Training Tips From Every Mr. Olympia Winner in History

Larry Scott: ’65, ’66

1965: When curling, a bench locks your arms in place. I do preacher curls with a barbell and dumbbells in every biceps workout. 

1966: I eat a lot of beef, cottage cheese, and eggs. And I drink a lot of milk. Year-round, I don’t eat many carbohydrates. 

Sergio Oliva: ’67, ’68, ’69

1967: Back squats and front squats built my legs. I go as heavy as 3 reps when squatting, but then finish with a set of 20.

1968: My favorite shoulder exercise is the press-behind-the-neck. I do 5 sets x 5 reps. Sometimes I supersetted them with upright rows. 

1969: I eat 6 meals daily with lots of tuna, egg whites, and milk. I also eat steak, chicken, rice, oatmeal, and vegetables. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger: ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75

1970: Find the exercises, sets, and reps that are most productive for you. Then experiment and add variety, but stay with the proven formula. 

1971: I train calves every day, at least 10 sets x 10 reps with heaviest possible weights. I gave calves a special focus for years. 

1972: Barriers are placed not by your muscles but by your mind. I never want to visualize what’s been done before. I want to go beyond.

1973: I like the basics for biceps: barbell curls and dumbbell curls. I always supinate when I do dumbbell curls.

1974: Dumbbell pullovers at the end of my chest routine and before my back routine tie my chest and back together and stretch my rib cage. 

1975: Arnold presses are dumbbell presses with a twist. Go from palms back, elbows forward at bottom to palms forward, elbows out at top.

Franco Columbu: ’76

1976: If I did no other exercise for chest, I would always do the bench press. Nothing is better for chest thickness.

Frank Zane: ’77, ’78, ’79

1977: I cycle my carbs when dieting. I go low carbs for 3 days and higher carbs on the 4th day. The higher day boosts my metabolism. 

1978: A lot of people undertrain delts. Think of each delt head as a distinct, small muscle and do 10-12 sets for each head. 

1979: Bulking was a disaster. So I stay within 5% of my contest weight year-round. And I use photos to measure progress, not the scales. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger: ’80

1980: Sometimes I superset a chest exercise with a back exercise. Neither robs strength from the other, and the upper-body pump is fantastic.

Franco Columbu: ’81

1981: I train abs every day at the end of my workout with crunches, Roman chair situps, and hanging leg raises. 

Chris Dickerson: ’82

1982: Do very strict, full calf movements, exaggerating the stretches. Vary exercises and toe positions: in, out, straight.

Samir Bannout: ’83

1983: I never lock out hack squats or leg presses until I need a break on the final reps. I want to keep constant tension on my quads. 

Lee Haney: ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91

1984: Moderate weights, workout volume, and training intensity are best for consistent gains without injuries.

1985: My split is 3 on, 1 off. Day 1: Chest and arms. Day 2: Legs. Day 3: Back and shoulders. Day 4: Off. Then start over.

1986: I never get away from the basics for back: barbell rows, T-bar rows, cable rows, pulldowns, and pullups. 

1987: I train abs in every workout. I usually do hanging leg raises, incline situps, and seated leg raises, 4 x 15-20 for each.

1988: This is a typical post-workout meal: chicken or fish, spinach, rice or noodles, 5 oz pineapple, 2 slices whole-wheat toast, water.

1989: Don’t start messing around with all the little details until you know what you’re doing. Master the basic, compound exercises.

1990: I always end my shoulder workout with upright rows (4 sets x 6-10) to tie my delts and traps together. 

1991: I use a high-potency multivitamin/mineral supplement daily. Closer to a contest I take more B-complex and C to aid recuperation. 

Dorian Yates: ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97

1992: Muscle growth takes place outside of the gym after you’re fully recovered. That’s why I advocate training only 3-4 times per week. 

1993: I train rear delts after lats and before lower back with machine and dumbbell rear laterals, 1 set x 8-10 of each.

1994: I do 2 sets for calves once per week: standing calf raises and seated calf raises, 10-12 reps each. The key is full ranges of motion.

1995: My first meal is: 100g oatmeal, 2 whole eggs and 6 egg whites, 2 slices whole-wheat toast, 1 banana, water. 

1996: Sleep is crucial to recuperation and growth. I usually sleep 8 hours at night plus another 90-120 min. nap in the afternoon.

1997: I usually do only 1 working set per exercise, but I may do 1-3 pyramided warmups before the working set. 

Ronnie Coleman: ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05

1998: I train everything twice a week like Arnold and all those guys did in the ’70s. It worked for them, and it works for me.

1999: I rarely change exercises. But I alternate 2 different workouts for each body part, so I never do the same workout twice in a row. 

2000: In my first meal after a workout, I almost always have 2 chicken breasts and a baked potato. 

2001: I did those heavy, single-rep lifts for the video camera. I use big weights, but I always aim for 10-12 reps in my workouts.

2002: One back workout is for thickness and has deadlifts and rows. The other is for width with 2 types of pulldowns along with rows. 

2003: I do 6 exercises for triceps each week, 3 per workout. One routine ends with close-grip bench presses. The other starts with skullcrushers

2004: When you do ’em right, walking lunges work because they’re hard. Lunges add quality muscle and lines to my quads, hams, and glutes. 

2005: For squats to be effective you need to stay as upright as possible and get down to at least parallel.

Jay Cutler: ’06, ’07

2006: I prefer dumbbells over barbells for shoulders. I like the freer range of motion and the need to balance the 2 sides. 

2007: A typical meal for me in the offseason is 10 oz of beef, buffalo, or steak and, to keep my calories high, 2 cups of white rice.

Dexter Jackson: ’08

2008: I end my chest workout with machine presses that are like a press and flye combination. It’s a real inner-pec burner.

Jay Cutler: ’09, ’10

2009: I’ll sometimes do rest-pause for calves. I’ll stop when I reach failure, rest for a few seconds, and then get a few more reps.

2010: I do cardio on the StepMill for 40 min. first thing in the morning. I’ll do a second session later if needed. 

Phil Heath: ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14, ’15, ’16, ’17

2011: When I go heavy on stiffleg deadlifts, I feel them too much in my back. Stay light and focus on the stretch, maintaining constant tension. 

2012: Don’t do extreme low-fat and low-carb in the off-season. Instead, focus on getting enough protein and calories to grow. 

2013: I don’t do any wrist curls. I’m lucky that my forearms grow enough from biceps work, especially hammer curls. 

2014: The most important thing for gaining size is patience. The journey is long. Stick to the program, eat right, and train right.

2015: Be better than your previous self, but always know that it’s going to take time, time and more time.

2016: Training after shows provides a great rebound if you are eating somewhat clean and staying hydrated. 

2017: Look at yourself in the mirror and ask, “Am I doing enough?” If the answer is “no,” then it’s time to get your ass up and get to work! 

Shawn Rhoden: ’18

2018: “Practice whatever it is that you want to get better at not just once but EVERY DAY. If you practice something perfectly, it will come out naturally and become a part of you. #consistency” —@flexatronrhoden