Steve Reeves Workout - Remembering The Old-School Bodybuilding Legends

Steve Reeves is the icon of Natural Bodybuilding and one of the most famous bodybuilders of 1950s. Renowned for his fabulous physique and many bodybuilding titles, Reeves became famous for acting in Hercules movies in the mid-twentieth century.

In the world without anabolic steroids, isolation machines and internet it was only a hard work in order to build a muscular and well-proportioned physique. Steve Reeves is the finest example of what people can achieve in building their body without the use of anabolic steroids.

Back in the day, guys like Steve Reeves, John Grimek, and Reg Park didn't have online articles and forums to learn some modern bodybuilding techniques as the case is today, but still, they are renowned for having some of the greatest and most athletic physiques.

Old-school bodybuilders knew that the key to building muscular physique is the full-body workout routines. 

Check out more tips from Natural Bodybuilding Legends:


How Did 100% Natural Bodybuilders Train

To build strength and muscle mass naturally, the answer lies simply in full-body routines, hard work, and consistency. The consistency should not be deserved only for training, the nutrition should also be checked and not to forget muscle recovery and rest.

Rather than devoting one session to triceps or biceps, chest or back, legs or shoulders, full-body workouts will have you hitting all muscle groups every training session which is the best way to naturally build a well-proportioned muscular body. 

Here are three old-school bodybuilding full-body routines for muscle growth:


3 Best Full-Body Workouts to Build Muscle Mass Fast

Check out what Steve Reeves personally said about modern bodybuilders and their training in one interview:

"Today, everything about the top bodybuilding champions is oversized; they have lost the whole purpose of bodybuilding which is to create a harmonius whole, not to exaggarate the development of one part or parts of the body."

Below you'll find one of Steve Reeves' favorite full-body workouts which he called "Classic Physique" routine written by Reeves personally for bodybuilding magazine back in 1951.

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Incline Dumbbell Press	3	8-12
Front Squat	3	15
Dumbbell Fly	3	15
Seated Barbell Curl	3	12
Alternate Dumbbell Front Raise	2	15
Bent Over Row	2	12
One Arm Row	2	12
Alternative Raise Lying	2	15
Good Mornings	1	15
Dumbbell French Press	3	12
Calf Raises	1	30-40
Bench Press	2	12

Training Notes:

This is absolutely a monstrous routine and because of that, I wouldn't recommend it for novice lifters, only for intermediate to advanced lifters.

Like most full-body routines should be performed three times a week and on non-consecutive days to fully rest and recover from such hard routine like this one.

To maximize recovery the best way to perform this routine is to train on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday leaving other four days for muscles to feed and rest to be ready for next hardcore training week.

Bill Pearl's Workout for Big Arms - Old-School Bodybuilding Workout

If you're a fan of Old-School Bodybuilding then you've probably heard of Bill Pearl. If you prefer reading modern bodybuilding articles and magazines then you can skip reading this because the old-school training approach differs from modern bodybuilding techniques. 

Bill Pearl was a bodybuilding role model since 1950's and he began earning bodybuilding titles in 1953 when he was named Mr. Southern California. After that, he also earned titles Mr. California, Mr. America, Mr. USA and Mr. Universe (5 times).

Bill Pearl was the first professional bodybuilder to author bodybuilding training courses. He also continues to teach people about training techniques through his books including "Getting Stronger: Weight Training for Men and Women." You can also check out his official website www.billpearl.com.

By only taking a look at Bill Pearl's pictures you can see that his arms were his strong areas. He had a huge triceps and very big biceps. Bill Pearl mostly used basic movements in his workouts to build his muscular physique. 

This workout was written by Bill Pearl for an old bodybuilding magazine long time ago, in 1968. Now, if you are ready, check out Bill Pearl's favorite arms exercises:

TRICEPS PUSHDOWN ON LAT MACHINE

Bill recommended 4 sets of 10 reps with a perfect form. While performing this exercise keep your arms to the side of your body and your elbows fixed through the whole movement.

SEATED DUMBBELL CURLS

Again, Bill recommended performing this exercises with 8-10 reps using a good form. While performing the exercises keep your back straight and don't use momentum to curl the weights.

TRICEPS BARBELL EXTENSION

Bill performed this exercise with 4 sets and 8 reps while keeping his elbows high and using 8-inch hands spacing.

TRICEPS DIPS ON STOOLS

Bill Pearl preferred the stool dip over the parallel bar dip. Here he recommended 3 sets of 10-12 reps and holding feet higher than hands (see picture).

STANDING BARBELL CURLS

Use 4 sets of 8-10 reps and don't cheat by swinging the barbell and don't bend over backward. Keep your curls strict. 

That is it, simple 5-exercises workout written by old-school bodybuilding legend Bill Pearl which you can include in your workout routine to build bigger and stronger arms.