Steve Reeves Favorite Routine

[YoungCadine]

Hey guys. I saw this listed as Steve Reeves favorite routine. What I'm curious about is what the heck "splits with barbell" is, I've never heard of this exercise before. I also have no idea of what an alternate raise is.
Thanks

1. Incline dumbbell press - 3 sets, 8-12 reps (using descending poundages)
2. Breathing front squat - 3 sets, 15 reps (superset with the following exercise)
3. Dumbell laterals/flyes - 3 sets, 15 reps
4. Seated barbell curls - 3 sets, 12 reps (getting the negative reps on the way down)
5. Alternate dumbbell forward raise - 2 sets, 15 reps
6. Bent over rows - 2 sets, 12 reps
7. One arm rows - 2 sets, 12 reps
8. Splits with barbell - 1 set, until breathless
9. Alternative raise lying - 2 sets, 15 reps
10. Good morning exercise - 1 set, 15 reps
11. Dumbbell french press - 3 sets, 12 reps
12. Leg press machine calf raises - 1 set, 30-40 reps
13. Bench press - 2 sets, 12 reps

[Harry Hayfield]

Hey guys. I saw this listed as Steve Reeves favorite routine. What I'm curious about is what the heck "splits with barbell" is, I've never heard of this exercise before. I also have no idea of what an alternate raise is. Thanks

The internet is always helpful with questions like these, if only because they give loads of various options that may be right or wrong. An alternate raise produces this suggestion

[DannyBoy]

^Yeah, that's an alternate forward raise Harry. 'Alternate [insert exercise here]' is when you alternate performing the exercise between your right & left arm/leg

Hey guys. I saw this listed as Steve Reeves favorite routine. What I'm curious about is what the heck "splits with barbell" is, I've never heard of this exercise before. I also have no idea of what an alternate raise is.
Thanks

The "splits" referred to there are like the split position when performing the clean and jerk or split squat. This is a photo of Wally Zagurski doing it, albeit with dumbbells rather than a barbell, but it gives you an idea of what you're suppose to be doing.



In the photo Wally has his right leg forward & left leg back, so what'd he do next is stand back up straight then split with his left leg forward & right leg back, and so on & so forth. And as per Steve Reeves' instructions, he did them for a single set until he was breathless.

[sticksb]

In Reeves's routine it's probably the alternate barbell split done
with a medium weight . Just like a lunge but with the BB in squat position . Steve
had exceptional ankle flexibility and leg strength so his reps were probably quite high
on this .

[DannyBoy]

^Dang, you drew that fast Sticks! Your post betters mine.

[YoungCadine]

^Dang, you drew that fast Sticks! Your post betters mine.

Yeah I'm curious as what the "alternate raise lying" is, the forward raise is pretty well known. And so basically its a "split squat" rather than actually doing a split

[sticksb]

Alternate lying raise . This is an assumption but given the times , many
guys in the 40's-60's went to the mat for their pullovers , DB flies and simply did them
on the floor . A pair of dumbbells and yourself , finish with a set of strict pushups and
you're golden ...Look up Peter Yate's " Push-up Power " article here in the training section .

[DannyBoy]

^Dang, you drew that fast Sticks! Your post betters mine.

Yeah I'm curious as what the "alternate raise lying" is, the forward raise is pretty well known. And so basically its a "split squat" rather than actually doing a split

Yeah, not actually doing the splits, lol. On that note, if you are indeed flexible enough to do the splits then you could try the Van Dam Lift.Though you'd wanna start with a light dumbbell and also do quite a bit work on the lifting technique so you don't fall flat on your face.




Good question about the alternate raise lying. My first thought would be that Reeves was referring to lying leg or knee raises, but I could be wrong.

EDIT: I just saw that Sticks answered before me, his assumption may right.

[sticksb]

The "alternate split squat" was a conditioning exercise used in York when
most Olympic lifters were "splitters". Since Steve trained and hung out with
these guys while training for the 1950 Mr.Universe it may have rubbed off .
He learned from them and , in turn , they learned from him .See " How Steve Reeves Trained "
in the training section . Many in York thought what he accomplished impossible . Had he trained his
focus on Olympic lifting he may well have "dusted" a few champs there .

[YoungCadine]

Alternate lying raise . This is an assumption but given the times , many
guys in the 40's-60's went to the mat for their pullovers , DB flies and simply did them
on the floor . A pair of dumbbells and yourself , finish with a set of strict pushups and
you're golden ...Look up Peter Yate's " Push-up Power " article here in the training section .

That exercise seems like it would snap my shoulders up, and considering he had a forward raise already in there, wouldn't it be the ab one like Danny mentioned? Did Steve Reeves really train abs much? Or not really.

EDIT: Is this what you're referring to? https://davidgentle.com/sandow/reeves/index.html#p=2