Arnold Schwarzenegger's Workout routine
Arnold is probably the most famous bodybuilder of all time, he won Mr. Olympia
seven times (1970-1975, 1980) and brought bodybuilding into the national spotlight in the movie "Pumpin Iron".
Arnold's Top Form Measurements
Arms 22 inches
Chest 57 inches
Waist 34 inches
Thighes 28.5 inches
Calves 20 inches
Weight 235 pounds
Height 6'2"
Arnold was from the old "No Pain No Gain" school of bodybuilding and his
routines consisted of high sets and reps, mostly not to failure. He trained
each muscle group three times each week (except calves, forearms & abs
which he trained every day), using a six day split routine.
There was very little rest between sets, and he usually increased weight each
and every set. Although he experimented with high reps at times, he usually
preferred a rep range of about 6 to 10.
The following is a typical Arnold routine, but be aware that Arnold's routine
changed constantly. At times he trained twice a day, while at other times
once a day was enough. There were periods when he did lots supersets
and giant sets. Arnold tried every thing, and picked what worked best for
him at that particular time. By mixing things up he challenged his strength
and endurance and the training variety helped keep him fresh and motivated!
Remember this is a very advanced bodybuilding routine and should not be used
by beginners or intermediates, and even advanced bodybuilder's should only
take what they think will work best for them and adapt it to their own
bodybuilding philosophy.
Now Let go to the Arnold's Routines. Lets Pump up
Arnold's Routine
Mon, Wed, Fri
Chest:
Bench press 5 x 6-10
Flat bench flyes 5 x 6-10
Incline bench press 6 x 6-10
Cable crossovers 6 x 10-12
Dips (body weight) 5 x failure
Dumbell pullovers 5 x 10-12.
Back:Wide-grip chins (to front) 6 x failure
T-bar rows 5 x 6-10
Seated pulley rows 6 x 6-10
One-arm dumbell rows 5 x 6-10
Straight-leg deadlifts 6 x 15Legs:Squats 6 x 8-12
Leg press 6 x 8-12
Leg extensions 6 x 12-15
Leg curls 6 x 10-12
Barbell lunges 5 x 15
Calves:
Standing calf raises 10 x 10
Seated calf raises 8 x 15
Oneplegged calf raises (holding dumbells) 6x12
Forearms:
Wrist curls (forearms on knees) - 4 sets, 10 reps
Reverse barbell curls - 4 sets, 8 reps
Wright roller machine - to failure
Abs:
½ hour of a variety of nonspecific abdominal exercises, done virtually nonstop.
Tues, Thurs, Sat
Biceps:
Barbell curls 6 x 6-10
Seated dumbell curls 6 x 6-10
Dumbell concentration curls 6 x 6-10
Triceps:
Close-grip bench presses 6 x 6-10
Pushdowns 6 x 6-10
French press (barbell) 6 x 6-10
One-arm triceps extensions (dumbell) 6 x 6-10
Shoulders:
Seated barbell presses 6 x 6-10
Lateral raises (standing) 6 x 6-10
Rear-delt lateral raises 5 x 6-10
Cable lateral raises 5 x 10-12
Calves, Forearms & Abs:
Same as Monday, Wednesday, Friday workout
Arnold is probably the most famous bodybuilder of all time, he won Mr. Olympia
seven times (1970-1975, 1980) and brought bodybuilding into the national spotlight in the movie "Pumpin Iron".
Arnold's Top Form Measurements
Arms 22 inches
Chest 57 inches
Waist 34 inches
Thighes 28.5 inches
Calves 20 inches
Weight 235 pounds
Height 6'2"
Arnold was from the old "No Pain No Gain" school of bodybuilding and his
routines consisted of high sets and reps, mostly not to failure. He trained
each muscle group three times each week (except calves, forearms & abs
which he trained every day), using a six day split routine.
There was very little rest between sets, and he usually increased weight each
and every set. Although he experimented with high reps at times, he usually
preferred a rep range of about 6 to 10.
The following is a typical Arnold routine, but be aware that Arnold's routine
changed constantly. At times he trained twice a day, while at other times
once a day was enough. There were periods when he did lots supersets
and giant sets. Arnold tried every thing, and picked what worked best for
him at that particular time. By mixing things up he challenged his strength
and endurance and the training variety helped keep him fresh and motivated!
Remember this is a very advanced bodybuilding routine and should not be used
by beginners or intermediates, and even advanced bodybuilder's should only
take what they think will work best for them and adapt it to their own
bodybuilding philosophy.
Now Let go to the Arnold's Routines. Lets Pump up
Arnold's Routine
Mon, Wed, Fri
Chest:
Bench press 5 x 6-10
Flat bench flyes 5 x 6-10
Incline bench press 6 x 6-10
Cable crossovers 6 x 10-12
Dips (body weight) 5 x failure
Dumbell pullovers 5 x 10-12.
Back:Wide-grip chins (to front) 6 x failure
T-bar rows 5 x 6-10
Seated pulley rows 6 x 6-10
One-arm dumbell rows 5 x 6-10
Straight-leg deadlifts 6 x 15Legs:Squats 6 x 8-12
Leg press 6 x 8-12
Leg extensions 6 x 12-15
Leg curls 6 x 10-12
Barbell lunges 5 x 15
Calves:
Standing calf raises 10 x 10
Seated calf raises 8 x 15
Oneplegged calf raises (holding dumbells) 6x12
Forearms:
Wrist curls (forearms on knees) - 4 sets, 10 reps
Reverse barbell curls - 4 sets, 8 reps
Wright roller machine - to failure
Abs:
½ hour of a variety of nonspecific abdominal exercises, done virtually nonstop.
Tues, Thurs, Sat
Biceps:
Barbell curls 6 x 6-10
Seated dumbell curls 6 x 6-10
Dumbell concentration curls 6 x 6-10
Triceps:
Close-grip bench presses 6 x 6-10
Pushdowns 6 x 6-10
French press (barbell) 6 x 6-10
One-arm triceps extensions (dumbell) 6 x 6-10
Shoulders:
Seated barbell presses 6 x 6-10
Lateral raises (standing) 6 x 6-10
Rear-delt lateral raises 5 x 6-10
Cable lateral raises 5 x 10-12
Calves, Forearms & Abs:
Same as Monday, Wednesday, Friday workout
Perhaps more than any other bodybuilder, Arnold Schwarzenegger is looked up to as the pinnacle of bodybuilding prowess. Because of the incredible amounts of well-defined muscle mass that Arnold was able to build, it was long suspected that Arnold was a steroid user.
Schwarzenegger removed all doubts in 2005 when he admitted to using steroids in the following statement:
"I will not speak for my colleagues but I will write about my experience with tissue-building drugs. Yes, I have used them, but no, they didn't make me what I am. Anabolic steroids were helpful to me in maintaining muscle size while on a strict diet in preparation for a contest... I did not use them for muscle growth, however, but rather muscle maintenance while cutting up."
My purpose in writing this article is not to defend Arnold as being a clean bodybuilder, but rather to flesh out the facts regarding his success as a bodybuilder and provide some insight as to what benefits he actually received from supplementing with anabolic steroids.
Let's start with a brief introduction on how Arnold began his weight lifting journey...
Arnold's formative years as a beginner bodybuilder were spent learning the training techniques of Reg Park, a power-lifter with an incredible physique. Many people don't realize that Arnold began lifting weights as a power-lifter at age 15 and didn't gain an interest in competitive bodybuilding until years later.
This specific sequence of going from being a power-lifter to competitive bodybuilder was a key element of Arnold's success as a bodybuilding champion, as I will explain in just a moment.
Like everything else that Arnold has set out to do in life, he found great success as a power-lifter. From 1966 to 1968 Arnold won two weight lifting competitions and one Strongman competition.
I mentioned that Arnold's progression of starting as a power-lifter and then moving on to being a bodybuilder was an integral part of his success as a champion bodybuilder. Arnold explains why power-lifting was so important to his success as a competitive bodybuilder by quoting the bodybuilder that he looked up to most, Reg Park, in his book The Education of a Bodybuilder:
"Reg Park's theory was that first you have to build the mass and then chisel it down to get the quality; you work on your body the way a sculptor would work on a piece of clay or wood or steel. You rough it out - the more carefully, the more thoroughly, the better - then you start to cut and define. You work it down gradually until it's ready to be rubbed and polished."
Let's think about what he is saying here...
Reg is using the analogy of a sculptor starting with a large mass and then chiseling it down to be the exact size and shape that they desire it to be. Keep in mind that the end result will always be smaller and contain less mass than the starting material.
So, according to Reg Park (on the right), the key to building a body that has massive well defined muscles is by spending some time and effort making the initial mass as big as possible and then chiseling away the fat until what is left is a cut and polished physique.
Makes sense, doesn't it?
Most bodybuilders get their start eating modest amounts of calories and performing sets consisting of 10-12 reps. They may build small amounts of muscle and get a toned physique, but they never build the 250lb+ base required for chiseling out an Arnold-like physique.
This means that they will wait until the last minute to start cutting fat to get in competition shape which forces them to use extreme dieting techniques that result in losing a greater amount of muscle mass than more conservative nutrition approaches that could take 6+ months to get them in competition-ready form.
In order to combat the losses in muscle mass that will inevitably accompany the strict diets that Schwarzenegger would follow to shed fat when prepping for a contest, Arnold would use a modest amount of steroids as a way to prevent the catabolic effect of his diet and maintain all of his hard-earned muscle mass.
Now, I realize that this is still cheating, and I would never try to argue otherwise. However, I feel that there is a significant distinction between the small amounts of steroids that Arnold was using to prevent muscle loss compared to the massive doses of steroids and growth hormones that are used by today's competitive bodybuilders to get freakishly huge.
In fact, the naked eye can make out the noticeable differences between the type of steroid use that Arnold participated in compared to that of a modern day bodybuilder. The picture below will illustrate my point:
This picture is a vivid illustration of the vast differences between the type of preventative steroid use that Arnold supplemented with and the high volumes of steroids being injected into today's champion bodybuilders.
Note the extreme size in Ronnie Coleman's quads, his wide waist and bloated belly. Arnold's appearance is much more natural with quads that are proportionate to the rest of his body, a small waist and a natural concavity in his abdominals.
It is also important to note something which cannot be easily measured by the eye - Ronnie Coleman is 5'11" and competing at a weight of 305lbs while Arnold's highest competing body weight was around 235lbs at a height of 6'1". No amount of training volume, training frequency, training techniques or genetics could separate these two guys by 70lbs of muscle mass. The difference is that Ronnie Coleman is pumped up with high volumes of steroids and HGH.
Even if it was only for a small portion of the time, Arnold has admitted to being a steroid user and will always have to live with that stigma. That being said, Arnold's use of steroids was not a rampant attempt to get as big as he could as fast as possible and he still mostly relied on a controlled nutrition and training regimen to get the physique that we have all grown up admiring.
As Reg Park would surely agree, I would argue that the base that Arnold built as a power-lifter in his teenage years has a lot more to do with his incredible muscular size and definition than his occasional use of small doses of steroids.
Schwarzenegger removed all doubts in 2005 when he admitted to using steroids in the following statement:
"I will not speak for my colleagues but I will write about my experience with tissue-building drugs. Yes, I have used them, but no, they didn't make me what I am. Anabolic steroids were helpful to me in maintaining muscle size while on a strict diet in preparation for a contest... I did not use them for muscle growth, however, but rather muscle maintenance while cutting up."
My purpose in writing this article is not to defend Arnold as being a clean bodybuilder, but rather to flesh out the facts regarding his success as a bodybuilder and provide some insight as to what benefits he actually received from supplementing with anabolic steroids.
Let's start with a brief introduction on how Arnold began his weight lifting journey...
Arnold's formative years as a beginner bodybuilder were spent learning the training techniques of Reg Park, a power-lifter with an incredible physique. Many people don't realize that Arnold began lifting weights as a power-lifter at age 15 and didn't gain an interest in competitive bodybuilding until years later.
This specific sequence of going from being a power-lifter to competitive bodybuilder was a key element of Arnold's success as a bodybuilding champion, as I will explain in just a moment.
Like everything else that Arnold has set out to do in life, he found great success as a power-lifter. From 1966 to 1968 Arnold won two weight lifting competitions and one Strongman competition.
Importance of Arnold's Training Progression
I mentioned that Arnold's progression of starting as a power-lifter and then moving on to being a bodybuilder was an integral part of his success as a champion bodybuilder. Arnold explains why power-lifting was so important to his success as a competitive bodybuilder by quoting the bodybuilder that he looked up to most, Reg Park, in his book The Education of a Bodybuilder:"Reg Park's theory was that first you have to build the mass and then chisel it down to get the quality; you work on your body the way a sculptor would work on a piece of clay or wood or steel. You rough it out - the more carefully, the more thoroughly, the better - then you start to cut and define. You work it down gradually until it's ready to be rubbed and polished."
Let's think about what he is saying here...
Reg is using the analogy of a sculptor starting with a large mass and then chiseling it down to be the exact size and shape that they desire it to be. Keep in mind that the end result will always be smaller and contain less mass than the starting material.So, according to Reg Park (on the right), the key to building a body that has massive well defined muscles is by spending some time and effort making the initial mass as big as possible and then chiseling away the fat until what is left is a cut and polished physique.
Makes sense, doesn't it?
Most bodybuilders get their start eating modest amounts of calories and performing sets consisting of 10-12 reps. They may build small amounts of muscle and get a toned physique, but they never build the 250lb+ base required for chiseling out an Arnold-like physique.
Arnold and Steroids for Preventing Muscle Loss
The problem for any serious bodybuilder comes when they begin cutting calories and focusing on fat loss. When the body is in a state of caloric deficit it is inevitable that you will lose at least a small amount of muscle mass. Because competitive bodybuilders want to build as much muscle mass as possible before competing, they will typically spend as much time as they can eating and training with the sole focus of gaining size.This means that they will wait until the last minute to start cutting fat to get in competition shape which forces them to use extreme dieting techniques that result in losing a greater amount of muscle mass than more conservative nutrition approaches that could take 6+ months to get them in competition-ready form.
In order to combat the losses in muscle mass that will inevitably accompany the strict diets that Schwarzenegger would follow to shed fat when prepping for a contest, Arnold would use a modest amount of steroids as a way to prevent the catabolic effect of his diet and maintain all of his hard-earned muscle mass.
Now, I realize that this is still cheating, and I would never try to argue otherwise. However, I feel that there is a significant distinction between the small amounts of steroids that Arnold was using to prevent muscle loss compared to the massive doses of steroids and growth hormones that are used by today's competitive bodybuilders to get freakishly huge.
In fact, the naked eye can make out the noticeable differences between the type of steroid use that Arnold participated in compared to that of a modern day bodybuilder. The picture below will illustrate my point:
This picture is a vivid illustration of the vast differences between the type of preventative steroid use that Arnold supplemented with and the high volumes of steroids being injected into today's champion bodybuilders.
Note the extreme size in Ronnie Coleman's quads, his wide waist and bloated belly. Arnold's appearance is much more natural with quads that are proportionate to the rest of his body, a small waist and a natural concavity in his abdominals.
It is also important to note something which cannot be easily measured by the eye - Ronnie Coleman is 5'11" and competing at a weight of 305lbs while Arnold's highest competing body weight was around 235lbs at a height of 6'1". No amount of training volume, training frequency, training techniques or genetics could separate these two guys by 70lbs of muscle mass. The difference is that Ronnie Coleman is pumped up with high volumes of steroids and HGH.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Still Inspires Me
Did Arnold use steroids? Yes!Even if it was only for a small portion of the time, Arnold has admitted to being a steroid user and will always have to live with that stigma. That being said, Arnold's use of steroids was not a rampant attempt to get as big as he could as fast as possible and he still mostly relied on a controlled nutrition and training regimen to get the physique that we have all grown up admiring.
As Reg Park would surely agree, I would argue that the base that Arnold built as a power-lifter in his teenage years has a lot more to do with his incredible muscular size and definition than his occasional use of small doses of steroids.
Let's try this again. It's a brand new year, and this time you're going to do things right. Your mission is to transform your body from what you let it become in 2011 to what you want it to be in 2012. The goal, then, is to lose as much fat as possible while maintaining, and adding, as much muscle as you can.
You won't get there by starving yourself and boring yourself to tears with endless cardio sessions, because all you'll be burning with that strategy is precious muscle tissue. What you want, and what this transformation program will teach you to do, is to set up your workouts and diet to work synergistically to drop the fat you don't want while conserving the muscle you've worked so hard to build. Here's how it's done.
You won't get there by starving yourself and boring yourself to tears with endless cardio sessions, because all you'll be burning with that strategy is precious muscle tissue. What you want, and what this transformation program will teach you to do, is to set up your workouts and diet to work synergistically to drop the fat you don't want while conserving the muscle you've worked so hard to build. Here's how it's done.
The Foundation:
To lose weight and say goodbye to fat, you have to operate at a caloric deficit, meaning you need to consume fewer calories than you expend. Simply put, eat less and exercise more. Sound advice, but there are some specifics involved. For most males, a good starting point for losing weight is to consume approximately 12 calories per pound of body weight. If you weigh 200 pounds, that's 2,400 calories per day.Don't just focus on total calories, though. Their source is important, too. For example, a gram of protein contains four calories, as does a gram of carbohydrate, while a gram of fat contains nine calories. Consuming the right amounts of these three
macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat), in the right proportions,
will ensure an optimal balance between muscle building and
fat burning.
Without intense training, even the best-designed diet will fail at retaining optimal muscle. This is the 'use it or lose it' principle. If you don't give your muscles a reason to exist - such as lifting heavy weights - they'll totally dissipate and leave you with nothing but your love handles. You don't want to train too much, however, especially when you're cutting calories. So for this 8-week transformation process, you'll be weight training four times per week, hitting each body part with a lot of intensity once every seven days.
That's not all, though. Cardiovascular activity plays a huge role in any transformation program - at least in the ones that work. Cardio burns additional calories and keeps your heart healthy. It also helps you recover from weight training, so perform all the cardio in this program as prescribed, and don't skip any sessions.
The sample diet we've provided here offers daily meal plans for a 200-pound male looking to drop weight. Included is your daily schedule for both training and non-training days. Because your energy doesn't need to be as high on rest days, we're lowering your carb intake quite a bit, although we're raising protein during these periods to prevent muscle catabolism.
macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat), in the right proportions,
will ensure an optimal balance between muscle building and
fat burning.
In The Gym:
Without intense training, even the best-designed diet will fail at retaining optimal muscle. This is the 'use it or lose it' principle. If you don't give your muscles a reason to exist - such as lifting heavy weights - they'll totally dissipate and leave you with nothing but your love handles. You don't want to train too much, however, especially when you're cutting calories. So for this 8-week transformation process, you'll be weight training four times per week, hitting each body part with a lot of intensity once every seven days.
That's not all, though. Cardiovascular activity plays a huge role in any transformation program - at least in the ones that work. Cardio burns additional calories and keeps your heart healthy. It also helps you recover from weight training, so perform all the cardio in this program as prescribed, and don't skip any sessions.
The Macros:
Protein is a very important muscle-sparing nutrient, so you'll want to take in roughly 1.25-to-1.5 grams per pound of body weight. Carbs help support intense training and muscle fullness, but too many of them will inhibit the fat-burning process, so you'll have to limit them on this diet - 0.5-to-1.0 gram per pound of body weight. fat is an additional macro energy source that plays a key role in numerous processes in the body, so although you won't want to drop it to zero, you'll be keeping it at a moderate 0.3-to-0.5 grams per pound of body weight.The sample diet we've provided here offers daily meal plans for a 200-pound male looking to drop weight. Included is your daily schedule for both training and non-training days. Because your energy doesn't need to be as high on rest days, we're lowering your carb intake quite a bit, although we're raising protein during these periods to prevent muscle catabolism.
Reducing fat can be a struggle if you don't choose the right path. Many people believe that you can burn fat if you simply consume less food. This makes sense, if you eat fewer calories than you burn, you should be on the path to losing weight.
Unfortunately, in practice it is not quite as simple. You can lose weight just by eating less. The problem is that you will lose muscle mass along with losing fat. When you start to drop muscle mass, your body's rate of metabolism also declines. When this occurs, it will become increasingly difficult to lose fat.
Yes it's a tough cycle, but it's not impossible to escape. Here are five tips for reducing fat that will allow you to lose fat without losing muscle mass.
No.1 Tip for reducing fat: Get lots of sleep. For proper functioning, stress relief, and fat burning, your body requires 7 or 8 hours of sleep every night. Lack of sleep stresses your body, and this causes your fat burning processes to decrease and the fat storing processes to increase.
No.2 Tip for reducing fat: Avoid all process foods and any foods loaded with simple sugars such as white bread, cakes, cookies, and other sugary snacks. These foods work not to lower your fat but promote your body to increase fat storage.
These foods are digested into glucose, which elevated the amount of circulating insulin in the body. Insulin first works to store glucose in the liver in the form of glycogen, but excess glucose is diverted to fat cells, which prevents you from losing weight.
No.3 Tip for reducing fat: Eat lean red meats such as sirloin and ground beef. These will help you immensely when consumed in combination with a fat burning exercise program that will allow you to develop muscle tissue. A square inch of muscle tissue has a greater density than fat tissue of the same size, so increasing your muscle mass will give you a shapelier body that burns fat at a faster rate.
No.4 Tip for reducing fat: Another tip for reducing fat is to include lean white meats such ad fish, turkey, and chicken in your diet. Although there is some fat in fish, it contains a beneficial kind called omega-3 fatty acids, which promote good heart health. Both chicken and turkey contain lean proteins that help you grow muscle tissue and stimulate your metabolism.
No.5 Tip for reducing fat: Among the tips for reducing fat, this next time is the most vital. If you are seeking to drop fat, you must go to the gym and lift weights. Why weights? What about cardio?
Cardio is an important factor for burning fat, but its role pales in comparison to that of weight training. If you want your body to burn fat at its highest level, you must do resistance training.
Weight training directly affects how much fat you burn, since muscle tissue burns fat. Increasing your muscle mass will increase how efficiently your body burns fat, which is why it is a great tip for reducing fat.
To get the most out of these tips for reducing fat, you need to start a directed fat burning program that includes the important factors or exercise and a fat-burning diet.
Unfortunately, in practice it is not quite as simple. You can lose weight just by eating less. The problem is that you will lose muscle mass along with losing fat. When you start to drop muscle mass, your body's rate of metabolism also declines. When this occurs, it will become increasingly difficult to lose fat.
Yes it's a tough cycle, but it's not impossible to escape. Here are five tips for reducing fat that will allow you to lose fat without losing muscle mass.
No.1 Tip for reducing fat: Get lots of sleep. For proper functioning, stress relief, and fat burning, your body requires 7 or 8 hours of sleep every night. Lack of sleep stresses your body, and this causes your fat burning processes to decrease and the fat storing processes to increase.
No.2 Tip for reducing fat: Avoid all process foods and any foods loaded with simple sugars such as white bread, cakes, cookies, and other sugary snacks. These foods work not to lower your fat but promote your body to increase fat storage.
These foods are digested into glucose, which elevated the amount of circulating insulin in the body. Insulin first works to store glucose in the liver in the form of glycogen, but excess glucose is diverted to fat cells, which prevents you from losing weight.
No.3 Tip for reducing fat: Eat lean red meats such as sirloin and ground beef. These will help you immensely when consumed in combination with a fat burning exercise program that will allow you to develop muscle tissue. A square inch of muscle tissue has a greater density than fat tissue of the same size, so increasing your muscle mass will give you a shapelier body that burns fat at a faster rate.
No.4 Tip for reducing fat: Another tip for reducing fat is to include lean white meats such ad fish, turkey, and chicken in your diet. Although there is some fat in fish, it contains a beneficial kind called omega-3 fatty acids, which promote good heart health. Both chicken and turkey contain lean proteins that help you grow muscle tissue and stimulate your metabolism.
No.5 Tip for reducing fat: Among the tips for reducing fat, this next time is the most vital. If you are seeking to drop fat, you must go to the gym and lift weights. Why weights? What about cardio?
Cardio is an important factor for burning fat, but its role pales in comparison to that of weight training. If you want your body to burn fat at its highest level, you must do resistance training.
Weight training directly affects how much fat you burn, since muscle tissue burns fat. Increasing your muscle mass will increase how efficiently your body burns fat, which is why it is a great tip for reducing fat.
To get the most out of these tips for reducing fat, you need to start a directed fat burning program that includes the important factors or exercise and a fat-burning diet.
25 Abdominal Exercises
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25 Abdominal Exercises
25 abdominal exercises are listed below with videos. Remember, these exercises are not the best way to reduce your belly fat. Do these exercises each and every day to bulid great ab muscles and build better abs. You should do these exercises accurately without any mistakes and don’t start with many exercises in one day. Increase the number of exercise and the number of repetitions gradually.
1. Abdominal Crunches
2. Vaccum Pose and Belly Rubs
3. Stomach Twisting
4. Belly Resting Exercise
5. Russian Twist
6. Hip Raise Exercise
7. Dumbbell Side Bends
8. Leg Lift Exercise
9. Alternate Leg Lifts
10. Trunk Rotation
11. Air Cycling
12. Knees In and Out
13. Sit Ups
14. Inclined Sit Ups
15. Front Squat
16. Reverse Crunches
17. Ball Crunches - Stability Ball Exercise
18. Log Roll - Stability Ball Exercise
19. Ab Tuck - Stability Ball Exercise
20. The Crab Ab Workout
21. Side Crunches
22. V Crunches
23. Chin Up Crunches
24. Hanging Leg Raise
25. Hanging Knee Raise
Arnold's Famous Quotes
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Famous Quotes From "The Oak"
"Having chicks around is the kind of thing that breaks up the intense training. It gives you relief, and then afterward you go back to the serious stuff."
"Having a pump is like having sex. I train two, sometimes three times a day. Each time I get a pump. It's great. I feel like I'm cuming all day."
"I was always dreaming about very powerful people - dictators and things like that. I was just always impressed by people who could be remembered for hundreds of years, or even, like Jesus, be for thousands of years remembered."
"The best activities for your health are pumping and humping."
"I'll be back."
"Hasta la vista, baby!"
"Bodybuilding is much like any other sport. To be successful, you must dedicate yourself 100% to your training, diet and mental approach."
"Everything I have, my career, my success, my family, I owe to America."
"I can promise you that when I go to Sacramento, I will pump up Sacramento."
"I didn't leave bodybuilding until I felt that I had gone as far as I could go. It will be the same with my film career. When I feel the time is right, I will then consider public service. I feel that the highest honor comes from serving people and your country."
"I just use my muscles as a conversation piece, like someone walking a cheetah down 42nd Street."
"Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer."
"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength."
"The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens."
"The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character."
"The success I have achieved in bodybuilding, motion pictures, and business would not have been possible without the generosity of the American people and the freedom here to pursue your dreams."
"The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else. I hate that."
"There is no place, no country, more compassionate more generous more accepting and more welcoming than the United States of America."
"To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say, don't be economic girlie men!"
"Training gives us an outlet for suppressed energies created by stress and thus tones the spirit just as exercise conditions the body."
"You know, nothing is more important than education, because nowhere are our stakes higher; our future depends on the quality of education of our children today."
"When I was ten years old I got this thing that I wanted to be the best in something, so I started swimming. I won championships, but I felt I couldn't be the best. I tried skiing, but there I felt I didn't have potential. I played soccer, but I didn't like that to well because there I didn't get the credit alone if I did something special. I just avoided team sports from then on.
Then I started lifting through the other sports and I enjoyed it the most. I won the Austrian championship in 1964 but found out I was too tall. So I quit that and went into bodybuilding. Two years later I found out that that's it-that's what I can be the best in."
"The only way to be a champion is by going through these forced reps and the torture and pain. That's why I call it the torture routine. Because it's like forced torture; Torturing my body. What helps me is to think of this pain as pleasure.
Pain makes me grow. Growing is what I want. Therefore, for me pain is pleasure. And so when I am experiencing pain I'm in heaven. It's great. People suggest this is masochistic. But they're wrong. I like pain for a particular reason. I don't like needles stuck in my arm. But I do like the pain that is necessary to be a champion."
"A beginner does eight repetitions of a certain exercise with his maximum weight on the barbell. As soon as it hurts, he thinks about stopping. I work beyond this point, which means I tell my mind that as soon as it starts aching it is growing. Growing is something unusual for the body when you are over eighteen.
The body isn't used to ten, eleven, or twelve reps with a maximum weight. Then I do ten or fifteen sets of this in a row. No human body was ever prepared for this and suddenly it is making itself grow to handle this new challenge, growing through this pain area.
Experiencing this pain in my muscles and aching and going on is my challenge. The last three or four reps is what makes the muscles grow. This area of pain divides a champion from someone who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens.
I have no fear of fainting. I do squats until I fall over and pass out. So what? It's not going to kill me. I wake up five minutes later and I'm OK. A lot of other athletes are afraid of this. So they don't pass out. They don't go on."
"If you want to be a champion you can't have any kind of outside negative coming in to affect you. So I trained myself for that. To be totally cold and not have things going through my mind. And it was a sad story when my father died. Because my mother called me on the phone and she said, "You know, your dad died." And this was exactly two months before a contest. "Are you coming home for the funeral?" She said.
I said: "No. It's too late. He's dead and nothing can be done. I'm sorry I can't come." And I didn't explain the reasons why, because how do you explain to a mother whose husband died, you just can't be bothered now because of a contest?"
"I can hide my feelings under my muscles. Definitely. I can hide them as long as necessary. And when I feel they can come out, I let them out. I think this is fantastic. It's great to have control over my mind. Other people get mixed up. They can't control themselves. They can't go to work for a week or they can't talk on the phone because they're crying.
I can switch myself back and forth. When I'm training for a competition, I can be what some people call inhuman, but really I think it's more like being superhuman. Then after the competition, I can switch off again be human and very emotional and so on."
"Not many people understand what a pump is. It must be experienced to be understood. It is the greatest feeling that I get. I search for this pump because it means that that my muscles will grow when I get it. I get a pump when the blood is running into my muscles. They become really tight with blood. Like the skin is going to explode any minute. It's like someone putting air in my muscles. It blows up. It feels fantastic."
"Body building should be fun because you get a feeling of satisfaction which is very hard to explain. A body builder knows when he pumps up his muscles it means growth. The muscles grow. So therefore he knows when he pumps up well, that is progress. And that satisfies him because he feels the progress in his body. Therefore the pump feels good.
It's actually the best feeling a body builder can have. It's a difficult thing to explain. Like sometimes we joke around and we get a good pump and we say you have to admit that a good pump is better than coming. Somebody off the street wouldn't understand that, but sometimes a pump is the best feeling you can have."
"My definition of a sport is that it's a physical activity that involves competition. Since bodybuilders train and then compete, we are certainly a sport. The unique thing about bodybuilding is that when I compete, it is just me on a stage alone. There is no field, no bat, no ball, no skis, no skates.
All other athletes have to use equipment, like a football. As soon as the football if thrown, where does the eye go? To the football. But I don't use anything in competition except myself. It's just me up there. Me alone. No coach. No nothing."
"I think the public thinks I am narcissistic because I look in the mirror. What they don't understand is that is the only way I can check my progress. How do I know that my muscles grow the way that I want? By flexing them and checking them in the mirror, by measuring them with a tape or possibly by stepping on a scale.
The mirror is by far the best because I can see each muscle's definition. That is very subtle. Sometimes even another bodybuilder cannot see what I can. A swimmer uses a stopwatch like a mirror. A jumper's tape is his mirror. But the public is weirdly afraid of themselves. They are guilty about the mirror. They think by looking in it there's something wrong. How many mirrors are there in America?"
"You don't really see a muscle as a part of you, in a way. You see it as a thing. You look at it as a thing and you say well this thing has to be built a little longer, the bicep has to be longer; or the tricep has to be thicker here in the elbow area. And you look at it and it doesn't even seem to belong to you. Like a sculpture. Then after looking at it a sculptor goes in with his thing and works a little bit, and you do maybe then some extra forced reps to get this lower part out. You form it. Just like a sculpture."
"What I'm doing is the thing I want to do. I don't care what other people think. If the rest of disagrees and says I shouldn't waste my time, I still will be a bodybuilder. I love it. I love the feeling in my muscles, I love the competition, and I love the things it gives me. I have never really had to work in my whole life. I've never had an eight to six job. I've always made good money. I've traveled all over the world competing and giving exhibitions.
I've made a profession out of a pastime, which perhaps only five percent of the population can do. The other ninety-five percent are frustrated office workers, working for someone else. I'm totally independent. So, I... feel... if I would live again or if I would be born again, I would do exactly the same thing."
"The better you get, the less you run around showing off as a muscle guy. You know, you wear regular shirts, loose shirts-not always trying to show what you have. You talk less about it.
It's like you have a little BMW-you want to race the hell out of this car, because you know it's going 110. But if you see a guy in a Ferrari or Lamborghini, they slide around at 60 on the freeway because they know if they press on that accelerator they are going to go 170. These things are the same in every field."
In this possibly most insteresting episode of the series, Neil deGrasse Tyson meets Frank Drake to understand his famous equitation that quantifies the numbers of other advanced civilizations in our galaxy. Also we'll see why alien models in movies don't work biologically.
Stunting growth:
Lifting will NOT stunt growth. There is no scientific evidence to say lifting will stunt growth. Some books suggest that it may actually stimulate growth but as far as I know this hasn’t been proven.
But if you use bad form you CAN close your growth plates, but playing sports like football and baseball etc. has more of a chance of closing your growth plate’s than bodybuilding!
Over training:
If you think the more you lift the more you’ll improve, your wrong. Muscles aren’t built in the gym there built when you’re resting them.
Training more and more often will not help you gain size or strength. Most muscles need at least 48 – 72 hours to heal, if not longer. If you don’t see results straight away don’t worry unless you have crazy ass genetics it will take a month or two at least to see changes.
Some signs of overtraining are:
• Fatigue
• Muscle soreness that never seems to go away
• Stiffness
• Irritability
• Decreased appetite
• Loss of motivation
• Sleep disturbances
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Decreased aerobic and strength training performances
• Injury
If you think you are overtraining take a few days off to fully recover. And to avoid overtraining, please read my workout routines to simply avoid it.
Pro routine for newbies:
The routines that Ronnie, Jay Cutler, and Arnold do aren’t ones that would work for the average Joe trying to get big. These guys are on steroids and can train heaps more often than you and get away with it. Following any Pro routine will lead to overtrianing and all of it's negative causes listed above.
High reps with low weight > Low reps with high weight:
This is crap. The truth is you get definition when you burn of your fat and get down to a lower bodyfat percent. High reps don’t train your fast twitch muscle fibers as well as lower reps do. Fast twitch muscles are responsible for short and high intensity activity.
Hundreds of sit-up’s a day will give you a 6 Pack:
Doing hundreds and hundreds of sit-ups will give you tighter abdominal muscles, but you will never see them if they are covered up with fat. The secret to getting a six pack mostly relys in getting down to a low bodyfat percent (10% or lower).
Remember to train your abs like any other body part and give them sufficient time to rest.
Fat turns into muscle, and vice versa:
Muscle and fat are made of completely different cell structures so one cannot turn into another. Muscle is made up of individual breathing cells and fat is just storage of lipids. If you stop working out or stop putting stress on any of your muscles they will adapt and shrink.
Say you eat more calories to put on more muscle and then you stop working out but keep the same diet , you will lose some muscle and gain fat from the unneeded calories. This is one reason why this myth is so common.
Big muscles slow you down:
Every movement we make comes from our muscles. The stronger the muscle the more power and more force it can apply , so if you want to run faster or swing a bat faster etc. then you have to work those muscles! But in some sports it does slow you down E.g. Boxing , some running etc. It all depends on the sport you compete in.
Full Squats are bad for the knees:
The knee has four protective ligaments. These are most effective at keeping your knee safe when at full extension (standing with legs straight) and Full Flexion (when your hamstring and calf are against each other.) When the knee is at 90 degrees these ligaments are almost completely relaxed and won’t do much protecting.
So Full squats are actually safer then Half squats.
All fat is bad:
You need fat. Your cell membranes are made up of fats. Fat is also needed for the absorption of vitamins A, E, D and K. Your brain is made mostly from fat, your heart prefers fatty acids as fuel rather than sugar. Fat is a much more efficient energy source for low aerobic activity (such as for sitting down and reading this article). Fat does not interfere with HGH release (but sugar does). Fat is responsible for creating hormones such as testosterone. Fat is so good, I prefer doing a ketogenic diet (low carb/high fat diet) while cutting up, and keeping fat high during a bulking phase is important as well.
The more you sweat the more fat you lose:
The harder the cardio the more fat you will burn by increasing your metabolism. Just because you are sweating a lot doesn’t mean you are working hard. Some people sweat more because they are bigger or just because they do :P. If you exercise in an extremely hot temperature you will lose mostly water and yeah you’ll get that back by drinking again! Sweating is not an indicator of progress, it does not mean you are losing fat or working hard. Sweating, although is a very good way of detoxification of harmful free radicals and other harmful substances out of the body.
Training a specific area will reduce the fat in that area (Spot Reduction):
Spot Reduction is a myth. You cannot lose fat in a particular area by exercising the muscles in that area. Now visually, if you work the muscles in a particular area, that area will look more defined with muscle and fat will be less noticeable, but the same fat level will still be there. When you lose fat, you evenly do it across your whole body.
Lifting will NOT stunt growth. There is no scientific evidence to say lifting will stunt growth. Some books suggest that it may actually stimulate growth but as far as I know this hasn’t been proven.
But if you use bad form you CAN close your growth plates, but playing sports like football and baseball etc. has more of a chance of closing your growth plate’s than bodybuilding!
Over training:
If you think the more you lift the more you’ll improve, your wrong. Muscles aren’t built in the gym there built when you’re resting them.
Training more and more often will not help you gain size or strength. Most muscles need at least 48 – 72 hours to heal, if not longer. If you don’t see results straight away don’t worry unless you have crazy ass genetics it will take a month or two at least to see changes.
Some signs of overtraining are:
• Fatigue
• Muscle soreness that never seems to go away
• Stiffness
• Irritability
• Decreased appetite
• Loss of motivation
• Sleep disturbances
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Decreased aerobic and strength training performances
• Injury
If you think you are overtraining take a few days off to fully recover. And to avoid overtraining, please read my workout routines to simply avoid it.
Pro routine for newbies:
The routines that Ronnie, Jay Cutler, and Arnold do aren’t ones that would work for the average Joe trying to get big. These guys are on steroids and can train heaps more often than you and get away with it. Following any Pro routine will lead to overtrianing and all of it's negative causes listed above.
High reps with low weight > Low reps with high weight:
This is crap. The truth is you get definition when you burn of your fat and get down to a lower bodyfat percent. High reps don’t train your fast twitch muscle fibers as well as lower reps do. Fast twitch muscles are responsible for short and high intensity activity.
Hundreds of sit-up’s a day will give you a 6 Pack:
Doing hundreds and hundreds of sit-ups will give you tighter abdominal muscles, but you will never see them if they are covered up with fat. The secret to getting a six pack mostly relys in getting down to a low bodyfat percent (10% or lower).
Remember to train your abs like any other body part and give them sufficient time to rest.
Fat turns into muscle, and vice versa:
Muscle and fat are made of completely different cell structures so one cannot turn into another. Muscle is made up of individual breathing cells and fat is just storage of lipids. If you stop working out or stop putting stress on any of your muscles they will adapt and shrink.
Say you eat more calories to put on more muscle and then you stop working out but keep the same diet , you will lose some muscle and gain fat from the unneeded calories. This is one reason why this myth is so common.
Big muscles slow you down:
Every movement we make comes from our muscles. The stronger the muscle the more power and more force it can apply , so if you want to run faster or swing a bat faster etc. then you have to work those muscles! But in some sports it does slow you down E.g. Boxing , some running etc. It all depends on the sport you compete in.
Full Squats are bad for the knees:
The knee has four protective ligaments. These are most effective at keeping your knee safe when at full extension (standing with legs straight) and Full Flexion (when your hamstring and calf are against each other.) When the knee is at 90 degrees these ligaments are almost completely relaxed and won’t do much protecting.
So Full squats are actually safer then Half squats.
All fat is bad:
You need fat. Your cell membranes are made up of fats. Fat is also needed for the absorption of vitamins A, E, D and K. Your brain is made mostly from fat, your heart prefers fatty acids as fuel rather than sugar. Fat is a much more efficient energy source for low aerobic activity (such as for sitting down and reading this article). Fat does not interfere with HGH release (but sugar does). Fat is responsible for creating hormones such as testosterone. Fat is so good, I prefer doing a ketogenic diet (low carb/high fat diet) while cutting up, and keeping fat high during a bulking phase is important as well.
The more you sweat the more fat you lose:
The harder the cardio the more fat you will burn by increasing your metabolism. Just because you are sweating a lot doesn’t mean you are working hard. Some people sweat more because they are bigger or just because they do :P. If you exercise in an extremely hot temperature you will lose mostly water and yeah you’ll get that back by drinking again! Sweating is not an indicator of progress, it does not mean you are losing fat or working hard. Sweating, although is a very good way of detoxification of harmful free radicals and other harmful substances out of the body.
Training a specific area will reduce the fat in that area (Spot Reduction):
Spot Reduction is a myth. You cannot lose fat in a particular area by exercising the muscles in that area. Now visually, if you work the muscles in a particular area, that area will look more defined with muscle and fat will be less noticeable, but the same fat level will still be there. When you lose fat, you evenly do it across your whole body.
Chest Master: How Arnold Schwarzenegger Built The Best Chest Of All Time
Stretching the tape at an incredible 58″, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s chest had it all: size, shape, balance and definition. When he hit a side chest pose, his pecs arched so high that a glass of water could rest atop them.When he crunched into a most-muscular shot, they split into four discernible masses right and left upper and lower pecs each raked with myriad striations and crisscrossed by snaking veins. Supporting this sinewy armor plate was a rib cage that seemed to have been designed more for a silverback gorilla than a man. Over the past 30 years, bodybuilding fans have witnessed tremendous growth in their sport not only in the number of participants and ever-increasing popularity with the public, but in the size of its competitors, as well. Backs have become broader, thighs more massive and sweeping, triceps thicker and more striated. As with disciplines ranging from technology to medicine to architecture, the passage of time has brought to bodybuilding new levels of excellence in both practice and form.
With highly refined training techniques and dietary principles, IFBB pros can now, develop physiques that, 30 years ago, would have been unfathomable to most bodybuilders.In large part, the majesty of Arnold’s chest along with, that of his vaunted arms, propelled him to seven Mr. Olympia titles (1970-75 and 1980). Yet, as familiar as we may be with the voluminous photographic documentation of his mighty torso, one question remains as pertinent now as it, was during his competitive heyday: How did he build it; what was the exact workout Arnold Schwarzenegger used to develop what is arguably the best chest of all time?
The Evolution
To better appreciate Arnold’s ultimate chest-blasting routine, the one he devised in response to the greatest challenge of his bodybuilding life, it-is helpful to take a brief look at his bodybuilding roots and the routine he first employed to build the raw mass from which he would later sculpt his masterpiece. From the beginning Arnold valued the importance of a massive sculpted chest. It is not insignificant to note that his primary source of inspiration at the time was pictures of Reg Park he had clipped from the pages of MUSCLE BUILDER magazine (the forebear to MUSCLE & FITNESS). Winner of three Mr. Universe titles over a span of 14 years (1951; ’58 and ’65), Park was the prototype for the giants we see onstage today.“He had both a huge rib cage and enormous pectorals, and every time I saw his famous side chest shot, I knew that I wanted to soon be as good in the same pose,” recalls Arnold. Park stood 6’2″ and weighed 230 pounds. His unprecedented size; particularly that of his tree-trunk thick upper torso, gave young Arnold a lofty goal to shoot for.Ever the diligent student, Arnold analyzed his idol’s chest development the way a, geneticist might examine a string of nucleotides and determined that there were three distinct features that, when viewed as a whole, accounted for Park’s pectoral prosperity.
First, the muscles themselves were just plain large: thick, wide and high.Second, his pectoralis major (the lower portion) and pectoralis minor (the upper portion) groups were balanced with one another in a way that gave his chest a proportionate squared-off look rather than the rounded sagging appearance typical of those who focused too heavily on flat benches and not enough on inclines. Finally, supporting Park’s pecs was a voluminous rib cage, the biggest in the sport at the time.
With the Park template clearly etched in his mind’s eye, Arnold developed a basic routine that enabled him to pack on as much quality mass as possible without too much concern for detail.Arnold worked hard and he worked heavy, hitting his chest three days a week and would often work his back on the same day, relishing the feel of a fully pumped upper body at the end of the workout. (Schwarzenegger employed a six-days-on/one-day-off double-split routine throughout much of his professional career.)
The results of this no-nonsense routine were quick and dramatic. After five years on this regimen, Arnold’s chest swelled from a sunken 39” to a whopping 58” a 19″ gain!
Reg Park And Arnold Schwarzenegger
That defeat was an early lesson that the quality of one’s muscle development is as important as the quantity when it comes to competitive bodybuilding.
If the challenge Zane presented, in 1968 was an eye-opener for Arnold, the battle he would face in 1972 would cause him to rethink his training game plan and, in the process, design the ultimate chest workout.
The Revolution
When Joe Weider recited to two-time defending Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger the names of the athletes scheduled to challenge him in the 1972 competition, it sounded like a roll call for a bodybuilding hall of fame: Sergio Oliva, Franco Columbu, Frank Zane and Serge Nubret. Arnold knew it would be by far his toughest challenge to date and realized that he would have to take his physique to a new level to remain the king of the hill.“After talking things over with Joe,” Arnold recounts, “I decided that what I needed was a workout program that would allow me to work each muscle group to the limit to force growth and definition to improve simultaneously.”
Advantages
As Arnold explains it, there are several advantages to alternating chest and back exercises.- It saves time and the workout goes much faster.
- You can handle heavier poundages for more mass power.
- You get a greater pump and a continuous flushing effect of both areas for the entire workout. You keep the pump longer.
- Greater muscle density results because you are able to work to the absolute limit of your physical capacity.
“One of the most important reasons why a chest-back superset program works so well is the fact that most chest exercises are pushing movements, while all back exercises are pulling exercises. The chest muscles are resting during the last exercise and the lats are resting during the chest movement. While each muscle is alternately resting and working, it stay’s fully flushed and pumped up…. When the chest and upper back are pumped simultaneously, there is an indescribable feeling of growth stimulation and massiveness.”
The Exercise’s
Here’s a synopsis, complete with some of Arnold’s thoughts about each of the pec exercises he used in this training regimen and how he employed them.
Exercise 1: Barbell Bench Presses
Arnold would first warm up for this favored exercise with 135 pounds for a quick 30-40 reps to get the blood flowing and the joints loose. Then he would immediately head for a chinning bar, knocking out 15 wide-grip behind-the-neck chins before heading back to the bench, adding a pair of 45s to the bar and pumping out 20 more reps. After a second set of chins, he’d load the bar with 275, perform 15 more reps and then jump back to the chinning bar. And so it went, with weight/rep combinations of 315 for 12, 365 for eight and 405 for six, all superset with chins, all done without rest. Arnold always consciously took very deep breaths while doing this and all of his chest exercises.“In addition to massing up the pectorals, the heavy breathing also encourages rib cage expansion.”
Exercise 2: Incline Barbell Presses
“This movement is unsurpassed as a builder of the upper pecs.” With his pecs now fully warmed up, he would jump right to 225 pounds for an initial 15 reps; again concentrating on deep breathing as well as flexing his pecs throughout the movement. Alternating each set with T-bar rows, he would progress in 20-pound increments as follows: 245 x 12, 265 x 12, 285 x 10 and 305 x 10.By this point, Arnold’s pecs and lats would be flushed with blood.
Exercise 3: Flat Dumbbell Flyes
“Here is a great exercise to shape up the outer sections of the pectorals and that, when performed correctly, also opens up the rib box and helps to deepen the chest.”A master of technique, Arnold perfected this difficult movement as no one else ever had. He often described the motion of the flye as “hugging a tree.” Lying back on a flat bench, with arms slightly bent, he would take a huge breath and slowly lower the dumbbells out and away from his torso, so low that they would practically touch-the floor. Then, with a mighty exhalation, he would raise them back through the same arc, all the time squeezing his pecs. What set Arnold’s technique apart from that of nearly everyone else was his form at the top of the movement. As the tension on his pecs would begin to decrease near the movement’s end, he would stop his motion, with the dumbbells remaining 10-12″ apart. He realized that anything beyond that was wasted movement having no impact on his pecs.
Nevertheless, by employing the Weider Peak Contraction Training Principle, he would forcibly contract this pecs at this point before lowering the weights again. He would start with 65-pound dumbbells for, 15 reps, then jump to 75s for 12, followed by three sets of 10 with 85s. Each set of flyes would be superset with barbell rows.
Exercise 4: Parallel Bar Dips
Dips, Arnold felt they carved a clean line at the bottom edge of his pectoralis major like no other exercise.With an 80-pound dumbbell strapped to his waist, he would prop himself up on dipping bars and then slowly lower himself to a point where his hands nearly touched his armpits. Lie then exploded back up, all the time making sure to synchronize his breathing to the pace of the movement and inhale on the way down, exhale on the way up. He’d blast out 15 reps and then perform a set of close-grip chins for each superset.
“By the time I get to the fifth set, the pecs and lats are totally engorged with blood and I have such a colossal pump that the muscles feel like they are going to burst through the skin!”
Exercise 5: Stiff-Arm Pullovers
With the, chest-back supersets out of the way, Arnold would complete the lifting portion of his workout with pullovers to stretch his pecs, lats and rib cage simultaneously. This exercise was always a staple of Arnold’s training and the one he considers most responsible for the overwhelming size of his rib box. Lying across a flat bench, he would grab a dumbbell of what he considered medium weight with both hands and extend it to arms’ length, keeping a slight bend in his elbows. From here, he would lower the weight in an arc down past his head while inhaling very deeply through his mouth, all the while making sure to keep his hips down, thus ensuring the greatest possible stretch. Despite a nearly incapacitating level of fatigue by this point, he would still manage to force out five, sets of 15 to 20 reps with a 90-pound dumbbell. Between sets, he would pause for about 30 seconds, during which time he would walk around the gym taking deep breaths while forcing his chest to its maximum point of expansion.“You will not believe the ache in the sternum that this movement will produce! It literally pulls your chest apart and forces it into new growth.”
Exercise 6: Iso-Tension Contractions
No matter what the bodypart, Arnold would always finish up his workout with an intense session of posing and flexing.“I’ pose my chest by doing the side chest pose where the rib cage is fully expanded with the sucked in. I do this from waist both sides. Then I squeeze and crimp the pecs as hard as I can from all angles to bring out the height, thickness and shape. This not only gives me better control of these muscles, but it also brings out all the veins and muscular striations, which improves the definition.”
Celebration
Finally, after a solid hour of this nonstop self-inflicted torture, Arnold would be drenched in sweat as if he had come in from a rainstorm. His chest and back muscles would throb and ache. His breathing would be labored. To anyone else, this condition would prompt an immediate visit to the nearest emergency room. To the Austrian Oak, it was reason to celebrate.“As I head for the shower, I feel exhausted but exhilarated, like a boxer who has just gone 15 rounds with the heavyweight champion and beaten him with a knockout in the final round!”Of course, for this “boxer,” the opening bell would sound again in exactly 47 hours, at which time it was back for another 15 rounds. Yet, as unfathomably grueling as this routine might appear to the rest of us, the reward in performing it was, for Arnold, great indeed. After all, not everyone can lay claim to the title “The World’s Greatest Chest.” It is fair to caution that although the routine outlined in this feature was used with great success by Arnold throughout the early to mid-’70s (as evinced by his 1972-75 Olympia form), it may prove too rigorous for most bodybuilders.
Of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t “most” bodybuilders, was he?
Arnolds All Out Chest-Back Workout – Sets/Reps
- Bench presses * 1x 30 – 45
- Bench presses 5x – 6
- Wide-grip behind-the-neck chins 5 15-8
- Incline barbell presses 5x 10-15
- T-bar rows 5x 10-15
- Flat-bench dumbbell flyes 5x 10-15
- Wide-grip barbell rows 5x 10-15 (performed standing on a block for better range of motion)
- Dips 5x 15
- Close-grip chins 5x 12
- Stiff-arm pullovers 5x 15-20
- Iso-tension contractions (finishing exercise)
Note:
Arnold took absolutely no rest between sets and exercises of the four supersets.
Early Chest
This is the chest routine Arnold Schwarzenegger used three times a week at the start of his bodybuilding career. Although science has provided little evidence that one can actually alter the size of a thorax after puberty, Arnold believes otherwise. “I am convinced,” he says, “that I could effectively expand the rib cage by performing dumbbell pullovers.” Hard to argue with the evidence!Exercise Sets/Reps
- Bench presses 5x 6-10
- Incline bench presses 5x 6-10
- Flat-bench flyes 5x 6-10
- Dips 5x 6-10
- Dumbbell pullovers 5x 6-10
Doing The Double Split
No, it has nothing to do with the gasp-inducing tendon-stretching pose performed by people such as Phil Hill, Flex Wheeler and Ronnie Coleman on a bodybuilding stage. “Double split” refers to a type of training routine that has pretty much gone the way of baggy posing trunks and kettle bells. Specifically, a double-split routine is one in which the body is split into several groups, each to be trained in separate workouts, with two workouts performed each day (usually one in the morning and one in the evening) amounting to double the training performed in a normal split routine.In the 1970s, it was all the rage, with some athletes, such as Roy Callender, not leaving the gym at all during the day, instead performing all-out workouts lasting up to eight hours!
Arnold preferred a two-day split, going six days on and one day off, which means he trained his whole body within two consecutive days, three times per week. That schedule is presented here.
Arnold’s Double Split
- Day 1 Chest, back (Morning) Thighs, calves, abs (Evening)
- Day 2 Shoulders, arms (Morning) Calves, abs (Evening)
- Day 3 Chest, back (Morning) Thighs, calves, abs (Evening)
- Day 4 Shoulders, arms (Morning) Calves, abs (Evening)
- Day 5 Chest, back (Morning) Thighs, calves, abs (Evening)
- Day 6 Shoulders, arms (Morning) Calves, abs (Evening)
- Day 7 Rest
Chest Be Careful
The all-out chest-back workout should be performed only by experienced bodybuilders. Occasionally, even top-level bodybuilders attempting to keep up with Arnold have lost consciousness or, in at least one instance, their lunch. Amateur and intermediate-level bodybuilders interested in utilizing the principles set forth in this regimen are strongly advised to modify the routine to suit their particular level of expertise.For example, where Arnold might specify five supersets of a pair of exercises, consider performing two or three, with increased rest between supersets, to avoid overtraining and possible injury. As strength and stamina grow, the volume and speed of the workout can be slowly increased.
How To Bulk Up Fast
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How To Bulk Up Fast
If you’re someone who’s on a mission to learn how to bulk up fast, it’s important that you take a good hard look at both your diet as well as your workout program.
Getting both factors in line is going to be paramount to success because both will play a different role in adding more lean muscle mass to your frame and creating the strong, powerful physique you’re after.If you strictly focus on just the workout side of things in the gym, you’ll never truly see how to bulk up because you aren’t providing your body with the raw materials that are necessary to generate this additional lean muscle mass.
Fortunately, when you do get a proper program in place, it really won’t be long before you’re seeing fast progress and making your very own complete body transformation.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the important things that you should know about how to bulk up quickly and reach your goals.
1) Focus On Weight First And Foremost
The very first thing to note if you want to learn how to bulk up fast is that you must always be focused on adding more weight to the bar.Rather than getting up in fancy training techniques that leave you feeling overwhelmed and confused, stick to the basics and just worry about increasing the weight you lift each and every time you’re in the gym – if possible.
There will be some days where you just can’t increase the weight and that’s fine; as long as you’re giving a maximum effort that’s the main thing.
If you are, it won’t be long before you’re seeing another increase shortly.
Adding more weight to the bar is the best indicator that you’ve build up some lean muscle mass because the more muscle you have, the stronger you’ll be.
If your weights are staying stagnant, that’s a clear signal that something’s wrong with your approach and needs to be adjusted.
2) Back Off For Rest
Secondly, after you’ve gone into the gym and given a full effort, the next thing to note is that you must provide sufficient rest.When you’re in the gym, you’re breaking down your muscle tissues. It’s only when you’re out of the gym resting that you’re actually going to see them getting larger and stronger.
Fail to give them that rest that they need and you’ll literally fail to get results. It’s that simple. You absolutely must be taking enough rest throughout your workout program.
Aim to take in one day of rest after each day of heavy lifting if you can. This is not only going to give your muscles a chance to repair themselves, but also give your CNS some down time as well.
One factor many people fail to overlook is that the CNS is the primary driver of muscle power. When it’s overworked and tired, you won’t be able to generate as much power, so not only do your muscles require that rest, but it does as well.
3) Eat Plenty Of Quality Calories
The next key component when learning how to bulk up is to make sure that you’re taking in plenty of quality calories as well. One huge mistake that many guys who want to bulk up fast make is filling their diet with high calorie, junk foods. They figure since they need the calories, why not?The problem here is that not only is this not good for your long term health, but it’s also going to cause you to have a higher tendency to gain fat mass rather than lean muscle mass.
If you want to look good as you gain muscle, focus on quality calories. That means lean proteins, wholesome carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Aim to get a good balance in of each nutrient so that you’re not falling short anywhere.
Regardless of what some people may tell you, if you want to bulk up, you need to eat carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are vital to success because they’re what will cause insulin to be released in yours system and insulin just happens to be the most anabolic hormone in the body.
4) Carb-Load Post Workout
Speaking of carbohydrates, one strategy that you should be making use of is making sure to load up on carbs in the post-workout period.It’s at this point when your muscles are starved for fuel and by feeding them that over-abundance of glucose, they’re going to have plenty of energy to use to build that new muscle mass with.
If you shy away from eating high quality, high volume carbohydrates at this point in time, not only will you not recover as quickly, but you’ll notice that you’re really dragging throughout the day.
Going into your next workout session without fully saturated muscle glycogen levels would severely hamper your performance, so be sure that you load up.
You should be aiming for at least 100 grams of carbs post-workout to bulk up fast.
5) Adjust, Adjust, Adjust
Finally, last but not least, make sure you’re adjusting your approach. If you aren’t seeing the muscle building results that you want, do something about it.Don’t be one of those guys who just keeps going back into the gym, doing the same program over and over again. Clearly it isn’t working and if it’s been more than two weeks on that program, you can be guaranteed that it’s not going to lead you to the results that you’re after.
Getting on a smart workout program is a must-do for success and making constant adjustments as time goes on so your body keeps responding is imperative as well. This ensures you don’t hit the dreaded muscle building plateau and just end up becoming frustrated and falling off the plan altogether.
So there you have the main things that you must know about how to bulk up. If you put together an action plan to achieve this goal, you really can transform your body into the muscular physique you’re after.
For more help getting started, pick up the No-Nonsense Muscle Building program which was written by an author who made a complete body transformation and is now helping thousands of others do the same thing. You could be the next success story.
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