Arnold Schwarzenegger's The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding

[Robbie_2002]

Hello
I been reading the book and he says that a level 1 exercise consist of this:
Workout1:
Monday and thursday
Chest- bench press, incline press, pullovers
Back- Chins(as many till 50), bent over rows
POWER TRAINING (optional heavy day)
deadlifts 3 sets of 10 6 4 reps to failure
Abs-crunches 5 sets 25 reps

Workout 2
Tuesday and friday
Shoulders- clean and press, dumbell lateral raises
POWER TRAINING
heavy upright rows 3 sets 10,6,4
push presses 3 sets of 6,4,2
upper arm- standing barbell curls, seated dumbell curls close grip bench, standing tricep extensions
forearms- wrist curls, reverse wrist curls
Abs- reverse crunches, 5 sets of 25 reps

Workout 3
Wednesday and saturday
Thighs-squats,lunges, leg curls
Calves-standing calf raises- 5 sets of 25 reps
POWER TRAINING
lower back
straight leg deadlifts 3 sets of 10,6,4
good mornings 3 sets of 10,6,4
abs crunches 5 setts of 25 reps

for all exercises 4 sets including a warm up set

The query is...Is that really realistic or will no one recover from that workout program that isnt a pro bbuilder?? Cause i have that feeling that i would be drastically overtraining if i did the above program! I mean one day of rest a week?? Thanx in advance as everyone else says lol.

[ahnold8]

Ok, you are asking a bunch of people, many of whom are web-addicts with no build or actual real life knowedge whatsoever, to refute arnold schwarzenegger.
You will get plenty of responses saying you will be overtraining, most will be from people who are about your size--after 'lifting' for years.
From those on this board who actually do know what they are talking about, and there are a few, you will get varying opinions. Yes it may be overtraining, it largely will depend on your genetics, diet, sleeping habits, etc...
According to most people on this board i have probably been 'overtraining' for years, but somehow i have managed to gain over 60 pounds of muscle--go figure.

[Kaner]

Originally posted by ahnold8

According to most people on this board i have probably been 'overtraining' for years, but somehow i have managed to gain over 60 pounds of muscle--go figure.

What's your routine?

[smartkid]

Gross overtraining

[ROCK CRUSHER]

well, do 50 pullups after chest then tell me how you feel?

[Sychokid]

I usually think training 6 times a week working muscles directly and indirectly that might be overtraining. That is my opninon.

Now arnold 8. No one said you had to listen. Nobody said you had to change your routine/diet. People may have recomended it, but no one ever came to your house making you do what they say. If all you are going to to is talk $hit, then get off these boards. We aren't worthy of your knowledge.

[Sonny]

Hey, I tried that workout and yeah I did overtrain on it. Try it if you want and see if it works. If it worked for ahnold8 then some people must be responsive to it.

60 lbs. is pretty good!!

[Sonny]

Overtraining is a funny word, but in my opinion, "burnout" is a more appropriate choice. I think the accumulation of all of the stressors we endure account for our overtrained state at times. If you go to University full time and work full time and play team sports and have a family and then try to workout 6 days a week, you may burn out due to all that stress.

Ahnold8, you say you gained 60 lbs. of muscle from a workout like that? Did you ever stop to consider that maybe you have great genetic ability to be able to handle that much work? Also, you assume that most of us have bad builds and don't have enough experience to give advice? You recommend that Robbie not take our advice because of this, yet we are supposed to just take YOUR word that routines like this work because you say you gained 60 lbs. in a few years on this type of routine.

What I'm trying to say is that you kind of contradicted yourself in your post. Your implication is that many on this board give bad advice and make false claims without any real proof. Then you turn around and promote the questioned routine because YOU claimed you gained 60 lbs on a routine like it.

Indeed, there is a lot of crap on this board. Yes, some people probably have bad builds and very little experience. The bottom line is that the reader should take each piece of advice merely as a suggestiion rather than a fact.

This is NOT an attack on you ahnold8! I don't wanna start a fight on the INTERNET.

[REN]

Originally posted by Sonny
Overtraining is a funny word, but in my opinion, "burnout" is a more appropriate choice. I think the accumulation of all of the stressors we endure account for our overtrained state at times. If you go to University full time and work full time and play team sports and have a family and then try to workout 6 days a week, you may burn out due to all that stress.

Ahnold8, you say you gained 60 lbs. of muscle from a workout like that? Did you ever stop to consider that maybe you have great genetic ability to be able to handle that much work? Also, you assume that most of us have bad builds and don't have enough experience to give advice? You recommend that Robbie not take our advice because of this, yet we are supposed to just take YOUR word that routines like this work because you say you gained 60 lbs. in a few years on this type of routine.

What I'm trying to say is that you kind of contradicted yourself in your post. Your implication is that many on this board give bad advice and make false claims without any real proof. Then you turn around and promote the questioned routine because YOU claimed you gained 60 lbs on a routine like it.

Indeed, there is a lot of crap on this board. Yes, some people probably have bad builds and very little experience. The bottom line is that the reader should take each piece of advice merely as a suggestiion rather than a fact.

This is NOT an attack on you ahnold8! I don't wanna start a fight on the INTERNET.

super-bump

[back2it]

Originally posted by ahnold8
Ok, you are asking a bunch of people, many of whom are web-addicts with no build or actual real life knowedge whatsoever, to refute arnold schwarzenegger.
You will get plenty of responses saying you will be overtraining, most will be from people who are about your size--after 'lifting' for years.
From those on this board who actually do know what they are talking about, and there are a few, you will get varying opinions. Yes it may be overtraining, it largely will depend on your genetics, diet, sleeping habits, etc...
According to most people on this board i have probably been 'overtraining' for years, but somehow i have managed to gain over 60 pounds of muscle--go figure.

Arnold8 Most people that have been around lifting for as long as you have know that this program will only work as long as steroids are on your supplement list . On your profile you have gained 70 lbs in 6 years that is a total of almost 12 lbs per year{pretty good} . If you consider that many people gain 20 or more lbs the first year of a serious resistance program the results don't appear as terrific do they ? Then you take into account 6 days per week training x 6 years = 1872 workouts and Arnies workouts were usually long lets say 2 1/2 to 3 hours that could represent 5600 hours in the gym . The gains don't appear to be that terrific now . Many people that follow abbrieviated or HIT style training methods gain at least that much for what type of time investment ? Some as little as 2 workouts per week for less than 1 hour each . You are welcome to train as you wish and support whom evers' training you like that is your perogative . It is not a good idea however to state that your is the only way to train nor suggest that you know more than others when in fact you only seem to know one method of training and possibly have been too busy working out in the gym to ever consider trying to learn of other methods . The facts are this : there are many effective ways to train high volume is only one . If that is all you do and gain from it that is fine but just because you either don't know of other ways to do it or they didn't work for you does not give you the right to say Arnie's is the only way . This training method is "OVERTRAINING" for anyone that is drug free and of normal genetics .

[MsFit]

Originally posted by Robbie_2002
Hello
I been reading the book

The book is a very general overview of bodybuilding, however not greared toward real muscle building.

For muscle growth you must stimulate the muscle and that can be done in as little as 2 sets if preformed properly. Training should not be a cardio session with a multitude of various elaborate exercises. Quality training should be brief, hard, heavy, and intense.
MsFit

[amusclehead]

Originally posted by MsFit
The book is a very general overview of bodybuilding, however not greared toward real muscle building.

For muscle growth you must stimulate the muscle and that can be done in as little as 2 sets if preformed properly. Training should not be a cardio session with a multitude of various elaborate exercises. Quality training should be brief, hard, heavy, and intense.
MsFit

word- plus arnold's book has pretty pictures


i didn't read all the above comments, but following routines and stuff from his book is suicide. I've seen people read through it 5 or 6times, put together a routine. Then they'll come back to me like 4months later say 'it didn't work. why, arnold says it will work'. Lol.

[arnold777]

I think, in my personal opinion, that a lot of people now days think that it takes so much less training to accomplish their goals. This is read in the magazines and such that, oh Ronnie or Nasser only train chest once a week and look at them, when in reality they are on so much "stuff" that it is easy to maintain what they have spending 15000 a month.
I also heavily disagree with back2it when he says you can do this routine if steroids are on your supplement list. That is not true, not even prohormones have to be on your supplement list but you will find that a good diet does need to be on the list. I did a lot of compound exercises for the first year and half just to build up some base and went from 155 to 175, now that is a lot but I still wasnt satisfied and was stuck at that weight for a while. Then I started reading about arnold and his intensity in training and quit reading the crap in magazines with lee priest standing next to a bottle of hydroxycut claiming that is how he got like he is. I now weigh 195 and a lot more of it is defined muscle and not just mass. (I am still 30 pounds from being satisfied but it takes time)
I have read a lot of the Encyclopedia of mbb and yes to someone who is just starting it is overtraining even to someone with a base it maybe tough but you can work into it. I think it is the best way to force the nutrition part on yourself because you cant train like this for 6 days eating cookies and mountain dew and you immediatly notice the freshness you feel along with stamina when you start eating eggs, chicken, milk, meat, vegatables, and wheat bread.
There is a lot of dissing of arnold on these boards just because he didnt have a gh gut and weigh 300 pounds, yet he still had the 22inch arms as well as a 34 inch waist, that sound like a pretty good physique not to mention he was the best of his time.
In my opinion everyone who believes arnolds idea of training is to much doesnt have the drive, motivation, or focus of him and therefore are not going to look remotely close to him.

Just my opinion.

[amusclehead]

but fact is, arnold has superior genetics and juiced. not having a gh gut or whatever isn't why people diss him.

[arnold777]

he did not juice near as much as guys nowadays but he worked harder, and his genetics were good in some parts of his body but not others, If you are benching 405 for 6 reps on your 5th or 6th set and combine in it with some nutrition you can have a pretty good looking chest, but it isnt the genetics but the work you put into it to get there.

[ShallowGrave]

i did the level one workout for 6 months or so except I did it once a week with a day of rest in between instead of 2x a week as written. It worked better than other routines I tried, however it worked a lot better when I dropped sets to a warmup +2 and my new HIT style routine works better than that.

[amusclehead]

Originally posted by arnold777
he did not juice near as much as guys nowadays but he worked harder, and his genetics were good in some parts of his body but not others, If you are benching 405 for 6 reps on your 5th or 6th set and combine in it with some nutrition you can have a pretty good looking chest, but it isnt the genetics but the work you put into it to get there.

no one is saying he didn't work hard to get to where he was.

but look at his pics from like 17. that is insane genetics.

[ShallowGrave]

arnold fans get real defensive when you critique his training. I love Arnold too...he has always been my inpiration for hitting the gym.

The fact is that arnold had/has amazing genetics. There are pics of him with his father when he is 9 or 10 and his chest is wide then and if you read his autobiography he talks about lifting some big weight in his early years.

He did use steroids, although the science of steroids was primitive back then and no one used the amount like todays pros do...he's admitted to it and mentions that although he is against them now to be a professional bb you (sadly) must use them.

In fact in his autobio he is talks about his concerns as an amateur about the level of american trainers compared to germans and wonders if they have access to "better training or BETTER DRUGS"

[arnold777]

Yes he does have good genetics but i just looked at a pic when he was 17 and think, he has been working out really hard for 2 years and is just big. Two years is more than most people on these boards have honestly worked out and I have seen a lot of people look as good if not better than him after two or three years.
I dont want to argue, the overall point i was trying to make (while defending arnold) was that with sleep and nutrition, you can workout harder than what you are now, it takes a lot of mental power to do it but the word overtraining is used to much and i think misunderstood.
I was just talking to the owner of a golds gym in my town(where i work out) and he said that when he was in his 20s in the 70s the working out was much different, everyone went till they couldnt move or they would pass out or puke every week. He also said everyone was a lot bigger and stronger. Now, he said, everyone just goes a couple of sets barely breaking a sweat to get a little pump.

[ShallowGrave]

anyone who mentions "pump" when describing a workout is someone to look out for. Overtraining is real. I can workout 4 days a week and go all out...I used to do it. Problem is I don't grow. Working every day till you cannot move is counterproductive. You're muscles and a little thing called the central nervous system needs time to recover. The majority of people who start weight training never get any where cause they listen to people who have no idea how a natural trainee needs to train.

Your body is a machine..albeit the most complex machine ever created. Just like a car, it cannot run forever without maintenence (sleep and off days) or fuel (food). Run a stock honda accord (avg. trainee) at 100 miles and hour for as long as it can go...won't be too long. Now run a Lamborgini Diablo (arnold genetics) at 100...it'll keep running as long as it has gas. The lamorgini is designed for speed (as arnold was built for volume). The honda is built to get you around day to to day but cannot be run at high speeds all day long(unless turbo charged ie steroids). The honda is the average trainee.

[ROCK CRUSHER]

arnold,arnold,arnold......arnold said this, arnold wrote that.....

7 time Mr. Olympia!

there was this guy who was Mr. Olympia 8 times back in the day

Lee Haney!

no one here talks about him...or what he says or does...very sad

i wonder if it would be arnold arnold,aronld if he wouldn't have become a Hollywood Mega Action Hero?

shallow grave - kwel movie

[THE LAD]

its a good book, some people dont like it just because it doen't come free with a load of excuses for not working out like 'nutrition is 80% of bodybuilding' and HIT etc.
im not saying the routines should be followed exactly, few ppl could recover enough from them, but the idea behind them is worth reading and thinking about.

[P.T.B.W]

The big area where is disagree with arnold is recommending the olympic lifts(cleans, etc.) to begginers who are typically training alone. O-lifting is very complicated and usually requires a lot of individualized attention from a qualified coach, and most people will not have the shoulder and wrist flexibility that is so vitally important.
As far as the volume and overtraining, only you can answer that question, the best advice I think anyone can give is to experiment and see what works the best for you.
If you are a begginer, don't do an arnold type routine and (this is going to cause some flames) do not do an HIT routine either. Keep workouts to a reasonable length of time(for most people 45 min to maybe 1 hr, 15 min on days that you do heavy squats or deads, if you do that sort of thing). Use compound movements for the core of your routine, learn proper form for all exersises(and do not stray from it) and prioritize nutrition.

[Kane Fan]

if your a newbie you could do a program like that and see results reguardless of genetics
why? because your muscles are atrphyied more then likely

I would say that it can work
it depends on a lot of factors
not least of wich is your own genetics wich none of us can tell you about
also it depends on how much your eating
how much sleep you get a night
etc etc

also I agree with ptbw be very careful when your new to olifting

[RichterStryfe]

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a moron. First off he's one of the most irresponsible role model you'll ever see. Before i knew about overtraining and about this website, I bought that book and followed his advice thinking "well if it worked for arnold he must know what he's talking about" For 6 months I did his advanced routing working out for 3 hours a day for 6 days a week,per his advice. He forgot to tell his readers that he was a steroid user,u might say i should have known that but i didn't know how rampant drug use is in bodybuilding like i do now. Right next to his workout he shoudl have included his steroid stack. needless to say after so much SACRIFICE and DEDICATION for 6 WHOLE MONTHS I accomplished very little in muscle gain and strength as compared to now when i work out using HIT 2 days a week. For this I will never forgive arnold he misguided me and im sure anyone else who took his advice on bodybuilding. A big **** You goes out to Arnold and his irresponsible workout routine

[ahnold8]

Originally posted by RichterStryfe
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a moron. First off he's one of the most irresponsible role model you'll ever see. Before i knew about overtraining and about this website, I bought that book and followed his advice thinking "well if it worked for arnold he must know what he's talking about" For 6 months I did his advanced routing working out for 3 hours a day for 6 days a week,per his advice. He forgot to tell his readers that he was a steroid user,u might say i should have known that but i didn't know how rampant drug use is in bodybuilding like i do now. Right next to his workout he shoudl have included his steroid stack. needless to say after so much SACRIFICE and DEDICATION for 6 WHOLE MONTHS I accomplished very little in muscle gain and strength as compared to now when i work out using HIT 2 days a week. For this I will never forgive arnold he misguided me and im sure anyone else who took his advice on bodybuilding. A big **** You goes out to Arnold and his irresponsible workout routine

Just because you didnt have what it takes to be a champion doesnt mean you should hate the instruction manual writer. Maybe if you had used a little common sense you wouldve realized that you are not "advanced" in training enough to use the advanced workout. Yes he used steriods, he is the only bodybuilder to date to admit that (he did so on barbara walters), and yes he had excellent genetics. If you couldnt factor that into your use of his program and adjust accordingly that is your fault, not his. Almost no one can do a split like he did in his prime and make gains from it, the past 30 years have proved that--where have you been?

[P.T.B.W]

In fairness to Arnold he clearly states that his advanced routine is for highly advanced lifters, he even gives guidelines as to what type of gains you should have made and (I believe) how long you should have been lifting before even beggining the routine.
Obviously someone who does this type of routine should be approaching the upper echelon of the sport-either a pro or someone very near. I doubt that he meant that anyone else should do such a routine, because it is like having a job to workout that much for that long. I am frankly suprised that anyone has the time to do it.

[Blindfaith]

this book was written in the 70's....exercise science has come along way since then...nobody knew what overtraining or "burnout" was back then. Their philiosophy was the more the better...and that just isnt so today.

Arnolds programs will cause you to overtrain that is enless you are taking juice.

[P.T.B.W]

Arnolds programs would cause the vast majority of steroid users to overtrain also, steroids don't make you into superman, or eliminate the stresses of job/family, etc. the only people I could see spending that many hours in a gym are pro bodybuilders, and even then it's extreme. But you would have no life outside of training-no job, no school, etc.

[Kane Fan]

lol
hahahahaha
that's funny

so you blame Arnold, for YOUR ignorance.
I think that's great
YOU didn't know that Arnold and you have different Genetics and that is ARNOLD'S fault
that's pretty funny
and don't give me any **** (and that's exactly what it is) about 'arnie was on steroids and if I had known that it would have been different'
BULL****
you should have known yourself already that you are not Arnold and that Arnold (or any pro) would have a more intensive workout then a beginner
true, if you were following his BEGINNER workout then your hardly off the hook. If you don't know that any given workout will need to be tailored to an individual, I can't see blaming Arnold for that

if I am on a heavy set and I only did one warmup instead of Pyramiding up to it, and I hurt myself can I blame Mentzer?
cus ya know normally I would have used a pyramid up to the heavier weight but Mentzer suggests a heavy set to failure after a light warmup so.....
if your argument has merit so does mine right