6 Modernized Workouts from Mr. Olympia Winners

Larry Scott’s Arm Workout

This is a pretty solid routine as far as exercise selection goes, but I lowered the overall volume (sets x reps).

The reason being that training your biceps, which are a small muscle, with heavy weight puts you at risk of biceps tendinitis and even a tear in more extreme cases. So I upped the rep range, which will force you to lift lighter weight, and also swapped out the standard barbell with an EZ-bar, since it’s more wrist-friendly.

Franco Columbu’s Chest Workout

Franco was onto something with this routine. His volume was under control, and, as a bonus, most people can do this routine in under an hour. That said, the two heavy pressing variations put a lot of stress on the shoulder joints. So I swapped out the heavy barbell bench with a lighter machine variation to help you establish a mind-muscle connection and warm up the chest and shoulders.

Then you’ll move into heavy incline presses. I also traded in dumbbell flyes for the cable kind, since they keep tension on your muscle throughout the movement.

Frank Zane’s Abs Workout

Most folks can’t handle the volume that Zane used to hit his abs with. So I cut that down big-time. I also added in Pallof presses, as we can all use more antirotational work.

The ab muscles are primarily stabilizers, and by priming them with the Pallof press, we create a more stable core, which will improve all our flexion-based ab exercises.

Samir Bannout’s Back Workout

This is a pretty standard muscle-building back workout, but I tinkered with the details. For one, most trainees are going to have trouble hitting 12 quality chinups for five sets.

I swapped the chinup with the wide-grip pulldown (they’re technically the same movement), so most people will be able to get something out of the exercise. I also added in lighter, one-arm vertical and horizontal pulls to warm up the back and help activate the lat muscle. Finally, I added in the dumbbell pullover to help target the oft-ignored serratus muscle (found under and to the side of your pecs).

Dorian Yates’ Back Workout

In keeping with Yates’ high-intensity training style, I kept the two to three warmup sets that build into one balls-to-the-wall set. I tossed out underhand barbell rows, since they can put your biceps at risk of a tear; the T-bar row is as effective, and the neutral grip is safer.

Heavy rack pulls will work your upper and lower back just as well as deadlifts and extensions. Rest as needed.

Jay Cutler’s Shoulder Workout

I swapped the seated dumbbell press for a machine overhead press, which is a little more comfortable for the shoulder joints, and made this compound move the first of the workout. Then I added some rear-delt work, which helps counteract the increasingly common slouched, desk jockey posture we’re in for a good chunk of the day. Lastly, holding the top of a shrug for three seconds fatigues the muscle without the need for more weight. I think this is a routine that Cutler himself would approve of.