Larry Scott Arm Workout

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The Golden Age of Bodybuilding began when Larry Scott stepped on stage at the first Olympia. Are you up to the challenge of the classic workout that got him there?

Imagine yourself on a sandy beach in Santa Monica, California, in 1965. Arnold is still a teenager in Austria, and most people haven't heard of bodybuilding or ever seen what we would call a bodybuilder. Weightlifting is a cultish activity covered in only a few select publications.

Muscular men walk past you, but it's a stretch to call them "big." The tallest of them barely crack 200 pounds, and some of that is pomade weight. There you stand, feeling the wind on your sunburned face, enjoying your bottle of Coke, when Larry Scott ambles by.

"Superman's pants, " you think, "did this guy get stung by a bee?" He looks like he walked straight off the pages of a comic book, but to be honest, he's even bigger and more imposing than the huge heroes gracing the covers.

His friendly grin and open demeanor catch you totally by surprise, but your eyes keep returning to his arms. You may have seen arms vaguely like that on an Olympic male gymnast, but that big? With shoulders and a chest to match? Not a chance. This is a whole new species.

At 5-foot-9 and 205 pounds, Larry "The Legend" Scott helped define the ideals of bodybuilding at the precise moment when it blossomed into a world-class competition. He won the first two Mr. Olympia championships, and because he retired in 1965, he remains the only Mr. Olympia who is unbeaten in that show.

Scott was a sensation during the sixties, when his wholesome character and 20-inch guns brought countless new fans to the bourgeoning sport. After he retired, he continued being one of bodybuilding's greatest ambassadors, creating a small library's worth of bodybuilding books and videos and working as a coach and trainer into his 70s.

Build Arms without Equal /

Larry's freakish arm development separated him from his competition, but he didn't come by it by accident. He spent so much time at the preacher bench that preacher curls became known as "Scott curls, " a term still widely in use. He even concocted his own version of the bench, of course known as the Scott bench.

Below, we provide one of his custom workouts dating back to the early 1960s. He had just moved from Idaho, where he had won Mr. Idaho in 1959, to Hollywood.

He began training at intensely at Vince's Gym in Studio City and saw his arms explode from 15 to 21 inches in just a few short months. He won Mr. America in 1962, and by 1965, was so impressive that the crowd at the first Olympia chanted his name as he took the stage.

If you're looking for arms worthy of a fan base, this is a fantastic routine for building thickness and emphasizing the bicep's long head. But be warned, it's advanced, and it is going to hurt.