No one did cardio back then. If they did, it was slow paced jogging. That was back from the day when Jim Fixx was promoting jogging. Three days a week with weights worked well in my early twenties, but I also worked out 2.5 hours at a stretch with a lot of heavy lifting. I never tried three days with bodyweight, but I am sure it would work. You'd have to train at least 45 minutes at a stretch to cover all body areas. A better way could be to do pullups, pushups, situps and free squats two days, and self-resistance for the arms and shoulders for the other two workouts.

Oh ok, more recovery time for the average Joe. One thing I always wondered to was most didn't include any cardio. Why was that? Have you ever tried the 3 day a week thing? If so what were your thoughts and results? I've tried it with progressive calisthenics but my diet wasn't that good at the time. Plus I wasn't doing any endurance training.

No - it made more sense for a drug free trainer to go three days a week. Drugs were the big secret back then and if you wanted to sell courses you had to cater to the average Joe.

I thought the same thing about the simplicity back than. Something I've noticed about some of the older courses like around Dan Lurie's time is they seem they were all full body three day a week plans. Am I seeing that wrong?

A golden oldie. That one has some great pictures of Anabel Lopez, Joe Spooner, and Don Ross at their prime and has good tips and exercises for both bodyweight and weights. It all seemed so much simpler back then!