Arnold

by Arnold Schwarzenegger

  You constantly need help in a gymnasium. You need somebody to watch how you are progressing and to suggest changes in your training style. He says, “Listen, I’m still not satisfied with your waist. Maybe you’re doing your sit-ups wrong.” He can check it out. Also, after a workout you discuss training problems. You can show off to a training partner, have little ongoing competitions. It motivates you to push harder when you can reveal new progress to your partner.

  The Four-Day Routine

  This routine gives you four days a week in the gym: Monday-Thursday and Tuesday-Friday. During the three days off you should concentrate on swimming, jogging and stretching movements. You should not do any weight resistance training on those days. Break your body in slowly, allowing it at least a month to get accustomed to the new routine.

  MONDAY AND THURSDAY PROGRAM

  On Mondays and Thursdays we will work on the legs, chest, abdomen.

  I always train the chest and the legs together on principle. Because the leg workout takes a lot of heavy breathing, you also train your lungs. While you’re squatting you draw in huge amounts of air and expand your chest, so your chest is already warmed up, and you can move on to your chest workout and get a two-shot effect.

  You should train abdominals and calves every day.

  The Legs—Thighs and Calves

  The frontal group of muscles in the thigh are the extensors. As a major muscle group, they are often referred to as the quadriceps. The longest of these is the rectus femorus, which arises from the anterior inferior iliac spine and inserts into the patella. It overlays the vastus intermedium, which arises from the femur and inserts into the patella. These two muscles make the central “V”-shaped delineation of the middle front thigh. The formation on the inner thigh is the vastus medialus, and the outer thigh muscle is called the vastus lateralis, both of which originate at the upper head of the femur and insert into the patella. The muscle group generates great power and is best developed by direct leg extensions and squatting.

  Two muscles flex the thigh toward the abdomen. One is fairly short and can be seen around the lateral hip joint. It is the tensor fascae latae and arises from the lateral border of the ilium to the lateral fascia of the thigh. The second muscle, the sartorius, is the longest in the body, and runs diagonally across the thigh. The action of these muscles, which elevate and extend the thigh, is not unlike the action of triceps in the upper arm.

  While not as showy as the frontal extensors, the thigh flexors complete the thigh movement and add tremendously to thigh size. The deepest muscle of the flexor group is the short head of the biceps femorus, which joins with its twin, the long head, to form a common tendon that inserts into the head of the fibula, the outer bone of the lower leg. The remaining muscles in the flexor group all arise from the ischial tuberosity. The wider semi-membranous inserts into the posterior aspect of the tibia. The thinner semi-tendinous inserts on the anterio-medial surface of the tibia. Leg-extension moves are the best exercises to build and peak the back of the thighs.

  In the calf area, the larger and deeper muscle is the soleus, which originates from both the fibula and the tibia. The smaller gastrocnemius has two heads, one originating from the lateral aspect and the other from the medial of the lower femur. Both heads join to overlay the soleus and to insert into the Achilles tendon.

  1. SQUATS—I’ve already talked about the squat with the basic exercises.

  Now that you will be using heavier weights I would recommend that you not do a full squat, or sit all the way down, because according to orthopedic surgeons this could be harmful to your knees. Go three quarters of the way down, until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor, and come back up. Keep your upper body straight. If you lean forward, you will train your lower back more than your thighs. Concentrate on the thigh muscle right now and keep your head straight up.

  The squat can be done in different ways, depending upon your need and purpose. If you have problems developing the outside of your thigh, you should keep your feet parallel and close together. If you need more on the inside you should point your toes out and put your feet farther apart. You can also put a bench underneath for protection when you do the squat in case you can’t come up again.

  I recommend five sets of 8 repetitions, or a total of 40. Note: Always start with lighter weights and work your way up. Start with 100 pounds the first set. The next set go to 120, then 140, then 160, then 180, then 200. Move up slowly but surely. The last set ought to be so hard you can do only 5 or 6 repetitions. That is the set that should prepare you for your next workout. The first set is the warm-up set; the last should always be the power set.

  2. LEG EXTENSIONS—Except for the squat, there is no better exercise for developing the whole leg. Leg extensions build the front and back thigh muscles, strengthen the knees, and stretch and tone the calves.

  Leg extensions

  The machine for this exercise consists of a bench with a padded lever bar at one end. Sit at the end of the bench with your knees well back to the edge and grasp the sides of the bench slightly behind you to brace yourself. You can either hook your feet under the bar, as shown in the photos, or point them behind it. Pointed feet tend to focus the exercise on the quadriceps and knees; hooked feet give the extra benefit of a good stretch of the back of the leg.

  With a smooth, steady motion, push the bar up until your legs are out straight. Hold this position for a few seconds; then lower your legs at the same controlled rate of speed, working against the resistance, and let the bar come down. You can start with 20 or 30 pounds and add weight as you progress. Work toward five sets of 12 reps.

  3. LEG CURLS—We discussed this exercise thoroughly in the preceding chapter. Again, it’s important to do full curls. Holding the front support firmly, you lie on your stomach and let the machine all the way down. Then bring the weight up as high as you can. Let me caution you again not to use your buttocks, lower back, or forearms to help you lift. Isolate this exercise in your leg biceps. Weight is not as important as form. Do five sets of 8 to 10 repetitions.

  Leg curl

  4. CALF RAISES—ON CALF MACHINE (STANDING)—We use the calf every time we walk. Each time we take a step, one calf lifts the entire body. If your body weight is 200 pounds, each step you take gives the calf a 200-pound repetition—So if you loaded the calf machine with 200 pounds, it would be roughly equal to walking. You should use more than your body weight on the machine. A lot of people don’t realize that. Guys with skinny calves who weigh 200 pounds and use 150 pounds on the calf machine will still have skinny calves. The weight resistance will not help them.

  In my opinion, Reg Park had the greatest calves in the world and he has trained for years with a lot of weight. As I said earlier, when I was in South Africa training with Reg I put my usual puny 150 pounds on the calf machine, and he changed it to 1000 pounds for his sets. He was doing ten sets of 10 repetitions. I realized then what it takes to get big calves. I trained with Reg and worked my way up to 500 pounds on the calf machine. My calves grew half an inch in one month. Since then I’ve been in the habit of training with heavy weights for my calves.

  To get a perfect stretching of your calves, you should start with your toes on a high block, go all the way down to touch the floor with your heels, and then come all the way up on your toes. Only through a perfect, full movement can you develop perfect calves. A straight-on, parallel foot position is good for the all-around calf. If you want to develop the outside, point your toes in; if you want to develop the inside, point your toes out.

  The calf is different from any other muscle. It is stubborn and slow to respond. You should be just as stubborn. Don’t do only 8 or 10 repetitions—do at least five sets of 15 repetitions.

  Chest

  The muscles of the chest are the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, subclavius and serratus anterior (serratus magnus). The pectoralis muscles, consisting of the clavicular (upper) portion, and the sternal (lower) portion, is attached to the clavicle
(collarbone), the whole length of the sternum (breastbone) and the cartilage of several ribs. The largest mass of the pectorals starts at the upper arm bone (humerus) where it fastens at a point under and just above where the deltoids attach to the humerus. The serratus fans out to cover the rib cage like armor plates.

  The pectoralis muscles pull the arm across the front of the body and let you perform such actions as pitching a ball underhanded, doing a wide-grip bench press, swimming the crawl stroke, and executing parallel-bar dips. Because of their attachment to the humerus, the pectorals play an important secondary role in back exercises such as chinning. There is in fact a definite interdependence between chest and back exercises. The chest will not reach its full potential size unless the latissimus dorsi muscles are fully developed.

  1. BENCH PRESS—We have discussed this exercise in a previous chapter. Concentrate on letting the weight slowly down to your chest and slowly pressing it up again. The down movement makes use of a principle called negative resistance. Which means the muscle is developed as much through controlling the down movement as through the pressing movement. So you should pay as much attention to form in letting the weight down as in lifting it up. This principle holds for almost every exercise. Do not let the weight bounce off your chest or come down only halfway. Make a full movement.

  Bench press

  I suggest 8 repetitions, starting with a light weight and increasing it each set. Work up to a heavy weight so that you can do only 5 or 6 repetitions in the last set. This builds the basic foundation of the chest—not only the middle part of the pectoral but also the lower and upper parts.

  Note: In the bench press you should keep your feet on the floor to stabilize your body.

  2. BENT-ARM DUMBBELL FLYES—Flyes stretch the rib cage and build the outer pectorals. They’re one of my favorite exercises and have had the best effect on my pectoral muscles, causing them to grow wide and low, with a lot of definition.

  Lie flat on your back on the bench. Lift your legs up and lock them in a cross position, as shown in photographs (this way you eliminate strain on your stomach). Starting with a pair of dumbbells held at arm’s length over the chest, bend your arms (see photo) slightly to take the pressure off your elbows and lower the weights out to the sides as far as you can (almost to the floor) while inhaling as much air as possible. Then slowly raise your arms—exhaling and tensing the pectorals as you do—until the dumbbells are about 10 inches apart. At the top, flex your pectoral muscles and press the weight really hard.

  Doing a flye is like hugging a large tree. You make a wide circle with the dumbbells. A lot of guys do it with the weight so close to the pecs that it becomes a pressing movement. But you don’t want a pressing movement. Another variation is to touch the dumbbells at the top, but that is not what we are after on this routine. By stopping the dumbbells about 10 inches apart, you keep a constant tension in the pectoral muscles—particularly the outer portions—which pumps them and promotes rapid growth. Be sure to get a full stretch by slowly lowering the dumbbells as far as possible on each repetition.

  Do five sets of 10 repetitions.

  Abdomen

  I think a beautifully developed midsection is the most immediately impressive part of the male physique. If you are familiar with Greek mythology or classical sculpture you have no doubt seen the photographs of the various gods and how each had fantastic abdominal muscles. Well-sculptured, highly defined abdominals give the physique a more finished appearance than any other muscle group. In competition, if your abdominal region has a slight layer of fat on it, you might as well forget about winning a trophy.

  Sharply defined abdominals are a must for maximum impressiveness. The entire abdominal region needs to be thoroughly exercised to get rid of all the visible surface fat. The following exercise routine will give your midsection sensational cuts.

  1. SIT-UPS—KNEES BENT—Keep your legs locked in a bent position throughout this familiar exercise. Exhale as you sit up, inhale as you return to the starting position on the floor. If you don’t have an abdominal board, or slant board, hook your feet under some heavy object such as a bed or a dresser. A towel or sponge over the feet for padding will make this more comfortable.

  I would go to 200 repetitions a day, approximately—not all at once, but the way you feel good about it. So it can be two times 100 or six times 35.

  2. LEG RAISES—KNEES BENT—Do at least 200 repetitions, or until you really feel the burn.

  3. WRIST CURL—As I have said, you should do this exercise every day to build up your forearms. You use the forearm every day, therefore you can train it every day. Let the weight down as far as you can, and bring it up as far as you can. This is the most basic, the best, and the easiest exercise for forearms, and you can use a lot of weight.

  Do at least five sets of 15 repetitions and continue the final set until it is impossible to squeeze out another fraction of an inch of wrist movement.

  TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PROGRAM

  On Tuesday and Friday you will work on shoulders, back, arms, abdominals and calves. The reason for combining these body parts is this: I believe pressing movements and pulling movements should be done together. Most shoulder work is a pressing movement and all the back exercises are pulling movements. The shoulders, the back and the arms are all connected, so it makes sense also to train the arms. By the time you finish the shoulder workout, which involves a lot of triceps movements, and the back workout, which involves a lot of biceps movements, the arms are thoroughly warmed up. You can then proceed to the arm exercises.

  Shoulders

  In the shoulders, both the deltoids and the trapezius should be developed equally. Add a nice V-shaped trap to a wide deltoid and you have the perfect combination for a powerful, impressive-looking back.

  The deltoidus is a thick, large triangular muscle that covers the shoulder joint in the front, behind and laterally. It encircles the cap of the shoulder. The muscle fibers converge to unite in a thick tendon which inserts into the middle lateral side of the upper arm bone. The muscle’s basic action is to lift the arm away from the body. It makes sense then that forward, lateral and backward movements are necessary to work the muscle fully.

  The trapezius is a flat triangular muscle that covers parts of the neck, shoulders and upper back. It arises from the base of the skull, reaches out to the deltoids, runs down the nuchal ligament of the neck and then attaches to the spine in the area of the twelfth thoracic vertebra. Its function is to raise and lower the scapula and help lift the shoulders from the front. Fully developed, it creates a dramatic mass of rippling muscle between the deltoids when the arms are flexed.

  1. PRESS BEHIND NECK—The press behind neck develops only the front of the deltoid. Do this exercise in a standing position. Grip the barbell just wider than your shoulders. Let the bar down until it touches behind your neck, then press the weight all the way up and lock your arms. Many people only allow the weight to drop as far as the back of their head. This is not enough. You must make the full movement, that extra 4 or 5 inches down to the neck, in order to get a complete stretch in the front deltoid.

  Note: When you do any kind of pressing movement, push the weight straight up. Feel strong with the weight and don’t let it overcome you.

  Do five sets of approximately 8 repetitions. Start with less weight and work your way up. The last set should be 6 repetitions with a significant weight increase to insure a good pump.

  2. LATERAL RAISES—Lateral raises work specifically on the side and rear deltoid. I do this exercise in a slightly bent-over position so that there is little chance to borrow force from other muscles. Start with the dumbbells in a low position near the thighs and lift them up just higher than your shoulders. The way you control the effectiveness of the exercise is by turning the wrist. If you turn the wrist with the thumb up you will affect only the front deltoid with the pressing movement.

  For many years I was doing my lateral raises wrong—with the thumbs up—because I saw them don
e that way in pictures, in magazines. I could never figure out why my rear deltoids didn’t grow. Then once I was experimenting at home and I found that by turning the wrist to the side and making it straight, like a horizontal fist, with the thumb pointed toward the front and the weight straight, I got sore in my rear deltoid area. The more I turned the little finger up, the more the strain would go into the rear deltoid. So while I was coming up with the dumbbells I started turning my wrist as though trying to pour a pitcher of water and my rear deltoids made incredible gains.

  Do approximately five sets of 8 to 10 reps.

  Back

  The single most dramatic feature of a great physique is a well-developed back. The back balances out the body by tying together the major muscle groups and giving the whole thing a symmetrical look. The exercises you will be doing in this section are for the three major muscle groups of the back:

  The trapezius—which we already discussed in the section on shoulder development.

  The latissimus dorsi—which is a large, triangular expanse of muscle that starts in the lumbar region of the back and then fans out wide at the top near the shoulders. Its function is to bring the arms to the center of the body and rotate them inward. It also draws the shoulders downward and backward. Well-developed “lats” give the dramatic V taper to the upper body and enhance just about every pose from the front and back, both relaxed and tensed.

  The spinal erectors—consist of several muscles in the lower back region which guard the nerve channels and help keep the spine erect. These muscles should be developed to give the back a finished look.