How Golden era bodybuilders combine powerlifting and bodybuilding at the same time

In my previous mail, I’ve talked about why golden era bodybuilders combine powerlifting and bodybuilding.

And to summarize…

Powerlifting will get you stronger. And powerlifting has a ‘strength transfer’ to bodybuilding. 

And bodybuilding is a sport where your main goal is to get huge stretch and peak contraction, and ultimately building muscle.

So, when you combine both,:

• You got ‘strength transfer’ from powerlifting to bodybuilding
• And we know that more strength = more muscle in 8+ rep ranges
• We get healthy joints, muscle, and tendons.

But in my previous mail, I haven’t told you how these golden era bodybuilders combine both powerlifting and bodybuilding in their program.

So, in this mail I’ll break down 2 methods silver and golden era bodybuilders include both powerlifting and bodybuilding.

The first method is the silver era method. 

This doesn’t mean Arnold, or golden era bodybuilder didn’t do it. 

But it all started in the silver era.

Silver era guys (Bill Pearl, Reg Park, etc) emphasize their training with 5 x 5 system.

The original 5×5 system is when you do 2 sets of warm up (70% of working weight), then followed by 3 x 5. 

Reg Park only used this method in few exercises, mainly squats, deadlift, barbell rows, bench press, and standing military press.

He go heavy only on these movements using the 5×5 methods I was talking about,

And if you are curious, Reg Park didn’t bring all sets to failure using the 5 x 5 methods. Because he keeps the weight the same in every movement. B

So, for example, for squat:

Set 1 225 lbs x 5

Set 2: 225 lbs x 5

Set 3: 225 lbs x 5

He did this, because he trained for power.

And after this, he trained with tons of volume and reps besides these exercises.

This is where the 20+ sets per body part comes in.

So, for his triceps, biceps, or even chest and back, he trains with volume except those movements. 

So, quick summary: 

1. Start with 5 x 5 (1 – 2 movement)
2. Follow with tons of volume

The second method is Lee Haney style.

This is how the method goes.

In each body part Lee Haney would choose 3 – 4 exercises.

And what Lee do is divide those exercises into 2 categories: 

• Power 
• Rhythmic

For power he aimed for 6 – 10 reps, and for rhythmic, he aimed for 8 – 12 reps.

When he does power exercises, Lee doesn’t put too much control in the lowering phase of an exercise. Lee put focus on lifting the weight up.

For rhythmic exercises, Lee controls the weight for 4 seconds, then comes up for 1 second. 

Lee always picks at least 1 power movement.

For compound he often does 2 power movements, but for isolation, he simply just does 1 power movement.

For inspiration, this is how Lee program his back workout:

1. Wide grip pulldown (rhythmic) 4 x 8 – 12 reps
2. Barbell Row (power) 4 x 6 – 10 reps
3. Cable row (rhythmic) 4 x 8 – 12 reps
4. T-Bar Row (power) 4 x 6 – 10 reps

So, that is how you can combine both powerlifting and bodybuilding at the same time.

Kevin | BuildlikeArnold