When I was a kid (and by “kid,” I mean I’m old enough to have kids in their 20s), very few people were doing negative or eccentric training. I used to bench press an ungodly amount of weight. People would constantly ask, “How the hell do you do that?” And their first assumption? “He’s gotta be juicing, probably injecting that stuff right into his ass.”
Yup, they were accusing me of doing steroids. Now, before I dive into the drama of my life (which could fill a blog for years), let me just say—steroids were never an option for me. Never.
Channel the Rage, Not the Steroids
Growing up, I had a serious rage problem—think Hulk-level anger without the green skin. I dealt with a cocktail of brain disorders like PTSD, anxiety, and the granddaddy of them all, Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), which is rare and, frankly, a nightmare. I didn’t know what was wrong with me back then, but I knew that whatever it was, I didn’t want to make it worse by dabbling in steroids.
I kept hearing stories about guys I knew, or friends of friends, who ended up in jail for killing their girlfriends or getting into bar fights. I already had enough trouble keeping my own rage in check; the last thing I needed was to add steroids to the mix. So, no steroids for me.
Bill Pearl, Frank Zane, and Eccentric Training
So, how did I manage to bench 455 pounds for reps (about 10 on a good day) right after getting out of jail, weighing only 205 pounds? Was it the gourmet jail food? No, you dumbass—it wasn’t the jail food.
The real secret? A trick I picked up from an article by one of my idols at the time, Bill Pearl, and later at Frank Zane’s bodybuilding boot camp. It’s called “negative” or eccentric training. Eccentric training is a fantastic way to crank up the intensity in your workouts by overloading your muscles.
When I got back from Frank Zane’s camp and started training this way, everyone thought I was nuts. My cousin, who owned the gym, laughed in my face and told me to shut the hell up. At the time, he was Mr. New Jersey and built like a tank. But I didn’t care. I set out to prove everyone wrong, and eventually, they all ate their words
The “Pumping Iron” Mentality
Back then, the North Jersey Health Club (NJHC) was steeped in the hardcore bodybuilding mentality of the 1970s, right out of the “Pumping Iron” era. Most of the training knowledge came from magazines like Joe Weider’s Muscle & Fitness, Muscular Development, and Muscle Digest. If it was in those mags, it was gospel at NJHC.
I practically grew up at NJHC, idolizing my cousin Frank Giampa. I spent most of my time devouring books on anatomy and other classics like Bill Pearl’s 698-page tome Keys to the Inner Universe. But then, I ended up in jail for beating the crap out of some guys who, in my opinion, had it coming. So while I was locked up, all I did was lift weights and read more books. I got out on Christmas Eve of 1983, smarter and stronger than anyone expected. I remembered everything Frank Zane taught me and put it into practice. Even though the 1980s were probably the most ridiculous decade of the 20th Century, I still use the same old-school technique to build strength on the bench, leg press, and pull-ups: NEGATIVES or eccentric training.
Now, before you hyperactive gym rats start trying to do negatives every workout, let me warn you—it’s brutal. Before I went to jail, I was benching 315 pounds. That’s a 45-pound bar with three 45-pound plates on each side, for those of you who suck at math.
When I got out of jail, I was benching 375 pounds. Not bad for a kid who weighed 205 pounds, soaking wet.
So, how did I go from benching 375 pounds to 455 pounds for reps? Patience, grasshopper… I’m getting there. Relax.
Stress the System
Everyone at the gym obsessed over adding more weight to every bench press set, but they kept failing. Here’s the thing: your body and muscles naturally react to stress. Our bodies are masters at adapting to stress, especially when it comes to the muscular system. If you stress your muscles the right way, they’ll adapt and grow stronger. So, I listened to Frank Zane and Bill Pearl, flipped the typical bodybuilding mentality on its head, and dedicated every other chest day to nothing but negatives.
Here’s how I did it: I’d add 15 percent to my 12-rep max. What does that mean? If I could bench 375 pounds for 12 reps, I’d slap 431.25 pounds on the bar. My training partner had to be strong enough to handle that weight—fortunately, he was. I’d take the bar off the rack, lower it to my chest in a slow, controlled 10 seconds, while my partner counted it out. He helped me lift it back up, and I lowered it again for 10 seconds, repeating until I was completely wiped out. Then, I’d push myself to do just one more rep.
Eccentric Training
All of this was eccentric training. No, you’re not eccentric if you train this way. In eccentric training, you’re focusing on the lowering phase of the movement. If you haven’t noticed, your muscles can handle much more weight during the lowering phase than the lifting phase.
But the key to hitting those big numbers on the bench is getting your muscles to adapt to handling the heavy weight. When heavy weight becomes familiar, you will add serious pounds to your bench press
So, there you have it—no steroids, just a lot of rage and some seriously smart training.
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