Remembrances of Days gone by
9 January 2007If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Remembrances of Days gone by…Hugh Cassidy
A letter in the discussion forum got the memory banks churning…
Re: Five rep sets - the default rep range
Ron, do you remember in Muscular Development in the early 1970s the article on squatting by world champion powerlifter Hugh Cassidy? He stated in the article that the “Hallmark” of his squatting routine was 5 sets of 5. I will try to locate the article.
I also have a Weider magazine from early 1969 where there is an article on Jon Cole and his training. At that time he was listed in the article at 5′.11″ and 242 lbs. Most of his exercises after an 8 set warm-up were 4-5 sets of 5 reps with at various times some single reps with heavy weights. If I get some time I will try to type it on for people to see. It would be real interesting to see if possible when the 5×5 method came into vogue. I am looking through some old Hoffman books from the 1930s and 1940s that have the training of Stanko, Terpak, Moyer, and others to see what they were doing at that time. Ron what do you or anyone on this board has anything regarding Bob Weaver. I have some photos and meet results but no specific articles on his size or training lifts or methods. He held the world total record of 2040 in 1966 I believe. The last contest I saw of him was the 1969 Seniors where he bombed in the dead lifter after benching 525 and squatting with 805. He was in great shape to win the meet after the first two lifts. He disappeared after that. Best wishes to you all. Ron I hope I have been of some help to you and will continue to do the best I can.
Randy
Marty replies: Randy/Ron as you are likely aware Hugh was my power mentor. I would describe his training approach as methodical, stoic, scientific and freaking hard. He was a genius: a metal sculpture master whose iron gargoyles, demons and nightmare-psyche creations were shown in art galleries. He was a superb musician…bass player, cello, guitar; a professional level player who quit the musical club scene on account of “cigarette smoke.” He spoke fluent German and wrote like “an angel after three Irish whiskeys.” He taught troubled children for a living and mentored a small, ever-changing cast of resistance trainers, mostly powerlifters. We train in the basement of his cottage house on his Bowie Maryland farmette. The basement ceilings were no more than seven foot and the equipment was homemade: he welded all the benches, pulley devices, squat racks…he even cut two 75-pound plates (jagged edges, different sizes) out of scrap iron. He allowed only country music to be played while training: twangy and decidedly un-hip, he wanted ‘relaxation not excitation.’ He had an odd artistic streak and tried out training under different color overhead lights in the gym. We would stroll in and he might be repping away at seated alternate dumbbell presses bathed in blue or green light. This after he’d read something in the New England Journal of Medicine or some other resource material on “Effects of different lighting on resistance-trained college men” or something similar. It was odd. The training area looked like something out of The Munsters or The Adams Family and twice weekly the squad would show up and train. He didn’t have any Olympic barbells and we used 6-foot exercise bars and the Road Warrior-like homemade plates. Blue lights, creepy low wood beam ceilings while Hank Williams moaned on about some freaking tragedy or another. The guys who passed through were impressive neighborhood guys: Mark Dimiduk was a stud who beat Danny Wohleber to win the Junior Nationals, Ernie Frantz and Jim Cash to win the Nationals and the rest of the world to win the IPF World Championships back when there was only ONE world championship. He squatted and deadlifted 800 at 220 and benched 500. He apprenticed under Hugh before me. Marshall Peck benched 525, squatted 785 at 220, Joe Ferry pulled 700 at 198 with a torn biceps at the APF Nationals – we had great sessions. Hugh eventually settled on his “Ultimate Power Routine.” We trained twice a week and took all other days off on account of we were so shattered we could barely walk and needed the recovery time.
Squat
Work up to a top set of 8, 5 or 3 reps, depending on nearness of competition
Then perform back-off sets: three static sets with either 10, 8 or 5 reps.
Bench Press ditto
Deadlift ditto
Then: arms, curls, lying tricep extensions or pushdowns – shoulder presses on occasion
It took hours to get through the routine. We’d drink milk by the gallon and eat everything in sight afterwards. The idea was to grow humongous in order to maximize body leverages. The training was savage and methodical: squat up to a top set of 3 to 5 reps triple wearing knee wraps and a lifting belt then 3 sets of 8-reps reduced poundage and no wraps or a belt. Then immediately on to bench press and bench back-off sets. Then onto a full menu of deadlifts and three sets of back-off sets. Finally 4-5 sets of arms, triceps and biceps. We didn’t murderize ourselves doing arms as we did on the other lifts but we did them nonetheless usually super-setting in order to get out of the basement dungeon. Hugh loved 5-rep sets and I would trace their popularity to John McCallum’s “Key to Progress” series in Strength & Health. Odd you should mention Bob Weaver as Cassidy and I were at the National’s when Weaver bombed out. We went backstage and Weaver was sitting on a bench crying. Hugh walked over and with his usual dispassion said, “Say, what size shoe do you wear?” Weaver was as mystified by Cassidy’s question as I was. “Size 8.” Weaver said before recommencing his grief. Hugh came back over and pointed at Weaver’s dinky feet and said, “That guy’s feet are way too small for his body.” I believe Don Cundy won that year with the 1st 800-pound deadlift: that big redheaded oaf used to wear a green sparkling cape like a professional wrestler.
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