THE OG: The Gironda Principles, Pt.1

In which I explain the fundamental principles and ideas underlying Vince's approach to bodybuilding

Vince in wise old man mode, probably around about the time he wrote his book The Wild Physique (1984)

Welcome back, my friends, to the OG, my series on all things Vince Gironda. I sat down over Christmas and really had a good think about everything I could say with regard to the great Iron Guru. Turns out, there’s a lot. The most logical place to begin, after the biography I posted last time, is with a discussion of the principles Gironda followed in his bodybuilding system.

Now, most bodybuilders don’t necessarily have a system. Sure, they work out and they know what works for them, but they don’t have a properly thought-out and articulated approach to bodybuilding. On a few, like Mike Mentzer, who I’ve written about in detail, have a system, or something approaching one.

Vince was one of those rare bodybuilders, as cerebral as physical, and the ins and out of his system are worth discussion in detail. I’ve decided to discuss the system in two parts, focusing first, in this part, on how Gironda thought exercise should be performed and its relation to diet. In the second part, which should follow next week, I’ll talk about his views on aesthetics and how the bodybuilder should add mass to his or her body. These posts will be illustrated with choice quotations from Vince himself, especially from his 1984 book The Wild Physique (hereafter “WP”, with a page reference). The Wild Physique represents the consummation of some 40 years of training and teaching, and many of his ideas that are expressed elsewhere find their fullest, or final, form in this book.

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Vince in his prime, in the late 1950s

I have been involved in teaching bodybuilding for 40 years. I have done this at my own gym in North Hollywood and through my courses and seminars…

There's no doubt about it — I am hated and I am loved. Why? Because I am dogmatic. I have this unforgivable feeling inside me that when it comes to bodybuilding I know what I'm talking about. If it ruffles feathers, so be it. I can neither compromise to save feelings nor stretch the truth to flatter and please. I am my own man — egocentric, controversial, and proud. I have been called irrational, rude, and even contradictory. Judge for yourself after reading this book.

My attitudes about training and nutrition come straight from the shoulder, and occasionally it gets me into steamy situations — usually only when I come nose to nose with someone with an ego as developed as my own. But for those who are willing to listen, a different story unfolds. As long as my advice is followed faithfully, I will work my butt off to help that person. If my advice is sought and then rejected, I cannot help but lose interest. That's putting it mildly. It irks my ego and the individual risks getting booted out of my gym. (WP, p.11)

Vince Gironda’s voice, and his confidence in his own methods, is unmistakable. And yet, there was great subtlety and understanding in his system. Vince may have been a martinet in certain regards, and he could be stubborn and certainly not a man to cross, but that didn’t prevent him from thinking clearly and in depth, or from changing his opinions on certain subjects as a result of his experience. Fundamentally, his approach to every aspect of training, from exercise to diet to posing, was dictated by his encounter with the real world of being a bodybuilder and training to win.

All of mv recommendations — whether for doing half reps, mid-range curls, or eating two dozen eggs a day-are me. It is the result of 40 years in the bodybuilding business, training myself and thousands of other men and women, day in and day out. I recommend only what I believe in. Perhaps one day you will be able to improve on my methods. But for now they are the best there is. They are designed to build and shape the human body... and that's what this sport is all about! (WP, p.28)

Here, in this first part of this two-part mini-series on the Gironda principles, are some of the fundamentals of his approach to exercise and nutrition in particular.

Aim for Density and Don’t Overtrain

Vince’s flagship workout was the 8x8, which he called the “Honest Workout” (expect a separate installment on this). As the name suggests, you perform eight sets of eight reps for a particular exercise.

The devil is in the details, though, as always for Vince. You want to perform those eight sets of eight reps with as little rest as possible, increasing the density of the work you perform in order to stimulate more muscle growth.

Rather than necessarily adding more weight to the bar, Vince would have you decrease rest between sets, so that you had to perform the same amount of work in less time. In his opinion, and in the opinion of sports scientists, this was just as effective a means of building muscle for the bodybuilder as adding weight to the bar. If you start with 30 seconds between sets, you can end up, after a while, with barely 10 or 15 seconds between each set.

Rather than using mechanical stress to stimulate muscle growth in a single set, what you’re instead doing, generally, is accumulating fatigue. The first set of eight may not feel hard, but by the time you get to the fifth or sixth set with little rest in between, you’re really going to be feeling it. This is very different from doing a single set of eight with a weight you can only lift for eight reps. The weight on the bar will be much, much lighter, but it will feel just as heavy by the time you reach your final rep.