Who is Doug Brignole?
Doug has been a professional bodybuilder for more than 30 years. Doug remained at the top of his game for more than three decades thanks to his meticulous approach and committed mindset.
Short Career of Doug Brignole
Doug Brignole has a thorough understanding of biomechanics and training methods, and he has received multiple certifications and awards that have allowed him to share his knowledge with other trainers all around the world.
He rose quickly; he entered his first bodybuilding contest at the age of 16, and by the time he was 24, he had opened a hugely successful gym in Pasadena, California.
One of the longest-tenured professional bodybuilders we’ve seen, he overcame hardships and relied only on his mother for assistance. This is his story:
Body Measurements of Doug Brignole
| Full Name: | Doug Brignole |
| WEIGHT: | 205 – 215lbs (88.5 – 93.0kg) |
| ERA: | 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 |
| PROFESSION: | Personal trainer, motivational speaker, and bodybuilder |
| NATIONALITY: | American |
| HEIGHT: | 5’10” (177.5cm) |
Accomplishments
Competitions
- 2012
World Championship (NABBA) Over 50 – 7th place - 2011
Masters Nationals (NPC) Over 50 – 9th place
West Coast Classic (NPC) – Masters – 2nd place - 2010
West Coast Classic (NPC) – Masters – 2nd place
Muscle Beach International – Masters – 1st place - 2000
Los Angeles Championship (NPC) – Masters – 1st place - 1991
Mr. Universe (NABBA) – 15th place
Mr. America (AAU) – 5th place / Medium-Tall division
Mr. Northwestern America (AAU) – 1st place Overall - 1986
Mr. Universe (AAU / WABBA) – 1st place / Medium-Tall division
Mr. America (AAU) – 1st place / Medium-Tall division - 1983
Mr. America (AAU) – 5th place / Medium-Tall division - 1982
Mr. California (AAU) – 1st place Overall - 1979
Teenage Mr. America (NBA) – 1st place Overall
Teenage Mr. America (AAU) – 3rd place / Medium-Tall division
Teenage Mr. California (AAU) – 1st place / Medium-Tall division - 1977
Teenage Mr. California (AAU) – 5th place / Medium-Tall division - 1976
Teenage Mr. Compton (AA) – 2nd place Overall
“Be fit, but genuine. Also, Be motivated, but for a reasonable goal. Be accomplished, but – in the words of “Polonius” to his son “Laertes” – to thine own self, be true.”
Biography of Doug Brignole
A Rapid Ascending
After his father abandoned the family and left his mother to raise both Doug and his brother, Doug Brignole had a difficult upbringing.
She had a difficult time giving the boys food, clothing, and education because she didn’t speak English well. She was a housekeeper at the time, earning a meager wage.
But despite the difficulties, Doug developed into a brilliant and successful young man.
At the age of 14, he began lifting weights; at the age of 19, he won the national championships; and at the age of 24, he launched the Brignole Fitness Training Club in Pasadena, California.
The gym was initially larger than 10,400 square feet and eventually increased to 25,000 square feet. In its 11 years, Doug’s gym employed more than 50 full- and part-time workers and served more than 7,000 clients.
Since his early experiences with weight training, Doug’s hunger for training has only grown. He reads and studies whatever publication he can get his hands on to acquire new techniques.
Then, to see if he could pick up any new information, he would compare his results with those of other gym patrons from Bill Pearl’s facility.
Beginning with Early Experimentation
He acknowledges doing a lot of testing at the start of his training, paying great attention to the outcomes, and watching the reactions he would get from training.
In the days and weeks that followed the start of a new workout or method, I experimented and paid close attention to how I felt and the outcome I obtained.
As his studies began to bear fruit and his results began to emerge, Doug acknowledges that much of his early training consisted of trial and error.
Looking back on those early years, I can see that I made some mistakes and unintentionally did some things right. Over the years, I developed a far greater understanding of both what and why things work.
As Doug’s professional career gained momentum, he began to comprehend the bodybuilding industry’s mechanisms much better.
This increased understanding inspired him to go into biomechanics, which he currently researches and speaks on.
Certified Coach and Personal Trainer
Doug has trained hundreds of men and women of all ages directly over his extensive 30-plus years in bodybuilding. He has assisted people in achieving their objectives and enhancing their quality of life.
He has worked with public figures, elite sports, movie stars, and those with disabilities.
Doug has worked hard to earn approval from The American Council on Exercise (ACE) as a Continuing Education Provider and to educate personal trainers as well.
Doug can then give Certified Personal Trainers Continuing Education Credits (CECs), enabling them to keep up their certifications for their training.
Publications and Academic Work
Doug has successfully co-authored a book for sociology students called the Million Dollar Muscle using his extensive training skills. The book takes a historical and sociological look at the fitness business.
Doug is always working on additional biomechanics-related papers and publications that will provide students, trainers, coaches, and bodybuilders with a wealth of information about the body’s functions in a training set.
He has devoted his life to studying fitness, how the body responds to stress from exercise, and the various effects exercise may have. Doug enjoys what he does, especially helping other people.
Training
Low Reps, High Weight
Doug is an expert on training, especially biomechanics and progressive overload, having worked in the bodybuilding profession for more than 30 years.
He has experimented with a wide range of training techniques, comparing heavy weights with low repetitions to light weights with high repetitions.
He reveals that for ten years, he had been using heavier weights than lesser weights, but he had started to grow impatient because he wasn’t getting the desired results.
Dough changed his workout routine and began using smaller weights, which significantly improved his performance.
He read an article by U.S. IronMan editor-in-chief Steve Holman in which he discussed the advantages of high-rep training for the sarcoplasm.
Steve got in touch with Doug, and he described to him the distinction between sarcoplasmic muscle growth and myofibril muscle growth (i.e. the body’s fuel that surrounds the muscle fibers, which has a greater growth potential).
Dough listened as Steve explained that the sarcoplasmic region of the muscle is not stimulated until after the 15-rep range. Doug was thinking about this.
Volume Management
As Doug described it, “My first error was that I maintained doing the same number of sets and only increased the reps, with lower weight, naturally.”
Doug then started experimenting. This led to extreme overworking. I, therefore, decided to take a major step back and do just one exercise per body part, per workout, but with a lot of repetitions.
Particularly, I perform 50 reps for the first set, 40 for the second, 30 for the third, 20 for the fourth, and 10 for the last set, frequently with a breakdown or drop set.
Of course, the weight and reps are in proportion. I, therefore, choose a weight for the first set that only just allows me to complete 50 reps.
Also, I only raise it enough for the second set to give me 40 reps, and so on. I rarely perform a sixth set; that’s it.
Doug’s findings were as he had anticipated; he grew more when he combined low sets with high reps.
This only goes to show that there’s always room to learn new skills, even after a professional career of ten years.
“And, as I mentioned, I now experience significantly greater progress than I ever did when utilizing more weight, more sets, and lower reps. One of my most important discoveries is this. Thanks, Steve.
Variety: Is It Worth It?
Throughout his many years of training, Doug concluded that, at least for him, mixing up each training session wasn’t always the best course of action.
To “shock” the muscle and prevent it from adapting, he claims that “nearly every item I’ve ever read about exercise selection has suggested ‘mixing it up often.
However, I have discovered via experimentation that this is wholly wrong.
Instead of performing numerous exercises for the same muscle area throughout each workout, Doug claims that smaller weights and more repetitions produce the best results for him.
I’ve done it both ways, doing various exercises at each session and using the same exercises at each workout, and I have to admit that using the same exercise has given me better results.
First of all, if the workout you are using is “very fantastic,” why would you switch to one that is different but less effective? Additionally, no study has yet indicated the necessity of variety. It is merely a conjecture or hypothesis.
It seems logical. On the other hand, when I work hard at an exercise that I am already very comfortable with, I make more improvements.
“I think these lessons are really life-changing. I wish I had known them when I first started training because I believe I would have seen much better results, especially in my prime years of my 20s and 30s.”
Nutrition of Doug Brignole
Carb-Heavy
Doug has experimented with his diet in addition to the various exercise methods for increasing strength and size.
He claims, “After reading books on the Atkins Diet and The Zone Diet, I developed the rather erroneous notion that carbohydrates are unhealthy.
I say partially since carbs do tend to make us fat if we aren’t working out hard in the gym.
This is because carbohydrates, such as sugars and starches, tend to boost our insulin levels, which can encourage the storage of fat.
Doug Brignole is aware of the significance of providing the body with the proper quantity of food for carbohydrates to produce optimum results.
He argues that since glycogen is a component of muscle, restricting carbohydrates will prevent the body from repairing and growing new muscle.
He has spent many years researching the relationship between the requirement for carbohydrates and muscle growth. Doug goes into further depth about his results below.
However, when we work out hard, we need insulin to help pump protein into the muscle, and this “demand” overrides insulin’s ability to cause fat storage.
In essence, it disproves it. In addition, a major portion of the glycogen in our muscles contains carbohydrate that has been stored.
Therefore, if you severely restrict your carbohydrate intake while working out hard, especially in the off-season, you will drastically harm your capacity to gain muscle.
Influences and Idols
To assist them in reaching their objectives, Doug has personally coached hundreds of people and inspired thousands of others.
7,000 people benefited from his facilities and personal instruction when he was 24 years old and owned and operated his club. Doug has undoubtedly motivated a large number of fitness enthusiasts, both young and old.
He now leads and motivates others through his motivational seminars and speeches, sharing his personal experiences while providing in-depth knowledge and scientifically supported details about his years of training.
Doug trains people with disabilities and helps them to change their life through his unique training abilities.
What Can Doug Brignole Teach Us?
It simply goes to show that with the correct amount of ambition and effort, you too can achieve your objectives, even if you’re like Doug and were raised with very little money.
He began working out at a young age, put in a lot of effort in his studies, compared notes with other bodybuilders, and grew stronger throughout the years.
Doug Brignole is a shining example of the American dream, having founded his gym at the young age of 24 and building it into a prosperous enterprise for more than 11 years.
You too could have a body of excellence if you had the same motivation and passion for knowledge.