We all know who Arnold Schwarzenegger is and how much time he dedicated to reaching the physique that he has, or better say, had when he was younger and in top shape. It is hard to find a man that knows more about training than this guy, so it is smart move to ask him for advice.
When he hits the gym, he tends to keep everything simple and straightforward. This is pretty much old-school workout, but we can agree that it usually has the best results if you follow some of these guidelines. What you at least need to do is to keep these exercises as a base for your program.
If you build great workout routine for yourself, it will certainly take you far, especially if you combine it with proper diet. Things that separate Arnold and many other people is the level of commitment and intensity. You need to think about your goal and not to take it easy when you are hitting the gym. That is the period when you need to give all you got, and every rep needs to count.
If you want to have that Mr. Olympia body then you should listen to what Schwarzenegger is talking.
Chest
According to Arnold, there are many exercises that will develop your chest, but these three should always be a part of your training. The bench press, the incline bench press at different angles, and the dumbbell flye are the most important. The dumbbell flye is the one that will give you that full pectoral muscle development like the famous actor has.
Back
Best for your back is pretty much any rowing move that you can make. This will give you thickness and strength and what Arnold noticed is that many bodybuilders are doing those exercises with support for the chest. It would be smart to change that as it will allow you to further develop your lower back as it will hold you up resulting in strength and thickness of that part of the body.
Arms
As triceps is the bigger muscle of your arm, you should treat it more, even more than biceps and this is a mistake that many people tend to make. Close-grip, triceps push downs, and overhead triceps extensions are things that he did most. Biceps was equally important, and curls were and are pretty much the best thing you can do. Barbell curl in combination with incline dumbbell curls and concentration curls can be best for this muscle.
Shoulders
You certainly want those powerful and broad shoulders and for that Schwarzenegger recommends barbell presses, behind-the-neck barbell presses, lateral raises, military presses, and dumbbell presses. Some of the exercises are even called Arnold presses.
Legs
Without a doubt, the squat is the most important if you want to have those big thigs. Just like with everything else it is not enough to have only one exercise in your arsenal, so he mixed and used front squats, back squats, single-leg deadlifts, lunges, leg extensions, leg curls, etc.
Abs
More old-school moves here. Roman chair sit-ups x 500 is what Arnold and other bodybuilders believed in. To top this up, add some leg raises, knee raises and you are on the good path to have those powerful abs.
One thing that you need to have in mind and is quite important is not to always follow the same routine. Don’t stick to your workout plan 100%, you need to always mix things up and surprise your muscles or else they will get used to certain exercises and movements which will significantly slow your growth rate. This is something that Schwarzenegger called shock therapy. Muscles tend to remember you routine, and from time to time you need to hit them with something different. The method that Arnold applied was to start with higher weight and removing some plates in each and every of the next set.
