Colbert's full body training

Author: Šárka Randáčková

Training plan

08.05.2018

4 minuty čtení

Leroy Colbert didn't win many titles in the 1950s, but he appeared on countless bodybuilding magazine covers.
His path to stardom? He was the first man to build 53cm arms, and supposedly without the use of performance-enhancing drugs. He also became famous for his unique approach to training.

We're going to offer you one of his training principles today. This high-frequency training will make you train your whole body every other day.

Full body training

Colbert was a staunch proponent of it and said that no other way of training was ever productive for him. At the time, three sets per body part was the norm. Many bodybuilders at the time thought that anything above that level would make their muscles smaller. Colbert went against the tide when he trained 6 sets per body part. The rest is history.

I've successfully recommended his workout to dozens of exercisers, and I've used it myself when I packed on 7kg of almost pure muscle and kept my waist circumference unchanged in the process.

Colbert's advice

Do a full-body workout every other day.
Keep the repetitions between 6 and 10. Once you get to 10 reps in all sets, add weight.
For optimal growth, train each body part for at least 6 sets.
Set your training units according to the pressure/pull principle. Do not train your chest right after your triceps or your biceps right after your back. Triceps, biceps, chest, back, thighs, shoulders, and finally calves meet this requirement.
Start with 6 sets of each. That makes 42 total.

The basic idea of the routine is to have a list of exercises for each muscle group that you will cycle (two on each training day), add weight whenever you can, and rest and eat properly.

For example, if you want to improve your arms, your routine might look like this for one particular day:

	CVIK	SERIES	REPEAT
A1	Bicep lift, pulling the axis along the body	4	6 - 10
A2	Bench press	4	6 - 10
B1	Biceps raise on positively inclined bench	4	6 - 10
B2	Triceps extension overhead	4	6 - 10
C1	Bend with weight	3	6 - 10
C2	Bench press on positively inclined bench	3	6 - 10
D1	Bench press in front of the body	3	6 - 10
D2	One-arm stretch on negatively inclined bench	3	6 - 10
E1	Front squat with big axis	3	6 - 10
E2	Military press	3	6 - 10
F1	Hacken squat	3	6 - 10
F2	One-armed arm raises	3	6 - 10
G	Standing calf raises	3	12 - 15
H	Sit-up calf raises	3	12 - 15

Total number of sets: 46
Rest between sets: 1 minute
Series length: 32 seconds(4 seconds per repetition)
Total training time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

This routine stimulates each major muscle group three times a week. Plus, it's very flexible, so you can adjust it to your own needs and get the most out of it.

Set it up to suit your needs

Take advantage of the fact that you exercise each part three times a week and adjust the number of repetitions. If you're after strength, train in two 5 x 5 repetition sessions. If you have an exercise that always gets you results, definitely include it as one of the 5 alternatives. If, on the other hand, an exercise, such as overhead presses, hurts you, cut it out.

Full body training is good for improving lagging areas because you can do them first, three times a week.