Time and time again I'm questioned on what type of training routine I did as a teen in order to capture two world records on the bench. Read on to find out how I was able to do this and many other activities.
Time and time again I'm questioned on what type of training routine I did as a teen in order to capture two world records on the bench in the 220 pound class with two successful attempts at 510 and 575 pounds. Then set a new world record at 610 pounds.

I remember getting a call from Joe Weider asking me if I would be interested in doing a series of articles for Flex on how I took my Teen world records. Of course I didn't hesitate to take Joe up on his offer. Joe went on to ask me about the type of training I did and if I ever considered getting into bodybuilding?

At the time I thought to my self, "ya right, from football player, Golden Glover, Power lifter to getting on stage half naked in a Speedo?" I said "Joe" you've got to be kidding me? Joe stated, in all reality Eddie you will not make millions in power lifting but you may have a shot at it with a Bodybuilding career, you have the genetics and the brute strength to be one of the greatest.


Many of times I have sat down with Joe Weider (AKA) The Master Blaster and Dr. Fred Hatfield, both of them firing questions at me, asking me what kind of training I did to achieve my records, and I will tell you now just as I told them.

The answer to this question is quite simple... balls. That's right balls; in order to accomplish anything in life you've got to want it. I don't care what routine you use, who is training you, or what principals you are using, you flat out just have to want it. The bottom line folks are genetics, attitude, and the no-holds-barred!


First of all I don't feel anyone can become a champion without genetics and the drive to win. I started out at the young age of 10 playing football as a full back and half back, and then boxing in the Golden Gloves in Akron, Ohio all the way through high school.

Both sports were explosive sports with the first one exploding off the line, and the second to explode with a cluster of punches making your opponent see a flock of seagulls.

By incorporating these two sports into my life as a youngster gave me the explosive training power to master the bench press along with the training regiment enabled me to win the Mr. USA and Mr. America Titles. This also put me on the list as one of the top 10 athletes in the Olympia and IFBB for over twelve years.


What I mean by explosive training training exercises are exercises that concentrate on by hitting both muscle fibers Red and White, Red for endurance and the white for explosive strength. In my training routines I always incorporate high reps with low reps that consisted of two types of workout one would be (B Intensity) and the other (C Intensity).
[Note: "C" workouts are very high intensity and "B" workouts are moderate intensity.]
This is the type of training I did even in high school and remember all we had to train on was a Universal seven-station machine in our gymnasium. One day we would do low reps with heavy weight and the next we would combine high reps along with low reps with giant sets.


What Does 'Giant Set' Mean?
Do several exercises for one bodypart in a row without resting in between exercises. (e.g. chin-ups, seated rows, straight arm lat pushdowns, then lat pull downs.) You can do the same exercise more than once within the giant set as well. Try doing the exercises in the order of midrange, stretch then contracted position for a huge pump.

For example we would do machine bench as heavy as we could go for eight reps, then incline for twelve, and flat bench fly's for 20 reps.

This would be one set with no rest between, then we would repeat a Giant Set 3x with no rest. I remember most players that trained with me during our lunch period that incorporated this type of training lost their lunch by following these principals.

The continuation of this type of training gave me the strength to be the only student in the ninth grade to wear a 350-football bench shirt in all four grades. I was so proud to wear that big bench of 350 in the middle of that Coventry High football shirt.

This number also landed me a seat at the senior's lunch table and a date with the home coming queen.

The other type of training that I incorporated was hitting the body bag for five 3 minute rounds. I did this every night for about 30 minutes after dinner. This training gave me great endurance by training the red muscle fibers that are used for endurance.


I always felt that by devastating the red muscle fibers I was able to engorge the muscle full of blood in order to feed the white muscle fiber that I had torn down by blasting my chest in school that day doing the "C" workout.

The combination of hard training, good food, and the best top of the line products (at the right price) from my friends Jeremy, Ryan, and Russ at BB.com gave me the tools to punish my opponents!