Foundation Bodybuilding Program
If Starting Strength is considered the best barbell based program for strength training, is there a bodybuilding equivalent?
Over the years I have become a proponent of the Starting Strength program, despite myself not being a barbell aficionado.
As I said on a podcast recently, the programming simply WORKS exceptionally well for novice lifters, and even if you elect not to use the barbell much over the course of your training life, that initial linear progression strength and muscle base is a key developmental experience for everything that follows.
That said, what if someone simply doesnt want to do Starting Strength, and is more interested in muscle growth across their major muscles?
What if someone is possibly contraindicated from barbell squats and deadlifts (or bench press)?
Or better yet, what if someone clearly wants to bodybuild? They want to build ALL their muscles and aim for aesthetic impact.
And they dont want to wait months and months before training muscles individually?
These are all good questions
And there is a program they should follow.
Its not of my creation. I must give credit to Lee Haney.
Lee Haney won 8 Mr Olympia titles between 1984 and 1991, but he is often overlooked today. Which is unfortunate, as his training philosophy is one of the best you will find in the bodybuilding world. He is now in his late 60s, has never had a serious injury from training, and has continuously trained clients going on 4 decades. His mantra of “stimulate, dont annihilate” and his education in personal training (he has his own certification, International Association of Fitness Sciences) set him apart from other Mr Olympia.
Lees’s Foundation Program for bodybuilding is one of the best programs Ive ever seen. Its SIMPLE. Effective. Can be 3x days, or 6x days if you are ambitious. It follows a linear progression model, and like the Starting Strength program, it builds a base for all future training.
If there is a definitive beginner bodybuilder program, it should be this one.
It looks like this
The Foundation training schedule (beginner)
Lee favored short workouts for beginners, training at a quick pace (resting 1-2 minutes between sets), and stopping sets short of failure. These workouts should never last more than an hour.
Lee also favored training all muscles twice a week, with 6 training days. Current formal research and natural bodybuilding does validate this as a strategy. While training 6 days a week might seem overwhelming, the training schedule allows a full 4 days between workouts for recovery, and as you will see with the workouts, the actual working volume is moderate.
Lee advocated around 12 sets a week per major muscle group for beginners. Combined with the faster training pace, this is right in line with modern hypertrophy science and recommendations. You can train muscles, stop short of failure, and so long as you aim for progressive overload, you WILL grow.
The weekly schedule is as follows
Day 1: Chest/ Biceps / Abdominals
Day 2: Shoulders / Back
Day 3: Triceps / Legs / Abdominals
Then take a day off and repeat the cycle (i.e., three days on, one day off).
If you only train three days weekly it would go like this:
Mon Upper / Wed Lower / Fri Upper,
and then flip it the next week so lower body is hit twice every other cycle.
If maximal muscle growth is your goal, try the double frequency, six days a week schedule. This requires nutrition, sleep, recuperation to be locked in.
If your recovery is slower, then go with 3 training days a week.
Exercises, sets & reps
Its important to note that Haney favored a pyramid style of working out.
The first set of every exercise was always a warmup set, then you’d add weight, and it would be the 2nd set that would be a work set, with sets 3 and 4 being the heaviest sets.
You would add weight after the warmup, after the 2nd set, and depending on the 3rd set, you might add weight one more time as well.
While this style of training is not as popular anymore, it does WORK. Pyramid training has been practiced for decades. You build muscle and get stronger.
It also prevents injuries as you take your time getting to heavy weights. Its also easy to record and make progress.
-to note, that first warmup set does NOT mean that you ONLY do one warmup. You could do many warmup sets. Lee though did not include these in the recorded sets. That last set before the working weights was the only set he recorded. This makes sense, because as you get stronger your “heaviest warmup” will in fact increase with time, and allow you to gauge your working weights.
Haney himself typically did NOT train to positive failure, and was actually a fan of having a training partner spot you and give small assistance on the harder sets. If training solo he suggested that all sets be done with strict form and a focus on heavy poundages that you had control over. Stop short of failure on all sets except the last one.
the workouts as you will see are very simple, two exercises per muscle group, with the exception of legs.
Workout 1
Chest
Bench Press: 4 sets × 6–8 reps (first set warm-up)
Incline Bench Press: 4 sets × 6–8 reps (incl. warm-up)
Biceps
Barbell Curl: 4 sets × 6–8 reps (if the straight bar aggravates your bicep tendon, use an easy curl bar)
Preacher Curl: 3–4 sets × 10–12 reps (this could be done with barbell, dumbbells, or a machine)
Abdominals
Incline Sit-Up: 3–4 sets × 15–20 reps
Seated Crunch/Leg Raise: 3–4 sets × 15–20 reps
Workout 2
Shoulders
Front (Barbell) Military Press: 3–4 sets × 8–10 reps
Dumbbell Lateral Raise: 2–3 sets × 10–12 reps
Back
Wide-Grip Pulldown: 3–4 sets × 8–10 reps
Barbell Bent-Over Row or T-Bar Row or Seated Row: 3–4 sets × 8–10 reps (Lee liked bent over rows, but he also was not dogmatic about them. Use the row that suits your body best)
Workout 3
Triceps
Cable Pressdown: 4 sets × 10–12 reps
Lying Triceps Extension: 3–4 sets × 8–10 reps
Legs
Leg Extension: 3–4 sets × 12–15 reps
45-Degree Leg Press: 4 sets × 10–12 reps
Leg Curl: 3–4 sets × 12–15 reps
(Haney suggested to abstain from squats during the first month of leg training; if eager, alternate them with leg presses and use strict form. The sets and reps remain the same)Abdominals
Incline Sit-Up: 3–4 sets × 15–20 reps
Seated Crunch/Leg Raise: 3–4 sets × 15–20 reps
Calves Can be worked on any day
Standing Calf Raise: 4–5 sets × 20 reps
How long could you run this program for?
This program would result in immense progress for at least 3-4 months (12-16 weeks), and potentially longer. Id suggest someone follow it until progress plateaus across multiple workouts, as which point you can adjust to a more intermediate program, with potentially more exercises, more rest days, and customizing the schedule to suit your body and particular strengths and weaknesses.