Written by Patrick Dale, PT, ex-Marine

The classics are classics for a reason – they’re something special.

It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about movies, music, clothes, cars, or even physiques – the classics stand the test of time. Beloved by millions and even billions of people, anything and anyone granted classic status has an unbreakable grip on our emotions.

But, classics also come and go and are often linked to trends. For example, music tastes change from year to year, as do clothes and fashion. Yesterday’s classics are sometimes forgotten.

Still, the classics are always worth revisiting from time to time, and that includes exercises.

Old-school bodybuilders sculpted their physiques without fancy equipment or state-of-the-art gyms. Instead, they worked hard and long in dark, sweaty dungeons using nothing but rudimentary workout gear.

Some of the exercises used by old-school bodybuilders have fallen out of favor, often replaced by scientifically-designed machines, and that’s a shame!

In this article, we celebrate those classic exercises of yesteryear and reveal the best old-school bodybuilding exercises you can do today.

While some of these old-school exercises are still fairly common, many are not. Add some variety to your workouts with these classic old-school exercises!

Most bodybuilders are familiar with the hack squat machine. But before this machine became a gym mainstay, it was actually a barbell exercise.

Invented by old-time strongman and wrestler George Hackenschmidt, the hack squat is an excellent quad-building exercise that’s surprisingly tough and effective. Best of all, you only need a barbell to do it, so it’s an ideal exercise for anyone who trains in a home or garage gym.

Note: Some Hack squatters did this exercise with elevated heels. This increases quads activation but also increases knee joint stress. Feel free to try this variation but stop if you experience knee pain.

Leg exercises don’t come much more old-school than sissy squats! This unique movement hammers your quadriceps and is far harder than any bodyweight exercise has a right to be. It can be a little hard on your knees, but if your joints are in good shape, this exercise will set your quads on fire. Think of it as an equipment-free alternative to leg extensions.

While some classic exercises are just forgotten, others are purposely ignored because somebody once labeled them as dangerous. The barbell good morning used to be a staple glute, hamstring, and back exercise for old-school bodybuilders, but not many people do this movement anymore. That’s a shame because very few exercises work your posterior chain as well as this classic movement.

However, to prevent injury, you must avoid rounding your lower back when you do good mornings. A rounded back is an injury waiting to happen!

And where does the name come from? This exercise is so so-called because, when you do it, you look like you are bowing to politely great someone.

Zercher squats were invented by St. Louis strongman Ed Zercher, a powerlifter and prominent strength athlete in the 1930s and 1940s. Zercher wanted to do squats but didn’t have access to a squat rack, so he developed an exercise he could do without one.

At the time, Zercher was one of the strongest men in America, and his namesake lift, the Zercher squat, was even used in weightlifting competitions. It’s no longer a competitive lift, but the Zercher squat is a great way to build lower body strength and muscle mass.

This classic old-school exercise will build your forearms and calves simultaneously. Or, if you really want to focus on your calves, rest and hold a barbell across your shoulders, which is an exercise called the goose step. Regardless, if you want to build your calves but don’t have access to a calf raise machine, this is one way to do it.

While there is no denying that this exercise will raise a few eyebrows when you do it, donkey calf raises are probably why so many old-school bodybuilders had massive lower legs.

This highly unusual but super-effective exercise puts your calves in a deeply stretched position and delivers an intense peak contraction. Use it to turn your baby calves into fully-grown cows!

While the barbell bench press is arguably the world’s favorite bodybuilding exercise, it’s actually a relatively recent invention. The bench press only became popular in the late 1930s.

Before that, dips and push-ups were the most common chest exercises. Anyone who wanted to do supine presses did so while lying on the floor – the floor press.

Floor presses are an excellent chest and triceps exercise that is also very shoulder-friendly. In fact, if bench presses hurt your shoulders, you’ll probably find floor presses much more comfortable.

You can also do floor presses with dumbbells and/or your hips raised if doing glute bridges. This creates an angle not unlike decline bench presses.

If you have sore, tight shoulders, you should probably avoid this exercise. But, if you are looking for an unusual way to work your shoulders, the long-forgotten Bradford press is worth trying. Named after champion USA weightlifter Jim Bradford, this exercise is best done with light to medium weights for moderate to high reps and to really pump up your delts and triceps.

Old-school bodybuilders were masters of training their muscles from multiple angles. Without access to machines, this invariably meant sitting or lying in unusual positions to hit their muscles in unique ways.

Side-lying lateral raises work your medial or side deltoids like regular lateral raises, but there is much more muscle tension at the start of each rep.

This old-school exercise was one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s favorite biceps builders. While there is nothing wrong with regular concentration curls, you can use this old-school variation to add even more variety to your workouts. Try it – you might like it!

While pull-ups aren’t a forgotten exercise, most people tend to do them with a shoulder-width grip. In contrast, old-school bodybuilders usually did pull-ups with a much wider grip. They believed that a wide grip built a wide back.

While that may or may not be true, there is no denying that wide-grip pull-ups are far more challenging than the shoulder-width variation. And, when it comes to building muscle mass, harder is almost always better!

This is probably the oldest old-school exercise on our classic exercise list! Arthur Saxon, nicknamed the Iron Master, was a strongman and circus performer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

He was famous for his incredible feats of strength, not least his world record in the bent press of 168kg/370lbs that is still unbroken today. Saxon wrote several strength training books and courses, and this unique oblique exercise is named after him.

Exercises fall in and out of fashion. Some of the staples that old-school bodybuilders relied on are no longer popular, and many are hardly remembered. That’s a real shame because, despite losing their popularity, many of these classic exercises are still effective muscle builders.

So, the next time you need a new exercise for your workout, don’t seek out the latest workout innovation. Try an old-school classic instead. After all, they worked way back then and will probably work now, too!

Patrick Dale is an ex-British Royal Marine, gym owner, and fitness qualifications tutor and assessor. In addition, Patrick is a freelance writer who has authored three fitness and exercise books, dozens of e-books, thousands of articles, and several fitness videos. He’s not just an armchair fitness expert; Patrick practices what he preaches! He has competed at a high level in numerous sports, including rugby, triathlon, rock climbing, trampolining, powerlifting, and, most recently, stand up paddleboarding. When not lecturing, training, researching, or writing, Patrick is busy enjoying the sunny climate of Cyprus, where he has lived for the last 20-years.

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