OLD
SCHOOL
FREAKY FREDDY’S
LOU FERRIGNO
INCREDIBLE
HULK CHEST
by FRED ANTWI
Whether you think of him
as the 1973-1974 IFBB Mr.
Universe or as the demonic “Hulk” from
the television series The Incredible Hulk, Lou
Ferrigno has one of the most recognizable faces
anywhere. But it’s his beast-like body that
propelled him to stardom. Early in his career, Lou
trained with Arnold Schwarzenegger and while a
young man he first became Mr. America and then
Mr. Universe twice. The iconic documentary
Pumping Iron, which revolved around his attempt
to defeat Arnold at the Mr. Olympia competition
in 1975, also catapulted Lou to stardom. In
terms of functional strength, Lou was one of the
original eight participants in the very first World’s
Strongest Man competition in 1977.
“ON-STAGE, ON-SCREEN,
ON-PLATFORM,
LOU FERRIGNO IS ONE
OF BODYBUILDING’S MOST
LEGENDARY FIGURES EVER.”
THE INCREDIBLE CHEST
When it came to his Hulk-like chest, Lou used a meat-and-potatoes,
heavy grinding workout. He’s known for saying that he prefers using
barbells over dumbbells, and that he avoided full lockout on pressing
actions, in order to keep the tension on his pectorals and not his triceps.
Lou liked to perform the “basics” of chest training, like the bench, inclines
and declines, and flyes. He also had a preference for using a much
narrower grip than convention dictates: for example, on the flat bench
press, instead of using the standard 1.5 times shoulder width, he would
keep his grip barely wider than his shoulders.
HULK-LIKE STATS
NAME:
LOUIS JUDE
“LOU” FERRIGNO
BORN:
NOVEMBER 9, 1951
BIRTHPLACE:
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
HEIGHT:
6 FOOT 4
There wasn’t much unorthodox about the sets and reps scheme that
Lou used to forge his behemoth chest. As a major muscle group,
the chest responds well to heavy, compound lifts, and that’s exactly
what Lou performed. Whereas with smaller body parts like arms,
Lou would take it up to the high range of muscle hypertrophy, when
it came to his chest, he opted for heavy weights, moderate reps and a
high volume of sets. It all came down to execution using impeccable
form, and naturally after such an intense workout, the elements of
diet and recovery were paramount.
EXERCISE SETS REPS
BENCH PRESS 5 10, 9, 8, 7, 6
INCLINE BENCH PRESS 5 10, 9, 8, 7, 6
13 YEARS OLD DUMBBELL PULLOVER 4 10, 10, 10, 10
IDOL: DUMBBELL FLYE 4 10, 10, 10, 10
STEVE REEVES WEIGHTED DIP 3 12, 12, 12
WEIGHT:
280 POUNDS
BEGAN TRAINING:
26
THE HULK’S CHEST ROUTINE
MUSCLE MEMORY | APRIL/MAY 2018