High-Set Singles for Massive Strength and Size Gains Probably the most popular form of low-rep training among many "old-time" bodybuilders, high-set singles are highly effective at making a muscle neurally stronger.

There is no documented proof of this claim but it is interesting none the less. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. The oldschool Way!! The secret to his herculean strength was the modified Hepburn method!

Born cross-eyed and with a clubfoot, Hepburn took up weight training when he was 15 and overcame his disabilities to become incredibly strong – by age 18 he could squat 340 pounds, bench press 260 and curl 140.

Doug Hepburn was easily the strongest man in the world in the 1950s!

The programs you’ll tend to find from Doug talk of doing a ‘power’ routine followed by a ‘pump’ routine.

For contextual purposes, Doug Hepburn was the 1953 World Weightlifting Super Heavyweight Champion, with a then highest total ever of 1030 lb total. His goal was to build up to 5 singles with the weight he curled for 3 singles. https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/07/two-hands-curl-doug-hepburn.html I've been doing the singles routine outlined on this thread by a user called Twiceborn (apparently he knew Doug personally).

The aforementioned warm up curls should be adjusted proportionately as a lifters singles increase. I think that gives the reader a good understanding of the strength of Hepburn. Hepburn told Ironman that he was rest for 3 to 5 minutes between repetition sets and singles.
Doug Hepburn’s training program has stood the test of time as one of the most effective ways to train for relative and absolute strength. Each workout, you’d add one more single until you hit eight reps. Another variant attributed to him starts out with 8×2 (eight doubles) – just like the singles, these should not be maximal sets.

CT’s arms were in the same class as Ted Arcidi, Ryan Kennelly, and Greg Kovacs as the biggest arms I have ever seen. Although it is rumored that Kazmaier curled 440lbs, there is no documented proof of this alleged feat, as opposed to most of Katz’s strength records which occurred at the WSM or National Powerlifting Championships and are beyond question. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.

The ‘power’ routine would have you start out with a weight that you could handle for five singles.

How to Use Power Twister? Barski and I also hoped that we’d get to meet Doug Hepburn, one of the legends in our sport, who also lived there. Heavy, yes, but not grinders. Hepburn’s curls are documented as the heaviest on record done with a straight bar, as many heavy curls were done with EZ curl bars. Both Doug’s programs were as simple and brutal as a throat punch.

... Do five sets of singles with 325, then lower the weight to 50 pounds less, 275, and do five sets of five. Net, the first AAU sanctioned curl contest was in 1954.

Doug said that a false grip should never be used when curling and that the bar should be gripped as close to the wrist as possible-this will give the lifter the best leverage possible. Simple works and is beautifully brutal. A history of the curlI had the pleasure of training with CT Fletcher at the American Eagle Gym in Norwalk, California in 1993 at the time he held the recognized world strict curl record of 232lbs. Bill Kazmaier, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Larry Wheels, and CT Fletcher are known for their ponderous curl poundages, with Russian Denis Cyplenkov receiving credit for the all time heaviest strict curl with 249lbs, as seen on more than a few YouTube channels because everyone loves the curl. Honoring the past and respecting the present is our mission. One such athlete was Doug Ivan Hepburn. Hepburn heavily stressed progress and said that the lifter should continue with the 3 singles- progressing to 5 singles indefinitely.
Also when you curl explosively there is less chance that your form will deteriorate to a lean back position. Doug’s all time best strength performances all occurred while he was 285lbs and had an arm measurement of 21.5.”. The specialized feats of old time strongmen, which were altars at which we worshipped, were all surpassed by Hepburn. Long before steroid abuse became common in the weight-training world, legendary strongman Doug Hepburn was proving by example that the right combination of smart training, nutrition, adequate recovery, and determination can dramatically increase your strength, size, and power. I believe that one of the best ways to incorporate high-set singles is with a method made popular by the great Doug Hepburn. He usually wore a moustache, which with his thick dark hair gave him the look of an ... ContinueDoug Hepburn: The Strongman, with a fragile psyche During 2020, the strict curl went viral with Larry Wheels and former NFL legend James Harrison releasing videos of their respective impressive strict curls.

You get some high intensity singles but also some fives for volume and some hypertrophy mixed in.

Hepburn heavily stressed progress and said that the lifter should continue with the 3 singles- progressing to 5 singles indefinitely.

Follow the Hepburn plan for a few months and let me know what happens. According to the website American Powerlift Evolution. As for sets and repetitions, Doug found that a series of low repetition sets combined with a limited amount of heavy singles will result in the greatest lifting strength. The owner of neckberg.com reported that he recently watched a YouTube video in which Golden Era Strength historian Ric Drasin interviewed Chuck Mahoney who claims he saw Strength legend Chuck Aherns do three concentration curls with 185lbs. On that day in May 1959 he did his monster strict curl, Hepburn also did a swing curl with 300lbs! REAL LIFE GERMAN VOLUME TRAINING EXPERIMENT.

Hepburn had no science, no lighting fast descent to drop under a weight and in addition he had a physical handicap.

Within 5 years of it’s origin, the Canadian Colossus of Curls was the World Record holder!

During the 1950s he was publicly known as the “world’s strongest man”.

One of Doug Hepburn’s training routines – known as Program A – is known for its uncanny ability to create consistent strength gains.

4x1 - 10x1 without the pump routine, which he specifies Doug suggested dropping because it was too much work. NEW SYSTEM AND DESIGN. Here’s a numerical picture of what I just outlined. Hepburn is credited by Wikipedia with a 260lb curl, while he did a 255lb curl at a competition that was administered by the AAU in 1959.

Indeed, the Canadian born strongman was the first individual to bench press 500 pounds and squat over 600 pounds with relative ease. Douglas Ivan Hepburn (1926 – November 22, 2000) was a Canadian strongman and weightlifter.

High Praise from Joe WeiderMagazine mogul Joe Weider said this to describe Doug Hepburn: “A few of us took pleasure in recording and analyzing the feats of the old time strongmen and never in our wildest dreams did we conjure up anything like Doug Hepburn.

Doug would add weight and do a single, then add more weight and do three singles. Hepburn described a variation of his curl program in which he would focus on 3 sets of 3 reps- building these sets up to 5 sets of 5 repetitions. Winning gold medals at the 1953 World Weightlifting Championships, the 1954 British Empire Games and a series of other contests, Hepburn is perhaps best known for his incredible power. This curl was done in 1959.

Doug was also a singer, a dog-raiser, a gym owner, a bouncer, a philosopher. How many lifters today do you see strict curling 255 lbs? Each workout, you’…

Hepburn was born in Vancouver, Canada, on September 16, 1926. We are providing training information from the 19th century (aka pre steroid era) till today. His goal was to build up to 5 singles with the weight he curled for 3 singles. I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE IT! At birth he had two handicaps: a mild clubfoot condition in his right leg and an eye ailment known as “cross-eyed.” As long as he can remember, Doug has always had a very intense desire to be strong. Doug Hepburn laid out the rules for a program that will develop tremendous size, strength, and power.

Many years ago I was able to ask Doug Hepburn himself if this was indeed his routine, since time has a way of distorting and altering details when ideas are passed from person to person many times. Starting weight worked out … Doug would add weight and do a single, then add more weight and do three singles. Arnold Schwarzenegger curled heavily to build the best looking biceps in history, with noted German strength historian telling this website’s owner that in 1966 Arnold did a Powerlifting contest at which he squatted 150 kilos, benched 140 kilos, and curled 100 kilos. Doug Hepburn was born in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, on September 16, 1926.