How to Build a Golden Era Physique [Step By Step]

Ever wondered how to build a golden era physique? Then this article is for you! When most bodybuilding fans think about the ultimate combination of size, symmetry, proportions, and aesthetics, they think of the golden era of bodybuilding. The era of legends, such as Arnold Schwarzenneger, Frank Zane, Mike Mentzer, Serge Nubret, Sergio Oliva, as well as many others.

In recent years in bodybuilding, there has been a strong push for a return to the golden era style of physique, a revolt against the mass monsters which dominate today’s bodybuilding stage. The appearance and popularity of the recently instituted “Classic Physique” division at the Mr. Olympia is evidence of this shift in attitudes.

The golden era physique isn’t simply about putting on as much size as possible over your entire body. There is a specific “look” that these guys went for, and we’re going to go over exactly what that classic look was, and how to achieve it for yourself.

So get ready to build a golden era physique, because we’re about to do it!

What is the Golden Era of Bodybuilding?

The golden era of bodybuilding is a period in the history of bodybuilding which took place from about the late 1960s through the early 1980s. This period in bodybuilding marked a different and unique look for bodybuilders than what we have come to expect in the modern era.

For golden era bodybuilders, like Arnold Schwarzenneger, there was a specific philosophy and standard they were reaching for. The ultimate physique, for them, was something like a Greek God:

Golden Era Bodybuilding Standards

The defining features of such a physique were:

• A small waist and broad shoulders, to exaggerate the “v-taper” and other muscles in the upper body
• A massive chest, to provide a powerful, Godlike look
• Large arms with a strong peak on the biceps
• Legs which were streamlined and not overpowering so as to take away from the symmetry and proportions of the entire physique
• Large calves, to add to the overall aesthetic and proportions

In addition to these features, there was a heavy emphasis on the aesthetic quality of posing. For a bodybuilder, posing the right way can make or break your physique. And the guys in the golden era posed in a way which emphasized the features I talked about above. There was less overall competition in those days, so every pose you hit mattered more.

Some of the best golden era bodybuilders truly brought to life this ethos. One of the absolute best, was of course 7x Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Of course, many feel that Arnold has been elevated above his true status in bodybuilding, and is a bit overrated these days. I won’t comment on that. However, there are plenty of other bodybuilders from the golden era which achieved just as worthy, Godlike physiques, such as Serge Nubret:

Or Mike Mentzer:

Frank Zane:

Sergio Oliva:

As you can see, these men truly exemplified the standard of the classic bodybuilding physique.

In their time, they were Gods.

So, what happened? Why is this considered the “Golden Era” of bodybuilding?  Why is this style of physique no longer the dominant force in bodybuilding?

Put simply, this standard was abandoned when bodybuilders started playing the size game. Whereas the golden era physique was held to a standard of aesthetic proportions, the modern bodybuilding physique is an attempt to push the limits of the human body as far as they can go.

Golden Era Bodybuilders vs Modern Bodybuilders

If you look around a modern pro bodybuilding stage nowadays, you will be stunned at the size of the men competing. Today’s bodybuilders have reached new levels of muscle mass which the bodybuilders of the golden era really couldn’t dream of achieving. Undoubtedly, the figure which comes to mind as the pinnacle of modern bodybuilding is none other than the king himself, 8x Mr. Olympia champion Ronnie Coleman:

Ronnie was king for good reason. Just look at the overall size of the man! He was a powerhouse, who would’ve looked like a freakish alien next to the bodybuilders of the 1970s.

And that’s kind of the point. Although I have nothing but respect and admiration for Ronnie, the fact is that most people would rather look like a golden era bodybuilder, with a smaller waist, and more exaggerated proportions, rather than look like a freak of nature.

Modern Bodybuilding Standards

The ethos of the modern bodybuilder is quite different. The modern bodybuilder seeks to maximize overall size and conditioning, and emphasizes different aspects of their physique, such as:

• A thick and powerful back
• Big and striated glutes
• Huge, tree trunk legs
• Bone dry conditioning

Oftentimes modern bodybuilding shows are won from the back of the physique, rather than the aesthetic front shots so common in the golden era.

Clearly, the standard is much different now than it was back then. And, you know what, that’s okay. Bodybuilding evolved and changed, and I don’t blame it. These guys had to keep pushing the envelope, or else it would have stayed the same forever and become stagnant.

Now that we know the difference between the modern bodybuilding physique and the golden era physique, what exactly is the difference when it comes to training? How do you build a golden era physique?

How to Build a Golden Era Physique (Step by Step)

Let’s go through the main principles involved to build a golden era physique, step by step:

Step 1 – Maintain a Small Waist

The key to the golden era physique is a small waist. Everything else flows from there. A tiny waist will exaggerate every muscle group in the body so as to look bigger and more aesthetic.

But, how do you maintain a small waist? For one, you want to avoid heavy weighted ab and oblique exercises. Your obliques are the muscles on the side of your torso, running into your hips:

When you train these too much, they can grow too large and cause your waist to look “blocky”. In fact, I rarely train my obliques at all, because from a golden era bodybuilding perspective, you want them to remain small in proportion to your other muscles.

Training abdominals should also be controlled. For example, you may want to avoid doing heavy weighted ab crunches or heavy cable crunches. A lot of this depends on genetics, and some people can absolutely get away with heavy ab training without it adding to a blocky waist, but it is something to look out for.

Another key to maintaining a small waist is to limit lower back thickness. If your lower back becomes too bulky it can also affect your waistline. So, keep your deadlifts in check to make sure you’re not becoming too thick in the midsection.

Step 2 – Focus on Building Your V-Taper

The famous v-taper is the ideal shape which every bodybuilder strives for. Of course, back in the golden era, there was a much greater emphasis on it.

Possessing a good v-taper is one of the most aesthetic aspects of a golden era physique. The way you do this (outside of maintaining a small waist) is to focus on developing your lat and shoulder width.

Wide lats and shoulders will help exaggerate your proportions, so even if you have the unlucky genetics of having a blocky waist, widening these muscles can still make it appear as if you have a nice v-taper.

Step 3 – Build Your Chest and Arms

Now, even I cringed a little at the title of this one. I mean, no one wants to be the dreaded gym bro, am I right? Look, you definitely want to keep your physique in proportion, and that means training every aspect of your physique. So, I’m not saying to only focus on chest and arms.

But, the truth is, the golden era bodybuilders did focus heavily on chest and arms, as opposed to back and legs. So, if you want the golden era physique, you should also put a big emphasis on developing these muscle groups.

Step 4 – Practice Your Posing

I know, you may not have any ambitions to become a competitive bodybuilder, so why practice posing? Well, practicing posing has many benefits even for a noncompetitive bodybuilder, such as:

• Improving muscle coordination
• Learning how to “present” your physique properly (on stage or otherwise)
• Developing a “mind-muscle connection”
• Identifying weak points in your physique

It is only through posing properly that you can truly get a good grasp of what your physique is like, and your ultimate potential. The guys in the golden era put a strong emphasis on posing, and their posing was meant to show off the aesthetic proportions of their physiques.

Take a look at bodybuilder Ed Corney below, considered to be possibly the best poser of the golden era of bodybuilding:

Golden Era Physique Training Program and Workout Plan

Although we are trying to emulate the golden era bodybuilders as much as possible, so as to replicate their physiques, we may not want to train exactly as they did. A lot of knowledge about proper training has been gained since that time period.

How Did the Bodybuilders of the Golden Era train?

It was not uncommon for bodybuilders of that time to train 6 days a week, for multiple hours at a time. Sometimes even twice a day! Clearly, that is excessive by today’s standards.

Just look at this routine Arnold used to do back in the day. The training volume is absurd!

Although there is research suggesting that higher volume training can elicit more muscle growth, at least in short periods of time (8 weeks), it is widely accepted and recommended that rest and recovery are also of paramount importance. The truth is, the golden era bodybuilders who were training this way were also the genetic elite, as well as using anabolic steroids.

For the non-elite genetics weight lifter who is trying to emulate the golden era style physiques, a training routine with lower volume is far more appropriate.

Training Split

In general, I recommend weight training 3-4 days a week, depending on your schedule and preferences. For optimal training, 4 days a week is better than 3. So, we will build a program based around 4 days a week in the gym and 3 rest days.

The type of split to adopt is a controversial topic in weight training circles. There is every school of thought, from training full body 3x a week to doing a classic “bro split” training only 1-2 body parts once a week. Training frequency is probably the most hotly debated topic.

The truth is, I have been successful doing all sorts of training. But, experience has taught me that two of the best bread and butter ways to train are either with an upper and lower split or a push pull legs (PPL) split.

For a more in-depth analysis of the differences between these two splits, read this article.

For now, we will design two different golden era splits, one using an upper lower format, and the other using a PPL format. You can choose whichever one suits you best.

Upper Lower Split

For our golden era physique upper lower split, the schedule will look like this:

Sunday – Off
Monday – Upper Body (A)
Tuesday – Off
Wednesday – Lower Body (A)
Thursday – Upper Body (B)
Friday – Off
Saturday – Lower Body (B)

This type of schedule allows for adequate recovery of all muscle groups, with two full days in between each upper workout and each lower workout.

Push Pull Legs Split

For our golden era push pull legs split, the schedule will be rotating, so each week will look a little different:

Week 1

Sunday – Off
Monday – Legs (A)
Tuesday – Off
Wednesday – Push (A)
Thursday – Pull (A)
Friday – Off
Saturday – Legs (B)

Week 2

Sunday – Off
Monday – Push (B)
Tuesday – Pull (B)
Wednesday – Off
Thursday – Legs (A)
Friday – Off
Saturday – Push (A)

And so on and so forth.

Key Exercises to Build a Golden Era Physique

Now that we have our training split, we can move on to the exercises. What are the best exercises to build a golden era physique?

The following exercises are not the only exercises we will be incorporating into our program, but they are the key exercises which will make up the foundation. I also am conscious that many of you reading this may train in a home gym, without tons of fancy exercise equipment. So, I am tailoring this to be fairly bare bones in terms of equipment.

Pull-Ups

Pull-ups are one of the core back training exercises. They will help build lat width and thickness to emphasize your v-taper. There’s so many different grips you can use, and each one of them will target different areas of your back. I recommend doing them weighted and with a “dead hang”:

Lat Pulldowns

Lat pulldowns are another fantastic lat exercise to increase your v-taper. Unlike with pull-ups, you can really hone in on your lats because the weight is more adjustable (you don’t have to start with your own bodyweight). Pulldowns will help develop the width you need to gain an aesthetic physique.

If you don’t have access to a cable machine, you can set up resistance bands and do pulldowns with those. Or, you can switch up your grip type and width and do a different style of pull-up. Any of those options work.

T-bar Rows

You can’t only do pull-ups and pulldowns! Rows are necessary to establish a core of lat thickness. Arnold famously popularized the t-bar row through various training clips in Pumping Iron. It was his go-to back movement for good reason.

If you don’t have access to a handle for t-bar rows, you can do normal bent over barbell rows.

Narrow Stance Squats

Narrow stance back squats, as opposed to squats with a wider stance, will emphasize the quads as opposed to the hamstrings and posterior chain.

If you were to do wider stance squats it would emphasize the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back more. Building these areas up is more of a powerlifting and modern bodybuilding physique tactic.

Incline Dumbbell Curls

Incline dumbbell curls focus on the long head of the biceps, which is on the outer part of the biceps where the peak is. So, if you want to develop your biceps peak, this is probably your best exercise. I recommend going at a lower incline than usual (about 45 degrees) to get a greater stretch on your biceps long head, in order to get more muscle fiber recruitment.

Standing Calf Raises

The most optimal way to train calves is with a standing calf raise machine, but if you are a home gym goer (like me) and don’t have access to a machine, a standing barbell or dumbbell calf raise will do the trick.

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press

I prefer the dumbbell bench press to the regular flat bench press for many reasons. Safety, shoulder and pec health being primary among them. But, you can also get a deeper stretch on the pecs with the dumbbell bench press.

I prefer flat here to incline because incline will target your front deltoids more. However, incline is not a bad option (especially at <45 degrees incline). Decline is also a fine option, although it is harder to stabilize yourself doing the decline bench press than flat or incline.

Military Press

The military press (with a barbell) is the only pressing movement which hits the medial (side) head of the deltoids. This is important to create wide shoulders. In addition, it is the best shoulder exercise for maximal muscle recruitment, as evidenced by Electromyography (EMG) studies on muscle recruitment in shoulder exercises.

Dumbbell Lateral Raises

Lateral raises will isolate and develop your medial head of the deltoids, which will help create width in your shoulders and give you a stronger v-taper. So, this is an important exercise to incorporate into your golden era physique training.

Putting Together the Golden Era Physique Workout Plan

Let’s take the upper lower split first:

Upper Body (A)

Flat dumbbell bench press
T-bar row
Lat pulldowns
Standing lateral raises
Incline dumbbell curl
Seated overhead dumbbell triceps extension

Lower Body (A)

Romanian deadlifts (focusing on hamstrings)
Bulgarian split squats
Standing barbell calf raises
Light abdominal work (crunches)

Upper Body (B)

Military press
Weighted pull-ups
Low-incline dumbbell bench press
Seated lateral raises
Barbell curl
Band triceps pushdowns

Lower Body (B)

Narrow stance barbell squats
Reverse lunges
Standing dumbbell calf raises

Now, let’s look at the PPL split:

Push (A)

Low incline dumbbell bench press
Standing dumbbell lateral raise
Standing band pushdown

Pull (A)

T-bar row
Lat pulldown
Barbell biceps curl

Legs (A)

Narrow stance back squats
Standing dumbbell calf raises
Light abdominal work (crunches)

Push (B)

Barbell military press
Flat dumbbell bench press
Seated lateral raise
Seated overhead dumbbell triceps extension

Pull (B)

Weighted pull-ups
One-arm dumbbell row
Incline dumbbell curl

Legs (B)

Romanian deadlift (focusing on hamstrings)
Bulgarian split squats
Standing barbell calf raises

Progressive Overload

Of course, for any of this to work, you must be applying the principle of progressive overload in your training. The way I define the principle is that you must continually increase the stress on your muscles in new ways in order to stimulate strength and growth (hypertrophy).

The standard method for achieving this is by increasing the weight lifted. However, this can also be achieved by increasing the reps with the same weight, for example, going to the gym on Tuesday and bench pressing:

135×5
135×5
135×5

And then, next Tuesday, going back to the gym and pressing:

135×6
135×6
135×5

This would be achieving progressive overload by increasing the reps.

You can also increase the amount of sets:

135×5
135×5
135×5
135×5

Other methods of progressive overload include:

• Increasing training frequency per muscle group
• Increasing TUT (time under tension) by performing slower reps to recruit more muscle fibers
• Decreasing time in between sets
• Utilizing high intensity techniques such as drop sets, supersets, rest pause, etc.

However, I recommend sticking with increasing weight, reps, and/or sets as your primary method of progressive overload. Keep in mind you don’t have to be increasing by a lot every time in the gym. Even a small increase, of 1 or 2 reps, or 5 pounds, will be enough to build muscle growth so long as you are continually doing it.

Once you start to plateau, it is important to switch up your exercises. When you plateau on those, I recommend taking a “deload” or rest week. This doesn’t mean you get to sit on the couch and eat potato chips! For my deload weeks, I cut my days in the gym to usually around 2 or 3, and I do not try to achieve progressive overload. I will do less sets, reps, and/or weight and primarily focus on form, giving my muscles and mind a break.

What Sets and Reps Should I Be Doing?

The golden era bodybuilders trained in all sorts of sets and rep ranges. I recommend to train in a variety of different rep ranges, from 3-15 reps generally. Read this article for a good overview of what rep ranges to train in and why. Generally 6-12 reps will be most efficient for most people, since they are able to maintain good form and muscle activation in that range.

However, you want to also train in lower rep ranges to build pure strength. Building pure strength in the lower rep ranges targets your fast twitch muscle fibers, whereas the higher range targets your slow twitch. You will be building sub-maximal strength as well as pure hypertrophy.

For sets, you should do 3-4 straight, pyramiding, reverse pyramiding, or ramping sets per exercise, sometimes going a bit higher than 4 for some exercises, and sometimes lower than 3 for others.

Part of knowing when to do more or less sets involves the concept of “autoregulation”. This simply means you do the amount of work you perceive you are capable of performing for that day. This doesn’t mean you make excuses for yourself or avoid hard work. This tool is something you develop with time. But, it’s important to start early on. Read this article for more info on how to autoregulate.

A straight set means performing the same weight for multiple sets (usually in the same rep range, i.e. 8-12 or 4-6:

225×10
225×10
225×9
225×8

Pyramiding means you start with lower weight and higher reps and slowly decrease the reps until you reach your top weight. Then you do a max set of reps for your top weight:

135×12
185×10
225×6
275×10

A reverse pyramiding set involves starting with a heavier weight and slowly working down in weight:

3-4 warm-up sets
225×12
205×11
185×10

A ramping set means you stick with the same amount of reps and simply work up in weight until you hit your desired weight for your top set:

135×5
185×5
225×5
275×5

Achieving a Golden Era Physique

Now, we have the roadmap to build a golden era physique. One which is focused on aesthetically pleasing proportions. This physique, when achieved, is a powerful and impressive one. Of course, the true work lies with you. None of this will work unless you put in the work.

The truth is, achieving a golden era physique, or any other impressive physique, is in your hands. Sure, your genetics may not be elite, and you may not be using performance enhancing drugs, but ultimately the power to change your physique, and your destiny, is always in your hands. It can be no other way.

Stick to the plan, adjust where necessary, use common sense, and BE CONSISTENT. Consistency is the key in any successful endeavor.

You have the tools.

Now make it happen!

Looking for information on nutrition to help fuel this workout plan? Read my guide on bulking up with a plant-based diet:

Vegan Bulking Ultimate Guide + Meal Plan

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