The Eugen Sandow Workout You Can Do At Home
Want to do a home workout like legendary strongman Eugen Sandow? Then follow this plan!
You Are Lazy
After putting a nice and neat version of Eugen’s book Strength and How to Obtain It online, free to download and share, I repeatedly got questions about his workout plans.
I wondered why. They are in the book, you just have to sort through a bit of the elaborated Victorian English.
Admit it, you were too lazy to do that, weren’t you?
Eugen Sandow’s Workout
But, insanely good-hearted that I am, I adapted everything in the below schedule, so you can use it straightaway in a form similar to my own workout plans. The exercises and their order all come from Eugen’s book, recommending the exact amounts of reps he thought useful.
The links either go to my own videos or to ExRx. Some of Eugen’s exercises you don’t see done anywhere and for those I did some extra videos.
Exercise | Repetitions | Comments |
---|---|---|
Dumbbell Biceps Curls | 50 reps per arm, increase by 5 per day | Eugen does these alternating: left, right, left, right etc. |
Reverse Barbell Curls | 25, increase by 2 per day | |
Eugen’s Side Dumbbell Curls | 10 per arm, increase by 1 per day | You do this left, right, left, right etc. like the dumbbell curls above. This is tough on the shoulders. Check how yours get along with it! |
Eugen’s Side Dumbbell Curls | 10, increase by 1 every 3 days | The same exercise as before, but now you do the move with both arms at the same time. |
Standing Chest Flyes | 5, increase by 1 every two days | This looks similar to a standing cable flye, but the mechanics are very different! |
Alternating Shoulder Presses | 15 per arm, increase by 1 every 2 days | The way Eugen does the exercise is very similar to this ExRx example: hold dumbbells in both hands and alternate between the arms. |
Alternating Front Raises | 10, increase by 1 every 2 days | Many people today go very high with these, but Eugen did them to shoulder height. And he was right: that or a little beyond is enough. |
Eugen’s Wrist Flexors | To failure | Hold your outstretched arms to your sides with a dumbbell in each hand. Turn the wrists, so the palm faces upwards and downwards. |
Eugen’s Wrist Rotations | To failure | I tried my best to do demonstrate these as Mr. Sandow wanted. Keep in mind what I said about the joints! |
Eugen’s Shoulder Lunge | 10, increase by 1 every 2 days | This is a combination of the regular lunge and the alternating front raise. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and raise the left outstretched arm in front of you, while taking a step forward with the right foot. Repeat the other way around. |
Push-Ups | 3, increase by 1 every 3 days | |
Push-Ups With Added Resistance | 2, increase by 1 every 3 days | Eugen does this with a workout machine consisting of very complicated rubber straps. For the sake of our sanity, we’ll do wide push-ups as I explained them as the final stage in the push-ups video. |
Eugen’s Sit-Ups | 3, increase every 2 days | It’s basically a push sit-up, but your arms start stretched out behind you and you do it on the floor. Note that sit-ups can cause problems! |
Squats | 10, increase every 2 days | Be careful with this one! |
Side Bends | 15, increase every 2 day | Eugen advises that these you can do with or without weights. |
Before you now go off and become your own 21st century Victorian strongman, read the clarifications below! I mean it!
About The Reps And Weight
The weight you should start each exercise with is the one where you can do Eugen’s recommended minimum amounts of reps.
And when and by how much should you increase the weights? Eugen says that when you reach 120 reps in an exercise, you add 2 lbs (1 kg) and start over with the beginning number of reps.
Saying that Eugen Sandow believed in high rep ranges would be an understatement.
How Often?
Eugen wants you do this every day, but in my opinion that’s overkill. Not only does it takes ages to go through this program, it also doesn’t give the muscles time to rest. And resting is when growth happens. In my opinion it suffices if you do it 2 – 3 times per week.
That also leaves room for something else important for your health: cardio. In Eugen Sandow’s time people didn’t know that it is as useful for your health as lifting weights. In the entire Strength and How to Obtain It the word “running” never appears and “walking” is mentioned once – when he picks someone up and smashes him through a table.
Caveat Emptor
Even when heeding all this, do remember that Eugen wrote that plan almost 120 years ago. A lot of things he got right, but we also made advances in researching strength training. One good example is him not being aware how important cardio is. Another is the warning about sit-ups I gave you above – no one knew that in 1897.
Picture courtesy of the Library of Congress.
33 Comments
Hey, I’ve been following your blog for a long time and I have a question unrelated to this post, but about the number fluctuating repetitions in a set.
Some weeks I manage to do more repetitions in a set than others, and it’s a real motivation-killer when one week I am so close to reaching, for example, 6/6/6/6 doing bench presses, but the next week I am down to 5/4/4/3. I understand that a lot of factors come into play, like the amount of energy at any given session, but still I am perplexed that it can vary so much. Hopefully you can shine some light on this matter and maybe get me to not worry about it so much.
Hey yate, in my opinion it’s one of two things: your body is too stressed or you’ve done 5 low rep sets for too long a time.
If the latter, try 3 sets for 6 – 12 reps and don’t hold back on the first set!
Hey, thanks for this! But it’s one complicated plan!
Oh, it sure is! 🙂
I do the workout every other day and it is amazing. Ive struggled with a lot of different plans, but this is the best for me. Mine has evolved a bit, incorporating some tricep kickbacks after the reverse dumbell curls, dumbbell deadlift/good mornings, and bench press on the floor. I felt i needed these to help my physique. Also i found that i don’t need a crazy diet, just eating anything that is homemade works 🙂 cant wait til i get up to 20lbs 🙂
Hey Matt, cool to hear how you get along with it! Eugen would be proud that after all these years his plan still gets people healthier and stronger! 🙂
this I still a solid workout, even over a year later. ive started to use the basics of powerlifting and Olympic lifting too (with the exception of bench presses) like the second half of his book. I do these in a rota with the above workout. Im very happy with my results at the moment. its a slow burner, but solid nonetheless. hows everyone else doing with this??? 🙂
The whole point of his book and workout were to use the mind to lift the muscles. You’re not lifting the weight for the sake of the weight – the weight is just a prop. You’re focusing on lifting with only the target muscle. For instance, in the bicep curls, you focus on, visualize and use only the biceps as you raise the weight, and don’t let any other muscles assist. Just mindlessly going through the reps will do very little, and Eugen says so many times. The better you get at the mind-muscle connection, the harder the workout becomes and the fewer reps you can do. This is why Sandow expressly states that 5lbs is more than enough for any man, ever. You don’t just reach the target reps and increase the weight. That would be really easy. You life with the mind.
I only mention this because I don’t see it mentioned in the article.
Great article idea though, and it’s great to see it posted, as it’s pretty much forgotten and thought of as an outdated methodology. All of the old time strongmen worked out this way (supplemented by the heavy lifting of their nightly shows) before they realized they could make money selling heavy weights, and the accepted methodology and even the general look of the physique changed to the pec-heavy, thin waisted look favored today.
Yes, there is truth to that. Although I had a hard time convincing my shoulders of this, when I did some of his exercises 🙂
“This is why Sandow expressly states that 5lbs is more than enough for any man, ever. You don’t just reach the target reps and increase the weight. That would be really easy”
As I pointed out in my earlier post Sandow DID NOT train this way himself. The bulk of his training was very heavy and that is how he developed his physique. 5 lbs is not enough forever. Sandow stated that this was for the beginner. Not for everyone.
“Great article idea though, and it’s great to see it posted, as it’s pretty much forgotten and thought of as an outdated methodology”
As it pretty much deserves to be. It is probably the most unbalanced routine I have seen on the ‘Net and I have seen some horrors.
“and even the general look of the physique changed to the pec-heavy, thin waisted look favored today.”
When I read this comment I understood the problem. You haven’t kept up with the times. The GH gut is favoured today…at least in professional bodybuilding. Nearly all the guys today up on the Olympia stage look like they are in various stages of pregnancy. Grab yourself a copy of FLEX magazine or just check online. You’ll soon see what I mean.
Today I read a great book on Kindle called the lost secret to a great body. The author David Bolton examines these ideas you just shared. The book is extremely well researched and looks not only at Sandows routine but also that of his contemporaries and more importantly his mentor Prof Louise Atillla. Having just finished this book i can safely say you are wrong on all counts. Sandow and any others of his era did develop his body with 5lbs dumbells later 7lbs. They were teaching the method to private students in gyms and rolled out into the army. Famous athletes of the day including Jack Johnson and another champ whose name escapes me were trained 5lbs dumbbell system.
Furthermore the macmaster university study showed us something we should all really know anyway. Light weights (30%1rm )to failure builds just as much muscle as heavy weights (90% 1rm). The most important factor is not load but volume and of course fatiguing the muscle. To quote Scott Abel the weights dont work the muscles, the muscles work the weights.
Reilly is 100% wrong – do not listen to him – he probably never read Sandow’s teachings. Sandow built all his foundation via concentrated contraction and that’s the foundation of his dumbbell exercises. 5lbs is more than enough – it will build amazing physiques. As he said – just sitting and flexing is a workout which at the very least rivals weights. Try it and see how sore it makes you to flex and hold flexes and then flex deeper. You wont be able to move your arm – whereas you can do weight lifting for hours and be okay to go the next morning.
Anyway – Reilly is wrong and i hope no one listens to him – just ignore him. The internet rly does have a bunch of crazies going around acting like the understand things they dont even know. hahaha
So all the reps in one set? This looks awesome.
Hey Freddie
I think I’m going to try this workout for the next couple of months. I’m thinking about making a vlog about it, you know, see/show how it works/if it really does (although I’m sure it will). I’ll try to keep you updated, and if I do post the videos, I’ll let you know.
Also, quick question. You say “The weight you should start each exercise with is the one where you can do Eugen’s recommended minimum amounts of reps”.
Does that mean till failure? I.e. find the weight that when you get to 50 your done? That’s what I assume it means. Thank you.
Hi Don,
In his book he says, rest as required between reps.
It is about the volume of reps. Stop couple of reps before failure. Contract muscles at the peak and allow slow negatives, not just dropping the weight
For those who doubt – I’m 60 and no Charles Atlas, or Sandow, for that matter. This training routine works, as long as you learn to focus intently on your muscle-structure and keep perfect form, you’ll get a result. It might take a little longer than ‘burning it up’ with 30 or 40 lb weights, but so what ?
I just wanted to say thank you for this routine, and for every explanation you have made on the exercises you covered. You have a very simple way of explaining how to do every exercise and it really is a pleasure to watch you.
I wish you a good day my friend 🙂
This works. I have been doing the Sandow workout on and off.
Couple of pointers.
1. Do all the exercises with the same weight
2. Follow the reps as prescribed
3. Contract muscles at the peak and allow slow negatives, not just dropping the weight
4. Start with a 2Kg weight as prescribed. It may seem easy but it is not
Mistake I made
1. Used a 10 Kg weight initially but could only do few exercises. Later realized starting with the right weight was very important.
Good write up.
You should give Sandow more credit on the cardio, though. Like you said, this was 120 years ago – a time when most people walked everywhere, only used stairs, and even “desk jobs” usually meant standing at a counter-height desk. Cardio was just part of life at that point.
Thank you thank you evilcyber for explaining this to me, I have been doing these for five sessions so far, and I plan on continuing them. I will keep you updated a few months from now thank you! When I was reading his system in ‘Strength and how to Obtain it’ lets just say I was lost, you have made this very simple and anyone can do it.
Is this his complete routine? There doesn’t seem to be anything to work the back?
You havent paid attention.
No, Mr Vince is correct. There is not a single back exercise in there. And only one leg exercise. This routine will virtually guarantee that you will not make much if any improvement. It should have been held up as an example of what NOT to do.
This is a terrible routine. Why?
1. The weight. You can do all the visualization you want, but using only 5 lbs will only get you so far. Sandow certainly did not use only 5 lb weights to get his size and strength…so why would you? This was a gimmick used to increase his sales. I’ll put some other links here all of which contradict this 5 lb weight nonsense.
“Known as the Father of Modern Bodybuilding, Eugen Sandow was a performing strongman, travelling the country performing feats of strength, including bearing the weight of horses and soldiers on his chest, bending iron bars, snapping chains, lifting pianos, and bench pressing a cow. He was also known for his athleticism, being able to perform acrobatic movements; he could perform a back somersault while holding a 50 lb dumbbell in each hand. He could also bent press 300 pounds.
The bulk of Sandow’s training involved dumbbell training and heavy weightlifting with barbells”
http://physicalculturist.ca/oldtime-strongman-training-methods/
Here is another one
https://physicalculturestudy.com/2015/09/08/train-like-a-sandow/
“Sandy typically recommended 2-3 sets of 10-15 repetitions. This wasn’t a case of ‘grip and rip’ but rather slow and controlled reps with the focus on hitting the targeted muscle. Keeping that in mind, Sandow generally recommended about 5-10lbs dumbbells for beginners”
Yes if you are a beginner and 5 lbs is all that you can handle then yes. Otherwise no. Also the number of sets and reps here is at serious variance with the above routine. Not seeing 120 reps anywhere there.
2. It is unlikely that Sandow built his body with this routine. Ever read David L Chapman’s bio on Sandow? “David Chapman’s excellent bio on Sandow talks of Sandow using heavy weights under Professor Attila”
3. This routine is terribly unbalanced. Of the 15 exercises mentioned 14 are upper body exercises…only one is lower body and works the legs. 4 different types of curls and only 1-2 for almost everything else? If you are a advanced lifter and you decide to do this routine you WILL lose strength and size. Not to mention risk possible injury due to the unbalanced nature of this program. But hey what do I know? I’ve only got a Master’s in Physical Science and have only been lifting since 1989…?
3.
your insight along education and experience with fitness is greatly appreciated …i understand the skepticism about Sandows method but there has to be some validity to Sandows method and there is no one size fit all solution but these old time strongmen were incredibly strong performing incredible feats.Theres a documentary on Joe “the mighty atom” Greenstien and he was about 5′ 6″ 150lbs and bent horseshoes on a regular basis …there was a portion of the documentary .. a modern strongman who ranked top 10% strongest men in the world capable of squatting and bench pressing 600lbs but he couldn’t bend the horseshoe that the smaller Mighty Atom bent on a regular basis…according to the data from the sensors on the modern strongman couldn’t apply enough force and just wasn’t strong enough to bend the horseshoe…during the mighty atoms earlier days of training when younger he too used light weights …he used dumbells made of soup cans filled with cement each connected to bar..the supposed purpose of the high reps is to strengthen joints and tendons being the reason they’re able to lift the tremendous weight and bend metal…theres definitely a method to this madness because as a whole all these guys were incredibly strong…in general lifting weights the contemporary way isn’t going to give you a level of strength no where near near what the oldtime strongmen had and the modern strongman participant from the Mighty Atom documentary is a perfect example
Thanks, really helpful?
I am going to try this workout. He had 20 inch biceps in the 1800’s without protein shakes and pre workouts.
Off and on I’ve lifted over 50 years. My max is 220 one arm overhead aged 24. 275 military aged 17. Coming back in after 3 years out doing PT, I naturally started out light, and wondered if it wasn’t a fluke that I had crazy progress during this phase. I look at the fibrous definition the light lifters possessed, and again, wondered. Have started in on Sandow’s approach and added a bump to the end of each exercise, going heavy heavy, and I have to say, I’m swollen after workouts, and am building lean quickly, and I’m 64 years old. I’ll keep trying it awhile and let you know, as I am experienced, and at the same time, in really soft shape starting back in.
Starting the workout, it seems “heavy “
On arms/ bicep training. Will this produce uneven results?
How much rest between exercises as there is no mention of this and the curling exercises at the beginning would be a killer as the weight goes up
Excellent gathering of information.
However, your comment of his lack of attention on cardio because “they didn’t know at the time it was important “ is absolutely wrong. Explained this way, due to the amount of
sets and very little rest, basically the sheer amount of work on a DAILY basis, a routine like this IS also cardiovascular. There was no mention of cardio because the man was active every damn day. Similar to Schwarzenegger, who used to workout 5 hrs a day. Yes there were drugs involved there but you get the point.
He didn’t do cardio training in addition to weightlifting either. That’s the point.
If u turn this into only 3 days a week, duh u need something else for cardio. This will not hurt you if you do it daily. Similar to a construction worker working ten hours a day and hitting the gym, trust me, it’s good for you.
Can you do the Sandow workout just three days a week?