This training plan is an excellent addition to a series of Mr Olympia’s workout routines that I’ve created on my site. This article is special because here I’ll show you one of the effective workout plans of the first ever Mr Olympia, Larry Scott.
Larry Scott, also known as “The Legend” and “The Golden Boy,” was an American professional bodybuilder.
He won the inaugural 1965 Mr. Olympia competition and retained the crown at the 1966 Mr. Olympia contest before retiring.
He also won the Mr. America title in 1962 and the Mr. Universe title in 1964. With his Olympia victory in 1965, Scott became the first man to win the three major titles of his era. (Source)
Larry was best known for his naturally aesthetic physique, particularly his impressive biceps muscles.
Larry Scott Workout Program Description
I’ve covered one of Larry Scott’s training plans in this article. This program involves training six times per week with one day of full rest.
6-Day Larry Scott Split Workout:
- Day 1: Chest and Back
- Day 2: Shoulders and Arms
- Day 3: Legs, Abs, and Forearms
- Day 4: Chest and Back
- Day 5: Shoulders and Arms
- Day 6: Legs, Abs, and Forearms
- Day 7: Full Day OFF
This split allows you to train your every muscle group two times weekly and will help you build strength and muscle mass over time.
It will be a high-volume program, involving plenty of sets and will take more than an hour to complete each session. So, it is surely designed for experienced gym goers, not for newbies.
The Best Larry Scott Workout Plan for Bodybuilding
I’ll share this program in a table format, mentioning the number of sets and reps and a brief description of each exercise.
Start your workout with dynamic stretches and a few lightweight sets to prepare the muscles for lifting heavy. For example, you can do a few sets of shoulder pass-throughs and seated pec deck fly to increase blood flow in your pectoral muscles before doing heavy bench presses.
Monday & Thursday: Chest and Back
Exercises | Sets | Reps |
---|---|---|
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press & Bar Dips (superset) | 6 | 8 |
Incline Barbell Bench Press | 6 | 8 |
Incline Dumbbell Flyes | 6 | 8 |
Seated Cable Row & Chin-ups (superset) | 6 | 8 |
Single-arm Dumbbell Row | 8 | 10 |
Chest Exercises
- Flat Dumbbell Bench Press: Larry used to start his chest workout with a flat dumbbell bench press and lifts as heavy as possible while maintaining a proper form. He does 6 sets of 8 reps. He also performs bodyweight dips on parallel bars to keep the blood flowing in the chest between the sets of bench presses.
- Incline Barbell Bench Press: After dumbbell presses, he performs 6 sets of 8 reps incline bench presses with a wider grip to hit the upper and outer parts of the pectoral muscles.
- Incline Dumbbell Flyes: Incline dumbbell flyes is Larry’s last chest exercise that he performs to stimulate the chest muscle deeply. He keeps the number of reps and sets the same as the first two exercises.
Back Exercises
- Seated Cable Row: After the chest, he quickly moves to train his back with a compound movement, seated cable row. He performs 6 sets of 8 reps again. He also does chin-ups to the nose between the sets of seated rowing to keep the blood flowing in his back muscles.
- Single-arm Dumbbell Row: He performs the single-arm dumbbell row 8 sets of 10 reps (5 on each side) with full stretch at the bottom and a two-second pause at the top.
Tuesday & Friday: Shoulders and Arms
Exercises | Sets | Reps |
---|---|---|
Behind The Neck Overhead Press | 10 | 8 |
Leaning Forward 1-arm Lateral Raises | 8 | 6/arm |
Rear Delt Incline Dumbbell Fly | 5 | 8 |
Rear Delt Prone Dumbbell Fly | 4 | 12 |
Dumbbell Preacher Curl (Drop–sets) | 6 | 6 + 6 |
One-arm Overhead Triceps Extension | 5 | 8/arm |
Concentration Curl | 6 | 10/arm |
Incline Close Grip Bench Press | 6 | 10 |
Single-arm Cable Pulley Pressdown | 6 | 10/arm |
Shoulder Exercises
- Behind The Neck Overhead Press: Larry started his shoulder workouts with behind-the-neck presses and performed plenty of sets and reps. This exercise helped him build aesthetic shoulders and a proportional upper body. However, you need to have healthy and flexible shoulders to perform this movement.
- Leaning Forward 1-arm Lateral Raises: This exercise hits the medial delts (lateral part of the shoulders). It involves slightly leaning forward, keeping your shoulder low at all times, and keeping the outside of your palm higher than the inside to contract your side delts effectively.
- Rear Delt Incline Dumbbell Fly: After the anterior and medial deltoids, Larry performs the rear delt incline dumbbell fly to bolster the posterior shoulders. To perform this exercise, grab one dumbbell in each hand, lie prone on a 30-degree incline bench, and raise your arms to the sides.
- Rear Delt Prone Dumbbell Fly: Larry finishes his shoulder day with this exercise. It hit the rear delt from a different angle than the third exercise. It involves lying prone on a flat bench, holding a pair of dumbbells with a neutral grip, and lifting your arms to the sides.
Arms Exercises
- Dumbbell Preacher Curl: Larry’s first arm exercise is the dumbbell preacher curl. It trains the bicep brachii and builds rounded biceps. He performs 6 dropsets with each set involving 6 reps with heavy dumbbells, quickly followed by 6 reps with moderate to light dumbbells.
- One-arm Overhead Triceps Extension: This exercise hammers the triceps external heads and builds chiseled upper arms. It involves keeping your elbow high and next to the head throughout the movement to engage your triceps effectively.
- Concentration Curl: The concentration curl is Larry’s one of his favorite biceps exercises for building peaked biceps. It generates the highest contractions in both heads of the biceps and promotes hypertrophy.
- Incline Close Grip Bench Press: This is a compound exercise for building bigger triceps. It involves lying on a 30-degree incline bench (with a rack), grabbing a bar with a shorter grip than your shoulder-width, and pressing the bar while engaging your triceps.
- Single-arm Cable Pulley Pressdown: This is a unilateral exercise, allowing you to train each arm individually and bringing out the definition of your triceps.
Wednesday & Saturday: Legs, Abs, and Forearms
Exercises | Sets | Reps |
---|---|---|
Standing/Donkey Calf Raises | 12 | 30 |
Seated Leg Extensions | 4 | 20 |
Back Squat | 6 | 8 |
Decline Crunches | 4 | Failure |
Decline Leg Raises | 4 | Failure |
Bent-over Barbell Wrist Curl | 15 | 15 |
Leg Exercises
- Standing Machine Calf Raises: This exercise involves lowering the heels as far as possible, feeling the stretch for a moment at the bottom, and then raising it as high as possible. It targets the calves and builds burly lower legs.
- Seated Leg Extensions: This exercise primarily targets the quadriceps and brings out the best quad definition.
- Barbell Back Squat: It is a compound leg exercise that activates the entire lower body muscles, primarily the quads, and develops powerful and aesthetic legs.
Abdominal Exercises
- Decline Bench Sit-up: This exercise targets the upper and middle rectus abdominis and thickens six-pack abs. It involves lying on a decline sit-up bench and curling your torso to engage your abs.
- Decline Bench Leg Raises: The leg raises work more on the lower abs than the upper. The combination of sit-ups and leg raises will help you reveal all your inner abs muscles.
Forearm Exercises
- Bent-over Barbell Wrist Curl: This is an isolation exercise that primarily focuses on strengthening forearms and improving wrist mobility. Strong and jacked forearms make your entire look muscularly attractive. It involves bending forward, placing your wrist on your knees, and curling your lower arms.
Who Can Follow This Larry Scott Workout Routine?
This is Larry’s high-volume training program, designed for intermediate and advanced lifters who train six times weekly.
It involves performing plenty of sets and reps, and multiple compound exercises such as stiff leg deadlifts, back squats, and behind-the-neck presses.
However, if you are a beginner and want to follow his schedule, you need to make some adjustments. For example, you can do dumbbell overhead presses instead of behind-the-neck presses, leg curls instead of RDL, and pec deck machine flies instead of dumbbells.
I’ve also published customized workout routines for beginners that you may like.