Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Sam Coleman, Co-Founder
FACT CHECKED
If you train like a Mr. Olympia, Lee Haney would be one of the best to train like. Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman currently hold the most Mr. Olympia wins at an astounding 8 titles! This makes him one of the best bodybuilders ever on planet Earth.
This also makes it reasonable to say he has one of the best bodybuilding programs you could follow. We’re not saying the Lee Haney workout routine will rack you up 8 Mr. Olympia titles, but we will say it could help you add pounds of mass to your frame.
If you’re looking for a new bodybuilding program to follow, check out the Lee Haney workout routine below.
Who Is Lee Haney?
Lee Haney is a man 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. However, possessing a physique named after the Roman divine hero Hercules is quite a feat. And no, this isn’t one of those ironic nicknames when you call a big guy, “small guy”. Lee Haney truly had a god-like body.
When many people think of the great Mr. Olympia, they usually think of names like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, and Phil Heath.
However, Lee Haney tops all of these as he holds the record for the most title wins, with a total of 8 Mr. Olympia championships! In fact, he was the first to reach this number, only for Ronnie Coleman to tie this feat in 2005.
Not only did he win 8 titles, this was done consecutively meaning Lee Haney was the absolute king of bodybuilding for almost 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, apart from winning 8 titles, is he reigned during a transitory period between the Golden Age of bodybuilding and the age of Mass Monsters.
This is all up for debate but Chris Dickerson is generally said to be the last bodybuilder of the Golden Age, winning Mr. Olympia in 1982. On the opposite side of Lee Haney’s streak is Dorian Yates who is generally considered to be the original mass monster.
However, you can see this transition as Lee Haney weighed in at around 230lbs during the contest in his early years of winning while finishing his reign at 260lbs.
All this means is that Lee Haney was able to merge the aesthetics from the 1960’s and 1970’s bodybuilders such as Arnold Schwarzneager with the mass monsters of the late 1990’s and 2000’s such as 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 no easy feat and Lee Haney did it 8 times. This leads many to question what his training was like. We’ll tell you that it is brutal.
Lee Haney’s workout routine follows fundamental principles that any effective training program. This includes things such as using progressive overload and training with intensity.
However, there are a couple things that make the 8-Time Mr. Olympia’s workout routine really stand out from your normal training plans for non-gods.
3 On, 1 Off Training Split
Lee Haney didn’t train a typical 3-day a week or 4-day a week. Rather, he rotated through a 4-day block consisting of 3 training days then 1 rest day.
- Day 1: Chest And Arms
- Day 2: Legs
- Day 3: Back And Shoulders
- Dat 4: Rest
This means his training days and rest days always changed every week. Immediately, if you want to run Lee Haney’s workout routine, you’ll need some flexibility in your schedule.
For example, it’s not uncommon for someone to have an extra-busy day of the week. Maybe they have a lot of meetings or social events.
Running Lee Haney’s workout routine is going to require you to be able to squeeze in a workout. For this reason, to ensure you stay on track, we advise you to get up early to workout in the morning.
2 Workouts For Each Muscle Group
Lee Haney would have 2 different workouts for each of the 3 three training days. These would then be rotated through during his cycle. Ultimately, this means 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 go through the specific workouts below, but you’ll notice that the sessions use similar exercises with slight variations. For example, the incline bench press is alternated between the dumbbell bench press and the squat press.
Lee Haney did this to stress the muscles from different angles to maximize growth. Lee probably did this just through observations after being in the gym training for some time.
However, we now know this isn’t just “bro science,” as we have studies to prove this can be an effective method.
Research has shown that a muscle does not see uniform growth when training using just a single message. Rather, the part of the muscle that is stressed due to the movement pattern will see the most growth.
This means that using a variety of exercises to hit a muscle from different angles will result in a fuller muscle.
Crazy High-Volume
Lee Haney’s workout routine is not for beginners. Heck, it’s not for anyone in the right mental space.
This is because Lee Haney’s workout contains a crazy amount of volume. Some of his training days have 40+ working sets! That is a ton of volume. For one, you’re going to need time just to get it all done. More importantly, you’ll need muscular endurance and maturity.
We’ll be honest, this single factor will minimize it’s appropriateness for many people, at least as it’s written. If you’re new to bodybuilding, you can still run this program but we would advise to cut 1-2 sets off each exercise.
Calves And Abs EVERY Workout
Calves are notoriously hard to grow, and everyone wants abs. Lee Haney’s solution was to train them every single workout.
This means you’ll train these muscles 5-6 times a week.
Therefore, we can definitely say that if these are muscles you’ve had trouble growing, Lee Haney’s workout routine could help you get on the right path.
Lee Haney’s Workout Routine
As mentioned above, Lee Haney’s workout rotates through 4 days; 3 sessions and 1 rest day. The specific 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)
- Remember, he also did a 'calves and abs' workout at the end of each session.
With that in mind, here is his entire 8-day training block. This includes 6 different workouts and 2 rest days.
Calves and Abs (Do At The End Of Each Workout Below)
- Standing or Donkey Calf Raise: 6 sets x 15-20 reps
- Seated Calf Raise: 3-4 sets x 15-20 reps
- Vertical Leg Raise: 4 sets x 15-20 reps
- Incline Sit Ups: 4 sets x 15-20 reps
- Seated Leg Raise: 4 sets x 15-20 reps
Day 1: Chest and Arms (Workout #1)
|
Exercise |
Sets x Reps |
|
Bench Press |
4 x 6-8 |
|
Dumbbell Bench Press |
3 x 8-10 |
|
Incline Bench Press |
4 x 6-8 |
|
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press |
3 x 8-10 |
|
Barbell Curl |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Preacher Curl |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Cable Triceps Extension |
4 x 10-12 |
|
Skull Crushers |
4 x 6-8 |
Day 2: Legs (Workout #1)
|
Exercise |
Sets x Reps |
|
Leg Extension |
4 x 12-15 |
|
Leg Press |
4 x 10-12 |
|
Squat |
4-5 x 8-10 |
|
Leg Curl |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Stiff Leg Deadlift |
3-4 x 6-8 |
Day 3: Back and Shoulders (Workout #1)
|
Exercise |
Sets x Reps |
|
Front Lat Pulldown |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Barbell or T-Bar Row |
4 x 6-8 |
|
Cable Row |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Military Press |
4-5 x 6-8 |
|
Side Lateral |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Upright Row |
4 x 6-8 |
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Chest and Arms (Workout #2)
|
Exercise |
Sets x Reps |
|
Bench Press |
4-5 x 6-8 |
|
Incline Bench Press |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Dumbbell Flye |
4 sets x 10 |
|
Chest Dip |
3-4 sets x 12-15 |
|
Cable Crossover |
3-4 x 12-15 (every other workout) |
|
Barbell Curl or Dumbbell Curl |
4-5 x 6-8 |
|
Seated Incline Dumbbell Curl |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Concentration Curl |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Cable Triceps Extension |
4 x 12-15 |
|
Seated One Arm Dumbbell Extension |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Reverse Grip One Arm Cable Triceps Extension |
3-4 sets x 10-12 |
Day 6: Legs (Workout #2)
|
Exercise |
Sets x Reps |
|
Leg Extension |
4-5 x 12-15 |
|
Leg Press |
4 x 10-12 |
|
Squats |
4-5 x 8-10 |
|
Leg Curl |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Stiff Leg Deadlift |
3-4 x 6-8 |
Day 7: Back and Shoulders (Workout #2)
|
Exercise |
Sets x Reps |
|
Narrow Grip Lat Pulldown |
4 x 10-12 |
|
Barbell Row |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Cable Row |
4 x 8-10 |
|
One Arm Dumbbell Row |
4 sets x 8-10 |
|
Military Press |
4-5 x 6-8 |
|
Side Lateral |
4 x 8-10 |
|
Upright Row |
4 x 6-8 |
Day 8: Rest
REPEAT
Now, let me ask you, are you up for Lee Haney's Workout Routine?
Other Notes On Lee Haney’s Routine
To ensure he saw progress with his training plan, Lee Haney followed a few principles to keep him on track.
Get Plenty of Sleep
This is a very high-volume workout routine, so you’ll need to sleep a lot to recover. Lee Haney strongly promoted getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night and also 30-60-minute nap during the day.
This is crucial and if you can’t do this, don’t even try his workout as you will fail or get injured. Sleep is not an option when following a proper bodybuilding program due to the immense stress it puts on the body.
Get your sleep. No excuses. You literally don’t have to do anything (because 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 method of training that lets you alter your load and intensity based on how you feel.
If you were tired or worn out on a training day, cut back on some sets or even a couple exercises. Training to train did nothing but create more fatigue without any growth.
This concept gave birth to his signature line; “Train to stimulate, not annihilate”
We believe that this concept is lost on many people in the fitness world today. The idea that you need to “destroy” your muscles every session has held so many people back.
So yes, train hard and intensely when you get in the gym. When you’re done, go home. And as Haney said, if you feel like your body is done before your session is done, go home. Pushing yourself past this limit will do nothing for you and will likely set you back.
This is especially true when performing such a high-volume training program when the build up of fatigue and overtraining are a greater risk.
Should You Use Lee Haney’s Workout Routine?
The real question is, should you use Lee Haney’s workout routine?
Well, this program obviously contains a ton of volume. His calves and abs routine contain 22 sets of training alone, and those are added to every training day.
On the other hand, this led him to win Mr. Olympia 8 times! However, most people will never come close to being Mr. Olympia once, and most have no desire to anyway.
Even if you did, this is a ton of volume for a natural lifter to handle. Consider that 20 working sets is generally considered the maximum a muscle group can handle weekly.
With all that said, we would not give Lee Haney’s workout routine a blanket recommendation. Not because it’s bad but because it’s so intense.
The only people who should follow this plan as is are serious bodybuilders who have experience in the gym and a lot of time on their hands.
As mentioned above, if you don’t have much experience yet but still want to train like the Mr. Olympia champ, simple knock of 1-2 sets per exercise. Remember, train to stimulate, not annihilate.
This is likely a much better muscle-building program for the general population (which I programmed for SET FOR SET's series of training programs).
Lessons Learned From Lee Haney’s Workout Routine
Now, just because Lee Haney’s specific workout routine may not be suitable for you doesn’t mean there aren’t any takeaways. There are several things that you can adopt into your own training program.
1. Using a 3-day on, 1 day-off training split
This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to use 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 four days a week.
This can be very useful for someone running a push, pull, or leg split (PPL). You might like the PPL split but want to train five days a week. Therefore, you can 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 same frequency every week but it won’t be a problem.
2. Using variation in your training program
One of the most beneficial takeaways for muscle growth is the heavy use of variation in Lee Haney’s workout routine.
This does not mean “random” or “muscle confusion” nonsense. It’s still imperative that you use a structure to apply progressive overload.
However, you can have variation while still having structure, just like Lee Haney did.
3. Using different volumes for different muscles
Once you reach a certain training level, you may want to focus on some body parts more than others. Maybe this is to build a symmetrical body, or maybe it’s because you like some body parts to be larger than others.
Whatever the case, your training doesn’t always need equal training.
For example, maybe you like the size of your legs but want to grow your chest and shoulders. Don’t feel you must train these muscle groups with the same volume. Rather, give your legs minimum training just to maintain size while giving your chest and shoulders extra love.
4. Giving some muscle extra attention
Like the above, Lee Haney knew his abs and calves were difficult to grow, so he gave them a lot of extra love.
If you have a body part that you find difficult to grow, you may need to 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 normal training plan. In fact, it would be odd if his workout wasn’t so insane!
Related: Where is Lee Haney Today?
With that said, maybe the biggest lesson we can learn is that just because pro bodybuilders do something, it doesn’t make it a good idea for the general public to follow blindly. Regardless, if you want to give it a shot, do so, but be prepared to eat and sleep a lot! If you’re going to train like Lee Haney, you’re going to need plenty of rest and calories to fuel his crazy bodybuilding workout plan!
Garett Reid
Author