8 X Mr Olympia titles, seven times Mr Universe, called by the Guinness Book of World Records, “the most perfectly developed man in the history of the world” and a countless number of fans, Arnold Schwarzenegger is beyond doubt the greatest bodybuilder we have ever seen. Here we have compiled some of the greatest Arnold Schwarzenegger workout tips which will spark fresh new muscle growth quite quickly – you have my word.
Arnold Schwarzenegger workout tips – Training advice
1) Train it as a whole and not in parts.
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“You don’t 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 triceps 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.”
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It’s quite common to hear novice bodybuilder talk of how they just want to get massive arms or build wide shoulder, and that’s it. But little do they understand that focusing too much or too less on any body part will invite not only asymmetrical physique but also forbid real strength.
Arnold wanted people to visualise their body as a whole and not by parts. And when you train your body in such a way that each part gets enough stimuli as the other, you make a step forward towards your dream physique.
2) Get yourself a training partner.
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“A good training partner pushes you to handle more poundage and gives you the incentive to grind out more reps per set…Workouts are more fun with a partner as well as more competitive…you challenge each other.”
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Training with a workout partner has lot more advantages than lifting those heavy weights alone. Having a partner involved in your training regime is plus point considering both safety and motivation. It’s very simple – He helps push you your limits, and you help him the same way.
3) Heavy weights + Volume = Key to quads growth.
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“It isn’t enough just to subject the legs to heavy overload…You have to use heavy weights and sufficient volume to stress the fibres involved and exhaust the endurance capacity of the muscles..
For many years I did only five sets of squats when I really should have been doing eight…I did not put enough weight on the leg-press machine. Once I realized my mistakes and corrected them, my thighs began to grow thick and massive.”
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Leg day is no fun, and we understand why you hate it. But sadly, there’s no way you can get huge without working on legs hard enough. And you don’t want those chicken legs, do you?
So, like every other body part, challenging weight + lots of reps = monster quads. Wait till you see the girls say, “Oh boy look at those calves!”
4) Rest enough (if you wanna grow big!)
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“Always keep in mind that training stimulates growth, but that actual growth takes place while you are resting.”
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Arnold was not a big fan of training more than 4-5 days a week. He always emphasised on proper rest and recovery for muscles to recuperate and regrow. Remember this little thing – Due rest along with top class nutrition is your only shortcut to bodybuilding goals.
5) Cut down the rest (and gossip) between the sets
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“Try to keep your rest periods between sets down to a minute or less. In the first minute after a weight-training exercise you recover 72 percent of your strength, and by 3 minutes you have recovered all you are going to recover without extended rest.”
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Apart from pounding heavyweights, a short rest period in between sets is another great way to make the muscles work overtime and get the max out of every workout. Unless you are not lifting for your 1 RM, you should not take rest between two consecutive sets any longer than 60-90 seconds. Now get that butt moving.
6) Cheat but cheat wisely
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“When you become tired during a heavy barbell lift, begin to use your shoulders and back to help you in the lift slightly so that you can do another four or five reps…
Cheat just enough so you can continue the set…By cheating you have forced the biceps to do more work than they could have done without help from the other muscles, so you have to put more stress on them, not less.”
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Despite being a serious supporter for correct form while hustling those weights up and down, Arnold often included cheat reps especially for the last couple of reps in every set just to fledge out maximum work from the muscles. However, keep in mind that those few cheat reps should not take away focus from the targeted muscle.
7) Give in 100% of everything
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“Bodybuilding is much like any other sport. To be successful, you must dedicate yourself 100% to your training, diet and mental approach.”
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It’s not always about muscles, my friend. Health and Fitness go hand in hand. You cannot strengthen either of them by sacrificing the other. That’s what Arnold said. Physical fitness along with mental health is the only key to longevity. And nutritious diet, we believe, is something that bridges the gap.
8) You can easily grow biceps if you imagine them as mountains (yes it worked for Arnie)
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“Throughout my bodybuilding career, I was constantly playing tricks on my mind. This is why I began to think of my biceps as mountains, instead of flesh and blood.
Thinking of my biceps as mountains made my arms grow faster and bigger than if I’d seen them only as muscles…When you think of biceps as merely muscles, you subconsciously have a limit in your mind…
When you think of biceps as merely muscles, you subconsciously have a limit in your mind… when you think about mountains, there is no limit to biceps growth, and therefore you have a chance of going beyond normal mental barriers.”
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The power of convincing own self to cross every barrier that comes in the way is what separates champions from rest. Back those days, Arnold visualised his muscle as nothing but universe which will always expand. And it did expand. So once you become capable enough to persuade your mind, believe me, there’s nothing that can stop you.
9) Keep your muscles guessing
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“I’d always try to shock the muscles…This shocking method was extremely important to my training. Your muscles tend to become complacent and resist growth if you are constantly doing the same workout for them.
But if you try all different types of training methods, exercises, weights, set-rep combinations and training tempos, you keep the muscles off balance.”
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Throughout his entire career, Arnold always used different techniques such as rest-pause or supersets to shock the muscles and keep them on their toes. See those gains coming already?
Arnold Schwarzenegger workout tips – Bodybuilding wisdom
10) Never limit yourself
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“Most bodybuilders only have a hazy notion of what they want to look like. They do not say, ‘I am going to be a winner.’ The negative impulses around the gym can be incredible. I would hear bodybuilders complaining, ‘Oh, no! Not another set!’ That destroyed them. I have always believed that if you’re training for nothing, you’re wasting your effort!”
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11) There’s no way you can hide muscles.
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“The better you get, the less you run around showing off as a muscle guy. You know, you wear regular shirts-not always trying to show off what you have. You talk less about it.”
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12) You can’t flex fat, bro.
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“The competition physique should be as much pure lean mass as possible, with any excess body fat stripped away. As the saying goes, “You can’t flex fat.” But fat on your body makes you feel bigger than you actually are, and this sense of being bigger is psychologically satisfying to most bodybuilders.”
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13) Break the shackles
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“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.”
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14) Bodybuilding is FUN
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“Bodybuilding should be fun because you get a feeling of satisfaction which is very hard to explain. A bodybuilder 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.”
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15) Never give up and Never surrender for victory lies beyond your comfort zone
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“Good things don’t happen by coincidence. Every dream carries with it certain risks, especially the risk of failure. But I am not stopped by risks. Supposed a great person takes the risk and fails. Then the person must try again. You cannot fail forever. If you try ten times, you have a better chance of making it on the eleventh try than if you didn’t try at all.”
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