, is that the ones available to lifters in his day fucking sucked. It’s been half a century- you fucking goofs can stop pretending you’re too strong for machines now, since every useful lifter has been laughing at the super-weakling no machine crowd for the better part of thirty years. It’s not as though Bill Seno eschewed the use of machines because they were for the weak- Bill Seno tested shit, figured out what worked for him, and told the world to fuck off with their opinions when he had. His advice probably seems insane to Gen Z or Millennials, but it was how everyone in the past got big and continues to do so now.

And for that matter, he did see the utility in machines even if most of them weren’t to his liking at the time.

“I must, however, speak up for the groove machines, also, because they do have their function in introducing students to weight training and have the ability to serve many students at once. Besides this convenience the groove machines do have a benefit for the experienced lifter, also. It is convenient to work auxiliary muscles and, possibly, rehabilitate on these machines. The benefit in working auxiliary muscles such as the deltoid or tricep on the groove machine is greater as an exercise for the bench press because the machines keep the particular muscle toned and strong without tiring some of the stabilizing muscles, and it also limits the use of joints and tendons which makes for greater recuperation while capitalizing on strength” (Seno).

“I did not allow other lifters’ routines or new commercial equipment to sway me from my course – what my body demanded.”

In other words, recognize the fact that 90% of the people in the world are incapable of rational thought because they cannot read on an adult level, which means they lack the according capabilities to reason, analyze, synthesize, or retain information as one would expect an adult to be able. Asking them for advice on literally any subject will yield either no positive result or a negative one, so try just figuring shit out on your own without asking every halfwit on the planet for their wildly uninformed and wholly useless opinions.

And while we’re at it, no one gives a fuck about your band and chain weights. Fuck me running- if you people spent half the time you do excusing your weakness simply applying real effort to getting strong, you wouldn’t need so many fucking caveats and excuses for shitty bar weights in training. or you could just stop filming your every fucking activity in the gym. Food for thought.

Be Patient, Motherfucker! It’s Not a Race

Seno was a man who loved to lift, and it showed in his physique and his poundages. Like me, however, he saw a lot of people in the gym looking to expedite their strength journey rather than enjoying it, but he had a rather more pleasant manner of speech for addressing this issue.

“It takes time to find one’s strong points and weaknesses: how many sets and reps work best for gains, how many workouts of the same exercise per week, the difference between various exercises, and how one rule for one exercise does not apply to another, how a rule may be for one lifter but not another, the rest period between sets for best results and various other factors that make a difference: hyperactivity, little sleep, improper diet, emotional disturbances, or just plain getting cold between sets and lack of concentration. These are just some of the variables. 

WE FIND OUT MORE AS WE PAY OUR DUES IN TIME.

Like the Barbarian Brothers, Bill Seno was of the Mind that There is No Such Thing As Overtraining- Just Undereating and Undersleeping

Well, within reason. He believed that training and recuperation were a delicate balancing act, but that balancing act is really dictated by the exigencies of life, rather than the body’s real ability to take a beating. Thus, you’ve got to balance your expectations with your ability to commit the requisite amount of time to recuperation that you need to recover from training, and you’ll only discover what that ratio is through trial and error, because no two people have identical recuperative abilities.

“It must be remembered that it is not the amount or intensity of work that matters as much as it is the ability for one’s own body to recover from the intense pounding. 

If the body were able to fully recuperate from any given amount of depth of exercise, we would all be in a range between champion and superhuman.

That is, the entire physical level of human accomplishment would be that much higher than it is; therefore, in coming back to earth, we must find routines, rest periods, lifestyles, and goals we can live with. The impractical person is one who demands too much from his workouts and expects to gain in leaps and bounds. He must find a happy medium for himself through a viable program” (Seno).

Listen to Your Fucking Body

“The foremost principle I have used concerning the bench press is to follow the body. It is well and good to write out a routine and attempt to follow the paper, but what is written is not the key; the body is. If a lifter is following 4 sets of 4 with a given poundage, and the body is struggling to recover from the last workout, gains will be small or nonexistent. When there is a gain, the body is saying Yes” (Seno).

In listening to his body, Seno allowed his methodology to change naturally over time. When he’d hit a sticking point, he’d look for a fix and once he’d found one, would stick with it until he got bored or decided to move on to something else.

Prior to lifting, Seno was essentially using the Herschell Walker system of pushups-and-situps-until-you’re-jacked-or-dead. From there he moved onto 5×5, which he used until he realized the the best way to get great at singles was to actually do them. He’d trained each of the three powerlifts heavy three times a week, but over time they turned into heavy, light, and medium session for bench, once a week heavy for deadlift, and once heavy and once light for squat. As his training evolved his theories about training and various methodologies did as well, until he arrived at the stuff in Part One that founded the basis of his own training, as well as Ed Coan’s and later Louie Simmons’.

On Training Weak Points

“So often I read of lifters who are constantly working their weak points, pounding away to overcome this obstruction, but this weak point is basically a part of nature for that individual.

It is not saying that this obstacle cannot be improved upon, but because of structure or other reasons, possibly favoring certain muscles, a mind to body coordination or dependency can be extremely difficult or impossible to overcome. There are reasons beyond our control why these certain muscles remain weak at certain angles in a movement for certain individuals; therefore, it can only become frustrating and discouraging to continue to work a weak point and gain such a small percentage of strength over a long period of time when the same time and effort could have been applied to a strong point, thus gaining two or three times the amount of strength” (Seno).

And there you have it- the wisdom of powerbuilding badass Bill Seno. He might not seem important, as many old timey lifters are dismissed as passe or unremarkable, but his influence extends heavily into the modern day even if his name doesn’t.

Over the course of a generation, even the coolest among us are going to be forgotten. Hell, can any of you name a silent film star other than Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplain? They weren’t even the highest earners of their day, and yet it’s only their names we remember. If I had to hazard a guess why, it’s because the money you make isn’t nearly as important as the influence you exert on the world around you. Most people seem content with being an irritation to others and an impediment to both educated discussion and the forward progress of society, but should you choose not to be a piece of shit it’s much more likely what you do will be remembered more than your name.

Be someone useful to the world.

This shit is entirely DIY and mostly self supported. If you’ve got it like that and would like to throw me something for the effort, I’d be much obliged. Every penny you spend goes towards physically and metaphorically crushing the fucking weakness out of every single person who comes into contact with anything having to do with me.

Join the fight against mental and physical weakness- mash the fuck out of that button, and let’s verbally lump some motherfuckers up.

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Sources:

Artman, Bob.  Bill Seno- his philosophy on bodybuilding.  Muscular Development, Aug 1964,  pp. 6-9,42.

Countryman, Ralph. Coe wins Sr. Mr. America.  Reprinted from.  Muscle Memory.  Web.  25 Aug 2020.  http://www.musclememory.com/showArticle.php?im280612

Pearl, Bill.   Social media post.  Facebook.  8 May 2019.  Web.  26 Aug 2020.  https://www.facebook.com/116733248412758/photos/a.758901990862544/2193196664099729/?type=1&theater

Seno, Bill.  Pushing for power, part 2.  The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban.  31 Oct 2008.  Web.  9 Apr 2019.  http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2008/10/pushing-for-power-part-one-bill-seno_31.html

Simmons, Louie.  Big bench for big pecs.  Muscle and Fitness.  Web.  11 Sep 2020.  https://www.muscleandfitness.com/flexonline/training/big-bench-big-pecs/

Strand, Terry. Bill Seno retrospective. Iron History. 5 May 2019. Web. 11 Sep 2020. https://www.ironhistory.com/forum/index.php?/topic/32286-bill-seno-retrospective/

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