Dave Draper aka. the mighty blond bomber. That man loved and breathed bodybuilding! He was very intense during working out. He never really talked much, his whole mind and heart was davoted to hard training and healthful living.
Here’s Dave’s full training routine, have fun!
When he walked into the gym he had no idea what he was going to do. He trained around seven in the morning in Gold’s Gym in Venice, California. He zipped through the workout. Sometimes he used to train six or seven days a week, or trained 10 days in a row and took a couple of days off. As the magazine was published Dave trained every body part every day. He did 8 sets and kept the reps high and used decent weight.
He used to train an hour and a quarter and then run on the beach for a mile and a half.
Dave’s favorite exercise to win the Mr. America and Mr. Universe titles are as followed:
Upper Body: Chest/Lats
Bent-over Laterals for thick ‘n really cut deltoids
Pulley Pull-ins attack the three heads of the delts for really impressive shoulders
Dumbbell Pressing
Barbell Pressing to guarantee shoulder size and shape
Lateral Flyes
Dumbbell French Pressing really bomb the delt for a finish
Shoulder Shrugs build thick traps
Dumbbell Pullovers for a huge rib-cage
Wide-grip Barbell Bench Pressing for thick pecs
Heavy Flyes add pec shape
Wide-Grip behind the Neck Chins for impressive lats
Machine Pull-downs to get them thick
One-arm Rowing for flare
Upper Body: Triceps/Biceps
Dips for the triceps (shoulders and pecs are also affected)
Triceps Pulley Press down
Arm Extensions, also for thick triceps
Strict Barbell Curls for biceps
Dumbell Curls for concentrated biceps development
Lower Body
Dave does Heavy Wide-grip Barbell Rowing for full lats
Leg extensions for grooving cuts into the front thighs
Leg curls for thick leg biceps
Machine Hack Squats for reaching leg muscles not affected
Full Barbell Squats rounding out his dynamic thigh routine
Calf Machine
Crunch Situps to chisel those abs
For Draper the training environment is important:
Dave: “I train around seven in the morning in Gold’s Gym in Venice, California. This is a good time because there are just few guys training and they are very dedicated..like Zabo and Frank Zane. None of the boisterous type, so we have a great camaraderie.”
source: MTI March 1974