The Steve Reeves Workout and Diet

Subj: Train like Hercules with the Steve Reeves workout and diet.

Steve Reeves was the original Hercules movie star and the leading man in a few dozen Italian films back in the 1950’s and 60’s.

His trademark was, you guessed it, a chiseled physique.

Reeves came from humble beginnings – he was born in obscurity in America’s prairie lands. He spent his youth working as a farmhand until joining the Service during World War II.

Upon returning home from duty, he dove into bodybuilding where he spend a few years collecting trophies, including the Mr. Universe in 1950.

This is an example of a workout he would have done while winning the bodybuilding crown.

The Steve Reeves Workout Routine

Reeves hit the gym three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday).

Each workout was full-body and followed the format below:

• 1-2 exercises per muscle group.
• Perform 3 sets per exercise.
• Do 8-12 reps each set. (20+ reps for abs and calves.)
• Pick a weight that’s heavy enough to achieve muscle failure between 8-12 reps.
• Rest 30-45 seconds between sets.
• Rest 2 minutes between muscle groups. (Transitioning from one exercises to another.)

Training Order

His recommended training sequence was to attack the muscles top-down:

1. Deltoids
2. Chest
3. Back (Upper and middle)
4. Biceps
5. Triceps
6. Quadriceps
7. Hamstrings
8. Calves
9. Lower Back
10. Abs

Start with the Smaller Muscles First

Steve’s workouts would do the hardest and heaviest lifts, like squats, towards the end of the workout.

The idea was that most of your blood is in your legs and glutes. If you train your lower body first then all of your blood will stay there and make it harder for blood to reach the smaller muscles.

You want as much blood as possible in the muscle being trained.

Training upper body while you’re fresh allows you to maximize intensity and get the best results.

Training Flow

Steve Reeves treated his body like a chain. Training is this sequence means that the working sets of one muscle group are the warm up for the next.

Monday Workout

Warm up with the stationary bike, treadmill or power walking. Then maybe a set or two of dumbbell swings to get the arms ready.

• Military Press
• Bench Press
• Bent-Arm Lateral Flyes (Chest flyes)
• Bent Over Barbell Row
• Pullovers
• Barbell Curls
• Tricep Extensions
• Deep Squats
• Squat variation (Parallel, heels elevated, etc.)
• Romanian Deadlift
• Calf Raises
• Crunches

Wednesday Workout

Perform a light warm-up then dive right into the workout.

• Military Press
• Dips
• Dumbbell Curls
• Skull Crusher
• Pull Ups
• Front Squats
• Dumbbell Lunges
• Back Extensions
• Calf Raise
• Deadlift
• Hanging Leg Raises

Friday Workout

• Upright rows
• Incline Press
• Dumbbell Rows
• Lying tricep extensions
• Concentration curls
• Front Squats
• Leg Curls
• Barbell Splits (Lunges)
• Deadlift variation (Wide Grip, Rack Pulls, deficit deadlifts, etc.)
• Standing Calf Raises
• Sit ups or laying leg raises

On rest days he’d go on a long walk or swim.

Steve Reeves loved to power walk. So much that he even wrote a book about it.

He’d thrust himself forward taking long strides. Not only is this great cardio but this likely helped build his large calves.

Train Abs and Calves Every Day

Abdominals and Calves can be trained every day. Calves can be trained twice a day.

Sit ups and leg lifts for abs. A few hundred reps a day.

And for calves, walk on your tip-toes for 200 steps and standing calve raises with just your body weight or with a weighted backpack.

Take a Set to Exhaustion

Once or twice a week he’d do an exercise to exhaustion.

Typically it was a lower body exercise, like lunges or squats, since they give you the most bang for your buck.

Barbell Splits (Walking Lunges)

Sometimes it was ‘barbell splits’. Which are lunges with the barbell on your back. You can do these walking across the gym, if you have the space, or you can do them in the squat rack.

The squat rack is a good idea if you’re taking these to exhaustion so you can dump the weight if things get dicey.

Breathing Squats + Dumbbell Pullovers

Breathing squats is the name for doing a single set of 20 reps in a row. It’s extremely tough and you need to take big gulps of air between reps to even continue.

I set of dumbbell pullovers was done immediately after the breathing squats.

This helped expand the rib cage to build a better V-Taper.

Concentration

Here’s the secret sauce of building muscle: Concentration.

“When I worked out, I would concentrate deeply on the exercise I was doing and the muscle I was working.

I would picture those strands of muscle working and getting bigger. I’d put myself into almost a hypnotic trance when I was working out.”

Steve Reeves

I couldn’t agree more, Steven.

Concentration, visualizing your muscles working, is the most important part of muscle architecture and construction.

Train Dynamically

Obviously Steve Reeves was a dynamic guy, this is just an example of a workout he’s used.

He’d mix up the routine to keep growing and challenge himself in new ways.

Check out his book, ‘Dynamic Muscle Building’, to learn more from the man himself.

Okay, now that you’ve put the work in, it’s time to EAT.

Steve Reeves Diet

Reeves adhered to the classic American ‘Three Meals a Day’ approach.

He kicked off each morning with his special breakfast concoction – his signature ‘Power Drink’.

Breakfast

The ‘Steve Reeves Power Drink’ Recipe

2 cups of freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon of gelatin
1 tablespoon of honey
A banana
3-4 raw eggs
2 tablespoons of Mr. Reeves homemade protein powder

What’s in his protein powder you ask? It’s 2-parts egg white protein powder, 2-parts skim milk protein powder, and 1-part soy protein powder.

(I would probably replace soy protein with pea protein, but Steve Reeves seemed to know what he was doing so I’d be willing to give soy a shot.)

Reeves mixed protein powder from several sources to enhance the BCAA profile. Ensure a more complete protein drink.

Lunch

A bowl of cottage Cheese topped with fruit and nuts.

Nothing fancy here. Keep it simple, quick, tasty and light.

Dinner

A giant salad with seasonal vegetables and a swordfish steak.

The swordfish could be switched out for tuna, turkey, chicken or beef.

He’d probably throw a potato or scoop of pasta on the plate too.

Steve Reeves Power Drink

His breakfast was smart.

It’s loaded with vitamins, minerals and electrolytes.

Honey, real honey, is loaded with trace nutrients from botanicals that are hard to get anywhere else.

Raw eggs are great texture for protein shakes. Eggs are also loaded with protein in an easily digestible form. (If you eat raw eggs, make sure they are pasteurized as they are supposedly safer. I’m not recommending you eat raw eggs. You could get very sick. Proceed at your own risk.)

Gelatin is very good for you. It contains all kinds of nutrients and loads of protein. Gelatin has been around forever, but it’s called collagen today. Collagen is fashionable right now, but it’s basically the same stuff.

Gelatin soothes achy joints. It’s good for healthy tendons, cartilage and other connective tissue.

It also probably made his breakfast drink smooth thick and creamy like an Orange Julius.

He detailed more of his workouts and eating habits in his book “Building a Classic Physique: The Natural Way”

Was Steve Reeves Natural?

It’s possible that he was a natural bodybuilder.

Steve Reeves was 6’l” tall and 215 pounds. His arms were 18.5 inches.

He may have had the right genetics to get that size naturally, but he definitely had the drive. His work ethic and determination was responsible for his results.

Although I wouldn’t be shocked if he had a little muscle elixir to add his last 10 pounds of bulk.

Given his competitive nature and line of work, it’d say that it’s not unreasonable that he was aware of the magic muscle pixie dust.

Steroids started making there way into the bodybuilding scene around the 1950’s and 60’s. Maybe sooner, since synthetic testosterone was revealed to the world in the late 1930’s.

Steve Reeves is not crazy lean like you see the big chiseled guys today. So he could be natty in most photos. Perhaps his stats were even exaggerated. Either way, he looked phenomenal, and most guys can achieve a similar look with the same elbow grease.

But there’s only one way to find out. You’ve got to eat like him, train like him and think like him.

The sooner you start, the sooner you will find out.

You just read the plan so what are you waiting’ for, man?

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