Keith Jones Training Routine

As I mentioned in another post, a long-time friend, Keith Jones passed. I thought that IRON MAN readers would like to know how Keith trained. Keith was a VERY strong guy and the following is a workout he used at one point in his training. The guy was bench pressing 600 plus, raw (no bench shirt) and curling 315. Genetics aside there must have been something important to learn from his workout strategy.

This is from a conversation I had with him several years ago:

Keith: “As a teenage I used to love doing push-ups. I did them all the time set after set. As for weight training, this is how I trained with Ray Mentzer. Ray got me strong.”

David: So how did you break out your training week?

Keith: “I did chest as many as 3 times per week. Mondays were a heavy day; Wednesdays were a semi-heavy day with Friday being a rep and light day. I trained heavy on Mondays because I had a two day rest over the weekend.”

David: So get specific.

Keith:

Mondays: Chest (heavy)

Warm-up set (doesn’t count) 315 for 8 to 10
2nd set 405 for 6 to 8
3rd set 405 for 6
4th set 455 for 6
5th set 495 for 4 to 6
6th set 520 for 4

Flyes with 50’s or 60’s 2 sets
Pec Dec (bottom weight) 1 set
Cable flyes 1 set
Dips 2 sets
Pushdowns 1 set

“The above is pretty close to what I used to do. It changed sometimes. I liked changing because it made it less boring doing the same thing all the time. The weight changed depending on what I was doing but the above weights are what I would do usually on Mondays. There were some days where Ray (Mentzer) had me doing a version of the Russian strength workout. We only did this a couple times a month.”

“I did incline as a warm-up for Shoulders on Thursdays. I still do that. I don’t like to work incline on the same day as flats. I do sometimes but I don’t like it. I am generally worn out after my chest so the weight I use on the incline is less.”

Tuesdays: Back and Biceps (1-2 sets of each exercise)
Machine or cable rows
Pulldowns
Rear delt machine (special set-up Ray set up on a Marcy multi unit)
Barbell curls
Preacher curls (straight side of bench)

Wednesday: Chest and triceps (medium weight same exercises as Monday)

Thursday: Shoulders, Legs and Lower Back. (1-2 sets on each)
Side lateral machine (special set-up Ray set up on a Marcy multi unit)
45 degree leg press
Leg extension
Leg curl
Calf machine

Fridays: I trained Chest and Triceps. (same exercises as Monday for more reps)

“I always worked heavy triceps. I like working the triceps with heavy weight. I only worked biceps once maybe sometimes twice a week. I did calves and forearms almost every day.”

“I think that is about it. It has been a long time since I was able to train like this. And back then I didn’t rest a lot between sets. Some things changed just because sometimes I didn’t feel like doing something. I just made sure I rested at least 48 hours between body parts.”

“I really didn’t diet much. I was younger so I could eat anything and stray pretty lean. I didn’t even use supplements that much. Eating was better and tasted much better.”

Keith attracted a lot of interesting people. I think Keith was highly intelligent and used that ability to network and get along with people. He understood that people and relationships are the basis of our careers and of our life. Keith had mastered that lesson. I remember one time someone gave me trouble… man he came in from nowhere to get my back. Keith was a people magnet but not just ordinary people but usually exceptional and famous people. Keith was so sincere that he couldn’t comprehend why others weren’t like that.

So take what you can from Keith’s workout and use it in your own strategy.

Keith and IFBB Pro Don Ross in a commercial.