how bruce randall trained - randall & rader

S U N D AY, A U G U S T 2 4 , 2 0 0 8

How Bruce Randall Trained - Randall & Rader

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At 387 pounds, chest 61 inches

Incline Clean & Press - 330 lbs.


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Mr. Universe 1959, 225 lbs.


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At 187 lbs.

How Bruce Randall Trained

Up and Down to a Mr. Universe Title

by Bruce Randall & Peary Rader (1957)

“My introduction to the wonderful world of weights did not

begin until I was six months past my 21st year. Of course, I

knew such things existed but I was busy during my school

months playing football and flipping the shot. During the

summer months I held a wide variety of jobs consisting of

everything from working on a merchant vessel and work in a

lumber camp to taking a job as a coal miner in a coal breaker

in Pennsylvania. I believe that it was during my voyage on the

freighter that I learned the value of a proper diet that I was

later to apply in conjunction with my weight training. During

my summer at sea on the freighter I ate and slept regularly

and the combination of sea air, hard work and good food

increased by bodyweight from 164 pounds to 192 in 58 days.


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I was 17 at the time. Upon my return to school I played

football and dropped down to 185 pounds at which weight I

remained until after graduation.

“Upon entering the United States Marine Corps I was

determined to do something with my spare time so when I

received my orders to report to the Norfolk Naval Base for

duty after boot training I took along my shot. For several

months I concentrated on putting the shot and then suddenly

I made the great discovery! Just a short walk from the

Marine Barracks was one of the finest weight training rooms

in the Navy under the supervision of THE finest weightlifting

coach in the Navy – Chief Petty Officer Walter Metzler.

“When I returned from Christmas leave on January 3, 1953,

I weighed 203 pounds and wanted to weigh 225 in order to

play football for the base team. Now I realized that if I were

ever to weight 225 in time for spring training I would have to

increase my intake of food somewhat. In order to increase my

food intake, each time I sat down to a meal I would take an

extra chop, glass of mild, slice of bread, etc. By doing this at

every meal (and I made it a point never to miss a meal) my

stomach seemed to stretch in order to accommodate the

increase in food. Also my digestion, assimilation and other

body functions stepped up to take care of the increase. Now,

I do not necessarily recommend this method for those who

wish to gain weight. I merely relate this to illustrate how I

gained so rapidly.

“My training methods to be with consisted mainly of arm

work. I had a fairly good start as is indicated from the

measurements taken when I began training. This was due no

doubt to the different types of physical work I had done in

previous summers. I love chop wood and spent much time

cutting and selling cord wood while I was in school. This in

itself is, I believe, a wonderful exercise. Nevertheless I believe

that while hard work never hurt anyone, there is no

substitute for weight training when it comes to developing a

fine body and great strength.


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“I did 6 different types of exercises consisting of the

following:

2 arm Military curl with barbell – 3x6-8, 110 lbs.

Concentration curl with dumbbell – 3x 6-5, 50 lbs.

Two arm French curl with barbell – 3x6-8, 70 lbs.

Bentover triceps extension with DB – 3x6-8, 35 lbs.

Curl on incline with DB – 3x6-8, 45 lbs.

(done with one arm hanging over a gymnastic horse)

“These weights above were my starting weights but these

naturally increased with my training. The number of reps

may be puzzling at first, but this is the way I would work out:

I started with a weight I could handle for 3 sets of 6 reps and

work to 3 sets of 8 reps. Then I would add 10 pounds and

drop back down to 3 sets of 6. I used this system in almost all

of my routines although the reps differed depending on the

exercise.

“Surprisingly I found that in my case I could work on my

arms almost every day and make gains. I assume that this is

due to the natural recuperative powers of the arms. Because

they are always in use they seem to be able to regain total

strength with just one night’s rest and are ready for more the

next day (I know men with fine arms who do not agree with

this idea at all. Some of them claim that they have to give

their arms a day’s rest between workouts. All I can say is that

everyone is different and has to experiment to find which

routine, number of reps, weight, frequency of workouts, etc.

best suits his individual needs). Of course, in a large muscle

group such as the back or legs I found that this is not true at

all. They need longer periods of rest between workouts and

hence cannot be worked successfully every day.

“With this routine I found that my weight had increased from

203 pounds to 225 in the space of six weeks and that my arms

had increased an inch-and-a-half to 17 ¾”. Because of the

fact that football practice was still several months in the

offing I decided to try to go to 250 pounds and then drop


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back to 235 during Spring training.

“Following generally the same routine my weight soon

exceeded the 250 pound goal and I found myself deeply

engrossed in the sport. During this time I became acquainted

with two of the finest men I have ever met. I believe that I

was extremely fortunate to have been training in the Norfolk

Naval Air Station weight room under the supervision of Chief

Walter Metzler. His expert help and guidance were invaluable

to me during my tour of duty in Norfolk. Chief knew me

better than I knew myself and when I was discharged I really

felt the loss of his tutelage greatly.

“The other man who inspired me greatly was Steve Massios.

Steve was a very fine man and his death was a shock that I,

for one, still find hard to believe. Were he alive today he

would be one of those rare individuals in the world of weights.

A man who combines a great physique with world champion

lifting ability.

“By the time spring football training began, I weighed 265

pounds and found myself vastly increased in strength. At this

time Chief Metzler persuaded me to forget football and

concentrate on weight training. This I decided to do and

continued to use the principle of increasing my bodyweight in

order to increase my strength. Let me say here and now that

I do not believe that one can just get fat and become strong.

Things such as what foods were used to gain the weight,

routines used in training, living habits, etc. all have to be done

properly in order to become stronger through increases in

bodyweight. In other words, if one makes a corresponding

increase in the weights used in training as he gains weight, the

end result is increased strength. This, of course, is not the

only way to get stronger. It just happens to be the method I

employed. At this time I altered my routine and did the

following exercises:

DB Bench Press – 3x5-8, 120 lbs.

Decline DB Bench Press – 3x5-8, 130 lbs.


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Incline BB Presses – 3x5-8, 250 lbs.

Good Morning Exercise – 3x3-5, 295 lbs.

“These are beginning poundages which increased with

practice and effort. I also did some optional exercises at the

end of each routine which differed according to my whims at

the time. Here again I worked until I could get the high

amount of reps and then would add weight and reduce the

reps to the lower amount again. I took plenty of rest between

sets so as to be able to give the next one my all.

“Of course, during this time of bodyweight increase I had to

increase my intake of food. I spent much of my own money

on such items as milk, but seldom found myself without the

necessary amount of vegetables, meats, etc. The Marine

Corps feeds it personnel well indeed! Actually I used to

astound the cooks and men when I sat down to eat.

Breakfasts consisting of two quarts of milk, a loaf and a half

of bread and 28 fried eggs were not uncommon. I ate four

meals a day and never ate between meals unless it was milk. I

usually ate breakfast at 6:30, lunch at 11:30, supper at 4:30

and a meal at 9:30 just before bed. Milk was taken in great

quantities with an average of 8 to 10 quarts per day. An

average of 12 to 18 eggs per day also comprised my diet. I

once drank 19 quarts of milk in one day in addition to regular

meals, and once had 171 eggs at breakfast during the course

of a week. The boys used to keep score!

“I remember one incident that happened to me at lunch. I

weighed about 330 at the time and came to lunch ready to

eat like a horse. They were serving a favorite Chinese dish of

mine, fried rice with pork. It happened that I was eating at

the Navy mess hall at the time and so had a metal tray with

five different compartments in it to eat from. Well, I filled the

entire tray with rice and pork. The mound was so high that if

another spoonful was added it would run over the side of the

tray. Carefully balancing the tray so as not to drops a

precious grain, I made my way back to a table amid

incredulous stares from every sailor in the hall. Upon sitting


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down and tasting a few spoonfuls I found the rice to be

slightly undercooked. The center of each grain was a little

pasty and absorbed all the moisture in my mouth when I

chewed. In order to solve this frustrating dilemma, I secured

several quart bottles of water and proceeded to eat the rice

with a swig of water every so often. Under this procedure I

was able to finish the entire tray of fried rice and pork (I

made it an absolute rule to finish everything I took. Wasting

food is an unpardonable sin!). Upon getting up, I was, to put

it mildly, sufficiently filled. When I arrived back at the Marine

Barracks I found myself feeling rather strange sensations

going on in the region of my stomach. I made a hasty retreat

to my bed and lay upon my back for five hours taking short

panting breaths because I found that deep breathing caused

even more pressure on the stomach. Thereafter I made quite

certain that the rice was well cooked before I loaded up the

tray!

“I asked a friend when I began training to suggest an

exercise that would help me to build great strength. His reply

consisted of one word, “Squats.” I decided to try to do this

exercise and took a bar off the racks and proceeded to go

down with it. Unfortunately I found that when I tried to

come up with it I could not. The bar weighed 190 lbs. and I

weighed 203. My legs were so weak due to the fact that three

years ago, prior to my weight training, I broke my leg in seven

places, five in the ankle, one in the calf and one in the thigh.

The doctor who set it was a bone specialist and claimed that it

was the second worst break he had ever seen. Because of this

I decided, somewhat foolishly, not to include squats in my

routine.

“One day when I weighed about 245 I thought I’d try one

with 300 pounds just to see if I could make it of not. I went

down with the weight and had little difficulty coming back up

with it. Several months later at a bodyweight of 280 I made a

405 lb. squat successfully. Every so often I would try a squat

as my weight increased. In nine separate attempts I went

from a failure with 190 lbs. at a bodyweight of 203 to a


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success with 603 lbs. at a bodyweight of 355.

“I did do one exercise during this time which may have had

some influence on my squat. This was the good morning

exercise. When I reached over 400 lbs. on this exercise I

found that I could not do the exercise in the strict sense

because I had to band at the knees in order to compensate

for the weight at the back of the neck. I made 685 in this

manner with my back parallel to the floor and once almost

made 750 but was forced to dump it because of a shift in the

weight.

“I continued my training routine through the summer and fall

and trained an average of three to four days a week. In

December of 1053, just 11 months after I began training, I

entered my first meet, the Capital District, and was fortunate

enough to win with a 300 press, 230 snatch, 315 clean & jerk

and 845 total. I seldom worked on the Olympic lifts because I

devoted all my time to other heavy movements.

“On January 1, 1954, one year after I started my training,

my routine consisted of the following movements:

Incline Clean & Press – 3x3-5, 355 lbs.

Quarter Front Squat – 3x6-8, 1,010 lbs.

DB Bench Press – 3x3-5, 205 lbs.

DB Decline Press – 3x3-5, 195 lbs.

Good Morning – 3x3-5, 565 lbs.

“I found the ¼ Front Squats helped me push-press heavy

weights and believe it to be a fine exercise. My training

progressed until March 11, 1954, at which time I received my

discharge from the Marine Corps.

“My arrival in New York caused some excitement among my

friends because I hadn’t been home in 14 months since I

began training. When I last had seen them I weighed 203 lbs.

and now tipped the scales at 342, an increase of 139 lbs. in 14

months.

“I realize now that I was rather self-conscious and therefore


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felt ill at ease when I appeared at a meet. Perhaps that is the

reason that I lifted better in a gym that I was accustomed to

and where I knew everyone. In any event, my lifting was

usually better in the gym than at a meet. These are some of

the lifts I made at a bodyweight of about 380. None were

done officially and I make no claims to anything.

Press – 365x2, a single with 375.

Squat – 680.

Good Morning – with legs bent, back parallel to floor, 685.

Deadlift – 730x2, 770x1.

Curl – 228.

DB Bench Press – 220’s x 2.

Bench Press – 3 second pause at chest, 482.

Decline Bench – 220’s x 1.

45 degree Incline Clean & Press – 380x3, 410x1.

¼ Front Squat – 1,320, stood supporting weight at chest

with well in excess of 2,100.

“I continued my training and went to a bodyweight of 410

lbs., but for man reasons I found it difficult to completely

concentrate on my lifting.

“I am a firm believer in the power of the mind when it comes

to lifting, or anything else for that matter. It is only with the

constant urging of the mind upon the body to do more and

more that one attains the pinnacle. As much as one uses his

body in lifting, I believe that he uses his mind more. Strength,

I believe, depends upon one’s mental attitude. How many

times I’ve heard a man say, “I can’t lift this,” and

consequently he can’t. Conversely, many men can lift a

weight because they think they can. And they do! It all boils

down to this – without the proper frame of mind nothing is


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possible and with the proper frame of mind nothing is

impossible.

“The reasons for my decision to reduce are manifold and too

complex to go into here. Suffice to say that I decided to look

at life from the other side of the weight picture.

“I expressed my idea of weight reduction to many people and

while the majority thought it a good idea, many (including an

“authority” in the field of weights) did not believe it possible.

This “authority,” after listening to my plan said, “Never.” I

replied that as far as I was concerned there is no such word

as never in a lifter’s vocabulary. I felt this way about the

matter – take a sculptor about to create a statue. He takes a

big, ungainly piece of rock and with hammer and chisel he

chips away at it until the desired effect is created. Well, I was

that big ungainly bulk of rock and the barbells and dumbbells

were my hammer and chisel. I also had something on my side

that the sculptor does not have – Diet. With this attitude I

began my reduction of bodyweight. On August 2, 1955, I

weighed 401 pounds in my tee-shirt, slacks and loafers.

“I felt that I would have to change my routines and diet

radically if I were to make a successful reduction of

bodyweight. After giving the problem some thought I decided

to try to reverse everything I did in order to gain weight, just

to see if that would be effective. Each time I sat down to eat I

reduced the quantity of food slightly and cut down on such

foods as bread, potatoes and other starchy and fatty foods.

At the same time I made certain that I had a high intake of

protein and plenty of green vegetables, fruits and generally a

good, well-balanced diet. In my routines I reduced the

amount of weight used and increased the number of sets and

reps. Whereas formerly I had 3-5 reps for 3 sets, I now did

4-5 sets of 12-15 reps depending on the exercise. My routine

consisted of more than 20 exercises and lasted 6 to 7 hours a

day. Because of this demanding schedule I put all else aside

and concentrated (believe me, it takes a lot of concentration)

on rearranging my body.


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“I would like to bring out something here that helped me

immensely, and which I included in my daily workouts. It will,

I believe, help those who wish to reduce. This exercise is

running. I believe it to be very beneficial and it really works

wonders in reducing the circumference of the ankles, calves,

thighs, buttocks and hips. Of course I did not start running

immediately. For a couple of weeks I went for walks,

gradually increasing the distance and pace. After a month or

so I began jogging and walking at alternate intervals and

finally I found myself running 3-5 miles each day in

conjunction with my training routines. I found that it did not

adversely affect my workouts in the gym and in addition to

the above mentioned benefits it increased my stamina and

endurance greatly.

“A typical diet would consist of something like this:

Breakfast – 2 soft-boiled eggs, plain; pint of skim milk; glass

of orange juice; apple.

Lunch – salad, dates, nuts.

Supper – round steak, two vegetables, quart of skim milk,

gelatin.

“I use powdered milk and skim milk mixed together, thus

increasing the protein content. I also took coffee at times

finding it tended to curtail my appetite.

“My routine, although constantly changing, went something

like this:

Situps, leg raises, hanging leg raises – 20-50 reps.

Squats without weight – sets of 20.

Leg curls and extensions – sets of 25.

Bench presses, flyes – sets of 15-20.

Chins, dips, curls, rows, upright rows – sets of 15-25.

Seated DB presses, incline presses – sets of 10-15.

More situps, leg raises and hanging leg raises – sets of 25-50.

Miscellaneous optional exercises at the end of each workout.

“I spent a good deal of time in the gym during this


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transformation and once trained 27 hours in two days, and

81 hours in one week. I took very few days off and once

trained 27 consecutive days. This constant working has the

desired effect of tearing down the superfluous tissue in the

body.

“I remember my 1956 New Years resolution that in addition

to my regular daily routines and running, which kept me

really busy, I promised I would do 5.000 situps a day for the

first 15 days of 1956. It was a grueling task but I finally

accomplished the 75,000 situps and feel that they helped me

greatly in reducing my waist some 33 inches, as well as giving

me more faith in myself.

“I constantly put personal goals before myself and these goals

acted as a stimulus of sorts. In other words, I would set a

date, perhaps three weeks hence, when I would try to

accomplish some change such as a loss of 12 pounds or a

reduction around the chest or waist of several inches. This

idea of using goals is something that I learned when I was

gaining weight and strength. I would tell myself that at a

certain date I would press or deadlift, etc., such a poundage.

Thus I found myself constantly challenged and I love

challenges!

“In any event, I found myself on the morning of March 20,

1956, tipping the scales at a bodyweight of 183 pounds,

having made a reduction of 218 pounds in a period of 32

weeks. Some people thought that I made the reduction too

rapidly but I can honestly say that I felt fine throughout the

entire transition and suffered no pain of ill feeling whatsoever.

I would like to point out here that I also felt very well at a

bodyweight of 410 pounds except that I perspired profusely

and found myself possessing a great deal of strength but

rather short of endurance.

“In conclusion I would like to say that I have found these two

rules enormously helpful in any undertaking I have

attempted:


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1. Ask and ye shall receive.

2. The Lord helps those who help themselves.

The following is a letter from Bruce’s trainer, Walter Metzler,

now living in Kansas City, and offers a few sidelights on

Bruce Randall.

Dear Peary,

I received your letter requesting photos of Bruce Randall

over a week ago but have just now finished rummaging

though things for these photos enclosed. Also have been

trying to recall some of the things of interest in his training.

I’ll just jot down things as they come to mind.

Bruce averaged about 2 hours training time and at first it

was 5 to 6 days a week. After about two-thirds or three-

fourths of a year training it became too rough and he made it

every other day, sometimes with 2 days in a row.

He had an easy job of driving, so could conserve energy there

and could get almost as much as he wanted to eat in the

Marines, but he did buy some himself. His consumption of

food was fabulous. One day he ate 28 eggs at one sitting. Of

course he consumed a great quantity of milk and would drink

it at times all through the day and evening. An ordinary

cafeteria tray would be filled up and then piled up in a heap

to overflowing He’d finish that and maybe get more. His

assimilation of food was about as good as a person could hope

for and very few people are blessed with this normal function

of the body.

Rests between each exercise and each set of an exercise were

long – 5 to 10 minutes. at first he did normal reps but during

about the last 6 months reps hardly ever went over 5; mostly

3 reps with as heavy a poundage as he thought he could

handle. Just as soon as he thought he could handle more

weight he moved up, without a system of increases. During all

his training it was practically all upper body work. He did do


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some deadlifting once in a while during the latter part but it

wasn’t actually part of his training program. Also a deep knee

bend once in a long time to break his own record. I think his

first squat record was with 400. Remember the old saying of

Mark Berry? “Increase the rib box and you’ll get big all

over.” Well, that’s what Bruce did except that he only worked

the upper body. Sort of like going into uncharted waters as

he also did when he made his large reduction in weight.

One aspect of Bruce that you mustn’t overlook and that’s the

mind, will power or whatever you want to term it. Singleness

of mind and the will power to stick to something with the

courage to go on in spite of what people might say is a great

factor to success. Bruce is a very intelligent person and I was

happy to work with him on his training program, and to know

him.

In fact, my best friends have all been barbell men. They seem

to be a breed apart. They have a brighter outlook on life,

cleaner living, cleaner thinking, independent thinking.

Bruce made sure to get plenty of rest and sleep. He also had

an even temperament and was good natured and modest

about anything he accomplished. Your frame of mind also has

a lot to do with your training even to a greater degree than

your frame of mind while eating, because if you’re upset,

angered or troubled while eating the food will be delayed in

being digested, but if you are distracted while you’re working

out you don’t put the required concentration into your lifts

and the workout becomes almost a total loss.

I forgot to mention earlier that his gaining programs hardly

ever consisted of more than 6 exercises.

This is about all the information I can think of. A lot of it is

just general because Bruce never had any set system. He

would change exercises, poundages, sets, reps and workout

days whenever he felt it would benefit him.

Bruce is an exceptional man in a lot of ways and a lot of the


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Newer Post Older Post

things he did the ordinary man would never get away with.

Editor’s note – In reply to my question as to whether he ever

planned to increase his bodyweight again, Bruce says, “I

doubt that I will ever increase my size greatly again, but do

not discount the possibility. Weighing that much alters one’s

life completely. I find I have been living two lives, so to speak.

Actually, I felt fine when weighing 400 pounds but found that

I perspired freely and had a bit of trouble getting about the

city. Of course I needed great amounts of sleep and food. My

food bill (early ‘50s) was never under $80 per week and very

often well over $100. I know that if I wanted to gain again I

could weight 500 lbs. in 18 months time. Many people say

that added weight is not necessary to become stronger.

Perhaps they are right, but in my case it was necessary

because I believed it was.

Home

B L O G A R C H I V E

► 2011 (135)

► 2010 (149)

► 2009 (199)

▼ 2008 (256)

► December (22)

► November (31)

► October (21)

► September (19)

▼ August (33)

The Olympic Squat - Tommy Kono

Irregular Training - Bob Hoffman

Improve Your Press - John Grimek

Mac Batchelor - John Grimek

Warren Lincloln Travis - Ray Van Cleef

Sets And Reps - Morris Weissbrot


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Specialization Programs - Anthony Ditillo

My Training For The Press - John Davis

Power Rack Work by Bob Simpson (1976) ...

How Bruce Randall Trained - Randall & Rader

Dezso Ban - Anthony Ditillo

Deadlift Grip Development - Ernest F. Cottrell

Deltoid Development - Barton Horvath

Big Arms - Bob Hoffman

Tommy Kono - Charles Coster

Dumbbell Training Builds Lifting Power - Smith and...

A Letter From Adolph Nordquest - Earle E. Liederma...

Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back - MikeLambert...

John Davis - Bob Nealy

The Two Hands Deadlift - Charles A. Smith

The One Arm Deadlift - Charles A. Smith

Training For The Press - Paul Anderson

Power For The Snatch And Clean - Charles A. Smith

Strength, Bulk And New Movements - EarleLiederman...

Power and Bulk - Joe Weider

Triceps Development - John McWilliams

Problems Of The Press Part 2 - Charles A. Smith

Problems Of The Press Part 1 - Charles A. Smith

Karl Moerke - David P. Willoughby

How Hepburn Avoids Staleness - Charles A. Smith

The Rectangular Fix/Back Hand Curl - Charles A.Sm...

Giants In Strength - Mac Batchelor

The Front Squat - Doug Hepburn

► July (19)

► June (23)

► May (15)

► April (18)

► March (18)

► February (30)

► January (7)


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how bruce randall trained - randall & rader

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