Francis Benfatto – Complete Profile: Height, Workout And Diet

Francis Benfatto is a retired professional bodybuilder who primarily competed in the 1980s and 1990s era. He is best remembered for having one of the best-conditioned, aesthetic, and well-proportioned physiques in the competitive sphere.

Despite being significantly smaller than the other competitors, Benfatto never succumbed to the idea of getting bigger and always stayed true to the spirt of bodybuilding.

This article explores his complete profile, biography, competition history, workout routine and diet as well as statistics.

Francis Benfatto

Born: June 7, 1958
Birthplace: Casablanca, MAROCCO
Residence: Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Nickname: Francis
Height: 5′ 6″ (170 cm)
Competition Weight: 200,5 lbs (91 kg)
Off Season Weight: 218 lbs (99 kg)
Arms: 20,5″ (52 cm)
Chest: 51″ (130 cm)
Waist: 29,5″ (75 cm)
Thighs: 27,5″ (70 cm)
Calves: 18,5″ (47 cm)

Francis Benfatto Biography

Early Life

Francis Benfatto was born on June 7, 1958, in Casablanca, Morocco. He always wished to have an aesthetic and well-built physique and started working for it as early as 11 years old. Benfatto joined the gym when he was 14 and was happy to work in the environment it provided.

According to him, bodybuilders, weightlifters, and others worked harmoniously in the gym and he deeply appreciated the sense of belonging. Benfatto enjoyed the process of bodybuilding – workouts, the feeling after the workout, diet – so much that he saved money wherever he could to put it into his bodybuilding efforts.

At times, Benfatto would avoid taking public transport and walk long distances so he could save money and buy more food to fuel his workouts. The dedication to his craft started yielding results and Francis Benfatto’s physique slowly started turning into the one he always desired.

Over the next few years, Benfatto’s physique would go on to be known as one of the most aesthetic, well-proportioned and well-defined in the industry with arguably the best conditioning at the time.

Bodybuilding Career

Francis Benfatto made his bodybuilding debut by placing first at the 1982 Mr. France. This was just the beginning as he went on to become one of the foremost competitors of his time in the following years.

Benfatto spent the next few years improving his physique to compete against the best that the sport had to offer and returned to the stage at the 1985 Mr. Universe in the middleweight division. Benfatto destroyed the competition and walked away with the victory.

After competing successfully over the next few years, the biggest opportunity of Francis Benfatto’s career came in 1989 when he made the Mr. Olympia debut. The Frenchman finished 12th at the show. In the next year’s edition of Mr. Olympia, Francis Benfatto achieved the best placing of his career, finishing sixth at the show.

Joe Weider was thoroughly impressed with Benfatto’s conditioning at the show and he offered a newcomer’s contract to him. But unfortunately for Benfatto, size had started taking over as the most important aspect of professional bodybuilding and he had a hard time competing against the much bigger competitors in this environment.

In the next two Mr. Olympia appearances, in 2991 and 1992, Benfatto finished 7th and 15th, respectively. Benfatto is said to have been disheartened by the fact that all the other aspects of bodybuilding were now being overshadowed by size. Although he competed in the 1993 Arnold Classic and a couple of Grand Prix shows in 1993, many felt that Francis Belfatto was no longer interested in competing.

He retired from competition that same year but returned to competition 13 years later to compete at the 2006 Grand Prix Australia. Despite being well past his prime at 48 years of age, Benfatto brought a great physique to the stage and finished sixth at the show.

Competition History

• 2006 IFBB Grand Prix Australia – 6th place
• 1993 IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 13th place
• 1993 IFBB Grand Prix France – 9th place
• 1993 IFBB Arnold Classic – 13th place
• 1992 IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Invitational – 8th place
• 1992 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 15th place
• 1992 IFBB Arnold Classic – 9th place
• 1991 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 7th place
• 1991 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational – 7th place
• 1991 IFBB Arnold Classic – 10th place
• 1990 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 6th place
• 1990 IFBB Night of Champions – 8th place
• 1989 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 12th place
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix Sweden – 7th place
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix Spain – 8th place
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix Spain (2) – 6th place
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 4th place
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix France – 6th place
• 1988 IFBB Night of Champions – 9th place
• 1988 IFBB Grand Prix France – 9th place
• 1987 IFBB World Amateur Championships, Middleweight – 2nd place
• 1986 IFBB World Amateur Championships, Middleweight – 3rd place
• 1986 IFBB European Amateur Championships, Middleweight – 3rd place
• 1985 IFBB World Amateur Championships, Middleweight – 5th place
• 1985 Mr. Universe, MIddleweight – 1st place
• 1982 – Mr. France – 1st place

Francis Benfatto Workout

Like most bodybuilders who achieve a great physique, Francis Benfatto followed an incredibly structured training routine and adhered to it without fail. Benfatto was known for having one of the most aesthetic physiques of his era and he was different in one key aspect.

Benfatto was never the ‘size guy’ and weighed far less than most of the competitors. However, his physique was built in such a way that he looked a lot bigger than he weighed.

His training routine was focused on building a complete physique that had muscle definition, proportions, symmetry as well as great conditioning.

While weight training was the primary component of his training regimen, the veteran bodybuilder also did cardio – not only to shed fat but to maintain cardiovascular health and build stamina.

Benfatto always kept an open mind and refrained from being a follower of any particular rigid training philosophy. He always tried to get the best from every discipline and school of thought.

This mindset reflects well in the training routine as well. Benfatto’s training program consisted of machine as well as free-weight compound and isolation movements. However, the veteran bodybuilder was more inclined towards free weight movements as they engaged in stabilizing muscles that machines typically do not.

He used intensity-building methods like supersets and drop sets to get the most out of his workouts and focused on building other attributes like functional strength along with muscle mass.

Benfatto was a big believer in pump training and aimed to get a pump through his exercises. He firmly believed that getting an insane pump also helps build a better mind-muscle connection.

A typical training routine in Francis Benfatto’s regimen looked like this:

Chest, Back, and Abs

• Bench press – 6 to 10 sets of 6 to 10 reps (2 to 3-minute rest periods in between the sets)
• Superset – Behind-the-Neck Lat Pulldowns and Seated Cable Rows – 3 to 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps
• Superset – Hanging Leg Raises and Crunches – 3 to 5 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Legs

• Barbell Squats – 6 to 10 sets of 6 to 10 reps (2 to 3-minute rest periods in between the sets)
• Superset – Stiff-legged Deadlifts and Lying Leg Curls – 3 to 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps
• Superset – Standing Calf Raises and Seated Calf Raises – 3 to 5 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Shoulders and Arms

• Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 6 to 10 sets of 6 to 10 reps (2 to 3-minute rest periods in between the sets)
• Superset – Standing Barbell Curls and Alternating Dumbbell Curls – 3 to 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps
• Superset – Tricep Pushdowns and Straight-bar Triceps Extensions – 3 to 5 sets of 8 to 10 reps

Francis Benfatto Diet

Even the greatest and scientifically accurate training routine cannot yield the desired results if one does not have the right kind of diet to go with it. Francis Benfatto followed a meticulously planned diet plan that met all of his nutritional requirements and helped him stay in shape all year round.

Benfatto famously divided his diet plan into three distinct phases. In Phase 1, he typically focused on adding lean muscle mass to his frame with a nearly 3500-calorie diet. The challenge, however, was to make sure that the muscle mass increased and not the fat percentage in the body.

In Phase 2, he reduced the caloric intake to 2000 calories per day as the goal was to maintain the muscle mass and not to build more of it. Benfatto focused on reducing the body fat percentage during this phase while giving more definition to the muscles.

In Phase 3, Benfatto reduced the carbohydrate intake and adopted a protein and fat-based diet, consuming not more than 1000 calories per day for 10 days. He then added the carbohydrates back to his diet to gain some mass and step on the stage.

While the food quantities changed based on the immediate goals, a typical day of eating in Francis Benfatto’s diet looked like this:

Meal 1

• 4 to 6 Egg Whites
• ½ Spoon of Oats (On low-carbohydrate days)
• 1-½ Spoons of Oats (On low-carbohydrate days)

Meal 2

• 2 Big spoons of Tuna
• 2 Teaspoons of Olive Oil
• Mixed Salad – Onion, Tomato, Lettuce and Asparagus with Lemon

Meal 3

• 4 to 6 Egg Whites
• ½ Spoon of Oats (On low-carbohydrate days)
• 1-½ Spoons of Oats (On low-carbohydrate days)

Meal 4

• A small portion of Green Vegetables
• Turkey or Chicken Breast
• Olive Oil
• Lemon

Personal Life

Francis Benfatto now lives in Cape Town, South Africa with his girlfriend. He has a personal training and supplement business.

To Conclude…

Francis Benfatto competed in an era when size had started taking over as the most important attribute in competitive bodybuilding. His prospects in the sport were severely affected because of this change. However, Benfatto never caved in and stood firmly by the spirit of bodybuilding, focusing on building a physique that was not only muscular but aesthetically good and well-proportioned.

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