George Eiferman’s Workout Routine (and timeless training wisdom)

This is more than a workout. This is a lost piece of bodybuilding history.

Buried within George Eiferman’s training philosophy is the kind of rugged, practical wisdom that built the Golden Era of Bodybuilding: Hard work, full body training, heavy basic exercises, strong legs, powerful grip, and the belief that lifting weights can build more than muscle.

It also builds character,

George Eiferman was Mr. America, Mr. Universe, Navy veteran, performer, speaker, musician and physical culture ambassador who introduced strength training to thousands of people across America and the world.

George had the look, the charisma and the message. And underneath all of it was a simple truth:

George Eiferman trained hard.

This article covers his classic full-body bodybuilding routine, his favorite training principles, and the timeless lessons modern lifters can still use today.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Who Was George Eiferman

George Eiferman grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During this time bodybuilding was still a fringe pursuit and weight training had not yet become mainstream.

Before he became a bodybuilding champion, Eiferman was a skinny kid running the streets of his hometown. His life changed forever when he enlisted in the United States Navy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Life aboard ship was stressful. like many young men during wartime, Eiferman had to find a way to manage the fear, uncertainty, pressure and aggression while adjusting to enlisted life during WWII. He found his outlet in iron. George lifted weights aboard the Navy ship to blow off steam and strengthen his body and mind while facing the looming possibility of being shipped overseas to fight.

That experience changed the course of his life.

After his military service ended, Eiferman returned home to Philadelphia. By then years of hard training had started to transform his body. The skinny kid from the streets of Philadelphia had built himself into a powerful young man.

His hard work paid off. In 1947, George Eiferman won the Mr. Philadelphia title. That same year he placed fifth in the Mr. America contest. This was an impressive finish for a young lifter still making his name in the sport.

From there bodybuilding became the center of his life.

When he was not training, he was eating, making music, working odd jobs, and doing whatever he had to do to keep chasing the physical ideal.

California Dreaming

Like many great bodybuilders of his era, George Eiferman heard California calling. The West Coast was quickly becoming the promised land of American bodybuilding. Sun, sand, healthy culture and the opportunity to make his mark in the bodybuilding arena were all waiting for him in the Golden State.

So George headed west.

But success didn’t come easy.

Before finding his fortune, Eiferman slept on a trampoline inside the gymnasium where he trained and worked. He roughed it while preparing for the Mr. America competition. He lived a hard, uncertain life of a man with a dream doing what he had to do to bring his vision to reality.

But his grit paid off.

In 1948, George Eiferman won the Mr. America title.

That victory changed everything overnight. Being crowned the best built man in America gave him national recognition. The win catapulted his career and cemented him as a world renowned professional.

George didn’t stop there. He used his fame to spread the gosple of physical culture.

Physical Culture as Character Building

George Eiferman knew weight training could do more than build the body. He knew it built discipline, confidence, self-respect, and moral strength.

After winning the Mr. America title, he joined a school assembly organization and began speaking to packed auditoriums full of young people. He traveled around the country, performed, told his story, and perched the benefits of strength training, clean living, and physical development.

His message was simple:

A strong body could help create a stronger person.

He wanted troubled youth to get off the streets, respect themselves, strengthen their bodies, and aim high in life.

Fitness was his tool. Character was the goal.

That is one of the reasons George Eiferman remains such an interesting figure in bodybuilding history. He was not just a bodybuilder. He was a physical culture evangelist who used fitness to build a strong life. And influenced many people to go to the gymnasium and live a better life because of it.

George Eiferman was a natural showman who captivated audiences with feats of strength, athleticism and his musical talents.

He would hoist a giant barbell over head while playing the trumpet and cracking jokes. Once he won over the audience, he told his story of how he went from a scrawny, punk kid running the streets of Philadelphia to a Navy Seaman and bodybuilding champion, and national icon.

George Eiferman is an inspiration to many. He introduced physical fitness to countless people during his long career as a public speaker, and bodybuilding ambassador.

And the foundation of it all was training.

George Eiferman’s Full Body Workout Routine

This was one of George Eiferman’s foundational routines. It was total-body bodybuilding program performed three times per week. The goal was simple: train the whole body hard, add weight each week, build strength in the basic movements, and accumulate enough quality volume to force muscle growth.

This is classic old-school bodybuilding at its finest. No machines, no complicated training splits, no sweating the small stuff. Just hard work, more weight, and learning how your body responds through training and consistent effort.

The Training Routine

After the workout you will find variations of his training routine as well has tips and tricks he accumulated over 30 years of weight training.

Perform the following routine 3x per week on non-consecutive days.

Good options include:

• Monday, Wednesday, Friday
• Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Or any days that work for your schedule. The point is to perform three workouts within seven days while taking a rest day between workouts.

Rest 2-3 minutes between sets. Aim to get stronger within the prescribed rep range. And, most importantly, FEEL your muscles working. It may take some time to feel the sensation of your muscles moving the weight, but this builds mind-muscle connection which is critical for sculpting your physique.

How to Progress with this Workout Routine

The progression is straightforward. Pick a weight you can handle with solid form for the lower end of the rep range. When you can perform all prescribed sets at the top of the rep range, increase the weight slightly.

For example:

If you bench press 185 pounds for 3 sets of 7 reps, stay with that weight until you can perform 3 sets of 10. Once you hit 3 sets of 10, add weight and repeat the process.

This is called double progression.

It is simple, effective, and brutally honest. You gotta earn the weight increase.

Is This Routine Good for Beginners?

Yes, but with one important caveat.

Beginners should use controlled form and avoid intentionally cheating their reps.

Some old-school bodybuilders used “cheating” movements to overload the muscles. That can be useful for advanced lifters who know how to control momentum and protect their joints. But beginners should first master strict technique. So if you are new to training, treat the one-arm rows and barbell curls as controlled movements. Do not swing, heave, or turn every set into a full-body seizure. Build the base first.

Then you can add intensity techniques later after you get the hang of it.

Is This Routine Good for Advanced Lifters?

Yes.

Advanced lifters can get a lot out of this routine by pushing the loads, increasing effort, controlling rest periods, and adding small variations over time.

The beauty of full-body training is frequency.

You hit each muscle multiple times per week. That gives you more practice, more growth stimulation, and more chances to improve the big movements.

A strong lifter can absolutely build muscle on a routine like this, especially if he eats enough, sleeps enough, and attacks each session with intent. This routine is a great starting point for beginners, as well as an effective routine for advanced trainers.

As Eiferman matured he added more to his training repertoire. Much more in fact. At one point he was squatting every day of the week. Once you build confidence in the gym, you discover new ways to train that work best for you. That’s part of the fun – finding new ways to challenge yourself.

George Eiferman’s Timeless Training Wisdom

George Eiferman’s training evolved as he matured. Something I think every veteran lifter will attest to.

The basic routine above was only the foundation. Over time, he added more exercises, more specialization, and more volume.

At one point, Eiferman reportedly squatted every day. That tells you a lot about the man and his training philosophy at that time.

He believed in hard work. He believed in the basics. And he believed strong legs were the foundation of a strong body. That you build a body from the ground up. Makes sense to me.

“You’re only as old as your legs.”

One of Eiferman’s best known ideas was that a man is only as old as his legs.

That is a powerful statement that’s loaded with timeless wisdom.

First off, leg training is not glamorous. It is not comfortable. It’s hard and incredibly taxing on your system. Plus it doesn’t give you the instant mirror satisfaction of curls or chest pumps.

But nothing separates serious lifters and world-class athletes from casual gym-goers like leg training.

Heavy leg work builds grit. It forces the lungs to work. It challenges the heart. It toughens the mind. It teaches you how to suffer productively.

George Eiferman loved squats.

His ideal squat training often involved high-rep work, including multiple sets of 15 reps or more. He favored fast, explosive reps taken to proper depth, often around parallel. I typically go below parallel once my knees are warmed up.

He also varied his stance, heel position, toe position, and foot elevation to attack the thighs from different angles.

That is an important lesson. Small changes in stance and setup can change the feel of a movement and help develop weak points. He;d also mix up rep speed. Sometimes equating at ballistic speeds and other times extremely slow reps with pauses at the top and bottom.

He’d do 2 sets of 20 reps squats to carve the finer details into his legs.

George’s leg training is one of the reasons he won the Mr. Universe at age 36. At an age when most athletes get put out to pasture, he was crushing the competition.

Should You Squat Every Day?

Maybe. But be smart. It really depends on your experience and goals.

Daily squatting can work if the load, volume, and intensity are managed properly. It can build skill, confidence, work capacity, and leg size. And do so in short order.

But squatting hard every single day is not for everyone. So tread lightly and listen to your body.

If your knees, hips, or lower back start barking, listen. Back off before a small problem potentially becomes a serious injury. We’re in this for the long game. Staying healthy is the number one priority.

A better modern approach for most lifters would be to start with three squat sessions per week, then gradually increase frequency if your body is recovering well. For example:

• Day 1: Heavy squats
• Day 2: Light technique squats
• Day 3: Moderate high-rep squats

That gives you the spirit of Eiferman’s leg training without destroying yourself in the process. Keep in mind some people are just built different and can take insane amounts of punishment. Others might need more of a ramp up period.

Train hard and challenge yourself. But take your time, focus while training, and recover well after each session.

These training session can be grueling so I personally take a bunch of liver tablets and creatine before my workout.

How George Eiferman Built His Chest

George Eiferman had an impressive chest, and he credited much of his development to the bench press.

To him, the bench press was one of the great upper-body builders.

He believed the bench press developed the chest, shoulders, arms, and upper torso in a way that few movements could match. After his first serious experience with the lift, he became sold on its value as a mass builder. (Sometimes an exercise just hits that way. iykyk.)

“The orthodox bench press is the King of all upper body exercises, those that develop the ‘foundations of Power’ and build muscle form seen only the world’s strongest and best developed men. My first reaction to the bench press was one of chest, arm and deltoid fullness. It gave me a feeling of massiveness that curls and standing laterals and presses in standing position had never done. As I looked into a mirror after my first of bench presses, I knew I had at last found my ideal Upper Trunk exercises, for my whole upper physique appeared thicker and more muscular and ever sice that days. I have been sold on the merits of bench pressing”

– George Eiferman

And he did not limit himself to one version of bench press – Eiferman used flat bench presses, incline presses, dumbbell presses, wide-grip presses, close-grip presses, and other pressing variations to build his chest from every angle.

Chest Training Tips from George Eiferman

1. Make the Bench Press a Foundation Exercise

The standard flat bench press was one of Eiferman’s favorite upper-body movements.

Modern lifters sometimes overcomplicate chest training. They chase cable angles, machine variations, and exotic flye patterns before they have built real pressing strength.

Eiferman’s approach was simpler:

Get strong at pressing.

Build the foundation.

Then refine.

2. Use a Variety of Grips

Eiferman used wide grips, close grips, and everything in between.

A wide grip places more emphasis on the chest and stretches the pecs more deeply.

A closer grip brings in more triceps and deltoids while still hammering the upper body.

Both have value.

The key is not to marry one grip forever. Rotate your grip over time and find the positions that let you train hard without beating up your shoulders.

3. Use Dumbbells for a Deeper Stretch

Dumbbell bench presses were another Eiferman favorite.

The advantage of dumbbells is the increased range of motion. You can lower the dumbbells slightly below chest level and get a deep stretch through the pecs.

That stretch can create a tremendous pump and a powerful growth stimulus.

Just do not turn the bottom position into a reckless shoulder crank. Lower the dumbbells under control, stretch the chest, then drive them back up with force.

4. Superset Presses for a Massive Pump

Eiferman also liked combining pressing movements.

One brutal option is to superset wide-grip bench presses with dumbbell presses.

The barbell press lets you overload the chest with heavier weight. The dumbbell press lets you stretch, squeeze, and keep constant tension on the pecs.

Together, they create a massive chest pump.

Try this:

Perform the dumbbell press immediately after the bench press, then rest.

That is old-school chest building at its best. Supersets are where it’s at.

5. Use Pullovers for the Upper Body

Old-school bodybuilders believed pullovers could help expand the rib box and build a bigger-looking upper body.

Whether or not the adult ribcage itself can be meaningfully expanded is debatable. But pullovers are still a fantastic movement for the lats, serratus, chest, and breathing mechanics.

They also create a tremendous stretch across the upper body that feels amazing.

If you want the classic old-school chest-and-lat tie-in, pull-overs deserve a place in your training. I like to do Pullovers at the end of my chest workout to get a good stretch and burn out the muscle fibers.

Back Training Tips from George Eiferman

George Eiferman believed rows were among the best exercises for building the back.

And he was right.

Rows build the lats, traps, rhomboids, rear delts, spinal erectors, grip, and the thick musculature that gives the back its powerful look.

One of his preferred rowing styles involved a rotary motion. Instead of pulling the bar in a perfectly straight line, he would pull toward the waist, keep the bar close, and move it upward toward the chest or chin, creating an oval-like path with the elbows.

This kind of movement can create a different contraction through the upper back.

But again, modern lifters should be careful.

Do not use wild momentum and call it technique. Control the weight. Feel the back. Keep your spine safe.

Pull-Ups and Pulldowns

Eiferman also valued pull-ups and lat pulldowns.

Every serious lifter should work toward pull-ups.

If you cannot do a pull-up yet, make it a primary goal. Unlocking your first Pull-up is a major milestone. It means your relative strength is improving and your back is getting stronger.

Use assisted pull-ups, negatives, band-assisted reps, or pulldowns until you can perform clean bodyweight reps.

Then build from there.

Shoulder Training the Eiferman Way

George Eiferman had extremely strong shoulders.

He reportedly pressed huge weights overhead and made behind-the-neck pressing a staple of his shoulder training.

Behind-the-neck presses were common in the old-school era. They can build the shoulders, traps, and upper back, but they also require excellent mobility and shoulder health.

For some lifters, they feel great.

For others, they are a shoulder disaster waiting to happen.

If behind-the-neck presses bother your shoulders, use a safer alternative:

• Standing barbell press
• Seated dumbbell press
• Arnold press
• High-incline dumbbell press
• Machine shoulder press

The lesson is not that everyone must press behind the neck.

The lesson is that strong shoulders are built by pressing heavy, raising with control, and training the delts from multiple angles.

Front Raises and Lateral Raises

Eiferman also used front raises and lateral raises to develop his deltoids.

His front raises were sometimes performed through a longer range of motion, bringing the weight almost overhead instead of stopping at shoulder height.

That creates a bigger range of motion and a different feel through the front delts and upper chest.

For side delts, standing lateral raises remain one of the best exercises ever invented.

Use strict form. Lead with the elbows. Control the negative. Do not turn every set into a trap shrug.

Arm Training: Biceps, Triceps, and Forearms

George Eiferman built his arms with a combination of heavy compound pressing, curls, direct triceps work, grip work, and forearm training.

His triceps were hammered by bench pressing, especially close-grip bench press variations.

His biceps were built with curls, including barbell curls and concentration curls.

His forearms came from handling heavy weights and training the lower arms directly.

That combination still works.

Triceps

For triceps, Eiferman favored pressing movements.

The close-grip bench press is still one of the best triceps builders around.

It lets you use heavy weight, overload the arms, and build the horseshoe look that makes the upper arm appear thick and powerful.

Good triceps options include:

• Close-grip bench press
• Dips
• Skull crushers
• Overhead extensions
• Pushdowns

The combination of these exercises helped build his horseshoe triceps.

Biceps

For biceps, he used barbell curls and concentration curls.

The barbell curl builds brute arm strength.

The concentration curl lets you isolate, squeeze, and focus on the muscle.

That is a great pairing.

One heavy movement. One strict movement.

Forearms and Grip

Eiferman understood something many modern lifters ignore:

Grip matters.

A weak grip limits your strength. If your hands fail before your back, traps, or legs, you are leaving gains on the table.

As Eiferman put it, when your grip and forearms are strong, heavy weights feel easier to handle.

That is true.

Grip strength gives you command over the iron.

“If your grip is powerful, and your forearms strong, when you lift heavy weights in your training, they will feel easier to handle. You will never have to worry about your grip failing you.”

Train your forearms with:

• Wrist curls
• Reverse wrist curls
• Farmer’s walks
• Dead hangs
• Thick-bar holds
• Heavy rows
• Deadlifts
• Hammer curls

Never neglect the lower arms.

Big forearms make the entire physique look more powerful.

Arm Tri-sets

One interesting Eiferman tactic was using arm tri-sets.

A triset is three exercises performed back-to-back with little to no rest.

For example:

Rest after all three exercises are complete.

This type of training creates a massive pump and lets you train several related muscle groups in a short period of time.

It is simple, savage, and effective.

Eiferman’s Thoughts on Sets and Reps

George Eiferman believed lower reps and heavier weights were best for building muscle mass and power, while higher reps and more total work helped develop endurance and definition.

A simple way to apply this today:

• 5–8 reps: strength and mass
• 8–12 reps: classic bodybuilding growth
• 12–20 reps: pump, endurance, and conditioning

Do not get trapped thinking there is only one magical rep range.

Use all of them.

Heavy weights build density and strength. Moderate reps build size. Higher reps build work capacity, blood flow, and mental toughness.

A complete physique benefits from all three.

The Best Exercises for Growth, Strength, and Power

Eiferman believed the big barbell exercises were the foundation of serious development.

The squat, bench press, and deadlift are still three of the most productive exercises a lifter can perform.

They build muscle because they involve a large amount of total body effort. They challenge the heart, lungs, nervous system, and major muscle groups all at once.

Heavy cleans, overhead presses, rows, and other power movements also build rugged strength and athletic muscle.

The lesson is simple:

Do not build your training around fluff.

Build it around hard exercises that force your body to adapt.

Then use isolation work to refine the physique.

How to Use George Eiferman’s Routine Today

If you want to try Eiferman-style training, start with the basic three-day full-body routine.

Run it for 8–12 weeks.

Track your lifts.

Eat enough protein.

Sleep enough.

Add weight when you earn it.

Here is a modernized version for lifters who want the same old-school spirit with slightly cleaner exercise selection.

Modern Eiferman-Inspired Full-Body Routine

Perform three times per week.

This keeps the soul of the original routine while making it more practical for the modern lifter.

Final Thoughts

George Eiferman’s training was built on timeless principles:

Train the whole body.

Squat hard.

Press heavy.

Row with purpose.

Build your grip.

Strengthen your legs.

Use the basics.

Develop your body and your character at the same time.

That is the old-school way.

And it still works.

I’m trying the squat-every-day experiment myself. Today was day one. I’m going to run it for at least 30 days and see what happens – strength, soreness, leg size, conditioning, and all.

Hopefully I come out the other side with enormous tree-trunk thighs.

We’ll see.

Either way, George Eiferman’s message still stands:

The iron builds more than muscle.

It builds the Man.

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