After much research, and with the help of two bodybuilders who were also his close friends and students in the San Francisco Bay area, Lee devised a three-day-per-week bodybuilding program that he felt fit his strengthening and bodybuilding needs perfectly. According to one of these men, Allen Joe, “James Lee and I introduced Bruce to the basic weight training techniques. We used to train with basic exercises like squats, pullovers and curls for about three sets each. Nothing really spectacular but we were just getting him started.” This program actually served Lee well from 1965 through until 1970 and fit in perfectly with Lee’s own philosophy of getting the maximum results out of the minimum — or most economical — expenditure of energy.

The every-other-day workout allowed for the often neglected aspect of recovery to take place. Lee coordinated his bodybuilding workouts in such a way so as to insure that they fell on days when he wasn’t engaged in either endurance-enhancing or overly strenuous martial art training. The program worked like magic; increasing Lee’s bodyweight from an initial 130 pounds to — at one point — topping out at just over 165 pounds!