Lee Haney’s Bodybuilding Workout Routine (3 On, 1 Off)

When you train like a Mr. Olympia, Lee Haney could be among the finest to coach like. Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman currently hold probably the most Mr. Olympia wins at an astounding 8 titles! This makes him among the finest bodybuilders ever on planet Earth.

This also makes it reasonable to say he has among the finest bodybuilding programs you could possibly follow. We’re not saying the Lee Haney workout routine will rack you up 8 Mr. Olympia titles, but we are going to say it could provide help to add kilos of mass to your frame.

When you’re searching for a latest bodybuilding program to follow, take a look at the Lee Haney workout routine below.

Who Is Lee Haney?

Lee Haney is a person with many nicknames – Lee “Hercules” Haney and “Totalee Awesome Haney” being two of them.

Sure, the latter nickname has a certain level of cheese to it. Nevertheless, possessing a physique named after the Roman divine hero Hercules is sort of a feat. And no, this isn’t considered one of those ironic nicknames while you call a giant guy, “small guy”. Lee Haney truly had a god-like body.

When many individuals consider the nice Mr. Olympia, they typically consider names like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, and Phil Heath.

Nevertheless, Lee Haney tops all of those as he holds the record for probably the most title wins, with a complete of 8 Mr. Olympia championships! In reality, he was the primary to achieve this number, just for Ronnie Coleman to tie this feat in 2005.

Not only did he win 8 titles, this was done consecutively meaning Lee Haney was absolutely the king of bodybuilding for nearly a straight decade winning yearly from 1984-1991!

Mr. Haney was an absolute beast standing at 5’11” and weighing in at 275-285lbs off season while walking the stage leaned out at 230-260lbs. What really makes Lee Haney unique, aside from winning 8 titles, is he reigned during a transitory period between the Golden Age of bodybuilding and the age of Mass Monsters.

That is all up for debate but Chris Dickerson is mostly said to be the last bodybuilder of the Golden Age, winning Mr. Olympia in 1982. On the alternative side of Lee Haney’s streak is Dorian Yates who is mostly considered to be the unique mass monster.

Nevertheless, you’ll be able to see this transition as Lee Haney weighed in at around 230lbs in the course of the contest in his early years of winning while ending his reign at 260lbs.

All this implies is that Lee Haney was in a position to merge the aesthetics from the 1960’s and 1970’s bodybuilders akin to Arnold Schwarzneager with the mass monsters of the late 1990’s and 2000’s akin to Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman.

And he did it with grace, hence the very accurate nickname, Hercules.

Special Features Of Lee Haney Workout

Winning Mr. Olympia is not any easy feat and Lee Haney did it 8 times. This leads many to query what his training was like. We’ll let you know that it’s brutal.

Lee Haney’s workout routine follows fundamental principles that any effective training program. This includes things akin to using progressive overload and training with intensity.

Nevertheless, there are a pair things that make the 8-Time Mr. Olympia’s workout routine really stand out out of your normal training plans for non-gods.

3 On, 1 Off Training Split

Lee Haney didn’t train a typical 3-day every week or 4-day every week. Reasonably, he rotated through a 4-day block consisting of three training days then 1 rest day.

• Day 1: Chest And Arms
• Day 2: Legs
• Day 3: Back And Shoulders
• Dat 4: Rest

This implies his training days and rest days at all times modified every week. Immediately, if you wish to run Lee Haney’s workout routine, you’ll need some flexibility in your schedule.

For instance, it’s not unusual for somebody to have an extra-busy day of the week. Perhaps they’ve a number of meetings or social events.

Running Lee Haney’s workout routine goes to require you to give you the chance to squeeze in a workout.  Because of this, to make sure you stay on the right track, we advise you to stand up early to workout within the morning.

2 Workouts For Each Muscle Group

Lee Haney would have 2 different workouts for every of the three three training days. These would then be rotated through during his cycle. Ultimately, this implies he trains once every 8 days.

• Day 1: Chest And Arms 1
• Day 2: Legs 1
• Day 3: Back And Shoulders 1
• Day 4: Rest
• Day 5: Chest And Arms 2
• Day 6: Legs 2
• Day 7: Back And Shoulders 2
• Day 8: Rest

We’ll undergo the precise workouts below, but you’ll notice that the sessions use similar exercises with slight variations. For instance, the incline bench press is alternated between the dumbbell bench press and the squat press.

Lee Haney did this to emphasize the muscles from different angles to maximise growth. Lee probably did this just through observations after being within the gym training for a while.

Nevertheless, we now know this isn’t just “bro science,” as we’ve studies to prove this will be an efficient method. 

Research has shown that a muscle doesn’t see uniform growth when training using only a single message. Reasonably, the a part of the muscle that’s stressed as a result of the movement pattern will see probably the most growth.

Because of this using quite a lot of exercises to hit a muscle from different angles will lead to a fuller muscle.

Crazy High-Volume

Lee Haney’s workout routine will not be for beginners. Heck, it’s not for anyone in the precise mental space.

It is because Lee Haney’s workout incorporates a crazy amount of volume. A few of his training days have 40+ working sets! That may be a ton of volume. For one, you’re going to want time simply to get all of it done. More importantly, you’ll need muscular endurance and maturity.

We’ll be honest, this single factor will minimize it’s appropriateness for many individuals, a minimum of because it’s written. When you’re latest to bodybuilding, you’ll be able to still run this program but we’d advise to chop 1-2 sets off each exercise.

Calves And Abs EVERY Workout

Calves are notoriously hard to grow, and everybody wants abs. Lee Haney’s solution was to coach them each workout.

This implies you’ll train these muscles 5-6 times every week.

Due to this fact, we are able to definitely say that if these are muscles you’ve had trouble growing, Lee Haney’s workout routine could provide help to get on the precise path.

Lee Haney’s Workout Routine

As mentioned above, Lee Haney’s workout rotates through 4 days; 3 sessions and 1 rest day. The particular schedule looks like this.

• Day 1: Chest And Arms (Workout 1)
• Day 2: Legs (Workout 1)
• Day 3: Back And Shoulders (Workout 1)
• Day 4: Rest
• Repeat (Workout 2’s)

With that in mind, here is his entire 8-day training block. This includes 6 different workouts and a couple of rest days. 

Calves and Abs (Do At The End Of Each Workout Below)

1. Standing or Donkey Calf Raise: 6 sets x 15-20 reps
2. Seated Calf Raise: 3-4 sets x 15-20 reps
3. Vertical Leg Raise: 4 sets x 15-20 reps
4. Incline Sit Ups: 4 sets x 15-20 reps
5. Seated Leg Raise: 4 sets x 15-20 reps

Day 1: Chest and Arms (Workout #1)

Day 2: Legs (Workout #1)

Day 3: Back and Shoulders (Workout #1)

Day 4: Rest

Day 5: Chest and Arms (Workout #2)

Day 6: Legs (Workout #2)

Day 7: Back and Shoulders (Workout #2)

Day 8: Rest

REPEAT

Other Notes On Lee Haney’s Routine

To make sure he saw progress along with his training plan, Lee Haney followed a number of principles to maintain him on the right track.

Get Loads of Sleep

It is a very high-volume workout routine, so that you’ll must sleep so much to recuperate. Lee Haney strongly promoted getting a minimum of 7-8 hours of sleep every night and in addition 30-60-minute nap in the course of the day.

That is crucial and if you happen to can’t do that, don’t even try his workout as you’ll fail or get injured. Sleep will not be an option when following a correct bodybuilding program as a result of the immense stress it puts on the body.

Get your sleep. No excuses. You literally don’t must do anything (since you’re sleeping!)

Auto-Regulation: Train To Stimulate, Not Annihilate

Lee Haney was aware that his training was very demanding. While training at a high volume, he allowed auto-regulation. Auto-regulation is a technique of coaching that allows you to alter your load and intensity based on how you are feeling.

When you were drained or worn out on a training day, reduce on some sets or perhaps a couple exercises. Training to coach did nothing but create more fatigue with none growth.

This idea gave birth to his signature line; “Train to stimulate, not annihilate”

We imagine that this idea is lost on many individuals within the fitness world today. The concept that you might want to “destroy” your muscles every session has held so many individuals back.

So yes, train hard and intensely while you get within the gym. Whenever you’re done, go home. And as Haney said, if you happen to feel like your body is completed before your session is completed, go home. Pushing yourself past this limit will do nothing for you and can likely set you back.

This is very true when performing such a high-volume training program when the construct up of fatigue and overtraining are a greater risk.

Should You Use Lee Haney’s Workout Routine?

The true query is, must you use Lee Haney’s workout routine?

Well, this program obviously incorporates a ton of volume. His calves and abs routine contain 22 sets of coaching alone, and people are added to each training day.

Alternatively, this led him to win Mr. Olympia 8 times! Nevertheless, most individuals won’t ever come near being Mr. Olympia once, and most haven’t any desire to anyway.

Even if you happen to did, it is a ton of volume for a natural lifter to handle. Consider that 20 working sets is mostly considered the utmost a muscle group can handle weekly.

With all that said, we’d not give Lee Haney’s workout routine a blanket suggestion. Not since it’s bad but since it’s so intense.

The one individuals who should follow this plan as is are serious bodybuilders who’ve experience within the gym and a number of time on their hands.

As mentioned above, if you happen to don’t have much experience yet but still need to train just like the Mr. Olympia champ, easy knock of 1-2 sets per exercise. Remember, train to stimulate, not annihilate.

Lessons Learned From Lee Haney’s Workout Routine

Now, simply because Lee Haney’s specific workout routine might not be suitable for you doesn’t mean there aren’t any takeaways. There are several things that you may adopt into your personal training program.

1. Using a 3-day on, 1 day-off training split

This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve got to make use of a 3-day on, 1-day off split. What it does mean is there are more ways to run a program than a strict three or 4 days every week.

This will be very useful for somebody running a push, pull, or leg split (PPL). You would possibly just like the PPL split but need to train five days every week. Due to this fact, you’ll be able to just rotate through the PPL training days through a 5-day split.

Like Lee Haney’s workout, you won’t train each muscle group with the identical frequency every week however it won’t be an issue.

2. Using variation in your training program

One of the crucial useful takeaways for muscle growth is the heavy use of variation in Lee Haney’s workout routine.

This doesn’t mean “random” or “muscle confusion” nonsense. It’s still imperative that you just use a structure to use progressive overload.

Nevertheless, you’ll be able to have variation while still having structure, identical to Lee Haney did.

3. Using different volumes for various muscles

When you reach a certain training level, it’s possible you’ll need to give attention to some body parts greater than others. Perhaps that is to construct a symmetrical body, or possibly it’s since you like some body parts to be larger than others.

Regardless of the case, your training doesn’t at all times need equal training.

For instance, possibly you want the dimensions of your legs but need to grow your chest and shoulders. Don’t feel you have to train these muscle groups with the identical volume. Reasonably, give your legs minimum training just to take care of size while giving your chest and shoulders extra love.

4. Giving some muscle extra attention

Just like the above, Lee Haney knew his abs and calves were difficult to grow, so he gave them a number of extra love.

If you’ve got a body part that you just find difficult to grow, it’s possible you’ll must train it at a much higher frequency.

Final Say On Lee Haney’s Workout Routine

Lee Haney’s workout is intense, but you don’t get to be Mr. Olympia 8 times by training with a standard training plan. In reality, it might be odd if his workout wasn’t so insane!

With that said, possibly the largest lesson we are able to learn is that simply because pro bodybuilders do something, it doesn’t make it a great idea for most people to follow blindly. Regardless, if you wish to give it a shot, accomplish that, but be prepared to eat and sleep so much! When you’re going to coach like Lee Haney, you’re going to want loads of rest and calories to fuel his crazy bodybuilding workout plan!