Franco Columbu, who was best friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger, left an incredible mark in the realm of bodybuilding. A frequent visitor at Gold’s Gym, he made the sport popular in the 1970s. Along with partner Arnie, the two brought interesting exercise techniques into the bodybuilding world, one of which has resurfaced.

Franco Columbu exercised with less recovery time, which helped in pumping the muscles more. A recent social media post is proof of his hard work, where he speaks about lifting heavy weights for the best muscles.

Franco Columbu once shared the secret behind lifting heavyweights

In a resurfaced video of the 2 time Mr. Olympia champion, Colombu can be seen speaking about muscle growth, and how avoiding weightlifting is not going to help in increasing the muscles of the body.

He started the video by saying that muscle growth for any individual depends on what they do to pump their muscles. Per Columbu, “Only heavy training makes a guy win Mr. Olympia. There is no way out.” He clearly stated that lifting iron was the only way that the muscles increase in size and retain their massiveness.

Colombu stated further, “Pumping up the muscle it looks soft, it looks kneaded.” He mentioned that to do grand on stage and be qualified for Mr. Olympia one needs to train extremely hard. This form of gaining without resting too long was also something that ‎Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbu did during their prime.

Franco Columbu turned weightlifting into a cardio boost

A few months ago, a channel focusing on the Golden Era of bodybuilders posted about Columbu. The host of OOFA Fitness narrated, “Franco Columbu and Arnold Schwarzenegger never specifically trained cardio. They limited rest during weight training and performed five to seven sets of each exercise.”

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The less recovery time also helped in maximum exercise and reps, getting the heart pumping. The Italian bodybuilder said that the way both trained decreased the resting time and then they did tricep, walk, and bicep exercises. The icon explained that it indirectly increased their heart rates, thereby improving core muscles.

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So not only weightlifting but doing exercise with a lesser amount of rest time in between also helps in strengthening the core and muscles. What do you think about the advice of the late veteran bodybuilder?