The Ed Corney Workout and Diet

Subj: The Ed Corney Workout and Diet for old school aesthetics.

Ed Corney was a 2-time Mr. Olympia. You may have seen him in Pumping Iron. He’s the guy that Arnold was watching when he said, “Now that’s what I call posing.”

Ed Corney was a master at bodybuilding posing. All the golden era bodybuilders where good, but Ed Corney was really good.

All the posing wouldn’t matter much though if he didn’t have the body to back it up.

This is Ed Corney’s Workout and Diet that he used in the week’s leading up to the Mr. Olypimpia.

Keep in mind, b bodybuilder have an “off season” where they train for muscle mass, strength, and allow themselves to get a little fatter.

But when it’s time to take care of business, they trained hard, heavy, and very intensely, six days a week to burn of the body fat and sharpen their muscles.

The Ed Corney Workout

Ed Corney trained 6 days a week leading up to the Mr. Olympia.

You’ll see that this is a marathon workout. It is unlikely you’ll complete a training session in less than two hours.

But hey, it takes time to build anything worth having.

Ed Corney Training Split

Throughout the 70’s Ed Corney trained with a double split. Each body part was hit twice a week (at least). He trained heavy as possible within the 8-10 rep range for most exercises.

No cardio was done, which was typical of the 70’s bodybuilders. Their cardio was playing beach volleyball and chasing women.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday he trained Chest, Shoulder, Bicep, Calves and Abs.

On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday he trained Thighs, Back and Triceps.

Sunday was a rest day, obviously.

Abs were trained before each workout.

Chest, Shoulder, Abs and Calves Workout

Chest Exercises, sets and reps

• Bench Press – 5 x 8-10
• Incline Bench Press – 5 x 10
• Dumbbell Flyes – 5 x 10
• Cable Cross-Overs – 5 x 12

Shoulder Exercises, sets and reps

• Alternating Single-Arm Lateral Raise – 5 x 10
• Shrug to half-Lateral Raise – 5 x 8
• Dumbbell Press – 5 x 8
• Lying Lateral Raise – 5 x 10

For his shrugs, Corney likes to combine the shoulder shrug with a half lateral raise using his arm. Lying lateral raises were done slow and controlled like a concentration curl.

Ed Corney twisted his hands while preforming Lateral raises. His thumb pointed toward the ground at the top of each rep. This is known as pouring out the pitcher.

Bicep exercises, sets and reps

• Barbell Curl – 6 x 6-8
• Concentration Curl – 6 x 10
• Alternating Dumbell Curl – 5 x 6-8
• Close Grip Barbell Curl – 5 x 10

Calve Exercises, sets and reps

• Standing Toes Raises on Machine – 6 x 10-12
• Seated Calve Raise on machine – 6 x 25

Corney went HEAVY one day and a little lighter the second time training calves each week. Light day called for more repetitions.

Abdominal Exercises, sets and reps

• Hanging Leg Raises – circuit
• Broomstick Twists
• Crunches
• Situps

Corney performed all for ab exercises back-to-back in circuit fashion. There was no rep scheme. He would do one exercise until he couldn’t do it any more, and then do the next exercise the same way, and so on. The circuit was repeat 6 times total per workout.

Legs, Back and Triceps Workout

Thigh Exercises, Sets and Reps

• Barbell Squats – 6 x 10-12
• Leg Extension – 6 x 15-20
• Prone Leg Curl – 6 x 15-20

Back Exercises, Sets and Reps

• Bent Over Barbell Rows (standing on the bench) – 5 x 10
• Wide Grip Pull Downs – 5 x 10
• T-Bar Row – 6 x 8
• Chin ups – 5 x As Many Reps As Possible

Barbell rows and lat pull downs were done as a superset. Bent-over rows were performed standing on a bench because this allowed a better stretch as it increased range of motion.

Tricep Exercises, Sets and Reps

• One Arm Overhead Dumbbell Extension – 5×10
• Skull Crusher – 5×10
• Close Grip Press – 6×8

Keep tension on the muscle, don’t lock out on any of the reps.

Ed Corney was a tough SOB. This workout routine is grueling.

Ed Corney Diet

Ed Corney tried to eat 200 grams of protein and 150 grams of carbs daily when training for competition.

There was nothing earth shattering about Ed Coreny’s diet. He eat what all the big dogs ate: Animal meat for protein, complex carbs, and green vegetables.

He would however cut out carbs from his diet as his competition approached. This made his physique more defined.

As far as supplements go, it’s been reported that Ed Corney took liver tablets, which was a popular supplement in bodybuilding back then.

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