Arnold Schwarzenegger Workout Routine And Diet Plan

Arnold Schwarzenegger is not only a very influential and successful movie star, he has also truly left his mark on the world of bodybuilding. Arnold is often said to be the greatest bodybuilder of all time and credited for bringing bodybuilding to the masses. He won the Mr. Universe title at age 20 and went on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger decided that he wanted to move from professional bodybuilding into acting, he started the transition when he was chosen to play the role of Hercules in 1970.

It was difficult for Arnold in begining to develop his acting career. He was told by agents and casting people that his body was 'too weird', his accent was funny and his name was too long. But after boosting his profile in the bodybuilding film Pumping Iron in 1977, Schwarzenegger breakthrough in the acting world and moved to play iconic roles in films such as Conan the Barbarian, The Terminator, Commando, Predator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's protrayal of a big, muscular action hero in those movies made bodybuilders and the big muscular physique look good at the time. Many guys in those days wanted to be big and muscular as well.

But although the popularity of the big bodybuilder look faded away with time just like Arnold's physique, you may be curious to find out what was Arnold Schwarzenegger Workout Routine And Diet Plan that he used in his days of fitness superiority.

Obviously, Arnold used a number of different workout and diet programs through his life and career. But no matter what workout routine and diet plan he used, he incorperated the same principles to get the right results for building and maintaining a great body.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Workout Routine

Arnold had his set of rules and principles for training that he wrote about his books on bodybuilding. He believed that pushing your body to the limit was the quickest route to muscular success. For Arnold, training to the limit is a must. It's only at failure when every single muscle tissue is contracting in full force and when the true results take place.

He recommend that a range of 8-12 reps be utilized when performing upper-body movements and 12-16 reps for lower-body movements. Lower muscles, he felt, are more endurance-focused, therefore they can stand the higher rep range better.

Beginner-to-intermediate trainees are best off doing 12 sets per body part while advanced trainees should aim for 20 in all muscles except for very small ones like biceps and triceps, which would be targeted sufficiently with 9 sets or so. Arnold also stressed on the importance of rest periods after working the muscle in the gym.

He recommended 48 hours of rest after working larger muscle groups and slightly less for the smaller ones. He also felt that as your training level progressed, you'd be able to handle more work with less recovery time and could tolerate more frequent workouts.

Here Is A Sample Arnold Schwarzenegger Training 3-Day Split Routine

Monday/Wednesday/Friday
Chest
Barbell bench press: 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, and 4 reps
Barbell incline bench press: 4 sets of 10, 8, 6, and 4 reps
Dumbbell flys: 3 sets of 10, 8, and 6 reps
Parallel bar dips: 3 sets of 15, 10 and 8 reps
Pullovers: 3 sets of 15 reps each

Back
Chin-ups: 4 sets of 10 reps minimum each side
Close-grip chins: 4 sets of 10 reps
T-bar rows: 4 sets of 15, 12, 8, and 6 reps
Bent-over barbell rows: 4 sets of 8-12 reps

Thighs
Squat: 5 sets of 10, 8, 6, and 4 reps with a 20 rep warm-up set
Front squats: 4 sets of 10, 8, 8, and 6 reps
Hack squats: 3 sets of 10 reps each
Leg curls: 4 sets of 20, 10, 8, and 6 reps
Standing leg curls: 4 sets of 10 reps each
Straight-leg dead lifts: 3 sets of 10 reps each

Calves
Donkey calf raises: 4 sets of 10 reps each
Standing calf raises: 4 sets of 15, 10, 8, and 8 reps

Abdominals
Crunches: 3 sets of 25 reps
Bent-over twists: 100 reps each side
Machine crunches: 3 sets of 25 reps
Crunches: 50 reps
Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday
Shoulders
Behind-the-neck-barbell press: 5 sets of 10, 8, 8, and 6 reps with a 15-set warm-up
Lateral raises: 4 sets of 8 reps each
Bent-over dumbbell laterals: 4 sets of 8 reps each
Dumbbell shrugs: 3 sets of 10 reps each

Upper arms
Standing barbell curls: 5 sets of 15, 10, 8, 6, and 4 reps
Incline dumbbell curls: 4 sets of 8 reps each
Concentration curls: 3 sets of 8 reps each
One-arm triceps extensions: 3 sets of 10 reps each

Forearms
Barbell wrist curls: 4 sets of 10 reps each
Reverse wrist curls: 3 sets of 10 reps each

Calves
Seated calf raises: 4 sets of 10 reps each

Abdominals
Reverse crunches: 4 sets of 25 reps
Seated twists: 100 reps each side
Vertical bench crunches: 4 sets of 25 reps

Arnold Schwarzenegger Diet

Arnold Schwarzenegger was also a firm believer in the importance of diet. He stated that in order to build muscle, you must consume the sufficient volume of quality calories and nutrients. Regarding the approach of bulking up, Arnold said that he practiced it in his early days of bodybuilder, but later realized that it's better to always aim for lean mass with no fat.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's diet plan Incorporated strategies such as calorie cycling, aimed at gaining muscle without fat. This involved having some higher calorie days interspersed with some lower calorie days in order to help build lean muscle and burn fat.

So that's our look at Arnold Schwarzenegger’s workout routine and diet for bodybuilding, which allowed him to not only succeed in bodybuilding but also developed iconic characters in movies. You may not want a big bodybuilder physique like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but if you adopt his approach to getting in shape, you're likely to succeed at your goals.making some serious progress