It’s easy to believe that bodybuilding was invented by the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the art of building muscle was born long before his time. One of the original trailblazers – a man who inspired the bodybuilding movement – was Eugen Sandow.
Known as the ‘father of modern bodybuilding’, Sandow was born in Prussia in 1867. He gained interest in bodybuilding at the age of 10. In his early years he trained with strongman Ludwig Durlacher and began competing in strongman competitions. Later, in 1901 he organised and judged one of the world’s first bodybuilding competitions.
Now, we have trawled through the history books to uncover his training plan. However, we’ve added our own secret sauce to bring it up to scratch for 2025, making it a solid session for building full-body muscle.
The Workout
Sandow recommended completing this workout daily, but we don’t all have the luxury or inclination to complete the same programme every single day. So we have made some tweaks to exercises, set and rep recommendations to make it more suitable and effective – but it is still heavily inspired by the work of Sandow himself.
Increase by 5 reps every session
Start with the dumbbells hanging in front of your hips with palms facing upwards. Keep the elbows glued to your waist and bring one dumbbell up to meet your shoulder. Keep your shoulders pinned back and don’t cheat by using the hips. Repeat on the other side.
Reverse Barbell Curl x 25 reps
Increase by 2 reps every session
Stand tall with a barbell hanging at your waist, overhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart. Keep your torso still and upper arms pinned to your sides as you curl the bar upwards towards your chin. Squeeze here and lower the bar under control. Repeat.
Alternating Cross-Body Dumbbell Curl x 10 reps each side and 2 sets
Increase by 1 rep every session
Stand holding two dumbbells by your sides, palms facing towards each other. One at a time, curl each weight up towards your opposing shoulder. Return under control to the start position and repeat on the other side.
Increase by one rep every session
An adjustment for improved efficacy. Sandow recommended standing dumbbell flyes, which have been subbed for dumbbell chest flyes on a bench. Lie back on the bench, then press the dumbbells up above your chest with a neutral grip. Bend your elbows slightly, then lower the weights down to the sides, moving only at the shoulders. Squeeze your pecs to raise the weights back up to the starting position, ready to repeat.
Increase by 1 rep every session
Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height, palms facing inward. Push one dumbbell up overhead. Lower to the start position and repeat on the other side.
Alternating Front Raise x 5 reps each side and 2 sets
Increase by 1 rep every session
Stand holding a dumbbell in either hand by your side. Slightly bend your knees and lift the dumbbells in front of you until they’re shoulder height. Bring them back to starting position and repeat.
Barbell Wrist Curl x failure
Sit on a bench and hold a barbell with your palms facing up. Rest your forearms on your knees and lower the bar towards the floor as far as possible. Curl your wrist upward, pause, then slowly lower. Sandow also recommended dumbbell rotations for wrist strength.
Increase by 2 reps every session
While Sandow included a front raise in this move, for ease you can complete basic dumbbell lunges. Stand tall. Keeping your chest up at all times, take a step forward with one leg, bending your front knee until the back knee touches the ground. Stand up explosively, pause and repeat with the other leg.
According to sources, Sandow used a workout machine with many bands to add resistance. We have made an exercise and programming adjustment for workout efficacy. Hit a strong plank position, with your core tight and hands under your shoulders. Place a plate on your back or wear a weight vest. Bend your elbows to bring your chest to the floor. Keep your elbows close to your body as you push back up explosively. Complete 5 reps with weight, remove the weight and carry on to failure.
Lie on the floor with your legs bent and your soles on the floor. Lie with your hands behind your head or straight up in front of you. Look up at the ceiling and push your lower back into the floor. Engage your abs, flexing at the stomach as you lift yourself all the way up. Keep your elbows back and your chin in place without jutting forward. Reverse the move slowly back to the floor and repeat.
Superset: Side Bend x 15 reps and 3 sets
Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand. While facing forward, tilt the torso laterally. The dumbbell should lower down the side of your thigh. Return to the starting position ready to repeat.
Finisher: Goblet Squat and Dumbbell Swing x 20 reps, 15 reps, 10 reps, 5 reps — 20 seconds rest between each set
Hold your dumbbell in front of your chest with your palms facing upwards. Standing tall, keep your chest up and sink your hips back, before bending your knees to drop your thighs until they are at least parallel to the floor. Drive up back to standing, ready to repeat.
For dumbbell swings, start with the feet a little wider than the hips. Pull the dumbbell from the floor in front of you, snap the hips forward explosively to drive the dumbbell up to eye line. Trace the arc shape in reverse, back between the legs. Snap the hips and repeat until you finish the set.
Kate is a fitness writer for Men’s Health UK where she contributes regular workouts, training tips and nutrition guides. She has a post graduate diploma in Sports Performance Nutrition and before joining Men’s Health she was a nutritionist, fitness writer and personal trainer with over 5k hours coaching on the gym floor. Kate has a keen interest in volunteering for animal shelters and when she isn’t lifting weights in her garden, she can be found walking her rescue dog.
