15 THINGS I LEARNED FROM SERGIO OLIVA SR.

1) Warmup Very Lightly:

This may be because at the time we went Chicago Sergio was 46 years old, so he needed lots
of warmup. For example, when doing squats the first set he would actually squat with an
empty 45 pound Olympic bar for 10 reps—and it looked like he was having trouble doing it, as
his legs trembled and he had trouble going up and down. But by his tenth set he would squat
with 550 pounds for four reps with no problem, going up and down like a jack hammer. On his
first set of bench presses with 135 pounds his arms shook and Sergio got buried with the
weight and could only do six reps (I thought he was just kidding around). But after eight sets he
easily did 315 pounds for 20 reps, and on his final set, 225 pounds for 50 reps!

Sergio needed lots of warmup before he could use heavy weights to get loose and get in the
groove. He generally did about three warmup sets on basic movements, making sure he was
well-warmed up before handling heavy weights. Not necessarily essential for younger
bodybuilders, but a good model for middle-aged bodybuilders and seniors.

2) Use High Repetitions:

Sergio preferred to do high reps on all his exercises, at least 20 reps a set and sometimes
more—even on biceps and triceps, deltoids, lats and pecs. On one set of bench presses he did
225 pounds for 50 reps! He never did less than 10 reps on any set, and that was mostly for
legs. On upper body he preferred high reps—at least 15 to 25 reps. He said to Bob Kennedy, “I
don’t do that 5-6 rep stuff anymore. It’s too hard on the joints.” Sergio said he felt he grew
better using high repetitions and it was better quality muscle so when he dieted for a contest
he maintained more muscle mass as he dieted down

3) Use the Rest-Pause Principle:

I would estimate that Sergio used rest-pause on 90 per cent of his exercises. On all upper body
exercises Sergio used the rest-pause principle on just about every exercise and every set. For
example, on his final set of Smith machine seated behind-the-neck presses with three plates
aside (about 300 pounds), he did 10 reps, paused maybe five seconds to take in some deep
breathes, then pumped out another five reps, paused again to take in more deep breathes,
and then pumped out another five reps. That way he got his 20 reps—which was the minimum
number of reps he would do.

Even on bench presses he would use 275 pounds for 20 non-stop partial reps, then pause for
several seconds to take in some deep breathes and then pump out another five reps, to get 25
total reps. On another set of bench presses he did 25 reps, rest-paused and did another eight
reps, for a 33 rep total. On lat pull downs to-the-neck he did 200 pounds for 10 reps, and then
rest-paused for maybe five seconds to take in several deep breathes, and then he pumped out
another five reps. He would pause again for another five seconds to take in several deep
breathes, and pump out a final five reps, to achieve his goal of 20 reps.

The thing about Sergio is sometimes he wouldn’t use the rest-pause technique to get his high
reps, so it’s tough to give an exact routine because he might change something depending on
how well a muscle was pumping and working.

4) Keep Constant-Tension On the Muscle At All Times:

When I asked Sergio why he did only the bottom one-third of the range of motion on preacher
curls and the top one-half on concentration curls he said to me, “Why go all the way up on
preacher curls? That just takes the tension off the lower biceps. Just do the bottom one-third
of the range of motion and keep hammering away at the lower biceps.” He said about
concentration curls, “Why go all the way down on concentration curls? That just takes the
tension off the part of the upper biceps that creates peak. Just do the top one-half and keep
hammering away at the part that creates peak.”

Between sets when working chest when I asked him why he used such short, fast, partial reps
on bench presses he told me “because I can feel the muscle working better that way.” To make
his point he told me to place my hand on his chest. He grabbed my hand with his massive mitt
and put it on his chest. He moved his arm back and forth in a full bench pressing motion. “Do
you feel my chest working?” asked Sergio. I kind of mumbled and said, “Yeah, I guess so, a
little.” Then Sergio dropped his shoulders, arched his chest and did a six inch range of motion.
He said, “Do you feel my chest working now?” Boy, could I ever! It felt like his chest had come
alive, like it was bulging and contracting like crazy, like an alien was going to pop through his
massive pectoral in any second!!

Sergio always knew how to work his muscles in the most effective manner. On many upper
body exercises he did only the bottom of the range of motion, only the middle of the range of
motion, or the top. He regarded full range of motion exercises as wasted effort—at least for
upper body exercises. However, there were exceptions to this rule. On some exercises, such as
behind-the-back cable side laterals for medial deltoids and cable front raises for the anterior
deltoids, and bentover cable laterals for the posterior heads, he used a full range of motion
but for high reps—15 to 25 per set.

Another exercise he did for a full range of motion was an exercise I had never seen or heard of
before, kind of a cable crossover behind the back while sitting at a high stool. If there was ever
a model bodybuilder for instinctive training it was Sergio. Through experience he knew exactly
how to get the most out of every exercise he did.

5) Use Continuous Motion/Constant Tension:

When Sergio did curls, presses, bench presses, incline presses, decline presses, wide-grip chins,
rows, pull downs, dips and other upper body exercises, the bar or dumbbells (or his body on
chins and dips) never stopped moving during a set until exhaustion forced the set to end.
There are no pauses at the top or bottom of the range of motion because his range of motion
on upper body exercises was so small. The muscle was under tension from the first repetition
until the last. The set only ends when the muscle is exhausted.

6) Never Train to Absolute Failure or Do Forced Reps:

Sergio, like Bill Pearl and Lou Ferrigno, did not believe in training to absolute failure on his sets,
or doing forced reps and negatives, which are very taxing to the nervous and recovery systems
of the body. He always trained well within his means. He felt the volume of sets he did and
doing high reps and going to maybe one or two or three reps from failure is what gave him the
best results. Although he did no forced reps or cheating reps it somehow seemed to me that
he was working harder than anyone in the gym, as he was gleaming in sweat from all the sets
he did. I would say many sets were taken to 95 to 98 per cent from total failure.

7) Do Supersets or “Combinations”:
Sergio employed antagonistic supersets a lot (for opposing or opposite muscle groups such as
biceps and triceps and pecs and lats), but not in the traditional manner. He called his supersets
“combinations,” while I called them “alternates.” Sergio would do a set of for pecs, and then
rest for a minute or 90 seconds, and then do a set for lats. So after doing six sets of high reps of
bench presses, he might combine five sets of bench presses with wide-grip chins, and three
sets of bench presses with lat pull downs. Sergio felt training in this fashion allowed him to use
heavier weights and to recover better between sets. He also felt it gave him a better pace or
tempo to his workouts.

On lighter exercises when doing combinations Sergio might rest only 30 seconds between
exercises, on others 60 seconds, and on really heavy sets, as long as two minutes. Occasionally
he would do standard antagonistic supersets, or compound supersets—no rest between
exercises–but usually for arm training (Zottman alternate curls and wide-grip barbell curls or
one-arm dumbbell curls with straight-bar preacher curls) but sometimes for lats too
(supersetting wide-grip pull downs with narrow-grip (curl-grip) pull downs for five compound
supersets).

One thing Sergio did that seemed odd is sometimes he would do supersets or combinations
but not in equal numbers. For example, he might combine seated cable triceps extensions for
five set with only three sets one-arm reverse pushdowns. Why? I don’t know. I should have
asked him.

Another odd thing Sergio did was to combine exercises that most people would never think to
superset, such as Smith machine incline presses for chest with cable upright rows for deltoids.
Why? Again, I should have asked him but I was too busy making notes and watching him.

8) Train the Muscle With a Variety of Exercises to Work It From Every Angle For Full
Development:
Sergio did many exercises for each muscle group, working the muscle sometimes from every
conceivable angle, to achieve full development. For example, to work biceps he might do
seated barbell curls (which do not allow much range of motion because the bar hits the thighs)
to work the middle or belly of the biceps. To work lower biceps he did one-half or one-third
preacher curls, and to work the upper biceps he did one-half one-arm concentration curls. He
also did wide-grip barbell curls on an Olympic bar (out to the collars) to work the outer and
lower biceps.

When I asked Sergio why he used such a wide-grip on barbell curls he said in his thick, Cuban
accent, “Because it pulls the biceps down on to the forearm,” and it did look as if his biceps
originated below the elbows. Sergio had a reason for everything he did in the gym. Nothing
was accidental. Sergio also did reverse curls, Hammer curls and Zottman curls to work the
forearms, lower biceps and brachialis. He also did wrist curls and reverse wrist curls for
forearms, and his forearms were the biggest I’ve ever seen.

Chest was worked with flat, incline and decline presses, as well as dips, flyes and cable
crossovers. Deltoids were worked with seated Smith machine behind-the-neck presses,
machine front presses, side dumbbell laterals, upright rows, and front, side, and cable laterals,
again for high reps (usually 15 to 25 per set). Lats were trained with chins, pull downs with a
wide-grip, a narrow-grip, a parallel-grip, and various rowing exercises. Triceps were worked
with pushdowns, reverse push downs, and various extensions (seated, lying, cable). Thighs
were worked with squats, front squats, hack squats, 45 degree leg presses, leg extensions and
leg curls, as well as stiff-leg deadlifts and good mornings for hamstrings and lower back.

9) Work to Achieve a Maximum Pump in the Muscle:

Sergio tried to achieve the biggest pump in his muscles as he could, and I mean a real blood
gorging, rock hard pump. As he did his sets it looked as if his muscles were getting bigger and
bigger and bigger, as if someone had stuck an air tube in his butt and he was inflating, and he
was simply stupendous to look at. Everything about his style of training was aimed at achieving
a maximum pump—his preference for high reps, a large volume of sets, using the rest-pause
principle to achieve high reps, sometimes doing super sets or combinations, and training in
constant-motion/constant-tension style.

Some people might ask, “Why would Sergio do bench presses with 225 pounds for 50 reps?”
Because it was his last set of bench presses and that’s what gave his pecs a great pump. Sergio
never stopped working a muscle until he was satisfied it was pumped to the max. He always
only wanted to end working a muscle when it was pumped as it could be.

10) Do a Large Number of Sets For Every Muscle Group:

Sergio’s training was the antithesis of Mike Mentzer’s Heavy-Duty training. As mentioned
previously, Sergio never counted sets. He did the number of sets that he felt worked the
muscle the way he wanted. On average it was 24 to 30 sets per muscle group, with maybe a
few less sets when working biceps and triceps.

As many sets as Sergio did when Bob Kennedy and I was in Chicago, he did even more sets
when he was younger, and often did ten sets of 20 reps with many basic
exercises. Bodybuilding author Norman Zale of Chicago had the opportunity to watch Sergio
train many times. He once saw Sergio superset bench presses (20 reps a set) with wide-grip
chins for ten sets and then he supersetted dips and dumbbell flyes for 15 sets of 20 to 25 reps
each. You think that might pump the pecs a little?

Sergio headed for the showers but every couple of minutes he would come out with just a
towel around his waist and do another set of dips for 25 reps. Then back to the shower, then
back into the gym to do another set of dips for 25 reps. This was repeated several more times.
Even as he dressed he would go back into the gym and do more dips. Just his socks and
underwear and more dips. Then his pants and back to do more dips. Even when fully dressed,
Sergio would assess his arms in the mirror and go back and do another set of high rep dips.
Why did Sergio do this? Obviously he wasn’t satisfied that his pecs and triceps were as
pumped as he wanted them.

After doing heavy Smith machine behind-the-neck presses with as much as three plates for 20
reps, and heavy dumbbell presses and side laterals, and cable upright rows Sergio would finish
off his deltoids by doing five trisets of cable laterals to-the-front to work his anterior deltoids,
side laterals behind his body to work his medial heads, and bent over laterals to work the
posterior heads. He used only 30 pounds on a cable crossover machine but he did 15 to 25
reps for each head. He just went back and forth for each deltoid, only stopping when the five
trisets were done for each deltoid. This gave his deltoids a massive finishing pump.

11) Train With Moderate to Moderately Heavy Weights But Don’t Get Fixated on How Much
Weight You Use:
Some exercises Sergio used some pretty heavy weights, such as squatting 550 pounds for four
reps, doing lat pull downs to-the-front with 300 pounds for 10 reps, and Smith machine seated
behind-the-neck presses with over 300 pounds for 20 reps. But on some exercises he used
what were probably moderate weights for him, or even fairly light weights, so he used a
combination of heavy and light training, some sets for 10 to 15 reps, and others for 20 to 50
reps. He used weights sometimes that were 60 per cent to 75 per cent of max weight.

On bench presses the heaviest he went was only 315 pounds because he did such high reps—
an exercise most bodybuilder’s consider a heavy, low rep, mass building exercise. On one-arm
dumbbell rows the most he used one day a week was a 120 pound dumbbell, and for the other
lat workout, only an 80 pound dumbbell. For a man as strong as Sergio an 80 pound dumbbell
for one-arm rows must have been very light but he did high reps and continuous-motion and
constant-tension as he rowed the dumbbell as if he was sawing wood to stretch the lat at the
bottom and contract it as the dumbbell was pulled into the lower abs.

Sergio never had his ego wrapped up in how much weight he lifted like many amateur
bodybuilders who groan and yell and draw attention to themselves. Sergio barely made a
sound of exertion doing any exercise. He had no problem using light weights for high reps, like
using only 30 pounds on cable laterals (front, rear, side) for sets of 15 to 25 reps, or triceps
extensions with 85 pounds, wrist curls with 75 pounds, one-arm dumbbell preacher curls with
a 45 pound dumbbell, or cable crossovers with 50 pounds—all for 20 reps a set. Even on
decline Smith machine presses on a few sets he used only 155 pounds—a weight most pro
bodybuilders would warmup with—which he combined with pec deck flyes. But again, I remind
readers he was 46 and not as strong as when he was much younger.

To Sergio barbells and dumbbells and exercise machines were just tools to work his muscles,
and since his goal was high reps and to pump his muscles to the max, he focussed on how
much his muscles pumped and how hard his muscles worked, and not on how much weight
they lifted. I have been harping on this point in my articles—work the muscle, don’t lift the
weight–when I’ve talked about innervation training and training according to the Blood
Volume Principle, but I think it has more weight coming from a three-time Mr. Olympia champ
like Sergio Oliva, don’t you agree?

12) Breakup Workouts Up:

Train a Muscle for a While, Then Stop and Train Another Muscle Group For a While, Then Go
Back and Do More Sets For the First Muscle Trained. You are probably confused by this
technique Sergio did. To make it clearer, Sergio might train pecs and lats with supersets or
combinations for an hour, then he might train deltoids for 20 minutes to half an hour, and
then he would go back and do more sets for his chest, and if he felt he needed it, and his lats
too. I’d never seen or heard of a champion bodybuilder who trained this way, but it that’s
what Sergio did.

Sergio trained six days a week, but he trained some muscle groups more than two or three
times a week. On chest-lat day he would train pecs and lats for a while, then train delts for a
while, and then go back to pecs and lats (or just more pec work). On deltoid day he would train
delts, then do some chest exercises, and then train delts again. On arm days he would work
arms, then do some deltoid exercises, then go back to arms. Even on leg day he might stop
training legs in the middle of the workout to do some chest and/or back exercises and then go
back and finish training legs.

Sergio felt by training in such a fashion and breaking up his workouts the muscle being worked
was allowed to rest and recover for a while, so when he went back to training it again after
working another muscle group, he was stronger and could use more weight and do more reps
without burning the muscle out. He also felt this technique allows him to use a greater number
of exercises to work a muscle and from more angles for better development. He also felt it
kept his muscles pumped and supplied with more blood to bring in fresh nutrients and to carry
away lactic acid and other fatigue products.

13) Train Fairly Fast:

Sergio trained with Ron Hagen and as soon as Ron did a set Sergio would do his. He rested only
as long as it took for Ron to do his set and to change the weight on the bar because Sergio
liked to keep a steady pace to his workouts. Between sets Sergio would sing softly to himself,
or wander around the gym and encourage members at his gym as they did their sets. “Come
on, John, two more reps,” or “Good set, Bill, way to go,” “Good set, Joan,” and so on. It didn’t
matter if the gym members had one-tenth the development of himself, Sergio sincerely
seemed interested in their progress. Most pro bodybuilders are barely aware of the other
bodybuilders training around them.

14) Train Some Muscle Groups On Consecutive Days:

Sergio would train the same muscle group on consecutive days and even sometimes three
days in a row. Chest and deltoids got worked three days in a row, but with different exercises.
This is not as strange as it sounds. Albert Beckles said his thighs greatly improved when he
trained them six days a week. Frank Zane would sometimes train back or thighs on four
consecutive days if he felt they were not as muscular as he wanted them to be before
contests. Don Ross, 1977 WBBG Pro Mr. America champion, and one of the most
knowledgeable experts in bodybuilding, encouraged MuscleMag readers when I was editor to
train each muscle group on two consecutive days, which he called “Double Blasting.” Ross said
he made great gains in size and muscularity training a muscle two days in a row.

Sergio instinctively hit upon this training method back in the 1960’s. Some people might have
recovery issues but Sergio had super endurance and recovery ability and he was one of those
people who the more he trained, the bigger and more muscular he got.

15) Never Drink Water During a Workout:

I noticed that Sergio never drank water during his two hour workouts. He drank hot coffee
from a thermos. Sergio said drinking water cooled him down too much, so that was reserved
for the end of the workout. When I asked him why he drank hot coffee, he replied, “Because it
makes me sweat and the caffeine gives me energy.” Makes sense, doesn’t it. In this regard
Sergio was decades ahead of his time.