The ‘Golden Era’ of bodybuilding spanned almost two decades and is typically considered to have lasted from 1960’s, through to the 1980’s. This era created some of the biggest household names in the bodybuilding world, including Sergio Oliva, Lee Haney, Serge Nubret, Mohamed Makkawy, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Frank Zane.

Whilst often bodybuilding can be seen as packing on as much lean mass as possible to create a visually impressive physique, the aesthetic goals of golden era bodybuilders was pure symmetry, that is, creating a muscular, but perfectly balanced physique. The Golden Era provided this in heaps, with perfect lines, proportionate and aesthetically pleasing physiques in abundance.

The end goal, roughly simplified, is that competitors would aim for the classic "V-taper," featuring broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and well-defined muscle groups contrasting sharply with later periods that emphasized mass and extreme conditioning. The 1977 documentary “Pumping Iron” drew attention to these physiques and skyrocketed the popularity of bodybuilding, encouraging it into the mainstream.

During the Golden Era, Muscle Beach in Venice, California was the place to be. The beach experienced a soar in popularity in the world of bodybuilding and played the ‘home gym’ for many big names. In the mid-1960s, one of these bodybuilders, Joe Gold, opened an indoor gym nearby, none other than the famous ‘Golds Gym’, to house these bodybuilders, help them ascend to new heights and further increase the competitive but community spirit bodybuilding encourages to this day.

Training is more than lifting heavy Dumbbells though. Diet is crucial for the best results, performance and gains. When we’re talking about the muscle growth and the minimal levels of body fat strived for by these bodybuilders, the outcomes literally cannot be achieved without a solid, consistent, meticulous attention to calories in vs calories out, and how they are obtained. Golden era bodybuilding diets were simple: high protein, moderate carbs and low fats, from natural foods. Eggs, chicken, steak and milk were key sources. Supplement stacks, versus what you see today, were very minimal.

How Did Arnold Schwarzenegger Train?

A household name in the bodybuilding world, and a name that is almost universally known by those in and out of the world of sports. He’s been in films, documentaries, created training programs, has social media prominence on phenomenal levels, and won Mr Olympia 7 times (a record that held for a significant amount of time), only surpassed by Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman, but how did he train?

Arnie trained 6 times a week, on a split workout plan, each block lasting 16 weeks. Each workout typically lasted between 60-75 minutes, and the breakdown was as follows -

• Day One - Chest and back

• Day Two - Shoulders and arms

• Day Three - Legs and lower back

• Day Four - Chest and Back

• Day Five - Shoulders and arms

• Day Six - Legs and lower back

• Day Seven - Rest

Arnie is synonymous with using simple, no thrills equipment, such as barbells and dumbbells, and bodyweight exercises (assisted with weight plates such as weighted Pull Ups), to achieve his stage ready body. He favoured a handful of sets with a focus on repetitions, training to failure in many of these sets.

How Did Lee Haney Train?

Lee Haney is widely considered the last bodybuilder of the Golden Era (7). He was the first competitor to surpass Arnold Schwarzenegger’s record 7 Mr Olympia titles, in a span running between 1984 and 1991, a record tied with Ronnie Coleman to this day. Beyond this, Lee has TV shows and is a face you’ll find in the International Sports Hall of Fame. His later adoption into the world of bodybuilding made him more open to the use of supplements, more so than those who came before him. His diet also played a crucial role in his consecutive titles. But how did he train?

Lee had a different training approach to Arnie, and believed in variation, with ample rest between training rotations. He followed a three on, one off training principle, and rotated two versions of each training day: chest and arms for one day and then legs, back and shoulders. These sessions would be intense, and very high volume. 7-8 exercises per session, with calves and abs trained every session, to combat what judges considered his bad genetics.

How Did Frank Zane Train?

Frank Zane is a three-time Mr Olympia winner, which compared to Lee Haney and Arnold Schwarzenegger may not seem as successful. However, he does hold the prestigious title of “bodybuilder you’d most want to look like”. In the world of bodybuilding, does praise get higher than that? Nowadays, Frank is a writer, with multiple published works on the world of bodybuilding, and believed that the key to his success was heavy training. He provides scaled workouts based on experience, to help encourage you to get into training, hardcore or otherwise.

Like Lee Haney, Frank Zane rotates 3 training days. However, these are repeated twice, before a day’s rest, in the same way that Arnie completed 6 days on, 1 day off. A typical training week would comprise as follows -

• Day One - Back, biceps, forearms, and abs

• Day Two - Legs, calves, and abs

• Day Three - Chest, shoulders, triceps, and abs

• Day Four - Back, biceps, forearms, and abs

• Day Five - Legs, calves, and abs

• Day Six - Chest, shoulders, triceps, and abs

• Day Seven - Rest

Frank favoured dumbbells and Barbell Sets over cable equipment, and trained heavy, high-volume days. Cardio played a key part in his routine, completing at least 15 minutes, 4 times a week. He trained out of Venice Muscle Beach and is idolised by many to this day in the bodybuilding world.

To summarise, the Golden Era saw some of the most motivational and inspirational bodybuilders of all time, their physiques still aspirational to this day. It blew up the sport’s popularity through increased exposure, training on beaches in the sunshine, and amped up competitive spirit through a family like community spirit. Clean diets, barbells, dumbbells and plates, and lots of heavy lifting set the scene for following generations of bodybuilders. Training this way is scalable for anyone, so why not take some inspiration for your next block?

Sources include: The Rack Athletic Performance Center, Muscle and Fitness, (2), and (3), Arnold Gym Gear, Sportskeeda, Muscle and Strength, Essentially Sports, Set for Set, and Fitness Volt.

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Tags: Exercise Type > Strength