Bonds bulked up tremendously during the course of his career, which helped propel him to be one of the greatest power hitters ever.

Barry Bonds’ workout routine was designed by his trainer and friend Greg Anderson. Greg Anderson was notoriously part of the BALCO scandal, in which he hasn’t disclosed any information in regards to Bonds being a possible steroid user.

Here is Bonds’ workout routine as published in the June 2003 edition of Muscle & Fitness. Barry Bonds had a Hall of Fame career even before those incredible seasons that put him on the map as being the best slugger of all time. The period of time in which he hit over 35 home runs in 10 out of 12 seasons was unprecedented and his record breaking monstrous 73 home run season was something that people thought would never happen. The Home Run King, regardless of the controversy surrounding him, sported a huge, jacked physique and the workout below is what developed his muscular body.

Monday: Chest and Biceps

Standing cable fly; standing cable biceps curl; incline Hammer-machine press; seated one-arm dumbbell curl; flat-bench dumbbell press; bench push-up; exercise-ball crunch.

Tuesday: Quads and Hamstrings

Single-leg extension; two-leg extension; lying hamstring curl; adductor machine; abductor machine; single-leg press; leg press; barbell squat; walking lunge

Wednesday: Back and Abs

Wide-grip pull down, close-grip pull down; seated row; pull-up; low-back extension; standing calf raise; seated calf-raise; crunch

Thursday: Shoulders and Triceps

Seated rear-delt machine; one-or two-arm dumbbell lateral raise; one- or two-arm dumbbell front raise; cable triceps press down (with straight bar or rope); standing machine dip

Friday Quads and Hamstrings

Single- or two-leg extension; lying leg curl; adductor machine; abductor machine; uni-lateral or regular leg press; barbell squat; stiff-legged dead lift; seated leg curl; standing single-leg hamstring curl; exercise-ball crunch

As you can see with his routine, Bonds incorporates everything from barbells, dumbbells, machines, and cables. He is able to hit all the different parts of his muscles and brings full variety to his routine. He does a great combination of compound movements and isolation movements to fully hit the specific muscle group. No wonder why Bonds had one of the best physiques in the game. He pays full attention to his body with all these different workouts.

Check out the size difference throughout the span of his career. The critics can claim it was drugs and steroids, but Barry Bonds still worked his butt off in the gym.

Bonds followed this routine both in and off-season. He maintained the same, five-day per week schedule and only reduced the daily workload of total sets performed for his in-season phase from 12-14 sets to 8-10 sets. Bonds performed 10 repetitions per set during both phases of his program. Due to the long and tiring 162 game baseball schedule, Bonds couldn’t train as hard due to the effects that a long season could have on his body. With less sets to do, he was also more likely to fight off any additional injury, while maintaining his strength throughout the season. The five day training schedule gave him two off days per week during the season to rest his body, which is obviously essential for any athlete.

Bonds was a 14x All-Star and won an unprecedented 7 NL MVPs. He had some of the best statistics in baseball history, and, whether or not Bonds took steroids, he should remain in the conversation as the greatest ever.

Source

Muscle & Fitness Magazine