Winner of two Mr. Olympia titles in 1976 and 1981, Franco Columbu was one of the most prominent figures during the golden era of bodybuilding, gracing the covers of many bodybuilding magazines and appearing in the bodybuilding cult classic documentary, Pumping Iron.
At only 5′ 5″, Columbu would have been one of the sports so-called “giant-killers,” had he competed by today’s Olympia rules without weight classes, as he easily outclassed many of the bodybuilders who towered over him.
The Sardinian Strongman
Hailing from Sardinia, Franco Columbu was widely regarded as one of the strongest men in the world during his day, and he is widely regarded as the sports first “power-builder”, combining the heavy weights and low reps used by power-lifters with the high volume training approach favored by bodybuilders. His dense, thickly-muscled physique is still regarded as one of the best to this day.
In 1977, he competed in the first World Strongman Competition, which was televised around the world. Several events into the competition, he was in first place going into the Refrigerator Race event, in which contestants ran downhill with refrigerators strapped to their backs. But during the race, Columbu fell and severely dislocated his leg, requiring surgery and a long stretch of physical therapy. His physicians said he’d never walk again, but he showed them wrong and eventually made a full recovery to win the 1981 Mr. Olympia competition four years later.
Franco And Arnold
Franco Columbu and Arnold Schwarzenegger met in Munich, Germany in 1965 and quickly became good friends. When Joe Weider brought them out to the United States in 1969, the two became nearly inseparable. They were training partners at Gold’s Gym in Venice, and they even started a bricklaying business together to cover their living expenses, since their weekly stipend from the Weider organization barely covered their massive grocery bills. Columbu was also the best man at Arnold’s wedding to Maria Shriver in 1986.
Franco Columbu’s Training Style
Before Franco became a bodybuilder, he was a boxer, Olympic weightlifter and power-lifter, and those sports greatly influenced his training style in the gym years later as a champion, world-class bodybuilder. He incorporated traditional power-lifting exercises – flat bench press, barbell squat and dead lift – into his routine, and he went heavy on all of those, even to the point of including heavy singles, doubles and triples on a regular basis.
Pre-contest, Columbu used a 14-day training cycle, hitting each body part two times per week. He would use a reverse pyramid method for most of the exercises, where he would start each movement with lighter weights and higher reps, and then he’d drop into lower rep ranges as he increased the poundage on each successive set. This approach is reflected in the routine numbers below. While performing the exercises where rep range is consistent – such as 3 x 20, he would use the same weight for all sets.
Below is Franco Columbu’s training routine that he used leading up to his second Mr. Olympia win in 1981. During those days, high-volume training was considered essential for bodybuilding success, and you can see the influence that philosophy had on his training. This routine was nothing compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pre-contest routine as laid out in his Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding, but it’s still a lot more exercises, sets and training days per week than is typically seen today.
Abdominal training was performed approximately every other training day, but no added weights were used. Columbu simply relied on his own body weight for resistance.
A giant set is the combination of 3 or more exercises in a row with less than 60 seconds rest in-between.
A superset is combining 2 exercises in a row.
FRANCO COLUMBU’S 14-DAY TRAINING SPLIT
Day 1
AM Workout: Chest, Shoulders
- Superset
- Barbell bench presses: 3 x 15, 10, 4
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 20
- Superset
- Flat-bench dumbbell flys 3 x 20, 15, 6
- Cable crossovers 3 x 20
- Giant Set
- Barbell incline presses: 3 x 15
- Barbell pullovers: 3 x 15
- Parallel-bar dips: 3 sets to failure
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 25
- Standing dumbbell lateral raises: 4 x 10
- Bent lateral raises: 6 x 10
- Behind-the-neck presses: 4 x 10
- Alternating dumbbell front raises: 3 x 8
- Cable lateral raises: 3 x 10
PM Workout: Arms, Abs
- Superset
- Cable push-downs: 4 x 8
- Standing dumbbell curls: 4 x 8
- Superset
- Lying barbell triceps extensions: 4 x 8
- Barbell preacher curls: 4 x 8
- Superset
- Seated barbell extensions: 4 x 8
- Dumbbell incline curls: 4 x 8
- Roman chair sit-ups: 4 x 15-25
- Crunches: 4 x 15-25
- Hanging leg raises: 4 x 15-25
Day 2
AM Workout: Back
- Wide-grip pull-ups: 6 x 10-15
- T-bar rows: 4 x 10
- Seated cable rows: 4 x 10
- One-arm dumbbell rows: 3 x 10
- Narrow Hammer-grip pull-ups: 3 x 10
PM Workout: Legs
- Barbell squats: 7 x 20, 15, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
- Leg presses: 4 x 50, 25, 15, 8
- Leg extensions: 6-7 x 20
- Barbell lunges: 2-3 x 12-15
- Dead-lifts: 6 x 5, 5, 5, 3, 1, 1
Day 3
AM Workout: Chest, Shoulders, Abs
- Superset
- Barbell bench presses: 3 x 15, 10, 4
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 20
- Superset
- Flat-bench dumbbell flys: 3 x 20, 15, 6
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 20
- Giant Set
- Barbell incline presses: 3 x 15
- Barbell pullovers: 3 x 15
- Parallel-bar dips: 3 sets to failure
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 25
- Standing dumbbell lateral raises: 4 x 10
- Bent lateral raises: 6 x 10
- Behind-the-neck presses: 4 x 10
- Alternating dumbbell front raises: 3 x 8
- Cable lateral raises: 3 x 10
- Roman chair situps: 4 x 15-25
- Crunches: 4 x 15-25
- Hanging leg raises: 4 x 15-25
Day 4
AM Workout: Arms
- Superset
- Cable push-downs: 4 x 8
- Standing dumbbell curls: 4 x 8
- Superset
- Lying barbell triceps extensions: 4 x 8
- Barbell preacher curls: 4 x 8
- Superset
- Seated barbell extensions: 4 x 8
- Dumbbell incline curls: 4 x 8
Day 5
AM Workout: Legs, Abs
- Barbell squats: 7 x 20, 15, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
- Leg presses: 4 x 50, 25, 15, 8
- Leg extensions: 6-7 x 20
- Barbell lunges: 2-3 x 12-15
- Dead-lifts: 6 x 5, 5, 5, 3, 1, 1
- Roman chair sit-ups: 4 x 15-25
- Crunches: 4 x 15-25
- Hanging leg raises: 4 x 15-25
PM Workout: Back
- Wide-grip pull-ups: 6 x 10-15
- T-bar rows: 4 x 10
- Seated cable rows: 4 x 10
- One-arm dumbbell rows: 3 Sets of 10 Reps
- Narrow Hammer-grip pull-ups: 3 x 10
Day 6
AM Workout: Chest, Shoulders, Abs
- Superset
- Barbell bench presses: 3 x 15, 10, 4
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 20
- Superset
- Flat-bench dumbbell flys: 3 x 20, 15, 6
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 20
- Giant Set
- Barbell incline presses: 3 x 15
- Barbell pullovers: 3 x 15
- Parallel-bar dips: 3 sets to failure
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 25
- Standing dumbbell lateral raises: 4 x 10
- Bent lateral raises: 6 x 10
- Behind-the-neck presses: 4 x 10
- Alternating dumbbell front raises: 3 x 8
- Cable lateral raises: 3 x 10
- Roman chair sit-ups: 4 x 15-25
- Crunches: 4 x 15-25
- Hanging leg raises: 4 x 15-25
Day 7 – Rest
Day 8
AM Workout: Arms
- Superset
- Cable push-downs: 4 x 8
- Standing dumbbell curls: 4 x 8
- Superset
- Lying barbell triceps extensions: 4 x 8
- Barbell preacher curls: 4 x 8
- Superset
- Seated barbell extensions: 4 x 8
- Dumbbell incline curls: 4 x 8
PM Workout: Legs (with barbell lunges)
- Barbell squats: 7 x 20, 15, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
- Leg presses: 4 x 50, 25, 15, 8
- Leg extensions: 6-7 x 20
- Barbell lunges: 2-3 x 12-15
- Dead-lifts: 6 x 5, 5, 5, 3, 1, 1
Day 9
AM Workout: Back, Abs
- Wide-grip pull-ups: 6 x 10-15
- T-bar rows: 4 x 10
- Seated cable rows: 4 x 10
- One-arm dumbbell rows: 3 Sets of 10 Reps
- Narrow Hammer-grip pull-ups: 3 x 10
- Roman chair sit-ups: 4 x 15-25
- Crunches: 4 x 15-25
- Hanging leg raises: 4 x 15-25
Day 10:
AM Workout: Chest, Shoulders
- Superset
- Barbell bench presses: 3 x 15, 10, 4
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 20
- Superset
- Flat-bench dumbbell flys: 3 x 20, 15, 6
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 20
- Giant Set
- Barbell incline presses: 3 x 15
- Barbell pullovers: 3 x 15
- Parallel-bar dips: 3 sets to failure
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 25
- Standing dumbbell lateral raises: 4 x 10
- Bent lateral raises: 6 x 10
- Behind-the-neck presses: 4 x 10
- Alternating dumbbell front raises: 3 x 8
- Cable lateral raises: 3 x 10
PM Workout: Arms
- Superset
- Cable push-downs: 4 x 8
- Standing dumbbell curls: 4 x 8
- Superset
- Lying barbell triceps extensions: 4 x 8
- Barbell preacher curls: 4 x 8
- Superset
- Seated barbell extensions: 4 x 8
- Dumbbell incline curls: 4 x 8
Day 11
AM Workout: Back, Abs
- Wide-grip pull-ups: 6 x 10-15
- T-bar rows: 4 x 10
- Seated cable rows: 4 x 10
- One-arm dumbbell rows: 3 x 10
- Narrow Hammer-grip pull-ups: 3 x 10
- Roman chair sit-ups: 4 x 15-25
- Crunches: 4 x 15-25
- Hanging leg raises: 4 x 15-25
PM Workout: Legs (no barbell lunges)
- Barbell squats: 7 x 20, 15, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2
- Leg presses: 4 x 50, 25, 15, 8
- Leg extensions: 6-7 x 20
- Dead-lifts: 6 x 5, 5, 5, 3, 1, 1
Day 12
AM Workout: Chest, Shoulders, Abs
- Superset
- Barbell bench presses: 3 x 15, 10, 4
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 20
- Superset
- Flat-bench dumbbell flys: 3 x 20, 15, 6
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 20
- Giant Set
- Barbell incline presses: 3 x 15
- Barbell pullovers: 3 x 15
- Parallel-bar dips: 3 sets to failure
- Cable crossovers: 3 x 25
- Standing dumbbell lateral raises: 4 x 10
- Bent lateral raises: 6 x 10
- Behind-the-neck presses: 4 x 10
- Alternating dumbbell front raises: 3 x 8
- Cable lateral raises: 3 x 10
- Roman chair sit-ups: 4 x 15-25
- Crunches: 4 x 15-25
- Hanging leg raises: 4 x 15-25
Day 13
AM Workout: Arms
- Superset
- Cable push-downs: 4 x 8
- Standing dumbbell curls: 4 x 8
- Superset
- Lying barbell triceps extensions: 4 x 8
- Barbell preacher curls: 4 x 8
- Superset
- Seated barbell extensions: 4 x 8
- Dumbbell incline curls: 4 x 8
Day 14 – Rest
As you can see, Columbu, much like Arnold, believed in working everything and in taking minimal rest days. Because of the volume, Columbu saw best result when he split his workout into a morning and afternoon/early evening session. This gave him to to recover after the morning workout.
If this is a workout you want to attempt, makes sure you get plenty of nutrition and plenty of sleep!
