Albert “Al” Beckles has a long and storied career in bodybuilding. This man is an absolute legend. Beckles was runner up at the Mr. Olympia at the age of 47 years old. He competed professionally for over 30 years and still trains at 91 years old.
The best part? He trains with a big smile on his face and bicep peaks like mountains. His arms make men 60 years younger than him green with envy.
Albert Beckles Bio
A quit bio about big Al:
Beckles was born in the Caribbean island of Barbados on July 14, 1930. Later, he moved to London, where he pursued his dream of becoming a bodybuilder.
He worked full time as an accountant for 18 years while training in the gym 2 hours a day. Except for a 7 year stretch were he didn’t train due to schooling. But after retiring from accounting he went full time into professional bodybuilding.
Early on, after a few years of training, Albert Beckles started making a name for himself and took his bodybuilding training more seriously. He entered competitions, vying for the NABBA Mr. Britain title for the first time in 1965.
He wowed everyone on stage right away by placing in top 5 in the competition. This was his most significant accomplishment of the year, and it motivated him to train even harder in order to participate in larger competitions.
Albert Beckles Height and Weight
Height: 5′ 7″
Competition Weight: 230 pounds
An absolute unit.
Albert Beckles Workout Routine
Albert Beckles is a professional bodybuilder. that being said, he probably used all kinds of training methods and routines. That’s how you find out what works best for you.
This is reported to be Albert Beckles workout routine while training for competition. Al trained 7 days a week twice per day during the weeks leading up to competition.
Monday Workouts for Chest and Legs
| Monday Morning Chest Workout – Exercises | Sets | Reps |
| Incline dumbbell bench press | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Parallel dips | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Barbell bench press | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Heavy incline dumbbell flyes | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Close grip barbell bench press | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Pec Deck crunches | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Monday Night Legs Workout – Exercises | Sets | Reps |
| Barbell squats (modified) | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Hack squats | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Leg extensions | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Standing heel raise | 4-5 | 12-15+ |
| Seated calf raises | 4-5 | 12-15+ |
Tuesday Workouts for Shoulders and Thighs
| Tuesday Morning Shoulder Workout – Exercises | Sets | Reps |
| Seated barbell press (sometimes behind the neck) | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Dumbbell side laterals SUPERSET with Seated Smith machine press | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Upright barbell rows | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Cable side laterals | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Barbell shoulder shrugs | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Tuesday Night Thigh Workout – Exercises | Sets | Reps |
| Barbell squats (modified) | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Leg curls | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Leg extensions | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Standing heel raises | 4-5 | 12-15+ |
| Seated calf raises | 4-5 | 12-15+ |
| Donkey calf raises | 4-5 | 12-15+ |
Wednesday Workouts for Back and Legs
| Wednesday Morning Back Workout – Exercises | Sets | Reps |
| Wide grip pull ups and chins | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Seated wide grip cable rows | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Close grip cable pulldown | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| T-bar rows | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Barbell rows | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Barbell pullovers | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Wednesday Night Legs Workout – Exercises (Same as Monday) | Sets | Reps |
| Barbell squats (modified) | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Hack squats | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Leg extensions | 4-5 | 12-15 |
| Standing heel raise | 4-5 | 12-15+ |
| Seated calf raises | 4-5 | 12-15+ |
Thursday Workouts: Same as Monday for morning and night with a decline adjustment for chest to target his lower pectorals.
Friday Workouts: Same as Tuesday for morning and night.
Saturday Workouts: Same as Wednesday workouts for morning and night.
Sunday: Start over from the top. Train with these workouts in a series back to back and shift the days as needed to do so.
Notes and Training Tips
Reps – Reps were sometimes more, sometimes less. But generally the target was 12-15 reps set for each exercise.
Weight – Albert Beckles used light weight and high volume. With incredible focus and concentration on form.
Train Arms and Legs everyday – even if it’s just 2-3 sets. He’d train biceps and quads today and then train triceps and hamstrings tomorrow.
Light weights – Light weights help you to get the sharp and defined look. This also helps reduce risk of injury.
Mindset – Beckles has an incredible outlook. He’s never satisfied because he wants to be the best. He has a picture in his mind of what he wants to look like and that motivates him to keep pushing.
He doesn’t worry about what the other guys are doing and only competes with himself. His goal is the get better and better year after year.
Albert Beckles Biceps
Beckles’ focus on holding curl contractions helped him optimize his biceps spikes. Although arm form is greatly dictated by genetics, here’s how Beckles did his curls.
Curl your thumbs over your pinkies and hold those contractions to heighten your bicep peaks. Even if you do not have the genetics to create mini-mountains, a Beckles-style exercise will maintain stress on your fully flexed bi’s while equipping you with higher-caliber weapons of mass destruction.
Albert Beckles Diet
He is a “pollo-vegetarian,” meaning he eats chicken but not red meat. He stayed fairly lean all year around. Because as he puts it, most bodybuilders diet hard before competition then blow up afterwards and get fat.
Therefore it’s hard to know what you’re going to look like on stage until 2-3 weeks out from competition. Beckles wanted to assess his progress and stage conditional all year so he knew what to work on and improve.
He gained some extra weight in the off season (it’s necessary to grow) but didn’t spill over too much. The bulk of his diet in chicken, eggs, fish, and vegetables with a little bit of rice from time to time.
He did not eat processed foods or sweets. He claims that if he did consume anything sweet, it would be in little quantities.
Albert, too, had a time in his career when he followed a vegan diet. He replaced meat with lentils, cereals, dairy, eggs, natural goods, and vegetables throughout this time period.
Albert’s Bodybuilding Profession
After years of training, Albert’s body seemed to be better than ever. This is when he started to take his bodybuilding profession more seriously and entered competitions, vying for the NABBA Mr. Britain title for the first time in 1965.
Albert Beckles Bodybuilding Career Highlights
The following is a list of some of his most notable wins.
- Beckles was a contender for 27 years, winning many British regional championships in the mid-1960s before winning the NABBA Mr. Britain titles in 1969 and 1970.
- He joined the IFBB in 1971 after winning the overall in the IFBB “Mr. Universe” competition in 1970.
- Beckles was one of the most active participants in the history of weightlifting, having competed in over 100 competitions. He won the Night of Champions tournament in New York at the age of 55 in 1982, when he was 52 years old.
- Albert competed in the IFBB Mr. Olympia on many occasions, ranking six times among the top five competitors, including finishing second to Lee Haney in the 1985 competition at the age of 47.
- Albert won the Niagara Falls Invitational in 1991, despite the fact that he was 53 years old.
What Albert Beckles Can Teach Us
Many of you may be familiar with Albert Beckles, but for those of you who aren’t, he was really one of the best bodybuilders of all time.
Albert Beckles was one of the more seasoned Olympians in the 1980s, yet he consistently placed in the top 10 in most events. (And he competed in a LOT of events.)
While Albert Beckles may not have won the Olympia, he is unquestionably one of the most inspiring individuals in the bodybuilding industry. He was able to win a pro event in the past against much younger competitors, which shows that age is just a mindset.
Albert Beckles has taught us that no matter what you are doing, you should never lose hope. When Albert was about 30 years old, he started competing seriously.
He entered a number of competitions and never gave up hope. In fact, competing in over 100 contests is a difficult job. Some individuals only compete twice before giving up.
Albert showed that everything is achievable with the right technique and mindset.
Also, despite of his accomplishments, Albert Beckles has always maintained a humble demeanor while encouraging others to workout and live a happy, healthy lifestyle.
Albert Beckles was a runner up at age 55….not 47