Arnold’s best friend and at the same time his most fierce competitor, Franco Columbu was known for his incredible muscle development. But it wasn’t his overall size that set him apart from the bodybuilding giants of the 1970s Golden Era — it was his chest.
Franco had one of the best developed chests in the business at his prime. In fact, by many measures, one of the best chests ever built — even by today’s standards. What made it remarkable was the combination of thickness, separation, and upper chest development that most bodybuilders of his era simply didn’t have.
At 5’5″ and around 185 pounds in contest shape, he looked disproportionately powerful — a physique that punched well above its weight class.
He won the Mr. Olympia twice (1976 and 1981), was the World’s Strongest Man in 1977, and at his peak could deadlift 750 pounds, squat 655 pounds, and bench press 525 pounds. He wasn’t just a bodybuilder — he was genuinely one of the strongest men on earth.
Franco had a really unique training split that not many people can handle. The guy was incredibly strong and had incredible genetics. Here is what he says about his own training:
“Train each body part twice a week, as hard and relentless as possible each time. Every second week, I’d deadlift after my leg routine. My deadlift workout was 300 for five reps, 400 for five reps, 500 for five reps, 600 for two or three reps, 650 for one rep and 700 for one rep.”
Franco Columbu’s Training and Injury Prevention Tips
Before getting to the split and the chest workout, Franco’s advice on injury prevention is worth reading carefully. These aren’t generic warm-up tips — they’re the principles that allowed him to train at extreme intensity and extreme weight for decades without career-ending injuries.
1. Warm Up Properly
Never just begin to train. Approach it. Prepare the body for what is to follow. Don’t allow yourself to be goaded into contests or rushed into training before the body is properly warmed up. If it’s cold weather, dress warmly and warm up longer. Don’t warm up by lifting weights. Start with calisthenics for around 10 minutes and get the oxygen enriched blood coursing through your body.
2. Train in the Right Sequence
By proper training I don’t mean just the way you might train each bodypart — although that’s very important. What I’m referring to specifically is the sequence in which the exercises are performed. Since blood is a great builder and protector, it’s good to keep it in a specific area for as long as possible. For example, if you exercise the chest, a good area to follow would be the shoulders, not the calves.
Many biceps injuries occur when arm curls start the arm routine. This is because the unnatural positioning of the hands with palms facing up on a rigid bar puts excessive pressure on the elbow joint. Never start an arm routine with a barbell — no matter what you’ve heard.
3. Listen to Your Body
The body has an incredible language all its own. When we’re young, we listen through instinct. It’s only as we get older that we start to lose contact. After a while we start to rationalize. We tend to do things out of habit. If we train a certain length of time with a particular weight and number of sets, we have a tendency to get off a death bed if necessary to do the workout.
The body is saying “no”, “do less”, or “nothing.” When you ignore the message you are apt to get injured and whatever training you do won’t give you the results you are working for. Now this doesn’t mean to cater to laziness. Be honest with yourself and you’ll know the difference.
4. Concentrate
Most gyms can be broken down into two segments. There are members who socialize and there are the champions. From the moment you enter the gym you should visualize what you are going to do. While actually training, look in the mirror and watch the muscles work. If you don’t, you’ll be prone to injuring yourself and getting only a muscular mouth.
5. Proper Nutrition
Food is the fuel we use to keep going. Without the right combination we falter and don’t reach an optimum level of performance. Since we all have different and very special needs, the subject can be complex. It deserves your greatest attention.
Franco Columbu’s 14-Day Training Split
His training split was based on a 14-day period as opposed to the 7-day period of usual bodybuilding splits. This is what made it unique — and genuinely difficult to follow for most people.
| Day | Training |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Chest and shoulders (AM), Arms (PM) |
| Day 2 | Back (AM), Legs (PM) |
| Day 3 | Chest and shoulders |
| Day 4 | Arms |
| Day 5 | Legs (AM), Back (PM) |
| Day 6 | Chest and shoulders |
| Day 7 | REST |
| Day 8 | Arms (AM), Legs (PM) |
| Day 9 | Back |
| Day 10 | Chest and shoulders (AM), Arms (PM) |
| Day 11 | Back (AM), Legs (PM) |
| Day 12 | Chest and shoulders |
| Day 13 | Arms |
| Day 14 | REST |
Franco trained his abs on Days 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, and 12 — and in the PM on Day 1.
What makes this split notable:
Two things stand out. First, Franco trained each body part twice in 14 days — less frequently than the typical Golden Era approach of twice per week on a 7-day split, but with significantly more intensity per session. Second, the twice-a-day sessions are genuinely demanding. AM and PM training on the same day — chest and shoulders in the morning, arms in the evening — requires a level of recovery capacity that most natural lifters simply don’t have.
This is a professional bodybuilder’s split designed around professional bodybuilder genetics and recovery. It’s worth studying as an insight into how the best of that era trained — not necessarily as a template to copy exactly.
Franco Columbu’s Chest Workout
This is the chest routine that built what many consider one of the greatest pecs in bodybuilding history. Note the volume, the supersets, and the combination of pressing and fly movements hitting the chest from multiple angles.
- Bench Press — 3 sets x 15, 10, 4 reps superset with Cable Crossovers — 3 sets x 20 reps
- Dumbbell Flyes — 3 sets x 20, 15, 6 reps superset with Cable Crossovers — 3 sets x 20 reps
- Incline Bench Press — 3 sets x 15 reps
- Barbell Pullovers — 3 sets x 25 reps
- Dips — 3 sets to failure
- Cable Crossovers — 3 sets x 25 reps
Breaking down what makes this workout effective:
The descending rep scheme on bench press (15, 10, 4) and flyes (20, 15, 6) is deliberate — starting with higher reps to pump blood into the muscle and warm up the joint, then progressively heavier weights for fewer reps as fatigue builds and strength is maximally challenged.
The supersets with cable crossovers after both bench press and flyes are particularly interesting. Immediately following a pressing or fly movement with crossovers keeps the blood in the chest and adds a constant-tension isolation movement while the muscle is already pumped. This is a classic Golden Era technique for developing that deep chest separation Franco was famous for.
Barbell pullovers target the serratus anterior — the muscle under the armpit that creates the “chest spreading” look and pushes the ribcage forward. Franco’s exceptional chest-to-shoulder separation was partly due to this muscle being extremely well developed.
Dips to failure at the end, after all the pressing and fly work, are a brutal finisher that hits the lower chest and triceps when they’re already fully exhausted.
Can you do this workout?
Honestly — most natural lifters would need to significantly reduce the volume to start. This is a high-volume, high-intensity workout designed for someone who trained twice a day and had exceptional recovery capacity.
A modified version that works for most people:
- Bench Press: 3 sets x 8-10 reps
- Dumbbell Flyes: 3 sets x 12 reps
- Incline Bench Press: 3 sets x 10 reps
- Cable Crossovers: 3 sets x 15 reps
- Dips: 2 sets to failure
Same exercise selection, same principles — just scaled back to a volume level most natural lifters can actually recover from.
What We Can Learn from Franco’s Approach
Three principles from Franco’s training apply directly to any lifter regardless of genetics or training level:
Supersets work. Pairing a compound movement immediately with an isolation exercise — bench press into cable crossovers — maximises time under tension and keeps the blood in the target muscle. It’s harder but more effective.
Hit the muscle from multiple angles. Flat, incline, flyes, crossovers, pullovers, dips — Franco wasn’t relying on one movement to build his chest. He was attacking it from every possible angle in every session. Upper chest, lower chest, inner chest, outer chest — all of it, every workout.
Sequence matters. His injury prevention tip about training muscle groups in sequence — chest then shoulders, not chest then calves — is basic physiology that most gym programs ignore. Blood flow, joint warmth, and muscle activation all carry over from one exercise to the next. Work with that, not against it.
Franco Columbu died tragically in 2019 at the age of 78. Read about his death and legacy here.
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