I made a previous thread asking a few questions about a routine i made based on other routines i studied of old school body builders. I base both my nutrition and workouts around the ideas/philosophies from the 50’s. They built great bodys with little or no supplements, 3 square meals, and full body routines. It wasnt until the 70s and 80s that split routines and eating 6 meals a day was promoted by steroid users and for some reason it stuck with natural lifters. Its my belief that most split routines are not as effective as full body for natural lifters.
So what im doing here is looking at several routines i found online that were supposedly used by some of the greats. This is my only source of information currently but im hoping to pick up some books and get some more info on these guys. I have read steve reeves book however and i got at least one perspective from that era. Ive watched a lot of videos by leroy colbert as well, but again im definitely not an expert.
Also id like to note that im well aware each of these lifters used probably 100s of different routines and these are just a few. However these are there favorites apparently and for a reason.
So breaking these down the first thing i see is the rep ranges and total number of sets are varied. I think most of us would agree everyone responds differently to different rep ranges, and the total number of sets are based on your skill level or how long youve been lifting. Arnold and many others supposedly recommend starting at 3 sets per body part for beginners and increasing the sets as needed.
The second thing i notice is they all have Bench Press as there main chest exercise. Every one of these guys has awesome chest development and each have completely different bodies. This might be good evidence for someone whos undecided about what exercise might be the ‘best’ for chest development.
A second thing i noticed was most have squats as one of the first exercises. I personally do this and i like the flow and ill admit i prefer to walk out of the gym with my upper body pumped up, not my legs. Im not sure the reasoning behind this but maybe some of you have an idea. If squats arent done first, theyre done last. I havnt seen many routines where legs are done in the middle of a workout except for reeves. And i probably dont need to mention that squats are the dominant leg exercise. However its interesting to see in some routines squats is the ONLY leg exercise aside from calf raises.
Another thing i noticed is theres more pressing exersizes compared to pulling exersizes. I believe this is on purpose and im thinking it has to do with asthetics. I think we all want and like the look of a large chest and arms, and broad shoulders. On top of more than one pressing movement, some ven have additional shoulder exercises. How they could handle that much shoulder work is impressive…i know i wouldnt be able to handle it, at least not at my current level. Note they all use shoulder presses…must be a good exercise?
The next thing i noticed was the amount of bicep work compared to other exercises. This is probably another asthetic thing. Who doesnt want huge biceps? But possibly they all felt they needed those extra sets to make there biceps grow, which could say something about the muscle fibers and how they respond.
Next is pullups or pulldowns. I think this one is obvious. Its my understanding that to get a wide back, nothing beats wide pullups. Its worked wonders for my back, and who doesnt want that v taper. I definitely see pullups more than rows or deadlifts in these older routines.
So these are some things ive noticed and would love to hear your thoughts. Here are some routines i found online.
Arnold:
Barbell Squat 4 10
Wide Grip Barbell Bench Press 3 10
Chin Up 3 Max
Behind The Neck Overhead Press 4 10
Barbell Curl 3 10
Bent Knee Sit Up 3-4 Max
Larry Scott:
Bench presses to neck - 6 sets of 6to 8 reps
Barbell squats - 6 x 8
Calf raises - 6 x 15-20
Behind the neck presses - 6 x 6-8
Front pulldowns - 6 x 8-10
Lying barbell triceps extensions - 6 x 8
Preacher bench curls - 6 x 8
Bent-leg knee raises - 1 x 100-150
Leroy Colbert:
Bench Press 10 8
Bent Arm Lateral Raises 10 8
Lat Pull Down 10 8
Behind Neck Pull Ups 10 8
Behind Neck Sitting Press 10 8
Standing Lateral Raises 10 8
Alternate Curl 10 8
Sitting Barbell Curl 10 8
Bent Arm Pullover 10 8
Squat 6 12
Reg Park:
45-degree Back Extension 3-4 10
Front Squat 5 5
Back Squat 5 5
Bench Press 5 5
Military Press 5 5
High Pull 5 5
Deadlift 5 5
Calf Raise 5 25
George Eiferman:
Hack Squat 3 7-10
Bench Press 3 7-10
Dumbbell Flys 3 7-10
Lateral Raises 3 7-10
Alternate Dumbbell Press 3 7-10
Single Arm Row (Cheat) 3 7-10
Barbell Curl (Cheat) 3 7-10
Dumbbell Concentration Curl 3 7-10
Dumbbell Wrist Curl 3 7-10
Dumbbell Side Bends 3 7-10
Sit Ups 3 8-12
Steve Reeves:
Dumbbell Swings (warmup) 3 15-20
Upright Rows 3 8-12
Bench Press 3 8-12
One Arm Row 3 8-12
Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3 8-12
Incline Bench Press 3 8-12
Tricep Press Down 3 8-12
Barbell Curls 3 8-12
Seated Dumbbell Curls 3 8-12
Squats (super set with next move) 3 8-12
Pull Overs 3 8-12
Breathing Squats (super set with next move) 1 20
Breathing Pull Overs 1 20
Deadlifts 2 8-12
Good Mornings 2 8-12