read that he used a HIT approach training whole body 3 times per week using 7 exercises and only one hard work failure set per exercise
It has been published in many magazines on many occasions that Steve Reeves used a whole body routine, 1 exercise per bodypart, 3 times per week (M/W/F). He did a couple of warm up sets and 1 VERY HARD set of each exercise... No more than 7 exercises per workout.
His workout pace was fast... Only 1 minute between sets. He varied the exercises he did somewhat, but not as frequently as todays bodybuilders...
Here were his measurements as taken by a judge at a Mr Universe contest... Can't remember which one, not that it matters much anyway.
Shoulders 23.5"
Neck 18"
Chest 52"
Waist 29"
Hips 38"
Flexed Bicep 18.25"
Forearm 14.75"
Thigh 26"
Calf 18.25"
Here is a typical Reeves workout
Calf Raise - 3 sets x 12 reps
Squat - 3 sets x 12 reps (also used leg press at times)
Chin Up - 3 sets x 12 reps (also used pulldowns)
Dips - 3 sets x 12 reps (also used dumbell chest press)
Press Behind Neck - 3 sets x 12 reps (also used dumbell shoulder press)
Pushdowns - 3 sets x 12 reps
Incline Dumbell Curl - 3 sets x 12 reps (reportedly his favorite exercise)