Sergio Oliva is a bodybuilding legend. Oliva owns a long list of bodybuilding titles, including being the only man to beat Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Sergio Olive is often regarded as the best bodybuilder by the other top bodybuilders. He was an inspiration to many bodybuilders in the 1970’s.
Sergio Oliva had incredible muscular proportions – broad shoulders, wide back, tight waist, and plenty of muscle in the right spots. Sergio’s body proportions can only be had with the right genetics (Having a waist that small with shoulders that wide is a genetic gift rarely seen in the bodybuilding world.)
All the Golden Era Bodybuilders had an aesthetic V-Taper, but Sergio Oliva’s was among the most impressive. Oliva won many awards on the bodybuilding stage. He is a champion who has cemented his place in bodybuilding history.
Sergio didn’t have Arnold’s political savvy, but he had the heart and determination to become one of the best built men to ever live. Oliva was the working man’s bodybuilder. Gritty, tough and no-nonsense. He worked hard labor jobs for 12 hours a day then trained for 3 hours in the gym after his shift.
His backstory is just as fascinating as his physique. (We’ll cover his story in a moment.)
In this article we’ll review the workout routine and diet of the most feared man in bodybuilding. As well as that special something Sergio had that made him a champion the bodybuilding greats hold in high regard.
But first let’s talk about his incredible backstory.
Sergio Oliva: Cuban Weightlifting Team Captain
Sergio Oliva was born in Guantanamo, Cuba. He began weightlifting at a young age and was part of the Cuban weightlifting team.
When Sergio Oliva was 20 years old he won 2nd place in Cuba’s national weight lifting competition. As a result, he was invited to represent Cuba in a Caribbean weight lifting competition in Jamaica later that year (1962).
Oliva’s Olympic weightlifting set him up for a smooth transition to bodybuilding. Weightlifting builds a strong foundation of muscle and translates well into bodybuilding training.
Sergio Oliva: Coming to America
I’m not sure if you’re a history buff or not, but the early 60’s was during the Cold War era. Tensions were high between capitalists and commies. Especially between The United States and Russia. “Better dead than red” and all that jazz… Zooming in, Cuba was a main player in the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviet Union shipped nukes to Cuba, putting Uncle Sam in lethal range of Big Red’s ballistic missiles. Kennedy did not take kindly to that sort of thing on account of Gorbachev…never mind, you get the idea…
Long story short, Cuba was a communist county under Fidel Castro’s regime and life on the island was miserable. So, Oliva hatched an escape plan from that God forsaken place.
One night while in Jamaica, Sergio Olivia snuck out of his sleeping quarters and bolted to the American consulate. Sergio was granted political asylum and eventually made his way to Miami Florida were he worked as a TV repairman to support himself, then moving to Chicago shortly after defecting Cuba.
Sergio Ovila worked odd jobs and long hours to make ends meet. Times were tough but he hit the gym faithfully for 3 hours each day. Even after putting in grueling hours in at work.
It was around this time that Sergio started training 6 days a week. His training partner and fellow bodybuilder Bob Gajda had him incorporate more bodybuilding workouts into his routine. Until that time he only did powerlifting. Olivia compromised and trained bodybuilding style 3 days a week and powerlifting 3 other days per week.
Sergio made a splash in the physical culture scene in the 1960’s. He quickly got attention for his work ethic and powerhouse physique. Not long after arriving in Chicago, he began mopping up the competition at local and regional bodybuilding shows.
He then joined the IFBB and won Mr. World, Mr. Universe and the Mr. Olympia in 1967, the highest achievement in bodybuilding culture. In the 1960’s he was the Man to beat. He even whipped beat The Terminator in 1969, to become the 3-time Mr. Olympia.
Sergio Oliva vs. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Mr. Olympia contest in 1969 was the first meeting between Oliva and Schwarzenegger. Oliva mopped the floor with young Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold won the following year. The Austin Oak returned to defeat Oliva in a highly anticipated matchup and close bodybuilding contest. Arnold competed against his nemesis once again to won the Olympia title. Later Arnold wrote about the showdown in his memoir ‘Education of a Bodybuilder’.
Many strive for the Sergio Oliva physique. Solidified himself as one of the greatest bodybuilders to ever live. Only bodybuilder to beat arnold schwarzenegger. Even the best bodybuilders look up to Sergio Oliva.
Sergio Oliva the ‘Myth’
Sergio Oliva earned the name ‘The Myth’. Probably because people heard tale of a strong man from a strange land grinding away in the shadows of a Rust Belt city. After gaining fame through his bodybuilding wins, the dusty old gym became known as the Midwest Mecca.
Stories of the foreigner began to get out as Sergio emerged from his training dungeon shows himself to win competitions. Sergio made Hercules look like a pipsqueak. Eventually his story caught the interest of many in the bodybuilding community including publishing powerhouse and bodybuilding promoter Joe Weider.
The Myth’s incredible work ethic can be encapsulated in his workout…
The Sergio Oliva Workout Routine
This is Sergio Oliva’s 6-day bodybuilding split.
Note: I feel like I need to address this because some people take things too literally…Like every other bodybuilder, Sergio trained every way you could imagine at some point or another in his long career. No one does the same workout for years and years. The body adapts and routines get stale, so you mix it up to keep progressing.
Now then, you’ll notice the workout has a ton of volume. It’s a classic 1970s bodybuilding workout – A quintessential ‘marathon workout’ typical of the Golden Era. Supersets were used liberally. Moderate-to-heavy weight was deployed, tension was kept on the muscles, pumps where chased, and gains where had.
Workout Split: 6 Days a week
Sergio was an instinctual trainer very creative in his approach. He did all the basic exercises with several modifications to suit his training style. Every training session was intense he trained with intention. Training with an array of free weights, barbells, and bodyweight exercises.
Each muscle group was trained twice per week.
A exercise were done with 5-8 sets 8-12+ reps per set. (Like I said, a LOT of volume.)
- Monday and Thursday – Back, chest and shoulders
- Tuesday and Friday – Arms
- Wednesday and Sunday – Legs and abs
Back, Chest and Shoulder Workout
- Pull ups with a wide grip – Like almost unreasonably wide. This helps build wide, flaring upper back. And very much contributed to his stellar V-Taper of mythic proportions. 8 sets x 8+ reps This was basically his warm up. Sergio focused on growing wide lats and wide shoulders. They were trademarks of his silhouette. You’ll see that he performed a lot of back work to meet that goal.
- Pull downs – Behind the head with a wide, wide grip.
- Close grip pull downs – Pull down to the sternum. Let the weight stretch your lats at the top.
- Seated rows – Again with a wide grip, with a neutral hand position. Great for hitting the lower lats.
- Barbell bench Press – Warm up with bottom-half-rep-pulses to pump up the chest muscles. Bring bar to middle of chest.
- Incline chest press – Perform on the Smith Machine – Bar to neck, 2/3 reps keep tension on chest.
- Decline chest press – Also with smith machine.
- Dumbbell flyes on Flat bench –
- Cable Flyes – Chest flies in a downward scooping motion. Set pulleys high flap arms down and end the motion by bringing them out in front. Scoop cross lateral raise with cables, low pulley. Single arm cross body lateral raise with low pulley.
- Shoulder Press – Behind the head.
- Lateral raises with dumbbells – Seated. A little lean and a little swing is okay. side laterals then move immediately to front raises. Rest-pause reps were also completed to really roast the delts from all angles.
- Shoulder press machine – Hands with neutral grip.
- Lateral raises with cables – Cross body.
- Single arm lateral raises – Side and front raises. Lots of them.
Biceps and Triceps Workout
- Cheat curls – Forced reps, with heavy barbell.
- Seated barbell curls – Almost a half rep curl the top half rep. would rest weight on his thighs and press on for more reps.
- Dumbbell bicep curls – Alternate between left/right arm. Negative was like a hammer curl position to work the forearm flare.
- Preacher Curls – Barbell and dumbbell classic curls with arm pinned on preacher stand.
- Reverse grip barbell curls – Tight grip and pull up high
- Barbell wrist curls – Seated on bench with arms resting on thighs.
- Seated tricep extensions – with the pulley. set pulley low behind you. place bench in front at 45-degree angle and push up.
- Tricep pushdown – A little bit of rock and sway. He used momentum but always smoother. Never hurky jerky.
- Single Arm tricep pull down – torso leaned forward slightly. Lots of single arm tricep extensions.
Lower Body and Legs Workout
- Parallel back squats – Heels elevated on a 2×4 plank.
- Leg press – Quad focused. Push with top half of foot. Worth noting that he pressed barefoot.
- Leg curls – Classic leg curls done with uncommon intensity.
- Hack Squat – A lost exercise. Not many gyms have a hack squat machine anymore. Too bad because this is a great exercise.
- Calf Press – Lots or reps, lots of weight.
- Decline sit ups – Decline setups seem to work wonders for Sergio Oliva and myself. Something about being the the decline position makes you work harder and train abs more efficiently.
- Leg lifts – Perform on a bench letting thighs hang off the edge.
Sergio Oliva’s Diet
Sergio ate one meal a day when he was a poor boy in Cuba. After moving to the The Home of the Free and land of the Brave he bulked up on steak and eggs. He ate a ton of calories to fuel his long work days and marathon workouts and muscle growth. He likely had a very fast metabolism naturally. Plus working manual labor jobs for 12 hours per day will help you lose fat and stay lean without any extra effort.
In addition to that, Sergio’s diet was anything and everything he wanted. He was know to crush a box of Twinkies and a 2-liter of Mountain Dew during his lunch break while working as a TV repairman.
How was that possible?
Simply put Sergio was a calorie burning machine. He ate like a pig and transmuted all those calories into rock hard muscle.
Sergio Oliva was known for his voracious appetite. His breakfast some days would be 12 scrambled eggs and a box of pastries. The guy had a warp-speed metabolism. He also had an astonishing body, weighing a lean 220 pounds. Plus we worked construction 12 hours a day and trained 3 hours a day.
As long as he got his baseline nutritions to grow and stay healthy, everything else was burnt as fuel or converted to muscle.
Sergio Oliva claimed to only diet 3 weeks before a show. This was likely an over simplification. Like I said before, Oliva was an instinctual athlete. He likely subconsciously ate better as his competition approached. Which is a not strict way of dieting, but dieting nonetheless. Then the last three weeks he really dialed in his diet so he hit the stage diced.
I feel a responsibility to say that no, Sergio Olivia’s physique cannot be obtained naturally. It requires chemical enhancement.
Sergio Oliva’s Legacy and Impact on Bodybuilding and Physical Culture
Like a dad with a Canadian tuxedo and caterpillar mustache, I have the urge to turn this into a lesson.
Yes, Olivia had phenomenal genetics, but genetics only get you so far. You can say Sergio had great genetics because his body proportions could not be faked. His narrow waist and broad shoulders combo can’t be picked out of a catalogue. That was from birth. He picked the right parents.
The rest, building the mass, shaping the muscles, was his work ethic. And, of course, some juice. That’s the game at the highest levels. Heck, it’s even the game at the amateur level, collegiate level, and even your local neighborhood gym.
The point is, ‘genetics’ is used in the elite bodybuilding community as a way to explain how well your body responds to drugs. Not necessary how muscular you are. Anyway…have a nice day.
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