Reg Park is one of the most important figures in bodybuilding, and he was one of the most massive, yet symmetrical, old school bodybuilders. Reg Park was an inspiration to many bodybuilders, including a young Arnold Schwarzenegger.
As Bradley Steiner said: “Reg Park is the best example and single representative of what proper training with weights can do for a man.” He was a pre-steroid era, natural bodybuilder who had it all — mass, definition, and symmetry. Standing at 6’1″ and 250 lbs, Reg was impressive and unreal by the old standards.
Who Was Reg Park?
Roy “Reg” Park was born in Leeds, England, on June 7, 1928, and passed away on November 22, 2007, at age 79. As a teenager he was set on becoming a footballer, playing in the reserves for Leeds United, and had no real interest in bodybuilding until age 16, when he met a local strength enthusiast named David Cohen. Training together on nothing more than barbells, dumbbells, and a simple chinning bar, Park’s legendary physique began to take shape.
After finishing his national service as a Physical Training Instructor in Singapore, Park watched the very first NABBA Mr. Universe contest in 1948 — a close win for John Grimek over Steve Reeves — and it was that contest that convinced him to compete himself. After just one year of serious training, he won Mr. Britain in 1949. Two years later, at 23, he broke what had been an American monopoly on the sport’s top titles by winning the 1951 NABBA Amateur Mr. Universe. He cemented his legend by winning the Professional Mr. Universe title again in both 1958 and 1965 — three Mr. Universe wins across three different decades of his career, all done as a natural, steroid-free lifter.
Reg Park’s Strength Records
Reg’s physique wasn’t just for show — it was backed by strength numbers that were unheard of at the time. He worked up to a 600-pound squat, a 300-pound behind-the-neck press, and a 500-pound bench press, making him the first bodybuilder in history — and only the second man ever — to bench press 500 lbs, a milestone he reportedly hit on his 25th birthday. Some accounts also credit him with a 700-pound deadlift. Poundages like that simply didn’t exist among bodybuilders before Reg Park came along.
From Bodybuilder to Hollywood’s Hercules
Park’s combination of size and classical proportions eventually carried him into film. In the early 1960s he was cast as Hercules in a string of Italian “peplum” productions, including Hercules and the Captive Women and Hercules in the Haunted World (both 1961) — movies that introduced his physique, and bodybuilding in general, to a mainstream audience well beyond the gym.
The Man Who Inspired Arnold Schwarzenegger
Long before they became friends, a young Arnold Schwarzenegger saw Reg Park playing Hercules on screen — and that was the moment Arnold decided he wanted to become a bodybuilder himself. Years later, the two actually met and Park became a genuine mentor to him, a relationship captured in bonus footage from the DVD release of the classic documentary Pumping Iron (1977).
Their paths crossed most dramatically in competition. In 1970, at age 42, Park went head-to-head with Schwarzenegger for the Mr. Universe title and lost by just half a point — an almost unbelievably close finish between the student and the man who inspired him. Park competed one final time in 1973, placing second again at 45 years old, still steroid-free the entire way.
The Old School Workout Routine Can Work Wonders
Reg’s physique was built using heavy compound movements (using the 5×5 workout protocol) and full-body workouts done three times a week. As covered above, he was also an incredibly strong person in his own right, having worked up to those legendary numbers on squats, behind-the-neck presses, and bench presses.
Many of you will instantly say that full-body workouts are just for beginners. But who can argue with Reg Park’s results, and the results of other old school bodybuilders training the same way he did? Arnold himself trained on Reg Park’s full-body routine during his first couple of years in bodybuilding.
Reg Park’s Old School 5×5 Workout
Reg Park’s 5×5 old school workout consisted of 3 weight-lifting days, alternating between two different lifting days (A and B) shown below.
Workout A
– Back Squats 5×5 (2 warm-up and 3 work sets)
– Chin-Ups or Pull-Ups 5×5
– Dips or Bench Press 5×5
– Wrist Work 2×10
– Calves 2×15-20
Workout B
– Front Squats 5×5
– Rows 5×5
– Standing Press 5×5
– Deadlifts 3×5 (2 warm-up and 1 work set)
– Wrist Work 2×10
– Calves 2×15-20
His first 2 sets were usually warm-up sets done with 60% and 80% of the max for that day. If he succeeded in performing all 5 sets of 5 reps, he would increase the weight by 5 lbs the next workout.
Why Reg Park’s Approach Still Matters Today
Decades before “functional strength” became a buzzword, Reg Park was already proving that bodybuilders didn’t have to choose between size and strength — his training philosophy was built on the idea that you get bigger by first getting stronger. That’s exactly why his 5×5 approach, built on simple compound lifts done heavy and consistently, still holds up as one of the most effective ways to build a genuinely powerful physique today.
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