Lou Ferrigno
‘Incredible Hulk’ Lou Ferrigno endured personal torment for being deaf, but found solace in body-building. Now 57, he is in the best shape of his life. In the first of a series of articles, he explains what you need to do to have a great body
Philosopher Jim Rohn says that the person you are going to be in five years time will be influenced by three things: the books you read, the people you meet, and the mentors that you have.
The internet has enabled ‘gurus’ to hide behind their screens and make lofty, false claims. This becomes frustrating and confusing to a person intent on getting information that can seriously alter their body shape.
In a series of articles, I will introduce you to international legends who have achieved success and acclaim in the health and sporting worlds. My own aim is to beg, borrow, and steal what is useful from these mentors and reject what is not.
The first such legend is two times Mr Universe winner, Lou Ferrigno, who will be fondly remembered as TV’s Incredible Hulk from the late 1970s and early 1980s. On a recent educational trip to Santa Monica in California, I had the opportunity to learn from Lou in a personal consultation and training session at his house.
Born in 1951 in Brooklyn, Lou has faced personal torment to develop one of the biggest physiques on a body-building stage. His first challenge was being handicapped with more than 80pc hearing loss. This resulted in taunts of “deaf mute” all under the watchful eye of an abusive, domineering father. Lou used these rocks that people threw at him to build a wall of muscle around himself.
Lou made a comeback at age 40 — after a 17-year absence — and finished a credible 10th in the Mr Olympia competition, in the best shape of his life. He showed that age should not be a factor in your training, as fitness will add years to your life, and life to your years.
So, Lou has some tips for someone intent on changing their body shape. You should find something that you love doing and initially aim to complete three training sessions a week.
In weight training, beginners are best sticking to whole body training and working all the major muscles three times, spread out throughout the week. When you begin training, most of the progressions are neurological. For example, when you are doing a bicep curl you may only be able to use 20pc of the muscle available in the arms.
As you repeat your repetitions, you are aiming to increase the co-ordination between your brain and muscles. As you increase the co-ordination from 20pc to 30pc to 40pc and so on, you will lift heavier weights and change your body shape.
This is called a mind-muscle connection and is when you can feel your muscles work on every repetition.
As you progress, you can increase the number of workouts and alternate between upper body and lower body. This enables you to work certain body parts harder with multiple sets and repetitions. These vary depending on your training goal, but repetitions of 10-12 can help build muscle. Changing your body shape is not done by training alone, but also with nutrition. Lou Ferrigno is a big advocate of protein at every meal to balance blood sugar. He suggests boiled eggs, turkey slices or cottage cheese to kill night-time cravings.
He also recommends that you eat a cheat meal on a Sunday as it will increase your compliance towards your training programme.
Lou’s secret to success is consistency in three things: diet, training, and rest. If you want to overcome obstacles in getting healthy, learn from people who walk the walk. At 57, Lou trains three out of every four days to have a physique most males half his age would be proud of.
If I were you I would listen to his words of wisdom, as you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry!
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